Elan Sprint Gear lever fitting gear lever cap snags chassis

[MarkDa]

That'll surely sit the air box firmly on the footwell.

[bloodknock]

The Engine is the original for the car removed in 1973 Its an original lotus L block.
The spacers are on the exhaust side of the block.
Bob

[bloodknock]

Ive decided to replace the engine mounts since they are original and will have aged. I will strip out the original mounts and measure them, whilst they are out I will manouvre the engine into the optimal position with jacks and try to make measurements of the relative block and chassis mounting points (still got to work out how to do this)
I have bought pair of TTR uprated standard mounts see below:
It looks as if any filing adjustments will have to be on the chassis side since there is little meat in the top of the engine side!

[MarkDa]

Space depends which way to are going.
To lower engine you file into the meat at top and plenty of room at bottom.
5mm here will give you 10mm at air box.
I still think it's the exhaust side that's the culprit - that's without having seen it of course!
Have fun!

[alan.barker]

You can file the holes on the mount that attach to the chassis and you will only have two holes to file not four.
Alan

[MarkDa]

I'll bet that the area removed for the same effect is much the same

[bloodknock]

I'm hving dificulty understanding your reasoning Mark. Its most likely cos i'm thick.
Heres my "thinking"
If I move the airbox closer to the footwell, thats rotating the engine anticlockwise from the front. Rotating the engine anticlockwise will move the gear lever further from th NS chassis rail????
So, if I removed metal from the exhaust side, so lowering that side, surely the engine would rotate clockwise lifting the airbox and moving the gear lever even closer to the chassis rail????
UNLESS, what youre saying is file the holes out in the opposite direction and lift the exhaust side up?????
Regards
Bob

[MarkDa]

Sorry Bob I thought you were going to lower carb side first as that settles bolts downwards rather than relying on pinch action to keep elongation above the bolts.
Not impossible of course but less easy working single handed!
I thought the mount you posted was carb side. They do look smart.
Which you work on rather depends on what you find when installing new mounts- you never know it may be perfect first time out.
There's more birds with one stone if carb side alone will do it as keeping air box away from bonnet helps. So that's where I'd start even though there's less spanner room.
Mark

[alan.barker]

It looks like lowering the mount on the exhaust side is the answer. If you have a stainless exhaust manifold it might mean making the cut out in the chassis flange a little bigger.
It would be strange if the problem with the gear change touching the chassis is because a higher Lotus mount for the carb side has been fitted on both sides
On the exhaust side the mounts do suffer with the heat from the exhaust and descend a little giving more clearance for the gear change and chassis
Alan

[MarkDa]

He needs to go the other way.

[alan.barker]

I don't think so the engine needs to rotate the same way as it operates clockwise
Down on the exhaust side which will mean the gear change will move towards the centre (away from the chassis rail.
Alan

[bloodknock]

Sorry Alan
I just cant see that.
If the exhaust side is lowered, the engine will rotate clockwise (to the right, viewed from the front) Since the gear lever is sitting against the chassis on the right (again viewed from the front), surely the situation will worsen????

Conversely, if the carb side mount is lowered, the engine will rotate anti clockwise taking the gear lever away from the chassis rail????? Sure the airbox will get closer to the footwell, but as you can see from the photos, ive got 15mm to work with, so should be OK reducing this to 10mm from what others say.
Help me see your reasoning
Regards
Bob

[alan.barker]

Sorry my mistake i thought it was touching on the offside.
With a new mount it will raise the exhaust so fix the problem.
I must look more closely at the photos in the future
Alan

[bloodknock]

No probs, I need all the help I can get and that includes making me think thing through.
Thanks
Bob

[MarkDa]

We're all feeling rather involved and waiting to hear what you find and how it's resolved.