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Ok, I guess this is the followup to the 348 thread where I own and report on an exotic car. I sold the 348 off (and not a mile too soon) and got a very nice salvage Boxster. But it was too good of an automobile, allowing you to park it outside in the rain or start it up whenever without worrying. It was a fun drive, but the relative reliability sort of took away from its character. I'm selling that off to a friend, but have already registered my next car, 1974 Lotus Europa Twin Cam Special. And yeah, I bought it on BringATrailer, which I was following for a long time even before selling the 348 on there. There were quite a few cars that got me bidding, but the fact that this was local and already met all the street legality requirements was a huge plus. I test drove it and really liked it, so I bid and won. http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1974-lotus-europa-twin-cam/ Upcoming topics: - insurance, registration, inspection - overview of paperwork/records - initial driving impressions - model trim history - quirks The salient thing to cover now is size. It's small, but within the realm of familiar, I guess you could say. I cherry picked a few modern cars to compare against. code:The super had his truck parked in the garage this morning, so I took some pics to illustrate the size:   I'm gonna try to get some hard parking pics of this next to an NB. Oh, right, the thread title -- the car's cabin is so cramped that the car has power windows, since there's barely a spot on the door that would allow a meaningful cranking motion. The previous generation had fixed windows. The windows go up and down just fine, which saved me in an incident I'll detail later.
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Jun 20, 2017 21:31
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InitialDave posted:Oh man, driving that in the SUV-and-pickup infested USA? I pulled up a good 8ft behind a new Camaro convertible, and I could neither see the rearview mirror over the bumper, nor the side mirror around the fender. My eye level is just above the top of many cars' tires.
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Jun 20, 2017 22:11
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First and foremost, it's about steering feel. This is my BaT post on my test drive: On a brief drive, I got a good sense of the hype. There’s other cars that you might describe as wearing instead of driving, but because of the small cabin and wide, deep tunnel, it feels like this motorcycle looks: http://bikeweb.com/files/DAV_5724_2.jpg with the top of the windscreen inches in front of you and the roof a bit closer. I’m 5’10” and didn’t feel cramped, though the cabin might make others feel claustophobic. The pedals were actually a bit far away, in that pulling the seat close got the small steering wheel pretty close to my chest. The standout impression I got from the drive is the steering. At one point, when returning up Rob’s gravel driveway, I heard the left front tire scrabble over 3 rocks. At the same time, I felt each rock individually kick back the steering wheel. That’s the kind of precision and delicacy granted by the Europa’s steering. I’m glad I got to drive it, because talking about it sadly doesn’t do it justice.
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Jun 20, 2017 23:49
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This is the door latching mechanism:  The passenger door was having trouble latching at all, so I peered at the latch and noticed that little metal switch sticking out at the top right. Toggle it into the other position, bang, closes tight. Everything else behaves the same (door opens when you press the button on the handle), so lemme just leave it that way. Hell, I'll do the same to the driver's door. I do a casual Sunday drive (casual meaning I wear pretty narrow shoes that still don't really fit into the pedal box and keep messing with shifting), and decide to fuel up at the end. Whoops, I can't open the door from the inside. That toggle is effectively a child safety lock. I don't panic yet, but I also don't want to yell for another driver to come let me out of my car. Oh, ok -- key back into accessory mode, put the window down, let myself out from the outside. And toggle that switch back the other way. I'm still reading through the documentation, and the relevant pages in the service manual don't really cover the toggle. It doesn't seem to have any use on the outside, since the door still simply opens. A badge on each side of the B-pillar trumpets Lotus' F1 success:  Lotus won the constructor's title in 73 as well, but I assume reusing the same badge beat out making new ones that were infinitesimally lighter from the extra year drilled out.
