new member

[rascott]

in this case, the fascia is under a moderate load- holding the center of the body/windscreen "up".
this seems to make the opening fit the windscreen i have mocked up in the opening, as well as level out the horizontal piece of body right in front of the windscreen.
i don't know what to do about it, so i'll pretend it's normal?
this will all be stripped again, so i can make some glass repairs.
mabe when i get the windscreen i'll discover something i haven't been seeing.......
re:the tubes.
i look forward to removing the drivetrain, but want to postpone it until i can see if the clutch and gearbox actually work as well as the engine seems to.
the hot side is stock to the chassis, and hose connected to the PVC there. i'm not opposed to the same idea but different material.
the cold side is straight thru the chassis and then a real long hose to the swirl pot.
perhaps i can do a similar thing for the return. make a piece to connect the swirl pot and hose it at the chassis(?).
perhaps i can pull/replace those straight lengths thru the nose.
i haven't looked at material yet. still wondering about copper. the radiator is copper, right?
no looky this weekend. too wet.

[BDA]

I'm still baffled by the stress the fascia puts on the windscreen area. If it makes the windshield fit better, than maybe it's supposed to be that way... 

The radiator is probably a copper core with brass tanks. Copper is pretty soft, but I don't remember how copper reacts to stress reversals from vibrations for example. John suggests that it would likely fatigue. I would trust what he says. I also don't remember people using copper for those pipes. I think stainless is probably a better choice. and if not stainless, mild steel would probably be next. Just a side note, I wish I had replaced me tubes with stainless, but I just used the original tubes that came with the car. I've attached a picture from the parts manual to give you an idea of the original tube  design. It looks pretty simple.

[rascott]

I'm still baffled by the stress the fascia puts on the windscreen area. If it makes the windshield fit better, than maybe it's supposed to be that way... 

this is how i feel, the whole area was pretty tweaked.

as you may have noticed, i've been scattering all over this little toy.
mostly i'm taking things apart and cleaning stuff up and doing enough to make it roughly roadworthy.
this gives me a chance to get feedback from people who know.
i pay attention to responses and appreciate all comments(so far-haha).
this is a great place to show you what i am doing and where i'm going and what's with this?
i like stock, but sometimes modifications are necessary.
i try to do it myself.
i am finding uses for tools from my mg days
i find this forum a tremendous asset to my project.

i have a thought of having to change registration from a non-op status by mabe june, if all goes well.
this would be to prove basic function. mabe truly useable by december?
we will see


also- i'm sure john is right about the materials for coolant tubes. i just ramble. dissimilar metals and corrosion(i was pleased to find the remains of a sacrificial zinc hanging from the radiator cap), bla bla.
i'm sure i will have more to say about it later.

[BDA]

As one of the Europa owners who has no problem making modifications - though I try to keep the same flavor of the car - I have been surprised at the number of people who value keeping their car stock. But that's just me. For an old car like yours, some parts can get pretty scarce and I guess that's part of the challenge. Go for it! Your previous MG experience will be somewhat useful.

This forum is a good resource. I would also advise you to join the lotuseuropa yahoo group. There are a lot of people there who are very knowledgeable and have probably been where you are now and where you're going.

Good luck and keep us up to date!

[EuropaTC]

i like stock, but sometimes modifications are necessary.
i try to do it myself.

Now that's pretty much where I am as well.  My take is that OEM spec is usually the easiest way to get something back and running, mainly because Specialist suppliers are more likely to have parts, you have a workshop manual telling you how it goes together and if you're still struggling you'll have other owners to ask. 

But there are times when you simply can't do OEM because parts aren't available or maybe it's a good idea to take advantage of developments - things like modern sealants, electronic ignition, etc spring to mind. Yep, you can use the 1960s sealants and points ignition if you want to but there's no reason not to fit something that you won't need to adjust every 3000 miles for example.

Going back to your pipes....    galvanic corrosion is a problem when you have metals in an electrical circuit and because the galvanic currents are relatively weak, you normally need to have them bolted together.   So two central pipes connected by relatively long rubber hoses at either end shouldn't be a big deal.   

I don't think I'd fit copper pipes purely from looks, but I can see your reasoning.  As you say the radiator is most likely a copper core soldered together with tin & lead solder, the thermostat and temperature senders in the engine will be brass so you already have copper in the circuit, some of which is ideally situated to give galvanic corrosion. It doesn't, probably because we use inhibited coolants.

Brian

[rascott]

i still have a dwell meter. hadn't used it for many years.
still works!
i had to find out if those coolant tubes would come out the nose.
1" sch40 PVC, a little less than 6ft. each.
probably would have lasted forever, or not.
hmm. kinda fuzzy picture- you get the idea, hot side did more saggin' in the chassis.
i can start material hunt.

[BDA]

It's best to get rid of them.

As for the ignition, I recommend Pertronix. I'm pretty sure they make them for the Renault engines. Check with Ray at r.d. enterprises. BTW, I still have my old dwell-tach too! I haven't used it in decades!

