The

Chapman Report

March 1999

Published by the Golden Gate Lotus Club

www.gglotus.org

 

The Golden Gate Lotus Club

PO Box 117303 Burlingame, CA 94011

 

March Meeting

Friday, March 19 1999

 

Lotus Calendar 1999

 

March

13-14 Club Lotus at Donnington Park, England

19 Meeting – John Zender's – Menlo Park

27 Sierra Foothill Tour to DBE & Denhard's

 

April

11 Fabrication and Welding day at

John Zender’s – Menlo Park

16 Meeting Victor’s – Burlingame

24 Lotus Dyno Day and swapmeet/grand opening/BBQ at Spencer’s shop – Hayward

25 Dream Machines show - Half Moon Bay

 

May

16 GGLC Track Day at ThunderHill

June

13 Zender Rallye – Woodside Hills

18 Meeting Hamai's - Palo Alto

 

July

16 meeting TBD

16-18 LOG 19 - Lotus Ltd Corning NY

 

August

20 Meeting TBD

27-29 Lotus corral at the Monterey

Historics (featuring Auto-Union)

 

Sept

11 British Car AutoX (tentative)

12 All British Car meet – Palo Alto

17 Meeting

 

October

15 Meeting TBD -

Nominations

 

Nov

19 Meeting TBD -

Elections

Dec

5 The Toddler Toy Rallye -Fremont
?? GGLC Holiday Party ,TBD

 

The Annual Dave Bean Tour

 

On Saturday March 27 all the really cool members of the GGLC (and John) will embark on a tour to the Sierra foothills and Dave Bean Engineering. This annual event is always one of the highlights of the year and usually brings out many members and cars that we only see once a year.

 

The plan is for two different groups to depart from Livermore and El Sobrante respectively around 9 AM and convene at DBE around 11:30. We'll spend a couple hours at Bean's, and then take a drive to nearby Daffodil Hill. If we've timed it right, the entire hillside will be covered by Daffodil flowers in full bloom with peacocks wandering about. It's supposed to be quite a sight

 

After Leaving Daffodil Hill we'll stop in Volcano or another of many small picturesque towns for lunch and lies. Some people may want to stay overnight at one of the many B&B's in the area. Contact Roberta Bean at 209 754-5802 for recommendations.

 

People leaving from the South and West bays should meet at Geno's Country Store and gas station in Livermore. Take 580 East to Vasco Road and go North. Geno's is on your left after you pass over the freeway. Call Scott Hogben if you have questions 650 593-5806 or scott.hogben@twtd.cpii.com

 

People leaving from the North bay should meet at Mike Ostrov's shop in El Sobrante. Contact Mike at 510 232-7764 or mikeostrov@webtv.net

 

 

Fabrication Seminar and Free welding day

Sunday April 11

Hosted by John Zender

 

In preparation for the big track event in May I'll be opening up my shop to all GGLC'rs for a day of metal fabrication and welding. I've got a lot of the necessary tools to straighten out that old car of yours including a mill, lathe, welders, car lift, tubing bender, hydraulic press, many small tools and a couple really BIG hammers. This will be a great opportunity for you to come out and learn the basics of metal fabrication and welding and/or use the tools. I'll also be available to weld and machine for you as time permits.

I encourage each participant to bring along a small project to fix or fabricate and I'll help you along as best I can. Be aware that this day is reserved for Lotus and race car projects only - no bicycles, garden tools, sex toys, or other junk. I also encourage you to call me in advance to

discuss your project. (650) 368-9105 or motofab@wenet.net. This will allow me to make sure I have the necessary welding rod, tool, and time. I'll also let you know what you need to bring and how to pre-prepare your project so we'll be able to finish in one day.

Each person should bring a pair of safety glasses or prescription glasses. Some loaners will be available but their quality is questionable. The session will begin at 9 AM and I encourage all persons to arrive on time so I can discuss the basics with everyone at once. We'll order out for pizza on the GGLC around noon so we can keep the work flowing, and then quit about 5 or when we lose the first finger - whichever comes first.

 

Directions to 3507 Edison Way in Menlo Park.

101 to Marsh Road West in Menlo Park

Right on Fair Oaks

Right on Edison Way

 

 

 

What does WCLML stand for ?... (hint; it involves Thunderhill raceway)

Ok folks here's the details on our big spring track event at Thunderhill. Your executive committee has been meeting behind closed doors over the last couple months planning this event and expects everyone to have a great time. We're calling this a "light" event 'cuz were saving ourselves the BIG Lotus gathering in '00.

