Lotus Europa 16V Gordini

[Mecky]

If you can see it, I have a "cow catcher" front spoiler which should give a lot more front down force as well as brake ducts. I got it from Dave Bean many years ago. I don't know if they still sell them, though I would think they do, and I don't know if or how well it fits on an S2. It might be worth a call at least.

Lotus Supplies also has a front spoiler for racing but they don't show a pictures. You might ask them about it.

I already contacted them on the spoiler issue. The racing spoiler is the very modern looking one, which they are using on their race cars with modern technical equipment. It would have to be integrated into the front panel. I'm looking to a solution, which looks a little bit more like period-style and it should be no completely new paint job required after installation of the spoiler. For that the TC spoiler should be sufficient at the beginning.

I went on studying my old documents about the car and found out one very nice aspect. The fuel tank on the left hand side (just behind the driver) can be removed completely, because the races in Belcar Historic Cup will be sprints and no endurance races. That will make the balance of the car much better, because I won't have to carry the 40 kg just behind me on board.

You can see the disbalance in the attached pic. That was measured at the last race in October 2016 with a heavy (90 kg+) driver.

[Mecky]

The project started yesterday. The target is to race at the NASCAR Finals Zolder on October 3rd & 4th. But before that there is a lot of work to do. I started with pulling the engine and gearbox. The engine will be revised and all water channels flushed and cleaned.

[BDA]

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!

I look forward to seeing your progress. Good luck!

[Mecky]

After much work yesterday, it was a lazy Sunday afternoon for me. I removed the old head lamps with both glasses broken and installed new lamps, which I got as Christmas gifts. Now I need only one outer chrome ring, which I just ordered from GB today.

Chilling in the workshop is fun. Lazy, but productive. It helps on the way to my new target. Get the car ready in October with at least one full day of track test before

[Mecky]

While waiting for my new engine stand, my next project is the upgrade of the stock engine mounts. I ordered universal polyurethane bushes and started working on the original engine mounts. Tomorrow I will weld the new sleeves into the old mounts. Hopefully the bushes will arrive early next week.

The engine stand should also be there tomorrow, thus I have something to work on this weekend. Society is locked down, but the race car stays with me

[Mecky]

As there is always some waiting time, while parts are being delivered from the UK (or somewhere else), I started working on all four corners of the car.
At the moment, I am trying to figure out, where to find the fitting chrome trim ring for my second headlamp. The one, which I ordered recently, is too big in the biggest outside diameter. The inne diameter is ok, though.

I am also waiting for the PU bushes from Powerflex for the upgraded engine mounts, which I have to shorten, before installation.

The third work site is the engine, which I started to pull and its complete cooling system apart. I have to clean all the water channels in order to improve the bad cooling situation, which I got before. I also ordered the ducted front bonnet, which @gideon talked about, as well as the TC spoiler to get the front wheels grip a little bit better under heavy braking. When I received the ducted bonnet from the UK, I will figure out, which radiator to use. Maybe I will also move the oil cooler to the front of the car (just behind the radiator).

The fourth corner, I want to start working on is the radius arm mounts, which are rubber right now. Similar to the solution Serge Sleurs shows on his project website, I am going to upgrade them. Maybe I will combine it with the solution of the Jensen Competition Manual, which recommends to install uniball joints at the end of the radius arms for better adjustment and some additional reinforcements.

Still much work to do and the Covid-19 situation gives me the time. I hope, the normal life will start up again soon, nontheless...

[BDA]

Either Serge's or Jensen's upgrade for the radius arm pivot would be a great improvement. I had a discussion with JR73 a while back and he told It was important to get the rubber out of the radius arm pivot because it allows toe changes under braking. I think Jensen's is more appropriate for full race because it put the pivot bolt in double shear.

I think the front is the best place for the oil cooler.

[Mecky]

Either Serge's or Jensen's upgrade for the radius arm pivot would be a great improvement. I had a discussion with JR73 a while back and he told It was important to get the rubber out of the radius arm pivot because it allows toe changes under braking. I think Jensen's is more appropriate for full race because it put the pivot bolt in double shear.

I think the front is the best place for the oil cooler.

That's correct. The rubber bushing messes with the rear suspension geometry under load changes. You can see it quite clear on the two photos, which are taken on the same day. One photo shows the car while accelerating out of a corner and the other one under heavy braking for a hairpin. That's the reason, why I want to remove this rubber radius arm mount.

