+2 Fuel Tanks in Elans?
Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 6:20 pm
On another Lotus forum I have had the following discussion:
Poster A:
I no longer have any early Elans, but previously owned an S2 and an S4. Elan weights varied quite a bit from car to car in the early years due to amount of fiberglass cloth and resin used in each car. Beyond that, you have more weight in the later cars in the exhaust system, wheels, tires, KO wheel hubs, electric windows (certainly on mine), tail lights, wiring harness, and interior trim. Some later "baby" Elans even were built with +2 fuel tanks so more weight (fuel) there. At least one thing was lighter in the later cars, the Spitfire radiator compared with the earlier super dense fin, thick core "race" radiator in early cars.
Me:
I am unaware of any Elan (as opposed to +2, not 'baby', please, sir!) that was ever fitted with the +2 fuel tank by Hethel, there just was not the room for it and the placing and tank design was different for both cars. Most contemporary road tests had the S1 & S2 weights at 1,288lbs. This climbed to around 1,540lbs for the S3 and then to 1,570 for the S4 & Sprint. So we are talking about 300 extra lbs during the Elans lifetime. That's some 20% increase, though of course the engine power was similarly raised by 25% during that time.
Poster A:
Sorry Tim, but you are wrong about the +2 tank. I had one (early 1970 Federal Elan), and in discussions with an "insider" it was said that mine was far from the only one fitted with a +2 tank at the factory. It is a tight fit, but it does fit (I had it out and back in twice)! Reportedly, +2 tanks were fitted when an Elan(s) had to be delivered, but there was no stock of standard tanks. It also was indicated that these instances may not have been recorded.
Any one on here aware of this +2 tank fitment by the factory?
Tim
Poster A:
I no longer have any early Elans, but previously owned an S2 and an S4. Elan weights varied quite a bit from car to car in the early years due to amount of fiberglass cloth and resin used in each car. Beyond that, you have more weight in the later cars in the exhaust system, wheels, tires, KO wheel hubs, electric windows (certainly on mine), tail lights, wiring harness, and interior trim. Some later "baby" Elans even were built with +2 fuel tanks so more weight (fuel) there. At least one thing was lighter in the later cars, the Spitfire radiator compared with the earlier super dense fin, thick core "race" radiator in early cars.
Me:
I am unaware of any Elan (as opposed to +2, not 'baby', please, sir!) that was ever fitted with the +2 fuel tank by Hethel, there just was not the room for it and the placing and tank design was different for both cars. Most contemporary road tests had the S1 & S2 weights at 1,288lbs. This climbed to around 1,540lbs for the S3 and then to 1,570 for the S4 & Sprint. So we are talking about 300 extra lbs during the Elans lifetime. That's some 20% increase, though of course the engine power was similarly raised by 25% during that time.
Poster A:
Sorry Tim, but you are wrong about the +2 tank. I had one (early 1970 Federal Elan), and in discussions with an "insider" it was said that mine was far from the only one fitted with a +2 tank at the factory. It is a tight fit, but it does fit (I had it out and back in twice)! Reportedly, +2 tanks were fitted when an Elan(s) had to be delivered, but there was no stock of standard tanks. It also was indicated that these instances may not have been recorded.
Any one on here aware of this +2 tank fitment by the factory?
Tim