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  • 2023
    • May
      • Updated Photo Album
        05/25/23
        I admit I've been remiss in putting photos up of the renovation. But, I've put a link in the side menu to the 3219R photo album under 2023 with an Unsorted album which has what I've saved on my laptop so far.

  • 2022
    • June
      • Emissions Gubbins: Comment from Brian
        06/04/22
        Brian Robbins had this observation:
        "I'm not going to say "aaaagh, no, no, no !" on reinstating emissions gear, but why not simply duplicate the UK spec cars by blocking off the extra holes ?

        I can honestly say I've never had fuel smells inside the car or eve

      • Emissions Gubbins: Yea or Nay?
        06/03/22
        Going to ask a question which some may view of heretical...after my description of the current state...but here goes...

        I'm continuing my quest to return 3291R to decent mechanical condition (acknowledging that I'm also working on renovating the interior to some extent...). So

      • Upholstery
        06/02/22
        Upholstery replacement covers came in from lotus-supplies! Except…they sent 4 (!) headrest covers and no kneerolls. lol. guess that is meant for the 4-door Europa saloon. Sent an email off…offered to send 2 back in trade for the kneeroll covers.

        With the new pattern for the facing

    • May
      • 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

    • April
      • Starter and Timing Success
        04/14/22
        Got the starter in today. Whomever installed it the last time must have used an air ratchet to tighten it down...had to pull out the 24" breaker bar and 9/16ths impact impact socket to break the bottom bolt loose. It's all good now; RD had clocked the starter on the mounting flange and

      • More Garage Time
        04/13/22
        And a little more work...

        Bonnet nose interior painted with truckbed liner...it's still wet, hence the sheen, but should transition to more satin-ish in time.

        Brake line jumpers to bypass the boosters and PWDV (for now...until I replumb). Hint: use the same type of fitti

      • BDA Said
        04/11/22
        BDA (on Irwin's site) said:
        "Congratulations on your progress and making your list. Have you gotten your Pertronix Ignitor (dizzy module) yet? If not, you have a choice to make: the Ignitor I can burn up if you leave your ignition on too long (I have no definition for “too long”)

      • Garage Therapy Today
        04/11/22
        Did a bunch of stuff today..weather was springish…and calendar was empty.

        1. Removed brake boosters from the engine room. Strangely, no fluid leaked out. Gave me the opportunity to put a nice heavy coat of truck bed liner paint on the sidewall to match (for lhd) the offside. Photo of

      • New Parts!
        04/06/22
        Had the opportunity to stop by RD this morning to replenish my 'to be installed' parts stash...nice to catch up after a few years, pandemic, detour to an MGB...good to see old friends...I've been dealing with him for over 40 (!) years...and trust his insight as to what I need to have

      • Front Alignment Calculator
        04/05/22
        I know it's a bit down the road for my ride at this point (my quick trip around the block did not reveal any steering or alignment abnormalities...yet...but Fall River MA streets are bomb-cratered, so no doubt it will happen at some point..).

        Was used to using the parallel string met

    • March
      • Secondary Throttles
        03/29/22
        Well...got new cold start cable (it's not really a choke) in with zero issues (except for making another blood offering through the chassis access hole in the cockpit...). This is what I did...

        1. Remove the inner cable from the new sheath (carefully...don't want to kink or sta

      • TC Fuel Tank Supports
        03/19/22
        I thought of back-threading stainless bolts through the mounts (mine have welded nuts on the tank straps) and using fender washers and stainless nylocs on the inside the fender side to re-attach.

        Of course, getting the car up in the air high enough to drop the old tanks (I picked up a set

      • Carb Overhaul Pt 1
        03/11/22
        Finished first carb (rear carb...the front is almost there.) New gaskets where needed, temp compensator checked and they're close, need to find proper size drift to set the butterfly shaft seals, needles set correctly, float level set for 11/16", but for now...polished (I know, geeky) the

      • Carb Needles
        03/10/22
        The needles in my car are the Euro taper, but whomever (and it wasn't the PO; going to start saying PPO, since the gent I bought the car from admitted that he was in over his head and was hoping someone like me would take it off his hands...) replaced them in the piston and never set the height

      • Carburetor Mount Issues
        03/09/22
        Was just spitballing (poking a stick in the cage?). Have the intake down to the head flanges all apart...finding all sorts of DPO happiness (like no nuts on the 2 bottom studs holding both of the carbs on the adapter plate to the secondary throttle assembly), copious amounts of RTV squeezed out of

      • Thoughts on TCS Brakes on 3291R
        03/07/22
        Hope I'm not starting a religious war here...but probably talking heresy regarding the braking system in US JPS 142.

        IMHO, a 1500 lb car with 120(?) HP in this day and age...it's over-engineered a bit to put double boosters in the circuit, aside from the piping complexity. Li

    • February
      • Steering Column Renovation
        02/27/22
        I'll just let the photos tell the story. Didn't use foam padding, just flexible leatherette from the local sewing supplies store. Dipped into my store of aircraft upholstery supplies for the cement, which is a high-solids, high-tack cement used to finish aircraft interior panels. Seam w

      • Shift Lever Bushing Issues
        02/24/22
        At the base....you will have (deteriorated) nylon 'top hat' bushings IN the base of the lever. The shoulder bolt will be inserted from the driver side through the base (there's a welded stop to prevent it from turning...when you tighten or loosen the nyloc nut on the other end. Unde

      • Euro Tail Lights: Buy or Renovate?
        02/18/22
        Got a question:
        "That sounds like a major effort for the Euro tail lights! I wonder if just buying Euro lamps wouldn't have been cheaper..."

        My response:
        They were euro taillights off a canadian body I bought. I just restored them (new ones, last I checked were o

      • Euro Tail Lights and Other Stuff
        02/18/22
        Euro taillights polished and ready to install. While still ruminating about what to do about the motor...working on other items of interest.


        The TC wiring loom for federal cars (versus the S2, which ran a wire forward from the brake switch to the DB10 and left the other brake ligh

      • Column Stalk Refreshment
        02/17/22
        Fiddly is NOT the word. The replacements are for a larger diameter column so...somehow you have to build the column up so that you can clamp it down tightly. First problem. I solved it with a couple rings of large adhesive heat shrink (I use it when I make high-power RF coax terminations on the e

      • Interior Cleanout
        02/16/22
        Figured during lunch hour...would start to do a few things on the interior of JPS 142 while musing about what to do about the engine...drop and refresh or fiddle around more with her...anyway...stripped out the seats. The passenger side is just fine; driver side seams are torn. Thinking to just se

      • Dizzy Issues
        02/09/22
        A bit of 'fettling' that needs be done. Getting it started and running would be a start. Right now, it barely starts (with a lot of cranking), spits gas out of the carbs, pops and fluffs...and has a big flatspot from idle to full accelerator pedal down.

        Replaced plugs (remove

      • Arrival Insights
        02/08/22
        1. Car starts, runs badly. Fluffing, spitting, minor backfiring. Seems real rich. No acceleration when you step on loud pedal. Have rebuild kits, will pick up some plugs and time her. Dizzy had retard capsule removed in the 70s, may pull it out and make sure the advance is working and do the wir

      • I Keep Getting Out, But They Keep Pulling Me Back...
        02/08/22
        Anyway, moderate the Fakebook Lotus Europa group, was part of the team that digitized all the manuals in '07 that were originally kept on Jerry Johnson's site (and echoed on mine and copied and sold by unscrupulous EBayers for tens of dollars...not realizing there are Easter Eggs in there.