EUROPA PHOTO GALLERY
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A Type 54 Series 2 after repairs to extensive body damage including the right door hinge pivots and windscreen pillar. Everything fits now.
1967 Europa-Renault Series 1A as received for restoration. Some body damage, some parts missing, many hours of labor ahead.
Final sanding of primer-filler. This is last stage before application of the topcoat. Before this was fiberglass structural repair (breaks and deep cracks), gel coat repair (spider cracks), and polyester filler over nearly all surfaces carefully block sanded to achieve smooth contours.
Completely restored for looks and performance.
Details like hose clamps, bulkhead insulation, paint and plating are attended to as carefully as engine assembly, carburetor tuning and shift linkage adjustment.
Suspension components are abrasive-blasted and epoxy painted; bushes replaced; calipers overhauled; steering rack worn parts replaced and reshimmed; wheels straightened where necessary, refinished and strobe balanced on the car; front and rear toe carefully set to specification.
Cabin retrimmed and refinished.
A Series 2 with excessive negative camber at the rear. This was due to badly worn hub bearings and universal joints. The Europa rear suspension is durable if carefully and knowledgeably assembled and maintained.
Another Series 1A. A previous owner added fender bulges to accomodate autocrossing wheels and tires; the new owner wished to restore the svelte shape.
Moulds were made of original wheelarch flares, new parts laid up and grafted in place of the bulges. Paint blended to match and all 'orange peel' rubbed out.
This Europa Special had been sold at a bargain price because the engine would not turn over. The new owner asked for a diagnosis and it was found that one of the crossover pipe attaching studs had been dropped into the number one spark plug hole, then the engine had been cranked - briefly. Piston was cracked, head dented and two valves bent.
Accident damage on another Europa Special had been badly repaired - lumps of filler had been used to glue the broken pieces together, and a few scraps of woven glass cloth slapped on with resin. This was properly repaired by feathering out the edges, making small temporary molds in place and rebuilding a uniform fiberglass laminate with chopped strand mat and polyester resin.
The Special during application of color base coat, to be followed by several coats of acrylic urethane clear.