First outings and wash

[1owner69Elan]

My Elan finally back from paint. Took 10 months from the beginning of the year.

I madly put the car back together again in order to participate in a car show, "2019 Blackhawk All British Car Show". Held next to the Blackhawk Auto Museum (Danville, California). Just finished the car on the morning of the show and then drove the 50 miles or so.

https://blackhawkmuseum.org/wp-content/ ... ain_50.jpg

Judging is done by popular vote of participants and attendees. Even though I arrived after the voting was already 2/3 done, my Elan was awarded a second place in the Lotus Category. First place went to a Lotus 23B (trailered in). I was late because of a fuel line leak - having just put the car back together after paint and not had time to shake it down properly.

https://blackhawkmuseum.org/wp-content/ ... ain_50.jpg

First wash:

Grape harvest over:

Cars and Coffee, Napa, California (Sunday, Nov 10):

[jaman]

NICE JOB !!

I am in the process of a S4 Fed SE full resto-mod.

A little far away from you up here in Victoria BC Canada.

181 HP !!! What engine are you running?

RDGS Jaman

[1owner69Elan]

In response to the question about what engine is in the car:

Engine is a stroked (1692cc) Lotus Twincam. I have provided various info on this in earlier posts but here is a summary:

Overview: High performance, street (not race), Lotus Twin Cam. Built with a Lotus Twin Cam Weber head from SAS Engineering, UK, replacing the original Stromberg head.

? Engine develops a street tractable 181.3 hp @ 6900, 143 lb-ft torque @5100 (torque ~flat 4000-7000 rpm).
? Builder: Dave Vegher, a 3 time US SCCA National Champion (D Production and GT-3, driver/mechanic) in a Lotus Elan
? Car Weight: 1440 lbs (vs 1523 stock).
? Horsepower to weight ratio: Bhp/tonne @ 277 (vs 159 stock). Comparison example: Dodge Viper 8.0L V10 (1989) @ 275.

Details:

? CNC Lotus Twincam Weber cylinder head from SAS Engineering. Street, not race, ported. Aluminum LM25 TF alloy. No cam bearings needed.
? New Weber DCOE 40?s (151) with relatively small 32 mm chokes for better street tractability but engine still is able to develop substantial horsepower and torque at streetable rpms (7K redline). This elevated output belies the common wisdom that Weber 45?s and larger chokes are needed to generate this level of power.
? Valves: Manley Mfg. Stainless steel with hard chrome finish on stems. 1.625? on the intake and 1.375? on the exhaust.
? Cams: Kent Cams. High lift/short duration
Lift 0.440? gross
250deg duration measured @ .050? lift
105deg lobe center on the intake and 107deg lobe center on the exhaust
? Formula Ford SCAT crank, square main bearing caps
? Long 4.928" rods, ARP 2000 bolts
? Custom forged CP racing pistons, 3.2765" in diameter, Engine Bore 3.2795 (83.3mm vs 82.5).
? Displacement: 1692 cc vs 1558 stock
? 10.25 compression ratio, uses unleaded pump gas (US 91 (R+M)/2 octane)
? Custom made Lotus 26R deep airbox and mounting plate (the smaller stock Weber airbox reduced bhp by 7hp on the dyno)
? Custom baffled engine sump to reduce cornering oil pressure losses
? Lightened flywheel (Fidanza), saves 7.5 pounds and provides more dynamic response of the engine. No loss of smoothness at idle or in street driving.
? Magnesium bell housing, saves 12.8 pounds. Sourced from an ?underweight? racing Elan 26R GTS
? High torque, lightweight starter motor from Speedwell (saves 4.1 lbs)
? Oil cooler (SETRAB) with thermostatic sandwich bypass
? Alloy oil breather catch can. Placed in nose.
? AN fittings (black) with ?classic? reinforced hoses used throughout for fuel, oil, coolant
? High pressure oil pump (necessitates new 0-100 psi dual gauge instead of original 0-60 psi)
? Uprated engine mounts
? TTR Weber throttle cable and spring return system
? Custom fabricated knurled knob dipstick with O-ring
? Alloy screw on oil filler cap, non-leaking compared to original spring-loaded version

(Picture taken with the previous white paint, now BRG)

[nmauduit]

nice! thank you for the detailed info on the build.

Is the SAS head a wide port or standard version?

[1owner69Elan]

At the time I ordered the SAS TwinCam Weber head the "standard" head was the larger race ported version. A street port was a special order since most heads are apparently purchased for race applications.

This is the specification of my order from SAS:

New LM25TF Casting to original dimensions
Cam bore machined into head (No cam bearing required)
Inlet port machined and hand polished to 40mm Weber 1.3 diameter
Inlet Valve seat cut for 1.625 dia valve- (Inlet valve not included)
Exhaust port machined and hand polished 1.25 dia
Exhaust valve seat cut for 1.4 dia valve- (Exhaust valve not included). (I would note that I ended up with a 1.375 exhaust valve).
Colsibro valve guides fitted finished for 5/16 valve stems
Combustion chamber machined and hand polished @ 4.640 head height
Standard spark plug 14mm
All core plugs fitted
Full pressure test prior to despatch
Head supplied fully machined with valve guides and valve seats cut, cam caps; cam studs
Valve seats are in sintered material suitable for unleaded petrol.

So the SAS street ports:
inlet: 1.3" exhaust: 1.25"

By comparison, a large port head (racing) from Dave Bean Engineering has inlets at 1.42". Presumably the SAS race head is similar.


Although having indicated above that the smaller street ports were delivered by SAS, I would note that Dave Vegher (builder) said he did "open up" the ports from what was delivered- but I do not know to what extent. Dave then did use the smaller DCOE 40's along with the small chokes (32) for a street engine. Obviously, the head breathes well up to the 7K redline as evidenced by the dyno. Dave also did various other "tweaks" to the SAS head, e.g. removing sharp edges in the combustion chamber, redoing the valve seats (he felt that the "as delivered" ones were too small for the Manley valves used), ...

[tdskip]

Man I bet that Elan really moves with that much horsepower.

Nice job.

[1owner69Elan]

Haven?t done any formal timings but the car is palpably much faster than before. And importantly, quite tractable for the street.

A 50 year old car, but no real drawbacks for old age. Unlike me.

[StressCraxx]

This is a gorgeous Elan, better in person than in the photos. Very well done.

[Mazzini]

The car looks fabulous, well done!