Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

In Australia and in much of the rest of the world rear bowl 6 bolt crank sumps from Escorts are still cheap though some of the special versions are more expensive. Front bowl 6 bolt crank sumps from Cortinas are expensive as they have all disappeared into Elan owners spares cupboards ( including mine which I include in my retirement calculations ) or been used to convert 4 bolt crank engines to six bolt crank to stop oil leaks.

Ford had a couple at least of slightly different patterns for the 6 bolt crank front bowl sumps as well as the difference between the 4 and six bolt crank versions. Lotus used what ever they could get from Ford that suited.

I would not worry about the shape of the front bowl as they all work to the same poor degree on the 6 bolt crank engine with the RH side pickup unless you do the needed proper pick up mods and baffling to stop loosing oil pressure on RH corners.

cheers
Rohan

Sounds like a good item to make in cast aluminium, with all the improvements possible.

Jon the Chief

I just loaned a local guy one of my spare sumps so he can put a proper baffling system in his Elan. He said he was was going to talk to a friend of his who is into aircraft restoration on what it would cost to fabricate a sump in Aluminium. i.e. CNC machine the top and end flanges and weld the plates in between. Given the originals are like hens teeth here and if you can find one for sale it wold be well over A$500 it may be a viable proposition to make them.

cheers
Rohan

Any sump out of a Mk11 Cortina ('67-'71) will be front bowl 6 bolt and will fit the Elan. The 1,300 cc version may have a little less all capacity. Most Mk11 Cortina's (in Australia at least) however had the 1600cc crossflow engine. I would think there would still be a few kicking around. The Mk11 Cortina was produced in large quantities. Just don't mention the "L" word when enquiring.

I've got a sump off a 1,600 crossflow industrial engine. It's like a Cortina one except the bowl itself is a bit longer. If someone has a use for it let me know. Can post a picture if there is any interest. Would be particularly interested in swapping for a rear bowl Escort sump.

2cams70 wrote:...(in Australia at least) however had the 1600cc crossflow engine. I would think there would still be a few kicking around. The Mk11 Cortina was produced in large quantities. .

The only place you will find them in Australia these days is country wreckers yards. None of the specialist older Ford parts suppliers have any and all the large wreckers sent this sort of stuff to the metal recyclers 5 to 10 years ago.

If you know someone who has one for sale let me know The clearance with the roll bar in an Elan may mean the longer bowl in the industrial engines does not fit straight off, but the modification may be simple to make

cheers
Rohan