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      • Tach Woes, Continued 2x
        05/31/22
        Too bad the streets here in Fall River are mostly reminiscent of photos of Berlin after Army Air Forces did their urban renewal flights in '44-'45. Only when you get on the interstate or MA 24 towards Boston (Bahstin?) does it smooth out and you can enjoy the music. Thinking a nice set o

      • Tach Woes, Continued
        05/29/22
        Back when I was starting down the road in February...the original tach would go crazy with the normal point system, too. I think it's just time to send it out to West Valley and have it gone through and converted. I won't be driving the car much except for around town. A contact in the

      • Tach Woes
        05/29/22
        Luckily I picked up a spare tach (same prefix, different suffix on the notation at the bottom of the dial; probably has more to do with the yellow/red markings than a mechanical or electronic change to the unit) from a fellow participant a couple months ago...while out and about leaking oil over the

      • Some Miles, and Some Observations
        05/28/22
        Did 50 miles in 3291R this afternoon...Not totally dialed in (occasional clutch judder on starting off in 1st gear...haven't changed the clutch yet, and I know the adjustment is way off...but, will deal with it), lots of leaks to address (out comes the lump and tranny when I'm finished (or

      • Radio or Not?
        05/26/22
        Thought I'd mock up the radio-delete gauge panel on the new dash for 3291R. (I have a bluetooth/line input amp for the door speakers that will get mounted in the front plenum...don't know anyone that listens to OTA radio...sad to say, since my degree was in communications and worked as a

      • Lump Removal
        05/25/22
        No, not talking about finding things under your skin that need removal...but that big honking power unit behind your behind.

        Basically, the good book says (eliminating the stuff at the beginning...):

        Raise the rear of the car and place a stand beneath each side of the chassis a

      • Joji's Brake Booster Process
        05/16/22
        This is so important, I hope Joji doesn't mind that I lifted it from Joe's site:

        --
        Joji Tokumoto's Remove Brake Booster Documentation:

        Overview of the Europa brake hydraulics

        Before removing the brake lines from the booster, it would be best to

      • Brake Line Fittings
        05/16/22
        Practice on some scrap 3/16 line so you get the feel of it. It's doable; the brass fittings can strip, so use good ones (ie the amazon cheapies will fail...I went through 5 couplings until I got smart and went to the local NAPA store and got decent quality fittings). First time through, took

      • Clutch Questions, Part 1
        05/16/22
        couple questions (TCS, 1973/4, 365 box):

        1. I'm replacing release bearing. What kind of fit is it in the carrier..and how is the carrier fit to the fork? In other words, to replace the bearing, how far do I have to pull down; how hard is the bearing (#6 on page QA) fit into the car

      • Sealant Thoughts
        05/11/22
        I'm partial to the aviation goop; I've used it successfully on a number of lycoming and continental rebuilds between the case halves...and besides having a BIG can of it, it somehow lasts for 2000 hours (most of the time, if you follow the case sealing directions religiously). On aluminum

      • More Ruminations
        05/10/22
        In fairness, the PO of 3291R didn't do anything during the 3 years he owned her...except bring to a couple shops north of Boston to attempt to get it going, and finally admitted he was in over his head about the car, which, after calling around to other lotus owners he knew after I expressed my

      • Dodgy Shift and Tranny Ruminations
        05/09/22
        You know...I was looking around in a box I brought up from PA...and there are 3 bottles (albeit 13 years old...) of MT90 that I had (damn memory fails me sometimes) from my last go round with a Europa resurrection. Thinking it's past its 'use by' date...IIRC, it did quiet the 336 I w

      • Clutch Comments
        05/09/22
        EuropaTC opined:
        "The clutch sounds like mine was before I replaced it. A sharp action and sometimes difficult to start/change smoothly on the 352 box.

        When I took it apart there wasn't a great deal of wear on the plate so I put it down to weakening springs. Replacing the c

      • Post Brake Bleed Success
        05/08/22
        Well...went down the road today. Eezbleed works great; took longer to get the car up on stands and wheels off than it took to bleed the system, 3 times around the car. Full pedal now. Yes, a bit higher pedal effort than I'm used to...but the car stops straight.

        But...has a real f

      • Progress du Jour, Continued
        05/06/22
        Not being too worried about incremental weight...for a road car (unless it is things like an extra 40 lbs of dead weight at the far back end of the car, hence my moving the battery back to where it belongs/was designed to sit near the middle), the alternative is to use twist-lock fasteners (southco,

      • Progress du Jour
        05/06/22
        Got a lot more room in back of the rear cross-member now. Helps to move the battery to where it belongs. Lost about 5' of positive battery cable (hey, every little bit, even at that gauge of wire, helps). Reterminated both the positive and ground cables, Penetrox on the bare wire before atta

      • More Steering Column Happiness
        05/03/22
        In the clamp that attaches the steering column to the bracket at the bottom of the dash (and is attached to that clamp with 2 7/16 nuts on the top of the bracket...below) there is supposed to be a spring steel secondary clamp that's captured inside the two pieces that grips the column when you

      • Battery Movement
        05/03/22
        Want to move the battery from its position (in photo below) back to where it belongs. Found that the long bolts were still in the location where they needed to be...and want to get rid of the weight behind the wheels...not that I'll be doing any slaloms or autocrossing, mind you, but...and mov

      • Balancing Carbs
        05/03/22
        I'd have to dig out my balancer sticks from the storage shed in PA and bring them up. Used them last time I remember back in 06 or 07 on my CB750F4 to set the carbs up. That was going to be my next step. The feeds back from the (disconnected) charcoal canister to the base of the carbs are th

      • Half Step Back
        05/02/22
        Saturday 30 April:

        Well, spent some quality time on 3291R. New dizzy, low resistance coil, still futzing with those blasted strombergs with the euro needles, but, set for 10 degrees advance…kicks right over.

        Got to loose 500 rpm somewhere. Emission plate in the engine room

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