Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I know this is not an Elan+2 but I have found a early Lotus Europa S1.
I friend of mine asked me if a wanted a Lotus I said "is the Pope Catholic?" of course I want another Lotus. He did not know what model it was so I went out to his place and found it covered with a old tarp in a field.
It is an early S1 Europa in pretty poor condition. The head was taken off the block long time ago and the engine is all rusted up with the liners hanging out. Body has the normal cracks around it, interior is a mess. At least their is still air in the tires. The only thing I don't like this model had the bonded in frame lot of work to get it out. I am now negotiating a price which I hope will be very cheap.
Is their a Europa forum?
Attached pic of the find.

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

http://www.lotus-europa.com/

Try these two, your in trouble now...

The body is bonded to the chassis on the S1 Europa, I used to own 46/0396 and it needed a lot of work, I have some photos of the two ways to remove the chassis, one is out the bottom ant the other is out the back through the firewall. The out the firewall method is the one I was going to use as the fiberglass work involved is a lot eaiser. folks over on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lotuseuropa/
can give you all the incouragement you need.

Gary

Hello,

Did it have a wooden trimmed dash (S1A) or was it aluminium?

You should try to get it as cheap as possible (less than 1k if you can)

as the aforementioned issues with the chassis removal.


If your a purist, don't read on:

It would be a good candidate for a zetec mated to a renault fuego gearbox

there are several that have been done to them in the links posted.

good luck with it!


Carl

The Europa in the photo appears to be a S1a with the non opening vent side windows. Some details of the differences can be found at

http://geek.rcc.se/lotus/erp.html

yes go to 'lotus europa .com -----ed

Many parts of the Type 46 are as rare as parts get. IIRC, taillights in good condition run in excess of $1000 and are seldom seen at that price. If it has originals in good shape, you might have a buy on that basis. There are other rare bits of hardware as well.

This looks restorable, but the chassis is most likely crap, and as Gary notes it will take a dedicated restorer to follow through. The S1/S1A are the most desirable of Europas (at least by Europa site consensus) because of the heritage, the lack of "warts" and the fact that they are the lightest cars.

All of the R16 powerplants are bolt-ins, so the engine condition is no biggie. Preserving the existing block is still a distinct possibility as well, as the bottom end of this engine is very robust (though it does sound as though rust may have found a home in the crankshaft by now.) You can probably still find a running R16 for under $1000, though the Lotus specialty bits that produce more ponies than stock are all in the head.

DO NOT attempt to turn over the engine without removing the oil pump rotor (through the pan) or its cam-based drive gear (with head off, slip it right off), or you may make your restoration more expensive!

While Zetecs have been used as with Elans, these make more sense for the Twincam than the Sx cars, where the repower of choice is either a Gordini Renault or a Toyota 4AGE blacktop. Both can easily see 150+ HP, the Gordini is bolt-in with the 807 block and the Toyota has an adapter kit available from Europa lister John Pels.

On the Yahoo Europa site, you'll find an active group of helpful individuals, plus the usual smattering of flamethrowers. The site tends to be more technically focused than this one, where originality has a stronger presence.

I do believe the ' flamers' have been some what extinguished --or he is parking lot racing --ed

I have since found out a lot more information thanks to Jerry Johnson of the Europa registry.
It is a 1968 S1B Plus Jerry has just found another Europa with the vin # one down which was originally in Canada.
I have attached pic of the engine bay as you will see it is a mess with the head off and all the liners are rusty. I have no intention of replacing the renault engine but will go with a Toyota or like.
Thanks with the help of the other web sites that has been very useful