I'm waiting for a shiney new tire to install myself. The videos were great - thanks for the link.

Getting the old one off wasn't too bad - an old piece of cedar, an old lodge-pole railing from a bunk bed, and my 5000 pound truck broke the bead pretty easily. It's getting it back on that worries me, but I vowed to try one more time. So far, I have tried to change my own tire three times - the other two times I was not able to get the new one on and had to take it in. But I am determined this time not to fail. The guy at the local indy shop charges me like $40 for 5 minutes work to put on a tire when I have come to failure. Hard to argue with him since he knows I am stuck.

And, as to memories, that Lotus europa reference takes me back. I worked with a guy that had one in his garage. He would tell you how it was the greatest car ever made. We spent several nights sitting in it with boxes and dust all over the place while he told me deep and important things about automotive design and the universe in general - then we would fall out of it like Fast Times at Ridgemont High and go find something to eat. Never did see it move an inch though!

 

My uncle and a friend both had Europas when they were new, so they could and did move for a while! But Lotuses do wilt pretty fast. There's a strong following for them here in the UK, with several owners clubs. Pal of mine races an early single-seater Lotus, but he always was......

 

Well, Friday, Dr.Linda and I dragged another Europa home. A Free Range Europa, as they are found in the wild. Last ran over 32 years ago, no head, etc. This is a Euro spec S2. Yeah, I have a Lotus Problem. Now there's 4 in my shop. I had a Europa that ran once. It was fast. My Esprit runs great, and it's fast. Once, in the 80's, I had a running shovelhead, iron head and Europa. All at the same time. What are the odds of that?

The Tech Inspector at the race track said "You know, Lotus owners are... Different."

 

Agree with that last statement! I've spent too much of my spare time in earlier years under friends' Lotus 7s and Elans, even a Lotus 5 briefly. Those Elan rubber universal drive thingys loom large in my mind's eye. Enough to put one off Loti for life. Definitely requires a very special kind of.....

 

Those rubber U joint thingies are not a Lotus item, they are an English item, and are enough to put you off of English cars for life. Look under a Spitfire or a early GT6 and you'll see the same things.

This one is going back together with a Toyota drivetrain, probably a ZZ block (1zzfe, 2zzfe, 2zzge, depending on what I find.)

I put the tires and roll bar on my 7 to get the floor space back in my garage. It is looking sharp. Ahh, projects.

 

The friend with single-seater and Elan Loti wrote a definitive book on the origins of the Elan's many components. From my autographed copy I see they are Rotoflex couplings.

At least we've got back to rubber!

Oh my god - is this Lotus thing contageous........

 

I had a Lotus 22 to race and a GT6+ for the road. Back to the topic.
I've got a No-Mar tire changer and all the accesories. Bought it from a shop when they got a 2nd automatic machine. Makes short work of tire changes. Was really handy when racing and doing trackdays. Use it for dirt bikes once a month and cars when needed.
The secret is good lube and lots of it! Real rubber lube works better than dish soap.
http://www.nomartirechanger.com/videos/10