Re: new member
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 2:44 am
My LHD car probably arrived here sometime in 83 or so. Our licensing records don't go back that far. It was supposedly built in the UK, even though it was LHD. I found that the original build quality was lacking, so I started over once I received the car. The first thing I did was to re wire it, and replace the dampers and bushings.
Since I have had the car, now about 8 years. I have done the following: Installed a 1380 A series engine with a Longman race cylinder head and a DCOE on a 6" manifold (125 HP), and attached it to a Datsun 5 speed transmission. The rear axle now carries a TranX LSD, recently fitted with a 3.9 final drive and racing axles (as I have broken a few of the standard ones). A Westfield front anti sway bar kit has been installed. The SPAX dampers were without fluid, so I replaced them with AVOs, and I am about to replace the AVOs with double adjustable Protechs, which greatly improve both ride and handling. The chassis currently rides on 13" wheels, but will be getting 15s along with the proper Dunlop race tires in the near future. I have fitted several W11s with this combination. The transformation is amazing, as the bias ply race tires give the car much the same handling characteristics as the solid axle Lotus 11.
I set the chassis up with a somewhat softer rear spring as well.
It is really fast, with 0~60 arriving in 6.5 seconds, and achieving 101 mph in the quarter mile. Weight is about 1040 with fuel. Top speed is in excess of 120 mph, which it achieves easily, and is still gaining revs. I have yet to find a long enough straight at a track to find the true top speed. This performance is much as the original Lotus 11 with the FWB.
W11 129 has been completely apart three times, and it is holding up well. I hope that I can go through it completely with a restoration at the end of this year, so that it matches the brand new RHD W11 I completed a few months ago.
As for the kit price... The basic kit price for the one sitting in my garage was about $28,000. Of course, add in the cost of the donor car, new wheels, strengthened spindles, improved rear axle with the TranX and Peter May axles, CR type 9 from SP Components. One could purchase a Mercedes C63 for the cost of completion with the labor. However, with actual Lotus 11s selling at three times that... I figure we have a bargain.
Since I have had the car, now about 8 years. I have done the following: Installed a 1380 A series engine with a Longman race cylinder head and a DCOE on a 6" manifold (125 HP), and attached it to a Datsun 5 speed transmission. The rear axle now carries a TranX LSD, recently fitted with a 3.9 final drive and racing axles (as I have broken a few of the standard ones). A Westfield front anti sway bar kit has been installed. The SPAX dampers were without fluid, so I replaced them with AVOs, and I am about to replace the AVOs with double adjustable Protechs, which greatly improve both ride and handling. The chassis currently rides on 13" wheels, but will be getting 15s along with the proper Dunlop race tires in the near future. I have fitted several W11s with this combination. The transformation is amazing, as the bias ply race tires give the car much the same handling characteristics as the solid axle Lotus 11.
I set the chassis up with a somewhat softer rear spring as well.
It is really fast, with 0~60 arriving in 6.5 seconds, and achieving 101 mph in the quarter mile. Weight is about 1040 with fuel. Top speed is in excess of 120 mph, which it achieves easily, and is still gaining revs. I have yet to find a long enough straight at a track to find the true top speed. This performance is much as the original Lotus 11 with the FWB.
W11 129 has been completely apart three times, and it is holding up well. I hope that I can go through it completely with a restoration at the end of this year, so that it matches the brand new RHD W11 I completed a few months ago.
As for the kit price... The basic kit price for the one sitting in my garage was about $28,000. Of course, add in the cost of the donor car, new wheels, strengthened spindles, improved rear axle with the TranX and Peter May axles, CR type 9 from SP Components. One could purchase a Mercedes C63 for the cost of completion with the labor. However, with actual Lotus 11s selling at three times that... I figure we have a bargain.