We accept moving under its own power. The rest is gravy.
We accept moving under its own power. The rest is gravy.
Jerry From LA said:We accept moving under its own power. The rest is gravy.
There should be some kind of award. Maybe a golden wrench or something.
In reply to JoeTR6 :
I say it deserves a mention in the magazine.
Sweet! Nice work.
Pretty awesome. Sounds terrific!
On your body work, did you have to do any reenforcement of the shell? You mentioned stress cracks.
Also, the Slick Sand looks like the way to go. Does that spray with just a regular spray gun or do you need one made for thicker liquids?
In reply to USERNAMETAKEN :
Buy a cheap gun with a large orifice. You need the big origice or else it goes on like ceiling pop-corn stucco. And Durablocks, get a set of those.
Slick sand may or may not be an exact equivalent to Feather-fil. But they occupy the same functional niche.
As a rule, you do not shoot the high fill poly primers on to bare metal. Royal Pain in the Butt as you need to keep epoxy priming the inevitable sand -throughs to bare metal. Cant use the spray can etch primers with poly.
Evercoat sells a Direct to Metal version of their poly primer that will make life easier. Called 4:1. Actuallly builds higher film than the G2 version.
Lots of feather fill and slick sand vids on youTube
Dust, has anyone mentioned dust yet?
Pete
USERNAMETAKEN said:Pretty awesome. Sounds terrific!
On your body work, did you have to do any reenforcement of the shell? You mentioned stress cracks.
Also, the Slick Sand looks like the way to go. Does that spray with just a regular spray gun or do you need one made for thicker liquids?
I didn't do much reinforcement, mostly just glassing up cracks from the backside (most of the cracks were caused by PO's moving the body while it was off the frame). Spider/star cracks were repaired with tissue. The only area I did build up was the floors as they were 1/8" thick and had multiple holes and repairs. I added two layers of chopped strand mat to each side which has stiffened them up a bit (but did add weight).
As for spraying Slick Sand (or any other sprayable Poly filler), I can't really comment as I've yet to try my hand at it. The guys who painted the car said they rolled it on as it would be a lot more work to mask everything and spray (they were only working on localized areas). If I were to do it again I would take NOHOME's advice and get a gun with a large orifice to spray it.
Not much to post in regards to things beeing done on the Europa. I have a small list of things still to do before it's ready to drive on the road, but.... this happened over the weekend:
It's an Elan S4 that's been apart for some time now. The body has been painted Guards Red on the rear half and some other red on the front half. One of the previous owners stripped it, started on the resto and got as far as painting it the two shades to see which he preferred, then from what I recall, unfortunately succumbed to the dreaded C word. Everything other than the rolling chassis is in pieces, but luckily most, if not everything came with the car. I'm eager to get the motor back together this fall and hopefully have a running chassis by the spring.
The one neat thing about it is, it's only a month or two older than the Europa, both being built in 1968.
In reply to RoddyMac17 :
Wow! You need a white Esprit to park next to them(and a bigger garage)!!!
Any chance you could get the 7 back? You NEED the Holy Trinity of Lotus in your garage!
SkinnyG,
I think if I wanted the trifecta, I would build a better Seven. The first one was ok, but if I were to end up with it again I would most likely tear it apart.
In other news, I've been chasing a oil leak for months now and I finally cured it. I thought it was the remote filter adapter at the block, so I replaced it. It still leaked, so off came the carbs again and the threaded boss for the oil filter was shortened as I had thought the o-ring didnt have enough squish (the adapter was bottoming out on the threads). Everything was reinstalled, and lo and behold, oil was still leaking. So, next test was checking the hoses, one was removed and swapped end for end, still leaking. The other hose was then swapped end for end and.... the swivel fitting was leaking. Luckily the hoses were a bit too long and that they used push-on fittings. NPT to SAE adapters were ordered along with SAE Female push-on fittings and I now have no oil leaks. Unfortunately there are still some other things to sort before inspection, but I now have a leak free and very noisy car.
those rear springs are SOFT. Did you ever get them replaced? I don't recall seeing it.
FunkyCricket said:those rear springs are SOFT. Did you ever get them replaced? I don't recall seeing it.
Are you talking about the red springs that were on it as a rolling chassis? Or the black one on it now? I have no idea what the spring rate was for the red ones, but the black ones are 275lb/in and are definitely not soft. The spring rates for both front and rear were calculated by reverse engineering the stock Lotus 47 spring rate/frequency. The fronts suspension is the same as the 47, but the rear is slightly different. By using the frequency from the 47, I worked out the spring rate I needed using the motion ratio of the suspension I designed.
sweet. Just looked like a lot of movement on the video, but it could have just been the angles of the driveway. Sounds wicked though, this is an amazing project and your skills are out of this world.