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Jun 21, 2017 04:03
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Insurance and registration I arranged to go get the Europa a couple of Saturdays ago. Muffinpox would drive back the spares in the Charger. On the way there, I realized I hadn't gotten insurance to drive on the Europa. I called up Amica, and luckily got an answer. However, they said they don't deal with vehicles of this age. I remember asking them about this when I got the Boxster insured, but must have mixed up insuring kit cars vs vintage. They transfered me over to Hagerty, who asked a ton of meaningful questions about usage, what normal cars I drove, how it was garaged, and even trim -- "ok, a 1974 Europa... is it a Twin Cam Special?" Never thought I'd hear that specific a question from an insurance agent. Hagerty was ok with everything -- the seller was already a customer, which seemed to speed things along, including having on file the non-17-digit vehicle identification number: 743650R. We got a big box of spares along with an NG3 (not stock, but compatible) transmission. The spare windshield glass is not that big, but it was in a huge box that wouldn't fit into the Charger. We drove to my apartment and I parked the Europa, expecting to get the RMV-1 registration form by Monday, when the agent told me that specific department would process the form. When Monday afternoon rolls around, I call Hagerty up. Apparently, they physically mail out the form, as "it needs to be physically stamped." All the other insurance companies I've used simply use a digital stamp on the PDF they email me. I get the RMV-1 form in the mail Wednesday and have to fill in a bunch of stuff that Hagerty already asked me, but whatever. Thursday, I go to the RMV and turn in all my paperwork. The only thing I'm slightly nervous about is the old VIN. I'd be way more nervous if I wasn't holding the previous MA-issued title, so I know it got through the system once before. The clerk doesn't ask me anything about the VIN -- must have gone in just fine. She does remind me that tax is based on book value, which works out to $15570. Not that far off from the auction price of 16750, though higher than what I expected. Inspection Ok, on to the last step -- inspection. As I've watched various cars pass by on BaT, I've familiarized myself with what you need to pass state inspection in Mass: - horn - lights and turn signals - wipers and sprayers - working parking brake Oh, and installed license plates. When I stepped out of the RMV, this is what I saw affixing the license plate to the car:  I couldn't seem to back the plastic screw out with my minitool, so decided to have the inspection shop help me out. I show up, and explain to the tech the shift pattern. He gets nervous about getting it into gear, and has me drive into the inspection bay. From there, the shop (rightly) puts up a fuss about needing the plates installed. I figure that since the screw just spins and spins under a screwdrive, it must be affixed from the other side somehow, not using metal threading bonded into the fiberglass. Verifying my guess is where the extremely spare construction of the Europa comes in handy. And is probably the reason the plate is installed this way.  The trunk area is simply a fiberglass tub that sits on top of a crossmember and around the lip formed by the fenders. It's only affixed by those two big bolts, which bolt into brackets off the air filter housing:  I borrow a socket wrench and 12mm from the shop, unbolt the bolts, lift out the tub, and spot the back side of the plate screws -- they're plastic (nylon) nuts. No shot of the nuts, but here's the tub hanging out by itself:  The tech unbolts the plate and I help him put the new one on -- there's some washers and rubber spacers that make it a bit finicky. As he's buttoning up, I got some shots of the rear suspension, shown later. Anyways, we have the rear plate swapped, so I put the tub back in and bolt it secure. The shop manager puts up a minor fuss about the front plate not having any mounting solution before leaving it be. I turn on the lights for the tech, and that's it. No test of the parking brake, horn, wipers, or sprayers, which all do work. I pay my $35 and get outta there. Have you ever wondered how you could trim some weight off a wiper fluid reservoir? Well, how bout making it a bag?: 
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Jun 22, 2017 05:40
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Rear suspension Ok, I actually do have a shot of those plate holding nuts. Right at the bottom here:  The top two nuts have already been unbolted. You can see the half-shafts coming out of the trans and heading out to the wheels. The diagonal tube running from the starter to the back of the trans is the shift linkage. One rare thing on the Europa that is seemingly overbuilt. Unlike, say, the rear suspension elements:  Yes, the drive axle is also the top link in a trailing arm setup. A CV joint wouldn't be able to handle that kind of shear load? The trailing arm is that stamped C beam. So F1 to have the trans housing be a stressed member of the suspension. When I asked the seller about this setup, he mentioned that some owner do convert to double wishbone by building up the backbone frame and switching to CV joints. Here's a setup that also switches to CV joints, but sticks to 2 links and a trailing arm. e: you can see the shift linkage poking out the back of the trans. Muffinpox said he tried to look for my shifting into first at lights, but never noticed any movement from the linkage.
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Jun 22, 2017 06:15
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Adiabatic posted:I never really enjoyed the looks of this car, but your writeup has really given me a deep appreciation for it. I was curious about how I'd take the design in person before the test drive. It definitely has its share of awkward angles, but it looks distinctive and unusual enough that I liked it overall. Boaz MacPhereson posted:Please wrap it in a JPS livery Seat Safety Switch posted:Washer fluid bags used to be really common on older domestic cars, so I'm sure in Lotus' case it wasn't so much "let's save weight" as "let's be lazy as poo poo and pull one off a different production line." I wish my bag had those brass grommets around the hanger holes -- just plastic makes me not want to fill it up high.
