DVAPower Engine Value

General General Lotus Talk
1

Hello,

I’m looking for input on what an aprox. 220hp spec motor built by Dave Andrews would be worth It cost about 9K pounds to build. I’m thinking of putting it on e-bay and was looking for input as to what it’s worth before I go to the trouble. It comes with an Emerald, EBD big bore manifold and a complete exhaust system (eliseparts). In the input side, it has the Scouse airbox, trunking and filter.

It has 0 Miles on it, never started.

Thanks
Roy

ps. Here’s the specs that Dave sent me when I paid him:

Item

Good secondhand VVC block
2nd hand and new bits and bobs (water pump, pulleys, cam belt cover, oil filter housing ,sump, pickup,
new cam cover, crank pulley and bolt , new water elbow with senders etc.
Secondhand cam belt tensioner

Throttle potentiometer

Set of Omega pistons
Set of german liners
VP2 competition lead/bronze indium bearings
Main bearings
Thrust washers
Oil pump
Steel oil pump rotor
Steel flywheel
Flywheel bolts
AP clutch
Bottom end gasket set

Full engine balance

Machine pistons crowns to clear larger inlet and exhaust valves
Machine block to set liner heights
port pump and fit steel rotor

Head
2002 TF160 VVC head complete less VVC mechs
Allowance for old valves and followers sold on your behalf
Pair Piper VVC 1227 cams
Piper VVC blanking kit
Pair Piper verniers
Set Piper double springs
Set Piper steel caps
Set REC 214N 32.5mm inlet valves
Set REC 214N 28.3mm exhaust valves
Set Colsibro bronze guides
Set Piper solid followers
Set of solid follower shims to suit


Port head for 32.5/28.3mm valves, machine clearance for cam lobes
Remove old guides, taper and fit new guides and recut seats
Shim cams
Assemble head including VVC blanking kit
Match TBs to head, fit spout, modify linkage and assemble to head
Skim head

Head gasket set
Head through bolts
Cam ladder and sump sealant
Bolts and other fastenings
Set Platinum plugs

Jenvey Direct to head TB kit
Bernard Scouse airbox kit
EBD Ultrabore exhaust manifold
Emerald ECU
Mems connector for adapting Exige loom

Fully assemble bottom end of engine, fit head, time cams etc.

2

Have no clue, with all the engine swapping that is going on now, but…

WHY!

you went through all the trouble, why not use it?

3

Tpup

My feeling would be that its probably worth the �9k but as to whether there is anyone around at the moment who would want a tuned k series for this kind of money or whether they would go for Honda or wait on the Duratec coming to fruition i don’t know ??

This might mean you have to look for a bit less than you have paid… there are also shipping costs if no one in the US wants it (you’d prolly get more interest this side of the pond?)…

So like Uldis… I have to ask WHY ??

4

I’m not looking for 9K, I’m just looking for input on value, I understand I will take a large loss.

As to why, I’m just tired of dealing with the project. I get a call daily from the shop working on the car telling me that something is missing, something is wrong (wrong part) etc. Without boring you through a lot of details, there is noone in the US that knows anything about these cars and dealing with Lotus/Lotus Motorsport is like dealing with a clown college. They ship me incorrect parts, incomplete kits, sell me stuff that requires other stuff that they don’t tell me about until it’s 1/2 installed etc.

The car is worth X dollars in the US and very few people here know enough to pay more for the motor. Based on that, I’m looking at putting the 190hp motor back in the car, selling it for whatever I can get for it, and selling the motor, wheels, and some other spares I have on e-bay…

Roy

ps. The latest joke was after installing the Motorsport driveshafts, the linkage does not fit (CV joints are larger). After waiting weeks to get the motorsport linkage, I find out it costs a fortune and requires replacment of everything from the shifter back including drilling new mounts etc in the chassis. This is the latest in a long line of BS like this. I have zero confidence that I’m not going to find some other problem once we lick that one. I guess I feel it is time to cut my losses and move on.

5

Sorry to hear that.
But as you say, even here in the UK I would not trust a dealer to do this kind of job.
It might be a bit better but I doun’t trust them here with a thermostat change!
It’s more like a project for a DIY’er.

So, you’re selling and getting the S2 Exige later then? or changing brands?

6

Roy
i’m really sorry to hear of your trials and tribulations - i can only admire your bravery in attempting this level of modification from as far afield as the US and am sorry for you that Lotus have such crap after-sales support (its a bit easier to deal with that stuff from here). If you goto ebay with it i’d start at �5k and see where it goes (you can decide on a reserve yourself)

Good luck

7

I would set reserve about � 9K, after all, PTP sells the 220 BHP Evo engine for more than �10K

8

I’m not sure that’d shift it. You may want to try a first pass with a reserve at 9k, see what prices you get and then try again at a more realistic level (perhaps 5k). But that’s the beauty of eBay, you never know!

Good luck!

Ian

9

You’re right.
Being a complete package, it’s very unlikely that you’d sell it all to the same person. For example, I have already an Emerald, and some people may need the original throttle bodies to race it.

Why not sell the different things? Engine+head, Emerald, Throttle bodies with airbox, etc? You may recover all the money this way.

10

To add my thoughts, I have been watching with interest the various engine options, e.g. honda, duratec, Bernard Scouse’s audi 1.8 turbo…

My engine is similar spec to your’s Roy, without the bottom end work and balancing, and I have been wondering if I could sell it as a proven 215 BHP DVA unit, so as to finance something MUCH more radical…

I trade a lot on eBay and agree that this is probably the way to go, however I feel that you have time on your side, so should first look at selling the entire unit, rather than selling individual components… If it does sell, that is great, and if not, you then still have the option of breaking it down… (but you can’t do it the other way!!)

As to price, I would suggest that you utilise the ‘reserve price’ eBay facility, because the bidders do NOT know what the actual reserve is… So, for example, you could start the bidding at (say) �4,500 or equivalent to get interest, and underlie that with a reserve, so as to not give the engine away, and see what happens - now if, hypothetically, the bidding got to �7,500, and the reserve you set, hypothetically, was �8,000, you would still have the option of accepting the last bid, if with hindsight you felt that was enough…

I am, of course, not suggesting these actual figures, but I guess I am not a million miles out…

Hope that helps, and good luck

11

Sorry but I think 4-5K is maximum your gonna get

12

Sorry but I think 4-5K is maximum your gonna get

Certainly in the UK, I tend to agree, sorry.