Howdy, Marc, all.
Marc, I'm glad to hear that you've found all the bits you will need
to put an Austin Maxi 5 speed 'box in your S4 Elan. It sounds as if
the lotus-cars list has come through with the info you needed. Yay
for the home team! Did Neil Dixon help you out here?
I think this has the potential to be a really nice conversion.
Have you found a source of spares for the Austin 'box here in the
States, in case it ever needs to be worked on?
What are the gear ratios? Is there a source for any close ratio
gears for the Austin 'box?
Is the shift lever going to come out in the right place?
> Sounds like there are lots of transmissions that will fit an Elan.
> I, however, think I found a source for not only the genuine Lotus
> Elan 5 speed transmission, but for all of the other original bits to
> make it fit correctly. IMHO, I think the car should have a correct
> Lotus transmission in it, especially if they are still available.
The Austin Maxi 'box is the correct tranny for certain +2s, and for
certain Eclats (any others?) but it is not really the "genuine Lotus
Elan 5 speed transmission". They ain't no such thang. The comments
in the John Bolster "Lotus Elan and Europa" book about the last few
Elans having been equipped with the +2S 130/5 'box, have never been
corroborated, as far as I can tell. I don't know of anyone who has
ever seen an Elan that was actually built that way, by the factory.
> Our task as owners of the cars is to maintain them as close as
> possible to their roots.
That is certainly a reasonable point of view! This would not be
remotely questionable, much less debatable, if this were a Corvette
list, a Porsche list, or a Ferrari list.
This is a Lotus list, so I think it is at least worth a moment's
consideration. We're not *quite* the originality fanatics here, that
many of the specialty car people of the obove mentioned tribes are.
On the other hand, If you were to really scrutinize your comment,
"Our task as owners of the cars is to maintain them as close as
possible to their roots", I think you might conclude, this policy
is not consistent with the retrofitting of any 5-speed gearbox,
exept possibly the Jack Knight. The reality is, there is a rich
history of Ford three rail gearbox usage in the Elan, in race cars
and otherwise, and there is no such history associated with *any*
5-speed gearbox (with the exception of the Jack Knight dog ring 5
speed, using the Ford three rail case, and that was employed in a
very small handful of race cars).
> Putting a Toyota tranny in a Lotus is like putting a Chevy V-8 in a
> Jag.
Not quite. The difference is, these Lotuses were kit cars from the
very beginning. The tranny you are planning to use is *not* a Lotus
tranny, it is an Austin tranny. The one it replaces, is a Ford tranny.
This is not criticism of Lotuses! (I *like* the fact that they are kit
cars...) It is just an observation of fact.
I'm not claiming that replacing the Ford tranny with any particular 5
speed would make sense, from the "close as possible to their roots"
point of view. I'm only saying that there is *no* motivation to stick
with a Lotus tranny, because in fact, there is no Lotus tranny that
would be remotely relevant to this application.
Lotus built a tranny once. The factory mechanics called it the
"queer-box". ;-)
Anyway, if there are arguments in favor of the Austin 'box, I think
they would be that the detailed design has already been done for you,
the bellhousing can be obtained fairly easily, and the swap has been
done before, by quite a few folks, so you should be able to get help.
> Anyways thanks to everyone for helping me find a source for all of
> these parts!
Marc, let us know how it goes! But take it easy on gloating about
how original it is... Tain't, particularly.
Regards,
Erik Berg
PS> No need for any flame suits!
4 rwd, 0 fwd
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