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Jun 22, 2017 15:17
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Yeah, the service manual calls it GFRP everywhere.charliemonster42 posted:There's one of these in a delightful (?) 70's brown running around my town every now and then. I never gave it a second look until recently and they seem like an absolute riot. However, at 6'3" with a 32-34" inseam, I don't think I'd fit yeah, that's a lot of torso. I have some headroom, but it's very tight. Will cover in the interior tour.
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Jun 22, 2017 16:34
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InitialDave posted:Looks like it has a remote servo on the brakes, is that standard fit? I believe so, though the seller deactivated any brake boosting in favor of manual power. It's a bit mushy in the top half, but braking power seems fine.
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Jun 22, 2017 17:59
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Chassis design Part of why the Europa is unsafe by current standards is because it has a very minimalist "backbone" chassis. Everything that would be a crash structure in a modern car is just fiberglass. But first, let's look at the chassis of the Elan:  FR car with a modified Chapman strut rear suspension. In this case, the drive axle doesn't fix the suspension path nor act as a suspension link like in a true Chapman -- that's done by the strut/hub and the lower wishbone. At the time, Colin Chapman had made the call to derive race cars from road cars, and he also wanted to save costs, so the backbone chassis ended up being the cost-conscious solution. No less a critic than LJK Setright pointed out that sparing all that extra metal to let the strut stand upright for proper camber change was very un-Lotus. The design worked better in a space frame or unibody design. But basically you have a metal Y cradling the engine and holding the wheels. The original Elan backbone weighed 75lbs, and for the time was very torsionally rigid. And in 2017, not much substance. It's definitely in the back of my head as I drive around. If the Europa were an A-wing aiming for the bridge of that Star Destroyer, it would probably just crumble against the glass. Now a Europa backbone in the same orientation, but with drive direction and suspension reversed:  Note the lack of speed holes on the backbone, which is a mere 6"x10" on the main spine. The front is still double wishbone (and still from a Triumph Herald), but now on the other end of the Y. The rear is a Chapman strut with that really long stamped radius arm going to the fork of the Y. The radius arms limit the wheels from yawing under movement from the motor/transaxle, which were mounted on rubber for NVH reasons. Still, that's a lot of space wasted to the motion of the radius arm that can't be used. Though it would be a pretty narrow volume. The gas tanks sit outboard of that arm. In the S1 Europas, they bonded the fiberglass shells to the backbone. When one or the other rotted, it made it infeasible to repair. S2s wisely left them unglued. The backbone is subject to rust (I bought this Europa partly because it is incedibly clean on the bottom) and wearing out, so there are aftermarket options. Both Spyder and Banks make tube frame chassis.  Spyder offers different mount points for various engine/trans combos, which would be nice when you're shopping for other upgrades during the restoration. But these are really only cost effective in England, given the cost of shipping the frame. Or... you could make your own. I hesitated linking this because it's still not done, but there's plenty of meat: https://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=15703&sid=8a03bba61cbf861da94a88805eef836d The OP cribbed the Spyder design but fabbed the frame himself, and also did the fiberglass restoration. Maybe the most impressive is the fabbed sheet metal uprights. Lots of good AI morning coffee reading in there. A preview:  As for how to prep the chassis for racing, what did you expect -- basically turn it back into a tube frame: http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/misc/jensen.pdf Very nice of them to share their recipe. kimbo305 fucked around with this message at 08:25 on Jun 23, 2017 |
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Jun 23, 2017 08:19
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InitialDave posted:Do you want to I wanna hear it. Dive/squat problems from its pivot position? How it weakens and pulls out of the backbone? Their construction?
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Jun 23, 2017 23:08
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about the forward pivot of the lower rear trailing arms, or shall I?
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InitialDave posted:or they could have engineered a small bracket to make it a double-shear mount and had the bushing in the end of the trailing arm. Hell, for the latter, they could probably have bought in bolt-on leaf spring cast mounting hangers from a light commercial to do the job easily. Would that potentially place more stress on the parts of the plate where the bracket is bolted in? Compared to the (maybe) wider spaced bolts around the bushing? I'm only excusing the shear design insofar as I'm trusting it to keep me alive.
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Jun 24, 2017 19:07
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Comparison with a normal car:  It's not that short, but it's so low and the motor takes up so much space that the cabin is really cramped. InitialDave posted:any issues of it ripping out the mounting would be present with the current design. You could make the bracket attach how you wished if custom designed, and if buying in somethint like a bolt-on leaf spring mount bracket, the spacing of the mounting holes of the bracket probably aren't any closer than the bushing they used. Yeah, I knew the bushing had the big bolts on the side. But looking at that bracket, seems like pretty of contact area.
