Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hello.
Been a member for over a decade.
I have restored a +2 and own an absolutely original full service from new esprit... so when I came across a deceased +2 last year with its engine and box missing in action the big open hole meant I researched options... toyed with s2000 and zetec transplant but ended up with the same engine as the m90 lotus elan propotype. The 4age.

It is light. So no need for brakes or suspension modification. It even has engine mounts in the right place.

The gearbox is a type 50 all aluminum 5 speed.

I have spent the last year tweaking and massaging fit. Custom lever relocation and built exhaust and inlet manifolds, mounts and a couple of frame mods to my series 1 spyder spaceframe.

As this week I have eventually fitted the carbs and run fuel for the first time since 1984; here is my engine bay;

NIFTY!

More words and pictures please!

With the exception of the distributor it looks like it's perfectly at home. The 4AG took the place of the BDA in formula Alantic. Seems to be overlooked as a replacement in recent days with Zetec Duratec even Vtec.

I can hide the distributor but to do so I need to fit full ECU .
With ECU I would fit injectors and throttle bodies... if I am going full ECU I may as well take advantage !

But I wanted classic look of carbs so I kept the dizzy and a cool little computer for timing advance which i hide behind the wiper motor.

With the ECU and TBs I could have moved the alternator up to the front left also...

For those interested ; I had to custom make the exhaust manifold. I tried a tubular one. (Maybe later). But for now I am using a large capacity mild curved log. Not a traditional straight out into a collector. This has bends that taper together... basically a very short length tubular that goes forward and drops in front of the engine mount between the mount and the cross brace and joins a standard exhaust.

I am using the oil pressure outlet from the engine which used to have an electronic sender and running a wet pipe to the original gauge.

Chassis mods: a now standard front cross cut as done for a zetec and I had to move a cross tube offside and make it match the nearside so pointing bottom left to right both sides now. Wouldn't have had to do any mods with a folded chassis !

I had to lower the engine to keep it level in the chassis. This was to clear the cross brace of the tubular chassis that sits just behind the gear lever.

I couldn't find the right tail for my gearbox you need a Toyota celica gen1 box and they cost as much as lotus ones now ! They pop the gear lever in the right place !

So I made a custom relocation, it now comes out perfect.

As a result of the engine drop I have made a drastic sump "cut and shut" to keep capacity but reduce depth by about an inch ! Sump is wide and shallow with baffles and a custom oil pickup, the neck of a standard 4age pump with the head from a ford fiesta pickup (it is shallower than the original pickup). Yet to see if it works properly...




Custom inlet is part made by me part by a fabricator in Cornwall. He made me S bends in 90 degree mild and I welded them all together on a jig to make my custom runners. I am ambitiously hoping that they add low down torque in an engine that runs "comfortably" at 7000.

Engine is a standard 1558cc twinc straight out of a RWD "Levin". No modifications..110bhp ish. Came as standard to fit a RWD setup complete with water pump. I removed the lettering and "wrinkled" it. I removed the camwheel covers to make it more BDA.

I have kept the majority of the vehicle standard in the hope that I can build a proper engine and get it back to original one day.

I do have pix but site won't let me load from onedrive. . Only from yandex...sigh

4AGE in both 4 and 5 valve variants were the engine of choice in Lotus 7 replicas here in Australia. The challenge is mainly engine height and I believe they use special sumps like you have done. Unfortunately the 4AGE is now to old to meet current emission regulation so the Lotus 7 replica guys are looking for a new engine for new cars that have to meet current regulations.

cheers
Rohan

There are also a number of guys fitting 4AGEs into Europas, particularly the series 2, here in the states.

I've wanted to do this swap since day one of my Elan ownership but, as mentioned, the correct t50 tailshaft housing and shift relocation is not easy to come by. Even with that I believe some engine juggling is necessary to get the shift lever in the right place. Would love to know more about your transmission mods to make it all work.

Kurt.

So this is the 4age and t50 going into rolling chassis



You can see my homemade gear lever relocation. The box at the rear is where the original lever was.
I removed the ball joint mechanism. Cut off the lever drilled a central hole and welded in a rod which runs in two bushes.
I then reused the lever and attached it at the other end of the horizontal rod and boxed it all in with some brackets to keep it all solid.



The rose joint is required to keep the lever on the right place. Replicating what the ballpoint used to do.





And because I didn't take a picture inside here is a drawing I did of what it actually does:


And here it is midway through mounting. At the rear you can just see that the cross brace goes top left to bottom right which is the opposite of the original. Also you can just about make out that I put in new tubes vertically at the end of the box section to make up for the removal of the box section i had to cut out to accommodate the tailhousing...all unnecessary on a folded chassis.



All in place :

Very nice work! You say it will fit on a folded chassis +2....I wonder on the 2 seater.

For some reason I never considered removing the shift lever pivot from the stock position. That looks like it ought to work like a champ!

Thanks much for the posting.

Kurt.

Toyota fitted the 4age on a tilt. I have fitted it level. As a result the T50 lever actually come's out level also
In the Toyota Levin the lever was tilted towards the driver....

I have used the original Levin lever but put a lotus elise aluminum knob on it as it has the correct 5 speed layout and lotus logo




Now... who can tell me how to stick the gaiter down !!!

Some more on gear lever research;

This is the short rear tail housing where the lever comes out closer to the original lotus elan position



Below is a relocation lever actually for the Westfield to move the lever in the opposite direction... further back... I was going to order this one and turn it 180 degress.. moving the lever forward, but the upper arm on this unit would hit my chassis cross brace... so I made my own version. Looking at it now though it would be just as easy to reverse the top lever and attach it to the gearbox like my version, with rose joints... this one is much smarter with its alloy housing instead of my metal box !

Well, perhaps yours protects the joints much better! Wonder how hard it would be to modify the stock tail housing. I may have to look into this swap a bit more when i actually have some time!

Kurt.

You need a tuner's name across the cam cover banks, like 'BRM' or 'Brian Hart'. Get the crowd thinking.
'Lotus' wouldn't be appropriate.

If you look at the t50 exploded diagrams the selector forks are actually right beneath where I have put the lever.. but I cannot weld alloy so I didn't even try cutting the housing and moving the lever forward.