[rascott]

It's best to get rid of them.

As for the ignition, I recommend Pertronix. I'm pretty sure they make them for the Renault engines. Check with Ray at r.d. enterprises. BTW, I still have my old dwell-tach too! I haven't used it in decades!

i will whack the PVC into small enough pieces to go out with the trash.
they had worked for some time, given the coating inside them.
i will try something else.
i should look more carefully at the remaining section- i may find why the rest was replaced.
the distributor is familiar from way back- i played w/Volkswagens, and my family had an r-16(1969).
i remember when electronic ignition kits were coming out, and can see the advantage.

[ron parola]

Just a note on the Pertronix; we have installed quite a few AND removed quite a few, remember points HARDLY just fail; they slowly wear out and timing drifts. Pertronix will never drift but will just fail. One thing we have found that kills them in short order is leaving the key in the run position, engine not running (just like cooking points). The circuitry unlike a HEI module never times out and with the coil sucking all that current the Pertronix cooks, no cooling period. A more interesting choice that I've seen but never tried is the all electronic distributors (Have seen them advertised in Classic Cars) they allow you to tailor your advance curve for idle, cruise, full power,etc. You can't really do that (even with a distributor machine) with the mechanical dist. And I may be wrong (memory old and enfeebled) but I seem to recall the Federal, if not just California cars had a vacuum retard unit, so you might be better served getting a Euro spec dist. And if you really want to go crazy; distributorless ignitions; ignition curve where ever you want it AND knock sensor!  There's lots of power in the timing that can't be reached with a mechanical advance but with digital timing can be set per load and rpm by very small increments   Cheers rp 

[rascott]

the front boot is now stripped of hardware. a lot of red comes off with a brush.
i'm a bit confused by this whole heater and ventilation system.
i have removed the heater core, i see no provision for a fan to mount in or around it, or for wire routing to such a unit.
i have the blower that mounts in the nose, and i get that this blows into the boot and leaks into the cab.
o k. mabe it will work better than i think, but it must need a boost for defrost and actual heat?
does this other fan mount inside the core, or in the boot?
took the remaining piece of original cooling tube off for inspection. i will practice making all new stuff and cobble something together.
hmmm.
i got that handbrake pivot bolt out and am examining that spring arrangement in the tunnel. everything seems to have loosened up to the yoke. must be a way to unhook it? the cables to the rear don't seem to move.

ron- thanks for the heads-up on the distributor thoughts.
i'm gonna do old school for a bit, as i figure this out. 

[4129R]

The whole hand brake mechanism is the hardest part of the car to deal with.

I could write a book about how to get the cables out, how to re-attach the spring in the tunnel, how to get the reaction pivot bolt back in place, etc etc.

How the hell they did this on the production line, I would love to know. As I live in Norfolk UK there must be people living close to me who did this.

The whole heater system only works by pressurising the compartment above your legs. If you put luggage in that compartment, 2 things will happen:-

1) The heating and defrosting system just will not work at all.

2) If the luggage is heavy, the accelerator cable mechanism can jam open, which can cause a few problems, if you can actually see through the windscreen (windshield)  !

If you think of the car as a racing car adapted for the road, with very few creature comforts, then you will understand Colin Chapman's design concept.

I also own a GT40 which has even few creature comforts, and is much harder to drive.

[BDA]

I was amazed at the way the e-brake cable system was put together! The only way I could take it apart was to open up the "shoe" (where the one cable attaches to the cables that go to the e-brake mechanism) using a cold chisel, but then when I went to reassemble it, the only thing I could do was wrap some tie wraps around it to hold the cable in. It doesn't matter to me because my e-brake is useless anyway and thankfully, my car no longer needs to be inspected.

IIRC, the workshop manual describes the plenum system for ventilation. Maybe the Twin Cam fixed the accelerator cable problem, but luggage in the front trunk will severely limit ventilation into the cabin. On hot days, you can put bags of ice in there to add a little cooling! 

[EuropaTC]

It's odd that you guys have moved this thread on to the ventilation system because this week I've been tinkering about with exactly the same thing !

As 4129R says, anything large in the plenum chamber and it stops working, but even empty it's one of those "manana, manana" things. I've always found the side vents reasonable but demisting the screen , well, you just need patience.  Maybe another coffee while the car (or day) warms up ?

So this week I've been thinking about mounting a small fan inside the heater matrix to give a boost to whatever air finds it's way inside. At the moment I've got a 3" computer case fan in there, almost completely silent and theoretically shifting 12 cu ft/minute according to the box it came in.   Of course, since I got it in there the weather has warmed up a touch, so I've no idea if it works or not 

Brian

[BDA]

I've seen at least one other guy do the same thing. Did you wire it up with the ventilation fan?

After you get the appropriate weather, let us know how it works.

[jbcollier]

I can't speak for the S2 or TC but you can easily fit an early spitfire heater fan and motor to an S1.  The holes were just taped up from the factory.  I'm fitting screens to the openings in the front luggage compartment with the one into the cab being bulged so it's less likely to get obstructed.