Lotus Elan Sprint 1972

Carnival Red over White with Black Cloth Interior. nbsp;Walnut Dashboard. Alloy Wheels. Eared Spinners. Stainless Exhaust. Electric Windows. Roll Bar. Car Cover. Solid Driveshafts. Alternator. Adjustable Shock Absorbers.   1600 big valve engine. Various sensible upgrades have been carried out on the car. A very usable genuine fixed head Sprint.  

The car was built in June 1972 and supplied to HE Russell on 18th July 1972. The last owner bought it on 11th November 1980 when the mileage was circa 42. 00. This owner. who is an engineer. carried out all work since 1980. The current mileage is circa 70. 00.

The car as purchased by the last owner had flared arches and wider revolution wheels and retained this configuration until an accident on 8th October 1982. This caused damage to the nearside of the body shell and chassis. Once the insurance claim was settled. the owner decided to rebuild it back to its original form.

As part of the rebuild. extensive work and modifications were completed. A summary of this and subsequent works is as follows:

Engine

The engine was rebuilt in 1981 and again in 1987The engine bore is +0. 060'' oversize and ‘Power Max' pistons. The crank and flywheel have been balanced as an assembly and the piston weights matched. The cylinder head was rebuilt with new valve guides and radiused valve seats. The car was fitted with an electric fuel pump before the current owner and now has a separate fuel filter and pressure regulator. The camshafts are of unknown origin and have been ground from blanks with no identifying marks. The lift is the same as the standard Lotus Elan Sprint cams and the duration is very similar to the Sprint or Cosworth CPL2 profile. The timing has been precisely set with offset dowels. The car was fitted with an alternator since before the current owner. A toothed belt modification has been machined from blank pulleys by the current owner to drive the water pump. This has the advantage of non slip drive without the need to apply tension to the drive belt and so avoids the problem of short bearing and seal life from the tension required in the standard vee belt. The engine is currently fitted with an electronic distributor which has a slightly more aggressive advance curve than the standard unit which the Lotus twin cam can comfortably take. Air filtration is via a modern high flow cotton gauge unit mounted to draw cool air from the front of the engine bay. The exhaust manifold is a large bore unit with equal length primary pipes. The remainder of the system and silencer is also large bore and considerably aids engine breathing due to the lower back pressure. To accommodate this system. minor modifications have had to made to the passenger foot well and top chassis rail. A standard exhaust is available if required. The engine mounts have been up rated and are stiffer limiting engine movement.

Gearbox and drive train

The gearbox was removed and rebuilt less than 2000 miles ago (the clutch was stuck to the flywheel so the opportunity was taken). The clutch has been up rated to 8½ inches in diameter. Clutch fluid is DOT5. 1 which has a slightly higher boiling point as a precaution due to additional heat from the large bore exhaust system. Spyder drive shafts have been fitted which eliminate two of the rotoflex rubber drive couplings and reduce drive train wind up whilst still retaining the cushioning effect from the original type of coupling giving the differential output shaft splines an easier life.

Chassis

The car is fitted with a Spyder stressed skin unit which has several superior design features over the original Lotus unit including closed front turrets to eliminate corrosion to front suspension mounts and different design engine mounting brackets which remove the tendency to crack. Following the accident in 1982 the car was fitted with a roll over bar. head restraints and side protect / foot well bars. The brake pipe work have been upgraded to solid copper with hoses upgraded to full stainless steel PTFE lined units. Koni dampers are fitted to the front suspension. The rear suspension was rebuilt in May 2009 and included Koni adjustable dampers.

All bills and receipts for work completed and parts purchased for the car from May 1979. Photo records of the rebuild available.

When the car came into our dealership it was all in Carnival red. However some minor repairs to the paintwork were required and it was decided to take the opportunity to return it to its original Gold Leaf colours. i. e. red over white and the correct graphics were fitted. At the same time. the front section and rear bumper of the car were painted.

A nicely sorted and lightly modifed Elan Sprint that drives well. For more information or to arrange a viewing. please phone 01234 750205 or email phil@allonwhite. co. uk

Also published at eBay.co.uk

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