 

This event is open to all car nuts be they GGLC members or not, and any make of car is invited to participate in the track event. We're encouraging friends and other clubs to join us 'cuz the track is big and we're sooo fast.

 

Festivities will begin around noon on May 15 with registration at the Golden Pheasant Inn in Willows California. The GGLC will be sponsoring snacks and soft drinks throughout the afternoon so don't get there late and miss out. We'll have a driving tour leaving the hotel around 2 PM to tear up some open road and visit the fascinating historic sites in the area. Also on Saturday afternoon will be tech inspection at the hotel for cars participating in the track event on Sunday.

 

Saturday night at 7pm we'll have a banquet at the hotel restaurant that'll include a wonderful buffet dinner, exciting speakers, and a huge surprise that's sure to rock your Lotus world. Following dinner there will be a chalk talk at the hotel to discuss the finer points of driving Thunderhill Raceway.

 

Sunday is devoted to Thunderhill raceway and fast, precise driving by your favorite Lotus personalities. We'll be using the full 15 turn course with a professional staff of flaggers, and emergency crew. Lunch will be catered and is included in the track day price. Late tech will be from 7-8 AM at Thunderhill (you should try to tech Saturday at the hotel), and will be followed by a mandatory driver's meeting. Cars and drivers will be divided into three groups based on their experience, and each group will get four 25 minute sessions on the track beginning at 8AM.

 

Novice group will be for first timers and those who just want to go out and drive a race track at a conservative speed. In the first session no passing will be allowed and it will be follow-the-leader in groups behind experienced race drivers to learn the line. The second session will also be no passing, but will allow you to go at your own pace. The third and fourth sessions will allow passing in restricted areas only (the long

straights). Experienced race drivers will also be on hand throughout the day for instruction, advice, and ride-a-longs.

 

Intermediate group will be for drivers with some track experience and a willingness to drive near their limit. The first session will allow passing on the long straights only. The following sessions will also allow passing on some of the shorter straights. No passing will be allowed in turns or entering turns.

 

The advanced group is reserved for race prepared cars and drivers only. All sessions will be run as open practice with unrestricted passing.

 

Safety is the number one goal of the track event and having fun is second (going fast is a close third). Make sure to get your hotel reservations early and send in the registration form and payment as soon as you can to insure you get a spot on the track. We'll see you in May at Thunderhill.

 

 

Letter to the Ed.

Hi John,
I'm a relatively new: Lotus owner, person to the Bay area, and member of the club. I'd like to say that owning my Lotus has been problem free but, it hasn't. So, I learned an important lesson about "buying used cars in general." When running, which has been most of the time, the Lotus IS a fun car to drive and be seen in. Kids are great.
This is my idea about additional columns in the Chapman Report. How about a column about simple problems with the cars and solutions. For example: When making a fiberglass panel from scratch, how many layers of fibreglass should it be? Or, I recently had my engine rebuild and when I check my oil, there's a white film on the back of the dip stick. Any ideas of what it could be? Or where the film is coming from? Has anyone figured how to stop the front light of an Esprit from shaking when they are in the up position?
If this column is done well, the CR might spread out of the area as a good source of technical information.

 

 

Al

Thanks for your suggestions. What I really need is someone with the answers to write the column on a monthly basis. I have a lot of answers, but already have enough to do with the CR. If you would like to help, then maybe you can research these questions or other items and write the column.

In regards to your questions:
1. the number of layers depends on the thickness of glass that you're using. Most panels are about 1/8" thick, so you use as many layers as required to get the thickness/strength you need. Thicker glass mat doesn't require as many layers, but also doesn't bend as easily around corners.

2. The white film on your dipstick is probably water. If you haven't changed the oil since the rebuild, then do that first. If you have changed the oil and you're still seeing the film, then you probably have a water -to- oil leak inside the engine either at the head gasket or the bottom of a cylinder liner.

3. My front lights also bounce. If you have an early car with only 1 headlight motor, then you can update to the later style with 2 motors. If you have 2 motors and they still bounce too much, then try fitting some tension springs between the headlight and body to hold some
downward pressure on them when in the up position. I've thought about doing this to mine, but have never got around to it.

 


John,
I could write or help write the column.

Al

 

(we appreciate your suggestions and assistance, Ed.)

