Elise K Series Upgrade

[William D8on]

On 01/02/2026 at 21:10, DeanB said:

What a great find. Good for at least another 50k miles. Are you going to put a new head gasket on it when it's on the bench and easy to do?

I will have a good look at it first.

Step one is to get the car running so I can hear how it sounds. The battery is dead. Had it on a charger for a while and I dont think its coing back. so need to grab a barrey from another car.

then all being well get it out and asses. Probably change all ancileroes, and maybe the head gasket.

I would have through the headgasket is easier when the engin is bolted into a car and moving arround less.

[collieek]

1 hour ago, William D8on said:

I will have a good look at it first.

Step one is to get the car running so I can hear how it sounds. The battery is dead. Had it on a charger for a while and I dont think its coing back. so need to grab a barrey from another car.

then all being well get it out and asses. Probably change all ancileroes, and maybe the head gasket.

I would have through the headgasket is easier when the engin is bolted into a car and moving arround less.

It is easier with the engine out on a stand if you can get one. You can get at the cam belt etc a lot easier I would check that is OK before starting especially if the car has been sat for a bit.

[William D8on]

Hey Guys
Got the MGTF started today.
Have a Look / Laugh, but more than anything comment on the sound.

Started with out smoke, but then smoked a little.
 

 

 

[winthattt]

Looks like steam to me. My k series produces more steam than Thomas the Tank Engine when cold and is perfectly healthy. Hold a glass over the exhaust and look at the condensate, soot is black, petrol or oil smell and have rainbow patterns. The by-products of combustion of fuel are mainly water and C02 so steam is to be expected. 

[RichEuropaS]

Looks normal to me, just a little condensation. 

[Bird]

Agree I always think my S1 is smoking when I’ve started it but as soon as I’m on the road it’s fine.  That looks normal to me.

[William D8on]

Hello Guys

Some good progress yesterday.

The motor has been dropped out the MGTF and is still sitting on the subframe on my drive.

Hope to get my Elise in a friends Garage so I can get the subframe in my garage to strip it down further.
I though it interesting to see the ECU had been to KMAPS.

So now to see what can be used on the Elise and get rid of the rest.

 

[William D8on]

The process to Drop it wasnt too hard.
I have watched some Videos on youtube and took want I could.

Rear Brake caliper removed from and Cable tied to the body.
Hydrolic Clutch, 4 x larger diamiter water pipes disconnected.

The ECU was removed which helped to seporate the engin look and body loome.
 

Hand Brake,Earth, Throttle Cable, Vaccume lines, disconnected

Airbox removed .

Probably more...

Then we started to remove the bolts to the subframe.
The car was on Axle stands and Ramps at the front.
We put a piece of wood spanning the sump and geabox,  and jacked to touch.

the forward bolts all sheared. one started to turn, but then just sheared.
The rear were a bit of a pain. there was one covered byt the anti Role bar.

AS it came loose we dropped the car down onto its wheels.

Engine crane was attached to the body that the Boot latch is on. (Boot latch is way to week).

We Slowley ligted the back with the engine crane. until it was clear.
The plan was to pull it all sideways. That didnt work.
So we lifted higher until we could rotate the subfraim around the right rear wheel.

Edited February 16 by William D8on

[DeanB]

Sounds like fun!

I am enjoying reading about your progress 😊👍

[William D8on]

Some weekend Progress,
Not Much but the motor is off the subframe.
Now I scratch my head and consider what else do I replace before I put it in the lotus.

[William D8on]

Not much progress.
Every now an then I go into the garrage and look at the lump thinking "How far do I go"

Option 1.

Give it a good clean and put it straight into the lotus.

Option 2.

Give it a good clean.

Change all the rubber belts, water pump, and maybe the altenator.
 

Option 3

Give it a good clean.

Change all the rubber belts, water pump, and maybe the altenator.

Change the head gasket, oil ladder (To the stronger one) and obviousley head bolts. Maybe with a bit of a skim.

My heart wants option 3 but the logical side of me says option 2 (doing all of option 3 will get alot more expensive.).

Then there is gear box.
the greabox in my car isnt the best at shifting. I think its the standard gearbox that was on a 120bhp lotus.
option 1 use the 160 gear box

option 2 recon and use the lotus 120 gearbox

option 3 purchase all the correct ratios to build a long box like the 111 have and maybe go LSD :)...

Obviousley options 2 and 3 would probably require a new clutch "While you are in there"
and well why not put a lightened fly wheel on?

Maybe option 4 should be 160 box with a new clutch and lightened fly wheel...

I have ordered some cleaner and Think I will get some belts on order to do engine option 2.
 

