Thought I'd share this one with the group. Got it in the shop last week for some cosmetic resto work.

WOOHOO!!! Now THAT'S a proper engine transplant!

I see there's been some knobblin' on th' Webers for a good return spring answer. I used Atari computer bits for one we stuffer into a Seven a few years back.

And if ya need any engine bits or answers, lemme know!

I'll take you up on that one. <grin> One of my tasks is "fix all the oil leaks". Ugh. Motor & tranny are coming out for a clutch job anyway.

This is the stock-ish Morgan 1500cc block with the head conversion.... and supposedly a billet crank. God knows what else is in there. Sidedrafts are 45's. Engine doesn't really start to run until 3000RPM.

Sounds kinda "hodge-podge"!

Is the block a Kent Ford?!?!

Got any photos of it with the bonnet attached?

I initially assumed it was, but no -- it's got the lotus timing chain cover on the front..... duh.

next spring -- after paint, powder coat, chrome, and upholstery.....

Well, the standard Lotus engine has a Ford 1500 Kent, pre-crossflow, overbored to 1558cc. This seems like a very logical conversion for a Moggie.

I agree!

I don't know much about Lotus specifics -- and now I'm curious. So what makes a pre-xflow lotus different than a Kent, aside from bore?

The 1558 Lotus WAS a Kent block. The head was designed by Mike& Keith and bolted to the overbored Kent. 105 HP outta th' box, more with proper tweaks.

The standard Kent is a pushrod engine. Off with its head, and substitute the Lotus twin cam head, and you have a Lotus engine. OK, a bit over-simplified, but not much!
The pre-crossflow Ford block is a little shorter thna the crossflow - can't remember exactly how much, now.

"Touch wood"!!!

'bout a quarter inch if memory serves... and it may NOT!

Darn, Doc - you have been around a long time...didn't know Lotus was thought.....hehehehe......& I know you're talking about engine size not the year Mary I died & Princess Elixabeth, the daughter of Anne Boleyn, became queen.

OK, so I've heard of converting a 1500 ford to a Lotus twin cam.... There's a description in Mr. Bean's catalog, I think. Was there an early lotus design that didn't use that front casing with the water pump embedded in it?

Not that I know of... the first few Elans off the line didn't have the T/C installed but were "recalled" and fitted with 'em soon after. There are some 2L Pinto block tricks, too. Front cover then needs to be "shimmed" with a 1/4" adapter to seal to the head. ISTR the early Kent as a 1300cc... but again: that may simply be evidence of an ill-spent youth.

Mr Bean also has a kit to convert a cross-flow 1600 to a twin cam. Ends up displacing 1700cc afterwards. One of those kits is good for 180hp at 8,000 rpm, another one is good for 240hp at 10,000 rpm! If I'm remembering those numbers correctly. The later would be impossible to drive on the street though. The former wouldn't be that easy either.

At just under 140 the Elan is a handful. With any more the rest of the driveline REQUIRES many cubic dollars' worth of upgrades. Would imagine that Moggie ash chassis would *splinter* without some re-enforcement with a 180 HP twink shoe-horn'd in it.