 

The President says …..

 

Well, things are rolling right along as far as the track day goes and May 16th is going to be here before you know it. I’ve taken my own advice and started working on the Seven and the Europa in preparation for the upcoming events. I spent an afternoon pulling the gearbox out of the Seven and I feel like I’m on a roll. Yes, you read correctly, I pulled the gearbox out of the Seven. When I got the car on the road last September I was shocked to hear a noise coming from the gearbox and cringed at the thought of what I had to do to fix it. I had rebuilt it a couple of years ago and it hadn’t seen any service since then, so having just gotten the car on the road, it really rubbed against the grain to even think that I’d have to pull it out.

 

All you Seven owners out there know what a chore it is to get the gearbox out; most of the time people say you have to pull the engine in order to do it. Well, I don’t have a hoist ,and I really wanted to get it over with as soon as possible, so that gave me more incentive to figure another way out of it. So, I started removing bolts last weekend and literally within minutes, I was ready for the more "involved" heavy stuff. Now, here’s where the shade tree mechanic stuff really comes out. Since Seven’s have a transmission tunnel that’s closed on the bottom by the aluminum skin, there’s very little room left to maneuver the gearbox around. So, in a "hack" sort of way, I knew I could probably partially take it apart while in the car, just enough to get it out in sections!

 

I dug right in and removed all the bellhousing bolts from the block and pulled the gearbox back into the tunnel to asses the situation further. At this point I had enough room to get inside the bellhousing and remove the four bolts that hold the bellhousing to the gearbox case. I was able to remove the bellhousing from the car by sliding the gearbox back further into the tunnel and out of the way. Surprisingly, there is enough room at that point to snake the gearbox out by tipping the box up so the tailshaft housing pops out the opening in the top of the transmisson tunnel, and then slide it out between the clutch and the frame! The only real snag was that no matter how much oil you drain out, there’s always some left inside and it all manages to pour out both ends of the gearbox while you’re tipping it back and forth. It was all rather easy, even if it was messy. But, as someone has already said to me, things always come out easier than when they go back in. Deep inside I know this, but I’m crowing too much right now to care, and I’ll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

 

As I said, I’m taking my own advise and I’m digging into the Seven to get things done in time for the track day. Getting the car to the point where I can drive it 20 miles to the British Meet is different than getting it to the point where I can drive it hard around a track for a day. I made it a point in my January article to try to put some fire under some of you to get your cars freshened up for the coming year and I’m doing it again. I’m sorry to repeat myself but it hit me recently just how quickly time is passing. But this time I’m directing my pestering to those who think their cars are in good shape. As some of you may remember in an article I wrote last year around this time, I thought my Europa was fine with only 21,000 miles on the clock. But I found out just how bad things were underneath it all.

 

I can’t emphasize enough to act now and take a Saturday or Sunday to put your Lotus up on jackstands for a thorough examination. Check things like wheel bearings, hubs, doughnuts, trunions, suspension bushings, and even frames! Every Lotus has its problem area(s) and these should be looked at now instead of late April, or worse, at the tech inspection the day before the event. Now is also a good time to consider those tires you’ve wanted to get but have been putting off. Some sticky rubber would be nice to have at Thunderhill!

 

We have a couple of smaller events coming your way in March and April that I hope will be fun for everyone, and I hope that you’ll have your cars ready for them as well. At the end of March we’ll have a run up to Dave Bean’s where we’ll tour his shop and then enjoy some driving in the local hills. Then in April Barry Spencer will have an open house/BBQ/dyno day. With all this planned, you can see why you’ll want to have your car in good shape!

Now, indulge yourself in your Lotus and see you at the next meeting!

 

Feature Article

Seven Story

By Jim McClure

 

For Sale for $150:

Lotus 7, Series One, only 7,500 miles on the odometer and stored the last 30 years. Unfortunately, it was stored half way down a ravine in the Oakland hills, left to absorb the rain, leaves and mud; and where ever the rain water or mud could accumulate, the rot set in. And the trip down into the ravine has taken its toll, also; nose like a prize fighter, scuttle and fenders badly bruised. This car was painted white (originally red), with the 1172cc Ford flathead and 3-speed and wire wheels.

Well, I bought it for the $150 over six years ago, took it home, dismantled and stored it in my basement. It has started to go together in the last few years, rebuilt frame from Mike Brotherwood in England, repaired and new aluminum sections from John Buddenbaum in Palo Alto, and large quantities of rust remover for the rest of the car.

