New Elan owner posts

[dsly1]

Hi All,

Just joined - Just started owning 71 S130

Hmmmmmmmmm where shall I start. Car need quite a few parts. It is a driving car but lost of non essentials are missing like the trim , front lights and motors, dash etc etc etc. Will search for parts in the for sale section.

However I have these questions:


What is the HP limit on the differential & rear end ?

What is the actual weight of this car ?

HAs any one finally fitted a 4AGE ? (I did a search and saw it was discussed a few years back)

Can anyone recommed somewhere in the US I can get a full set of Shocks/dampers to buy and a general suspension rubber kit ?

Thanks

[fasterbyelan]

Can anyone recommend somewhere in the US I can get a full set of Shocks/dampers to buy and a general suspension rubber kit ?

Thanks

Dave Bean is the normal recommendation for US Elan owners. See - http://www.davebean.com/ . I hear his catalogue/brochure is well worth getting.

[rgh0]

Welcome to the world of Lotus ownership and all the fun and challenges that go with it.

Dont know the HP limit of the diff as I have never seen one fail in practice in a range of competition cars using them so at least good for 200 hp and 2 litre engines.

The Gearboxes start to strip gears through fatigue cracking and spin the layshaft in the housing at around 160 hp with competition abuse but it is not instanteous and only happens after racing use for an extended time. Quaife gears and mods to the lay shaft solves these problems for race cars. In a road car the box is probably good for around 200hp provided you did not use it every day like a race car does.

You also need to worry about the diff output shafts and hub shafts and all the other drive train torque carrying components at these outputs.

Weight of a plus 2S 130 is 2086 lbs or 946 kg

Zetec's rather than 4AGE's seem to be the common conversion driven by what Spyder have done in the UK.

regards
Rohan

[Otto]

When i purchased my 130s the Swedish papers said 950 kg as well. But at the Danish Mot testcenter they measured the weight to 850 kg (with a halffull tank of gasoline). I think that some weight tabels include a persons weight aswell?
But the car solo is 850 kg.
regards
Otto

[rgh0]

Otto

Lotus quotes the weight in the workshop manual as "Kerb weight (unladen) 2086 lbs (946kg)" this normally means an empty car but with all fluids, tools and spare tyre and half full fuel tank as normally parked at the kerb. Never put my plus 2 over a weigh scale however . The weights Lotus quote for my Elan and Esprit were accurate on the scale when I tested them so I have always assumed the plus 2 weight was also.

Maybe things weigh less in Sweden

regards
Rohan

[Otto]

I dont know about Sweden...but in Denmark it's 850 kg...

[denicholls2]

The Europa list has a number of active 4AGE conversions/conversions in process. This includes Twinks, although it's more popular as a Renault replacement. The 20-valve blacktop is the engine of choice.

The person you want to contact is John Pels. He sells conversion kits including the necessary adapter, which I believe is between engine and bellhousing so it should also work on an Elan. He's located in Texas.

Search the list archives on his name and you'll find him.

If there's an issue in dimension on the Elan, it would be height. You might want to confirm the relative heights before going much further, as I believe there's more upward clearance available in the Europa.

As noted, the Zetec is common (but it isn't a 20-valve blacktop!)

[b-havers]

Otto


Maybe things weigh less in Sweden

regards
Rohan

When importing my '71 +2S from UK to Norway, it was weighted (?) to app 850 kg incl 1/2 full petrol tank... Guess something happends when the car leaves UK; perhaps all the rusty part fall off????

[dsly1]

What size wheels are these ? 13X ???? I think they are magnesium. Is this correct ? What size max tire will it take ? Currently they are wearing 225-45/13 Now how is this possible since I am told that the max tire width is like 165 or 185 ?????????????????


Thanks

[RonR]

I'm not sure it will help you, but there's a pic of a toyota engine installation in a plus two space frame chassis on spyder's website (linked here):




The page is at: http://www.spydercars.co.uk/pg3_special_projects.htm

Maybe Andy at spyder could shed some light on this. I think it may have been a one-off for a customer some years back.

Cheers,

[dsly1]

Just measured the wheels. Inner lip to inner lip is 6 1/4" Thay also appear to be magnesium.

Is this normal sizing ? Is it from another car ? I know the car rolled to my house on 225/45-13 rubber mounted. NO rubbing.


Thanks

[rgh0]

The tyres look like Hoosiers which are a lot narrower than most for their nominal sizing. With 6 inch wheels and small diameter springs and the right offsets on the wheels and the tyres with low enough profile they can be made to fit on a plus 2 as you observe - but a long way from standard and whether it works in terms of handling is another question again.

cheers
Rohan