Project or donor?

[Dico]

I'd say keep it, if you can afford to that is. I decided to keep my spare in the end as i've seen a number Elans that have had head gaskets go since I purchased mine just over three years ago. A couple of skims of the head (may not need it every time a gasket goes I know) and it could well be scrap?
I mentioned this the other day to PaulP and he said that on motorbike engines they used to get round this by fitting thicker gaskets. Maybe this can be done on Elans assuming we can get custom gaskets made?
So just for the head alone its well worth keeping, especially with the extra boost we're all running these days

[Enright]

Another step forwards:

[dapinky]

I mentioned this the other day to PaulP and he said that on motorbike engines they used to get round this by fitting thicker gaskets. Maybe this can be done on Elans assuming we can get custom gaskets made?

A head spacer plate can be custom made by Burton Engineering for about £105 using a head gasket as a template. They can be done in any thickness and were designed (originally) to lower the compression ratios on Cosworth engines to allow for different turbo applications.

I think the main issue here is the camshaft bearings.

anymore than a 15 thou warp / skim will straighten the face, but leave the camshaft running like a banana!

In the future we may have less options,but whilst we can still manage, i'd say get a different head, but keep the old one anyway.

Line boring the camshaft bearings is a possibility, but it will involve sorting new bearing material - a costly process - but maybe the only one available in 15 years time????

[Elanlover]

On the subject of painting the cam cover, can anyone tell me if its necessary to remove the plugs to get the cam cover off? I haven't had a good look in there as yet and the wires will obviously need to come off to get the cover free. But, it'd be nice to remove as little as possible - thus the question. Thanks!

[dapinky]

Blair,

Plugs can stay where they are.

[Elanlover]

Blair,

Plugs can stay where they are.

Excellent Dave, thanks! So, just remove the bolts, grind down the "ISUZU" (and perhaps the extraneous lugs), strip all laquer then paint? Also, what's the process for around the oil cap (and/or other areas without paint)? Did people just paint the whole thing then sand down the areas that need to have the paint removed? Thanks!

[tweetdriver63]

Blair,

Plugs can stay where they are.

Excellent Dave, thanks! So, just remove the bolts, grind down the "ISUZU" (and perhaps the extraneous lugs), strip all laquer then paint? Also, what's the process for around the oil cap (and/or other areas without paint)? Did people just paint the whole thing then sand down the areas that need to have the paint removed? Thanks!

When I did mine (gloss black BTW), I just stuffed a rag in the opening to mask the threads.

[dapinky]

Blair,

Thats pretty much it, mate.

Stuff a rag into the oil filler to protect the threads, spray the whole thing, rub an oilstone (or sanding block with fine wet/dry paper) over the LOTUS and the sealing face of the oil cap, just to remove the paint (assuming you want the letters to be silver!), then a squirt of clear lacquer over the whole lot to give the paint a shine, and protect the aluminium lettering from tarnish.

When i ground down the lugs, i filled the small hole remaining with chemical metal paste before a final rub down and paint - you'd never know they were there.


P.S. keep the overflow/breather pipes clean with either masking tape, or by removing them. It makes it easier to clean up afterwards.

[Elanlover]

Excellent - added to the project list for the winter!

[Doug]

Excellent - added to the project list for the winter!

what colour you going to spray it, Blair?

[Elanlover]

Red of course. With this stuff I think.