So, it will be back on the road and fully restored by this spring, but its history will not! And that’s why I’m finally putting this story in print: Does anyone have any knowledge of this car’s history? Its license plate and chassis plate had been removed, so no hope there. It would have been on the road in the 60’s, and was probably driven or pushed off the road and into the ravine in that decade. A Lotus 7 with skinny tires, drum brakes and about 40 horsepower would have been close to worthless then, given the much "cooler" new Super Sevens and 400 plus horsepower muscle cars on the road by then. That ravine could have been the Seven’s intended grave, or possibly it was its owner’s last wild ride along Skyline Drive and there was more than the bones of this old Seven buried down that slope.

The Seven, even without its chassis plate, has been able to tell me much of its own history. It has done this by displaying where previously used holes were drilled, where parts had rubbed together, and most of all, the ghost of the original British registration number on the nose. The Seven, when in England, had been red, with cycle fenders, a BMC engine and transmission, and the registration number 703HNK painted on the nose. By the time it reached California, maybe 1960 or 61, it was painted white, had the then new clam shell fenders, had the Ford engine and transmission, and wire wheels with the "Federal" center caps.

Hopefully, someone out there remembers who owned this car and how it got to the U.S. and, maybe, how it ended up in the Oakland Hills. Call me at 408-257-1463, or jmcclure@brooks.com.

 

 

So you really want/need to get rid of that leaking, balky, cranky 365 and put in a cheap R17 395 (Gordini) or Fuego transaxle?

by Mike Schlicht –Vice Prez

 

As I indicated in my first article the Renault 365 and it close cousin the R17 395 are both more than up to the task of working in the Europa, even for racing. It turns out that the Fuego transaxle is nearly the same as the R17 395 but there are several significant differences between them:

 

The Fuego housing has several extra bosses that are not needed and can get in the way. The later R17's do also but not as many. These can be removed (machined off) if needed without causing problems.

 

The Fuego has the bearing for the clutch shaft in the bell housing. This requires some work to either modify the clutch shaft, swap it for a 395/365 one or add a clutch shaft bearing in the Lotus bell housing. John Zender has done this type of conversion.

 

The Fuego stub axles and seals are different. You would need to convert them to 395/365 type.

The rear cover and shifter are different but the side shift versions work about the same and have the same basic setup.

 

Before you really dive into a conversion I need to stress that this is not a weekend job. If you are not a machinist and welder or have easy access to both it will not be cheap! On the other hand a real race shop (one that only works on racecars) can do this kind of work in their sleep. There are no special materials, machining or welding required (unlike making gears which I will go into in a later article). If you have never been to a real race shop you are in for a surprise. It is nothing short of amazing how quickly they can assemble whole chassis and fabricate stuff with the right TOOLS. I often use race shops to do much of my work because they can do it cheaper and faster than I can! I only do the special stuff that they can't do such as make camera shock mounts. I still do all of the small fab stuff. If you want a race shop to do the work find one that really can WELD or go someplace else. Welding is the most critical part of any fabrication. Take some time to really specify what you want them to do. The saving grace is that most race shops are really good at guessing what you need as they have done this kind of stuff a 100 times. If you don't like the work they have done or the way they did it have them explain it to you. More often than not they had a good reason for it but if they really did do it wrong then have them do it over. In the following discussions I intend to list all of the relevant details that I can remember but not go into extreme detail. If you need advice or more details then contact me. I will help or direct you to someone that can help. It has been over 10 years since I have done a street conversion and I no longer have detailed drawings for this but there are other people in the club who have.

 

Pros and cons;

 

A. The advantages of the 395 over the 365:

 

It is a side shift, spring biased setup. The shifter shaft is above the oil line and even if the seal wears out it will not leak oil like a sieve. This assumes that the other side of the cover is sealed, as I will outline.

 

It’s relatively cheap, about $200-250. It has become scarce on the West Coast but is still available on the East Coast (I just bought one for $225 including shipping). The Fuego transaxle is easy to find on the West Coast for about $250-500.

 

The later 395's have O-ring seals for the differential adjusting nuts, which eliminates oil leakage from the threads.

 

3rd and 4th gears have the larger diameter syncros (like the later 365-07’s) which improves shifting.

5th gear is a little better for cruising.

