How much power did we get after dyno tuning our Elan?

Update by Tim Suddard to the Lotus Elan project car
Mar 30, 2024 | Lotus, Elan, Restoration Impossible, lotus elan, RB Motorsports Engineering, Sevens & Elans, MSD

Thanks to some help from Lotus expert Chris Tchorznicki of Sevens & Elans, LLC, our Lotus Elan project has quietly been receiving a bit of sorting.

We had a few big issues to overcome. First, our rebuilt and then theoretically repaired transmission still didn’t have a properly operating second-gear synchro. Chris sourced a used transmission to start the rebuild process over again.

While the engine was out, he suggested that we take it up to Lotus Twin Cam expert Wayne Brown of RB MotorSports Engineering in Brunswick, Georgia.

Wayne has years of experience building race engines with several shops. He recently took over Ted Wentz’s business although Andy Greene has struck out on his own.

As Wayne builds a lot of Lotus Twin Cams, he has an engine dyno all set up to test one of these engines. A 1600 Twin Cam was originally rated at 105 horsepower.

Our rebuilt engine features SE cams, a slight increase in compression and some careful head work and assembly.

We started the day with 109 horsepower at 6500 rpm. A change from 200 air correction jets to 160 air correction jets netted us a few more horsepower.

This engine has only about 500 miles on it since being built and had therefore not yet been run to redline. We were also dealing with a slight miss. A change to 170 air correction jets made the engine run even better.

The timing was backed down from an incorrect 44 degrees to 38 degrees. And, again, the engine ran a little better.

But while better, the ignition still seemed a bit weak. The final change was to install an MSD 6AL. The L signifies that this box is not digital which is easier to deal with on an older car. We also used an MSD 8202 non-resistor-type coil.

On our final dyno run, our engine made 131.7 horsepower at 6600 rpm.

While our Lotus was already pretty quick, we can’t wait to get our engine back into the car so we can experience a nearly 20% increase in power. We’ll report back once we get the car all together

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