Spyder +2 zetec owners on elan.net?

[pauljones]

Alan,
All things given thats a fair price. Suprisingly. Out of my range for a while tho.
Out of interest do you have details of bore size and primairy lengths?

Hope this weather stays for end of month.

[Spyder fan]

Paul,
You are welcome to take measurements at Castle Combe. the primaries are 1 3/4 inch and the outlet is 2 1/2 inch the swayed end of the link pipe fits into the outlet and reduces to 2 inch for the main pipe. It's also nice and shiny! unlike mine which is mild steel , I would have preferred a bit of bling

[Julian]

Hi,

Joined the conversation a bit late but great idea.

I've been planning to do this for years, unfortunately bathroom, kitchens etc seem to be more important (though less interesting).

I'm keeping my eyes open for an abandoned Spyder chassis if there is one out there and I have a spare body available if anyone wants one as the start of a conversion, it will put another one back on the road.

Julian

[mds4544]

I haven't checked the forum for a while so I just thought I would post a photo. This was taken at a local North Devon car show in aid of Rotary Club. Lots of interest during the day.....

[martystep]

Right on..... I had several British an American cars with retrofits and different implants....And there is always that one guy that has to give you crap about it. It was also the main reason why I steered away from clubs and gatherings because i get tired of hearing it....I just like to drive. I am looking at an Elan +2 and or a Europa now and am thinking of doing this so your postings are important....cheers

[prezoom]

I completed The Zetec conversion of my Plus2 last year. If you are interested, I will most likely be at the Queens English Car Show on April 22 in Woodly Park. Original Lotus chassis, not a Spyder. We could compare the do's and don't's in doing one here in the US.

[pauljones]

Hi all,

Im going to post this question here in mods rather than wanted as it seems more relevent to us here.

Im looking for a zetec intake manifold for the silver top to my jenveys.

Any tips or goto places? Firstly im looking at one thats angled upwards as opposed to flat in plane.
Im going to use the paper gasket as im told its better. Ie the propper one
Looking for one that idealy has same centerlines as twincam so i can keep same linkage and airfilter backplate.

The upswept manifold will help clear inner wing from airfilter. Its only 5?
Woould like as narrow as possible to keep injectors as close to valve as possible, apparently it helps with response.

Any thoughts from those that have one? Good make bad make etc

Thanks all

[gavk]

Hi Paul

Im not sure of the origin of my manifold but if I were on the lookout now I would speak to the following companies for advice...

1. Spyder
2. Jenvey
3. Dunnel, Raceline or another reputable zetec builder

One of those companies should be able to advise you on the options.

Failing that you could try a Westfield, locost or retro ford forum, they will have far more people familiar with throttle bodies on zetecs

Sorry i couldn't be more help

Gav

[pauljones]

Gav,

Thanks for the input. All is welcome.

Like Julians post above, mines fallen down the league table of importance.
House extension, kitchen, patio doors etc.
Apparently wooden floors are money well spent, whereas wasting it on a lotus isnt. Not the exact wording but im sure you can guess.

I did speak to most of those above, some more than helpful and others not so. I have my eyes open for one for sale, not getting lucky.

[Spyder fan]

Time for a bump to this topic.

Here for your delectation and information is the complete Practical Classics guide to how to build a 21st Century Elan.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/afgrajl25zwcu ... e.pdf?dl=0

[nickruss]

Hi Alan,

Are you able to send me or repost the images of the standard vs new manifold? Very interested in doing this as the SOLER bumps around me are brutal!

Nick

I now have a Dunnell exhaust manifold fitted to my +2. As mentioned previously this item takes the traditional route underneath the LH engine mount rather than the Spyder manifold which goes under the "removable crossmember" and under the ARB. This makes the exhaust manifold the lowest point at the front of the car right where all the suspension movement is going on, this equals a high possibility of grounding over speed humps or simply bumpy uneven roads.

On Sunday I deliberately tried to ground the car out by driving from Beachy Head to East Dean on a notoriously bumpy road with raised crown, depressions and subsiding edges as well as lots of adverse camber. I used to grimace in anticipation of the manifold scraping the road in at least 6 places along this route, but absolutely fine. The roads around my house have "traffic calming" speed humps that are a bit fierce even for a 4x4, I used to have to slow right down to walking pace to clear them without risk of proper damage, now it's just easy at the same speed as other traffic.

Spyder manifold



Dunnell manifold


This is what a Spyder manifold looks like fitted, you can see it's right at the point where suspension travel is going to cause problems.


I don't have any finished photo's of the manifold fitted from the underside, but it follows the normal route under the passenger foot well then hugs the side of the gearbox. There is just a single pipe exposed and its the same ground clearance height as the sump.

[Spyder fan]

Nick,
Go back to page 9 for the under car images of the manifold and link pipe. Spyder stock a stainless steel version with link pipe based on the design ( Grumpy Bodger’s). Just be sure to check you have the right gearbox with hydraulic clutch and you can fit this manifold with a bit of fettling to the footwell and grinding of the gearbox casing.

[Vixensteveplus2]

My Plus 2 came in May, road legal with a Xflow and doubtful chassis so decided to do a Spyder chassis/Zetec conversion, so I'm new to the forum. Any comments about engine/bonnet clearances, exhaust manifolds, injection pumps and radiators will be of interest to me in the coming weeks. I thought I'd add my version of a Zetec/Spyder conversion to the forum thread.
Here are a few pics of the car as bought (shiny but challenged underneath!) with disordered wiring and engine bay grp patched together (an old accident).
So far I've taken the body off, sold the Xflow, Bullit box and rustfree chassis, rewired it, rebuilt the engine bay, stripped the interior, soundproofed it, rebuilt the heater and front lights.
Its November now, months have slipped by, but the chassis, suspension, wheels, brakes are on, and a Cossie 4x4 diff in along with a Spyder propshaft.
MT75 box (with r/h starter) is ready to go on the engine. So nearly ready for the body to go on? Well no as I soon realized my £150 ST170 engine had loads of crank endfloat - looks like a PO has put a box on it with a too long input shaft, grinding a thrust bearing into the crank. Not such a bargain after all.
Anyway hope to get it running etc by the Spring.

[Spyder fan]

Nice pictures and descriptions of what you are doing. I particularly like the innovative way you lifted the body, Colin would have been proud

There are some pictures of an exhaust manifold design further up the topic.

[Vixensteveplus2]

I was reading quite a few comments on the forum about Plus 2 Spyder Zetec conversions, particularly ground clearance problems caused by a low hanging exhaust manifold and ride height issues, where some converted cars are on 'tiptoes'.
Having gone through this process it seems to me that the manifold route can cause the insufficient ground clearance, raising the body height with adjustable dampers is a way of trying to overcome this problem. What determines the manifold route is not the Spyder chassis but where the MT75 gearbox starter is. If its on the exhaust side the manifold has to be routed underneath it, thus hanging way below the chassis. If its on the inlet side then another type of Spyder manifold (or a diy one) can be used, running higher up.
Though MT75's are plentiful, it seems to me that the ones with the starter on the r/h/s uk drivers side are extremely rare, only used on some manual Scorpio's. In fact I had to get one on ebay from a breaker in Denmark/Germany so maybe the gearbox is for left hand drive, avoiding a steering column or something?
It also wasn't particularly cheap, but I think worth the expense to avoid the grounding problems.
Anyone have similar experience with this?
Below is a pic of the box that's needed.