1975 TCS 4163R

[SteelCityLotus]

I wanted to post a few pictures of my new car, 4163R. These were all provided by the previous owner. I haven't taken any nice ones since getting it home.
I need to make/buy a new arm-rest pad because mine is missing. Other than that, the car is remarkably complete.
The paint on the passenger fender is cracked, but that seems like a somewhat common issue with fiberglass cars. I will probably leave it alone and go for the "survivor" look for a while. I'm far more interested in sorting out the mechanicals than repainting the car.

Let me know if more experienced eyes notice anything unique or concerning about the car. So far, everything has been in very good shape and should just need a refresh to get running and driving again.

[TurboFource]

 

[BDA]

She looks like an original Europa! The paint looks original. It looks like its body has been off (orange frame). You'd be surprised what ashtray's go for!!! 

I think it's likely that the boosters are gone. They can be rebuilt (whitepost.com seem to be able to restore anything). There are more modern Lockheed units (I got mine from Dave Bean but places like Moss probably sell them). and the other option is to replace your master cylinder with a smaller one. The people who do that don't seem to mind the extra pedal travel. Of course the rest of your brakes should be high on the list of things to check out. The original master cylinder is no longer available. If you want to keep the same dia. M/C,  I think I heard that a Triumph Spitfire M/C has the same bore and whitepost.com can help you too. They line the bores with brass for greater longevity. The rear brake cylinders are available as are rebuild kits for the front calipers. I would not try to rebuild the rear cylinders. They are pretty inexpensive.

Good luck and keep us informed!

[Bainford]

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your Lotus acquisition. It’s a good looking car. Good luck with getting it sorted, and keep us posted. 

[jbcollier]

Looks like a good "honest" car.

+1 on leaving the paint until later, if ever.

Tire pressure decal for the inside of the glovebox is available from RD Enterprises.

All new cooling hoses, flush the transfer tubes and get the rad cleaned and rodded out (have them check the internal baffle is still in place!).

Remove and plug off the black vacuum hose running between the two carbs.

Replace and fix the interesting fuel hose routing and fuel filter placement!

Usual complete tune up (valve adjust and replace ignition bits for new)

Change oil and filter.  Before fitting the new filter, use a BIG syringe to force oil into the pump and engine.  Fit the filter and oil and then spin it up without spark plugs until you get oil pressure.

Drain and refill the transaxle (check the level regularly in the first year of driving: DO NOT RUN LOW ON OIL)

Check your wheel bearings, u-joints and suspension bushings very carefully.

I'd bin the boosters myself.  You'll then lose miles of brake piping and it is so much easier to bleed.

Etc, etc

[Lou Drozdowski]

Steel city...Congrats, Your build date was in November of 73.
Looks like most everything important is there...
Agree with the prior posts and put the cosmetics on the back burner.

Think rubber...all fuel lines, belts, coolant hoses. Flush and change all fluids, drain the fuel and make sure the T fitting between the carbs is metal not plastic...

Can you spin the motor by hand?...any traces of leaks at the h2o pump or head?
Compression test...put ATF in the carbs, check the diaphram's.
Plugs, points, cap, rotor, coil, & valves adjusted should keep you busy for a while.

Get it running first, keep us posted...Good luck!
   

[gideon]

Welcome and congratulations. 

My guess is that the cracking on the right hand fender is the result of a minor collision.  I have some similar cracking in the paint on my car, near an old repair.  The fiberglass has been forced to flex more than it usually does at some point and this caused the cracking.  I doubt this is a cause for concern, but you might want to take a close look at the body in that neighborhood to check for an old repair.  The clues will likely be on the inside.  A repair would interrupt the pattern of fiberglass strands on the rough inner surface.  I would also leave the original paintwork, cracks and all.  A buff and polish could do wonders.  Hmmm, I'm sure there were some useful details in an other thread about that somewhere...

[JR73]

 

Looks like you have a pretty complete Europa and a good starting point.

I would start by checking the chassis for any obvious signs of damage around the front - where the front box meets the backbone in particular (T section) as looking at the pics I would assume it has had some sort of impact to that front passenger wing area  - the cracking of the paint is coming through from the fibreglass and most likely due to previous damage that hasn’t been repaired fully. Also looks to have been resprayed in that area too.
The reason I say check the chassis is that although it appears to be red/orange in the engine bay you can see that it has been painted that colour where it can be easily reached and the rest appears to be black - if it was an all red/orange chassis I would guess it has been changed (maybe as part of a repair) but seeing that it has been painted orange where it can be seen I would start questioning if someone was trying to pass it off as having had the chassis swapped (Spyder chassis are that colour) in order to distract from checking the front end closely.... (have seen similar things done quite a few times unfortunately). Is there a closing plate under the front?

Look forward to seeing your progress and more pics.

