Sensible Engine Upgrades

[bcmc33]

Adi,

I was with Paul when you spoke to him yesterday. His comments about the water pump are quite well founded. The poor reputation of the water pump, apart from being a lousy design, is based on the early years when we used to use a long tyre lever to get the fan belt tight enough to keep the dynamo satisfied, and the affect from the normally out of balance fan blade did the pump bearing no favours.
Today when most of us have an alternator with a relatively loose toothed belt and electric fan, the duty cycle on the improved modern pump bearing is significantly less than it used to be.

Having said all that, I have just completed a cartridge pump by modifying the existing plate and cover - this is planned to go on the tall block engine I am building. This was done purely as an academic exercise to keep this retired idiot out of harms way.

However, if you have a spare ?500, the easy option is to buy the Burton conversion set.

[adigra]

Brian,

Thanks again for all your advice!

Paul seemed unhappy with the way the Burton unit looked, which is a very fair point (as I'm attempting to keep everything looking fairly original). It's not something I have considered before as I've never seen what an engine with the cartridge pump looks like.

I've found a local HSS to rent an engine hoist, so I hope to get on with it rather soonish. I'll have the gearbox inspected at the same time... I had the diff done last year, CV's are on the way. By the end of the year I will have spent twice the money and about triple the time I originally planned, but it's all by choice and technically I've had no real setbacks (except for the diff, which was unplanned).

Adi

[bcmc33]

Paul seemed unhappy with the way the Burton unit looked, which is a very fair point (as I'm attempting to keep everything looking fairly original). It's not something I have considered before as I've never seen what an engine with the cartridge pump looks like.

Paul said that if you're building a concours car then the Burton unit will not be fit for purpose.
Personally, I don't think you will notice the difference with a coat of silver or grey paint.

[billwill]

It's certainly cheaper as the full kit of both sides of the timing chain-case plus the actual pump module cost many hundreds of ?.

Since you will be putting in a new pump kit you can definitely expect 15,000 to 60,000 miles from the water-pump. I was getting through them about 1 per 15, 20,000 miles. But others here say they get much longer life. It's the inner seal that goes, not the bearing, so frankly I doubt that belt tension has anything to do with pump lifetime at all.

I'm beginning to suspect that the life might depend on what additives you put in your coolant. I was inclined to run with plain water which might have contributed to short pump seal lifetimes.


If you intend to go on long holidays, staying on campsites or hotels I recommend that you get the new module pump type because it can be a real bugger getting the front of the timing case off in a campsite or hotel carpark (been-there-done-that-got-the-teeshirt). On the other hand modern rescue services (RAC, AA etc) are good, cheap & just put the whole car up on a flatbed and drive you home.

If you don't plan on being away from your workshop for lengthy periods, stick with the cheaper option.

[mark030358]

Hi there,
Once the pulley is on you cannot tell that a burtons unit has been fitted. Only comment is that the ally is a slightly lighter colour. Put some oil on it and they look the same. Oh don't use the allen screws provided use the proper bolts...

For me it would be the FIRST thing I'd specify....

to change a pump....

disconnect battery
remove carbs
etc etc etc

a pain in the ass....

And I like origionality too....

cheers

Mark

[bcmc33]

Only comment is that the ally is a slightly lighter colour.

As I said, Mark, in your case spray the cover and module in silver and nobody will notice.

[europatek]

Adi,

I think one of the best upgrade to the engine is to use the 1600 crossflow crank. The extra stroke produces a very noticeable increase in torque. I've had several pushrod and twink motors and haven't bothered with the standard crank for years. The engine I currently run in my Cortina is:-
- L block
- 1600 GT crossflow crank
- 125E rods
- 83.0mm pistons
- ported big valve head
- 30/70 cams
- 10.5:1 comp.
- cassette water pump - a must I reckon.
- capacity around 1700cc
The engine is extremely flexible and has heaps of torque. Loading the car with people and gear
doesn't bother it. It keeps up with the modern traffic with ease. I plan on a similar engine spec for my Elan when it next needs a rebuild.

[twincamman]

WELL guys ---I remove the fan belt when I put the car away for the winter and without any lateral tension on the pump seal they last the required 50 000 miles between rebuilds I use as a standard ---as far as hotrodding the engine I find 110 hp in a 1450 pound car exciting enough ----if you race a corvette here you will win in the twisty bits but he will eat you for lunch on the straights -so there isn't enough power to be has from a T.C. to rectify that problem ------I has been my experience that anything to do with racing on a street car is a total pain in the rear and the wallet -just my findings on the matter -ed

[kstrutt11]

I'd agree with that, you are never going to outrun modern vehicles so enjoy it for what it is, some mods to enhance reliablity and ease of maintainance such as cassette water pump, balancing, beter drive shafts and a rev limiter would not be bad ideas but tune it much and you will start to run into much higher costs and reliability problems.

My +2 is bog standard, still gives many modern cars a shock, drives beautifully and returns around 40MPG. Even the dripping water pump seems to have fixed it's self, no coolant loss at all for the last few months!

I have made a cassette type which I plan to fit over the winter though.

[adigra]

The overwhelming response seems to be in favour of the cartridge pump, so who am I to argue?! Even though the Burton kit might be costly now it does sound like it will be worth the outlay in the future...?

I am not trying to outrun modern cars, but since I want to have the engine rebuilt anyhow, and since I have been able to compare my car with my FIL's tuned Sprint, I can appreciate just how much more interesting it is to drive something with a healthy strong engine. As for the costs and the MPG, I didn't buy an Elan to be sensible and save on economy It's effectively a toy for sunny days away and trips to Europe. The main objective is to have fun!

Thanks everyone!

Adi

[billwill]

>I have made a cassette type which I plan to fit over the winter though.

Made your own??

Wow have you got Ally casting facilities then?

[bcmc33]

>I have made a cassette type which I plan to fit over the winter though.

Made your own??

Wow have you got Ally casting facilities then?

I simply welded the cover to give a continuous platform, machined it flat and then bored the cover and plate. I had to make the cassette module in two pieces as I no longer have access to casting facilities. The result is ? la Dave Bean design - as seen below.

My next effort will be to emulate the Burton design as the module will be much easier to make.

[andyelan]

Hi Everyone

Just a couple of points.

Firstly I've had various Lotus cars over the past 25 years and I've always kept with the standard water pump and never found it to be a problem, that's provided it was put together correctly in the first place. The one one my Europa I rebuilt about 20 years ago and that's still going strong.

Secondly, I didn't know it was possible to fit a long stroke 1600 x-flow crank in a short L type block. Europatek, could you please tell me how this is done as I've got various bit I'm trying to build up into an engine but, at the moment, no serviceable crank

Regards
Andy

[rgh0]

Basically you just need special low compression height pistons. The Dave Bean catalogue describes it in more detail

cheers
Rohan

[adigra]

Received the CVs today. Are they really as simple to fit as it seems? Any tips I should be aware of?

Adi