Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi Guys,

This may not be the right forum to ask but does anyone know the correct original engine block colour for Lotus engines fitted to Ford Escort Twin Cams?

Whilst stripping back my block I found two layers of paint. First layer was Lotus Grey and top layer was black. I am therefore unsure whether the correct colour is grey or black because the engine had previously been rebuilt sometime in the past.

The sump (big wing type and unique to Ford) had clearly always been black. The engine bottom end could therefore originally have been Lotus grey block with black sump or all black. The production sequence would have been different compared to engines fitted to Elans because of the different sump. Maybe Ford gave everything a quick coat of black paint once assembled or they just bolted on a black sump to an assembled and painted sump less engine supplied by an outside contractor (JAP?).

Is there anyone out there old enough to remember or who has an original block from an Escort? For Escort fitment I believe the number stamping above the RHS engine mount begins with "JP***" instead of "LP***" for Elans. I know back in the day a lot of Escort Twin Cams had their engines replaced with 2.0L Pintos and the Lotus engine kept as a spare for Elans or race cars. It's therefore probable that more engines than cars are still in existence.

Regards

2cams70,

I worked on several TC Escorts in the early 70's and all had grey blocks and grey winged sumps.

Norm.

Hi Norm,

Thanks for your response. May I ask were they UK spec. Twin Cam Escorts or Australian spec.? My sump was black back to bare metal but it is possible that it may have been stripped to bare metal and repainted black during a previous rebuild.

Regards, Paul

G'Day Paul,

These were Australian assembled cars. I believe they were assembled at Homebush because when I worked ther e for Ford in 1974 there were still a few sets of bumperettes lying around the factory.
Still regret not buying a tin can.

Norm.

Hi, I've got a big wing sump that was removed from an engine that was inserted in to an Elan in NSW, its only been cleaned and it is painted grey.

V

Both my Aussie build Twin Cam "J" motors had grey Sumps and blocks, bare heads and blacked in Lotus lettering on bare cam covers

Thanks Guys. The consensus seems to be that it should have grey block and grey sump.
So unless I hear anything different I'll go with that. I know there were both 681F and 701M blocks fitted to Aussie Escorts. Mine is a 681F. I'm not sure whether both types had the same colour scheme. The valve cover is painted black with "Lotus" lettering in silver and I'm not sure whether that's original either.

Paul,

All TC Escorts I came across had totally unpainted cam covers.

Regards,
Norm

Hi all,

I restored a lotus elan S4 coupe FHC s/e from 1970. Export model with left drive.

I have the same question, wath it' s the colour from the block engine (681f) with L letter.

Colour for the cylinder head ?

Do you have RAL number ?

The cams cover it's red ! (Original)

Can you help me?

Sorry for my English

Thanks
Sebastien