New to the board...

Hi folks.. Just happened across your site and thought I'd throw my 2 cents in. I live in Canada
on the west coast and I own a 66 Elan S2. Just finished restoring it ( well almost finished.. At least I can drive it now )

I am also looking for any info on performance parts and info for Cosworth BDA's.. Specifically the Escort RS 1600.

Mark

Welcome to the forum. Lucky man to own an Elan S2, nice car! Now that Cosworth sounds interesting, the potential fun factor of that engine is enormous, wish I knew more about them, but you don't see many of those in the USA. How did you manage to get your hands on it?

Yes the Elan is a lot of fun.. Basically a speeding ticket looking for a place to happen!

The Cosworth motor was imported by a fellow from a wrecked RS Escort. He was a lotus club member who unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago. My friend was good chums with him and always said that they would help each other to sort out thier cars and parts for each other if anything nasty ever happened to the other one. You never expect to have to follow up on a promise like that but...

So my friend ( Brian ) had to do just that.. Then he found out that the motor was left to him in the will. It was in pieces of course, and quite sad. Well brian is an engineer, and manufactures his own parts when he has to ( I wish I was smart like that ) and he put the motor together with great care, making mods to correct some of the common problems with these over stressed beasts. So now the motor is fully rebuilt and ready to go. I had a spare Lotus motor with a great deal of mods also, and as I have a few motors I didn't really need it so we agreed to swap. Worked out well for both of us.. He got more horsepower,I got a BDA!

I was going to put it into the Elan, but the motor I have is quite powerful anyway, so now I am looking for another car to put the engine in.
An Escort MK1 shell would be ideal, but finding one will be tough in Canada. I think maybe a 105E or a MK1 Cortina would be fun. I have a header coming from England for it ( should be here any time) and just need a few small parts ( plug wires, wp pulley ) and some info to tune it.

I have seen a couple nice MkII Cortina shells but never a MkI. Actually I did see a shabby MkI Cortina at a Pick-Your-Park bone yard! But is probably beyond hope. Might still have it - Calgary Pick Your Part - I can get their phone number if you want it. They labelled it as a Vauxhall though.

[ 10-24-2002: Message edited by: 78Z ]</p>

Actually Cortinas are more plentiful than people realize, it shouldn't be hard finding one or a 105E Anglia either.

I just viewed an ad for a guy in Chilliwack, BC who has several 1964 to 1968 Cortinas for sale. And there are quite a few that show up for sale all over the Canadian and U.S. west coast, to be fair I also get the North American English Ford Registry newsletter. On that note.. a tip I've heard, if you have interest in acquiring a certain classic car then hook up with a club for that make of car and at least inquire as to what may be available for purchase.

And just for the record, I know of a number of Cortinas in Alberta - two Mk II's in a back alley near Kensington in Calgary, a Mk I 4 door in Calgary, a Mk II 4 door in Hinton, and more yet.

Finding something that's not rotted away is the trick... I know of the cars for sale in Chwk, but I haven't seen them yet.. I am hesitating cause my preference is an Anglia 105E

The Anglia 105E was my first car! The October issue of Practical Classics magazine has an article on modified Anglias, detailing the changes made to the suspension and brakes, not to mention a 307bhp Cosworth engine!

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr> Type R Boy said: Finding something that's not rotted away is the trick... I know of the cars for sale in Chwk, but I haven't seen them yet.. I am hesitating cause my preference is an Anglia 105E<hr></blockquote>

Actually the only reason why it can be hard to find solid European sedans, is because they were usually just thrown away at the end of their lifespan, unlink sports cars. Long live the orphan car! (Sorry, this is the Lotus section, well there is the Lotus Cortina) But having said that, it's surprising how many of them survive in half decent shape.