S4 FHC soon to be DHC : Please see new MODS forum for update

[Spyder fan]

Hello Rich,
I thought I had answered the question about the cost in a previous post? No more and no less than a Zetec or twincam elan built to the same standard.....

Are you moving house to be nearer to the hairdressers shop? The MX5 must look nice outside......

Regards

[elansprint71]

Alan,
Something to be aware of with the twin-wishbone rear; firstly you will have to cut out part of the body and fit the "Spyder boxes" to allow the top wishbone to come out- presumably, as Spyder are doing the work, they will do this before it goes off for painting.

More importantly; I found that my rear tyres can rub against the inside of the wheel arch when going round tight corners, i.e. when suspension is at, or near, full compression. The wheel moves up and down in a more vertical plane than with the standard set-up, where the wheel moves in an arc and "tucks in" to the wheel arch; mine catches the inside of the arch just above the S4 "flare" and I had to shave the return in the flare with a grinder to stop the tyre from catching on that too. I don't have desperately wide tyres fitted, just 175x 70 x 13, on Minilites. If I had know this would happen I think that Minilite could have supplied a wheel with half an inch less offset than their "standard" one.

Great project, btw, hope to see the finished article.

Cheers,
Pete.

[paddy]

I think that Minilite could have supplied a wheel with half an inch less offset than their "standard" one.

Yes, they will supply any offset you specify (not just in increments of 1/2").

Paddy

[SamIAm]

Alan,
My next project is our S4FHC. It is stripped down and we are working from the frame up, but alas, the rear window is missing. Would it be possible to acquire yours? I could arrange shipping from Heathrow.

regards,
Graeme

[Spyder fan]

Alan,
Something to be aware of with the twin-wishbone rear; firstly you will have to cut out part of the body and fit the "Spyder boxes" to allow the top wishbone to come out- presumably, as Spyder are doing the work, they will do this before it goes off for painting.

More importantly; I found that my rear tyres can rub against the inside of the wheel arch when going round tight corners, i.e. when suspension is at, or near, full compression. The wheel moves up and down in a more vertical plane than with the standard set-up, where the wheel moves in an arc and "tucks in" to the wheel arch; mine catches the inside of the arch just above the S4 "flare" and I had to shave the return in the flare with a grinder to stop the tyre from catching on that too. I don't have desperately wide tyres fitted, just 175x 70 x 13, on Minilites. If I had know this would happen I think that Minilite could have supplied a wheel with half an inch less offset than their "standard" one.

Great project, btw, hope to see the finished article.

Cheers,
Pete.

Hi Pete,
sorry for not responding sooner, I have 2 sets of 14" bolt on wheels for my +2 Zetec one set with normal road tyres and another set with AO48 semi slick Yoko's (road legal track tyres), both cars are using Sierra uprights and hubs, I had assumed that I could use one set for the S4 but Andy Widnall tells me that it's a different offset required for the S4 although the pcd and diameter /width is the same, both cars use narrower rear springs to allow more inboard clearance. The body has already been prepared for the wishbone set up, this was done when the roof chop was carried out.
The car should be finished late spring, hopefully well in time for shaking down and running in prior to the track day at Castle Combe. I hope to bring both cars next year; the +2 will demolish Elise's and embarrass Exiges as per usual and hopefully the duratec S4 will give the 2Eleven's something to think about

Regards

[Spyder fan]

Alan,
My next project is our S4FHC. It is stripped down and we are working from the frame up, but alas, the rear window is missing. Would it be possible to acquire yours? I could arrange shipping from Heathrow.

regards,
Graeme

Hi Graeme,
Sorry, but I am keeping the roof section and the rear screen to make a hard top at a later stage. Good luck with your project.

Regards

[collins_dan]

Alan, Your recent post about your Plus 2 reminded me that we haven't gotten an update on this project in awhile. Anything to report? Cheers, Dan

[Spyder fan]

Dan,
you have a pm.

The thread has moved to the new Mods section see you all there for an update in around 6 weeks time.http://www.lotuselan.net/forums/elan-mods-f31/duratec-project-t22006.html