Yes fella, seems to work well.
Yes fella, seems to work well.
Yes looks well.
She's painted, and entry has gone in for another rally down Pembrey - rally cwm gwendreath.
I replaced a leaky core plug and found a big air leak on the inlet manifold so I had to replace the gasket. It's running spot on now, can't wait to get out and give it a run.
On the modification front I decided to fit some new 300 70 long Tarmac inserts. Reason being, I could never identify what rating my inserts were as they weren't stamped with numbers, and at the last rally my understeer reared its head again, the inserts were the only Unknown.
When I tried to fit the new inserts into the m10 threaded hole at the bottom of the leg I couldn't get it to line up, upon closer inspection I found that the tube of the leg was bent so I had to replace that too. I found it odd that the bent tube was on the passenger side (which I didn't hit down pembrey) so who knows how long it has been bent. I also suspect that the insert was jamming in the leg due to the bend and could be the cause of my understeer. I'm waiting on a new spring seat so I can go out and try it.
Last edited by lukem30; 24-01-2016 at 22:47.
where did you get the new tubes? they look like a nice job! did you just cut the old one off at the hub and but weld the new one on? will it be strong enough?
I got the tube from Peter Lloyd rallying, but I am told they get them in from rally design. They come with the bushes and seals already fitted which was handy.
I ground the welds off the original tube, then cut it shorter and smashed it out of the hub with a drift, tapped the new one in and welded either side of the hub. Should be strong enough as the original was only welded on the one side.
ah cool thats what i was wondering, nice job!
We had another eventful day at Rali Cwm Gwendrath on Sunday. It was wet, miserable and cold, to be expected for February in Wales I suppose. We were seeded at car 40 and looking forward to a challenging day.
Stage 1 - Stage 1 didn't go well at all. We got stuck in some traffic very early on, not long after our intercom failed, and just after that we went off the road and got stuck in the grass. After a top job by the very few people standing there we got the car back out just in time to take a stage maximum, and we were OK to continue the rally.
Stage 2 - after our problems on stage one we really backed off a lot to get round as the stage was very slippy. We took no risks and got round with no dramas, which was nice.
Stage 3 - it was drying out slightly by now so we started to build the pace back up, all went well and the car felt a lot better in the drier conditions.
Stage 4 - we started off well and came out immediately in traffic, but pretty soon into the stage the gearbox gave up and we lost 3rd/4th gear, and we could only get second with a big struggle. So with only 1st and 5th gear we retired.
Last edited by lukem30; 09-02-2016 at 20:56.
does the xe require a longer input shaft compared to pinto etc ?
Bell housing is back from machining and trial fitted on my spare engine first for fitment, after a few little mods for starter motor clearance it fitted up nicely. I also made a few minor adjustments to the plate, these have been passed on to John to get the plates 100% perfect.
Next it was offered up to the engine to see how it fitted in the tunnel
Last edited by lukem30; 16-02-2016 at 20:25.
How did it fit looks tight
Have you tried it yet
How does it feel?
You had a look at your 5 speed to see what's up with it?
Hexham and District Motorclub
Looks good
Hexham and District Motorclub
loooking good luke! im watching this with real interest and on the lookout for a cheap box - i think il do this in the summer and sell on my long first t9 for double the cost of this conversion!
im interested to see first how the ratios will suit the XE, what diff ratio are you running luke?
p.s are you running a large tunnel?
The ratios are very good if you ignore 1st gear, 2nd to 6th has almost identical ratios to my tran x type 9, that's what made me go for it.
I'm on a 4.6cwp and a large grp4 tunnel. My only concern is strength, but freddy68 has tested his and its stood up to the punishment well.
I hope so after all this effort
really looking forward to seeing how this pans out, im running a 4.1, im thinking the 2nd might be too long for that, what are the ratios do you know?
lovely job on the pedal box
I'm looking forward to trying it. The 6 speed rx8 ratios are - 3.76, 2.269, 1.645, 1.187, 1.00 .843.
John ran a 3.89cwp at first with his rx8 box and found it too long for stage rallying, he has since changed to a 4.6 and find it brill now. Take a look out onboards to see the difference in the cwp's. Something to think about.
Another step closer, pedal box is in and hydraulic clutch pipped up.
Last thing to sort now is the propshaft, it's 45" from my atlas to the gearbox which I belive is about an inch to short to use the rx8 Carbon prop. I'm waiting on some measurements from John to confirm. Looks like I'm going to have to get my original prop shortened.
why dont you use an alloy machined spacer between the prop and the diff? seen it loads of times on rally cars to get as much prop in the box as possible if the engine location is not ideal
Ah sorry I thought the prop was too short not the distance for it! How do you think the 4.1 would be John?
How much was it to modify the prop luke? I need mine shortened and a type 9 end fitted on , do you have a type 9 end going spare now ?
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