Will an Elite 504 gearbox fit a baby elan?

[gordont]

as per subject line, will this fit or need mods to fit my S2?

thanks in advance for any tips.

[john.p.clegg]

Gordon

No,I tried this mod, shortened the output shaft and casing,moved the lever to the front of the top-plate to mimic the ford box,the problem is the bulk of alli. at the rear/bottom is too much to fit in the centre section of the frame...

John

[gordont]

damn, thanks anyway john

[gordont]

as a thought does anyone have a plus 2 5 speed they are looking at selling?

[rgh0]

The conversion of an Elite 5 speed back to the vesion that will fit in an Elan is possible - just needs a new tail housing see the attached article on how it was done. I presume with enough machining and welding you could actually modify the Elite tail housing as needed also

cheers
Rohan

[john.p.clegg]

Rohan

Sorry,but that article is on the original Lotus 5 speed box? (and mods to make it better?)

John

[rgh0]

But in the article he started with an Elite Lotus box ( not the later Getrag box) and put the Ford bell housing and tail housing from a 5 speed plus 2 box on an Elite centre main casing section which was identical for both the 5 speed plus 2 elan and the Elite. He shows a photo of the 2 different tail housings. If you dont have access to the 5 speed Plus 2 components which are rare and thus expensive, it should be possible to modify the Elite tail housing and bell housing to mate with a Ford block and fit in the Elan chassis centre section if you have the machining and welding skills and time. He shows a comparitive photo of the 2 tail housings and while I have never done a detail comparision from the photo a cut and shut conversion looks possible

cheers
Rohan

[john.p.clegg]

Rohan

Have tried the cut and shut and it just won't fit...but please feel free to try it yourself and post the results

John

[p.faurie]

sorry to put a spanner in the works,isnt the elite 504 automatic? regards phil

[bcmc33]

Maybe it's the Elite 501 gearbox not the 504 that is being considered.

I opened a thread on this some time ago - asking the same question.
elan-f14/lotus-speed-gearbox-t19761.html
I had the same response from John Clegg and it was not until I saw the Elan and Elite boxes side by side did I fully understand what John meant.
I posted a picture of the box profiles to show the level of reconstruction work necessary to make an Elite box fit.
Start with the fact that the rear edge of the mounting bracket for the Elan box is less than 25mm from the start of the chassis centre box section.

An Elite box could be useful for spare parts.

[rgh0]

Rohan

Have tried the cut and shut and it just won't fit...but please feel free to try it yourself and post the results

John

I have a friend who is swapping out the Lotus Box in his 5 speed Elite for a Mazda six speed I have been tempted to buy his old box and have a go at a conversion to make a spare for my Plus 2. Compared to what he has had to do to make the Mazda box fit in the Elite it looks easy !!!! Unfotunately the project may need to wait a few years

cheers
Rohan

[rgh0]

Rohan

Have tried the cut and shut and it just won't fit...but please feel free to try it yourself and post the results

John

I have a friend who is swapping out the Lotus Box in his 5 speed Elite for a Mazda six speed I have been tempted to buy his old box and have a go at a conversion to make a spare for my Plus 2. Compared to what he has had to do to make the Mazda box fit in the Elite it looks easy !!!! Unfotunately the project may need to wait a few years

cheers
Rohan

[rgh0]

John

Do you have any photos of your modified tail section ? I would like to see what you did and the detail of where you came to fall at the last hurdle fitting it into the Elan chassis so i dont go down a wrong way myself

cheers
Rohan

[john.p.clegg]

I'll try and find them,but they are from over 10 years or so ago,all the parts were scrapped in disgust,one thing I do remember is that the machinist who shortened/re-broached the output shaft told me he never wanted to see me again...nearly wrecked his machine...but it was a case of shortening the output tail section to the same dimensions as the ford box,ditto to the output shaft,have a new threaded hole machined at the front of top cover to reposition the gearlever all quite easy really,and worth it if only it would have fitted..

John

[john.p.clegg]

For reference...

John