Right I've Decided To Do A T Series Conversion

[BLONDONE]

Hi Phil, if you need any help with brackets, spacers or the like give me a shout an ill see if i can help you out, i work and live in Redditch and have access to a mill, lathe and a few other things which might make your job a little bit easier. Got loads of bits of metal lying around as well, feel free to pm me if you need anything.

Lee

[Phil.S]

Hi Phil, if you need any help with brackets, spacers or the like give me a shout an ill see if i can help you out, i work and live in Redditch and have access to a mill, lathe and a few other things which might make your job a little bit easier. Got loads of bits of metal lying around as well, feel free to pm me if you need anything.

Lee

 

Thats awesome. Thanks a lot.

[Win28s23]

Nice one Phil, I think its a great project. It would be really good if you are keeping notes/diagrams of stuff for a future 'fools guide' of the conversion. I too can't afford an Audi or Honda conversion but like you wish I could sqeeze some more power out of my Elise. I am no mechanic but if I can offer any help on the weekends then by all means message me (I only live in Northfield...so not too far away).

 

Good luck.....I look forward to your next blog!

 

Simon

[Martin R]

Nice one Phil, I think its a great project. It would be really good if you are keeping notes/diagrams of stuff for a future 'fools guide' of the conversion. I too can't afford an Audi or Honda conversion but like you wish I could sqeeze some more power out of my Elise. I am no mechanic but if I can offer any help on the weekends then by all means message me (I only live in Northfield...so not too far away).

 

Good luck.....I look forward to your next blog!

 

Simon

 

Northfield. Im susprised you have not seen me or Liz about

[Win28s23]

Think I might have seen you a while ago in Halesowen, one evening? What with work etc, mine only see's the light of day during the weekend . I say I live in northfield but to be fair its nearer to Weoley Castle.

 

As I said - if you need a spare set of hands then give me a shout .

 

Si

[MilesH]

Is yours a silver s1? I've seen one with the hard top on a couple of times going through Weoley Castle / California - I'm only in Bartley Green

[Win28s23]

Yeah - Reciently brought a Hard top for my S1......She looks so pritty with it on! I live near Barns Hill Island - You Don't own a red S1 do you?

[gerags]

Yeah - Reciently brought a Hard top for my S1......She looks so pritty with it on! I live near Barns Hill Island - You Don't own a red S1 do you?

 

Did you used to have a red soft top for it ?

I used to see a silver S1 around Barnes Hill island quite regularly but not for a while.

[MilesH]

Yeah - Reciently brought a Hard top for my S1......She looks so pritty with it on! I live near Barns Hill Island - You Don't own a red S1 do you?

 

Yep that's me, ruby red. You'll know it's mine because I never take the hard top off, oh and the orginal alloys are now black

 

You're more than welcome to pop over sometime, infact there's a rolling road day this saturday that a few of us are going to if you fancy coming along? Check out the events section

[Win28s23]

Yes thats me with the red soft top! I didn't know that so many people had spotted me! The reason for not seeing me reciently as I have been working stupid hours so my time driving my baby has been very limited! I have also brought a hard top so red roof has gone for a while! It would be good to pop round one of the days and pick a fellow lotus owners brains! I would have loved to have joined you in the rolling road but I am really busy this weekend. Perhaps we could catch up next weekend or another time perhaps? Looking forward to the lotus donnington park show - does anyone know if is there is a going to be a meeting place local to us so we can all travel up in a pack?

[Phil.S]

Just in case anyone thought I had given up!! Been workin on an engine mount for the last 2 weeks - its seeming endless at the moment but I think I'm finally there! Also been working on the gear cable bracket that mounts to the gearbox. Made 2 brackets this weekend - first I spaced 22mm the wrong way, the second I made from scratch and was the business but the cable hits the bottom of the bellhousing so fingers crossed attempt 3 should work....

[Stewb]

Just in case anyone thought I had given up!! Been workin on an engine mount for the last 2 weeks - its seeming endless at the moment but I think I'm finally there! Also been working on the gear cable bracket that mounts to the gearbox. Made 2 brackets this weekend - first I spaced 22mm the wrong way, the second I made from scratch and was the business but the cable hits the bottom of the bellhousing so fingers crossed attempt 3 should work....

 

Hi, just stumbled accross the forum & your thread whilst trying to find some Elise info out (hence my post re speedo). Have to say I'm most impressed with the bravery to take the plunge for the T series conversion. I like the general "can do" attitude of the project so far too - most encouraging!

