Links--
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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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 fierce clutch; either on or off, and little slip. Thinking of stocking up on the bits I need to replace it. And...downshifts from 4-3 get a little crunchy...going to refresh the gear oil with new and see if that helps clear...if now, will be searching for a wrench (on this side of the fence) who can work on the x65 transaxle. After 50 years and 50K+ miles...may be time to refresh the synchros. For now...double clutch on the way down seems to work ok. Not the first car I've had to do that with.
And..it's obvious that the bushings need to be looked at...and perhaps a new set of shocks all around (I have euro length springs for the front from a previous disassembly...so will get the nose down where it belongs) and bushings.
New clutch cable on the shelf with the engine-mounted bracket at the ready...so, that will be this week's chore to take care of.
Two steps forward...and none really in the reverse direction. A good Europa day, all in all.
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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, from aircraft spruce) into the rubber mounts (I have a few spares from when I updated my aircraft cowling attachment). For whatever reason, on one of my previous, when I went over a bump, because the sides were a bit weak, the box would drop down into the rear. Of course, I was also carrying 50 lbs of tools and assorted crap in the box (this was in my first europa).
My last (693R), I just cut some 1/2" dowels, painted them black, and cut to length to fit into the corners of the opening down by the drain holes. Made them up after my first car show where I just used the prop rods to open up the boot and bonnet for display, and the sun helped warp both the bonnet and boot lids...had to prop them from the other side and leave the car in the sun to warp them back. Learned my lesson; two rods for the boot, two for the bonnet, and stashed them when not using along the passenger seat and tunnel.
Lots of ways to skin this. I like the idea I saw along the way; someone replaced the pins in the rear hinge with clips that you could pull out and remove the lid entirely. THAT would make access, if you were diving into the engine room, even easier while still allowing you to open and close the lid as normal. Of course, I'd add in a forward facing lip at the front flange so that curious evildoers couldn't pop the pins and remove the lid when you weren't looking..
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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 attaching the new battery terminals. Cleaned up the frame end (actually, it's attached to one of the bell housing bolts) of the ground. Threw a quick leveling charge on the battery (yeah, they come charged...but aren't harmed by leveling it.). Waiting for the bolts to come in to the local NAPA store to build the hold-down clamp, but, since she's up on stands right now...it's just sitting in place.
So...now have a spare tray that is built to hang on the cross member and pick up the tranny mount bolt on the rubber isolator on the same side. Toss? Mount a waterproof box on it and use for tool caddy? Give away? Decisions, decisions.
And...getting things lined up for the next project. Caliper rebuild. New greenstuff pads. new flex hoses. Then Eezbleed the system to see if I get pedal. If not, and it's a roached MC...have an F10 and Spitfire to choose from. But...that's the "next on the agenda". Oh, yeah, put new floor and under the seat carpets in a couple days ago. Not the same weave, and the existing is a bit faded...but, for now...it looks ok and I can live with it for a while.
New dashboard was delivered (thanks, Richard!) to my PA residence...will bring back on next trip up here...and successfully removed the "Special 142" badge without ruining it. Somethings sometime just work out.
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