New Owner '69 S4 - Unravelling the Mystery
Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2014 2:47 pm
Hello All,
I'm in South Carolina and just purchased a '69 S4 from out west. So far I'm loving this car, the Elan community, and the whole Elan Experience.
The car has many needs and I'm wrestling them to the ground one at a time. Although this is my first post, I met some members at LOG 34 and they have already been a great help (you know who you are!).
My current project is getting the engine oil leaks under control. At this moment a local British car garage has the head off and is getting ready to do a valve job and replace the related gaskets, etc. The previous owner had this car for 25 years and during that time says he has not removed the head or gone into the engine.
Based on a few hand-written notes and a Dave Bean form with some valve measurements (all delivered with the car), it appears Dave Bean did some work on the engine during the 80s (two owners ago), but the previous owner doesn't know what was done and cannot identify the person from whom he purchased the car in '89. So I can't call that person to ask.
SOOOO, I'm trying to determine what exactly Dave Bean did with the engine. Was it just head work, or did he do a complete rebuild? I've called Ken at Dave Bean and he says Bean doesn't keep records back that far, so no help there.
It appears from some handwritten notes Bean at least may have replaced the cam with a Sprint cam and [i]possibly[i] did a "big valve" replacement. Here's a photo of the camshaft and I ask you to help me confirm it's a Sprint one:
I'm also trying to figure out whether the previous owner/Dave Bean went further into the engine, perhaps a total rebuild. The only clue I have is the pistons, which look like this:
You can see (I think) see "75mm" stamped at the front of the piston. The valve cutouts look rather large. Is this an original Elan piston or a replacement?
Finally (for this post anyway), the exhaust manifold has been changed. This is a federal S4, so originally had the cast manifold. But with this car the crossover has been removed and blocked at the Stromberg carburetors and the cast manifold was replaced with this tubular one. Can you help me identify it?
There are more mysteries, but that's certainly enough for my first post! If you're still awake and interested, please let me know what you think and if further information might be helpful. I have several other photos (numbers forged into the camshaft, photos of the valves, etc.) if that would help.
Many thanks!
John
I'm in South Carolina and just purchased a '69 S4 from out west. So far I'm loving this car, the Elan community, and the whole Elan Experience.
The car has many needs and I'm wrestling them to the ground one at a time. Although this is my first post, I met some members at LOG 34 and they have already been a great help (you know who you are!).
My current project is getting the engine oil leaks under control. At this moment a local British car garage has the head off and is getting ready to do a valve job and replace the related gaskets, etc. The previous owner had this car for 25 years and during that time says he has not removed the head or gone into the engine.
Based on a few hand-written notes and a Dave Bean form with some valve measurements (all delivered with the car), it appears Dave Bean did some work on the engine during the 80s (two owners ago), but the previous owner doesn't know what was done and cannot identify the person from whom he purchased the car in '89. So I can't call that person to ask.
SOOOO, I'm trying to determine what exactly Dave Bean did with the engine. Was it just head work, or did he do a complete rebuild? I've called Ken at Dave Bean and he says Bean doesn't keep records back that far, so no help there.
It appears from some handwritten notes Bean at least may have replaced the cam with a Sprint cam and [i]possibly[i] did a "big valve" replacement. Here's a photo of the camshaft and I ask you to help me confirm it's a Sprint one:
I'm also trying to figure out whether the previous owner/Dave Bean went further into the engine, perhaps a total rebuild. The only clue I have is the pistons, which look like this:
You can see (I think) see "75mm" stamped at the front of the piston. The valve cutouts look rather large. Is this an original Elan piston or a replacement?
Finally (for this post anyway), the exhaust manifold has been changed. This is a federal S4, so originally had the cast manifold. But with this car the crossover has been removed and blocked at the Stromberg carburetors and the cast manifold was replaced with this tubular one. Can you help me identify it?
There are more mysteries, but that's certainly enough for my first post! If you're still awake and interested, please let me know what you think and if further information might be helpful. I have several other photos (numbers forged into the camshaft, photos of the valves, etc.) if that would help.
Many thanks!
John