Track Preperation Part 1

General Meets + Track Day Reports
121

top bit of work sean

loving all the work you are doing.

i’m guessing the old stack dash dont rev high enough for you

cant wait to see this flesh again

when you expecting the new engine??

122

Hi Mate,

Yeah the original dash only goes to 8k. I am actually going to use the Stack rev counter I had in my Escort. That is good to 10,500rpm, so more than enough. Plus it has shift lights and stuff. The main reason for the new dash though is so that I can incorporate the gear position readout. I am going to try my best to make everything look like it grew there, if you know what I mean.

New engine should be built by the end of the year. But by the time I have it dyno’d and installed I reckon it will be March-ish

How you getting on with your Lotus matey??? How’s it compare to your Saph and Escort??

Sean…

123

thought you might use ya old stack, having the shift lights will be good, especialy when driven in anger

also guessed you might re do it, as the old shift light was just stuck on before, will be cool when done.

the lotus is great, no where near the power of the saff obviosuly, but the stress and paranoia has gone, i just get in drive as hard as i like and it runs smooth as silk, and returns VERY good mpg.

grip is amazing, escort had more but thats expected

over all i prefer the lotus, the saff was great, but handling needed so much spent at it.

just need to sort my suspension on the lotus as it knocks a bit, but just cant afford it this side of xmas

124

F*ck me what a great thread…

125

As I mentioned last Monday I had bought all the fittings to pipe up the fuel system and the water system. So today was all about mounting things in there final places and cutting and making all the mounting brackets and hoses. Then fitting everything in place.

So firstly I attacked the fuel system and mounted the pump

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/fuelpumpmounted.jpg[/image]

And the filter

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/fuelfilter.jpg[/image]

The pipe from the tank to the bottom of the pump is -8 and the rest of the fuel lines are -6. I drilled a couple of holes in the chassis and put rivnuts in to mount the pump. Then it�s straight out of the pump and into the filter. The fuel filter is the type you can take apart and clean. It then comes out of the filter and into the housing that holds the fuel pressure sender, then it�s onto the fuel rail.

At the end of the fuel rail its trough the pressure regulator and then all the way back to the return connector on the tank

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/fuelpiping.jpg[/image]

Then it was onto the water pump and the water pipes.

This is the water pump I am using:

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/waterpump.jpg[/image]

The inlet end of the pump fits straight into the water pipe that comes out of the chassis rail

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/waterpumpinplace.jpg[/image]

This is where the first problem of the day occurred (and the only problem actually I think). The pump has an inlet and outlet and the pump comes with the following two flanges to bolt to the pump as you wish

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/waterpumpflanges.jpg[/image]

However as you may be able to see from the pic above showing the pump in situ, I have used the straight flange to come out of the chassis, but the 90 degree flange sits to low to be useful. So I either need the 90 degree bend to be 6 inches higher or I need another straight flange so that I can then do the 90 degree turn in silicon hose at what ever level I want. A call to Think automotive and �8 later and there is a straight flange on its way. I hope it arrives tomorrow, because I cant really finish off the water piping without it.

OK so then after we have come vertically up out of the pump and turned through 90 degrees we have to get to the back of the engine. The only real routing for the water pipe is through the middle of the gearbox mount as can be seen below

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/trannycoolerinplace2.jpg[/image]

If you look at the right of the pic you can see how it passes through the gearbox mount. It�s a tight fit, but it does go without any kinks or anything.

The only problem is the clutch slave cylinder mounting bracket is in the way. So this was removed:

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/slavecylinderbracketbefore.jpg[/image]

And the angle grinder was taken out. The area of the bracket where it bolts to the gearbox mount was removed to allow the water pipe to fit through.

This does mean I have lost 2 of the 4 mounting holes for the bracket. However I�m not really worried as I have managed to leave on all of the triangulation on the bracket and I have one of the eliseparts strengthening brackets, which stiffens up the whole thing, no end.

Below is the modified bracket

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/slavecylinderbracketafter.jpg[/image]

Next I had a look at getting the two oil coolers inline in the water hose.

The gearbox cooler is a small oil / water laminova.

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/transmissioncooler.jpg[/image]

I am unsure which side of the gearbox mount to put it. The rear:

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/alternativepositionfortrannycooler.jpg[/image]

Or towards the front of the car.

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/trannycoolerinplace2.jpg[/image]

It fits in both places, but I don�t think the final decision will be made until I have the new straight water pump flange, so I can mess about with all of the right ingredients and see what works best.

The engine oil cooler fits nicely along the back of the engine and with a 90 degree silicon hose will meet up with the modified black metal pipe that fits to the engine block.

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/engineoilcoolerposition.jpg[/image]

At the other end another 90 will see it meet up with the hose passing through the gearbox mount.

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/engineoilcoolergearboxend.jpg[/image]

I got another few bits from eliseparts last week. I have got there new rose jointed steering arm kit

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/rosejointedtrackcontrolarms.jpg[/image]

I went for this as I like rose joints because of the extra strength they offer, plus the steering arm is ally instead of cast and with these the bump steer can be adjusted.

And a set of there Motorsport rear wing pylons.

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/wingpylons.jpg[/image]

I went for these because the mid engined rules state that the wing can sit as high as you like as long as it is lower than the roof. The standard pylons are quite low, so these adjustable ones will allow me to raise it up a bit. The lowest set of mounting holes on the new brackets are the same height as the standard pylons, so I can go quite a bit higher!!

126

Shame about the tatty header tank!

Seriously though, another fantastic episode - thanks mate, you’re a star

127

[quote]Shame about the tatty header tank!

