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[EuropaS2]

Hi everyone, I am new to the forum and just recently bought my first Europa a few days ago. I had been passively looking for a Europa for a while and this one popped up very close to me- turns out I have driven past this car everyday for the last 4 and a half years!- and at a very good price, or so I think. However, I am currently in the middle of other projects and this one will have to be on hold for a while while I get them done, in the meantime I would love to learn more about these awesome little cars.  The car is a 1970 S2 and is pretty much, if not completely, original and has been off the road since 79, it probably spent all or most of those years sitting outside in Washington which is anything but a good. Overall the body is in very nice shape although the original paint is chipping off and there is a crack in the nose, but there is some odd- maybe not, this is my first fiberglass car- damage done to the fiberglass behind the seats. Does anyone know how this could have happened or what may have caused this? However, my Europa is quite rusty, luckily the frame only has surface rust, but the seat rails are completely gone as well as the air cleaner(I have another, thankfully) and muffler, and the pedal assembly and seat frames are pretty much gone, there are also other misc. parts that are rusty but most of those seem savable. Are seat frames + rails and pedal assemblies available and about what do they run? As I was cleaning up the car, removing the 35 years worth of dirt, debris, and lifeforms, I decided to see if the engine would turn over by hand and it did so very easily! I am very glad to see my engine wasn't seized after sitting for so long. Here are some picture with a few accompanying questions:



Nose crack:





Air cleaner and part of the seat frames:

Muffler:

Seats:



Was electronic ignition stock?



Pedals:

Was this the Stock location for the ignition switch on a 70?

Anyone know what this is? I can't find any info on it. Sorry for the blurry pic.

Strange behind seat damage:



Was this a sticker or something that wore off or was there an emblem there that is missing?

[EuropaTC]

Hi and 

Hey, that air cleaner really has seen better days - that's a pretty good collection of rust you've got there !      But the rest of the car looks in good shape for something that's been off the road for so long, it looks a very practical restoration from the pictures.

There's lots of help, advice and information on these cars available, take a look around Joe's Link pages if you haven't done so already.

A surprising number of parts are still available, there are suppliers on your side of the pond plus probably the best UK Specialist, Banks Engineering, who will be able to supply most of what you want. All the cars are low-tech and many things can be fabricated yourself if need be.

I can't help with the rear damage, as a pure guess maybe someone has used a hydraulic jack in that area without spreading the load on the fibreglass and that's the problem ?   The last pictures is the world championship badge, a printed aluminium badge inside a chrome bezel. You might struggle to get the exact one, but you do see these things cropping up. 

Cheers

Brian (UK)

[buzzer]

Good Luck with it.  Quite a project car, hopefully the chassis and running gear has survived ok. There are as Brian says quite a few bits around, but you do need to hunt. As far as second hand parts you are probably best placed in the states.
Enjoy!

Dave

[4129R]

There is a LHD 1973 Europa Special in worse condition than that for sale in Hendon, Middlesex UK for £8,250 ($13,200). I think it is worth less than half of that.

I paid $4,900 recently for a tawny brown 1973 Europa Special in very similar condition to the OPs' red Washington registered S1/S2.

As a matter of interest, was the car bought for less than $4,000?

[Grumblebuns]

Man, you have your work cut out for you. Although over the years, I've seen worse examples brought back to life. First bit of advise is to buy some PB Blaster and start spraying all the nuts and bolts you come across. At this stage of ownership and the condition of the car, you may want to think about pulling the body to see what condition the frame is in, considering the car's location. To answer some of your questions:

- damaged area behind the seats: I've attached a picture showing the same type of damage on my spare S2 body.
  That area is made of some type of compressed wood material. If it gets wet, it'll crumble away as seen in your
  photo.
- seats: seats should be repairable. The frame and bottom/back sections are made of steel. Cut away the rusted parts
  and weld on new sections. The only part that is unavailable are the seat rails. Every once in a while someone makes
  up a batch of SS rails for sale.
- pedal assembly: available new from RD Enterprises or I have a used one for sale.
- ignition switch location: the early S2s had dash mounted switches, don't know when the column mounted switches
  started to be stock on S2s.
- world constructors badge: I believe that is what the fuzzy photo is showing. None of my S2s came with that badge.
  I believe only the TCs came with that one. See my photo

Overall, I think you have a good project car. Take a lot of pictures and notes as you disassemble the car for future reference. You'll be glad you did when you start putting back together again in  a few years. As Brian states, most of the parts are available. For the bits that are not, someone probably has a stash of them hidden away.

Joji Tokumoto
Fallbrook, Ca     

[BDA]

Welcome to the forum! 

It certainly looks like you have your work cut out for you, but that just means you have a blank slate for you to make it just the way you want! Obviously, it will be a lot of work, but Europas are pretty simple cars, parts are still available, and in fact there is a pretty good supply of upgrades.

Good luck and keep us informed of your progress!

[jjbunn]

Quite a project, looks like a lot of fun, and welcome! What is the VIN number on the car?

My '70 (0701R) had the ignition switch on the column like yours, but I moved it to the dash. My car also has the World Constructors badge. Electronic ignition was not standard - that looks like a more recent unit to me.

Those seats look crusty. Do you have a signature/initials on the backs of the seats - mine show "JS" :-)

Part of the fun I've been having with mine is repairing some damage to the fibreglass - so much easier than working with metal.

Good luck!

[Grumblebuns]

Forgot to add that on S2s, the manual is pretty adamant about not turning the engine over by the camshaft pulley bolt.
Something to do with breaking the camshaft if you do. Put the tranny in 4th and lift one wheel to turn the engine over.

[3929R]

 
RD has your badge http://www.rdent.com/

[EuropaS2]

Thanks everyone for the welcome and answers. 4129R, I spent $1600 for my car and I got an additional engine, tranny, hood, and some other misc. items. Grumblebuns, I don't have the ability to remove the body yet but I will probably be able to towards the end of the summer in the mean time though I plan to jack the car up to get a better look at the frame. Also thank you for informing me on how to turn over the engine I will make sure to do that next time. jjbunn, my VIN is earlier than yours I will post it after I register the car. I don't belive my seats have intials on the back, what do they stand for? Thanks for the link 3929R. Nobody knows what my wierd switch, knob, and button on the console are for? Maybe aftermarket?

[LotusJoe]

Nobody knows what my weird switch, knob, and button on the console are for? Maybe aftermarket?

Definitely after market. I didn't notice but did the car have air conditioning? 

[cal44]

Air Con....for the control....at least that is my guess.  Or turbo boost from the Jetsons commuter.

Did I miss comments on the Cosmics?.........one of my all time favorite wheels.

At $1600.00 you did just fine, good find.

mike

[EuropaS2]

Thanks, AC  makes sense. There is no compressor on the engine but maybe it was taken off or an unfinished project. I like the wheels a lot too I think I will replace the red reflectors with a lotus badge or something though. I was able to jack the car up last night there is some rust on the frame in-between where the 2 seats sit but I don't think it will be too tough to fix with the body off.

[7upJohn]

If you are looking for S2 parts I may have what you need