Links"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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This is so important, I hope Joji doesn't mind that I lifted it from Joe's site:
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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 mark and tag the lines to and from the boosters both from the PDWV and to the connections at the “manifold “(the collection of fittings on the top left frame rail) as front brake circuit or rear brake circuit. I’ve also included the federal dual brake system diagram for reference, Pic 1. It has been colorized to make it easier to follow the convoluted mess. Since the replacement master cylinders are usually single bore 0.70” 0r 0.75”, it may not matter if the connections are swapped. However convention should be followed by maintaining the stock configuration.The only exceptions are if using the S2 tandem master cylinder. Stock configuration must be maintained.
Following the diagram, this is the flow path of the front and rear brake circuits from the master cylinder, to the boosters and back to the front and rear brakes. The front circuit has been colored in RED and the rear in Yellow.
The brake lines from the master cylinder are continuous until they terminate at the area I call the “manifold” on the top of the left frame rail where the lines transition to two female tube nuts coupled by a double male connection. At this point determine the lines for front and rear brake circuits. On my TCS the two bottom lines came from my master cylinder. Physically tracing the lines determined that the second line from the bottom was the front circuit and the bottom line was the rear circuit, Pic 2. Both lines continue to the PDWV, Pic 3.
At the PDWV, the lines for the front circuit enter the rear port at the bottom of the PDWV and the rear circuit enters the front port. Both lines exit the respective top ports of the PDWV and connect to the boosters above. The bottom servo serves the front brake circuit and the top servo, the rear brake circuit, Pic 4.. The PDWV maintains the difference in thread size for front and rear brake circuits, ⅜-24” threads for the front port (rear circuit) and 7/16-20” threads for the rear port (front circuit).
The outputs from both servos return to the “manifold” on the left frame rail. The line for the rear brakes connects to a four way junction where the lines split up to supply the rear brake drums and a brake light. The front line connects to a double male coupler where the line continues to the front of the car to supply the front calipers via a three way junction on the front “T“ section of the chassis, Pic 2.
Running the jumpers:
There are a couple of ways of running the bypass jumpers, either keep the PDWV in the system or totally get rid of it. Although I decided to keep mine and the directions are for this method, I’ll also describe how I would run bypass jumpers with the PDWV removed.
In bypassing the boosters, the brake lines exiting top ports of the PDWV to the boosters and the lines exiting the boosters to the “manifold” are disconnected and removed .Measure, cut and bend enough tubing to reach from the PDWV ports to the respective line connections for the front and rear brake lines at the “manifold”. As stated in the intro above, the line from the front port of the PDWV connects to the rear brake four way junction while the rear port connects to the single line connector going to the front of the car, Pics 5,6,7..
The hardware required are:
(1) male tube nut, 3/8-24 with a bubble flare on the PDWV end
(1) male tube nut, 7/16-20” with a bubble flare on the PDWV end
(1) female tube nut, ⅜-24 with a double/inverse flare on the “manifold” end
(1) male tube nut, ⅜-24” with bubble flare on “Manifold” end
Appropriate lengths of 3/16” Cunifer or steel brake tubing
Keeping the PDWV in my view makes for a neater looking engine layout and arguably maintains the brake failure warning light feature. Others however may prefer to bin it for simplicity and fewer complications. I see a couple of ways of doing it this way. First way is to run jumpers from the couplings on the incoming front and rear circuits directly to the outgoing front and rear circuits on the “manifold”, Pic 8. If using jumpers at the “manifold”, the front brake circuit jumper will require two ⅜-24” female tube nuts. The 3/16” tube on both ends will need to have a double/inverse flare to mate with the male couplers in the existing line. The rear brake circuit jumper will require one ⅜-24” female tube nut with a double/inverse flare on the existing male coupler end and a ⅜-24” male tube nut with a bubble flare on the four way junction end. I would recommend making the jumpers long enough to allow a gentle bend on the tubing without kinking.
The second way is to connect the fittings at the PDWV with unions, Pic 9,10. This may be the easier option if removing the PDWV. The original fittings and lines use bubble flares at the PDWV. Ensure that the unions also use bubble flares. The rear brake lines uses the ⅜-24” fittings. The front brake lines unfortunately use the 7/16-20” fittings at the PDWV. Finding unions using 7/16-20” fittings for 3/16” lines may be difficult. If unable to locate the correct union, the only option may be to convert the front brake line circuit to and from the union to ⅜-24” fittings with new brake lines.
Final thoughts. I traced the lines from the master cylinder back to the rear "manifold", the PDWV, boosters and back to the "manifold" on my TCS and I'm fairly confident that I did not cross lines but who is to say that I didn't make a mistake. I really urge anyone doing this modification to trace the lines back personally to ensure that the info on this write up is accurate.
Please take extreme care when modifying the brake lines. When forming flares, use the proper tools to ensure that the cuts are straight and square and that the ends are deburred properly. Doing that and using a good quality flare tool should allow you to make acceptable flares. Also please make sure that you are using the proper flare for the proper application, bubble vs double/inverse For fittings and cunifer brake lines RD Enterprises and Fedhill USA are good places to check. For flaring tools, a good quality tool and an “on car” flaring tool sold by several vendors is the only way to go. I used the one sold by Eastwood although Amazon has several similar ones.
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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 a couple hours and choice anglo-saxon metaphors...when I got all the right parts...took longer to bend the pipes than to flare and fit.
And it's easier when the lump is out. I did mine bent over the rear quarter and paid for it at the chiropractor over a couple visits...lol.
