Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I need a sump for a new engine I shall build during the winter. I bought a winged "Twin Cam" sump at a fair recently but when I got home immediately realised that it was not correct as the bowl was at the rear - not the front. My fault - I should have been more observant.
Does anyone know where this sump originated? Escort, maybe?

It's only now that I have come to notice the difference between the form of the sump bowls. Someone has e-mailed me to say that he has Cortina front bowl sumps that do not have the side bulges and will that be OK? It was only then did I notice the side wall differences when compared to a 1600 Capri sump that has been lurking in my workshop for the last 35 years.

So it's clear that Ford made a special sump for the Twink as the standard sump was not considered adequate. Does anyone have informed information on this subject?

Also, anyone know of a good source for a Twink sump?

Brian, Ford made a lot of sumps for different applications rangeing from front bowled, rear bowled, double bowled, winged,slight side bulged,no side bulge and the type that suits 4 bolt cranks and 6 bolt cranks and they also had a variety of baffles including some sumps with none at all.
If the sump that you have has large wings then I think the BDA,RS or Mexico had that sump, can you post a picture.
The TC sump came with slight side bulges in both 4 bolt and 6 bolt configuration.

Brian,

I remember being told that the sump on the Lotus Cortina was the other way around, If so, you do have a Twin Cam sump, just not the one you expected!! I bought a Twin Cam engine to discover this !!

Carl

From the top of my head (so probably wrong), the Elans are fitted with a sump from a Anglia (105E). Standard FoMoCo part, not a Lotus special.

Regards

gerrym wrote:From the top of my head (so probably wrong), the Elans are fitted with a sump from a Anglia (105E). Standard FoMoCo part, not a Lotus special.Regards

No! the Anglia does not have the slight bulge on the sides for extra capacity, plus the Anglia was only ever fitted with a 4 bolt crank with rope seal,the TC was fitted with both rope seal (4 bolt crank) and seperate oil seal type sump (6 bolt crank) with the extra capacity.

Note the TC sump with slight side bulge

Brian, as I've been corrected (as I thought), looks like you'll be needing a 2731E6675. Failing that, Ebay?, Failing that RetroFord (Dave Colledge).

Regards

The pictures in the Miles Wilkins Twin Cam book show front bowl sumps. There is also a picture of a BDA with a winged rear bowl sump built for the RS1600 Escort. If the picture is of a single winged sump, then it is the same as I have, which is opposite to that shown by Brian.
However, I have seen twin winged sumps and LH & RH single winged sumps that I'm sure were destined for Escorts of varying description.

If I remember correctly the 6 bolt sump is off of a later 1600X flow MK 2 cortina.

Kevin

types26/36 wrote:Note the TC sump with slight side bulge

I've just spent hours flushing two of those winged sump pans (the same as the pic of the BDA one - mine are off Twin Cam Escort motors) - one of them in particular seems to have 4 or 5 rebuilds worth of bearing particulate secreted in the "wings". I think I may be the first persom to clean it since 1969!!!!

The sump that you mention you bought recently sounds exactly like a Mk1 Escort Twincam to me.

They were based on a normal Ford rear bowl sump (taken from the standard escort models that had the new rear bowl sump as opposed to the old cortina front bowl sump design) and then modified to include wings either side to increase the capacity. The welding jobs on those sumps looks quite amateurish - a sign of the rush that Ford were in to fit the Lotus engine into the Escort. This "rush" is also the reason that the Lotus engine when fitted to an Escort Twincam is twisted over to one side as the carbs don't clear the inner wings if held in the "straight-ahead" position.

If the sump you have is indeed an Escort T\C sump then it is worth strong money (perhaps ?100-?200) depending on condition.

For a Lotus Elan you need the sump with the largest seal housing "seal aperture" to be at the shallowest part of the sump which is the rear of the sump in a Lotus. It also needs to have the slightly bulging sides to be correct for Lotus - the bulge isn't present on the 1300 Ford front bowl pre crossflow and crossflow sumps as the engines require less oil - the bulge is for engines requiring more oil capacity.

Don't forget the Lotus T/C engines need a specific dipstick to be correct for easy oil-height identification (although a stick with some lines on would be good enough providing it was accurate!!) - the part number is 105E-6752-B and it will be present on the dipstick at the "oil-end".

HTH.

I have an engine which has a front bowl sump . It is a genuine Lotus Twin Cam from a Lotus Cortina. I need a rear bowl sump instead for my current project.
Can we exchange ?

That sump is an Escort sump. Fitted to Mk1 Escort Twin Cams, RS1600's and Mexicos.
Note that the oil pickup that goes with this sump is also unique and not fitted to any other models in the Ford or Lotus model range.

aggiethebandit wrote:I have an engine which has a front bowl sump . It is a genuine Lotus Twin Cam from a Lotus Cortina. I need a rear bowl sump instead for my current project.
Can we exchange ?

Hi I know this is an old post and a long shot but I am looking for a sump for a Mk1 lotus cortina engine and I think it is the early pre 67 L block. 07950914630 if anyone can help.

I have sent you a PM about a sump.