1972 Lotus Europa Twin Cam NO LONGER A ?

[MAK]

TA DA!  Picked up the car today, drove it the 38 miles back home over the Blue Ridge mountains, the road is a mini version of the Tail of the Dragon, car is clearly more capable than the driver - took it very easy - going into the pick up the only way I can express how nervous I was is - do you remember being in the 7th grade and asking a girl to dance - it felt the same. I haven't really driven a stick since I sold my 73 Alfa spyder in 1979, and for the past 25 years my butt has been planted in Jag's; Audi's and Mercedes - and the Europa is nothing like those. 
Okay he is my reaction to the car:
1. Heater is probably shot - seller said he never used it, and it looks like a mess.
2. Paint is clearly a 10' car - orange peel, over spray, horrible taping job and I mean horrible.
3. 1st gear was a bear to find - screwed it up 4 times, stalled twice. once in 1st the rest were easy - it's most likely me not the car.
4. Very windy today gusts to 20mph - effected the car more than I would have thought. my MB wagon has crosswind stabilization, so I'm spoiled
5. Too nervous to really push the car on the turns - but it could have definitely taken them quicker. I was definitely in major "snowflake" mode.
6. Window washer bag is also toast. - no big deal.
7. Car appears to have headers - see pics - didn't notice that on 1st inspection. dumb
8. Driving position wasn't what I expected, legs forced to the left - again could be me. But liked everyone says - more comfortable that expected.
9. Dashboard was replaced, veneered in Chestnut - seller gave the rest of the Chestnut along with the old dash.

Seller also gave 2 boxes of parts, haven't gone thru yet, a 13" Lacarra steering wheel, set of Lotus staggered rims and New still has factory stickers "old" Federal tires staggered.

Will do paint correction 1st, because I know how to do that, and then deal with what I suspect is broken - cracked exhaust pipe, repaired with some kind of tape - pic, heater and anything that rears its ugly head.
Buyer's remorse? NONE, absolutely not! 

Thanks to everyone! I couldn't be more thrilled to have finally be part of the Europa community with 1 of my very own.

[BDA]

Welcome to the "Experience!" 

1st gear - don't blame yourself so quickly. slop and imprecise shifting is fairly common and it is usually the fault of one or more worn joints in the linkage. Start at the shift lever. There are nylon bushings at the bottom of the shift lever where it hooks up with the rest of the linkage. SJ Sportscars sells brass replacements which should be much more durable (https://www.sjsportscars.com/parts-and-accessories/SJ535.htm). Then work your way to the tranny making sure that all the joints are solid.

Not feeling comfortable to push it - obviously you should be cautious with a car that's new to you. Should the car feel unsettled - especially on the highway - check your rear toe (the spec in the manual is the toe for each wheel), all your suspension link pivots and u-joints - including the mount for the radius arm, and all bearings. If your car feels vague or nervous or like it will jump several lanes if you move the steering wheel the slightest bit, you may need new shocks.

Window washer bags are still available. I also saw two heater cores (both in England) on ebay. I thought I had seen the box the core goes in somewhere but I can't locate it just now.

driving position - your legs are actually slightly toward the right or middle of the car because the steering column is angled slightly inward. I don't even notice it unless I'm looking for it.

Overall, it seems likt things are going pretty well! I'm glad you got her home where you can take care of her like she deserves!

[EuropaTC]

Hi again,
Although you say the paint isn't good, orange peel is probably one of the simpler things to correct, it usually polishes out with a bit of effort.

BDA has already listed the main gearchange problems, it is a long linkage with several places for wear which add up to a very sloppy change.

The biggest problem I found with mine was the lack of tension when going into reverse (352 box) which always made me slow to drop down gears. I ended up adding an extra spring underneath the lever and several on here have designed their own mods to make it harder to accidentally get reverse. The one Peter (?) designed with a tube arrangement that you need to lift - like some modern cars - is probably the easiest to live with. If you do a search on the forum you should find plenty of threads where we've complained/come up with solutions before !

I saw the exhaust header on your first photos and it made me think someone has taken trouble with the car. The OEM cast iron one doesn't have matched tube lengths but despite that is supposedly good for 130bhp-ish. Yours looks a more considered design and I'd expect it to flow better than the CI one, so if I were you I'd try to fix whatever's wrong rather than start again.

