Special Equipment Engine

[Alpine_Ian]

I'm finishing off the engine today and just applied a fresh coat of grey paint. I need to paint my valve cover, so I was looking in Brain Buckland's book to see what he recommended for paint color. According to his book, I'm identifying my engine as Special Equipment with a single ring at the end of each cam lobe. I was not aware of my car being a Special Equipment car... and was wondering if there were other ways to identify for sure that it is indeed a SE car or not? My Elan is a 1964 S2 26/3985

If it is indeed an SE car, my valve cover should be painted BMC green. Should it be a solid green or a hammertone green? his comment is a bit unclear next to the picture.

[types26/36]

Ian, I am not 100% sure but I believe the SE domestic cars had had a chrome trim on the sill below the door and were also fitted with indicator side markers on the front fenders (as much later cars have)
This may not be applicable to export cars as these side markers may have been fitted to standard cars for the export market.

[Alpine_Ian]

Hi,

My car is a home market RHD car with british registration, but it is now in the USA.

This one was pretty rough when I got it and I don't know if it ever had the chrome strip at the bottom or not... This one had been painted 3-4 times so no telling what what there when new. I do have the repeater lights on the front wings though.

[types26/36]

According to this chart the S2 SE only started at 26/5282 and you have 26/3985 so that would indicate it is not an SE
http://www.lotuselan.net/publish/car_type_by_vin.shtml

[elans3]

As per Brian's note above, it is not young enough to be an SE. It has obviously had a pair of SE cams at some point in it's history, or maybe a full SE Engine. No bad thing !
If you were to paint the camcover in the SE colour, it should be flat green and definitely not hammertone.
Good Luck
elans3

[Alpine_Ian]

Ok... thanks for the info guys! That helps a ton.

Another quick question.... would it be incorrect for me to paint the valve cover green if it isn't a true SE?

[elans3]

Ian, it's only incorrect if you don't like it. If you're taken by originality, and it becomes your priority, then green is inappropriate.
If you like the green, (and I'm with you, as I've had two S3 S/E's), then paint it green. I see both sides, but you have to go with what you like, and if you like it in green, then do it !
You can always repaint it the correct original colour if your priorities change.
Good Luck
elans3

[Alpine_Ian]

Yah... I agree. I like the green and I have not been able to get my hands on the correct looking blue hammertone paint yet!

I am a stickler for details and I don't want to mis-represent the car as being something that it isn't... I can just see people coming up[ at a show saying that it can't be an SE because it's too early of a car! Oh well... I'm going to paint it green anyway.

[rgh0]

Ian

I dont think you need to worry about comments at cars shows on the cam colour versus body number.

Apart from a few tragics on this Web site no one else in world would even know the difference and in reality even us tragics dont know because Lotus may have painted it any colour that took there fancy and they had avaiable on the day.

I am with you paint it the colour you like
cheers
Rohan

[Alpine_Ian]

That's cool. The Lotus crowd seems to be more forgiving on personal opinion etc... Other LBC groups I've mingled with are more peticular on details like that and will call you out for making a mistake. I've noticed that the Lotus guys appear to be more about mechanical and function vs show and shine.

Since I have the SE cams I'm going to paint the covers green... I also like the green covers better.

[RotoFlexible]

I found blue Hammertone online at Jamestown Distributors. The color is beautiful but the "hammer" effect didn't happen for me. Also, I masked the letters and polished them afterwards. I don't think this is original but those letters just beg to stand out from the color of the cam covers.

As for originality - I like the idea that my standard-looking cam covers will be sitting on top of decidedly nonstandard cams (one Sprint, one Dave Bean) and 1700cc of displacement, special rods and pistons, stroker crank, 10.5:1 CR etc. The only external signs will be the exhaust headers and the K&N filter in the nose.

[Alpine_Ian]

Thanks for the tip on the hammer tone paint!

[DrEntropy]

Painted one of mine (the S-3) wrinkle black, altogether! Then polished the raised lettering. The +2 got red wrinkle. I don't much care what "purists" think or say. They don't get to drive my cars anyhoo!

[Alpine_Ian]

Here's what i ended up doing: I bought both the light blue and dark blue hammer tone paints and neither one looked spot-on to the correct color, so I painted it with the BMC green.


I media blasted the valve cover and painted it with DP40 epoxy primer. After that I polished and masked off the lotus letters. THe fist coat of paint applied was the light blue hammertone... which I didn't like. The dark ble was too dar, so I didn't use it either. After the hammertone dryed, I scuffed it lightly and painted over it with the BMC green from Mini Mania. It's now BMC green with a hammertone effect. Looks great!

I will put a pic up here soon so everyone can see it. THe car is coming along nicely.