 

B. On the down side, to install a 395 will require:

 

Modifying the chassis. On the Twincam the rear chassis hoop will interfere with the rear cover on the 395 transaxle. For many people this fact alone will stop them. If you have a problem with modifying the chassis then STOP! Years ago when I first was contemplating this I to had a problem with modifying the chassis. It seemed to me that it would change the character of the car. Now I realize that this is not the case as the changes only improved the drivability and reliability. It turns out to be rather easy to do as well. For street use where you do not want to solid mount the drive train, only the rear chassis hoop needs to be redone. For racing where you do want to solid mount the drive train a system more like the Lotus 47 is best. I will go into more detail later.

 

For street use, making a new transaxle to rear hoop adapter plate.

 

Modifying the shift mechanism including the rear cover. This turns out to be most of the conversion work.

 

Dealing with reverse, as in a lockout or something like it.

 

Modifying the case for the lower link mount. If you look at the bottom of the 365 you will see the broken ribs that the Lotus factory did. You will get to break (or cut) some ribs to!

 

If you are still not deterred then you are either hopeless, stuck, or a true Lotus nut! The next thing to do is decide which transaxle to use. In my opinion it is much easier to install a 395 transaxle than a Fuego one. For the street the R17 395 Gordini is preferred as it has a 4-spider diff. If you are going to use the Quaife limited slip, get a transaxle with the 2-spider diff, as the base is the same size. The 365 and Gordini 4-spider diff has a wider base than the 2-spider and Quaife limited slip. You can still us the Quaife with a 4-spider ring gear but will have to make a spacer "ring" and slot the bolt holes. I don't know if the Quaife will work in the Fuego but I suspect that it will or can be adapted.

 

Before you accept the transaxle from anybody make sure that it is not damaged! This will require removing the Renault bell housing and rear cover. Buy the transaxle without the Renault bell housing if it will save you some money. Inspect the ring gear teeth for breakage and scoring. Check the shift rods for stress and look for any broken bits of metal in the cover. Look at the old oil. It should not be black! If it is or there is a black sludge on the inside metal surfaces, don't accept the transaxle! Even if everything looks OK the oil got cooked for a reason which is usually because 5th gear ran dry for a while! Run through the gears. Out of the car it will be stiff but should/will still work! Pull the magnetic drain plug and check for metal bits. If there is a small mound (half a thimble or less) of very fine particles on the plug, this is OK. Spread the mound apart on a paper towel. If there are noticeable chunks then the case will have to be split apart and all gears, bearings, syncros, the pinion shaft and teeth, spacers and especially the spider gears will have to be checked and cleaned! For racing this should be done in any case, as some things will have to be modified anyway.

 

It turns out that the Lotus shop manual for the Europa has a good section on the transaxle and discribes how to dismantle it. The only real difference has to do with the rear cover which of course is different. Be aware that you will need one special tool to dismantle the transaxle. This is a special box end wrench to remove the pinion nut. I made my own from mild steel. I will go into detail on this in the next installment of this article.

 

Any visible damage on any gears except reverse is grounds for rejection. The pinion shaft and ID of the gears cannot be scored. Watch for damage on the thrust faces of the gears especially 5th gear. The gear spacers on the pinion shaft cannot be broken, cracked, scored or discolored. If reverse gear teeth are beat up (usually the case) they can be cleaned up using a Dremel tool with a Tungsten Carbide bit. Don't worry about putting a nice bevel back in the teeth. It is more important that any metal that looks like it is about to break off be removed. If the spyder gears show signs of severe wear especially small chips on the edges, they can be replaced but I don’t recommend it as it means that the transaxle was highly stressed for a long time.

 

Check the syncro engagement teeth on the gears for wear. A slight amount of rounding is OK but there should still be a pronounced bevel. If the wear is excessive they may still be savable so long as the minimum thickness is at least 0.09" from the top of the bevel to the backside of the tooth. The bevel can be reground one time. It is not necessary to get a sharp pointed bevel and remove no more than 0.025" of material. I have done this using a rotary table on a milling machine and a Dremel tool with a Silicon Carbide cutoff disk. The only problem is if the tooth gets to thin then it will eventually start to bend backwards. When this happens the transaxle will tend to jump out of gear. If the syncro teeth are badly worn check the selector hub teeth as well. If these are badly worn they cannot be fixed. If you have a 365 with a gear with worn out syncro teeth (and the selector hub is still usable) it is possible to fix or save this (yea, I can hear the snickering). There are two ways to do this. Have a whole new gear made (about $700-1000 if you can find the correct hob to match the gear). Save the gear by having the center of the gear with the syncro teeth machined or cut out (you will be left with a "ring" gear), find another gear with good syncro teeth and cut off the gear teeth, then press the two pieces together and Heli-arc weld. I have done this with good results and will go into more detail in another article. This can be much cheaper depending on the cost of the donor gear and costs about $250-500.

