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Glad you enjoyed it! Your comment gives me motivation to make another driving video with better commentary 👍

I’m quite the amateur videographer 😂….. I just taped my iPhone to the back window and started recording. Keeping the rear view mirror let’s everyone see my beautiful face😂

I’m not sure it matters🤷‍♂️. The rear half of my car was in pieces when I got it😂. I tried to copy pictures I found on the internet. Mine work well the way they are. Do you have a picture of yours?

Thanks! GT40 = my favorite car of all time. Lotus Europa = poor man’s GT40😂

My wife says if I make her run any more errands from the 40 then Europas will be higher on her list of favorites @@Jimbos_garage

Hi Frank, cool story! I’m guessing you don’t live in the STL anymore?

@@Jimbos_garage Jim. When I graduated in 1971, I sold my '64 TR-4 and went off to college in Iowa. After graduating in 1975, I went to Minneapolis where I've lived ever since. I do remember seeing a Europa heading south on Kirkwood Road, very close to your house. My friends told me what it was. It was an S1 as it had the Cortina taillights. It's incredible just how alike our cars are. Starting my car sounds exactly like starting yours. The dash has about the same amount of cracking. Ever notice the spacing between the smaller gauges? Look at the two on the left and then look at the two on the right. They're all like that. If I ever install a new dash with a proper glove box door, I plan on fixing that defect! What I'd really like to do is come up with a way to increase the width of the pedal box. As you know, one has to drive the car using the side of your right foot on the gas even if you take your shoes off! Lotus already put stops on the rack to limit the angle of the turn. There's got to be a way to get some extra room in there! My middle name is Sheldon so my email address is my first name, my middle initial, and my last name. I use gmail so I'm certain you can figure out the rest. Send me a message and I'll send you pictures of my car.

Awesome story!😃. Welcome back! That’s the plan…. I’m not a fan of garage queens!

The Europa has a 1558cc Ford based engine, the Jensen has a 2000cc Type 907 engine that was used in the Esprit, Eclat, Elite.

@@jefflavigne1747 Did the 74 Europa use the Ford engine? My brother had a 71 and it had the Renault engine. I know they switched at some point but can't remember which year. When I first read that Lotus was putting a supercharged Toyota engine in the Elise, I thought HALLELUJAH!!! somebody finally figured out that there are advantages to having a car that starts regularly and on the rare occasion it doesn't, you can actually find parts for it. I'd like to see what would happen with the Elise engine in a Europa body

@@jefflavigne1747 and Talbot Sunbeam Lotus also (2,2 l - type 911)

Thanks! It’s a labor of love…. I definitely couldn’t make living doing it 😂 It’s only 120 hp, but it helps that the car is a featherweight (~1600 lbs).

😂 Side and rear vision is not the best in a Europa.

Absolutely! Click on the video tab of my channel for more videos on my Europa 👍

👍😊

I’m going to enjoy it for a little while😊 If and when it’s for sale I’ll post it on www.lotuseuropa.org👍

Thanks! I’ve lived in the Midwest all my life and have never seen one at a car show, let alone on the road driving! Yes, the Elan and Europa had similar engines at that time. They are go carts for the street!

Thanks! 😊

Thanks 😊 The steering wheel was a Craigslist deal (like most of the car) and I like it much better than the factory wheel 👍

Thanks 😊. The window speed is pretty decent…. not like a new car, but not bad for 50 years old! I was surprised these came with power windows when the motto was to add lightness🤔

After I cut the spring to length, I vice gripped the last coil to the next coil and heated it up with my little propane torch. This made the last coil relax closer to the next coil. I then took my grinder and ground the last coil flatter like the original was. It looks very much like the original squared of end that I cut off.

Most definitely!….I was not looking forward to tearing it all apart again. Now I can take it on some nice fall drives👍 Going to keep my eye on it though.

Forgot to ask, when you rebuilt the motor, did you go with a Burton Power-type water pump set-up? Given the pain of water pump replacement on these, it seems like a good idea.

@@monkeyzer0 Nope. I just rebuilt the stock pump. The car is very original, so I stayed with that theme with getting the car back on the road.

