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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 even the engine bay come to that. Venting is by the filler cap and I would have thought that what comes out of the cap is nothing compared to what comes out of the exhaust pipe with no catalyst fitted ?
Random thoughts.... if it's a charcoal canister trapping vented fuel, does this have a life cycle and replacement interval ? Do they get "full up" at some point ?"
I Opined:
Our gas caps aren't vented (different part numbers for both the flip cap and the filler neck per the parts manual), hence that long canister at the front of the engine compartment ostensibly to capture raw gas (#14 on TC parts page LA) the vapors of which were to be drawn through an activated charcoal filter (LA #16...remember Lark cigarettes here in the US?) by the vacuum in the carburetor through #19 in diagram LA...and the pressure equalized by part #18, which was connected to the airbox. All very Rube Goldberg, but then, the US EPA was never known to impose regulations that were based on hard science rather than what was fashionable at the time.
Yeah, the do have a life limit; current thinking is somewhere around 100K miles, but may be wrong. The systems have gotten more and more complicated as time has gone on, and no doubt, the pollution has markedly decreased where they've been implemented, and these initial halting steps were the beginning of what we have today. (remember 5mph bumpers? What they've morphed into? How about the interstate 55 mph speed limit? 85 mph speedometers? WIN buttons?)
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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...). Somewhere along the line, a (d)PO thought it was a good idea to remove all the fuel vapor containment devices...the catch can, charcoal canister, and the VCG breather (PCV, after a fashion) gubbins and throw them in the packing cases of parts that I'm digging through.
In doing so, they just cut the vent lines from the fuel filler necks and left open to the atmosphere. Accordingly, I get a whiff of gas smell in the cockpit from time to time. And, to be honest (though I'm not a tree-hugging ecomentailst), it does bother me a bit that I'm just venting hydrocarbon vapors to the outside world when I don't have to. So...I'm starting to assemble the bits to put things at least back together to close off the system to free atmosphere.
To that end, I've acquired a nice air/oil separator for the PCV system (and will go about plumbing that in, mounting the can in the right rear dead space next to the boot and running the air back to the backplate of the carb air box), and would like to plumb the fuel vapor containment system. For that, besides a healthy run of hose to run back and forth as per the diagram in the parts manual...I need to source a charcoal canister...if not to feed back to the base of the carbs (the ports for that are capped off right now), at least to filter the vapor from the ports on the filler neck.
So...has anyone sourced a useable charcoal can? Is my idea without merit? z
Heretical, I know...putting emission stuff back on...but, thinking of doing my small bit (not to mention not getting fuel vapors in the cockpit...).
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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 facings…had a spare basketweave arm rest left over from an S2 (the original in the car was the ambla pattern); swapped that in, since the new upholstery is basketweave (which I prefer).
Quality seems nice; and the price is most agreeable, even figuring in shipping.
Recovered one of the bottom pads last night “just to see”…pretty pleased how it turned out. I think it will dress up the interior just a bit, no?
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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 of headers and free flow muffler would sound even nicer, but have other fish to fry on this resurrection before thinking of tweaking exhaust systems.
Biggest hurdle of getting it on the road, running decently (I pulled the plugs and the carbon deposits have mostly been burned off and the insulators on all four are tanish color. So...) in a straight line for short distances is done. Now comes the "OK, I know it works, now let's clean it up" phase. That includes pulling the lump, dropping the gas tanks, putting in newly restored ones, cleaning up the rear of the chassis and body, as many of the seals and gaskets as I can get to, new clutch, and putting it all back together. I have a punch list I'm working from...but the order (and length) changes day to day. Not in any serious hurry, but not wasting time obsessing over order or methodology to get it fixed. Guiding principle: do it right the first time, and use locktite where needed...lol
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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 UK advised me that based on the photos I sent him of where it's leaking...it's probably the pan gasket, so, I'm going to try replacing that (and the front seal) first in the next few weeks. Give me a chance to strip and paint the oil pan, too, before going deeper into deconstructing the engine room. Will send out the tach this week and just 'do it'.
But going to drive it around a little more. Love the sound of pressing down on the loud pedal...and the resonance of the exhaust system through the existing muffler... :D
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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 streets of Fall River...the original tach at normal cruise speed suddenly bounced a couple times and went right to red line (and I was only doing 60 in 5th gear and the tempo of the mill did not change. Damn.