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Jun 24, 2017 23:08
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I wanted to get better interior pics today, but the weather is threatening rain. Some contemporary review pointed out that the.. pontoons trailing behind the headlamps give a very 911esque view of the fenders from the cockpit. I've only drive older 911s for a couple of test drives, but the resemblance is there.  That steering wheel looks slightly misshapen, because it is. When I first tried to slide my seat forward on the rails, I pulled on the wheel like I would in any other car. And instead of being moving forward, I simply flexed the wheel back toward me, like a few inches. Like with most things in the car, the wheel feels very delicate. I'm 70/30 on changing it to something beefier. Steering effort is very light, so you don't need to grip the whole wheel. Grasping by your fingertips/first knuckles is enough once the car is moving. To spray the wipers, you push inward on the right stalk. The center of the wheel is not the horn button -- you honk by pressing inward on the left (not shown) stalk. To turn on the headlamps, you twist that LIGHTS knob clockwise and then pull out. Surprisingly, if you leave the lights on with the key out of the ignition, you'll actually get a warning buzz. The PO converted the headlamps to halogens running on their own circuit. The factory design is to send juice through the dash to power the lights, which I hope satisfies everyone expectations of period British carmaking. The turn signals are still like that, and I definitely think about it when signalling turns.  On the center console flanking the ashtray are the two window switches. The electric motors are pretty noisy, but the windows go up and down pretty quickly, unlike in the 348. The shift knob is wooden and a bit faded, but grips nicely in the hand. Much more about the shifting ergonomics later. The PO put in the Becker Europa as a joke -- it's the right vintage to be in the car, but not the stock radio. I'm not sure what that knob below the PANEL switch is. I'll ask the PO at some point. And instead of a glovebox, it's just a glove cubby. Closeup of the peeling wood veneer: 
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Jun 25, 2017 22:10
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In November 1972, Lotus brought this concept to the Turin Motor Show:  It was built on a modified Europa backbone, and filled the same grand touring slot in Lotus' lineup. The Europa ran for 9 years, and the Esprit would go on for 29 over 2 major restyles. But it blows my mind that there was a time when the Europa was selling and the public was demanding the S1 Esprit. The two are so different in styling that they feel more than 1 generation apart. A similar design changing of the guard happened with the '73 Elan to the '74 Eclat/Elite. I'm trying to think of any other model year changeup like that. The '85 Ford LTD to '86 Ford Taurus?
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Jun 25, 2017 22:27
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Ok, opened up the box of docs to the owner's manual folder, which also has some period brochures. This stuff I just really relish flipping through. It's an unvarnish look into the past of marketing and advertising copy. The typography, the photographic quality, e: dealing with Google Photo's insanely unusable direct image urls The user manual and supplement, both very thin. I haven't gone through them yet:  What an amazing waranty -- 6mon or 6000mi, whichever comes first:  Tbf, I have no idea what contemporary warranties from other companies were like. An S2 brochure:   Not a lot of material. The marketing strategy seems to be: - hey, we're in F1 - you can talk at highway speeds - it has seats and doors The S2 still used the S1's 1470cc Renault engine, good for 82hp, except for federalized S2s, which used a larger displacement Renault motor with about the same power. The Twin Cam came out in 1971, using the same Lotus-tuned Ford-blocked Twin Cam motor seen in the Lotus Cortina and Lotus Elan Sprint. This 1557cc engine put out 105hp, while the Federalized version bore "Big Valves" and put out 113hp with Stromberg carbs. Later, the Twin Cam Special brought the Big Valve motor with Dellorto carbs to Europe/ROW, culminating in 126hp, with the Federalized motor staying on Strombergs. The Special originated as a limited run commerating Lotus' 1972 F1 championship in John Player Special livery. The Europa was the first Lotus to gain this tribute livery. The public loved it, so Lotus ended up keeping the Special trim and offering it in other colors. My car, while a Special, retains the US Strombergs and had an engine rebuild to the 113hp Federalized spec. The PO did not think it made sense to make the engine more high-strung and needier to get more power, even though the builder offered as high as a 150hp race spec build (for more money, I'm sure). In theory, a 1974 car should have a 5-speed trans, but I'd not be surprised if it just came from the factory with the 4. All Twin Cams have the dip in the rear sail panels, which improves visibility (good) and reduces the breadvan-lookingness of the car (debatable). A Federalized Europa Special brochure:  "The Special: 4 speeds, or if you want, 5 speeds. Also mid-engined like F1 cars!" The color palette available on Europas is really nice, and I gotta say red is kind of boring. A more detailed fold-out Special brochure, shot in Amsterdam:  That guy in the aviators definitely has that 70s panache. Some interesting tidbits: - I mistated the fuel tank -- it's only 12.5gal - it has car has different left and right turning circles. hmmm, due to rack geometry? I definitely felt the 2.3 turns lock to lock. - the insane details about test day weather conditions and brake force and fade The other side:  - I love when the brochure tells you're fine to enter a corner hot, break the rear tires loose, and add a dab of mustachioed oppo. The alternative advice of lifting to dial out understeer means they really trust the car's balance - talking up things like having carpet, standard side mirrors, and adjustable heat - the incredible period crash standards on display, including "a Lotus handles and brakes really well, which will keep you out of the wreck in the first place" The back side of the folded-out brochure:  These low angles do a great job of the making the car look special and glamorous. Same material, but typeset as a flyer for the 1974 NY Auto Show:  Imagine getting handed this and then looking around the show floor at the new Civic, Jeep Cherokee, and Mustang II. kimbo305 fucked around with this message at 07:05 on Jun 27, 2017 |
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Jun 27, 2017 06:04
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Just drove the Boxster over to the shop to leave for an oil change in the morning, preparing for the drive back to FL. Man, electronic fuel injection and engine management rules. The robustness of the motor off idle and its lack of variation as it warms up makes it so easy to drive. The Europa in comparison is so finicky until it's warmed up, at which point it's just weak until 3k.