I hear you on original, but I like the idea of easily replacing the pump. It’s a really nice piece of engineering, but I get the all original…

@@monkeyzer0 I have the same car and I wouldn't even consider switching to a Burton pump. I rebuilt my pumps (I have two Lotuses) for about $50 each. Cost of a Burton pump? At least $700. Over my lifetime, how many times will I have to rebuild either pump? Probably once, but no more than twice. If the Burton pump was say $100, I'd go for it. They're just too expensive. It all comes down to cost benefit.

You were correct, it was a tight outer u joint. I had removed it when I was rebuilding the bearing housing. When I reinstalled the u joint , I guess I didn’t give a good whack after I pressed it in. That’s all it took👍

My TCS is on the road😊. Check out the other videos on my channel 👍

Thanks for the advice Frank. When I put this car back together this winter, I shimmed and installed new roll pins (I even safety wired them because I read about them falling out). I just checked and they are good.

Thanks for the advice Frank. When I put this car back together this winter, I shimmed and installed new roll pins (I even safety wired them because I read about them falling out). I just checked and they are good.

I’ve checked rear toe (it is 1/16” toe in). My thought was that it had something to do with alignment and suspension of the rear end🤷‍♂️

I just finished installing new heim joints on the lower links because the old ones had a lot of play in them and that didn’t fix the weird noises.🤷‍♂️

You are exactly right! And they look like a boat “on plane”…..not cool.

Yes, got lucky😎 I’ve researched the reproduction trim and it is very pricey and really doesn’t match the original stuff well.

It has the original Zenith Stromberg 175 carbs. These were US spec. The rest of the world got webers I believe.

@@Jimbos_garage Yep! Webers or Dellortos. I had a +2S 130 with the same engine. I fitted electronic ignition and weekends were spent balancing the carbs to perfection. Came very close to buying a Europa before I bought the plus 2 but bailed out after discovering chassis crash damage.

😎 Mine is 4139R….not much before yours! I never drove this car with servos, so nothing to compare it with. It probably stopped easier with them, but I don’t mind it without them. The wheels…..I just stripped the old clear coat off the chrome and polished the chrome with Mothers wheel polish and repainted the inserts with hammered black rust oleum.👍

@@Jimbos_garage I wonder if the P.O. changed the master cylinder because when I drove mine without servos, it was really really difficult to put enough pressure on the pedal to make the car come to a stop. Not to be sexist, but my wife could never stop the car. I have an Elan that never came with servos and it's very easy to stop. One problem I had when I bought the car in 1988 was that it was very hard to start. I traced the problem down to the funky ballast resistor that I thought came with the car from the factory. Rather than being a resistance "spring" mounted on a porcelain base, it was a disc the size of a quarter mounted directly to one side of the coil. The problem went away when I ditched it and installed a conventional porcelain ballast resistor. Which one does your car have? Great job on the wheels. They look like they've been done professionally.

@@frankhoward7645 The MC looks original 🤷‍♂️. My car has the original rectangular porcelain ballast resistor. The wheels aren’t perfect ,but turned out great for a driver👍

@@Jimbos_garage So apparently, a P.O. had installed that weird ballast resistor. Thanks for clearing up that mystery. Here's a practical modification you might want to consider. The hood prop was designed for right hand steering cars. In order to use it, you get out, walk around the car, open the hood, and use the prop. The prop is too short and the hood is weak, so when propped up, it droops down. I purchased a piece of solid rod just like the hood prop but at the same time I was making the necessary bends, I also made sure that it was longer than the original. I drilled a hole (for the base of the prop) in the top left of the "firewall" and cut the rod so it would fit diagonally ending at the bottom right of the firewall making sure that it cleared the hole for the blower. Had to drill another hole for the clip that holds it in place. Finally, I held the hood absolutely vertical, marked where the end of the prop rod would end up, and drilled another hole in the edge of the hood. Now when I take it to shows, I don't have to walk around the car to open the hood and I can display the car with the hood completely vertical thus no droop. Something to think about.

@@frankhoward7645 Thanks for that info. I’ve noticed how flimsy the frunk is and how it droops when using the prop rod.

We're is the timing chain guide? Should be coming out of that front cover going into the head.

Thanks 😊 Will do.

Thanks 😊! It’s a very unique car and I plan on keeping it as original as possible while I’m it’s caretaker 👍. I will post some more content on its revival soon.

​@@Jimbos_garage Very unique indeed! My brother had an S2 back in the 80's when I was a kid, First car I ever rode in >110 :) Your TCS is a time capsule (rare to see) Look forward to seeing more soon 👍