Lotus Europa Forum

Hi Lotus owners,

I built the new engine for my Europa with (2) FASC (Weber copies) 40DCOE. I thought I had a bargain with FASC
price about 1/2 that for real Webers. While the car ran OK, I found it hard to tune to smooth running nor idling.

The real problem with the carbs was a very serious flaw. I had an ENGINE FIRE due to the leaking of the carbs.
I got to the back of the car with fire extinguisher in what felt like an eternity, probable 10 seconds, and got the fire out
with only wavy ripples in the "boot" engine cover fiber glass. The paint was not harmed ......Whew, LUCKY!

I pulled the carbs and took them apart:
-The immediate damage was the MELTING of the Auxiliary venturis

-But I found something strange: in the middle of the casting is a raised area that holds the main and air correction jets.
A hole what hand drilled, made obvious when the drill bit skipped down the casting before it took hold. In the drilled holes
were tiny brass plugs. I don't know which passages were blocked, but the carb leaked fuel continuously, regardless of
the float adjustment.

-A scary thought hit me: the FAJS carbs were leaking from day 1, but hidden by the aircleaners. This meant that I was driving
a potential engine fire at any time! I was very lucky to have the fire happen when I was only going 25 MPH and could get the car
stopped, fire put out quickly.

In the end, I spent the $$ for 2 new Real Webers and the engine is now operating beautifully.
Terry