Unfortunately I have no pics to post, but I finally have legally driven the car on the road. Over the weekend I manage to finally obtain registration for the car, and three weeks ago had it go through the provincial inspection. It's very quick and very loud. The next few weekends will be spent driving in ever increasing circles from the garage checking over everything until I'm happy with it. Then, it's drive it more and more (and start on building up the Twin Cam for the Elan).
In reply to RoddyMac17 :
Awesome, that’s a major accomplishment!!!
Time for an update, just before Christmas I ordered a set of one piece side windows (Lotus 47 type) from the UK, and spent a few weekends in January getting them to fit. The biggest challenge was a hinge for the front of the window, but I think I have it sorted:
I much prefer this look over the later power window cars. The only downside is you can't easily remove them.
I also decided it was time to spend even more money and order a new cam cover from Retro Ford in the UK. The engine bay went from looking like this:
To this:
I opted to not order an oil filler cap and ignition lead set, but as it turns out I really should have. The North American Zetec doesn't share the same oil filler cap as the UK cars, and the lead set that I'm using is a bit too short. But, I think the new cam cover looks much better than the plastic one.
Rod
I just love what you're doing with this car. Super clean, well thought out. Nothing wacky. A beautiful, functional classic.
I really strive to do the same things with my TVR project.
Thanks for being a great inspiration!
And now I'm going to study your oil and coolant line layout a bunch...
What is the weight difference between the factory and that retro cover? Cause....Im curious....
TVR Scott,
Thanks for the compliments. Let me know if you have questions on the plumbing of the cooling and oil systems.
Thinkkker,
The Retro Ford cover weighs a lot more than the the stock plastic one, I didn't put it on a scale but I'd guess about 8 lbs more.
In reply to RoddyMac17 :
I guess that means I wont go for it. I dont carry my wallet when I race, so that just doesnt work out for hte race car. But it would look awesome!
Sorry to be a nay-sayer, but the fake BDA doesn't do it for me. Sure a real BDA is cool, but what you have is functionally better, as well as lighter.
I ADORE the fake BDA. Better engine, classic looks. Best of both worlds in my mind.
RoddyMac17 said:TVR Scott,
Thanks for the compliments. Let me know if you have questions on the plumbing of the cooling and oil systems.
I will take you up on this!
Expansion tank - looks like you fabbed your own. I intend to also. Did you use any special method for figuring out volume?
How did you plumb into it? Looks like maybe a hose into the bottom of the tank? Or is it just the little hose coming from the water pump inlet?
You running a heater? If so, any details there? I'm going to not have a heater to start with. The ever-so-thoughtful previous owner deleted the entire system at some point, so I'm starting from zero there.
Where'd you find your large ID hose? You just rummage around auto parts store, or order something specific?
Did you run air bleed lines from the radiator all the way back or just use some petcocks?
You do a pressure test on the welded components before piping it all in?
No coolant related, but that looks like a mini-battery of some sort. ATV? Motorcycle-sized? If so, is it standing up to this use?
Thanks!
This link should explain the general routing:
Expansion tank :
-fabbed it using the "that looks about right" method, so far in the 12 miles I've driven the car I haven't had any issues and it
-there is a 3/4" hose off the bottom of the tank that ties into the lower rad hose/pipe
- the 5/16" hose comes off the t/stat housing, and in the stock Focus it would have also joined to an outlet on the rad. The other hose goes to an overflow container
Heater:
-I'm using a Triumph Spitfire heater as it is roughly the same dimension as the stock Europa but has a blower fan attached. As it turns out Lotus used a heater unit from a Land Rover but had a blower motor delete.
-The take off is from the t/stat housing in the stock spot for a Focus, the return is plumbed into lower hose/pipe. I used a VW Golf heater valve but it's not hooked up to any controls. If I want it warmer or colder I have to lift the engine cover to adjust
Large hoses:
- the hose off the t/stat housing is a cut down hose from a PT Cruiser (dear old dad replaced the radiator in his but didn't change out the hose, so there was a new one sitting in the garage). The main coolant transfer pipes are 1 1/4" OD, so I had to machine and weld a sleeve on to the one pipe to match the PT Cruiser hose.
- the other rad hoses are 1 1/4" diameter and are stock TR6 hoses (90 and 45 degree elbows and short straight pieces)
- the rest are bulk heater hose in 3/4", 5/8", and 1/2" diameter
Air bleeds - don't have any at the rad or motor. The header tank/expansion tank is the highest point and appears to have bled most of the air out
Pressure testing - I did lightly pressure test the header tank with air and soapy water, but didn't on the rest of the system, so far no leaks
Battery - I can't recall why I chose that exact one, but it is a "powersports" sized battery. Small, light, and starts the car with no issues.
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