Reply to: RE>>elan type 26 g/boxes/motors
William Thompson wrote:
> after rebuilding 26/4204 i have been offered a very tired type 26
> without a motor or gearbox. i have been thinking of a 4age toyota motor =
> and box or a t/c escort motor with a sierra 5 speed.has any body any
> experience in these conversions as i dont want to to do anything that
> may preclude a later restoration to original.
Cooool. Bill, you hit one of my hot buttons! It turns out that I've =
spent considerable time
over the last two years, considering 26 Elan swaps *very much* along the =
lines of what
you are contemplating here. My latest thinking nearly parallels yours. =
I think that a 4AGE
derived motor with an early T50 gearbox (or possibly, a late T50 'box =
with the short, early
tail housing) might be just the ticket, to minimize changes to the =
chassis, etc.
In general the biggest problems that will be encountered, will be the =
length and height of
the engine, and the length of the 'box, from bellhousing face to shift =
lever. The gearbox
length problem is quite severe! The Ford 3-rail has very compact =
dimensions, and the
shift lever sprouts right out of the most forward section of the tail =
housing, only a few
inches aft of the rear face of the main case. Most 5 speed gearboxes are =
just too long.
IMHO the 4AGE is a good engine candidate for this application, because it =
is very light
and compact, has a head with excellent breathing, and has had =
considerable hot rod and
race development. Jennings 1600cc 4AGE Atlantic engines are regularly =
producing
between 245 and 250 BHP at 9500ish RPM on carburettors, so the potential =
of the head is
quite comparable to that of a BDA head.
The 4A block is actually slightly shorter in length than the Kent block. =
I'm presently
researching ways to get more displacement out of it. There is a 7AFE =
engine, which
shares the same bore centers and has a longer stroke for 1800cc, and =
rumor has it that
people have built 7AGEs before, by getting custom pistons made and =
swapping the superb
4AGE head onto the 7AFE block. The 7AFE doesn't come with a forged =
crank, tho =3D(
There is also a 5 valve 4AGE, which comes stock with individual =
throttle-body-per-cylinder
injection and variable valve timing. My latest ambition, is to build an =
1800cc 5 valve 4AGE
for my S1 Elan. The main thing that I like about the 5 valve engine is =
that it comes stock
with VVT and a superb fuel injection set up.... not necessarily the fact =
that it uses the 5
valve head. 200 HP ought to be attainable on a streetable compression =
ratio and
streetable cams at 7500ish RPM, with careful development.
I agree with your comment "i dont want to to do anything that may =
preclude a later
restoration to original." That is my ambition, too. This is why I have =
spent such a long
time, researching various different swaps. The most important =
requirement would be not
to modify the bodywork in any way. I have a Spyder frame and a stock =
frame, so my
agenda is to keep the stock frame sitting on the shelf waiting to accept =
the standard
drivetrain configuration, and to modify the Spyder frame (as little as =
possible, though) as
necessary to accept the sacrilegious drivetrain configuration.
By "t/c escort motor" do you mean the Contour / Mondeo ZETEC four valve, =
the Lotus T/C,
the Cosworth BDA, or the Cosworth YBB? There have been a few different =
Ford T/C
motors!
I personally have a *lot* more info that would make sense to discuss with =
you, about this.
Also Bill, why don't you join chapman-era, so as to benefit from our =
general discussion
here! We've already been discussing the Sierra (T-9) 5 speed, for =
example. You'll find
info on how to join chapman-era, in a separate message that I'll be =
sending to you.
By the way, what year is 26/4204? It must be a late S2?
erik.berg@trw.com
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