Since I am replacing so much hardware I may use hollow bolts where I may.
A few steel items may be replaced by aluminum.
Since I am replacing so much hardware I may use hollow bolts where I may.
A few steel items may be replaced by aluminum.
Rear suspension nearly fully dismantled.
DPO got me again, more parts to buy, expensive ones.
Spoke with Delta Cams about restoring my cam.
They also think they have a grind for me.
Finally have the bulky items on their way from Lotus Supplies UK.
Two fuel tanks, trailing arm, pistons, and instrument binnacle so that I may engage in the wiring.
This takes care of the large items so the rest should be simple to have shipped.
A few more engine items to get but I think bearings, lower gaskets, timing chain, gears, etc. should be fairly simple to obtain.
That exhaust the TR6 sale funds, time to list the leftover TR6 bits.
A few more small parts have come in.
I've also sent emails to a couple of companies to see about having the cam follower faces TiN plated to increase cam and follower life.
Should be a lot cheaper than having a cam done.
Also trying to reach "leftech" about some parts he may have for sale?
Hoping the email I sent him goes through.
Cannot seem to find a way to search the user base here to PM him.
Leftwich is a scammer, I don't think he exists other than to send emails offering parts that you are looking for but he always requests that you email some other email to make your request. You can actually google that email address and it comes up as a scammer.
In reply to chandler :
Lovely. /S
The big parts I ordered have mostly arrived.
I will now have dual fuel tanks like a European model.
Still only about 300 mile range, which is not really a lot for Nevada travel.
Pistons are pretty high compression, I may have to run some 100LL mixed in as cheap octane boost.
I've also got the rest of the rear suspension apart for rebuilding and disc brake conversion.
Going to see about using the Scirocco aluminum calipers I have for simplicity and retaining a functional hand-brake.
Yum!
Found and bought new center caps for my Cosmic wheels.
Coolant tubes, gearshift, e-brake cables, engine mounts, trailing arm mounts all removed.
That takes care of the awkward components so from here it should be easier.
Once I confirm I do not need any frame repairs I will be able to look at reinforcement, then paint, and begin reassembly.
Frame fully stripped, pressure washed, then soda-blasted.
That got everything visible so the areas needing repair are easy to find.
Frame is now on saw horses for good working height.
Three small "Windows" up front and a couple of rear Y edge flange sections have been cut out for patches.
Cleaning and rust treating the inside of the frame head is going to be "Fun".
Looks like I will be trying Electrolysis to clean the Lotus frame head.
Multiple layers of steel and no way to reach them mechanically.
Evaporust might have been great but this is a LARGE part so cost prohibitive.
Electrolysis should be cheap and might even be quick.
The hardest part will be coming up with a large enough container.
Once the cleaning is done I am thinking of Phosfo to impart a preotective layer.
Exterior will get POR-15 but inside is not easily accessed.
A buddy of mine uses one of those big Rubbermaid roll around carts like housekeeping at hotels use for laundry to do big parts in. Might be an idea.
Here is my frame head getting an electrolysis bath.
Muck floats to the top almost immediately.
Probably old dirt, oil, and remnants of Evaporust.
I am using a 200A "Dumb" battery charger in "Boost" mode.
Water gets dirty pretty fast, not sure how long to run such a large part and it is already hard to see it.
I am using some wire mesh I had laying around.
Turned it off after a couple of hours.
I cannot see anything in the dark.
Maybe the muck will settle overnight so that I may get a good look.
Nice thing about this is that I can just run it longer if I am not satisfied.
For a frame, I think I would go find an old above ground kiddy pool.
Only the frame head has an issue.
Looks like this is not a fast process for large parts so I will run it all day and probably overnight.
After running this process for a few days I am still disappointed.
"Rust is the enemy".
Despite being stored indoors the frame head has pitted and has scale between layers that I just do not want to have to accept.
This is not a car to be casually sold after driving a few times, this is THE only car I ever tried to buy when they were new.
I intend to keep it for as long as I am still able to get in and out of it.
So I have stalled, grimaced, and put in an order for a new frame head.
After this purchase no doubt the exchange rate will improve, but I cannot wait.
Pics of chassis on the build table before lopping off the old head.
Found a tool for checking the head angle in my 'That could be useful someday' stash.
In reply to RichardSIA :
It's amazing how badly they rust despite not being left to the elements.
Untreated 16ga steel with overlapping layers, no real protection, and exposed edges.
No seam-seal was used.
I am unsure what the expected service life was but it was never over fifty years.
An awful lot of Europa's turn up with very low mileage, less than 50,000 is frequent.
Seems odd to me as mechanically they use fairly robust components and are really not hard to work on.
The Renault powered cars are not even expensive as the TC cars can be.
In reply to RichardSIA :
I remember the TCs needed a valve job around 40k per the manual, which seemed to be about the point that most of them got parked.
Inside of the back-bone has been painted with gloss black POR-15.
Very nearly ready to weld the new frame head on.
If not for the excessive cost of shipping such a large item it would have been much simpler and not that expensive to just order a new frame.
It would not have been faster as no one keeps frames in stock.
More progress, frame is welded together and mostly painted.
I used seam sealer at all joints and open seams of any kind.
Looking good!
You'll need to log in to post.
