+2s130/5 rebuild

[graham]

Hi Iam new to the forum. I have a 1974 2s130/5 which was purchased completely stripped down and minus motor and gearbox.Previous owners have coated chassis and all suspension,diff and steering rebuilt,body work leftto do. Motor hard to comeby in N.Z so considering a warm 1600 crossflow so can use as every day car.
Any advise welcome.

[blackandgold]

Graham,

Welcome to the forum, where in NZ are you, my car which I have owned since 1981 is in storage in Auckland
according to Robin a forum member also from Auckland there are around 15 +2's in NZ, It a pity you don't have
the engine and gearbox, I have seen a number of twin cams come on the market via trade me in the last few
years but finding a local original 5 speed box will be hard as they are a lotus special, the four speed is a ford box
shared with early cortina, you could run the crossflow or the non crossflow 1500 or look at a modern alternative such as
the ford zetec or maybe a Toyota twincam

[kstrutt11]

A 1600 Toyota twin cam (from MR2) with 5 speed box from a 80's corolla would be a perfect replacement if it fits, the rumor is it was heavily based on a BDA engine in the first place anyway, A collegue of mine is a bit of a Toyota buff and it's amazing how similar the parts are. (in fact the whole car is mechanically very similar to mkII escort).

Kevin

[graham]

Hi Mark interested tohere you have one in auckland- we are about 499km south in ohakune.
contacted spyder and they advised that a zetec would not fit into lotus chassis.
Will look into toyota possability.
Thanks

[bengalcharlie]

Hi Graham,

congrats with the car. I have a plus two as Mark informed you, and build it up from scratch.
It has been on the road since 05. I also started a plus two list and I can send you one if you send me a PM with your contact details. I have known your car for a long time so I got the details. Shame about the engine and gearbox. I am looking forward following the rebuild and the engine/gearbox option you will choose.
I still have another plus two which I plan to build up again in the future with either alfa or nippon power.
Cheers
Robin

[blackandgold]

Graham,

Had to do some research on Ohakune and where it was located as its along time since I have been
down that way maybe 17 years on a trip to Ruapahu I found the following picture from which I asume that
Ohakune is famous for carrots and adventure

As far as your car goes I was wondering if this was the same as the following car that was for sale in auckland
a while ago note it had the engine and gearbox at that stage and asking price was around $12000 although they
mention it has four speed so could be diferent car

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 692618.htm

Also as far as using a Zetec engine there are people who have used the original chassis with this setup but it would require modifications to the crossmember and a bit of engineering it really depends how handy you are, after all Spyder
would properly say that you couldn't fit a BDA and mine has had one for 29 years

[gerrym]

Mark, not sure if Spyder were telling the full story re Zetec Fitment. As far as I know, the issue is with the MT75 gearbox not fitting into the Lotus pressed steel chassis, or Spyder Mark I spaceframe either. By the way the MT75 is very tight into the Spyder Mk II and it makes for an interesting removal job (at least with the body in situ)

If you were to mate the Zetec to an older Ford box (Type 9 perhaps) or Bullet as per original, it should fit. This assumes you are happy to modify the front cross-member to get clearance for the crank pulley and possibly some cutting and welding for sump clearance. There's already a mod to fit the Type 9 (Alqan Voight); the Bullet will of course slot straight in.

At least with the Zetec, there's plenty of expertise as to what has been done to fit them into Plus 2s and Elan.

Anyway, ask this forum if you want any photos or measurements.

Regards

Gerry

PS, driven past that carrot. Must be 25 year's ago, on a trip from Ruapehu to New Plymouth (round trip through the Hobbit hole?)

MokiTunnelHobbitHole.jpg (31.56 KiB) Viewed 2106 times

[blackandgold]

Gerry,

As you state Spyder are really talking about the zetec and MT75 gearbox and as you mentioned your can use other
gearboxes in place of the MT75, I get the impression they don't like deviating from thier standard zetec setup and prefer to sell their own chassis rather than encourage people to modify the original, which is all very well if you are in the UK but on the other side of the world the tyrany of distance adds a lot to the price due to shipping costs and taxes ect, as well as time delays hence antipodeans have become very adept at engineering there own solutions using what ever parts and resources are available localy

Haven't been to the Hobbit hole, however you would want to approach with care as you have a lot less visability than those one lane bridges that are popular around rural NZ

[gerrym]

Mark, I should have pointed out that before anyone cuts a hole and modifies the front cross member of a used chassis (to accomodate Zetec pulley or any other reason) full precautions against risk from petrol fumes needs to be taken.

As a minimum I understand that these include hot flushing and inert gas purging.

Take care

Gerry

[rgh0]

Twin cam heads and front covers come up in the UK on Ebay regularly and freight for these items is not excessive. So returning the car to a twin cam engine based on a local NZ 1500 or 1600 Ford block is relatively easy.

The Lotus 5 speed box is harder to find but the do come up from time to time on Ebay in the UK. There are a number of alternatives including the 4 speed Ford box or the Isuzu Gemini box which you should be able to source in NZ.

cheers
Rohan

[graham]

Thanks Rohan
I have been keeping an eye on ebay uk for parts.
I have been following the posts on the isuzu gemini-is it the same as the holden gemini and the trooper or holden jackaroo
I already have a 4 speed out of a 2s130.
graham

[rgh0]

Hi Graham

Yes the Holden Gemini is the same car sourced from Isuzu - same 5 speed was used in a number of Holden / Isuzu vehicles sometimes with different internal ratios.

cheers
Rohan

[gerrym]

For a 1600cc X-flow block, are any of the front wheel drive (Fiesta or Escort) sourced units any use.

Regards

Gerry

[pauljones]

as i under stand it,you can not use the front wheel drive 1600 x flow blocks as they are set up for a front wheel drive car and therefore the mountings are different,use an escort/cortina block.try to find a 711m code as they are better for reboreing out to take 1700cc pistons.point to note is they were taller blocks to take a longer stroke and used a smaller bore size to make the 1600cc.to use these with a twin cam head you must use the correct parts ie different front cover,longer chain ect.

[gerrym]

Paul, thanks for steer. I guess using front wheel drive X-flow blocks would have just been too easy.

Gerry