"64Mali" (ctaaffe64)
11/09/2015 at 11:45 • Filed to: Europolink
10
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"64Mali" (ctaaffe64)
11/09/2015 at 11:45 • Filed to: Europolink | 10
| 17 |
So while I have not posted in a while, a lot has happened with the Europa in the meantime. So time for a bit of recap: Warning very very picture heavy.
The body got separated from the frame, it took a while to get all the rusted bolts off. Granted not much holds the frame and body together. To separate the two parts my dad engineered a 4 post high lift jack since we had no real lift available. Using the posts and an engine crane he slowly lifted the body up more and more. It also helps that the whole body weighs no more than 200 lbs.
Next up was to send the body out to media blasting to remove all the old layers of paint. We also sent the frame a little later after it was finished being stripped of all its parts. Classic Car Blasting in NH had said they had done fiberglass Corvettes and Ferraris before so we entrusted them with the body. A little bit of hilarity ensued when the size of the body to the trailer was measured wrong.
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On a Sad note this was the last towing trip of Towburban, Shes dead but more on that later.
So off to Media blasting and unloading onto their body cart. With 4 of us moving the body it took about 30 seconds to move it. Seriously no more than 200 lbs.
Meanwhile all the extra parts were being taken off the frame so it could get blasted as well. Engine, Suspension, Etc.
Out goes the motor
Time to go pick up the body from blasting and drop off the frame. Also time to see all the hidden damage.
The hood,bonnet, and doors turned out to be in great condition. The body will need some work, as there was evidence of very bad patch jobs over the years as well as a shotgun blast it looks like.
And a before and after of the frame.
The frame will need 2 small sections welded up for minor stress cracks, but that is to be expected given how thin of a material it is.
Currently body work is being preformed and new suspension and other parts are arriving. a quick look at what got shipped from England
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. There have been tons of other parts ordered for it, as the design of it gets narrowed down. I also will end up putting a whole bunch of extra Lotus Parts on eBay for all the spares and originals we do not use. Stay tuned for more sporadic updates.
Hermann
> 64Mali
11/09/2015 at 11:54 |
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This is so beautiful I want to cry.
It may be the dust from the fiberglass, though.
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64Mali
> Hermann
11/09/2015 at 12:00 |
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Dust, must be the dust.
DrScientist
> 64Mali
11/09/2015 at 13:10 |
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235 for a windscreen seems incredibly reasonable for a car of this vintage.
but 135 for “custom internet part?” were ordering from one of those adult sites?
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64Mali
> DrScientist
11/09/2015 at 13:20 |
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Its more amazing is windscreens are made to order, but that is in British pounds. I can’t remember what that custom part was.
BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> Hermann
11/10/2015 at 09:48 |
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More likely to make you cough up blood from inhaling glass shards, but I suppose doing that would make you cry so it's just a different means to the same end ;)
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BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> 64Mali
11/10/2015 at 09:58 |
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Nice! I love these cars :) if I were to own any Lotus it would be one of these.
For some reason the back-to-basics rear suspension design where they use a single component for multiple purposes chimes with my love of Spitfires (leaf spring/upper suspension link in a Spit, driveshaft/upper suspension link in a Europa).
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64Mali
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
11/10/2015 at 10:06 |
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It is a bit of a bizarre car, there are some parts that are engineered great and some that are absolutely awful. I actually was impressed that the front was a rack and pinion, its a far cry better than the Pittman arm in my 64 Mali.
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BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> 64Mali
11/10/2015 at 10:17 |
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Yeah same with the Spitfire. It’s got unequal length double wishbones and rack and pinion steering up front (same rack as you find in your Europa actually with extended track rod ends), and swing axles with a transverse leaf spring doubling as the upper wishbone in the rear.