One thing I would strongly suggest is to check over the fuel lines. They are easily overlooked and we've all seen petrol fires in these cars over the years, usually caused by perished fuel lines. That's without the ethanol content of modern fuels so I'd suggest top of your "to do" list would be to replace those with some decent quality fuel injection hose, R9 spec is what I've used on my cars.  When I replaced the braided hoses on the Elan I was shocked at how thin the hose wall thickness was and the poor condition beneath that shiny stainless braiding.

Brian

[Bainford]

Congratulations!! That's a fine looking Europa driver, needing just a little love to make it great. 

Webers, and an ashtray... that's the Europa Zenith.

[Kendo]

Adding to EuropaTC’s suggestion of replacing the fuel lines, there is a Tee in the lines splitting the gas to both carbs. The original was plastic. If yours still is, don’t drive it at all until you replace it with a brass Tee. The plastic ones break easily and cause fuel fires.

Shifting: aside from finding all of the slop in the long linkage and fixing it, Renault trannies are known to be kind of slow; you have to ease them from gear to gear. They won’t quickly snick from gear to gear no matter how well sorted the gear change is.

[S2Zetec54]

Welcome and well done.....cracking looking Europa

All the very best

[EuropaTC]

there is a Tee in the lines splitting the gas to both carbs. The original was plastic. If yours still is, don’t drive it at all until you replace it with a brass Tee. The plastic ones break easily and cause fuel fires.

To reinforce this, on my car the plastic T piece was located almost directly off the RH tank, pipes came from both LH & RH tanks to this T piece which then feeds the petrol pump. Depending on what arrangement you have from the petrol pump to the carbs, if you have braid covered lines then it's likely the T piece splitting the feed will be in metal. Basically unless you know the age of the system, replace the lot !

cheers
Brian

[Exlimey]

Again regarding fuel lines . I emptied my tanks and fitted a on/ off valve on the bottom of each,otherwise changing fuel filter etc is a fuel spill project.  Good luck with the new car.

[cazman]

Have a link to the valves that you used. I have been looking.

[Kendo]

Yes, exlimey, valves sound like a great idea. Do you have a link to what you used, or suggest using? I’ve done a lot of, pull a hose, fill a container, push the hose back on, dump container appropriately, repeat ad nauseum until the tanks are drained.

[MAK]

Thanks to all of you for the support,
Haven't had time today to look for that plastic T - will do before I drive it again. Haven't been to the DMV to get tags yet, I drove it home using a 3-day transport permit. Although I lusted for a Europa for a very long time, my real fetish is station wagons, the big 1970's - 1980's wagons with the wood grain decal on the sides - really partial to Mercury Colony Parks - had 4 - 3 new and in 2013 got a 85 with 56,000 miles.  The Mercedes wagon is my 9th and only got that because my wife forbid me on getting another. When you brought up the plastic part it reminded there is a plastic part in Fords transmissions that will break without any warning and ruin the entire transmission, guess why I know HAHA. There is a brass replacement the costs $10.00 and is nothing to put on, or you can let it break and buy a new transmission, it is the 1st thing I replaced even on the 2 new cars and certainly on the 85. So a plastic part that could kill you will definitely be looked at, if it is still there, I really wonder why? this car is 53 years old wouldn't you think someone would have replaced by now!

anyway thanks will definitely check and replace if it's still there.

Pictures 89 Colony Park - my last new, and the silver 85 that I got in 2013

[BDA]

Europas and station wagons are certainly an odd pairing!

[TurboFource]

Wagons are 

[EuropaTC]

That brings back memories. When I was around 11 we went over there to visit my aunt/mum's sister and she had something very similar to that although as it would be around '62/'63, obviously not that model. But I'd never seen a car so long or so wide that just seemed to float along.

It was a massive thing and for a kid who thought a Morris 1000 or an A35 was how cars should be, it was another world. Even now I can remember us all piling in that and another big car my uncle drove and we all set off from Rockford and drove down to Florida, stopping off in places along the way.

Brian