Lotus Elan Central

by **steve matthews** » Fri 01.10.2010, 21:01

The Knox boys were bored today but to my advantage :-D

by **steve matthews** » Fri 01.10.2010, 21:03

And another shot.

by **racerstev** » Fri 01.10.2010, 21:32

Very nice job! Hmm, do they get bored often? LOL

by **Specky** » Fri 01.10.2010, 21:47

well done...

Must be something in the name, does that make yours a semi ? :wink:

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=4918&hilit=stiffy&start=20

Good skills

TTFN

by **steve matthews** » Fri 01.10.2010, 23:35

racerstev wrote:Very nice job! Hmm, do they get bored often? LOL

They do suffer from ADD but I can live with it.

Specky wrote:well done...

Must be something in the name, does that make yours a semi ?

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=4918&hilit=stiffy&start=20

Good skills

TTFN

No this is a Fed. double stiffy.
Steve -w- new lady :m100:

and someday a dbl.stiffy or something like that

by **knoxmotorsports** » Sat 02.10.2010, 08:06

steve matthews wrote:They do suffer from ADD but I can live with it.
No this is a Fed. double stiffy.
Steve -w- new lady and someday a dbl.stiffy or something like that

haha!

actually, i think with the flex bellows in there, it's really only half hard. should we call it the half chub? :lol:

or perhaps the divorcee (...what steve could end up as if his wonderful wife ever finds out how much his little hobby is costing :-D

)?

pictures show version 1.0. Fitment is very close around the water neck. but the factory accounts for this by flattening the downpipe, just as we had to do. nevertheless, it isnt perfect, so it isn't going out the door with our names on it.

weight savings over a full-precat OE setup is right around 9lbs, weight savings over a PCE setup will obviously be less. version 2.0 ought to be lighter still. Not scrimping on quality, though. Tig welded construction, 1/2" thick flanges, hardened fixing studs and copper anti-seize nuts, flex bellows on wastegate pipe to account for thermal stresses, swaintech coatings inside and out. the good stuff.

version 2.0 is in final mockup stages right now. Lawrence an Josh just need to route the revised wastegate pipe and place the bellows, test for fitment one last time, and seam all the joints up. Then I get to dress the insides of the downpipe with my trusty die grinder.

by **dapinky** » Sat 02.10.2010, 10:44

That's quite enough of the teasing - lets get down to the important stuf - how many $$$$$$ ?

by **GeoffSmith** » Sat 02.10.2010, 10:57

Very nice job you've done on the wastegate routing. :smt023

by **knoxmotorsports** » Sat 02.10.2010, 17:52

dapinky wrote:That's quite enough of the teasing - lets get down to the important stuf - how many $$$$$$ ?

Haven't gotten that far yet. We hope to maximize bang for the buck. But since we are still fabbing up the new version, we aren't sure yet exactly how much material it will require.

I do know a few things:
Flex bellows $39
o2 sensor bung(s) $5 each
studs and nuts (4 each) $20
flanges are roughly $150 for both, volume production will drive cost down on these
piping is $65 for both sizes. From memory, we're using 1.5" for the wastegate piping and 2.5" for the downpipe

GeoffSmith wrote:Very nice job you've done on the wastegate routing.

thanks so much!

by **knoxmotorsports** » Sun 10.10.2010, 05:11

For those in attendance at LOG30, see steve Matthews for a glimpse of the v2.0 downpipe. Without o2 bung, weight was 4.5-5.0 lb. Stock piece with precat 15-15.5lbs. Have not yet weighed stock piece with piper pce for compArison.

We are more thAn happy with the outcome of the divorcee v2.0
:-D

by **knoxmotorsports** » Thu 14.10.2010, 06:14

Small update:
The ID of Steve's exhaust system is 2.25", so this V2.0 is finished in 2.25" pipe, with 1.5" for the wastegate. By request in the future, we will be making them with 2.5" outlets and could probably even figure out a way to go 3" if someone had a need.

We will be adding the bracket for the support mount. And the wastegate discharge pipe is isolated with a flex bellows so it will not crack.

The exhaust bits for Steve's project are ready to go off to Swain for White Lightning coating. Inside and out on KnoxStiffy V2.0, outside on manifold and turbine housing, which are both ported.

At the track day at the end of a run, the oxygen sensor bung on the stock downpipe was 849*F the turbo center section 220*F. Compressor housing 125*F with 87*F and 99* track. We'll consider that a baseline to shoot for in terms of overall temperature reduction with our Stiffy.

by **racerstev** » Thu 14.10.2010, 13:46

A note on the temps, I was able to melt a wideband sensor with it in the stock location. I wound up moving it about a
foot down streem to keep it happy.. Might not be a bad idea to offer the option.

Steve

by **steve matthews** » Thu 14.10.2010, 14:01

Billy, off topic

I destroyed your breakes :-D

Steve

by **ratman** » Wed 27.10.2010, 13:22

do you know if it fits on my S2 with original exhaust system? I'll be really interested on it!

by **Enright** » Wed 27.10.2010, 13:39

If the original car that it was fitted to had aircon then it should fit yours ok, but it will not be a quick job to remove your original pre-cat and replace it with something like this (or to change back if you are worried about it passing local emissions tests).
Also you need to bear in mind heat-shielding if you cannot get the original turbo heat shield to work, otherwise you could damage your bonnet or even start a fire!
So you need to be sure that you will not make your car either illegal or unsafe by committing to the change.
Finally, as you will be potentially increasing flow and power, and because most of the gaining access work will have already been done, I would recommend removing the turbo and porting the wastegate at the same time. In fact I'd say you would be daft to fit this WITHOUT porting the wastegate, unless you've already had it done! :-)

This is not meant to put you off from doing the job, because it looks like a quality piece of kit, just be aware of the extra effort that it will create.

by **steve matthews** » Fri 24.12.2010, 22:44

Merry Christmas indeed :-D

Could not wait for 2011.
Decided to do this yesterday and I can report incredible results.
Engine performance has changed dramatically.
I will indulge in more detail after dyno test next week.
Knox boys forgive me but I must let it slip.
At 3,000 RPM in 4th or 5th gear punch it and the boost gauge pegs
at around 3,500 RPM. :shock:

Steve -w- new lady ready for track day.

For those wondering that is a white lightning coating.
It has cut down heat measured from 800 deg. f on old turbo heat shield to 390 deg. f at the sensor. I am very pleased with that. Further test to be done.

by **knoxmotorsports** » Mon 27.12.2010, 03:24

I am very pleased with the performance of the entire system, it is lighter, cooler, higher flowing and appears to have stabilized boost control. Dyno this week...

Happy holidays to all!