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Jun 28, 2017 05:39
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  "Good impact protection, but certainly not great impact protection"
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Jun 28, 2017 05:58
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For a 44 year old car, it's in nice driver shape. The PO did a lot of work you can't see on the surface to make the car reliable. But the paint and dash have seen better days. I don't think I'll walk down the path to restoring those -- they're ok. In trolling around looking at Europa pictures, I spotted this:  Turns out there's a bezel holding the badge, of which there are various types:  And of course some British car parts site has the badge with championships through 73: http://www.sjsportscars.co.uk/index.php?mod=10&car=3§ion=2&component=19 
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Jun 29, 2017 05:22
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I think part of the illusion comes from the sagging belly of the car, which you can make out easily in profile on an unpaneled car: Between the reclined seating position and the straight body line through the door, your mind might force you to think there's more depth than there is. Looks like a cat or the door line on a 1 series. Olympic Mathlete posted:(you can only ever peer down into one of these no matter if you're stood, sat, laying down...)  This one looks like it's lowered, so maybe a good 15" lower than that Mini: 
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Jun 30, 2017 15:33
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Some post in a Lotus forum I was reading described the cabin space in the Europa as being wedged into a light bulb. You feet are tucked into the base, your hands have some room to find the controls, but then your head is then budging against the dome made by the windshield, roof, and door. There's not even that much space around the steering wheel:  This is definitely the first car where I could touch the windshield with my hands on the wheel. There's a way to adjust the steering wheel depth, but I'm not sure I want to change it yet. That might give me more clearance to the glass. As mentioned before, the wheel is small (though not tiny) and delicate:  This is how I hold my hand when cruising, not involved with a lot of winding through backroads. My elbow is on the big trans tunnel, which is how I shift:  For spirited steering (like whenever there's potholes), I move my elbow off the tunnel so I can get more vertical range with the right hand:  I can shift from here, but it's kinda awkward. It'd be worse if there were more gears. On the plus side, the steering is so direct and low effort that you never feel like you need both hands to feed input into the wheel. There's not a lot of on-center feel, but there's play, either. You move that wheel even a twinge off center, and the car responds. Great for dodging potholes, since the ride quality is a bit crashy -- certain amplitude bumps and steps will bottom or near-bottom out the suspension. My Evo8 had this for certain depth holes, but it's much more pronounced here. I was debating for a long time if I should show you guys my fleshy bare feet. I dunno, some people might be grossed out by the nails (this is like a month from a pedicure), but in the interests of describing the car! -- I've been driving barefoot because the pedalbox is so cramped. My left foot is half-resting on a narrow dead pedal: (timged for the squeamish)  That brass collar is what clamps the splined telescoping steering column in place. Loosening allows for adjustment.  My left foot is behind the clutch, but just illustrating how much clearance I get to the right of the dead pedal. Right foot on the brake. If I go more left, I'd feel the steering column against my toe. Note two things about the gas pedal: it's top mounted compared to the two floor mounted hydraulic pedals, and that cable that runs to the carb throttles. I read somewhere that the RHD Europas, thanks to some layout difference, had a slightly bigger pedalbox, but contemporary reviews all griped about space, so I don't imagine it was much better. The elbow on/off the tunnel is my biggest ergonomic gripe. I have 2 more. The steering and pedals are offset to the right a bit. The pedals on the 348 were somewhat rightward, but the wheel was straight ahead. I took this picture facing forward, with the lens centered on my face:  The steering column comes straight at you, so the wheel still faces you, but it's just angled toward the centerline of the car some. Also note that the horn is on the left stalk, where some cars might have a wiper sprayer control. This probably makes it easier to swap steering wheels. Gripe 3: the seat belt reel is really high over the shoulder of the seat. It