Oh, yeah, when you go to bleed the system with all the spaghetti in place, remember that the furthest wheel is actually the front left. Front left, front right, rear right, rear left in terms of distance from the MC. I'm a big fan of the Eezbleed kit...did a complete bleed out and flush of the system in a half hour (and that included 3x around the car in order to ensure that the air was gone, and the old fluid was flushed.) Nice hard pedal now, with about 1" of throw.
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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 carrier (#5)? If it is more than 'pull it out', what have folks found that works? Or am I overthinking this?
2. Once I get it all down...assume clean up the flywheel with 400/600 and brake cleaner to get a good surface? Normal process I've used in the past; want to get almost the same texture on the face as a brake disk...no grease, oil, rust..and check for grooving or discoloration.
3. Assume lightly grease splines on input shaft. Have new spirol pins. Be careful not to loose the shims.
4. have the proper centering tool (same one as the S2 used), torque wrenches, sockets, etc. So, good with tools.
5. Removing the box in situ. Any hints or gotchas? Manual is pretty lean on exactly how...a bunch of put on stands, remove stuff, unpin drive shaft (I'll mark relative positions so it theoretically goes back same way...), unbolt starter, drop. It's a Lotus...can't be that easy; can you really pull it all the way out with the engine remaining in the frame?
Insights welcome.
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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, I prefer the non-acetic acid RTVs that they have out there, and of course, there is proseal (which we use on wet wings to seal the joints and fittings) and high-temp RTV for areas that get hot. I know Wickens doesn't like Hylomar anymore (there are better solutions).
I think the key is use it sparingly, thin bead, smooth out...it's just meant to seal, not make up gaps where precision manufactured parts should require minimal sealing; that's what the neoprene/cork/synthetic stuff is there for (of course, that includes the head with its copper cylinder seals...)
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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 interest, he was willing to sell her to me (I guess I have a reputation in the Europa world...lol). But, before him? 70% of my time thus far has been backing out the bodges and hacks that others (whether they're "D"POs or just POs is left as an exercise) performed in a misguided attempt to get her running properly.
For instance...the common belief that you start at the rear to bleed brakes...unless you think about it and realize that the furthest cylinder in the fedspec TCS is actually the one closest to the MC because of the spaghetti routing of the piping...you will never evacuate the system. But, a couple minutes spent looking at the parts diagram will tell the whole story. In fairness, a production shop will not have (or not want to) the time to research...time is $$$, and no one wants to spend (or charge if they're honest) more than they need to in order to get the thing out the door and roll in the next patient. It's up to us that have an intimacy with the Europa formula to set it straight.
I'm at the stage now where I know 1) age and probably leaks have roached the clutch (it's either on or off, and very little, if no, 'mid point'), so, time to pull the trans and rectify (along with prophylactic replacement of the rear seal) with fresh plate, pressure, throwout, return spring (iI installed a new cable yesterday...no difference in the actuation...figure a head-down weekend should do it...2) 'While I'm in the area'...with the tranny out, pull the lump and attend to the multitude of leaks from aged gaskets and seals and refresh the head (I made a virtual handshake deal with someone who listed one in the for sale section...no $ changed hands yet, still waiting to hear back...)...and clean out the years of accumulated schmutz in the engine compartment and put it all back together...I like a clean engine room.
If it's not one thing, it's a dozen others, right?
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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 was running at the time and just kept on topping it up (I had leaky outputs I never got around to changing before selling her off...).
Cross member out...yeah...release the rear mount to the frame, remove mount from tranny, remove the half shafts, disconnect the shift mechanism, disconnect clutch, remove starter, free up bell housing...and out...at least that's what I'm thinking.
Now, to order the clutch parts. Previous message mentioned weak/dying spring fingers on the pressure plate. Figure, if you go with fresh stock replacements...it should work as the manual says, right?
I still have wiggle of the universal on the shift shaft (the rest of the mechanism is tight; new top hats on the shift, new bushing and top hats on the intermediate joint, rose joint at the mid-point has no play...) but that fitting at the end that captures the shift rod is not as tight as it should be. Somewhere along the line, a (d)PO honked out the holes for the pin that is supposed to be there and resized to put in a bolt. A couple folks suggested one of three solutions (besides shooting the (d)PO): 1. Tap the through-hole in the shift rod to accept an AN5 bolt that will be used to pull the female portion tight up against the shift rod, and pack the other side with a proper thickness shim, or 2. Tap the top side of the universal that attaches to the rod to an AN5 (or 4...have to measure what's in there now) thread and pull the universal tight against the rod (same idea, just from the other side), or 3. tap the shift rod, bore out the universal (this is assuming that my shift rod is 13mm) to 15mm, insert a 15/13 brass sleeve, drill out, and bolt up from both sides.
Damn (d)POs. That spirol pin worked just fine; drilling out to put a bolt in was NOT the right fix if there was slop. Sigh.
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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 complete assembly sorted it out though."
I replied:
Ordered the bits to do just that. I replaced the cable this morning, and adjusted per the manual (1mm free play at the tranny end...) and it never seemed to disengage (and engaging was ummmm noisy). You may have hit on the solution; weak springs just don't pull the pressure plate away but just bend instead of pulling the pressure plate back. If it's not one thing, it's another.
Thanks for the insight. According to the manual, you can pull the tranny without pulling the lump (though doing that would let me get to all the leaky bits...and clean the chassis well...). And, as a bonus, without that weight in the back, I could easily get the arse end up high enough to swap in my new gas tanks...well...will adjust the cable a little tighter and see if I can at least get it a bit more driveable.
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