[Lithopsian]

Definitely do the belts while you have the engine out.  Water pump just because it is cheap and easy to do now, harder to do later, and you don't know how old it is.  Or do you?  Do you know the current head gasket is OK?  Or definitely not OK?  I'd probably change it if I knew it was the original one, they just weren't good enough and if it hasn't already let go, it will soon.  You know you want a sneaky look   I wouldn't do the rest; IMO there were a lot of things tried to stop the head gaskets going, but mostly it just needed better head gaskets.

I wouldn't mess with the alternator unless it looks really bad.  So hard to get a replacement that will be any better than an old original one.  The regulators can get fried in Elises which have more powerful engines, and particularly with modified exhaust manifolds and not enough care to heat shielding, but the alternators themselves last a long time.  Think about switching round the big mounting bolt so you can get it off the car easily if necessary.

Does the MG have the C4BP gearbox?  Lots of people put those in the Elise to get shorter ratios, good for acceleration, not so great for the motorway.  It might have seen a lot more shifts and be even more worn than the one have now.  The other question is which gearbox do you have now in the Elise?  Is it the B4BP (close ratio) box?  Considered desirable, but possibly annoying if you're not doing a hill climb.  I'd pick the long box for a fairly powerful car on the road (maybe not for track) except you don't have one (yet!).  Perhaps best to drive the car for a bit and then take it apart again when you know what you really need to change (there'll be no end to it!).

[William D8on]

4 hours ago, Lithopsian said:

Think about switching round the big mounting bolt so you can get it off the car easily if necessary.

What do you mean by this?

Last night I took off the starter motor. (To see what I could see). Gave it a clean up and put it back to stop crap getting inside. Wondeing if it shoudl be replaced.

Last night a searched for the stamped number on the gearbox. Not sure where it is.
I was hoping to receive my gunk today to give it all a good wash. Now coming tomorrow.
I really want to know what box it is to help me decide what to do...

The whole electric side is also going to be a mind field.
I still need to get the 5AS out of the MG TF... Or do I.. The MG TF never seemed to have a imobilisor, well not the same as the Lotus.
I need to understand what I need to get to combine the 2...

Then there is the water side. Spent some time last night reading up. Seems the 111 had an extra electric "Recirculating" pump.
Also always seems to show a 111 with AC so never sure if the part is for the 111 or the 111s with AC...

Lastley, Whats ali and whats not? I know there is some paste that should be used where ali meets steel,
Should these be put on everything that connects to the motor?

[Lithopsian]

On the Elise S1, the big long bolt that holds the alternator to the bracket on the block is inserted from the engine side.  That means you can't easily get it out when the exhaust manifold is attached, or can't get it out at all depending on the manifold.  If you switch it so the nut is on the side next to the exhaust manifold, then you can easily get the bolt out from an assembled engine.  Pretty sure this is the same on all the K-series S2s and on the MGTF.

The gearbox serial number should be on the casing near the slave cylinder.

A Lucas 5AS is paired with each K-series engine.  The easiest thing is to keep the two together, paired units just plug together and work.  Without a paired unit the engine won't run.  It is possible to pair a new unit or to have the ECU flashed to a different unit or even to not need a Lucas 5AS, but money and effort.  When secondary alarm systems were fitted, as on most Elises, the Lucas unit was configured into a permanently-disarmed state and the fobs were taken away.  It has still been known for them to wake up and immobilise the engine, but quite rare.  A poor earth from the Lucas 5AS can leave you immobilised, though.

Lotus was pretty precious about using Duralac (now Duralac green) between any steel and the alloy suspension uprights (which you probably don't have) but fairly lackadaisical about it on the chassis.  For example, my damper brackets which are steel and bolted to the chassis, came "dry" from the factory.  Most people tend to use Duralac against the chassis, if they have it, but obviously not critical if my car could live for 20 years without it and barely a pit to be seen.  Using Duralac on the engine is almost unheard of, possibly because it is a huge lump of aluminium which only has small pieces of steel connected to it so any galvanic corrosion will hardly dent it.  You can use it if you really want, but watch out for things that use a ground path through the engine block, like the alternator for example.

[William D8on]

Cheers @Lithopsian

Progress

Spent time cleaning the motor. Using the Gunk first, wasnt great, so got some Trafic Film remover as advised by a machanic.
It getting there..

Removed the altinator today, if I am keeping it I think it could do with a good clean.

I have ordered a set of S2 silicon water pipes from Roosemotorsport and I have bought the timing belts and water pump.

Everytime I look at the motor I think of more things to replace.

Need to get an alternator belt! (Well thats what on my mind right now.

I need to look at getting the lotus oil filter kit. The MG has the filter in a different place, so need to purchase the lotus version, and understand if there is somthing else needed for compatibility.