Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi All

I'm slowly pulling together bits to start my build / rebuild. I've been told that early Westfields had an Elan differential. Is this true and were they exactly the same. I have a few friends who compete in Westfields and have replaced the original diff so there are at least two 'spare' diffs I can get my hands on if they'd fit. I also have a Westfield but that's got a Subaru WRX diff in it so no good for a classic!

Sorry if I'm totally wrong!

Regards

Wyn

It depends what you mean by 'early' Westfield.

The earliest Westfields (the Eleven and Seven) were Midget based and used the MG's live axle.

The later Ford based live axle cars used a Ford Ecort (English) live axle, which uses the same gears and nose piece as the Elan diff (but without the Elan's alloy rear casing, of course).

As far as I'm aware, the early independent suspension Westfields used the Escort nose piece and gears, but in a casing that was specially cast for Westfield by Jenvey Dynamics, but I could be wrong - Westfield did mess around with different parts sourcing in their early days; for instance I've heard tales of early Westfield Sevens with Triumph front suspension components, so I guess it's possible they tried the Elan diff on one or two cars.

Hi Wyn,

Mintsprint is correct, the early independent rear suspension cars (SEI's) used a mk2 escort diff in westfields own housing, so it wouldn't fit straight into an elan.

The later cars (SEIW's mainly) use the sierra diff (7 inch and 7.5 inch) and at one point the freelander diff.

I've been into westfields for a long time & have never seen one with a complete elan diff fitted, although that doesn't mean that no one has done it themselves.

Hope this helps,
Mark.

Thanks guys - I was completely wrong! Thanks for the help.

I'll have a look at the diffs as I guess the internals may be OK.

The hunt continues!

Regards

Wyn

lsdweb wrote:Thanks guys - I was completely wrong! Thanks for the help.

I'll have a look at the diffs as I guess the internals may be OK.

There is a fair chance that the diff you have is the correct "English axle" diff from a Mk2 Escort axle. If this is the case, you will need the Elan-specific housing - these come up on Ebay from time to time, for around ?70-?90.

If you do have the Escort diff, you should also check the ratio - all sorts of ratios were fitted originally and since the Westfields were kits, it's anybody's guess what ratio you have.

The diff will look like this:

http://www.bearingkits.co.uk/images/lot ... 20diff.jpg

If unsure, post a photo and someone here can tell you if it's the right article.

Paddy

Hi chaps, they also fitted morris marina rear end in the prelit sevens I built one with a 1760 dry sump big valved twinc with L1 In & L2 on ex, 45 dells & mike the pipe headers im sure the diff ratio was 3.4 Wow did it go! Curly 1964 26Rr

Thanks gents

I've had a couple of Escort diffs over the years so hopefully know what to look for!

Wyn