sump gaurds

[jody391]

Can you buy them? what have people made in the past?

My K series is very low and I am looking into either design/building my own or purchasing one.

But I cant find much on the Web.. has anyone any images?

Jody.

[Jonathan Kay]

This comes up occasionally, and someone made a neat one recently: I'll dig that out. But I don't think that it was a K.

Full search of the archives.

What's the *clearance under the sump, and is it what you want?

And do the seat bolts look lower than you want?

Jonathan

* Coke cans are available...    : - )

[John Vine]

I made a sump guard for my wet-sump R400D, using a design by James/Shortshift.  See the first item Jonathan's search list in #2.

I don't know of any commercially-available ones.

My K series is very low...

Have you got adjustable platforms?  If so, have you considered raising the ride height?

JV

[SM25T]

The danger is the guard becomes the new lowest point. Any impact will be transferred to the chassis tubes. Consider raising the ride height and/or fitting stiffer springs. Check clearance with your (and passenger) weight in the car

[SM25T]

I had 150, then 250, now 300lb front springs

[jody391]

So I haven't had any issues and the sump is still intact with no scraps.

The car only has 1,850 mile on and was an ex academy car so the ride height and geo are as it was back in 2005/6 for the series.

I just feel that the clearance to the sump and the oil filter bracket/take off is low and want to add a little support if required.

I am designing something now so I will show some images when completed.

Jody.

[SLR No.77]

What clearance do you have beneath the sump?

[SM25T]

A race car may well be too low. With your weight in the car, you want at least 70mm for safe road use. Stiffer springs help to maintain this in high speed compressions.

 

Edited to correct typo to mm

[John Vine]

Did 2007 K-series Academy cars have adjustable platforms?

JV

[ScottR400D]

"A race car may well be too low. With your weight in the car, you want at least 70m for safe road use. Stiffer springs help to maintain this in high speed compressions."

I think that might give you few difficulties with bridges......

[jody391]

Yes the car has adjustable platforms.

im not home yet so I'll measure later, but I am sure it's more than 70mm.

 

[SLR No.77]

If you have 70mm under the sump clearance shouldn't be an issue.

[jody391]

Ok so approx 60mm from the lowest point of the sump.

[Jonathan Kay]

The diameter of a Coke can is about 66mm.

My wet sump K is 87mm.

Jonathan

[SM25T]

60mm ... with your weight in the car ? Unladen can make a big difference

[john milner]

A cracked sump is probably a cheaper and easier fix than a bent chassis so just be mindful of what it is you want to achieve. A sacrificial guard of some sort might be better than an over engineered strong one.

[BenF]

I'd strongly recommend just raising it.  I originally planned to make the CSR sump guard as recommended on another thread, but instead just raised the car.  I now have a similar clearance to Jonathan (93mm with no driver, I live alone so cannot check with me sitting in the car!).

This is probably excessive, but I don't feel that I would ever notice the performance/handling loss for road use and I have more peace of mind.

 

[SM25T]

I use concrete blocks to load the car to simulate weight of driver and passenger.

[paul richards]

I'd suggest making sure you have adequate ground clearance rather than trying to fabricate a sump guard. The fitting of a guard immediately reduces your ground clearance and more importantly there are no points to attach it to that don't risk damage to the chassis. 

[John Vine]

#19  The fitting of a guard immediately reduces your ground clearance...

I think that rather depends on the design.  Mine level with the sump, and certainly not lower:

 

JV