Learn me Lotus Europa S2's

Diagrams, links, history, etc.

I've got a shell, and never seen a complete one.

Of particular interest: teach me about the rear suspension.

http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z2972/Lotus-47-Europa.aspx

http://leander.mutsaers.us/?level=picture&id=3417

Go to lotus-europa .com

is this going to get expensive quick... or are you going to hand build your own chassis?

Join http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lotuseuropa

Tell them I sent you. All your questions can be answered there, but first go to Jerry's site http://www.lotus-europa.com/ and download/install the Knowledge Base. It's the yahoo group archived in a searchable (of course) database format.

Rear suspenstion: Trailing arm, lower link, and the drive shaft (yes, the drive shaft is an active component of the rear suspension, lots of English cars did that). Drum brakes.

The complete shop manual is available online. http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/s2work/index.htm

Starting with nothing but a body shell is going to be a biatch. You might want to look around for a donor. Really, a grand worth of donor vehicle will save you a lot of money. A 74 TCS sold at an auto swapmeet near Little Rock a couple months ago for one large, in the natural state, as they are found in the wild (cylinder head in the boot [or missing], last ran 10 years ago). A "Free Range" Europa.

In reply to Dr. Hess:

There's something to be said for starting with a bare body shell: All the finiky Lotus bits are off of it. I'd say that it's time to find yourself a donor car and a welder. You'll actually end up spending less time and money than trying to do an authentic restoration, and bonus! The thing will actually run when you want it to!

I've always (well, at least for a few years) wanted to build up a Europa from a bare Twincam shell.

Ideally, I'd build a frame, possibly extending the wheelbase a little, cut away the inner panels in the engine compartment and drop the body over a Subaru engine and transaxle driving the rear wheels.

In my head, everything would fit perfectly and it would be easy to climb into.

Dr. Hess wrote: Starting with nothing but a body shell is going to be a biatch.

kreb wrote: In reply to Dr. Hess: There's something to be said for starting with a bare body shell: All the finiky Lotus bits are off of it. I'd say that it's time to find yourself a donor car and a welder. You'll actually end up spending less time and money than trying to do an authentic restoration, and bonus! The thing will actually run when you want it to!

Donor car...check.

Welder....check.

Time to git-r-done...priceless!

Well, if you're going to go through with this, then start with the shop manuals which practically have plans for the frame. All the critical dimensions, anyway. Get a Spitfire or maybe a GT6 for the front suspension and steering. Go tubular after the firewall and mount a modern motor in transverse and make your own suspension setup. The rear uprights were Lotus sourced, I believe, so if you don't have that, you'll have to start over anyway. There is room in the engine bay for a 4AGE/C52 in there between the body panels, but not between the original frame rails. I measured it.

Yeah, I'm going through.

I have a body, chassis, and front suspension and steering. That's about it.

I don't mind altering the chassis.

Why transverse?

SVreX wrote: Why transverse?

More easily found requiring less work to adapt to a north/south mid engine design, etc. Think about how successful the X-1/9, MR2 and Fiero can be and they are transverse mid-engine rides. The Ferrari 308, 328 are also transverse as is the Lamborghini Muira and they all work (mostly)

There is a place in the UK that makes better, stronger Europa and Elan chassis, with several improvements and options.

Manual transmission choices.

Well, you have most of the pieces then. You just need a Corolla, Celi, etc. donor, welder and some time. Go for it.

Note that you can get a Renault transaxle for about $150, a Renault motor for cheap in front of it, then you just need some rear suspension bits and everything should almost bolt in.

I'm in a similar situation as I have an S1 body and nothing else. I was thinking about using a vw transaxle since it will be an autox car and I don't need a 5th gear. I still haven't decided on engine

There's a whole S2 car for five bills on the yahoo list right now. Well, referenced by the seller. He has it on a CL somewhere. He also has a TC or TCS needing interior work that he wants to sell but didn't list the price.

if you go transverse... the options are fairly limitless

I just got rid of an S2 shell. Those things must grow on trees.

I understand the transverse options available.

I thought the suggestion was specifically in relation to the Europa, which confused me a bit.

The chassis of the Europa squeezes very tightly forward of the rear wheels, which raises some issues for the transverse in a midship location.

Additionally, the original was beautifully balanced (think F-1) with a north/ south mounted motor.

My original plan was transverse, but it may mean some big time chassis mods, so I was looking into options.

Snowdoggie wrote: I just got rid of an S2 shell. Those things must grow on trees.

Give me a call when you can- I want to finalize a couple of details with you.

There is a guy in Houston who has a kit for bolting up a 4AGE to a Renault transaxle for Europas. He's on the before mentioned LotusEuropa.com. It might be easier than a transverse swap and it has been done before. That's what I was considering.

BTW there is a box of parts coming to you that Jonnie forgot to pick up. It should be there Wednesday.

There's actually a Toyota longitudinal transaxle wich will bolt to a 4A-G, that can be found in some early '80s of Tercels. It's not known to be very strong though.

Not gonna work. I need strong.

Rexxy, why not use a WRX boxer engine and a 2WD Impreza transmission?