70 S2 0044Q

[Bainford]

I see you get eight digits to work with on the vanity plate. We only get seven here in NS. When trying to come up with a clever vanity plate, that extra digit can make a huge difference.

[BDA]

Well, I am going from memory here and we might only get seven too. You do what you can do!

[Sandyman]

Hi Bainford, yes lots of options with 8 digits. We can go on line and search for unclaimed plates. Both 70 Europa and europa70 were taken.

[Sandyman]

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Big wind storm last night. Should have bit the bullet and bought a shipping container.
Body is safely back in the barn.

[BDA]

Bummer!! It's a good thing you have that barn!

[surfguitar58]

Yikes! I have a similar "temporary garage". It's in a gravel driveway and there is no way to hold it down with stakes, so I bought a bunch of cheap plywood and screwed the tent legs to 2x4s and the 2x4s to the plywood floor. The weight of the contents of the "garage" are all that is holding it down. (The Europa is safely tucked away in a REAL garage elsewhere.) Mine was a $250 cheapo model from Home Depot, and after 9 months of sun exposure there are already holes appearing in the roof fabric from UV breakdown.
Tom

[lotusfanatic]

Hello Sandyman,

  I hope the body wasn't damaged at all?

Mark

[Sandyman]

Mark, thanks for your concern. As far aI can see only a few scratches.

[Certified Lotus]

Sorry to hear about the wind storm. Looks like you were lucky not to incur significant damage. Luck is good!

[Sandyman]

Beautiful weather and isolation seems to be good. Finally rebuilt the temporary car shelter and secured if better to the ground. This has allowed me to move the body out and start assembling the new Spyder chassis. Got 75 % of the front suspension together. I feel it went well considering I was working without a net. Spyder did not send any assembly instructions, just bags of hardware and boxes of bigger bits. If any of you see anything I missed or assembled wrong, PLEASE comment. I seem to be missing the steering arms and the fastening nut and washer for the stub axles. Tomorrow I will tackle the rear suspension. Wish me luck.
Sandy

[BDA]

Just a reminder that the right-hand threaded upright goes on the right and the left hand threaded upright obviously goes on the left.

I'd sweat the steering arms but that nuts and washers should be available at a good hardware store.

Good luck!

[Sandyman]

BDA, You nearly gave me my 2nd heart attack. Thea I remembered that the trunions were marked L and R and installed on the proper sides.

[jbcollier]

There is a rubber seal between the trunnion and the upright.  Lube the trunnion with GL4 gear oil.  Pennzoil sells synthetic GL4 that is usually available at NAPA and the like.

Missing steering bits are easily available from British sports car suppliers.  It's the same as the Spitfire Mk1.  Do you have backing plates, caliper mounts, discs, etc?

[Sandyman]

John, Thanks for the great input. I have all the braking parts but are waiting to get the nut and washer for the stub axle. I did not know about the type of lube in the trunion I used grease. I will clean and fill with correct GL4 and add the rubber seal.
Sandy

[jbcollier]

The oil/grease debate can get heated.

If you look at the trunnion, you will see a slot cut in the threads.  This is to allow oil to easily flow to all the threads.  It has the unfortunate effect of allowing grease to bypass the threads and quickly exit the trunnion.  This means injected grease does not force the old grease out but simply quickly exits and the old grease remains.

I use an dedicated oil can with a pump to squirt oil into trunnions.  Very easy to do.

All the parts you need are listed in the parts manual.  It's a good reference to make sure you are not missing anything.

One point of note, the front wheel bearings do not use a seal.  They use a grease impregnated felt ring.  KEEP THE OLD FELT RINGS.  New felt rings are way too thick and do not allow the bearings to seat properly.  THIS IS DANGEROUS.  Reuse your old felts.  If you threw them away, you have to trim down the felts to the correct thickness.  Mount the hub and tighten the adjusting nut without the felt in place.  Note where the nut is.  Make sure that the nut goes to the same position when the felt is in place.  When the felt is the correct size, the bearings tighten up at an exact spot.  If the felt is too big, the bearing tighten up in a weird, soft sort of way with no distinct exact point of tightening.