"64Mali" (ctaaffe64)
03/08/2016 at 10:55 • Filed to: Europpolink, Lotus Update
8
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"64Mali" (ctaaffe64)
03/08/2016 at 10:55 • Filed to: Europpolink, Lotus Update | 8
| 13 |
Hi all and welcome back to the sporadic updates of the 1970 Lotus Europa. Good news the shipment from England finally arrive after much waiting. That meant the custom made windshield is now here. I finally got some time to powder coat the reaming wheels and mount tires on them, and progress was made on fiberglass and modifications. This will be a picture heavy post and apologies for some of the poor quality photos I need to get my dad a better cellphone. As you may remember last time we did some fiberglass supports .
The Windshield being transported, buckle up for safety.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
First up we tested to make sure the windshield would fit, being that these are made 1 at a time by a company in the UK and it took almost 4 months to get we were a little nervous. Good news is it fit like a glove.
Nothing like a tight fit
In the meanwhile the first of the cooling mods was cut into the side of the car, these vents are right behind the door and will channel the air over the motor. They might not be needed for the 1.6 Renault engine but certainly will be when the Twin Cam makes it way in. Behind the vents tubular fiberglass was added and then covered in carbon fiber for extra support.
Cooling vent
Vent support.
You can see just how thin the fiber glass body is after the cutout.
Speaking of thin, for extra safety he decided to wrap the aftermarket Aluminium gas tank with carbon fiber for extra puncture protection. Since this is located so close to the rear wheel and side of the car it only made sense.
Carbon Everything
The last thing before the body got flipped over was to check what modifications are needed for the new lights that will be installed. Extra points to anyone who can figure out what car they are from.
Lights camera,
Having a light with an integrated turn signal means that those ugly marker lights seen to the left of the head lamp can be removed. The current plan is to turn them into the fresh air ducts for the AC/Heat for the car and possibly diverted to cool the brakes as well. Now that all the top side work is set for the time being it became time to flip the car over and clean up the bottom. Plenty of spider cracks existed on the bottom side of the body so a layer of CF was placed over the whole underside.
The resin was dyed black to look for cracks.
Once that dried it was time for some spray on undercoating. Both for protection and sound deadening.
So Clean looking
You can see the front passenger side damage in this picture, that will be completely remade in the next step. Now that the underside is done, I can finish up the suspension and the body can drop back onto the frame for final tweaks. This will ensure that any repairs made on the body wont cause misalignment on the frame.
Now I did say I finally got around to finish powder coating the wheels, I left one of them Red to be the spare as it had the most dents in the lip, (also no way I was stripping that paint off).
Tape Tape Tape..
It took roughly an hour to tape up each wheel, then it was 30 min to do the inside, 20 min to cool and 30 min to do the spoke area. Then 40 min to cool down so that tires could be mounted and balanced. All in I spent about 7 hours working on powder coating 3 wheels and mounting balancing 5 tires.
Spray Spray Spray
Finished Product. Note the red spare.
Later today I will be attempting to break apart the rear suspension so it can go out for media blasting so stay tuned for more updates.
bob and john
> 64Mali
03/08/2016 at 10:58 |
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the lights look like they might be from a mini cooper or a VW bettle
EDIT: maybe a 2010 porsche 911?
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64Mali
> bob and john
03/08/2016 at 10:59 |
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Nope, I’ll give a hit its domestic.
SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> 64Mali
03/08/2016 at 11:03 |
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This is so sexy. Since it’s going in more of a resto-mod direction, are you doing anything else to stiffen the frame and body?
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bob and john
> 64Mali
03/08/2016 at 11:04 |
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later (2005 ish) dodge neon?
Ssfancyfresh
> 64Mali
03/08/2016 at 11:04 |
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Good Hint. Thunderbird?
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64Mali
> Ssfancyfresh
03/08/2016 at 11:06 |
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Correct for 3 internet points, please redeem at the gift shop upon logging out.
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64Mali
> SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
03/08/2016 at 11:08 |
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Plenty of extra body stiffing is being added, I am looking into the BMW structural foam to fill some of the weaker areas, I need to order some to test it out. The frame, well not much there to stiffen.
BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> 64Mali
03/08/2016 at 12:44 |
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Very nice :) you're not doing things by halves!
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64Mali
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
03/08/2016 at 12:57 |
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What do you mean?
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BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> 64Mali
03/09/2016 at 03:37 |
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Ah, that’s probably a Britishism.
Free dictionary explains it much better than I can: http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/do+things+by+h…
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64Mali
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
03/09/2016 at 09:44 |
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British version of ain’t half assed it seems. I like it.
gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
> 64Mali
03/10/2016 at 20:43 |
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where does one find carbon fiber sheets? i didn’t know you could buy rolls. I just remember the F7F days of everybody sticking fake carbon fiber wraps on. did you just use epoxy to glue them on? Do you have to bake afterwards?
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64Mali
> gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
03/10/2016 at 20:45 |
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I’ll ask my dad where he ordered them, and normal fiberglass epoxy will cure fine. I can get exact parts for you later.