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lotus twin cam head
steve m - 13/12/13 at 09:44 PM

Will a Lotus twin cam head fit on a standard xflow ?

as ive found one in my parents shed, from when I had a 2+2 elan in 1985

steve

slingshot2000 - 13/12/13 at 09:49 PM

I am sure it will, but I am about to go to the pub for a beer with two old time local Lotus gurus, I will ask them !
Do you know what car it came from originally ?

Regards
Jon

steve m - 13/12/13 at 09:57 PM

It came off a 1598 lotus xflow 2+2 elan (1969 )
And I can not even remember why !!

I would like to put it on my 1660 711 xflow engine,

Steve

Nickp - 13/12/13 at 10:28 PM

You'll need the rest of the Lotus 'gubbins' though, timing gear etc

sjmatthews - 13/12/13 at 10:31 PM

Think it is possible, but there is a spacer reqd for the timing cover. Like this...

eBay Item

Nickp - 13/12/13 at 10:39 PM

Or you could just flog it, buy a Zetec and pop a Lotus cam cover on maybe?

SPYDER - 13/12/13 at 11:07 PM

You'd need to find out if twincam type ie. pocketed, pistons are available to suit the bore of your block. I think you'd need the Lotus crank and rods too. A good twincam head will fetch around £1k though...

britishtrident - 13/12/13 at 11:14 PM

Basically you need the front timing case , special spacer plate, chain tensioner and chain, water pump suitable pistons, the block over bored and deck machined, exhaust manifold.

All of which are not cheap and likewise any repair work on the head.

All of the above assumes it is a DCOE/DHLA head not a Zenith-Sromberg which is only useful as a parts donor.
If it is a Webber head sell it. is worth real money.



[Edited on 13/12/13 by britishtrident]

Bare - 14/12/13 at 02:20 AM

IMO: Find some certifiable Twit to buy the damned thing and use the proceeds to buy a complete FAR more sophisticated/ reliable current engine.
Most any one :-)

cs3tcr - 14/12/13 at 04:15 AM

IMO ignore Bare, and read what everyone else said. Its not a simple bolt on, but can be made to work.

snapper - 14/12/13 at 07:54 AM

The Elan/Cortina twin cam is an iconic engine
Would make your car really stand out and was fitted to some Lotus 7's

steve m - 14/12/13 at 09:51 AM

It is the Stromberg version, hence why I changed it, as when I sold the car it had webbers on it

some good info above except one idiot,

Ive googled changing the head from strombergs to webbers, and it is possible, just need to find someone decent
with a milling machine

I then need to source all the other bits !!

Steve

HowardB - 14/12/13 at 09:55 AM

Try Paul at Exxon racing in Coalville. . Bit of a lotus twin cam "enthusiast"

snapper - 14/12/13 at 09:55 AM

Turbosports forum is exceptional for old ford engines, loads of good advise
Why not fuel inject with bike throttle bodies

britishtrident - 14/12/13 at 12:52 PM

Thinking about you could avoid carving up the head by megasquirting, the Stromberg inlet tracts could be opened up to blend into a plenum bolted on to the flanges, or you could use a throttlebody on each inlet flange.

But keep in mind these are fragile engines and cost an arm and a leg to rebuild and the power output will be way below a standard silver top or Rover K.

Volvorsport - 14/12/13 at 02:12 PM

i know of two completely new Lotus TC engines, dry sumped that came from a Bankrupt GT project in the early eighties ...

ive been offered them ...

Nickp - 14/12/13 at 02:50 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Volvorsport
i know of two completely new Lotus TC engines, dry sumped that came from a Bankrupt GT project in the early eighties ...

ive been offered them ...


Many ££'s??

Volvorsport - 14/12/13 at 02:56 PM

im not sure he knows how much theyre worth in actual money.....

im trying to remember which racing car it was , id never really heard of it , apparently FF1600 chassis with twin cam engines , and different bodywork .

Nickp - 14/12/13 at 03:22 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Volvorsport
im not sure he knows how much theyre worth in actual money.....


Maybe he needs bidding before he realizes then

bob - 14/12/13 at 03:24 PM

Steve...nice project, certainly keeps the enthusiasm juices flowing.

Keep me up to speed on this one ;-)

Volvorsport - 14/12/13 at 03:28 PM

itll be more money than i have spare anyway...

907 - 14/12/13 at 04:13 PM

I had one of those to play with the other week.
It was in an original Lotus Seven, complete with clamshells.
Arn't they just wonderful.

Paul G

Lotus Twinc
Lotus Twinc

britishtrident - 14/12/13 at 05:13 PM

They sound wonderful but in truth they are 40 year old design fragile time consuming and expensive to own and maintain.

Paul Turner - 14/12/13 at 05:27 PM

quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
but in truth they are 40 year old design


They came out in 1963 for the Elan and Lotus Cortina. I make that 50 years.

And as nice as they may appear they have always been a money pit unless you are prepared to pay someone loads of money who really knows the engines and how to avoid all the pitfalls.

A good x-flow will produce almost as much power with none of the issues. A BDA will cost about the same but will produce loads more power and sound even better. A Zetec costs peanuts, produces more power, is totally reliable and still sounds nice.

IMHO put the head on e-bay and hope someone with more ambition than sense buys it.

bob - 14/12/13 at 07:37 PM

Steve thinking about this Paul's correct with the above quote, that head could put a brand new blacktop zetec under your bonnet.

steve m - 14/12/13 at 07:54 PM

I have to agree with the above, plus with another measure up, I will have to alter the body line of my 7 to allow a much taller
engine, as the twin cam front end, ie duel pulleys is at least 2" higher than my xflow

I will give it a clean up (dishwasher) and stick it on ebay

Steve