New Member / College Student in Florida

[Sander_Sorok_40]

Hello everyone, and thank you for adding me to the group!

My name is Sander Sorok, and I currently go to school and live in Melbourne, Florida, USA. I grew in Boston, Massachusetts, but moved down to Florida about 2 years ago. I am a mechanical engineering major with a physics minor.

Growing up, I always loved cars and racing. I began racing RC cars when I was around eight years old and moved to go karts when I was 12. I raced indoor karts for many years and earned track records at my local tracks. I moved to an outdoor single speed kart when I was 16 and a shifter kart when I was 17.

Going to school for mechanical engineering has allowed me to grow an appreciation for car mechanics and engineering. As a result, I have become increasingly fascinated with lightweight race cars. Hence, why I am here.

I am looking to purchase (after I graduate) an S2 Europa to 4AGE swap and put an NG3 into. I think this will make an excellent project for me, and I can't wait to get started on it.

I joined the group hoping to meet some new people and make some friends in the Lotus community.

Currently, I own a 1997 NA Miata, so I don't know if I will ever own a car with more than two seats haha.

P.S. If anyone has a Europa in the Florida Space Coast area and would like to meet up for a cruise. Let me know!

Hope everyone is doing well, and thank you for adding me to the group!

Sander

[TurboFource]

Welcome!

[Sander_Sorok_40]

Thank you!

[BDA]

  Sander!!

I believe at least one of us is in your general area.

The 4AGE is a nice swap. There was a guy who developed a “kit” for them, but I think he’s moved on.

A more common swap is a the Ford Zetec. Our own LotusJoe is a veteran of that swap.

Hopefully you’ll find your baby and the time and money to work on her soon!

[literarymadness]

  There are a couple really nice, and knowledgeable, guys in your area (two in Melbourne and one in Orlando) that own Europas and at least a half dozen more down the coast. I live down in Broward County and know and plan on making a trip up there to meet up with some of the Europa guys.  I am a professor at Broward College. Nice to see a Gen Z into Europas. Feel free to PM me.

[dakazman]

   
 Sander!
    I’m sure the good weather didn’t play into your decision to study down here. 🤔😂😂😂
I’m 20 minutes away. PM me 😎, I’m currently building an S2 mostly stock for now but with some mods coming. You can see into one first hand.
Dakazman

[Sander_Sorok_40]

Response to BDA:

John Pels used to sell a kit. I actually managed to find his email (yay for web stocking), and he's trying to see if he can get them made again because he has had a couple of people interested in the past week. If anyone else is interested, let me know and I can get you in contact with him. (You can PM me here or email me at sandersorok@gmail.com)

The Zetec is a great swap, but I am especially interested in the high revving nature of the Yamaha developed head on the 4AGE. I think I want to go for the 20 valve silver top (not black top) because it has a few aspects that I like more than the black top. The black top has a slightly higher compression ratio of 11:1 instead of 10.5:1 due to different piston shape (no not easily interchangeable to the silver top), the black top also has a slightly higher intake cam lift (2mm), and the black top has a wider and quieter cam belt as well as a couple of other features. That all sounds great (so I know you're wondering why I don't want to black top), but the silver top has a spring idler pulley that is more reliable than the hydraulic one found in the black top, and the silver top has stronger rods which are better for high rpm applications. Obviously, these engines overall are really close in terms of specs (I could easily change my mind tomorrow if I find some new info), but the big seller for me is the simplified cam belt tensioner. Since the black top is an interference engine (unlike the silver top), if the hydraulic cam belt tensioner went, it could cause the engine to skip timing and... I think you get the picture. You can change the black top to have the spring idler on the cam belt, but it's a pain.

Thanks for the kind words, and sorry about the long response! (hopefully it wasn't too boring)

Response to literarymadness:

Wow, that's great!!! I am still kind of new to the car scene in Brevard County, so I had no idea that there were Europa guys just down the street! I go to Florida Tech, and thank you for the kind words as well.

Response to dakazman:

Hahaha, it's funny you mention the weather. Warm weather was DEFINITELY an important factor for me. (Racing year around yippee)

Thanks so much! I wouldn't miss the opportunity to see an S2 in real life!

[EuropaTC]

Hi Sander, and another 

We used to have one of the first MX5's (Miata over there) and it was a brilliant car, I only sold it to buy another Lotus.  My brother in law bought one (MX5) after driving ours and has upgraded with every model since, they are that addictive !

But a Lotus of almost any variety is a whole different ball game....   if you like the Miata, you'll love a Lotus.

Brian

[BDA]

Not boring at all! It sounds like you’ve done your research and made a good choice for the direction you want to go! If John Pels makes more kit, that will be a big help. Good luck and make sure you keep us up to date on how things go when you get started (we love pictures!).

[Bainford]

Welcome to the forum, Sander. 
It seems you have great plans for an exciting project. Good luck with it all.

[Sander_Sorok_40]

Response to Europa TC:

Haha, the Miata is a great car, and I am very excited to get a Lotus.

Response to BDA:

Oh good, I thought maybe I was yapping for too long haha. Thank you, and I will be sure to keep everyone up to date!

Response to Bainford:

Thank you! I appreciate it!

[RoddyMac]

Sander,
Good to see you've joined the forum, there are lots of knowledegable people on here that should be able to answer any questions you may have.  Good luck with your search for a car and getting an adapter.  I did forget to mention in the email I sent you, that a friend of mine here in Vancouver (he sold me my car) has a 20V powered S2.   I think his is a Silvertop, but I can't be certain.

Rod

[Sander_Sorok_40]

Thank you, and that's so cool! Is there any chance that I could get in contact with him to ask a couple of questions...? If so, feel free to email me or PM me.

Thanks for your time,

Sander

[surfguitar58]

 
As a Boston based mechanical engineer who only WISHES he was in Florida this time of year, WELCOME TO THE FORUM!  Looking forward to hearing about your progress living your Europa dreams. If you are ever slumming it back in theBoston area, I live in Marblehead and would be happy to show off my little TCS (after it comes out of storage in May).
Tom

[Sander_Sorok_40]

Haha, thank you! Ya, I hate Boston weather...

That sounds great! I will be sure to let you know.

Sander