Lotus Elan Central

Both Ekapol and I have recently been bitten by cracked header tanks; Ekkers has gone through five of the nasty things! I'm starting this thread to see if anyone might be interested in a group buy if we can find someone to make one out of a more substantial material. Custom Solutions' Vauxhall Nova tank stainless item might be one source. Forge Motorsport currently produce tanks in alloy including fitments for the Elise. I've emailed both to inquire as to whether such a tank might be made. I've also asked each to comment on whether a two-flange pressure cap with overflow pipe (a la Impreza) might be fitted. Such an arrangement would allow any overflow to safely end up on the ground instead of our ignition modules.

Any interest?

I am interested.

Bailey also do one for the Nova - they crop up on flea bay, usually as a BIN

interested dep on price

DeeAitch wrote:Bailey also do one for the Nova - they crop up on flea bay, usually as a BIN

In photos, the Bailey unit looks taller than the original, as if it would foul the AC lines passing under the header. Has anyone actually fitted one to an Elan with air conditioning?

addict wrote:interested dep on price

Let's assume a price somewhere in the 125-175 Pound range when determining interest.

Interested, but could of done with this coming a couple of months later, as got group turbo to pay for at the moment ?.

No promise of group-buy or timing at this point, just trying to find out if we have enough interested parties to make it worth pursuing. At the pace I'm moving on projects, your turbo will be installed and spinning well before this gets done!

already looked into this awhile ago and was talking with Canton.

http://www.cantonracingproducts.com/cgi ... egory=8050

I'm asuming this is what your talking about.

I want ti finish up on the Turbo bit. Then I'll worry about the tanks. Prices should be reasonable as you can see from the site.

lotusgirlmarie wrote:already looked into this awhile ago and was talking with Canton.

Quite a find, Marie. Prices look much better; $150-$175 for their current listings. Hooray for the devalued dollar!

I'm a maybe... not really fussed on the idea of a tank that I can't see the level of when I pop the bonnet (hood).

If we are getting them fabricated any chance of having a visible gauge built in? One idea might be circular sight port or a glass tube gauge that's external to the tank.

I'm wth ailwyn. If there was a way to determine the coolant level visually then I'd be in (possibly). A definite NO if there's no "window" of sorts.

Elanlover wrote:I'm wth ailwyn. If there was a way to determine the coolant level visually then I'd be in (possibly). A definite NO if there's no "window" of sorts.

Take a look at the link in Marie's message above. Some of their tanks offer a "sight glass" to allow visual level inspection.

I saw that. But, it seems that only "some" have it. If "ours" has it then i could be interested

Dipstick attached to the top perhaps?

Gentech probe and dashboard warning light? Unfortunately, I can't view any details:

Work's AntiVirus wrote:WARNING: ProxyAV has detected a virus in this file! File has been dropped. Virus: "Mal/Badsrc-C" found!

Interested

Likewise interested... Agree with others that a sight window would be preferable, though. Overflow away from ignition also a big bonus!

I went ahead and contacted Canton about this based on Marie's suggestion. Marie, you've already got your hands full! You shouldn't have to carry the full weight of LEC stateside fabrication single handedly! I hope you don't mind.

Ailwyn's circular sight glass port, especially the "Screwed sight glass fitting MV" would look a treat and be less vulnerable than the external glass tube Canton currently fits. US Source for circular sight glass ports; prices run $250-$400 each, though, so I'll keep looking.

Definitely agree on the glass port.

I'm with the majority on this one:
Sight glass or tube gauge = interested.
No sight glass = no way.