digs into my neck. I've ordered a seat belt clip to try to bring it down some. Ok, here's a look at the storage space locks. The "bare minimum" philosophy shows everywhere throughout this car. The only way to access the frunk and trunk are a small metal lock with a flipaway cover:   There's no releases from the cabin, cuz why would you waste all that cabling and switchgear? The lock doesn't use the ignition key, presumably because it would need a longer, heavier tumbler. This is all just academic anyways, as a thief who wanted your stuff would just rip open the flimsy fiberglass to get inside -- the trunk lid is so floppy that when you put up the strut to hold the lid open, the unsupported side sags down half a foot. Neither lock operates well -- the locking tab presses against a receiving bracket, and unless I relieve pressure on the tab by pushing on the frunk/trunk lid, then the tumbler won't let the key in all the way. I'm not really sure what was standard for 1974. Was there remote locking/release for the trunk and hood? kimbo305 fucked around with this message at 07:03 on Jul 4, 2017 |
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Jul 4, 2017 07:01
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mekilljoydammit posted:This might have gotten addressed somewhere, but how is the shifter action compared to, say, the 348 and compared to some normal FR cars? When we had the Europa-shaped parts piles I always looked at the shifter linkage conglomeration with more than a bit of skepticism. Afaik, the 348's shifter was only different in that the metal gates stopped the shifter so that you could hear the click -- the mechanism beneath acuating cables to the trans like other non-direct shifters. So while the shift feel on that car was good, it was more special because of the sound. This is what the shift pattern on the Europa looks like: code:Finding 1 is thus easy, and so are the other gates from there. The only shift I bobble is 3->2. Often I get 4 or get stuck between 2 and 4. Twice, (once on the test drive), I grated into the syncro on R. e: there's a bit of a detente to pull left into R, but no push up/down or any other safety mechanism. The gates are spread pretty wide, and there's only 2 positions in the top row to deal with, so it's fairly easy to operate. The shifter is fairly loose, and arriving at a gear is somewhat vague, but overall the shifter is still easy to use. Roughly comparable to the 944 I had in terms of shift effort and travel. If I had to run down shift feel in the other interesting cars I've driven: - Z06 was not very positive feeling but lighter effort and quick - Viper was heavy but fairly positive - 986 Boxster was vague and medium effort, and had a lot of travel for a small shifter, leading to extreme changes in angle - NA Miata was on the positive side and light. Had maybe the most noticeable sluggishness with a cold trans - S2000 had the shortest throw, most positivity, and medium effort (though compensated by the tiny distance traveled) There have been 2 shifters I've ever driven that beat the S2000 in terms of shift satisfaction: - the Formula Mazda trainers at Bondurant Racing School, which had these tiny 4-speed shifters that had very little left-right travel between gates, out of space necessity - a K-Tuned shifter in a Factory Five 818 I test drove. Something like this. It was very heavy, but close to 0 slop, so almost maximal positivity On the Europa, I've read that a perfectly tuned shift assembly makes shifting really nice. The PO said he spend some time to make it shift like it should. My biggest complaint is that it's pretty rubbery-feeling when in/around N. Grakkus posted:WRT the bonnet/boot releases, the '70 Lancia Fulvia I just bought -- No boot release though, just a lock. Does it use a similarly small lock, that wouldn't really stand up to someone looking to get inside? kimbo305 fucked around with this message at 06:32 on Jul 5, 2017 |
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Jul 5, 2017 06:28
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As I did last time with the 348, here's what's new to me for this car: - first British marque - first car <2000lbs - first car with floor-hinged clutch and brake pedals - first carbed motor - first 4 speed (manual, at least) Of these, being carbed is probably the most significant to the driving experience -- I'm still trying to get used to the tetchiness up until 3k and til it's warmed up. The clutch disc is tiny and easy to overwhelm when it's only partially engaged. 4 speed is kind of a drag for the highway, where 60mph is ~3500rpm. And finally, the low curb weight means that adding a second passenger is more noticeable than in other cars. A 170lb friend is adding 10+% weight for the motor to hustle around. It goes from pretty quick to only quick with a friend riding along.
