My Type 54 to sort of 47 Conversion

[RoddyMac]

John,
I don't think that's quite true.  In my research or at least from what I've read, the oil coolers were mounted up front not in the engine bay.  I have seen a picture (somewhere on the interwebs) that shows the cold air box on the RH side, but I've yet to see a picture of the LH vent from the engine bay.

[Serge]

Correct, the oil coolers are up front, on the opposite side of the radiator. I have a book called 'Lotus 47, Specification and maintenance notes' with a lot of articles and press releases. I'll try to find some photographs of the LH intake scoop.

[RoddyMac]

I managed to achieve my goal of spraying a second coat of high build primer over the weekend.  But, the body still has a bunch of pin holes/voids etc.  It looks like I'll be spending another weekend filling and sanding.  I had hoped that this coat of primer would be the last, and I could do the final wet sand, but sadly it wont be. 

The good new is the HVLP gun that I picked up last summer works a treat for spraying primer as it produces very little over spray (no upset neighbours etc).  I had used it over the winter on Dad's MG, but didn't really pay attention to what was going on around me.

Anyways, here's a few pictures:







Rod

 

[BDA]

I don't see any pin holes! 

It looks great, Roddy! She's coming along nicely!

[RoddyMac]

I've had the past four days off work and have managed to get some work done on the car. First off, I had the car flat decked to my parents place (better garage):



And, I borrowed an engine hoist to put the motor and gearbox back into the chassis, I had made up some better motor mounts but still had to do some modifications to them to get the motor to sit level.  This took up the bulk of Friday's work:





Also, after getting the engine in place, I discovered that with the chassis I've designed, I can't use a rod shifter set up.  So, I'll be using a cable shift instead. This will hopefully be a lot easier to snake around the engine.  I already have a modified Toyota shift lever assembly, so fingers crossed it will work.

Next up was fitting the body to the chassis with the engine in place.  I hoped to not have to cut a hole in the firewall, but that didn't work out.  The motor protrudes into the cockpit by about a half inch.  The upside to the firewall hole is I now have access to the front of the motor.



I then "dressed up" the motor and called it a day.



 Tomorrow I'll be back at it, the goal is to have the pedal box to chassis bracket make up, the filler necks tacked together and maybe start on the center console.



Rod

[BDA]

Roddy, that's looking great! You should be proud! I think the Ztech motor has belt driven cams and if so, you probably should make sure you can change the belt without taking the motor out.

[RoddyMac]

I managed to get two and a half days in the garage this past weekend which seemed to fly by.  Friday started off with making some flanges on the doors for the plexi side windows:



I had previously filled in the slot where the stock window passed through.  Now I'll need to find a suitable seal for the window, I'm hoping to find some furflex small enough to do it.

I also spent some time fitting some "oddie" plates to the front and rear lids.  I made up a dimple tool to press the plates, then recessed them into the body so that they are flush fitting:



This did require some reinforcing on the backside of the panels.  I'll be modifying some Dzus fasteners to the appropriate length once I get the Dzus springs fitted to the body.

Saturday and Sunday were a blur, I spent some time making up a pedal box brace that connects the pedal box directly to the chassis.  Unfortunately there's no picture of it yet.  It still requires some work.  I also turned some escutcheons for the door latch buttons, I may make another set with the flange slightly smaller, but that can happen at a later date:



My helper kindly spend some more time sanding and filling the doors while I got on with other tasks:



I made up a bracket for the coolant expansion tank, but I'm not too happy with it.  The tank isn't quite level, but I at least have it where I want it:



I've also fitted the handbrake lever, though this will require some surgery to clear everything:



And at the end of Sunday I rolled the car out on the driveway to take some overall pictures.  Upon reviewing them I was shocked to see how low the Europa is compared to my mums Fiat.  Though, the rear springs are way way too soft and the dampers are resting on the bump stops, but even raising the back end a few inches the car would still be under the side mirrors of the 500.



One final thing, I've been told by my helper that the car must be painted the same blue as my old Eleven.  So, I now don't have to worry about finding the correct "cirrus white" paint code.


Rod

[BDA]

You (and your helper) are doing a great job! Thanks for the pictures!

[Chuck Nukem]

Looks great!!!

[RoddyMac]

I forgot to post this pic.....



Dear old dad decided that the 1/24th Europa TC model kit that I had safely stored away in his basement should be turned into a slot car.  I tried to convince him to paint it black, but he chose red.  He's yet to tell me how it runs though.

[BDA]

Very nice, but I'll bet your car will be more fun!

[TCS4605R]

Rod,

Tell me about your hand brake - what car did it come from - cable details?

Thanks.

Tom

[jbcollier]

Looks like one from an MGB.  Some people have made this mod.

[RoddyMac]

Tom & John,
The lever is ex-Healey Sprite, but it's not a direct bolt in, nor have I sorted the cables out yet.  With the tube chassis I have excellent access to the tunnel portion, so routing and attaching cables is a doddle.  I did have to flip the mechanism, which involved some cutting and welding, and I've yet to re-bend the rod that actuates the pawl.  It would have been simpler to use an MGB handle, but I much prefer the look of the Sprite one, plus I had one gathering dust in the garage/   

[RoddyMac]

Yikes, it's been a month since I last updated my build log.  Over the past few weeks it has been more of the same, sand, fill, sand fill, sand, fill etc.  But, all of that has now come to an end.  I spent Saturday shooting the last coat of high build primer and found just a hand full of pin holes.  These were easily filled by dabbing on a bit of high build that was left in the mixing cup, so no more bloody pinholes! The body will get a guide coat next weekend, then a wet sand and it's ready for the paint booth. Now I just have to find one to use....



Today saw me paint the engine bay and front compartment.  I chose gloss black because, A) I already had 3/4 of a gallon of it, and B) the semigloss black paint shows oil spots. 



I also sprayed the inner wheel arches body colour, but didn't get any pics of that.

Also, last weekend I started on the rad mounting: 



Hopefully the Civic rad will be up to the task of cooling a Zetec.

And, I couldn't resist hanging the carbs and exhaust back on the motor with the freshly painted engine bay:



I really do need to clean up the gearbox.