The revival of 650143R, 1970 with TS.

[Richard48Y]

Thats the one I was looking for.
Printed it out but not as detailed as I had hoped.

Frame-head angle is known from the flange at the end of the backbone.
The question becomes how the upper gap is dealt with.

Too cold to continue tonight and I hope to have some answer from Spidercars in the morning.

[jbcollier]

The angle is more like 3 degrees.  Whatever the castor setting is…

Went and checked:  3° +- 30'

[Richard48Y]

I think I may finally be past the point of dismantling anything significant.
From here on out it "should" all be reassembly. 
In trying to get a grip on the budget to complete the restoration, not including paint, I came across an old thread, What does your Europa look like *today* ?
Horrified to have to say that "Today" mine looks like less than a pile of parts since even the chassis is in pieces. 
I also went through several tire threads, it looks like I will use Toyo 888R 185/60's all around for performance driving days.
I will get another set of less expensive standard tires to fit my Cosmic rims for car shows or times when I want to preserve the Toyo's.
Target now is to be on the road for no more than an additional $5K.
So the rear disc brake conversion is a Go, front upgrade has to wait and may never really be needed.
Lots of details to be done but I have many of the parts just waiting for warmer weather.

[Richard48Y]

Spydercars replied with additional pics.
They are not as clear as I had hoped as everything is painted black, which hides detail pretty well. 
I am going to mock mine up and send them pics for confirmation that I have it right before any welding.

[TurboFource]

Is that porosity in the lower right weld in the first picture?

[Richard48Y]

No porosity but I will hit some of the weld beads with a sanding pad before paint.

Still no additional reply from Spydercars to clarify the details of installing the new T piece.
I am going to finish washing up, tack welding, and painting the inside of the chassis tomorrow.
From there I would very much like to put the new frame head on.

Can anyone supply a pic of the attachment of a Spydercars T section where it is welded to the original chassis?
They supplied two tapered and angled plates.
I am unsure if I am to remove the original flange or not before welding them in place.
I really just need a good rear side view, the top and bottom procedure is clear enough.

One thing I plan to do differently than Lotus or Spydercars (From what I can tell) is to plug-weld the attaching plates near the backbone rather than just along the edge.
I believe this will be much stronger and reduce the leverage applied to the joint.

[Richard48Y]

OK, original end flanges are removed per latest instruction.
Orientation of the new flanges is confirmed.
Just a little more paint removal while the frame is light and easy to move, then I will be ready to put the new head back on. 
The Spydercars head is not fit as the original was.

[Richard48Y]

Got a moderate size box from Salv Sacco today.
This puts me a lot closer to assembling my engine.
I now have a correct head gasket, adjustable cam gear, and Maxspeeding rods as well as mundane gaskets and seals.
Still need the head reworked and the crank ground but I will take any progress I can get.

[Richard48Y]

Did the final rust and old paint removal from the Lotus frame.
The most difficult areas to clean are around the transmission mount that fills with crud/gear oil, and the base of the Y where it joins the back bone that had a thick layer of original yellow paint and old oil.
The sand blaster was not being effective at the Y so I hit it with my scaling tool.
That helped a lot and the sand blaster finished it up.

Got my POR-15 cleaner and prep from Summit Racing.
I will vacuum and rinse the sand out before applying these.
Tomorrow is supposed to over 50ºf, so I hope to paint the inside of the frame with POR-15 Black.
The outside has to wait until I get the new frame head in place.
I did use the sand blaster along all the welded frame head seams to remove scale.
Really hoping to have the frame repairs done this weekend.

[Richard48Y]

POR-15 has been applied to the inside of the chassis at last. 
Even with the frame head off this was not easy.
Had to brush it on, not a task I want to repeat soon.
Weather was not ideal but I cannot wait months.
If it cures a bit slower that is fine.

[Richard48Y]

Hmm, POR-15 seems to have cured overnight.

Got the new end flanges welded on today.
The hardest part of doing this is finding a good surface to measure the 3º angle from.
I hope to get the frame head welded on tomorrow.

[Richard48Y]

Behind schedule as always.
There is an old saying about perfectionism. 
I have got this as good as is reasonably possible without information and tooling that is not really available.

One delay was that I had to space the chassis about 1/4" above the table to align the frame head properly.
The bottom of the head is not flat, there are also weld beads that push it up off the table when it is tilted to 3º.
I abused some machining parallels to jig it all up.
Finally just about ready to weld, Cleco fasteners so that I do not have to work so hard aligning it again.
I did touch up the POR-15 inside the chassis where it burned off from welding.
I am a believer in plug welds and have added a few to the new flanges.
This way it will not just be an edge holding the head in place.
I have cut and fit the top reinforcement piece and made a couple of small dressing plates.

[jbcollier]

Ah, that's what those side pieces were for.  Interesting.

[Richard48Y]

Frame head is fully welded at last. 

It may not be perfect but almost has to be much better than the rusty and warped piece I removed.
A Spydercars frame head should be an upgrade, too bad they are somewhat reluctant to sell them as a standard DIY part even if only for export.

My welds are not show quality but I know my penetration is good.
Since the BOTTOM is also welded and the additional tie-plate is in place this will be much stronger than original, no more frame cracks!

I have clean up and inspection to do, then touch up welds as needed.
Once that is done I will weld on the body and pedal mounting plate.

Pics once I have the clean up done.

[TurboFource]