1968 Lotus Europa Restomod

I saw the FB post on the Europa group today - happy to see it again here.  I love the valve cover.

Relatedly, for my 7 replica, I snagged an Escort GT valve cover to obscure the Madza engine and maybe confuse the casual observer.

Awesome build.

RoddyMac17, how would one go about getting in touch with you offline to talk Europas? I tried to email using the email address in your profile but it just bounced back.

Cheers

Graham

In reply to noooby :

Graham,

I sent you a PM. But if you didn't receive it, you can reach me at rod underscore mac at hotmail dot com.  I noticed that I had an old work email as my contact email on here.

Rod

Happy days, the wheels that I ordered for the Europa arrived yesterday.  They were pre-order wheels from Retroford, which arrived at their shop on Monday (in the UK), shipped on Tuesday, and arrived here in Vancouver on Wednesday.  To say I'm pleased with the service is an understatement.  

The problem with the wheels are A) they have the Ford PCD (4x 4 1/4") and B) they're 13's so finding suitable rubber is going to be tough.

The Ford PCD problem is an easy fix for the front as there are off the shelf hubs available (which I've now bought), the rears are a different story.  The rear uprights I build use VW Golf Mk3 bearings, hubs, and CV axles, so the original thought was to have a pair of new hubs re-drilled to the larger pattern.  Unfortunatley this can't be done, the VW hub is too small on the OD to accomodate the new pattern.  But, all is not lost, it turns out that the 98 and up Ford Contour/Mondeo uses a bearing with the same ID and length.  So after ordering a pair of hubs and comparing them to the VW ones, it looks like they should work very well (ignore the ABS ring on the VW hub):

I've also ordered Focus rear discs, and a pair of Contour CV axles.  It appears that the Contour outer CV has the same spline count as the VW axles, so fingers crossed I can simply (using simply very lightly) pop off the Contour outer CV and install it on the VW shaft.  But I think I should find a VW shaft before hand to quantify my theory before I tear the car apart.  

I'm hoping to start on this swap once I get the Elan body painted, and a new exhaust fabricated for the MGB GT.  This means I might get started on it in July.  But I'll update this thread as I get into the CV axle change over and other minor things.

EDIT:  The reason behind getting these wheels is that they're very close in design to what Lotus used on the 47's, though these are bolt on rather than center lock.  One center lockwheel would get you 2 sets of these wheels.

Those wheels look awesome!  I wish they were in the small Triumph pattern, but there are ways around that (Rimmer Bros sells aftermarket hubs in 4x100 or custom patterns). I agree tires could be tricky.  What width?  205/60-15 seems somewhat of a common size. 

Roddy, what's the weight on one of those Retroford rims?  :)

In reply to RoddyMac17 :

There is so much awesomeness there I regret I only can upvote that post once.

IanF,

If they had been available in the 4x 3 3/4 pattern it would've made things much simpler.  I'm just happy that Retroford decided to make them.  As for Rimmer Bros, I didn't know that they sold the hubs, I know Canley does but they dont seem to keep them on the shelf.  Merlin had them in stock and is a race supplier, so went with them.  

In reagards to sizes, the fronts are 5.5 x 13 with an ET of 21.4, and the rears are 6.5 x 13 with an ET of 8.5.  RF also does a 7" with an ET of -2, and a 6" with an ET of 15.  7" wheels would've been great for me, but it would make tire sizing even more difficult.  Ideally I would like to run a 175/70 on the front and a 205/60 on the rear, but no one seems to do those sizes in the same design of tire.  Yokohama does the A008 in sizes I could use, but they don't seem to sell them in North America.  Tornel does have those sizes available, but I have no idea how well they would handle/last/etc.

Pushrod,

I put the 6.5" on the bathroom scale and it came out at 11.6 lb.  

Wheels look excellent! You could get Toyo Proxes RA1s in 13 last I checked a year ago.

In my Europa thread I talk a lot about tire sizes. You can buy the latest Yoko Advan A052 200TW tires in 185/60 and 205/60 from Darkside Developments in the UK. It's kinda pricey but those are real good modern tires for street, auto-x, and track. Robbie bought them for his Challenge car and had a good experience. You can also get  Toyo Proxes R888R in 185/60 and 205/60, but it's an older tire that isn't quite as competitive or good in the rain. 

crankwalk,

I'll do some interweb searching and see what I can find.

maschinenbau,

Thanks for the tip on Darkside, I had been looking at Demon Tweeks for tyres as they show the A008's being available.  I'll see how DT compares in price to Darkside.

Love the wheels Roddy!

Thanks for weighing 'em, Roddy. I really appreciate it  :) .

In reply to RoddyMac17 :

Hi, New here and admiring your amazing build !!! Couple of questions:

Was there a need for a adaptor to fit the NG3 to the Zetec ?

Did you make a template/stencil for your ITB plate ? Would buy that.

Thanks

Drewkit,

The Europa Twin Cam bellhousing bolts up to the Zetec and the NG3, so no need for an adapter.  But, the NG3 typically lacks an extended input shaft, so the front seal hosing on the gearbox contains a bearing to keep the shaft from moving.  From what I understand, you can swap out the front seal for a earlier type, but you would need to create and extension for the input shaft so that it would be constrained by a pilot bushing.  I opted to have the bellhousing machined to take the NG3 input shaft bearing/seal assembly.  This did require some welding to build up the area around the housing.  So far it's been problem free.

As for the intake manifold flange, I did have a CAD file for it, but I can't recall where it's saved.  There are suppliers in the UK that have the plates ready to go, or if you do some google searching, there is a Ford drawing somewhere on the web that gives dimensions for the flange.  I dont know what Send Cut Send would charge for cutting one, but it would certainly take a lot less time than cutting one yourself.

Roddy, did you get those beautiful wheels installed yet?

TurboForce,

Not yet, too many projects, too many things on the go, and I still have to figure out the CV axles.  I still have one of the wheels in my living room, just to remind me that I have them.  One of these days I'll get them on the car.

Looking forward to a pic when they are on!