So...went home, assumed a partial Lotus position (if you take out the steering wheel, it's a lot easier on the driver side), disconnected the old tach and removed. Will send out for repair/calibration later...installed new old shelf spare (it's good to have spares, right?) tach (which is from an S2, albeit with a lower yellow at 6K vs 6500 on the TC) after burnishing up the connectors, a little penetrox anti-corrosion goop on the cleaned fittings, and reinstalled. Fired up the engine (with my garage handheld tach/dwell meter hooked up to the coil), and calibrated the new old tach to the reading on the dwell meter. Must be lucky, had set the idle by ear when I was syncing the carbs...and the idle was at 1K on the dwell meter...it now reads 1K on the Smiths tach after tweaking the adjustment pot on the back of the tach.
OK, so it's an S2 tach in a TC. lower yellow/red. That's ok. Says I'm idling at 1K agreeing with the dwell meter. I can live with that.
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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 fed up) with the issues, but want to drive it a little), heater valve likes to open while driving along (will replace it when I pull the engine..for now, will just wire it shut). But, it's busy marking its spot in my driveway right now, cooling off after a spirited run along the back roads of Bristol County MA, with some interstate to get home. Pretty sure in this area that it's not a common sight from the number of stares I got at stop lights and folks passing me on I-195.
"Nice Ferrari, man...". LOL.
Brakes work fine (reservoir is topped where I left it after bleeding), shifting is pretty OK...have to consciously keep it in the 3-4 line when downshifting...topped up the 365 with MT90 (it was down close to a quart...funny how the shift and synchros work better when the oil level is where it should be, and notice that the shift shaft seal is in need of replacement), but, oh, the sound when I turn the wick up while accelerating...wonderful note for an old steel muffler and cast header. Bet a new tubular header and stainless silencer would not be a bad upgrade when that time comes.
A good Europa day (even with the niggles to take care of before the next run...it's not a destination, but a journey...)
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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 DJ and radio production engineer for the first 15 years of my career...:(). I know, delete the ammeter and replace with the voltmeter...but...want to keep the changes as simple as possible rather than hacking into the harness or changing the stock connections. This additional panel only has 3: switched +12 (yeah, you have to reset the clock..big deal, since when I put her away, I pull the ground off the battery so even with constant current, clock would stop..and yes, I know about putting a 1/2A fuse in parallel with the ground to keep some trickle voltage there for radio memories etc. No radio, no memories....:)), ground, and gauge lighting, all of which are accessible without major surgery on the harness. KISS principle at work.
When I get to that stage, I'll either veneer the panel with something close to the burl, or just paint it a satin brown and be done with it.
Oh, what the hell. I installed a radio a was done with it.
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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 at the rear.
Remove the rear road wheels.
Disconnect the clutch cable from the lever at the bell housing.
Remove the silencer (muffler) assembly.
Remove the bolts securing the silencer (muffler) mounting bracket to the gearbox.
Unscrew the bolts retaining the lower suspension links to the gearbox bracket, allowing the links to drop clear.
Drive the roll pins from the inner universal joints on the transmission shafts by means of a drift (Part No. X046F6171Z)
(I have a set of roll pin drivers...)
Free the drive shafts from the gearbox output shafts by withdrawing them outwards from their splines noting the spacers and shims fitted on the output shafts.
Remove the starter motor.
Place a jack under the rear of the gearbox.
Remove the reverse indent cover.
Remove the two bolts from the rear cross member, lower the gearbox, and remove the jack.
Remove the bolts from the clutch housing, and pull the gearbox rearwards until clear of the clutch shaft.
Basically, disconnect everything, pull back. Is there enough space to pull out and back? Would seem that it's going to tilt the engine back...anything I should be aware of? Or is it just easier to go even further and drain the coolant, strip down the engine to a long block, and pull together?
Just spitballing; I like to have a strategy before diving in. (pulling the whole lump would let me attack all the aged cooling hoses, leaky gaskets and seals and clean up the back end of 50 years of spooge.
Of course, this means I would not be driving her until the end of the summer. But that's ok. I stripped down 693R and built up from a bare frame in 5 months back in 07...so, I don't waste time thinking about how long...just how well I can get the job done.
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