Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Out by a factor of 2! The Ford Kent 1558cc twin cam weighs about 120kg (I think 60kg is just for the block). So the K series solution would actually save you a few pounds, and it's British!

My only comment on the K series is that it's a bit long in the tooth like the zetec. Other newer designs are easier to extract power from and require less exotic parts to do so, or may well have enough power straight out of the box.

Spyder fan wrote:

richgilb wrote:why don't you just buy a TVR?

Errr.... because I already have one?

Picture, please.

richgilb wrote:

Spyder fan wrote:

richgilb wrote:why don't you just buy a TVR?

Errr.... because I already have one?

Picture, please.

Will these do?
My Griff 500 at the TVR monsters Track day at Brands Hatch last year. Now sold, so perhaps i should have said Errrrr because i have already had one....

I like. Does the zetec not feel gay / unstable in comparison?

Spyder fan wrote:My only comment on the K series is that it's a bit long in the tooth like the zetec. Other newer designs are easier to extract power from and require less exotic parts to do so, or may well have enough power straight out of the box.

The K series is also made of cheese..... head gasket problems, liner problems etc.....

Alan, If you're serious about a duratec (good choice btw) you could consider the 2.3, it's the same physical size as the 2litre and you can get 220bhp from it far cheaper than you can the 2 litre. Mamba motorsport sell a good package with management etc for about 4.5k new. It's what I was going to use had I built another westfield.

Keep us posted on the project, I personally like to see nice examples of standard elans, but equally when a tastefully modified, well engineered elan is built (dj pellys as an example) I think it's also good for the breed. Certainly better than leaving them crumbling away somewhere in a barn unloved....

Nice tvr btw, a friend of mine has a griff 500.

Cheers,
Mark.

richgilb wrote:I like. Does the zetec not feel gay / unstable in comparison?

Rich
I'm not sure I can comment on the gay aspect, but both cars have their plus and minus points.

Mark B wrote:

Spyder fan wrote:My only comment on the K series is that it's a bit long in the tooth like the zetec. Other newer designs are easier to extract power from and require less exotic parts to do so, or may well have enough power straight out of the box.

The K series is also made of cheese..... head gasket problems, liner problems etc.....

Alan, If you're serious about a duratec (good choice btw) you could consider the 2.3, it's the same physical size as the 2litre and you can get 220bhp from it far cheaper than you can the 2 litre. Mamba motorsport sell a good package with management etc for about 4.5k new. It's what I was going to use had I built another westfield.

Cheers,
Mark.

Thanks Mark,
Gary Anderson has already reminded me about the 2.3, he pointed out that as there's no rules for road cars the bigger the better was the way to go, 220bhp sounds like a lot of fun, I really hope we go the Duratec route, it's looking more likely that we will. I'm going to show progress on this thread once the build gets underway and there will be lots of interesting pictures hopefully. Apart from the greasy bits under the bodywork the rest of the car including the interior and wheelarches will be standard DHC apart from a sensible addition of roll over bar and side intrusion bars, the jury is out on the colour but think dark metallic red with black hood and black minilites and you won't be far wrong, definitely no stripes or fake Elan Sprint lettering.

Spyder fan wrote:

Mark B wrote:

Spyder fan wrote:My only comment on the K series is that it's a bit long in the tooth like the zetec. Other newer designs are easier to extract power from and require less exotic parts to do so, or may well have enough power straight out of the box.

The K series is also made of cheese..... head gasket problems, liner problems etc.....

Alan, If you're serious about a duratec (good choice btw) you could consider the 2.3, it's the same physical size as the 2litre and you can get 220bhp from it far cheaper than you can the 2 litre. Mamba motorsport sell a good package with management etc for about 4.5k new. It's what I was going to use had I built another westfield.

Cheers,
Mark.

