Work continues on the roof removal and subsequent glassing in of steel framework. Bad planning here, too much vertical work, hard to layer up glass with ease of a horizontal surface. I struggle through doing small sections at a time.
Next brain storm again a throw back to when I had planned to make the Series 1 wider in the rear. When autocrossing the Europa, more tire is normally a good thing. Consider the stock Series 1 had 135 x 70 rock hard radials (Dunlop SP) from the factory, with the optional alloys sporting 145's. My last tire selection on "Kermit" was 205 x 60 rear and 185 up front. Yokohama 008Rs for grip and handling way better. However, they did rub on the fender lips. The lip in question on the Europa is a horizontal glass piece sticking inside after the gentle roll of the approximate 1" radius. This adds to strength and is a very nice form great flow of material. So to prevent the rub out comes the grinder to remove as much material as possible front and rear wheel wells to eliminate the rub. Pretty good job on rear but hard turns under braking did not quite cut it up front. Many racers opt for fender flares, I however preferred to make the rear end wider by 3 inches. Actually started out as 3 per side for 6 inches, didn't look right, need to be flexible and allow for such events.
When sanding down the body to remove the red, green and whatever paint I found a rather thin segment of fiberglass. This thin was so thin I was plunging through the skin with hand sanding. I do very little with power tools. This line happens to be where the "sail" or top of fender, behind doors, contacts the lower bowed out section that starts out with a large radius to almost vertical lower portion of the fenders. How fortunate this is the exact line I had intended to follow on the Series I and now on this car the opportunity presented itself with the ability to follow this line with only a razor knife for a straight smooth cut from the 3" behind the door to the rear bumper. KISS is a formula I try to follow: "Keep It Simple Stupid". The line I followed had to be simple, don't get into the double wall section of wheel well, don't get into curves in rear section, don't make trunk or opening wider. Keep mounting to chassis the same and most important keep location true to body line. Another item I am not fond of on the Europa are the chrome bumpers. They were gone on Kermit and are planned to be gone on del Sol. So making the rear wider through the bumper line presents no problem. As can be seen in the photos the line I opted for met my KISS plan. Cutting the rear between the grill and tail lights, splitting the lower cowl behind the joint section and splitting the joint section on the underside of the car behind the wheel well. Simple!
For alignment I made up straps 2 inches wide by 6 inches long of 16 gauge steel with a series of holes on either side of the split line for ¼" bolts. Drilled a second set of holes 1-1/2" wider on one side these were then bolted to the body, before cutting the section off, for horizontal and vertical alignment. A couple at the back/bottom of shell, two in the back wheel well and another at front of wheel well. Once the cut is made simply move the bolts to the second set of holes and all is true and ready to reglass section to body. Whoa! More items to consider, don't start mixing the resin, yet!
Several bad section of glass on the lower fender cracked and need repair, likewise portions of the rear bumper and tail lights and grill opening and chassis mounting and, and and. Need to fix all of the ands first while access to sections is easier and/or can be rotated to a horizontal position for layups. Sanding and paint removal on body is still not complete so some of this needs doing. I think the project may now be closer to one year to complete. Who am I kidding lets make that two years or more. We haven't even gotten into the rear mount radiator and side air scoops yet, save that for next time.