[JR73]

Thank you for that tip. That will save me many hours of work. It may be even lighter than the original front bonnet. I have also added the TC front spoiler to my wishlist there. I hope Brexit will not affect that relationship negatively.

Bit late in reading this thread so apologies if you have already ordered the parts etc but if you order the vented front bonnet (Banks, as fitted to the orange car you pictured) it is worth asking for it to be made as light as possible - standard weight is a little robust for racing as they are made to be lifted on and off regularly and generally abused on road cars etc. They are usually made to order so can be made with a lighter layup (save you hours of grinding!).
It is possible to mount a considerably larger radiator than original and the duct out of the bonnet is quite deceiving in size.

Also, they produce a ‘racing’ front spoiler option that has ducts that can be used to direct air towards the front brakes etc.... it is more effective than the original type twin cam front spoiler, Generates a fair amount of useful front end downforce and it does indeed fit an S2 - I’m pretty sure its shape and design originates (from memory?!) off a Chevron race car of similar vintage to the Europa.

Sounds like you are heading in the right direction regarding your rear suspension mods, as BDA has mentioned, i did a fair bit of investigation into that for another build for racing - I’m home atm due to the Covid-19 so PM me if you want any further info relating to any of the above?

Jon

I have both the Bonnet and Spoiler fitted to my own car, pic for reference;

[Mecky]

Thank you for that tip. That will save me many hours of work. It may be even lighter than the original front bonnet. I have also added the TC front spoiler to my wishlist there. I hope Brexit will not affect that relationship negatively.

Bit late in reading this thread so apologies if you have already ordered the parts etc but if you order the vented front bonnet (Banks, as fitted to the orange car you pictured) it is worth asking for it to be made as light as possible - standard weight is a little robust for racing as they are made to be lifted on and off regularly and generally abused on road cars etc. They are usually made to order so can be made with a lighter layup (save you hours of grinding!).
It is possible to mount a considerably larger radiator than original and the duct out of the bonnet is quite deceiving in size.

Also, they produce a ‘racing’ front spoiler option that has ducts that can be used to direct air towards the front brakes etc.... it is more effective than the original type twin cam front spoiler, Generates a fair amount of useful front end downforce and it does indeed fit an S2 - I’m pretty sure its shape and design originates (from memory?!) off a Chevron race car of similar vintage to the Europa.

Sounds like you are heading in the right direction regarding your rear suspension mods, as BDA has mentioned, i did a fair bit of investigation into that for another build for racing - I’m home atm due to the Covid-19 so PM me if you want any further info relating to any of the above?

Jon

I have both the Bonnet and Spoiler fitted to my own car, pic for reference;

Thank you for your explainations, Jon. Your car looks very neat and tidy! I also like to look of your co-driver in that picture. Seems like you are taking that corner quite fast.
For the big eyes that he or she makes, the body roll of your car looks very tame. Are you using a hard suspension set-up?

Regarding your advice on the parts, which I ordered at Banks/Lotus Supplies: I asked Richard and he recommended the TC spoiler as best fitting for my needs. I also thought about the spoiler that you are using, because it looks like it generates more front end downforce. But I don't like its looks so much and I'm already using air ducts for the brakes on the sides next to the radiator grill, thus I sticked with Richard's recommendation. Regarding the weight issue of the bonnet, I'm not afraid about the bonnet being too heavy, because my car is already something like 50 kg lighter than the minimum weight of the class, which is 740 kg. Because of that, I prefer the bonnet, which is a little bit more robust. I guess, it will be lighter than the stock one, anyway.

Regarding the rear suspension issue, I will come back to you soon, I'm sure. I'm going to take some measurements today on my car to be able to design the right solution for me with CAD. I already thought about using Jensen's idea, but I think I will modify it a bit. I will keep you posted.

Regards
Stefan

[JR73]

The eyes are quite amusing in that pic, if only photos recorded noise too (screaming that was audible over the engine and all the other noises!!) so that you could hear my Mrs...
That particular corner was indeed fairly quick, in the region of 100mph and I’m pretty sure I was running 400lbs front and 250lbs rear springs that day - as you can see it was a track day so two up for most of it. Tbh it would be unfair to compare what I was running to your car as I have the tubular Banks chassis with double wishbone rear suspension, adjustable high level anti roll bar on the front (couldn’t tell you what size I had on that day) etc etc. From the way I liked it set up it never did roll very much and was very neutral but adjustable in its handling. There’s a fair bit about it in my members cars thread if you want to look it up, it also weighed 640kgs with fluids and fuel in the tank (min class limit).