LOL…should we all club together and buy him a nice new ‘shiney’ one???

This thread just gets better, keep it up Sean!

Respect man!

128

LOL…should we all club together and buy him a nice new ‘shiney’ one???

Cheers,

All donations, greatly received!!!

Sean…

129

Super duper as ever!

Question, did I miss something or did you say the engine wasn’t ready until Chrimbo? I ask, as you obviously have an engine in there (orig VHPD?) which appears to have butterflies and not roller throttles. Are you going roller?

Ian

130

Super duper as ever!

Question, did I miss something or did you say the engine wasn’t ready until Chrimbo? I ask, as you obviously have an engine in there (orig VHPD?) which appears to have butterflies and not roller throttles. Are you going roller?

Ian

Yeah that is my original VHPD. The new engine isn’t expected to be ready until the end of the year.

No I am not going roller throttles. The new engine will use Jenvey throttle bodies, but of a much larger diameter than the ones on my standard VHPD.

I probably wont put the new engine in until March (Track prep part 2! LOL) I want to get the rest of the car sorted and tested first. The new engine install shouldn’t be that much of a mission. The only difference really will be the dry sump. So I will have to incorporate a dry sump tank and the extra oil pipe work.

Today has been a bit of a blow out. Firstly the post man didn’t bring my new water pump flange.

Plus I am sitting in the office typing out a proposal (Bloody Customers. LOL)

Plus its about 9 trillion below zero here in Brum

Sean…

131

Plus I am sitting in the office typing out a proposal

I thought you’d stopped meeting women on t’internet

132

Plus I am sitting in the office typing out a proposal

I thought you’d stopped meeting women on t’internet

Don’t talk to me about Women, I just don’t get women anymore. They are all weird and complicated and awkward and difficult and stuff. A bit like my wiring loom!!! Although the wiring loom was the last thing that let me wrap insualtion tape around it whilst on the living room floor!!!

Plus I got the loom to do as I wanted in the end, the same could not be said for the fairer sex!!!

Sean

133

Don’t talk to me about Women, I just don’t get women anymore. They are all weird and complicated and awkward and difficult and stuff. A bit like my wiring loom!!! Although the wiring loom was the last thing that let me wrap insualtion tape around it whilst on the living room floor!!!

Plus I got the loom to do as I wanted in the end, the same could not be said for the fairer sex!!!

Well that gets Exiges.com quote of the day!

134

Plus I am sitting in the office typing out a proposal

I thought you’d stopped meeting women on t’internet

Don’t talk to me about Women, I just don’t get women anymore. They are all weird and complicated and awkward and difficult and stuff. A bit like my wiring loom!!! Although the wiring loom was the last thing that let me wrap insualtion tape around it whilst on the living room floor!!!

Plus I got the loom to do as I wanted in the end, the same could not be said for the fairer sex!!!

Sean

BRILLIANT!

Just swapped my Bosch battery for a new one, as it completely lost its charge, under warranty.

My mate said I should have kept it as its the only thing thats going to go down on me this month!

Give me a wiring loom anyday!!!

It was actually my love of cars that made my last girlfriend and I part company…oh well, thats life I suppose!

Keep up the good work Sean!

135

Although the wiring loom was the last thing that let me wrap insualtion tape around it whilst on the living room floor!!!

One of Sean’s earlier efforts:

[image]http://www.practialdesigns.com/images/shrink_wrap_l.jpg[/image]

136

LOL

Nice trolley!!!

137

Is that Simon Erland?

Oh sorry, he’s been well & truly stitched up, not wrapped up!

138

Is that Simon Erland?

Oh sorry, he’s been well & truly stitched up, not wrapped up!

Now now Pesky!

139

Had another good few hours on the car today. The first good thing that happened was my other straight flange turned up.

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/newflange.jpg[/image]

So I finally managed to get all of the water system piped up. I had to do some more mods to the clutch slave cylinder bracket, so that was on and off a few times. I have cut quite a bit of it away now, but I did weld in some extra strengthening gussets underneath, so I am pretty confident that it will be up to the job.

OK, so starting from the pump, we come up and into the gearbox cooler

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/gearboxcoolerin.jpg[/image]

Then through the gearbox mount (This is a lovely fit now, even if I do say so myself)

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/pipethroughmount.jpg[/image]

Then through the engine oil cooler

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/engineoilcooler.jpg[/image]

And finally into the block

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/waterpipeenteringblock.jpg[/image]

I then measured up and went to fetch all of the fittings and pipe to put the gearbox and engine cooler lines in.

However there were a couple of weird threads. One being the M20 x 2 that is the reverse lock out adaptor that I am using for the drain into the gearbox cooler pump. In the end I have had to turn down the original adaptor and I am waiting for a -10 weld on boss in stainless to arrive tomorrow, so that I can in effect make my own fitting, as there isn�t one the correct size on the shelf anywhere. This took a few hours on my mates lathe as 1 I aint that good with lathes. Lol and 2 there was actually quite a lot involved in getting it right.

Anyway its all ready to be welded up when the -10 part arrives.

A quick pic of my new fittings and pipe and stuff
[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/SeanBicknell/newfittings.jpg[/image]

I am back on the dyno tomorrow all day with that big BHP cossie engine, so will be back on the Lotus on Friday!!

140

Sean - aren’t you worried about the possibility of the coolant pipe rubbing on the gearbox mount. It might just be the photo but it looks a close fit and with everything moving under power…couldn’t you double sleeve that section.

Also, where did the second straight flange go?