 

I have never found a brass syncro ring that had the teeth worn out. They will however load up with bits of metal (in the cone face grooves) rendering them almost useless. It is definitely possible to clean out the embedded metal bits, and the syncro ring will work good as new after, but you have to get ALL of the junk out! Don’t worry about the inevitable damage to the brass when you dig stuff out, as this will wear itself flat again very quickly. The 3 grooves where the "keys" go can and do get beat out. They have an important purpose. When you are shifting into a gear and the RPM of the input and pinion shaft are not matched (to the gear ratios), the side load generated by the syncro ring on the keys will make it hard to actually shift into gear. When the RPM’s match and the side load goes away the keys are free to move and the selector hub will much more easily slide into place, engaging the gear. If the 3 grooves are to wide (beat out) there will be no side load on the keys and the selector hub will, well you get the idea, the tranny goes GRUNCH. This can happen downshifting or upshifting. I have a nice selection of great looking syncro rings, with mangled grooves! It is possible to braze material back onto the syncro ring to repair the grooves, but it is very tricky and not worth the cost.

 

From the preceding discussion it would seem obvious that the smart thing to do would be to get two usable transaxles and build one good one. I recommend this, however I have never seen a used R17 transaxle that had any extreme wear except on the 5th gear thrust faces and the needle roller bearing interface. It is common for the 1st and 2nd gear syncro teeth to show some wear. I have seen catastrophic accident damage that was very obvious as in broken ring gear teeth (No Martha, they can’t be welded back on). If you do decide to use parts from two transaxles be aware that you cannot mix up the ring and pinion from different transaxles unless they are new! It is permissible to mix gear sets but be certain that the gear tooth counts are the same and it came from the same gear location. I have seen the case where the gears came from different transaxle versions and where one tooth count different. The gears would go together but they would be noisy and probably fail if run together!

 

 

FOR SALE

 

April

Europa Parts for Sale Adjustable lower links for TC, chrome, exlt cond - $125; aluminum fuel tanks for S2 - $300/pair with sender; 8 x 13 Revolution wheels to fit flared Europa - $50 each; 7 x 13 Monocoque 3-piece race wheels, very light, almost new - $400/pr; instrument binnacle, new, thick ABS - $25, full set of instruments and switches, poor to fair cond., - almost free; header for Renault motor - $200; brake booster good cond. -$50; set of hubcaps and trim rings, beautiful new chrome -$200. Call John (650) 368-9105 motofab@wenet.net

 

 

1980-87 Esprit parts, turbo wastegate rebuild kit, new -$100, starter, new – $100; Goodyear NCT 195-60-15 tires, new, (2) - $150; (2) front rims with Goodyear NCT 195-60x15, tires in good condition -$250; rear bumper, minor damage, repairable – $75. All prices include shipping. David Condrack (707) 252-9298

 

March

1990 Porsche 944 S2. Red with a bone and black in. Carefully maintained, only 52,000 mi. $15,500, Rod (916) 773-6452

 

1966 Lotus Elan S2 #26/5611. Fast, reliable wellsorted racecar, owned since ‘79, body-off conversion to race car, chassis gusseted & strengthened, racing
springs, Koni’s, oversized F. swaybar, dual brk. sys., larger TR-6 wheel stubs, Autopower roll bar, fuel foam in cell, close ratio trans., 3.77.1 LSD, hardened axle stubs, 3-tube rad., metal fuel & brk. lines, blueprinted Eng. bored .020" over, oil cooler, baffled pan, straight 2" tuned exhaust w/ SuperTrap muffler, plus more, vintage raced 9 yr. $12,500 inc. parts, race equip., single axle trailer. Bill, Elancpe@aol.com, (925) 943-6194 (CA).