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Jul 7, 2017 20:04
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Mahatma-Squid posted:less convenient than if it were just conventional locks. I remember seeing a 2008 Ford Focus at a car show and asking where the trunk release was, only to hear that it open by lock or keyfob, and nothing else. Somehow that seemed cheaping out more than having a trunk release and no lock, which isn't uncommon. But nowadays, dead battery aside, it's second nature to use the fob on cars. It's weird how expectations change.
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Jul 8, 2017 02:20
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I wanna address a design detail on the Europa. The door is shaped such that the hinge is pretty far forward, leading to a front "tab": (i can put my pinky into that gap, sheesh) Door opens like this:   Ignore the widened fender on the Amemiya rotary example. This design was pretty common. The Elan had it to an extreme:   The E-type had it:   As did the XJ-S:   And the 2000GT:   My best guess for the reasons behind the design: when you have a long hood and short cabin, your door ends up being pretty short. Having the hinges set on an extended tab gives you some extra clearance for your feet during ingress/egress, as the pedal box sticks out in front of the cabin box defined by the windshield. Some other thoughts: - if you have a bulky door construction, the farther forward hinge would help sweep the bulk of the door outwards. Compared to a door with no tab and hinging near the surface of the bodywork - for a fiberglass door, maybe they couldn't trust a more compact hinge to be riveted/bolted to the frame of the door. The tab gives you a lot of space to put in a big hinge setup: https://i.imgur.com/0FuIXmA.jpg. The original hinge rod could rust out and sag the door, so the OP did the recommended steel aftermarket replacement. - making that foot clearance notch precludes having metal under the A-pillar, which is not good for safety - in practice, the sill is so high and wide that it's still not straightforward to get my left foot into the car I thought of a car that might benefit from more foot clearance but doesn't use this design -- the Mini:  I guess it's not possible given the insanely compact front end of the car. The tiny door and external hinges are good enough. kimbo305 fucked around with this message at 02:47 on Jul 8, 2017 |
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Jul 8, 2017 02:44
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Weird, I have a newer Focus (13) as my daily and it has a button on the dash, a button on the fob, and a button in the hatch handle. I dunno if they took the criticisms for being cheap to heart, but the US Focus switched over to the global platform instead of staying on the super long-in-the-tooth C170, which presumably took care of that gap. Nidhg00670000 posted:If you wanted to open the trunk with the car running, you had to turn it off, since you had to remove the key so you could open the trunk with it.
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Jul 10, 2017 15:45
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This baggie dropped out of one of the folders in the documentation box. Seller thinks it might be starter motor brushes, but isn't sure. Anyone?:
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Jul 13, 2017 05:52
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There is some amount of hp and some price point where I would consider that car. Maybe 10x less than what it's listing for. Another Twin Cam Special came up: http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1973-lotus-europa-twin-cam/ The writeup has fewer details and talk of preventative mods, but it is a JPS.
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Jul 14, 2017 22:16
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When did it last drive? If it's running nicely, I think 19k is not bad. 15k would be a goood deal. All assuming it's at least running. Missed that post earlier. I went out for a drive -- the carbs seemed happy today, and I'm getting more precise with my throttle control. Here's a quirk -- you sit really low in the car, enough that (at my height, anyways) that your line of sight is below the bottom of the rear window. I tried to simulate how high up it is when you look over your shoulder to pass:  So you have to raise yourself up a bit to see over the window and trunk:  e: notice that seat belt clip -- the shoulder belt was digging into my neck, so I got clips to lower it some. The bucketing of the seat is low enough that the lap belt doesn't quite stay tight to my hips, which I know is not great in a crash. But I assume I'm on my own if I get hit anyways.
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Jul 15, 2017 22:43
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I think if I wanted to go whole hog on the car, I'd find a way to get the 126hp carbs and head, then redo the dash and veneer while the glass is off, and maybe a repaint. But the car is still a good driver. Sunday I drove it around quite a bit, dodging potholes everywhere. Getting a bit better at a smooth takeoff -- I blip it gently and set my foot at where the revs start to rise, and let out the clutch from there. The more warmed up the motor is and the further let out the choke is, the smaller/tetchier the gap from "really stiff spring to open up the throttle valve" to "revving the nuts off of it and sure to overwhelm the tiny clutch." Any advice on how to nurse the choke as the motor warms up is welcome. As mentioned earlier, there's two gas tanks. There's a tiny hose at the bottom to bridge the two, so fuel levels will balance slowly, but you want to fill both up. Which means you'll always look awkward half the time at the gas station: 
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Jul 18, 2017 04:46
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Krakkles posted:I'm guessing it's more sensitive than the vehicles I've had to operate chokes on (mostly bikes and old trucks with huge engines), but I've always had good luck with "leave the choke alone until you notice it idling high". quote:
12.5gal. I got it below 1/4 and filled up 8.8gal, so accurate enough. The fuel pickup is at the bottom of one of the tanks, and presumably the float is on that side, too. I swear I've seen the fuel level rise a bit after driving, so maybe the bridge is really really slow?
