What if . . . ?

[Ianashdown57]

When I bought my 64 S1 I also bought a 65 S1 Race Car. It has an engine from a 66 FHC that has been blueprinted, balanced and had some 'euro spec' (whatever that means!) cams fitted. The body has some big flares on it, and was freshly repainted in the mid '70's, but never run. The chassis has been 'stiffened, but I'm not sure specifically what was done.

I'm really not sure what to do with it; I had to buy the package deal to get the 64, I may just sell it, but I'm thinking as it is not completely original it might be fun to build a monster road/track-day car. I'm thinking BDA, CR 'box, big wheels & tires etc etc.

Just for fun what suggestion does anyone have for the spec of a Super quick road/track car. I'd want something that could be driven on the road, but would be a real blast, and could be taken to the tack for a real thrill!

How practical is it to fit a BDA? I don't want to try and build a 26R replica, maybe something more like the Broadspeed BDA Elan could be fun.

Let you imagination run and let have some suggestions!!

Here are some pictures of the car as it is now.

Ian

[garyeanderson]

Hot and luke warm is a nice way to play with Elans. Can the BDA idea and use the warmed up twin cam, when you get tired of it build the Twin Cam to a more extreme. 140 hp out of a twin cam is just about civilized. A lot of fun in a stripped out Elan weighing under 1300 lbs.

I wish others thought this way.

Gary

[Elanintheforest]

Ian, getting a BDA in the Elan sounds like a good plan to me, and I also think that Gary makes a very valid point. Remember that a standard BDA only developed 115bhp, much the same as the twincam, but the potential for over 200bhp, or 280bhp with the BDG (ally block that can be taken out to 2.1 litres), but that may not last too long. A wide choice of power options, but the cost goes up alarmingly when you approach the top end of the power levels.

The BDA in my Plus 2 was fitted in 1971, has done over 80,000 miles and the car used for commuting in and out of London, touring Europe and track day demonstrations. The guy who built it had a twincam /BDA engine building shop, so used the car as a showcase for his work.

The block is the same shape as that used for the twincam, so fitting, from an engine mounting / gearbox point of view, is the same as a twincam. The head is a little taller than the twincam, so you have the option of dropping the engine on modified mounts, which has implications for the exhaust system and the gear lever, or putting a small bump in the bonnet to clear the cam wheels.

The only special part you will need is the exhaust manifold.

I think that the biggest decision you?ll have to make is what sort of power do you want? The higher you go, the less tractable the car becomes, and for me, the less usable unless it?s just a track day special of course. The bhp numbers game looks fun on paper but in reality can be inversely proportional to the fun factor once you get over a happy median?.finding that is tricky!

The greatest fun for me with the BDA is its ability to rev and keep going, and that combined with a fairly mild road-going spec engine is just about perfect. One of the most fantastic cars I?ve ever driven was an Escort with a 1300BDA fitted, with the redline at 10500, and balanced to perfection. Probably only about 140bhp, but the way it used those modest horses was phenomenal?.and a little noisy.

The guy who built my BDA played with the spec for years, trying the full range of carburettors from 40s to 48s, and various cam sets. As the car was mainly being used for the road, he settled on a fairly mild setup, built into a thick wall AX block bored out to 1700cc, using 40s and BD3 cams. The engine starts up without fuss, will sit in traffic without getting all lumpy and grumpy, rev to 9000rpm and still get high teens on fuel consumption. It sounds much like a twincam below about 4000 rpm, but the cams / cam belt develops a lovely high pitched whining noise above that which sounds like a supercharger kicking in!

The engine develops 170bhp, but not too much torque below about 3000 rpm, which means that it really has to be revved hard to get off the line quickly. That will be quite a limiting factor if you were to use the old Lotus close ratio box, as 1st gear is very tall, although having a high (numerical) differential will mitigate some of that.

One of the greatest attributes of an Elan for me, as a road car, is the compliant suspension. It?s also the worst aspect of an Elan if you want to do some serious track work, and that creates a real conflict, as you say you want a car that?s fast road and track. Try driving a track car on the road for an hour or so, and you?ll soon see why. I?ve driven some truly horrible cars on the raod that have been built to get that final tenth on the track, but on a bumpy (normal) road they crash from bump to bump feeling like they are bent on self-destruction?.and the owner usually sells them on after a year or so! If you just want a track car or just want a road car it?s very simple, but you may need to find another happy median if you are to enjoy both. It would probably make a lot of sense to put firm rubber or poly in all the bushes, but have an adjustable shock system to be able to drive the car on the road without loosening your fillings.

As you?re going for the big wheels and tyres, then upgraded brakes would certainly be of benefit. My car uses the standard wheels / tyres, and as it can lock them up with ease, there doesn?t seem to be a lot of point in upgrading the brakes!

Have a chat with Dave Bean about the options available, but have in the back of your mind that biggest / most powerful isn?t necessarily the best. You could also get a lot of fun out of a 140bhp twincam of course, polished and balanced to perfection, it?s a very hard engine to beat, and you can probably get two of those for the price of a BDA.

Mark