Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi everyone

Having trawled through the archive with little success I wonder if anyone would be kind enough to help me find some information regarding ground clearance issues on a plus 2 with a Zetec 1.8 engine fitted. I could do with finding out how much the bottom of the standard sump sits below the steering rack mount and also roughly how much a standard twincam sump sits below the rack mount.

Thanks in anticipation.

John

Hi John,
Can I assume you are using a Spyder Zetec chassis and the Escort sump? If so I can go measure on my +2 zetec tomorrow when it gets light.

The only ground clearance issue that I get is with the exhaust manifold, I have welded a skid plate on to protect it and raised the ride height on the adjustable spring platforms, other zetec owners have similar ground clearance problems with the manifold. The sump gets nowhere near the ground in comparison.

Regards

Hi Alan

I should have said that I am using the standard Lotus chassis but if you could take the measurement from the rack mount I think that should be the same for both types of chassis. I am just a bit concerned that using the 1.8 Escort sump it seems to stick out below the front cross member a bit more than I would have expected and as my car arrived as heap with no engine I have no reference to a standard set up either. I must admit the exhaust looks like that will also an issue, I presume on your car the exhaust runs along the side of the chassis similar to a standard set up.

Many thanks for the assistance.

John

Morning John,
The reason for using the Escort sump is to gain a bit of clearance towards/against the crossmember, the standard sump will give you all sorts of problems in this area. As can be seen in the photo's it's unlikely that the sump depth will cause problems, but the branches of the exhaust manifold will definitely cause problems if you don't set the ride height correctly.

The sump on my car sits 45mm lower than the crossmember and the distance from the bottom of the rack mounts to the bottom of the sump is 140mm. The Spyder Zetec chassis uses a LHD classic Mini steering rack (the control arms are forward of the hub on an Elan, on Minis they are behind). I think that this is going to be an awful lot different from what you have to work with.

We need someone who has engineered a zetec into a Lotus chassis to give you the right pointers, there is no standard kit of parts for doing this, but here goes with the pictures, perhaps they will give you some guide and inspiration.

Hi Alan

Thank you very much for the fantastic pictures and dimensions, I see what you mean about the exhaust manifold! My sump sits around 5mm lower so I am not far out.
The only thing I may need to do is adjust the for/aft position of the engine and I wonder if it would be possible to measure the distance between the back of the head and the bulkhead when you get 5 mins, please do not make a special effort but maybe next time you are tinkering.

Thank you again.

John

John
The back of the cylinder head is approximately 50mm from the bulkhead. But the main problem is that the water rail
is almost touching the bulkhead at this distance.
I may get a chance tonight or tomorrow to post a photo of this area.

Thanks Alan, I am very grateful for this information.

Regards
John