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Jul 18, 2017 17:18
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You Am I posted:just leaving it on the edge of almost stalling at idle. Oh yeah, the inconsistent idle means I get to manually set the idle or blip the motor up to keep it running in the first couple minutes. It's fun to do it at lights 
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Jul 19, 2017 01:03
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Fo3 posted:(something something needle damper dashpot and oil... blaze out) Yeah, when signing over the car, the PO showed me how to unscrew the dashpot off the top of the carb, check oil level, and then top off as needed. I need to figure that out eventually.
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Jul 19, 2017 03:54
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Applesnots posted:I have a zenith/stromberg in my MGB that looks identical to yours with the oil in the dash pot. It has a manual choke too. Check the oil weekly and fill as needed. quote:Also, I strongly recomend that you get a spare one of these. http://www.englishparts.com/product...kwd=&origin=pla If that fails you are dead in the water (and they do fail), throw it in the glove box and forget about it. You can replace it with just a philips screwdriver.
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Jul 19, 2017 17:48
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The 1973 badges came in, and they're not good  .On the car:  Corroded, but surely restorable.  Not a great macro shot, but you can make out that the letters are milled into the badge:  And the replacement from SJ Sportscar, which is just decals:  Emailed the shop to see if these are reproductions. I'm on the fence about putting inferior parts on, though that would give me the chance to fix up the corroded one.
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Jul 26, 2017 03:19
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While I was putting the battery tender on, I double checked the plungers on the Strombergs. They resist before the bottom of the plunger cap touches the carb body, so should be ok. Diagram:  Pointless closeup: http://i.imgur.com/EcPa1fi.jpg
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Jul 26, 2017 05:22
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Parts site confirmed that the badges are repros, saying the orginals have been NLA for 25 years. I should have realized that going in, but I guess I would have expected, given the price, that the repros would be better made. Still haven't decided if I'll swap them.
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Jul 26, 2017 19:51
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And just for the record, that parts site didn't have any pictures of the parts, just a text description that didn't indicate originality.NitroSpazzz posted:What was it that steered you away from them other than potential registration issues? Nothing. If I lived in a state where I could drive a car of OBD-II year vintage that didn't have wipers or emissions control, I would have gotten that supercharged Birkin Lotus clone.
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Jul 26, 2017 22:21
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Took the Europa to Larz Anderson Museum's weekly car show. Today was Day of Triumph, with other British marques allowed. Whoever was on the gate didn't recognize the car -- "... it's a Porsche 911?" only to be corrected by the New England Triumphs president, who let the car in. Parking the car on the lawn means free admission to the show, apparently. Which I suppose has been the #1 perk of driving this car so far. I wasn't in the concours judging, so I got put in the weeds with a Marcos:  The Marcos owner had had two Europas and was happy to see it. Took a lap of the cars and checked out the museum. Ran into the seller of the Europa, who was there with his TR250, easily one of cleanest cars in the whole show. This was in the bathroom of the museum:  When we tried to sneak out of the show, I wanted to avoid blipping up the throttle to settle the idle out, which of course doomed me to multiple failed starts of the car. I stalled reversing off the grass onto the road, and some organizer ran over asking if I needed help. I gave the most sincere, "nah, I'm all set. You know how it is." To which he laughed "I sure do." A smattering of pics here: http://imgur.com/a/dRlSD People liked the Europa a lot. You can see it with a few people around it in the background of the blue Spitfire. One kid was posing with it and hoverhanded the trunk lid. I was all the way across the lawn at the time and couldn't tell him to lean on it if he liked or get in the car for a picture.
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Jul 31, 2017 00:42
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DogonCrook posted:He used to race in one so they reinforce everything in his to get it track ready. I wanna reinforce it just for the streets of Boston. The crashiness on some bumps (like short half-foot 45deg inclines) is cringe-inducing. I feel like the shocks are too soft. Sometimes, there's also what sounds like something big shifting slightly when I come to a stop or take off. I imagine it could be some part of the fiberglass body rubbing/contacting against the backbone as things flex or settle. I can't really isolate or reproduce it well.
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Aug 1, 2017 04:20
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