I bought this 72 Europa back in 2012, with the idea that i could bring it back to life, if I used as few Lotus parts as possible. I was determined to use local Craigslist parts, or build what ever I needed.
I ended up buying 2 donor Europas and a donor Miata, and spent 3 years just collecting parts before I could start. The following posts are the convoluted tale of my journey.
The first Europa:
Second Europa:
Yes it’s in the previous owner’s living room!
My choice of drivetrain was to use an LS6 sourced from parts of 4 different cars and a transaxle from a 2004 Boxster S.
Looks great so far!!
Time for the frame:
suspension, brakes, steering and switches came from a 99 Miata.
The front wheels had to move forward 9.5” so that I could put the entire Miata subframe in front of the front fire wall:
The rear wheels had to be moved back 3” to center the rear axles in the wheel wells. Also I had to build a “trellis” to raise the rear subframe over the transaxle.
Then connect the front and rear subframe with 2x3 tubing:
Jumping ahead, so that I don’t get into too much minutia, I built the front and rear firewalls and the center tunnel using 1x1 tube and steel sheet.
The tunnel is off set to the passenger side 2” so that the brake booster could be mounted low enough to clear the hood. ( also gives me more elbow room).
I used a front mounted electric water pump, electric fan, and drive by wire throttle. I mounted a Chevy truck pedal upside down in front of the fire wall and connected to the Miata pedal. The truck pedal was cutoff the arm and the rest is used as a potentiometer to control the TB.
Dual fuel cells are mounted in roughly the stock location and give me a 15 gallon capacity.
this is the completed “roller skate”:
Rear section close up:
Now to make the body fit....
front wheel wells have to move forward 9.5”:
Gap is filled with a panel cut from the opposite side rear of the red body:
Rears move back 3” by cutting 3” behind the yellow rear wheel wells and replacing them with the red ones with 3 extra inches left in front:
The movement of the front wheel wells required the chin to be dropped 2”. This gave me a more aggressive looking mouth opening , and better air flow for the radiator:
The rear facia had to be dropped 5”:
The Miata track is wider than stock Europa.... so fender flairs were in order!
We tried to just exaggerate the stock look of the wheel arches by cutting them off and pulling them out approximately 3” and glassing them in:
Rear:
Tail light modification:
Bodywork!
More bodywork....
Still more bodywork...
Thanks for posting this. I keep bouncing between this thread and the one where you posted the more
Finally paint!!!!
Built the dash:
1/4” Cherry. Plywood with automotive clear coat.
So when can I come see it? Also why has this been happening right under my nose
Not done but driveable! ( no one has ever finished a Lotus .... but I’m close!)
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