Advice on Cylinder head work

[JasonJ]

Hi Gents

I have an 1969 Elan +2 Super SE which I’m hoping to carry out some cylinder head work over the winter months.

There had been a lot of good work carried out on the car before I got it, but the engine came with no history, after adding electronic ignition and fitting the reconditioned carbs with correct jets and chokes for Supper SE spec there was a marked improvement, I also fitted a Coolex twin fan radiator.And I have enjoyed driving the car over the summer.

Can anyone advise if I can still get D type camshafts to fit when I do the head work or what would be the closest to that original spec and where I may get these parts from?. Now the camshafts may be in good condition but I’m planning to change if I have to.

My second question is can those with experience please advise what else I should be looking to change..ie valves, valve springs , guides, followers/shims of course I don’t have an endless budget but I would like to do the car the justice it deserves since I will have the head off. It may just be a case of grinding valves and a de-coke a lot will depend on the findings

I will look forward to any helpful responses I may get.

Thanks and Regards
Jason

[rgh0]

The QED 360 cam is the equivalent of the D type cam. Most other cam supplier have a cam equivalent to the D type cam also.

Beyond obvious surface wear, you really need precision measuring equipment ( i.e quality micrometers and bore gauges and equipment to measure spring loads at specific heights), to determine the state of the valve train components.

However a few rough checks if you dont have

1. If the valves can be felt rocking from side to side when inserted into the guides you have guide or valve stem wear or both. The valves should be a smooth sliging fit in the guides with no notieable rocking if within specification

2. Check the heights of all the valve springs if any variation then probably time to replace

3. If replacing the cam then new followers will also be required as the current followers will have worn to match the current cams.

4, The followers should not rock in the sleeve. If any noticeable rock the the sleeve or follower or both are worn. The sleeves wear into an hourglass shape with most wear in the diameter across the engine. The follower wear in a barrel shape evenly around as they rotate in operation.

cheers
Rohan

[UAB807F]

Hi Jason,

I fitted sprint cams to my Elan S3SE years ago, changed the carb settings/chokes and it made a bigger improvement than I expected. Fast forward to the 2020's and I picked up a set of cams with Vegantune VJ5 / TT36 profile for my Europa. Apparently this was the preferred cam of Ed Winter (sadly no longer with us) who was well regarded for head repair/modifications and the seller forwarded some notes he'd got from Ed at the time.

Personally I think this is better than the original Sprint cam in the Elan although it's not an accurate comparison because both have different carb settings/exhausts and neither engine has been on a dyno.

I believe QED do a similar profile (the 360 as mentioned by Rohan) but they also do an original Sprint spec cam as well so it's worth talking to them about your best option. When I went from SE cams to sprint spec I changed the chokes/jets on my Elan and if you're going to be in the same position of needing to change carb specs then talking to QED should get your best bang per buck.

Brian

[JasonJ]

Rohan/ Brian

Thanks for taking the time to reply, it is very much appreciated.

This is good sensible advice and a great guide to the work I’m hoping to undertake.
By doing some reading it seems the Super S/E had a limited run in production, im curious to find out exactly what I have to work with.

The car came with carb jetting for a standard version and just felt flat, I’m now set up for Super S/E and as I mentioned it made a marked improvement, hope the valve train work and de-coke shall make the engine even sharper.

Thanks again for the advice

Regards
Jason

[JohnMorin]

If you're talking the trouble and spending the money to fit new cams it's probably worth investing in some vernier cam sprockets so that you can get the best from your new cams.

John