Spyder +2 zetec owners on elan.net?

[Spyder fan]

Check list for using a Dunnell manifold

1) You have an MT75 gearbox with hydraulic clutch that has the starter fitted to the RH side (under the inlet side of the engine) OR you have a standard 4 speed Lotus gearbox.

2) You will need to relieve the top of the passenger foot box to make clearance

3) Assuming using an MT75 gearbox you will need to grind away some of the casing

4) you will need to fabricate a link pipe from the manifold to the exhaust system. Either retaining the silencer you have or replacing the whole lot to get a 2 inch system throughout

5) Your wallet needs to be reasonably fat as the manifold is ?525 + VAT plus the link pipe, plus plus all the other bits you will replace like the engine mounts (mine were in a shocking state). If you can do it all yourself then it's around ?850. Labour is in the region of 6-8 hours including glassing and painting the foot box, grinding, removing all the system etc.

[pauljones]

Alan

That's a good looking manifold. How does it breath now?

[Spyder fan]

Paul,
I think it breathes better, I can only be subjective in that it seems to pick up better from low revs and high speed cruising is improved in that it seems to pick up quicker once slower moving traffic has got out of the way in the outside lane (hooligan yes I know). To be scientific would have meant a rolling road set up before and after and my pockets are not quite that deep (shut up Steve! )

Getting the breathing a bit better is a lucky by product in that I used to wince every time I travelled a bumpy road or traversed a speed hump, just waiting for the scrape, it removed a certain amount of the pleasure of driving the car. Thankfully it's gone away with the fitment of this new system.

[pauljones]

Sounds like your sorted.bet it sounds good.

I'm struggling to find anyone close to me that can help me out..I need a welder fabricator to make some mounts and cut the cross member. Not a sniff of interest.

Have fun at CC tomorrow.

[Si Geen]

Could anyone confirm if the early model spyder's have Ford Escort mk2 track rod ends. I'm struggling to find the right part. I think it's a escort me 2 part FTR 4208.

I have no doubt that my parts supplier will find it, but it would be nice to confirm it via this site.

I'm currently making a number of mods based on the posts made on this section of the forum (spyder +2 zetec owners) on the mods part of the forum.

The mods I'm going to make include:
Larger tyres (185/65/r14).
Hi torque starter.
Some welding to chop out the large dents in manifold.
Swap out track rod ends and split gaiter.
Re adjust tracking.
Possibly improved discs and pads to help poor breaking.

If anyone has any essential mod ideas please feel free to advise.

Thanks to all those who informed my desisions in making the mods so far

Si

[Spyder fan]

Si,
I'm sorry but I really meant to research your question on the track rod ends. The Escort items would make sense as they are being used onto Ford uprights and control arms, so the taper should be correct.

I need to speak to Andy Widnall next week, so will make a note to ask him the question regarding the early conversions, but I would think it's probably one of the items that hasn't changed over time.

The 185/65 tyres are an absolute must if you can bear to change the existing before they are worn out.

Brakes are a bit annoying in that the 2:0 Sierras I used to drive many years ago had very good brakes, but the same calipers and discs on the +2 are disappointing to say the least. I have made mine acceptable by fitting ferodo DS2500 pads to the fronts http://www.ferodoracing.com/products/ca ... ds/ds2500/ I previously had EBC Greenstuff pads which were marginally better than the standard pads. The probable reason for the poor performance is down to the master cylinder diameter and the absence of a servo. Andy Widnall recently fitted a servo to his own car and says it works really well with standard pads, I have asked for a test drive and hope to report on this early August. It's a remote servo and no great difficulty to fit or plumb in.
My S4 has Wilwood Midilite 4 pot calipers, they are if anything too good for the car and I'm thinking of swapping them out for something less powerful, they work amazingly for a month or two, but then the pad material embeds into the disc face and the car feels like it has warped discs, the cure is to strip down and clean every other month which is a total pain. I think the car is too light and the brakes can't generate enough heat to self clean..