Europa Twin Cam body (2009R, VERY early twin cam) The body is in pretty good shape, the rear fenders are flared, but not butchered. Hood and trunk lid, front and rear glass, window clips and frames are all there. Along with a very well made square tube rolling cart. I paid about $500.00 for it, and am willing to sell for same. (I have sent in the non-op '72 status to d.m.v. meaning anyone with a potentially non-compliant later Europa could use the body to do a swap have a legal car.) Jon Rosner 510.923.0738

 

1973 Europa Twin Cam Project Car- This is the perfect winter project for a bored Lotus nut- We're selling it due to loss of storage garage-yikes! This car is NOT in boxes-99% parts on a "complete" car- it rolls. Serial # 2712R--Pink slip, non-op permit. $2,500 obo Don Camacho 707-874-1958

Camacho@dlcc.com or Marci@sonic.net

 

1966 Lotus Elan 52 Roadster. Serial number 26/5611 disassembled for Chassis up conversion to racecar. All pieces inspected, rebuilt or replaced. Chassis gusseted and reinforced. Late model racing springs. Swaybar. Cortina Dual brake system. Autopower roll bar ('SC'CA approved). Fuel tank filled with foam. Close ratio Gearbox. Saulsbury limited slip 3.77:1 ratio . Tempeied inner axle stubs. TR-6 Wheel studs. Engine blueprinted, Bored 0.020 over, Balanced, Head cc'd with SE cams. Intake and exhaust manifold sanded (not polished) to gasket opening, Pan baffled. Straight through 2", tuned, exhaust with "Super Trap" muffler. Raced in 1982 to present in ICSCC, SCCA, HMSA and CSRG. Car has ICSCC and SCCA Vintage Logbook.

Won the 1982 to 1987 ICSCC 'C Production" Championship in the Pacific Northwest. Invited to the West Coast runoffs in GT3. Car kept basically stock and can be converted to street legal car with much work. All parts still available. Asking US $12,500 for complete car, parts and licensed single axle trailer. Bill Root - 1054 Camino Verde Circle, Walnut Creek, CA 94596 (925/943-6194) or e-mail: ElanCpe@aol.com

 

February

Parts for Esprit S2 Engine cover (dog house), complete front and rear brakes, John (650) 368-9105 motofab@wenet.net

 

1965 Elan S-2 roadster for sale in Texas. Color is

red. Weber head and carbs. Original frame (neither rusted nor wrecked) Transmission & engine. Close Ratio Transmission. Three tail Light configuration. Engine rebuilt less than 500 miles ago with new sleeves, connecting rods & new pistons. New interior. Stainless Steel headers and new exhaust. New vacuum canisters, new dash. New bumpers (front & rear). New ball joints, brakes and cylinders (where needed). New Emergency brake cable. Many spare parts. $12,500.00 e-mail is Scupper@swbell.net. Fax 1-210-829-7708.

 

1958 Lotus XI LeMans Series II Chassis No. 533, FIA Papers. FWA Climax Stage III tune with twin Webers. Wobbly wheels. MGA close ratio trans. DeDion rear end. Appendix "C" configuration. BRG with red interior. $55K/OBO. Greg Mitchell-

gkm@pacbell.net 408-298-1730

 

 

1970 Europa S2. Ground-up, nearly psychotic restoration! Over a 20 year period, every single part of this car was removed and scrutinized for authenticity and quality. Receipts to prove it- if you have 6 hours to go through them. Heavy duty fiberglass lapwork at the traditional weak spots (pillars, pillions) and finished in nearly bulletproof Imron Alpine White. If you attended the last 2 Palo Alto British shows, you probably saw it. Serial #144R, transmission and engine numbers match ID plate. Interior very correct (I'd never call a Europa interior gorgeous) down to the heater door knobs. All the right name brands: Spax adjustables, Minilites, Weber (plus the original), French Motorola, etc. Tons of spares, including a transmission and rare 2 row radiator. Every time I take this car to show it's the same thing: "this is the finest S2 I've ever seen!" I have to agree. I am willing to concede defeat, but this car is unbelievable, nearly concours. Offering it at $10,800- I'm in the Navy, and it's time to head out. Call or e-mail! Eric Petersen, San Jose, CA 408 736 1437, evenings.

 

The Chapman Report is published monthly by the Golden Gate Lotus Club, PO Box 117303, Burlingame, CA 94011. The GGLC is a non-profit incorporated car club and is not affiliated with Group Lotus, Team Lotus, or Lotus Cars USA. The GGLC's annual membership dues are $20.00.

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