Carburation

[elan4me]

I just had my 69 elan S4 engine rebuilt. I was putting the carburators back on. As I was about to put on the California emission adaptor, when I wondered do I really need this. I put headers on last year and removed the emission tubes and plugged the holes in the emission's adaptors.

Do I still need the adaptor? Will the car run better or worse if I remove it.

I will need to change the tube from the block to the airbox.

Thanks for your help!

[mct340]

mine runs great without it....strombergs with a balance tube, velocity stacks and K&N foam filters....
Mike
72 Sprint

[tmr]

I also have a '69 Elan S4 and installed headers. I did away with the crossover pipes and US-spec intake manifold, then replaced them with a UK-spec intake manifold with a balance tube. See my website for photos:

<a href='http://home.mindspring.com/~troberds/' target='_blank'>1969 Elan S4</a>

I also had the carbs rebuilt to the UK spec, with UK SE-specification components. Joe Curto in New York did this, plus replaced the throttle shafts/buttlerflies. His website is as follows:

<a href='http://www.geocities.com/jcurtoinc/' target='_blank'>Joe Curto</a>


To top it off, I installed a new Lucas 43D mechanical advance distributor. It was recurved to match the UK-spec Stromberg SE distributor, as outlined in Miles Wilkins' book, Lotus Twin-Cam Engine . Advance is 24 degrees vs. 12 degrees for the old Lucas 25D vacuum advance distributor that came standard on all US-spec Stromberg-equipped cars. A 25D or 23D can be modified in a similar fashion. Mine was kaput, so I replaced it. I purchased the distributor from Holden in the UK:

<a href='http://www.holden.co.uk/' target='_blank'>Holden</a>

Bottom line is that this really wakes up a Stromberg-equipped car. I've not experienced any of the infamous Stromberg maladies. It runs very well and has given no problems to date.

[elan4me]

Thanks for your helpful information. At this time I decided to kepp it as is. I'm already in for more $ than I planned. I keep your thoughts for later down the road.
Stan

[Tony Mongillo]

A quick question for tmr...

The car looks great.

Where did you get the European spec intake manifold and balance tubes?

Thanks,

Tony

[tmr]

Tony:

It's been a few years, but I believe that I purchased it at Paul Matty in the UK:

<a href='http://www.paulmattysportscars.co.uk/' target='_blank'>http://www.paulmattysportscars.co.uk/</a>

The cost was around 50 Pounds at the time. There are three types of these manifolds, with two having a 'low' balance tube and one having a 'high' balance tube. The latter is what I have, which I found out later is the most desirable one, as it runs better. I'm not sure of the availability of these manifolds now, but at the time US Lotus specialists wanted something like $200+ for them. I've seen a Europa that was equipped with a duplicate manifold, with the spacer blocks machined from billet and a balance tube in between. Either way, it does away with the secondary butterflies of the US-spec manifold and their potential leaks, etc.

If you don't have any luck with Paul Matty, try other UK suppliers like Mick Miller, Christopher Neil, and the like. Photos of the different types can be found in the Robinshaw book if I'm not mistaken.

Tom Roberds

[Tony Mongillo]

Tom,

Thanks for the information.

I had removed the crossovers and put on a header yeas ago. At the time I made a couple of blocking plates for the original manifold and wired the secondary butterflies open. Works fine, but not a very elegant solution.

I'll call around to see what I can find.

Thanks again,

Tony