1/12 Lotus 49 - What solutions have people used for the over-sized DFV?

[allnie]

The MFH Lotus 49 is lightyears better.

[sky1911]

I subscribe to Kit Lotus and I'm in touch with the editor, John Thornhill. As I understand it from John (March this year), Brian is retiring from his business of casting parts for others sometime this year and once that has happened he will be able to focus on projects that interest him which will include further parts for the Lotus 49 - a new nose has been mentioned. A case of watch this space.

My solution to the engine was to buy one of Thunder Valley's white metal cast versions - before Paul moved exclusively to 1/8 scale projects.

If you haven't come across it you can find Kit Lotus at www.kitlotus.com - you have to register but otherwise it is free of charge and it brightens my day whenever I receive an email anouncing the next copy. If you are coming to it fresh you've got 15 volumes to catch up on!

Grahame

Last time I spoke with Brian (email) he was looking for references of the chassis since that is an area I'm also interested - for my cockpit project . So I'm still looking forward to him doing that.
And re: the MFH '49 - it absolutely is. However, it also costs 5 times of what you pay on fleabay for a 1/12 Tamiya 49 if you're patient. Sooooo

[Chinamalc]

The MFH Lotus 49 is lightyears better.

Would be interesting if someone could compare the MFH and Tamiya Lotus 49 parts side by side.

[Orso]

I seem to remember from an earlier discussion on this topic that as the engine is overscale the body was made slightly to big for the engine to fit,

[Chinamalc]

Yes, thats the problem, lots of discussion and no actual facts.

[SBEST]

Andy Matthews, discussed this in an article about his rendition of the Lotus 49. It was stated that the chassis was too wide so he recast in resin the chassis and used the DFV from the Tyrrell 003 and moved on. I believe it was an article in a Tamiya magazine from the early 90's.

Kind Regards,

Steve

[Hacksaw]

I dug into the bottom of the bits box and found an old Tamiya DFV block. I have photographed this against the slightly newer version that I am working on. I have also included the comparative measurement that I took (in millimetres).
A few things to be aware of, these are:
1. Tamiya’s original DFV had an inclined sump, in order to get the block to sit level I had to put the low end on a 1.5mm piece of plastic sheet,
2. The later DFV was positioned on the same piece of 1.5mm thick plastic sheet, this was necessary so that the spark plug holes in both blocks were on the same line. This makes it easier, I think, to visualize the difference in the two blocks,
3. The injection intakes on a DFV are slightly inclined towards the centre of the “V” this is not reflected in Tamiya’s original version of their DFV but is put right on the later version,
4. The exhaust primary pipes on a DFV where they bolt onto the block are not round as represented on the original version of Tamiya’s DFV, they are more realistically represented in the later version of the engine being more of a rectangle with the corners rounded off,
5. If you put “Cosworth DFV Drawings ” into Google and click on the images tab you will find lots of engineering drawings of the DFV, or just click on: https://www.google.com/search?q=Coswort ... 36&bih=739
6. If anyone is going to replace the original Tamiya “wide” DFV in the Lotus 49 and 49B kits you could consider using a replacement sprue of the silver-grey parts from any of the other Tamiya models to make the block and ancillaries and use the E-Jan up grade parts for the cam covers and the injection intakes. It might be possible to modify the kit exhausts for the 49 but the 49B had a different exhaust system and they would have to be scratch built.
I doubt if this will help much rather it may just muddy the waters further.
Hacksaw
P.S. Sorry I don't have the MFH kit.
P.P.S.
The system won't let me post the key drawing with the measurements I took, that will be in the next post.

[Hacksaw]

The system won't let me post the drawing of measurements that I took of the Tamiya DFV original and later versions, so I will give you the measurements the old fashioned way:
Across the sump Old 22mm / New 17mm
Across exhaust ports c/c Old 42.5mm / New 37.5mm
Across intake location pins c/c Old 19.5mm / New 16.5mm
Between the cam covers Old 27.5mm / New 30mm
Across the cam covers Old 58.5mm / New 55mm
Hacksaw

[Tyrone]

I dug into the bottom of the bits box and found an old Tamiya DFV block....

Wow the DFV in the older kits really does look different.

I'm going to see if I can find some cam covers or spare sprues, and if not try and mock something up myself for the 3D printer. If I go down this route I'll share the files.

Thanks for the photos, very eye opening!

[vadim]

You can try eBay, looking for an old model or a plastic scrap with a later version of the Tamiya's DVF engine.
If you have the correct engine from another project, you can try casting it yourself from resin. And don't worry about that be too 'new', you always can make some changes. But the problem isn't just the engine. Next in line is the gearbox (flashman provided the link above). And you will find many problems with the car body. It's too much length, the width should be a bit more and "cigar shape", not a parallel sides as is in the current model. The footwell is incorrect and more, and more... Some time ago, I tried to rebuild the old Tamiya Lotus 49 into 49B, but after endless iterations, I gave up. Both Lotty 49 and 49B from Ebboro is enough for me.
If you are interested, you can see some photos of the rebuilding process. (sorry I couldn't put a photo here).
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AgGskDhWy3RNsFPj1-Isr36lIutf
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AgGskDhWy3RNsFT0pqXLlxCsRQOe
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AgGskDhWy3RNsFLJDhQriAkynpYL
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AgGskDhWy3RNsFVIHieymrhDRZaw