Your chassis’ a bit more of an advanced structure than mine though. Being a very tall backbone it’s really rather rigid, whereas mine’s pretty flat. Means that Europa racers can get away with leaving the chassis as-is whereas Spit/GT6 racers need to do all kinds of things like caging the body and hard-mounting it to the chassis in order to get anything resembling stiffness...
Here’s a pic of mine for comparison:
What’s the plan with your rebuild? Are you going for restoring it to factory condition, hotting it up a little or going a bit nuts with upgrades?
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64Mali
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
11/10/2015 at 10:20 |
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I think its going to end up being a bit nuts. My father is planning on completely rewiring it with a CAN bus interface and modules for programmable. Doors are getting shaved to small touch buttons that activate the poppers. HID/LED retrofit for all the lights, Cooling vents and better aerodynamics (with some CFD to check) as well as moving various parts like the radiator, battery etc. Shes going to be a very different car when done. Also a roll cage of sorts to help protect the driver since fiberglass does nothing.
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BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> 64Mali
11/10/2015 at 10:44 |
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Nice :) mine’s getting a similar treatment, although more of the mechanical rather than the electrical side.
I’ve sold my 1.3l I4 that it came with stock and rebuilt a 2.5l Triumph I6 (backed up by a big saloon OD gearbox) running Lucas mechanical fuel injection from a TR with a home-brew 6-3-1 exhaust manifold and some porting to hopefully hit 180bhp, along with a custom rear lower wishbone (made by yours truly), CV driveshafts and an LSD :)
It’s got a pretty much wholly fibreglass front end with a host of alloy bits and speed holes to equalise the weight distribution with the big 6 up front (something that according to my maths so far I’m succeeding with!).
All my updates are under the tag 'Spit6' if you fancy a look :)
http://oppositelock.kinja.com/tag/spit6
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64Mali
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
11/10/2015 at 10:52 |
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Mechanically all the seals and most wear parts are being replaced, its going to run with the original 1.6 Renault engine and 4 speed trans-axle for now. We have a 1.6 Lotus Twincam ready to be rebuilt in the garage but were still looking for a compatible transmission. I think we might end up using an upgraded VW bug trans-axle with the ford adapter plate that you would see in a sand rail as it will take the upgrade in power.
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BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> 64Mali
11/10/2015 at 11:01 |
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Nice :) I’ve seen a couple of twincam racers and they’re all really bloody fast :)
I wonder what transmission the stock (albeit limited numbers) Twincam Europas used. I bet it’s a near-extinct Renault transaxle that you can only find in someone’s granddad’s barn in central France...
A bug transmission would probably do rather nicely if you can get it to mate up to the Twincam. Is it something that's been done before?
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64Mali
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
11/10/2015 at 11:08 |
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The stock Twincam used a Renault 356 gearbox. The issue is the bell housing as its Ford pattern to Renault box. I could probably used the stock 4speed Renault trans-axle if I could find the bell housing but its a weak trans-axle so it might not last long. The VW bug trans-axle was actually the basis for the Hewland racing transmission so they are very similar in sizes. I have not seen a swap before but there were not that many Europas made so parts are scarce especially in the USA. I found a company that made VW bug to Ford adapter plates so its an avenue that will be explored.
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BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> 64Mali
11/10/2015 at 11:18 |
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Yeah bug transaxle sounds like a good bet, especially if you're concerned about damaging a Renault one. I can imagine you'd be comparatively tripping over Bug boxes compared to Renault ones for cars that weren't even sold in the US...
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64Mali
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
11/10/2015 at 11:33 |
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I looked around I can buy a built one for 700-800 (you pick the gearing) and the plate is about 150. So under 1k gets a brand new transmission and axles. Just takes time and fabrication. which is the easy part. Were going to leave it so the body comes off the frame easy so the motor swap is simple.
McMike
> 64Mali
12/25/2015 at 19:12 |
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All work done with channel-locks. Impressive.
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64Mali
> McMike
12/25/2015 at 19:20 |
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I love by those things..