Hi guys,
We are back from our tour of France yet again. This time taking in the Pyrennes into Spain, San Sebastian. 2,423 virtually trouble free miles (heater leaked and was thus blanked off by joining heater pipes together)
See my latest entry In Elan Gallery - Rhubarb for more details.
Weather could have been better. See pic of Saint Nazaire suspension bridge in the rain. A far cry from last years shot of the Millau Viaduct!!!
Gordon Lund
Rhubarb & Custard
Gordan,
How did the 3.54 diff perform on your french trip in terms of drivabilty at motorway speeds and over all performance as well as fuel consumption, is it a viable option compared to the 3.77 that is standard
Also on another note my father hails from Preston he left there in 1952 and lives in NZ, I visited my aunt who lived there in a old two up and two down in 87 and enjoyed the mushy peas ended up getting a speeding ticket in my sierra cosworth in Blackpool promanade
Hi Mark,
Another Preston escapee. I once met a girl from NZ, then that’s another story!!
The 3.55 dif, yes it made a noticeable improvement. MPG from 30 to 35 or thereabouts. Not checked it accurately but mental arithmatic shows improvement. Ride much more relaxed & quieter. I still have the smoothness of the single rail 4 speed box with a taller top gear. As long as you don’t want Santa pod start all the time. it’s a good way to go.
Gordon
" I once met a girl from NZ "
That is a coincidence so did my father
The ideal setup would be a overdrive arrangement with the 4 speed as used by BMC,triumph and others this would give you the best of both worlds
A few people have looked into fitting a Laycock overdrive unto into an Elan. Ford fitted them to late export models of Mk2 Escorts I believe which would enable them to mate up to the Corsair GT box. Trouble is there is not enough room in the chassis of the Elan or +2 to take it without a lot of drastic butchering.
Has any one tried a laycock? 8 forward and 2 reverse gears sound tempting. Apparently they could only be engaged on the top two gears in most applications.
Some gearbox specialist have in the past fitted an overdrive where the 3rd gear slot is. A bit of a compromise. Has anyone tried one of these?
I think though that for overall driveability, the 3.54 dif is by far the best and simplest option. Modern ford 5 speed box conversions may have other ideas!!
Regards
Gordon