 

I know anything Rover is generally treated with suspicion (which is mainly based on the K series). The truth is that the K series was a brave foray into fairly specialist technology for a mass market engine & the issues bear out that maybe it was a step too far.... The T series is much maligned but is infact a very good motor in its own right. It's actually the 3rd gen of the engine (O series - SOHC, 8 Valve : M16i, twin cam 16V & then the T series which is very close to the M but subtly different). The T does have its issues but built correctly I don't thinke theres much to touch it in terms of BHP per pound. Weight is a minor issue but the K is about as light as any car engine can be so you're on a loser to begin with. At least the extra weight will be within the axle lines. I'd be interested to see how great the effect of the extra weight is.

 

I think the T series things to watch are the head gaskets (they are prone to the main oilway into the head leaking past the gasket which results in oil running down the side of the block - no big deal but not ideal). The other pretty big deal, especially if you are rebuilding as you are is pistons. The early (no definative date on this but most say pre '93-'94) engines had Mahle cast pistons which are pretty decent & can cope with a fair bit of boost. The later engines use cheaper AE cast pistons which are much weaker. From memory guidelines were 260bhp for the Mahle pistons & 220ish for the AE ones although with properly setup fuelling & ignition these figures could probably be pushed a tad. I know forged pistons are avaialble but they aren't cheap (£600ish for a set as I rememeber). One point worth looking at maybe under piston oil squirters which a lot of the higher power diesels & turbo petrol engines use (Cossy YB, most Nissan Turbos etc). They can give the pistons a bit of an easier time! The turbo is also pretty small although in an Elise probably perfect as response probaly counts for more than outright bhp.

 

There have been a few 500bhp+ T series motors!!

 

In terms of gearbox - doesn't the T use a similar version of the PG1 box to the K series?? Thought it would be a matter of just swapping the hardware from the K box to the T series box? Take it you want to use the T series box with the Torsen diff (assuming its a later one). Maybe easier than re engineering the linkage?

 

Main issues I guess will be centred around cooling. It maybe worth going for a front mounted oil cooler & possibly even a chargecooler (you can make one of these on the cheap if you have a mate whos handy with ally welding!!). All the load you can take off the main cooling system will help I think.

 

Sorry for the length of post but most enthused by the project!

 

Good luck,

 

Stewart.

[Phil.S]

Hi Stew I'm just taking the attitude that if it doesnt work then I'll chuck the K back in and anything I've done well at least I enjoyed it and I should be able to recoup a bit of cash by selling all the bits off! I've been hanging around on the rovertech forums a bit (amazing place) and yes you are correct the pistons are the weak spot in these engines, however it's a common misconception that the Mahle pistons are better than the AE ones. The engine I bought has AE's so after about 2 mins research decided to buy a set of mahles from ebay. After further research I discovered that the Mahles just break in a different place than the AE's and the difference is debateable. Hopefully there's enough people out there thinking otherwise (like myself) so I'll be able to sell the Mahles on again! From what I gather the standard turbo can be maxed out to 12psi and thats the limit of the turbo and the pistons! I think this should give around 220BHP so should be enough for the time being... For more power a bigger turbo is required and forged pistons so I'll have t save up a bit more! and try and figure out how to fit more turbo in the engine bay.

 

The gearbox looks the same as the elise box but has a few small differences and the addition of an LSD which will also be interesting. As for the cooling yes this may be an issue. I am in contact with the current owner of the Ilkestone converted car and he runs it daily with no reported issues. Apparently he's not tracked it yet so it will be interesting to see what happens as this is the plan for mine.

 

Thanks for the encouragement

 

Phil

[Stewb]

Fair play on the comments re keeping options open - nothing ventured eh?

 

Comments I make about the pistons are from experience of aquaintances & also from the Roversport side of things (cup challenge) as I know a few people who had a fair bit to do with the competition aspect of the T & K series as part of Rover Group. I think a well setup motor should be OK anyway.

 

I'll bow down to your knowledge on the gearboxes as I don't know the detail!

 

Be interesting to see the effect of the LSD - don't know if anybody caught 5th Gear last night (I feel duty bound to watch although I dislike all of the presenters) & they had the supercharged Toyota engined Elise & Jason Plato slated it for general ergonomics & lack of an LSD but then he pretty much slates everything he drives of late!

 

Stew

[danwebster]

Nice project!

 

I'm just in the process of rebuilding a VHPD to drop into mine and will be fitting an LSD in it as I feel the car is crying out for it personally.