Spacer plate

[triumphelan]

I have removed the engine and find I only have half the spacer plate between engine and gear box the section at the bottom is missing,exposing the flywheel no wonder the clutch was oil soaked.Is this plate in one piece?.The usual sources don't stock it ,they suggest a second-hand one,any ideas I am in UK in north London
Regards John 1969S4 DHC

[Petter Hval]

I got 1 from Paul Matty las year
Regards Petter
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Harrison" <***@***.***>

Sent: Saturday, October 16, 2004 6:00 PM
Subject: [LotusElan.net] Spacer plate



I have removed the engine and find I only have half the spacer plate between
engine and gear box the section at the bottom is missing,exposing the
flywheel no wonder the clutch was oil soaked.Is this plate in one piece?.The
usual sources don't stock it ,they suggest a second-hand one,any ideas I am
in UK in north London
Regards John 1969S4 DHC

[wgrainge]

John,

I'm not sure if there's a picture of it in the manual, but the main
spacer plate is not supposed to go all the way around. A separate
piece, about 8 inches wide, bolts on from underneath the car and
covers the exposed flywheel. If you can't find a used one I would try
Dave Bean or Sports Car World in the U.S.. It's so small and light;
it can't cost much to ship.

-Will Grainger, S4

[types26/36]

There is a picture of the plate in the parts manual, it was a one
piece plate on the early cars and changed to a two piece later on
(during S3 production I think) As your car is an S4 it should be a
two piece but if you can find a one piece from a mk1 Cortina or
Anglia at the scrapyard it should fit.
Brian
64Elan/72Sprint/J.P.S.Europa


In ***@***.***, Will Grainger <lotuselan@s...> wrote:

[davidallen]

My car is the same, and I am in the process of making an ally plate up.
There should be a few tapped holes in the bellhousing with which to fix it.
If anyone else has any suggestions I would be welcome.

However, I don't think it would be the reason the clutch was soaked in oil;
oil would only be thrown onto the clutch when the engine is running and the
car is moving, in which case the clutch would be spinning. Any oil would
therefore be thrown off again.

David

-----Original Message-----
From: John Harrison [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: 16 October 2004 16:00
To: ***@***.***
Subject: [LotusElan.net] Spacer plate



I have removed the engine and find I only have half the spacer plate between
engine and gear box the section at the bottom is missing,exposing the
flywheel no wonder the clutch was oil soaked.Is this plate in one piece?.The
usual sources don't stock it ,they suggest a second-hand one,any ideas I am
in UK in north London
Regards John 1969S4 DHC

[lotuselanman]

Gidday to you all.
It pays to run the full 'spacer' be it from an early or late car. All the'Kent' engines had the same bolt patter on the bell houseing so as long as itis a 'Kent' it will do the job9 except for late Escorts ). Regarless of what the so called experts and pundets say Ford engines do leak oil, not likethey did thirty years ago due to improved seals but they still leak !! If the lower section of the plate is missising then stray oil droplets can enter and find there way to the clutch.
If you have trouble finding a plate , give me a yell and I will send them on request for a small covering fee.
See ya, Les ( in Australia )
----- Original Message -----
From: Brian Goodison
To: ***@***.***
Sent: Sunday, October 17, 2004 8:07 PM
Subject: [LotusElan.net] Re: Spacer plate



There is a picture of the plate in the parts manual, it was a one
piece plate on the early cars and changed to a two piece later on
(during S3 production I think) As your car is an S4 it should be a
two piece but if you can find a one piece from a mk1 Cortina or
Anglia at the scrapyard it should fit.
Brian
64Elan/72Sprint/J.P.S.Europa


In ***@***.***, Will Grainger <lotuselan@s...> wrote:

[types26/36]

Les,
Not sure which cars you are refering to with the late Escorts but as
far as I remember all the Escorts were Xlow and although all the
Kents did have the same bolt pattern I think the starter is on the
other side on the Xflows so without major mods it wont fit.
My S2 had the full plate so I modified it to a two piece (got photo's
somewhere)
Brian
64Elan/72Sprint/J.P.S.Europa

In ***@***.***, "Les Mellor" <Les.Mellor@b...> wrote:
All the'Kent' engines had the same bolt patter on the bell houseing
so as long as it is a 'Kent' it will do the job9 except for late
Escorts ).

[garyeanderson]

There are two types of spacer plates as some one has already
mentioned. The rope seal uses a single piece spacer and the lip seal
used a two piece affair. The two piece unit can be used and a rope
seal engine and the single piece can be modified to be used in a lip
seal with some cutting.

Gary

[saarhus]

If your crank is a 4 bolt rope seal, you need the one piece spacer. If it is a 6 bolt lip-seal crank, you need the two piece shield/spacer.

Cheers!

Stan (with a rope seal I converted to a lip seal)


My S2 had the full plate so I modified it to a two piece (got photo's
somewhere)
Brian
64Elan/72Sprint/J.P.S.Europa

[type36lotus]

How?

Stan (with a rope seal I converted to a lip seal)


--- In ***@***.***, "Stan Aarhus" <saarhus@a...> wrote:

shield/spacer.

[saarhus]

Mike,

It turned out to be non-trivial. I had run a rod bearing on the rope seal and thought it a good opportunity to upgrade. Keep in mind that this all took place in 1971, so the parts situation was MUCH better then.

I replaced the crank with the 6-bolt. The fly-wheel was replaced with the 6-bolt version. The rope seal housing was replaced by the lip seal housing, a direct bolt-on. The sump was replaced because of the different rear seal housing. The spacer/shield was adapted by cutting out room for lip-seal housing, not elegant, but serviceable. The screw-in oil pickup was modified to work with the new sump. Additionally, I took that opportunity to fit steel bearing caps on all five using the +.015" bearing shells. Obviously, I had all the rotating stuff balanced.

This upgrade probably would not be practical today. It would probably be more cost effective to just scout out a MK II (6-bolt) and go from there. After all was said and done, I still had a cast iron crank with a stock, lightened cast iron flywheel.

Cheers!

Stan

How?

Stan (with a rope seal I converted to a lip seal)

[triumphelan]

Thanks for all the info I have sourced the two pieces from Paul Matty
Regards John 1969S4 DHC

[type36lotus]

Yikes!

--- In ***@***.***, "Stan Aarhus" <saarhus@a...> wrote:

that this all took place in 1971, so the parts situation was MUCH
better then.

lip seal housing, a direct bolt-on. The sump was replaced because of
the different rear seal housing. The spacer/shield was adapted by
cutting out room for lip-seal housing, not elegant, but serviceable.
The screw-in oil pickup was modified to work with the new sump.
Additionally, I took that opportunity to fit steel bearing caps on
all five using the +.015" bearing shells. Obviously, I had all the
rotating stuff balanced.

and go from there. After all was said and done, I still had a cast
iron crank with a stock, lightened cast iron flywheel.