I noticed on the pic of the orange bonnet that they haven’t trimmed the bottom of the duct to match the angle that the radiator is mounted - this is possible to do and worth the effort in further controlling the flow of air to where you wish it to go, we used to use the radiator mounts to also form the ducting from behind the front grill to direct the air through the rad, the bonnet duct effectively met up on the top side of the rad so that air didn’t escape into the front plenum if that makes sense? Again, i have pics if you want for reference - just ask?!
I’d be surprised if its lighter than your original bonnet but it wouldn’t hurt to have a bit more weight up front anyway and if you are under the class limit then it will help a little.
Any front spoiler would be better than none, on track at least - nothing wrong with picking something that you like the look of!

As for the rear suspension, whilst you have a bit of time to investigate, it may be worth removing the spring and observing the movement as the wheel is lifted up and down through the suspension travel. Pay attention to the various joints and bushes also as they can experience a fair amount of ‘twist’ as the suspension is raised and lowered - again, something that ordinarily is of no great concern on the road but can cause issues on track. Swapping the front radius arm pivot i would recommend, especially with higher HP and stickier tyres etc as the original rubber bushes can be pulled and pushed quite a considerable amount under serious load which will be causing the rear wheels to change toe by more than you may imagine... All interesting stuff and well worth the time and effort in both improved handling and faster lap times.

I look forward to seeing your developments.

[Mecky]

I took a look at your member cars thread. I very much like the arrangement of your radiator in the front bonnet. I'd love to see some more details of it in picures. Is it also possible that you tell me, which radiator you are using? It looks like it perfectly uses the available cross-section of the flow path for the cooling air.

I'd also love to see pictures of your rear suspension upgrade. Please feel free to post them in this thread or I'd also be happy, if you'd send them via PN to me.
Thanks for your help!

[JR73]

I can’t remember what vehicle the radiator originates from (20 years since it was built!!), it was sourced from a radiator supplier/refurbisher using the general dimensions as a guide whilst ensuring that he knew what it was going to be used for... they did the calcs to ensure it would be suitable and I have to say that I never had any issues, only since putting it back on the road have I added a cooling fan - just in case I get stuck in traffic. It also has a bleed screw on the top corner.

Pics below will hopefully be self explanatory, I put a tape measure across the core to give a general idea of size, difficult to get a pic to show the actual angle that it’s sitting at but the side shot of the duct on the bonnet should help you get an idea as it sits snug against the radiator.

The bit I can’t get a pic of atm is unfortunately the key bit - the ducting that forms the cradle that the rad sits on/in as my number plate grill is a PITA to remove/refit and I can’t get a decent pic through it. Basically it is aluminium sheet cut to shape to fit inside the nose and mounted through the floor forming two side dams with pieces running across the top and bottom to further support the rad and seal the area and channel the air through the rad... it’s not overly complex and the rad just sits onto the cradle on some foam rubber type material to further help seal the area. The pipe work and bonnet duct prevent it from moving... it has very much been tried and tested without issue!

Also worth mentioning that the original rad position has been blanked off.

Hope the above makes sense along with the pics...?

The rear suspension is as per the Banks tubular chassis that they offer (47R on the Banks website to get an idea) - it has a double wishbone setup that is very different to the original and is not even similar to the Spyder version that is available. It can’t be retro fitted to an original chassis. If you are competing in a ‘historic’ type championship then I doubt that chassis and suspension would be eligible?
The suspension that I developed using spherical joints etc with the original trailing arms where on another car that I also competed with.

[Mecky]

I have some progress to report on. Starting with the Polyurethan bushings for the new engine mounts, which are finally ready.

The second improvement should be the TC style front spoiler, which I installed. I like the discreet look and hope that it still will improve front-end grip slightly.
What should be a significant upgrade is the new durcted front bonnet. Both these parts came from Lotus supplies in reasonable delivery time. It seems like the duct is very well proportioned, as you can see on the picture taken from above the roof. The cross-section of the duct fits the cross-section of the front grill nicely. The customized radiator for this duct is ordered already

The last thing, which goes on right now, is the engine rebuild, which seems to come just at the right time. It was a good decision to tear the engine apart completely and check every detail. The bearing doesn't look too nice. Replacement from France is coming soon. Together with new piston rings, and all gaskets, of course. I'm really looking forward to re-assemble that engine with the liquid gold Castrol 10-W60.

[BDA]

Don't you love it when a plan starts to come together?