Europa Frame Progress

After losing 9 months of Europa build time for some "routine" maintenance on the Esprit, I'm back on the Europa. Here's how it sits today:

1NZFE and C50 from a Scion xA. All frame material is 304. It's tight, but, I have the AC compressor mounted in the original position with the factory hardware, so that's a plus. I might have to notch the trailing links a half inch or so. We'll see when it's more together. That's a "side mount" charge cooler from a Skyline or Silvia or something. I figure to leave the tunnel open and pick up cooling air for it through there.

Dr. Hess wrote: That's a "side mount" charge cooler from a Skyline or Silvia or something. I figure to leave the tunnel open and pick up cooling air for it through there.

Their the same depending on the Skyline model. The only problem with them was the lack of cool air, so as long as its getting the cold air, you should be in good shape.

I look forward to seeing the finished product.

My goodness, that looks like a huge undertaking. Not that I remember much of any details of this project (I think I remember a very beaten-down project car base), but I had no idea it was going to involve a custom-fabbed frame and a current powerplant. Staggering to me and my skillset.

Good luck with it. A Europa with a worry-free powerplant seems like a great idea.

gamby wrote: My goodness, that looks like a huge undertaking. Not that I remember much of any details of this project (I think I remember a very beaten-down project car base), but I had no idea it was going to involve a custom-fabbed frame and a current powerplant. Staggering to me and my skillset. Good luck with it. A Europa with a worry-free powerplant seems like a great idea.

Ditto. That's quite an undertaking.

VERY nice!

Rog

that looks great.. and looks lighter and stiffer than the original?

The lancia Scorpion/Montecarlo used a tunnel mounted "scoop" to pull air from the front of the car into the engine bay to help keep it cool. You may want to do something similar with a wider "mouth" that ramps down to the tube you wish to use. I would not leave the airflow to the vagueries of the tunnel.. but a lightweight tube down the centre would smooth the airflow and keep it flowing quickly

I doubt it's lighter, but it does look stiffer.

Nice job!

You can see the original frame in the background. The new one will not be lighter, but not too much heavier. I am going for stiffer. My civil engineer friend, who I consulted in the design, said that the original design was a real good way to do it and suggested that some internal bracing on the central tunnel would have stiffened it up.

As for the charge cooler, I'm planning on putting a pusher fan on it. There's no room for a puller. The tunnel also has to have the cooling lines, AC lines and shifter cables running through it. There really isn't room for a separate tunnel structure, but it's an interesting idea. I'm only looking at around 6-ish PSI of boost. This motor does around 110 HP (1.5L NA) at around 10.5:1 compression. I'm going for about 160-ish with the T25. TRD does that with a bolt on kit.

Very nice work! I work at a Toyoduh stealership now and if I can help with any tech, wiring etc stuff let me know.

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. I found a PDF of the previous year xA's shop manual. I think that's close enough. I plan on MegaSquirting it. DIY has an "almost" plug-n-play for it. Last I corresponded, they didn't have the exact plug for this year, but I could piggy back on what was there. I'm hoping to start with that.

Wanna sell me a set of measured drawings when you're done? I can only resist Europas for so many years...

I'll tell ya Woody, you can get a PDF with the CAD drawings for a S2 frame online. I'll get you the link if your Google-Fu is weak (Hint: On Jerry's site.) After that, the back half is "stick the motor on the deck and build a frame around it," and put the pickup points in the same place they were on the old one. There's a few measurements like the inner suspension pickups that may be helpful, but my measurements are probably no better than yours or someone else's.

I'm not going to use the drive shafts as the upper suspension, obviously because the differential is offset and won't take the loads. You can see the upper inner points in the piece of 2" square welded above the lower inner. I'll build a bracket onto the back of the trailing link to mount a heim joint where the U joint of the drive shaft was, from an X-Y perspective.

Seems like growing the thickness of the original stock sheet metal design could have yielded more stiffness. But adapting the new powerplant would have still required some fangling. And unless you have a box brake capapable of handling such an increase in guage, would still be an issue. Space frames are neat and adaptable, definitiely DIY. Me likey.

Dr. Hess wrote: There really isn't room for a separate tunnel structure, but it's an interesting idea.

Every degree counts. You have made an improvement as its not nearly touching the engine as in Nismos design intended. That alone will help. If its not putting the power out, you could always up the boost or run a spray.

EDIT: Apparently the SR20 has a different intercooler, but i believe the stock placement is similar.

My favourite site is ahdol for wiring diagrams. Costs a few bucks, but well worth it.

Glad to see that lump getting closer to running.

oldopelguy wrote: My favourite site is ahdol for wiring diagrams. Costs a few bucks, but well worth it. Glad to see that lump getting closer to running.

I'll keep them in mind when I get closer to the wiring. The Scion web community has a lot of resources, but I don't mind spending a few bucks if I need something. I may even get the official Toyota shop manual set if I get stuck on something. I didn't realize that trans was a C50. I have 2 of those in my shed right now, but with 4AG bell housings. That should handle 160 HP without any problem. Thanks again for everything, oldopelguy.

The reason I went with a complete new frame is that the front half of the original frame was Swiss Cheese, the middle could have been patched, and the back needed a total redesign for the new power plant (E-W v. N-S). So, I could have made a new front, patched the middle and made a new back or just made a whole new frame. I'm used to space frames, after having made one for the Locost, so that's what I went with. I will admit, though, that building a 4' sheet metal brake and duplicating the original design would probably have been easier, but I'd still be stuck with making the back on the fly.

Nice piece of work there Doc. Did I read right that it's 304, as in stainless.

Not wanting a rust problem again I see.

Very cool. Keep us posted.

Yeah, everything on the frame is 304 stainless. Well, except for the bottom sheet across the tunnel. That's 308 stainless because that's what I had laying around. I'm planning on not worrying about rust.

I'm not sure if you are trying to keep the body stock, but I am moving the radiator (and the intercooler, in my case) to the rear, and ducting them through intakes in the sides of the car. Just a thought.

I'd love to get a link to those S2 chassis plans too, if you don't mind.

OK, OK. You guys interested in Europas need to do 3 things: 1. Subscribe to the yahoo Europa list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lotuseuropa 2. Go through all of Jerry's site: http://www.lotus-europa.com/ . 3. Download Jerry's "Knowledge base" which is all of the Europa list's emails archived.

http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/ has virtually everything you need for shop manuals, specs, improvements, etc. The S2 frame drawing is: http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/misc/Lotus%20europa%20chassis%20drawing.pdf

Also, at the moment, I'm planning on boxing in the area behind the left rear wheel arch and putting an outside duct on to use as the air intake. The turbo sits at the back of the motor.