Europa and Alpine

[Dilkris]

Anybody looked at the similarity of the original Renault Alpine A110 and the Europa...? I wonder if this gave ACBC his inspiration for the Europa - Google it - Renault had the same drive train configuration and kept the radiator in the rear ( ) - AND, best of all - Alpine still make the A110, albeit a refined version with an aluminum body and 0-60 mph in the 4s range. (I want one....)

I guess had things been different, our Europa's would have developed into something similar.           

[Bainford]

I love the A110. I desired one until the price rose out of range. A lovely little car that would look right at home in the garage next to the Europa.

[jbcollier]

The Alpines are rear engined cars with swing-axles (except the very last ones), quite different from a Europa.

[TurboFource]

I have wondered why Lotus did not use a round main chassis member like on the Alpine as it would have been better torsionally.

[jbcollier]

Space.  They had more height than width thus the non-round "tube".

[TurboFource]

There is definitely a lot going through the chassis!

[GavinT]

I have wondered why Lotus did not use a round main chassis member like on the Alpine as it would have been better torsionally.

Great minds and all that, Turbo.
The Alpine tube is fairly small by comparison, though . . . but I have wondered about using two 6" diameter tubes stacked one above the other for the Europa backbone.
I'd think that'd be torsionally superior (by a fair bit) for a small weight penalty and you get to locate the coolant tubes outside the chassis which is a good idea in a warm climate where I am.

A friend of mine is an aero engineer and he's done some study work on the Europa chassis. He reckons the torsional rigidity isn't all it might be because the sides flex.
He was also somewhat scathing of the access hole in the top which he says contributes to this. He says to bolt a cover over the access hole. The other option was to fold up a similar backbone but with much larger radius on the corners.

[dakazman]

    I too love the design of the A110 . probably why we can source parts from here.  http://www.mecaparts.com/index.php

  Dakazman
 

[4129R]

Two coolant pipes, gear change rod, speedo cable, oil pressure pipe, choke cable, heater valve cable, hand brake cable.

I often wonder how they tightened the hand brake cable on the production line. Presumably done before the chassis and body were joined. 

[4129R]

He was also somewhat scathing of the access hole in the top which he says contributes to this. He says to bolt a cover over the access hole.

Big enough to get both hands in to adjust the hand brake cable.

[GavinT]

Big enough to get both hands in to adjust the hand brake cable.

Hmm . . it should be possible to adjust the cable with one hand.

Step 1. Attach locking pliers to cable ferrule to stop it rotating.
Step 2. Turn the nut on the threaded portion to the desired position.

[4129R]

Big enough to get both hands in to adjust the hand brake cable.

Hmm . . it should be possible to adjust the cable with one hand.

Step 1. Attach locking pliers to cable ferrule to stop it rotating.
Step 2. Turn the nut on the threaded portion to the desired position.

2 lock nuts 1/2" spanner. I suppose a pair of mole grips down the hole, unlock the nuts with 1 spanner, them tighten very slowly.

Personally I use spacers at the other end where the cable goes into the trailing arm. I cut a channel out of the right sized nut, feed the nut over the thin cable, and that pushes the outer away from the trailing arm enough to take up the slack cable. You can get at lease 2 x 1/2" nuts 1 each side, which takes up a lot of slack. You could make a threaded adjuster to go here which would make tightening the cable very easy.

[GavinT]

2 lock nuts 1/2" spanner. I suppose a pair of mole grips down the hole, unlock the nuts with 1 spanner, them tighten very slowly.

Ahhh . . I see the problem.

When reassembling the car, you 86 those two nuts and replace them with a single Nyloc nut.
The beautiful people seize on the weight saving opportunity and use a half height Nyloc.

I use a pair of those pointy nose locking pliers on the cable ferrule because the usual more bull nosed ones don't really have enough room.
There's also a small version of the pointy nose ones which would be handy for all sorts of these operations.

But the job is still a PITA, of course. Luckily it's not needed often.

[Dilkris]

2 lock nuts 1/2" spanner. I suppose a pair of mole grips down the hole, unlock the nuts with 1 spanner, them tighten very slowly.

Ahhh . . I see the problem.

When reassembling the car, you 86 those two nuts and replace them with a single Nyloc nut.
The beautiful people seize on the weight saving opportunity and use a half height Nyloc.

I use a pair of those pointy nose locking pliers on the cable ferrule because the usual more bull nosed ones don't really have enough room.
There's also a small version of the pointy nose ones which would be handy for all sorts of these operations.

But the job is still a PITA, of course. Luckily it's not needed often.

  Is there anything that isn't a PITA on a Europa...?? 

[jbcollier]

Driving