Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

nmaudit: Thanks for the response. There is currently enough clearance. The old cam followers are worn slightly on the contact 'pad'. The new followers will give a few thou more clearance and the guides are new bronze so I expect them to last. I am now waiting on Burtons...

I received the new steel buckets from Burtons and I must say I am impressed with the apparent quality of them! Also, they are light-due to thinner sidewall since the thickness of the 'pad' area is very similar.

Weight comparison:

Original steel bucket: 49.1 grams
Newman cast iron bucket 60.3 grams
Burtons steel bucket 38.2 grams

So a considerable weight saving. Also, the thickness of the 'pad' area varies by up to four thou between buckets so that gives more scope for adjusting clearances--and for screwing up!

I spent a lot of time with the head on the bench getting the clearances set to cam manufacturers specs:- 8 thou inlet and 10 thou exhaust.
Then I bolted the head on...

Then I took the cams out and reset the valve clearances again! These heads seem to crush quite a bit-up to 3 thou change in valve clearance on some valves.

Then I used a 4 deg offset dowel to get the intake cam right on 104 degrees. The exhaust came up spot on 104.