Lotus Excel V8 Conversion
Discussion
crofty1984 said:
Bloody hell. I've been working on my excel for 5 years and it's still not on the road!
Good going.
What are you doing with the old engine? Mine's only the lc version.
I still have the engine if you are interested. It seems to be a cross over between an lc and hc. I have plenty of other bits left over. Front brakes, lightweight flywheel etc. pm if you are interested!Good going.
What are you doing with the old engine? Mine's only the lc version.
Gave it a bit of welly last night. The adaptive control seems to be working well. You can pull away in 2nd, and pull from 800rpm in 4th!
More soon......
hello guys, you know the words of wisdom, been there and done it. bought my 74 Lotus Elite in 1985....
Back in 1987 I started building it with a 3.5 Ltr Rover V8 with a 4 barrel Holley.
then in around 1988/9 it had special Rover V8 4ltr John Eales engine making 275bhp and 284ft.lb. using Quad Downdraught Delortoes
that car left our shores to Germany a long time ago now... to run around the ring I believe was going to happen.
but the car is on YouTube ..look up my ID "damfastgang" I did a few Sprint races with the car and lots of track days.
if you watch the OFF at Castle Combe you may be thinking the driver can't drive etc, truth was I was chasing a handling fault and found out the
design fault with a big increase in G force loading as I had to take a different and the wrong line to get past the XR3i
on that day, two months later, sorted. happy days 14 years ownership self built with new chassis and a Jaguar XJS LSD diff. CV jointed drive shafts etc, with top link and lower stretched out long A frame. (type radius arm )
Back in 1987 I started building it with a 3.5 Ltr Rover V8 with a 4 barrel Holley.
then in around 1988/9 it had special Rover V8 4ltr John Eales engine making 275bhp and 284ft.lb. using Quad Downdraught Delortoes
that car left our shores to Germany a long time ago now... to run around the ring I believe was going to happen.
but the car is on YouTube ..look up my ID "damfastgang" I did a few Sprint races with the car and lots of track days.
if you watch the OFF at Castle Combe you may be thinking the driver can't drive etc, truth was I was chasing a handling fault and found out the
design fault with a big increase in G force loading as I had to take a different and the wrong line to get past the XR3i
on that day, two months later, sorted. happy days 14 years ownership self built with new chassis and a Jaguar XJS LSD diff. CV jointed drive shafts etc, with top link and lower stretched out long A frame. (type radius arm )
^^^ WTF?
Anyway, a few pics as promised.
Full Frontal (!) showing temp cone filter, now with IAT sensor and IAC valve plumbed in. Ipework a bit odd, as the t/stat is in the bottom hose.
Each side of the engine bay. You can just see in the lower pic, the new washer tubing. Had to fit one of those scrotal washer bags as the ECU and header tank are living in the place where the old one was. I'm so pleased with the HT lead covers. Look almost original!
The plenum and throttle body need to be lowered or the bonnet altered so the bonnet will close.Fitted the under tray and the coolant temp has dropped 5deg +.
Had a go at the exhausts as the original rear silencers seemed to be strangling the motor. Converted them to absortion types. Wow! What a difference - sounds like a Maserati. Performance has improved too. Suppose 2 silencers designed for a 2.2lt engine can't cope with 4lt of V8......
Above shows the bonnet strut after it had been cut and shut. This braces the bonnet - but it was rubbing on the top hose. So, cut, fabricate and weld. As ever.
Gave the car a bit of a ragging this evening, and the sound if nothing else, is brilliant!
Future plans may include fitting these BMW throttle bodies with fly-by-wire to give mappable throttle. The Emerald ECU has the capability to do this. Not to mention flat shift. Oooh lots more fun to come!
Anyway, a few pics as promised.
Full Frontal (!) showing temp cone filter, now with IAT sensor and IAC valve plumbed in. Ipework a bit odd, as the t/stat is in the bottom hose.
Each side of the engine bay. You can just see in the lower pic, the new washer tubing. Had to fit one of those scrotal washer bags as the ECU and header tank are living in the place where the old one was. I'm so pleased with the HT lead covers. Look almost original!
The plenum and throttle body need to be lowered or the bonnet altered so the bonnet will close.Fitted the under tray and the coolant temp has dropped 5deg +.
Had a go at the exhausts as the original rear silencers seemed to be strangling the motor. Converted them to absortion types. Wow! What a difference - sounds like a Maserati. Performance has improved too. Suppose 2 silencers designed for a 2.2lt engine can't cope with 4lt of V8......
Above shows the bonnet strut after it had been cut and shut. This braces the bonnet - but it was rubbing on the top hose. So, cut, fabricate and weld. As ever.
Gave the car a bit of a ragging this evening, and the sound if nothing else, is brilliant!
Future plans may include fitting these BMW throttle bodies with fly-by-wire to give mappable throttle. The Emerald ECU has the capability to do this. Not to mention flat shift. Oooh lots more fun to come!
Edited by V8 FOU on Tuesday 28th February 19:33
Hey everyone, I'm doing a project at the university regarding Lotus-7 style kit cars. I'm thinking of building a carbon fibre passenger tub, so essentially the front frame and the back frame will remain as they are (either steel or aluminum). From my initial thoughts a carbon fibre tub would further reduce the weight, and additionally enhance stiffness. What are your thoughts? is there a potential market for it? what are the important considerations to take into account?
Cheers guys!
Cheers guys!
