Lotus pushrod motors ?

[Brian Skeoch]

I grew up in Indianapolis. My father was an engineer for General Motors. Living under the GM umbrella I was always told that the Chevy small block was the cats pajama's and all other motors were garbage. Little did I know that auto makers in Europe had developed the over head cam motor. To me, that was engineering at its finest. My father always praised the GM pushrod motor that Chevy produced and said that all others were junk.

I didnt understand the double over head cam concept until later in the 1980's whe I purchased a Honda V4 motorcycle. That thing was awesome.

my question here is.

did Lotus ever build pushrod motors ? or, were they all DOHC motors that were small, compact, and best of all made by other organizations.

did Lotus ever make a pushrod motor ?

I dont think Ferrari did.

Brian

[WayneB]

The Pontiac OHC Sprint 6 of 1966 was quite an advanced engine, it was the first production engine to use an aramid cogged timing belt, and was the first GM overhead cam engine, so your dad was not entirely wrong.!

I'm pretty sure Lotus have never produced their completely own pushrod engine, but they have "tuned" a few, going back to the Austin 7 engine, A series BMC, Ford OHV 998,1500,1600, and the Renault engine in the Europa.

[Brian Skeoch]

thanks.

I couldnt imagine a Pontiac 6 pulling around such big iron of 1966 altho I learned how to drive a car while driving a 65 Buick Skylark with a 3 speed on the tree. it was a inline 6.

man, I loved that car.

my mother would take me to Crown Point Indiana to a cemetary and she let me practice my driving skills in the cemetary where John Dillinger is burried.

I just remember growing up hearing that the European engines were too fragile and small to withstand american weight.

little did we know then.

Brian

[clockwork]

I think the first lotus use of a timing belt appeared in the 907 engine, an aluminium copy of a vauxhall engine that was unveiled in `66,itself a copy of half of a GM v8,but the first production model to use a belt was the Goggomobil, made in the fifties.Clockwork

[WayneB]

Are you sure?:huh:

Goggomobils were powered by 2 stroke engines , no camshaft or valves in them!:no:

There is a Goggomobil dart being reatored in a shop I frequent, I will take a look and see If it has a cogged belt (maybe for the cooling fan or even the transmission)

First engine I know of in the world to have a timing belt was the Martin V8 in 1964. built by Canadian GM engineer Ted Martin in his garage in London Ontario(2.5 litre) it was originally going to be a formula one engine(3 litre), then was to power the Monica 4 door saloon.(3.5 litre) We have 3 of these engines, one of which is going in a Bobsey SR3 we are restoring.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/WayneBarr/MartinV82.jpg

[clockwork]

Hi Wayne, the Dart is too modern you have to go back to 1950,i think the engine in question was fitted in the Goggo Motoroller,the company had been going for years (father) but they made agricultural equipment,at the time belts were a cheap way of doing things so thats probably why they used them,but in the early 60`s they were making v8`s !BMW bought them and continued to make them,eventually re-badging them and bm`s factory is? you`re right,sat on the old goggo factory.PS none of this knowledge is mine ,a man nearby collects goggomobils and just happened to be here.Clockwork :)PPS nice looking motor

[Brian Skeoch]

that is awesome. I had never heard of a Martin motor. thanks.

[WayneB]

I got an email this morning from Brian Angus at Lotus regarding this thread.:001_smile:

He had been reading the thread on the microlight engine, and he remembered back to 1980 when he was working on it.

The engine(s) were air cooled monoblock pushrod units, a 2 cyl. 25 bhp unit and a 4 cyl.50 bhp unit.

The engines only got to the prototype level, but several running engines were built and tested.

He is going to send me a picture to post of a KFM engine on a propellor thrust rig that Lotus were using as a benchmark during these tests, and was eventually sent to Burt Rutan in Arizona to be fitted and flown on the first prototype aircraft.

So, Lotus have produced pushrod engines!

Thanks Brian for that interesting and insightfull piece of information.

[Brian Skeoch]

My gosh that is amazing...

[WayneB]

Heres the photo Brian Angus sent.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/WayneBarr/BrianAngusKFM.jpg

[clockwork]

The plane`s first flight was the day after the boss`s death,sad he never got to see it,there was a lot of write ups on it in the club magazine,a 4cyl engine was on display at the factory.Clockwork