So who has or is building a Zetec Elan or +2

[richgilb]

Hi Colin,

I regularly put Elise's and Exiges to shame on track days.

Andy at Spyder says that the +2 Zetec is a 'Deceptively Quick Car', by which he means you are accelerating and going an awful lot faster than you think

point 1: you won't be putting me to shame now I have a properly balanced car....
point 2: this probably has something to do with worrying whether something is going to fall off when you should be enjoying yourself.

[Spyder fan]

Hi Alan.

Your car seems really interesting and pretty much what I'd like mine to be one day. I've a friend at French Lotus club who's waiting for me to come to track days, and they are stuffed with elises and exiges !

So just to estimate how far I am from that, is it possible to know what companies you used for your performance upgrades, head, cams and ECU I guess, and what are the costs ?
Are they possible on a "silver top" zetec (still don't really know what are the differences with black ones)?
Your car seems to be on Lotus alloys, but what size of tyres do you use ?
I need to change mines, all dried, on Lotus alloys too, but there's so little clearance with spring plateform at rear that I'm not sure what to go for.
Does your exhaust (too low as mine), have the flexible part too just after downpipes ?
To fit the scorpio LSD, do you need special driveshaft and a particular model of spyder chassis ?
Sorry for all these question but you seem to know lot of stuff I've been wondering about, and excuse my english too.
Regards.

Seho,
Sorry it has taken me a while to reply, I have been busy with work and rebuilding a house! I also have been involved in my Elan S4 project where we are hoping to fit a Duratec engine with 220bhp......


My +2 was rebuilt by Spyder Engineering with their 'full house' Zetec conversion, this means that very little of the original Lotus running gear is re-used, although the chassis and suspension is heavily based on the original. The chassis is very similar to the standard Spyder chassis but slightly modified to accept the Zetec engine. The propshaft is a new item made for Spyder and they use special mountings for the Scorpio LSD. The hubs are Ford Sierra and the wheels are standard bolt on items rather than the Lotus spinners, although Spyder can convert the Sierra uprights to spinners now. The wheel size is 14x6 minilite style wheels and I run either yokohama 185/60 C Drive tyres or AO48 Advan Yokohamas for track days. If you have the standard 13 inch wheels and want to upgrade to 14 inch knock on wheels to take advantage of the greater tyre choice, go to Spyders site where they list this upgrade http://www.spydercars.co.uk/pg7_spy_wheels.htm

My exhaust doesn't have a flexible part below the manifold, it goes straight through to the centre silencer

As far as I know the only differences between a silver top and black top zetec is the tappets are hydraulic on a silver top and mechanical on a black top, and the rods are longer on a black top with lower piston crowns, as for tuning the 2:0 versions of each I don't think there is a difference: Spyder use Burton Power for a lot of thier zetec upgrades http://www.burtonpower.com/technical_1/zetec_e.aspx

Hope this helps, there are lots of useful articles on Lotuselan.net, maybe use the search facility and you will be surprised at the amount of detail there is here just for the asking.

Regards

[Spyder fan]

Hi Colin,

I regularly put Elise's and Exiges to shame on track days.

Andy at Spyder says that the +2 Zetec is a 'Deceptively Quick Car', by which he means you are accelerating and going an awful lot faster than you think

point 1: you won't be putting me to shame now I have a properly balanced car....
point 2: this probably has something to do with worrying whether something is going to fall off when you should be enjoying yourself.

Firstly, my aologies to Mr Pelly for the somewhat innapropriate use of his excellent Zetec Elan thread

Rich,

You are getting to be a bit of a troll Not only will my Duratec Elan humble you, but my +2 zetec will leave you for dead as well, I would go so far as to say that if the new owner of your old car would lend it to me for an afternoon I would give it to my brother 'Fast Freddy' who would delight in running rings around you, think of the difference between James May and the Stig and you have an idea of how fast 'Fast Freddy' really is. Fast Freddy holds the current record driver ability score at Castle Combe as tested by the senior ARDS instructor at Castle Combe Racing school:-------- 97 points out of 100-------------- James May scored 68------ I wonder if 'Fast Freddy' really is The Stig?------- some say he's my brother, and has based himself on me, but I know he's just a fat basta*rd who likes curries and also likes wiping his ar*e on Mazda's

[Stratosboy]

me now....

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Well where on Earth did you dig that thread up from?
In any case many thanks, it was fun for me to have a quick scan through it after such a long time.
The forum was so "different" back then.

Cheers
John

[Stratosboy]

just thought I'd answer the question as I searched through the site.
any tips?

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

just thought I'd answer the question as I searched through the site.
any tips?

Just looking at the way you are going about the job I guess you won't be needing too much help.
However there is quite a lot of information on here if you do some searches.
For any particular questions you may have there are a few of us here who will be sure to help.

Cheers & good luck
John

PS How much original Elan will there be in the finished product

[Stratosboy]

[/quote]How much original Elan will there be in the finished product [/quote]

Thanks John,
a fair bit, light pods, doors, window frames, boot lid, pedal assembly, rear light units,
but included in sale is a lot of new stuff, including all brightwork, roll bar & SIP bars etc.

main dilemma for me right now is fuel tank, do I keep to Mark B's plan and go for
Spyder tank mounted between rear suspension towers or larger capacity tank in boot?

[Bob]

Well I suppose i should confess , see attached pics

I have now picked it up off Andy and its fantastic I love it.
Bob

[Netec99]

Here are few pics of my + 2 Zetec project so far.
I have been posting the chassis build in my topic " my modified early spyder chassis"

[danielbargh]

Just collected my Zetec Plus 2 from Spyder after they finished it off for me. It's taken me 6 years but very pleased with the results.

[Spyder fan]

Daniel,
Welcome to the Zetec +2 club!

Some of the luddites out there think that it's a crime and an abomination to do this conversion and can get quite sniffy about it, but rest assured that there are a growing band of enthusiasts for this type of car.

Classic looks and modern components are a good mix. This conversion wouldn't be popular if the car drove like an MX5, none of the Lotus character is lost apart from the fear of breaking something expensive or no longer available.

Regards