How hard is it to source a windshield for a late Lotus Europa TC?

I might be able to buy a Lotus Europa TC in need of some fettling[1] from someone localish to me. The car is an unfinished resto but supposedly the important parts like the chassis and engine are in good shape. plus it looks like it's got a high quality respray.

Amongst the things it needs is a new windshield as the current one has a crack in it. The windshield has to come out anyway to redo the dash, but so far my attempts at finding a price on one didn't go very far.

Also, does anybody know if it's possible to replace the fuel tanks without pulling the engine? It also needs the passenger side tank replaced.

[1] They all do that, sir

I would start with call out to Dave Bean.

Windshield is probably available from: www.pilkingtonclassics.com Might not be cheap though.

I bought one about a 1.5-years ago. They get imported from the UK in limited batches every few years. Mine was one of the cheaper ones at ~$500 shipped. Usually they're ~$500 + shipping.

I'd be glad to sell it to you along with the rest of the car and its bits.

Regarding the tanks, I've not had the pleasure of doing that job yet, but IIRC there's a way to drop them out the bottom.

My Elan's windshield came from these guys: http://www.prosourceglassintl.com/ I think Richard is the contact there

Leo Basile wrote: I would start with call out to Dave Bean.

Called him earlier today, and yes, he can drop-ship me one if I needed one.

Still not sure adding a Lotus to our collection of not-quite-fully-working vehicles is a smart move.

petegossett wrote: Regarding the tanks, I've not had the pleasure of doing that job yet, but IIRC there's a way to drop them out the bottom.

The tanks seem to be different between the various series and it appears the current owner managed to get the tank out without removing the engine. The question is, can one get a replacement tank in that way.

You can never go wrong with a Lotus! At least it doesn't have wood making up the majority of the structure.

Leo

Are you KIDDING ! ? ! ? !

A Lotus Europa TC !

Why just having the option of getting away with painting a car in BRG with a yellow nose is reason ENOUGH to buy it on the spot ! ! ! !

You totally know that I'm right . . .

Leo Basile wrote: You can never go wrong with a Lotus! At least it doesn't have wood making up the majority of the structure. Leo

Well, I think ash would hold up better than the 18-gauge sheet metal it's built from.

Ohhh.. you can go plenty wrong with a Lotus. I currently have 4 Lotus Europa TCs in various states. L.O.T.U.S. = Lotus Of Trouble Usually Serious!

Unless you are all in and committed to the car, don't do it..

I know from experience.

Here's my brother's car when he first purchased it after hitting a deer. If I remember right he ordered from England. He also got rid of the stripes BTW.

Here's my bro's same car at the Glen vintage event last Sept. If you need more info let me know and I'll ask him where he got his replacement windshield from.

Damn, that last picture makes me want a Europa again. Nice car. Now I'm going to have to look at one from the rear so I can forget I saw that.

Hitting a deer in a Europa would be a high pucker-factor event. It looks like it hit the windshield first.

Sell the Twink to fund the glass and install a Zetec, and have some left over money to fix all the other parts.

In reply to JoeTR6:

I'm always surprised how much attention that little green Lotus gets. Whenever we park our three cars together its always the same - people walk right past the TR8 and early model 911 to admire the Lotus.

In reply to TR8owner:

Makes perfect sense to me. I'll also note my friend's NSX has the same rabid following almost regardless of the venue. And I've never noticed it marking its' spot.

So, Boxhead Tim, did you buy it?

In reply to Rupert:

"Makes perfect sense to me"

That 911 is a 1965 that is "worth" many times more than the Europa on the current market. The TR8 is actually the rarest but has by far the least value. But we're not talking only about investment value in this situation.

But is what interesting, in any given situation where the cars are parked side by side, the Lotus gets by far the most attention.

In reply to TR8owner: Makes perfect sense to me. Because almost everyone sees 911s & other cars which look similar to a TR-8, Miata, etc. on a pretty regular basis. They don't know squat about year, value, performance, etc.

What people do know is they don't see a car that looks even similar to a Europa everyday or possibly ever. Like my buddies NSX. They don't know what it is, many think it's a Ferrari, but they do know it's different.

Of course with the Europa they might think they're looking at a pedal car, either that or they want to see the midget who drives it. I always think getting into a Europa is a lot like squeezing into Lyrca Spandex bicycle suit.

In reply to Rupert:

Squeezing into an Europa is actually the easy part. It's getting out that is much more difficult. Once there however, its one of the most comfortable/ergo cars that you'll ever drive, just as long as you're under 5'10" .

In reply to TR8owner: Yes I've driven several Europas. In fact I put own a $1,500 deposit on a Big Valve JPS Special that my nearest dealer had enroute. (The JPS Special was in the same livery as the John Player Special that won the Formula 1 championship that year. It also came with a leather jacket in the JPS livery as well.) The dealer called me on a Wednesday and told me the car was in. Since his dealership was about three hours away I promised to be on Saturday to take delivery.

When I got to the dealership early Saturday morning, with a driver to take my other car home. He had sold the JPS to someone who paid way over retail for it. He also had a red one that arrived with the same shipment. It was equipped just the same but wasn't a JPS so he offered me a large discount to take the red one. I figured if the dealer screwed me on a full retail price purchase he'd really screw me later on parts after a purchase so I cussed him, threatened him, and when they threatened to call the cops, I walked out the door. I never bought a Europa.

How do I get out of a Europa? I rotate my bum out onto the pavement then pull my legs out after myself. It isn't graceful, but it works. I'm a little over 5'11" but I wear a size 7 shoe so the pedal box is perfect for me.

BTW: $1,500 doesn't sound like much of a deposit today. But when Europas were new, $1,500 was at least a third of the full purchase price.

In reply to Rupert:

My brother picked up his car for a psalm after the accident and probably put another $10 K into it, so he would actually make money if he ever sold it, which isn't part of his agenda. The only sad thing is that he now hardly ever drives his TR6 any more since he loves the attention grab of the Europa. But my modified TR8 could still kick his butt on a straight line even with his Euro weber head. Wouldn't try to match him on the corners though.

I keep seeing reference to these being impossible for bigger drivers. How true is this really? They do look very small, but I've never tried to get into one. I'm 6'1" and wear a size 13 shoe (also not skinny at 240 lbs). Is there any hope?

In reply to WilD:

I never had the opportunity to drive mine, but I did sit in it and make "vroom-vroom" sounds a few times. I'm not tall - 5'6" with a size-8 shoe - but to reach the controls I found I had to slide the seat almost all the way forward, at which point it was almost impossible to get into/out of. The driving position is very reclined(the seats are the most awesome seats I've ever experienced!), but your legs go a long way under the dash to reach the pedals. So you need to find a spot where you have enough arm leverage to manhandle the tiny steering wheel, while still being able to tap-dance on the pedals.

The footwell is small. A size 13 may fit length(height)-wise, but if you have wide feet tiptoeing on the pedals may be difficult. If your height is mostly torso, head/helmet clearance may be an issue. If you're all legs, you should fit, but your arms better be long too!