1969 S4 DHC, s/n 8439

[abstamaria]

Trying to learn a new (pocket) camera, I took this photo of my spare twincam motor, off 8439 since 1998. I ordered this ?rally special? (TC5) from Vegantune in 1977 and visited their quaint works in lovely Spalding to see the completed motor in December that year.

Andy

[rgh0]

great photo - its always nice to have a spare twin cam ready to drop in when needed

I hope you turn it over occassionaly and keep oil in the bores to stop it rusting and rotate the water pump to stop the seal from siezing. It's hot and humid there in manila. But from the look of you garage its probably air conditioned !

cheers
Rohan

[abstamaria]

Thanks for the reminder, Rohan. I'll look after the motor.

By the way, the MaxJax arms aren't fully extended for the Elan at 120", so you can probably increase the spacing. Good luck.

Andy

[RedS4]

Hey Andy
I notice you spare engine has a vacuum advance. Does your primary engine have one? If so, does it improve things for you?

[abstamaria]

Hello, RedS4. Vegantune told me the vacuum advance was disabled, so I never connected it. The QED engine doesn't employ the advance as well, which I think is typical for the tweaked motors. My original engine (US model on Strombergs) had the advance, I recall.

Best,

Andy

[abstamaria]

The Elan has been dormant for some time, but the last several weeks I've been working on it, bleeding the clutch (the remote slave bleeder makes that job much easier), cleaning the jets, and just getting the car running. I took it around for a short run around the neighborhood this morning, and all seems well.

The rose-jointed suspension is still on, albeit with softer dampers. Surprisingly, I didn't notice any harshness.

I notice the driver's side is sitting lower, so I will adjust the suspension to compensate a bit.

A roundel and the diff cooling scoop are still on and will probably remain. I have to decide whether to put back the ducting for the scoop; perhaps a smaller-diameter one will not be obtrusive.

Andy

[gjz30075]

Andy, thanks for the update.


Greg Z

[abstamaria]

Thanks, Greg. It's good to drive her again. I have three other old cars, and the Elan is so different from them. The new silencer, which we fabricated using Ducati and Tony Thompson items, sounds great, too.

Best,

Andy

[abstamaria]

Evan had asked about the spinners. Here is a photo I took that compares the 26R spinner to the original item. The difference in weight is quite large.

Best,

Andy

[abstamaria]

When I was racing the Elan, I had to fit external devices to hold the bonnet, as per the racing rules. I decided on aluminum hood pins, attached in this fashion. I am posting this in case it might give ideas to some of you.

I decided not to reinstall the original, sometimes uncooperative catches.

Andy

[abstamaria]

Here is a silencer (or muffler) that I put together and installed on the Elan, after we both retired from the very friendly vintage racing series here. I used the aluminum shell and stainless steel end caps from a new Ducati muffler that was on my 748R (I installed a carbon fiber replacement from new) and the perfortated tube and packing from a round Tony Thompson muffler. It is very light and sounds good, too!

Andy

[RedS4]

I rather like the look of the 26R spinners. Who supplies them and (of course...) how much are they?

[elan66]

Pat thomas has them at ?425 plus vodka and tonic ,i doubt TT much different,you might have to check wheel compatibility though
regards
Paul

[abstamaria]

The KO spinners are the same as used on the racing Lotus 47s, Evans. I'm afraid they won't fit on standard wheels and hubs. You will have to change all the hubs and the wheels, so it's a big job. I got mine from Tony Thmpson a long while ago. The KOs are so extraordinarily light though; I also prefer their look to the standard items (which don't look bad at all.)

Andy

[RedS4]

So 26R hubs are that different to our garden variety hubs?