I have heard that "Hawk" pads work extremely well on the Sierra calipers and I'd like to give them a try on my +2 but all this swapping and changing hurts the bank balance

I will try to report back soon

[Spyder fan]

I'm trying to put together a Zetec specific build guide for Elans & +2's, not too technically detailed but a little bit more than the usual list of
1) you need either a new chassis or modify the one you have
2) source an engine and then modify it for RWD and clearance in the chassis
3) keep or swap your brakes/gearbox/diff

There was a really good month by month "how to" in Classics Monthly circa 2007 that covered the conversion of a +2 by Jerry Thurston. I can't seem to find these articles anywhere on the net, Spyder used to have them posted up on their web site but have since removed them, maybe for copyright reasons.

If anyone has the magazines and could scan or even lend me the magazines for scanning I would appreciate it.

The intention is to make a guide that points towards sourcing parts and covers things like exhaust manifolds, water rails, engine mounts, sumps, the Zetec engine itself, fuel injection or carburettors, wheels, tyres, hubs the whole lot to be an unbiased resource.

Any help appreciated

[PeterK]

Alan, I can't find the articles that I know I must have somewhere, but in case it's useful, this is my list of what I used and where I got I from (just delete the pdf extension I had to add to upload)

Elan Plus 2 Zetec.xlsx.pdf

Delete the PDF extension and open in Excel

(47.34 KiB) Downloaded 925 times

I took a bare shell, a very early (un-used) Spyder chassis and several (but not enough) boxes of bits to build my Zetec Plus 2, with original style but adjustable suspension and 2000E 4 speed
Peter

[Spyder fan]

Peter,
That's a really detailed and very useful list, thanks for posting it up. The Jerry Thurston build was shown in a pictorial format IIRC, and that's really useful for others going down the path of a Zetec build and can save a lot of time and wasted effort. I think if we can put together a downloadable manual using your list and lists from other successful builds along with helpful magazine articles then it's going to be a useful resource.

I put your list in my dropbox public folder so it can be downloaded without altering the file extension, hope that's okay?
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7584679/Elan%20Plus%202%20Zetec.xlsx

[niallf]

Hi Alan,
I've sent you a PM.
Niall

[mikealdren]

Hi all,
I've recently retireed and now have time to resume my Zetec conversion (which I started about 10 years go!). A lot of basic tidying up in the garage (inc new roof) required as preliminary.

Interesting reading this thread, it's reminded me of lots of things! I thought I had the Gerry Thurston articles on the computer but can't find them, however I do have the magazine articles. Did you get them Alan, would you like me to scan them?

Mike

[Spyder fan]

Hi all,
I've recently retireed and now have time to resume my Zetec conversion (which I started about 10 years go!). A lot of basic tidying up in the garage (inc new roof) required as preliminary.

Interesting reading this thread, it's reminded me of lots of things! I thought I had the Gerry Thurston articles on the computer but can't find them, however I do have the magazine articles. Did you get them Alan, would you like me to scan them?

Mike

Hi Mike,
Good news you are picking up on the build again! I have a whole list of things I'd like to do and not enough time, some people who retire say to me that they seem to be even busier than when they were working, but that it's a good type of busy doing the things they enjoy.

I have sent you a PM with my direct email details, I would be really grateful if you could scan the articles for me so that I can host them for the group here. Loads of people remember the articles and thought they had them saved to disc including Spyder, but they are nowhere to be found.

Many thanks

Alan

[tablets32]

Hi.
I have a Bogg brothers alluminium intake manifold made to fit a zetec engine, it's designed to work with motorcycle carbs. I have a set of carbs that I will throw in I am asking ?150 for the lot.
Keith

[Pjr]

Keith,
Im interested in the manifold and have sent you a pm.
Best,
Phil

[Spyder fan]

Phil,
You were asking about engine mounts to suit a standard folded metal chassis. Have a look at this kit http://www.retro-ford.co.uk/shop/conten ... t-kit-z006

The Spyder mounts only fit their chassis and they are not interested in developing mounts for the Lotus chassis. If anyone has a solution I'm sure people here would be grateful to know.