Well, Gerrard finally relented: I got my toy back at close of play today, Friday. It's taken 4 working days, but Gerrard always takes his own good time.

First, the Stage II kit looks good: the cam cover has brushed aluminium ribs and a smart logo on the spark plug cover, visible from outside through the air outlet grill. Under the engine cover, it all looks a bit tight, despite moving the rear engine bulkhead to the rear. The plenum chamber is quite a bit bigger than standard, and almost hides the new inlet manifold, which is a shame, because it looks much nicer in cast alloy rather than plastic. The inlet manifold is longer than the standard item, but still curves back on itself to mate with the plenum chamber, which is now mounted higher. Indeed the upper surface is flattened to clear the engine cover. The single throttle is retained, as is the air filter and inlet in the nearside flank air scoop.

The pictures are courtesy Alan Hulley with the kind assistance of Brandon Cox

Engineering. The work was pretty routine. Gerrard has changed so many K Series heads that he could probably do it in his sleep. Your average dealer probably hasn't changed a K Series head as this is a new engine to most. The job can nearly be done with the rear clamshell in place. It only has to come off to change the rear engine compartment bulkhead. That said, once it is off, the work is easier. I hadn't allowed for the cost of new engine through -bolts, nearly UKP 100 for the set, but they shouldn't be re-used, and given the head gasket saga, I've no difficulty with that. I took the opportunity to take a look at the gasket while the head was off. To make the K Series into a 1.8 has obviously involved boring out to the maximum extent. The gasket is pretty narrow in places. Setting the timing was a bit difficult. The cams were half a tooth out: vernier pulleys are definitely on the shopping list. Bleeding the coolant was a little tricky. The cooling system was relatively easy, provided the car was jacked up front then rear. The engine itself was more difficult: apparently this is a common K Series problem. Finally, Gerrard tidied up the fixings, using stainless steel wherever possible, a spend-to-save measure. He also fixed some rattles and re-ran the engine compartment release cable (always a source of rattles). He also cleared out a deal of detrius: clips, nuts, even some cable from the rear chassis. When I drove home there were no rattles or odd noises at all, until something works loose again.

Cost. I got some beer money back out of UKP 3000. I reckon 10 hours work at your dealer. It's probably possible to do it yourself, provided you are confident that you can tighten the through-bolts correctly. Otherwise it's goodbye gasket and probably goodbye head as well. My insurer (Norwich Union Club) has moved the car up one group, and is going to charge me an extra UKP 100 pa.

First Driving Impressions. Even though I'm limited to 5000 rpm at present, and I'm not even using that, the difference is immediately apparent. At low revs the engine is clearly breathing better. The whole valve train with the blueprinted valves, is definitely smoother. Can't wait for 300 miles to go. It's clear I'm going to have to rework all my braking points and most of my exit lines on the circuits. The difference seems more marked than when I drove the development car.

Summary. Gerrard enjoyed working on the Stage II Conversion for the Elise, and I'm going to enjoy driving it. My bank manager probably isn't so happy.

Contacts

Vivian Meazza:	vivian.meazza@lineone.net
Neil Lovelock:	NLOVELOCK@lotus-cars.co.uk

• Gerrard Holloway and Mark Oliver
  RATRACE Motorsport Limited
  Unit 9B Atlas Industrial Estate
  Oxgate Lane
  London
  NW2 7HJ
  Tel: 0181 830 5677 Fax: 0181 830 5688
  
  
• Map

Links

• Lotus Cars Official Merchandise (under construction, and has been for months)