Identify my early 1963 head, LP741

[Clint221]

Hi, can anyone tell me what my Lotus TwinCam Head cast number LP741 would have been fitted into originally? Apparently its around Nov 1963.

Thanks, Paul

[trw99]

Not an Elan, Clint. At least, that Engine No does not show up on my records.

It was most likely on a Lotus Cortina.

Tim

[Clint221]

Apparently it's Cortina October / November 63

[geni]

Existe t'il un tableau avec ces références pour connaitre la provenance et l'année de fabrication de nos culasses et moteurs (blocs) ?
Cela pourrait bien aider et découvrir la provenance et leurs histoires .
Merci de partager .
geni

[Clint221]

Je ne sais pas pour être honnête, peut-être que quelqu'un d'autre peut nous dire

[trw99]

I maintain a register of every Elan and +2 made (I know, I'm an anorak!).

This involves much work and upkeep. I developed it from keeping a purely Sprint register years ago. Now I liaise with Andy Graham at the factory on a regular basis, as we attempt to rebuild the Elan records. This is because many of the factory records were lost, destroyed or went AWOL. A large batch was lost in the flood in the old station fire engine building at Hethel in the late 1970s.

I am happy to be as helpful with my data as I can be, to owners and serious prospective buyers. We do have to be aware that a small handful of nefarious folk may want to exploit this data and attempt to pass off one car as something that it is not. Identity theft happens all the time in many spheres, it seems. Therefore the full information is not available publicly, unfortunately.

Many enthusiasts and listers on here have been amazingly and delightfully helpful to me in this quest over the years. Many continue to be so, for which I am most grateful.

It has been mooted that we have a section on the forum dedicated to helping people track down their old Elans, something I would be in favour of. The tricky thing, of course, is that most can only recall the (UK) registration number. These can get changed, of course. However, it is the Unit No that is the key identifier for any Elan, even the early ones that focused more on the Chassis No.

Tim

[Clint221]

Do you have the records of my 72 Plus 2 S130 4, FOI 3432?

[rgh0]

Original engine numbers exist in the records for most Elans and Plus2 and Lotus Cortinas I believe. Head numbers are a little more difficult. Up to around 1967 the heads generally had the engine number stamped on the rear of the head (but sometimes on the bottom face). After that time they generally had a 4 digit code number of format AANN again generally on the rear of the head. I say generally because as with all things Lotus there are always exceptions . These 4 digit codes are not contained in the records

I have never seen any offical description of the post 67 code stamping on the heads.

It appears the first letter is potentialy a year code starting with A=1967 and finishing with H=1974 when production ceased.

The second letter appears to be a batch code but could be a month code or maybe it was both and changed overtime if they made more than 100 heads in a month which they would have done at times

The last 2 digits appear to be a sequence number in that year and batch

cheers
Rohan

[Clint221]

Thanks for the info. All I can say for sure is that this head is around October / November 1963 but as to whether its Cortina or Elan I'm still none the wiser.

[rgh0]

It appears to not be an Elan or Plus 2 according to Tim but given Lotus record keeping thats not 100% certain. So its probably a Lotus Cortina and you need to investigate with that register if they can identify it positively as from a Cortina.

Lots of twin cams ended up in other places so it may have been used for some other purpose and not be recorded against a production car

cheers
Rohan

[Clint221]

I have made enquiries amongst the Cortina groups but no one as of yet has stated that they have a similar numbered head on their early cars. Still it's early days

[trw99]

[quote="Clint221"]Do you have the records of my 72 Plus 2 S130 4, FOI 3432?[/quote]

I have some information, which I shall send to you via PM, Clint.

[quote="Clint221"]...as to whether its Cortina or Elan I'm still none the wiser. [/quote]

Well, yes, you are old bean, it ain't from an Elan, as I have said above.

Tim

[avro]

Hi

From my own records on early Lotus Cortina ownership a car with the closest engine number l can find is engine number LP740 . The car was registered in St Helen’s on the 8th November 1963 .

Nick

[Clint221]

Hi

From my own records on early Lotus Cortina ownership a car with the closest engine number l can find is engine number LP740 . The car was registered in St Helen’s on the 8th November 1963 .

Nick

Thanks Nick, sounds around the time this head was manufactured.