7Fan7 said:
Hey everyone, I'm doing a project at the university regarding Lotus-7 style kit cars. I'm thinking of building a carbon fibre passenger tub, so essentially the front frame and the back frame will remain as they are (either steel or aluminum). From my initial thoughts a carbon fibre tub would further reduce the weight, and additionally enhance stiffness. What are your thoughts? is there a potential market for it? what are the important considerations to take into account?
Cheers guys!
This may be better in it's own thread, but still -Cheers guys!
1) As these are commonly road cars, if you are building a carbon tub you should consider integrated side impact protection - both intrusion protection, and deformation (crumple zone). This should add very little weight and not much bulk, and make the car safer on the road.
2) As these cars are often tracked, look at providing hard points for roll cage mounting - you can't just bolt a cage to a carbon tub.
HTH
AW111 said:
This may be better in it's own thread, but still -
1) As these are commonly road cars, if you are building a carbon tub you should consider integrated side impact protection - both intrusion protection, and deformation (crumple zone). This should add very little weight and not much bulk, and make the car safer on the road.
2) As these cars are often tracked, look at providing hard points for roll cage mounting - you can't just bolt a cage to a carbon tub.
HTH
Thanks for the info; yeah, it ought to be its own thread indeed. Will definitely looking into what you suggested; managed to talk to some racers, and indeed both MSA and FIA have not approved and tested roll cage mounting; thus making it very difficult to market the carbon fibre tub. 1) As these are commonly road cars, if you are building a carbon tub you should consider integrated side impact protection - both intrusion protection, and deformation (crumple zone). This should add very little weight and not much bulk, and make the car safer on the road.
2) As these cars are often tracked, look at providing hard points for roll cage mounting - you can't just bolt a cage to a carbon tub.
HTH
Cheers!
Well, more progress. Bonnet has had to be cut around to fit. You've heard of "BIW" body in white? Well this is "BIP" Bonnet in pug....
Note the splits in the gel coat to make the panel curve.
Now for a little automotive porn.....
and again
Those brakes are sooooo good. Had to make up some braided flexi pipes, otherwise fittimg was a p o p. Managed to damage a wheel and tyre in a pothole. So I have fitted some tyres I had left over from the Bentley. Now 255/45 .17 instead of 215/40.17 That has raised the gearing a bit! Looking to change the diff - bought the wrong one for a Supra MA70 instead of a MA60. So may try and fit the ring gears to the original housing.
Done about 1000 miles in it now and it is great. About 23mpg too. I'm pretty pleased so far. Next step is to get a dyno run to check the power output so I can decide where to go with the power. Need some decent shox too.
Just love driving it. A Lotus with gobs of power and upgraded brakes. Still loads to do. Keep tuned. (Did I really say that?)
Note the splits in the gel coat to make the panel curve.
Now for a little automotive porn.....
and again
Those brakes are sooooo good. Had to make up some braided flexi pipes, otherwise fittimg was a p o p. Managed to damage a wheel and tyre in a pothole. So I have fitted some tyres I had left over from the Bentley. Now 255/45 .17 instead of 215/40.17 That has raised the gearing a bit! Looking to change the diff - bought the wrong one for a Supra MA70 instead of a MA60. So may try and fit the ring gears to the original housing.
Done about 1000 miles in it now and it is great. About 23mpg too. I'm pretty pleased so far. Next step is to get a dyno run to check the power output so I can decide where to go with the power. Need some decent shox too.
Just love driving it. A Lotus with gobs of power and upgraded brakes. Still loads to do. Keep tuned. (Did I really say that?)
The Crack Fox said:
Paul - great thread!
Did you buy this car from Allon White Ltd, or a Brit who was living in the US who left it with them years ago? They had a low mileage car with electrical issues in their yard in the same colour, with the same wheels, for ages. I nearly bought it but it had sold when I finally tracked down the owner! It has a carbon fibre dash, smoked rear lights and the shall is deseamed. Same car, perchance?
Good luck!
That's the one! Seems everyone was thinking of buying it. Managed to remove all the stick on CF, now going to remove the rest and make the inside a bit more subtle.Did you buy this car from Allon White Ltd, or a Brit who was living in the US who left it with them years ago? They had a low mileage car with electrical issues in their yard in the same colour, with the same wheels, for ages. I nearly bought it but it had sold when I finally tracked down the owner! It has a carbon fibre dash, smoked rear lights and the shall is deseamed. Same car, perchance?
Good luck!
Orft tomorrow to get a dyno run to see how many horses there are. Then I can decide if I need more...... as if.
Definitely need video with SOUND! I had an Excel in that colour back in the darks of history and it was fun, not reliable fun but... With a decent (not Rover) V8 it is the car I always wanted.
Have you still got the Bentley? Haven't seen an update on the racer in ages and was very interested in what you were doing, especially after all the help you gave/offered when I was buying a Turbo R.
Have you still got the Bentley? Haven't seen an update on the racer in ages and was very interested in what you were doing, especially after all the help you gave/offered when I was buying a Turbo R.
Love this conversion. I've been thinking about a 4 seat lotus for some time, and the excel/eclat is great value for money at the moment. I've had a couple of esprits in the past but given family has grown a 2+2 would make more sense.. love the idea of the toyota/lexus v8 given the period and current associations between the two brands - its the perfect choice.
any chance of some more pics and maybe a video of it running so we can hear the noise?
please?
any chance of some more pics and maybe a video of it running so we can hear the noise?
please?
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