Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hello again.

Things are progressing with the engine. Ive built the timing chest up. In typical fashion a small snag has emerged.

The back plate is new and I used a gasket, the block is also new, presumably nice and flat. When I torqued up the single retaining bolt, it seemed to bow the back plate slightly away from the deck of the block. I chalked this up to the gasket being compressed around the bolt hole, and assumed that the additional bolts from the timing cover would pull it true.

This was generally the case, apart from a small gap (approx 3 thou) that irritatingly remains. Its not particularly deep. Pictures explain better than I can. Im satisfied that the seal will be good around the water pump, but obviously this is not ideal.

Would it be worth stripping it down and starting again? Is the backplate gasket mandatory, or can I try without to see if it prevents the same scenario?

Your thoughts appeciated as always,

Dave

I always use the paper gasket with Loctite No3 aviation gasket cement on both sides. This seals well. You could remove the gasket and try an anaerobic gasket maker such as Loctiie 518 but I have never done it so it would be an experiment. You certainly need some sort of gasket material between the block and back plate

The back cover is not well fixed to the block as there were not enough standard holes in the Ford block so i suspect some small distortion like you see is a common occurence around the edges.

cheers
Rohan

Dave,

I think I remember someone posting on this very subject, and telling us what type of sealant he had used. Unfortunately I cannot remember any details. Hopefully he will read your request for help. You could try trawling through the records of this topic, but it is often a thankless task.

Richard Hawkins

Thanks for the input, I tore it down again and found that the backplate, despite being new, was not dead straight. I have since remedied the issue.

Cheers

Dave

I had a new backplate from Burton, it was significantly bent and I got them to replace it.
Malcolm