[SteelCityLotus]

Steel city...Congrats, Your build date was in November of 73.
Looks like most everything important is there...
Agree with the prior posts and put the cosmetics on the back burner.

Think rubber...all fuel lines, belts, coolant hoses. Flush and change all fluids, drain the fuel and make sure the T fitting between the carbs is metal not plastic...

Can you spin the motor by hand?...any traces of leaks at the h2o pump or head?
Compression test...put ATF in the carbs, check the diaphram's.
Plugs, points, cap, rotor, coil, & valves adjusted should keep you busy for a while.

Get it running first, keep us posted...Good luck!
 

Thanks for the tips Lou. Also nice to see another PA Lotus enthusiast!
The motor turns over. I made sure that was the case before purchase.
I checked the coolant expansion tank  (the one in the engine bay) and the coolant was Incredible Hulk green and not hazey. I didn't check at the radiator yet, but I will tomorrow morning. No immediate visible leaks of coolant. I suspect they would have dried up in the time it sat. The status of the water pump haunts my dreams.
No compression check yet. I may try that tomorrow and see if my wife will turn the engine over for me.
I replaced needle and seats, diaphragm, and set float height on carbs. Those go back in tomorrow and will get filled with ATF.

Is the valve cover gasket reusable? I don't have a spare on hand if I pull it to check the valves.

[SteelCityLotus]

Looks like you have a pretty complete Europa and a good starting point.

I would start by checking the chassis for any obvious signs of damage around the front - where the front box meets the backbone in particular (T section) as looking at the pics I would assume it has had some sort of impact to that front passenger wing area  - the cracking of the paint is coming through from the fibreglass and most likely due to previous damage that hasn’t been repaired fully. Also looks to have been resprayed in that area too.
The reason I say check the chassis is that although it appears to be red/orange in the engine bay you can see that it has been painted that colour where it can be easily reached and the rest appears to be black - if it was an all red/orange chassis I would guess it has been changed (maybe as part of a repair) but seeing that it has been painted orange where it can be seen I would start questioning if someone was trying to pass it off as having had the chassis swapped (Spyder chassis are that colour) in order to distract from checking the front end closely.... (have seen similar things done quite a few times unfortunately). Is there a closing plate under the front?

Look forward to seeing your progress and more pics.

I'll take a good look tomorrow and see if I can find any evidence of a collision.
I did my best to check for accident damage during the initial evaluation. None of the body work was out of sorts, but I agree that body movement is the most likely cause for paint to crack like that.

[jbcollier]

Usually the valve cover gasket cannot be reused.

[Bainford]

I checked the coolant expansion tank  (the one in the engine bay) and the coolant was Incredible Hulk green and not hazey. I didn't check at the radiator yet, but I will tomorrow morning. No immediate visible leaks of coolant. I suspect they would have dried up in the time it sat. The status of the water pump haunts my dreams.
No compression check yet. I may try that tomorrow and see if my wife will turn the engine over for me.
I replaced needle and seats, diaphragm, and set float height on carbs. Those go back in tomorrow and will get filled with ATF.

Is the valve cover gasket reusable? I don't have a spare on hand if I pull it to check the valves.

When checking/replacing coolant hoses, be sure to consider the two small, elbow shaped hoses that connect the heater core to the steel pipes. These are located behind the centre portion of the dash, and are easily missed. When I bought my car, the PO said all coolant hoses were replaced, but the heater core hoses were missed. Two weeks after I received the car one of the hoses burst, filling the passenger foot well with coolant. Made quite a mess.

[Bainford]

Usually the valve cover gasket cannot be reused.

Another note; if purchasing a cam cover gasket, be sure to get the standard (thick) cork gasket. I bought a couple gaskets a few years ago, but when they arrived I found they were a very thin composite gasket. Probably a superior gasket, but they are not suitable for the Europa. The extra thickness is needed to accommodate the camshaft seal for the alternator drive at the back of the cylinder head.

[SteelCityLotus]

Welcome and congratulations. 

My guess is that the cracking on the right hand fender is the result of a minor collision.  I have some similar cracking in the paint on my car, near an old repair.  The fiberglass has been forced to flex more than it usually does at some point and this caused the cracking.  I doubt this is a cause for concern, but you might want to take a close look at the body in that neighborhood to check for an old repair.  The clues will likely be on the inside.  A repair would interrupt the pattern of fiberglass strands on the rough inner surface.  I would also leave the original paintwork, cracks and all.  A buff and polish could do wonders.  Hmmm, I'm sure there were some useful details in an other threead about that somewhere...

Spot on! I checked the fender well and found a good amount of epoxy/resin that did not match the black color of the rest of the lining. With the front (boot/trunk lid?) lifted, I can see the difference in paint color between original and repaired paint color. It's definitely a bummer, but the profile was replicated correctly and I'm not looking to win any Pebble Beach concourse awards.