Thanks Mark,
Gary Anderson has already reminded me about the 2.3, he pointed out that as there's no rules for road cars the bigger the better was the way to go, 220bhp sounds like a lot of fun, I really hope we go the Duratec route, it's looking more likely that we will. I'm going to show progress on this thread once the build gets underway and there will be lots of interesting pictures hopefully. Apart from the greasy bits under the bodywork the rest of the car including the interior and wheelarches will be standard DHC apart from a sensible addition of roll over bar and side intrusion bars, the jury is out on the colour but think dark metallic red with black hood and black minilites and you won't be far wrong, definitely no stripes or fake Elan Sprint lettering.

What 220 BHP?
Way OTT that's scary not fun & possibly undriveable in the wet.
As a pure track day/competition Car yes let it rip.
Look forward to Pictures of the installed engine; a lot of clever work needed there.
I've been amazed at the K Series engine protagonists on this thread, a fantastic concept let down by some Design faults & inadequate development resulting in massive problems for many owners of Cars powered by the confounded thing.

Cheers
John

John,

I will just tune the engine mapping to make it driveable for the road, thats what those boxes of tricks are for. Emerald do a 3 way switchable setting for their units, Map 1= Mrs Thomas is Driving, Map 2 = Mr Thomas is driving, Map 3 = On track, hold tight for a fast ride!

Don't Exige's have about 220 - 260 bhp and get driven on the road? Stick with me here looks like I need a friend or two with all these unenlightened people about

Oh I didn't know that there was an aftermarket ECU that had that facility, sounds like a good idea.
With bigger capacity Engines its the increase in Torque that is the sting in the Tail.
I've heard of several Guys here that have built Caterhams with lots of Firepower; a couple with 2,5 Litre BMW M3 Engines.
They have now moved to more docile cars like Morgans etc., which are more "relaxed" to drive.
I suppose it all depends on how alert you are whilst driving, but you know all about that.
You don't get into a Car like that when you're not feeling on top form.

Good luck
John

Morning John,

Have a look here http://www.emeraldm3d.com/em_k3.html#TMF that takes you straight to the page on the triple mapping system and click on the links at the top for other information including a free download manual. Dave Walker really knows his stuff and you can see from his writings in magazine articles like practical performance car that he's still willing to learn.



Regards

PS: My zetec has this system already

Definitely very interesting & another prompt to switch my Zetec from 45 DCOE's to injection.
Trouble is my Car's now stuck in the Garage with no MOT or Tax Disc & getting it through the very stringent T?V approval here is a step I'm having to consider taking.
Trouble 2 is that I'm between the Devil & the deep Blue Sea on deciding about a return to GB which would make the exercise pointless.

Many thanks for the Attachment
John

...

T?V was an easy affair...

...just lights and breaks...

greatz out of snowstorm

Christian

Maybe heretic is not the correct word, but a twin turbo Buick V6 with a pair of intercoolers might get you banned from this site. Think outside the box, I hate the phase but it may be 265 cubic inch engine that breaks the box wide open.



A bit of repackaging might be needed for the turbos and intercoolers but the basic V6 Buick is a fairly small package and at 295 pounds (134kg) with alloy block and heads, its not all that heavy and may actully have the same front to rear weight distribution. I think you may need to upgrade the English diff in the rear but I am sure that Spyder could help you there and I don't think making power would be much of an issue even naturally asparated it would scare you.

Basic dimensions are from the Dave Wiliams engine weieghts listing are
Engine - - ---- - - Weight - Length -Width - Height
Buick 3.8 V6 - - - 367 - - - 22.0 - - 24.0 - - 24.2 - Circle Track, August 1994
Ford Kent OHV -- 260 - - - 21.0 - - 22.0 - - 24.0 - Fast Car, February 1992 (British)

Length, height and weight of the Kent are about the same as the Twin Cam, not sure width but probably a little bit greater than the Kent. both engine weights are for Iron blocks and in the case of the Kent and Buick V6, Iron heads.

Bellhousings are available for the Buick V6 to T5 gearbox and with the Chevy S10 shifter and tail housing it should be just about a bolt in.

Text
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/engi ... index.html
Photos
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/engi ... to_01.html

the building block - Price: $3,995.00

TA Performance
http://www.taperformance.com/proddetail ... d=TA_V3800