Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Is a long crank
3.5 rear diff
And a medium top gear .65?

Really, I just want overdrive. I dont really care to change to a long stroke bottom, 3.4/3.5 diff.
But I dont see any other options, unless I just take roads less traveled. So I wont need to keep the engine cranked above 3500rpm.

A lotus 5 speed (0.81? Over drive) and 3.55 will have you around 3000 to 3500 rpm at motorway speeds.

Right.
Over here in N America. Seems the T5 would be the choice. Chev S10 tail housing I believe.
True about the 5th gear. As it seems. Anything from .65 to .95 are common.
How about the torque of the Twink. As it seems many opted for the longer crank for more torque.

Kind regards

A t5 (if you can find the right combinations of parts) would be good. I reckon a 0.65 overdrive and then a short diff ratio (3.7 it 3.9) could be good.

The short ratios for good acceleration with cruising gear for the highway, tall gear with short diff hopefully would be fine for the torque output of normal twink when cruising at speed.

More torque is good but half fun of the car is not having that much so having to rev it out.

Ah, interesting. Probably just what i needed to hear.
Yes, i have been compiling parts from Tbirds mustangs and s10’s
Want to make sure someone has a comment about torque, as it seems there may not be enough

Probably requires some maths to work out if their is enough torque, I'd assume there is at gearing ratios in question. Not like your talking about 1000rpm at 70mph and an elan is a light car with limited drag....

There some spread sheets on here that might provide useful input:
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=18445&start=

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=16331&start=

I do believe it was something MSD1107 said in some post. Though could have been CeeJay or Rohan. I just cant recall.
The point I have kept as the critical one, is the torque of the Twink. Seem to remember the 1700-3000rpm range having little torque. The comment i recall was that if you are trying to climb a hill or something, you will still need to gear down. Which is where even a small turbo would help. I suppose this is where my desire to have an electric over/under drive would be the ticket.
The T5 has the widest available range of gears, I believe. And is available here in N America. So probably my choice for a box.
Note, as Ford built Thunderbird, Cougar, Capri in 1988. They dont fit from 1987.5 through 1988 end of production. Odd they changed them for 1.5 year. Maybe it was supply.
Also of interest. The 5.0l mustang boxes are not cheap over here. One can find $200 2.0l boxes all day, but expect over $1k for the stronger over 250hp 5.0l I expect bearings, shafts and gears can be upgraded if you get into high hp twinks.

Kind Regards

Interesting. So even at over $1K, that's still much easier and less expensive than trying to get your hands on some of the options that are popular elsewhere in the world. What I thought I read somewhere is that the V8 'boxes were preferable because the ratios were so similar to those in Lotus gearboxes. If the 2.0l-spec T5 can be had with similar-enough ratios, given how much lighter an Elan or even a Plus 2 is than a Mustang, would the strength of the 'box really be much of a consideration for anything less than really unusually powerful twinks?

The T5 box was used in multiple cars and i am sure the 2 litre version would be suitable for an Elan. I presume the heavier duty 5.0L Mustang version was used by Ford in the local Falcon range hear in Australia for a number of years with the 4.0 litre straight 6 and V8. It was also used in a range of European cars I believe

S10 mechanical speedo tail housings appear to be easily available in the USA and second hand at around US$250 and new ones appear to be being avaiable for around US$450. Not sure what tail housing was used here by Ford so would have to do some more research

Not sure about the bell housing from the T5 to the Lotus block, but the sierra Cosworth used one that apparently would fit?

So this appears to be a very viable option for a 5 speed for Elans and Plus 2 in Australia and probably also Europe as well as USA compared to some of the alternatives that require more extensive modifications or cost such as the T9

Luckily I have a spare Lotus 5 speed to go into my Elan when I retire from racing and turn it back into a full time road car and my Plus 2 was a S130/5 so came with 5 speeds originally.

cheers
Rohan

I guess the problem is that you need a cocktail of parts from multiple vehicles. So you have to source them and combine them. Along with any chassis and prop shaft mods.

None of it very difficult just a little involved and not a just bolt in solution.

I do wonder what a bolt in kit based on this would be worth and how much demand there actually would be?

Toyota Celica or Supra 5 speed was a very common swap into English Fords over here. There's "Dellow" aluminium bellhousing made right here in Castlemaine Victoria to adapt it to a Ford crossflow or Pinto Engine.

Other than that there's the ex-UK Ford Sierra 5 speed box which is a very easy swapover. No sure how much tunnel room there is in an Elan but there's quite a bit of English Ford conversion stuff off the shelf that may fit.

You don't need a super strong box behind a twin cam. It doesn't produce enough torque for that.
No way would I be changing the stroke on my engine. You never get something for nothing and the tradeoff in this case is an engine less like a sports car engine and more like a truck engine.

Thanks

Burton and RWD conversions (?) I think is the other supplier for bell housings for T5 to twink

No way would I be changing the stroke on my engine. You never get something for nothing and the tradeoff in this case is an engine less like a sports car engine and more like a truck engine.

Truck engine: