gee_fin

Sold! That was quick! smile.gif

16 of, Ford fitting, gold anodised, very, very, light. Brand new, never been fitted, for sale as alloy wheel nuts are illegal in the Centurion challenge sad.gif £25, (includes postage to UK). _________________________________________________________________ graeme finlayson / tyre warmer / fluke motorsport graeme.finlayson@vicorp.com / www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk

I bought a Plays-Kool (www.plays-kool.co.uk) repackable silencer to replace my old Tony Law silencer. It dropped me from 104dB to 95dB. It's repackable and they'll make it to your custom size. Costs £200UKP, gets me on to the quiet tracks plus it looks and sounds great! I can post comparitive weights if interested too. Photo of silencer www.plays-kool.co.uk/fab.htm and on car www.geocities.com/gee_fin/gee_fin-3.jpg Cheers, Graeme. _______________________________________ www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk Edited by - gee_fin on 11 May 2001 12:55:36

Colin, I've just had to do this and it can be a little nerve-racking! Eensure that you don't move the crank (ie, leave the car in gear and push it) when you have the cam belt off. The Haynes manual explains the procedure pretty well mind you (I have it in pdf format should you need to check anything). As Arnie says, the cam belt tensioner is not really necessary (as long as you can't twist the belt over 90' it's 'about' right smile.gif), also check to see if the belt has a direction. The one tool that will save you a lot of grief is the cam locking tool, this can be bought from Draper/Allparts etc and is well worth getting hold of. Before starting the engine after replacing the belt jack up the rear and turn the wheels (with the plugs out). If there are any funny knocking noises or a huge amount of resistance check the TDC marks. Good luck! _________________________________________________________________ graeme finlayson / tyre warmer / fluke motorsport graeme.finlayson@vicorp.com / here

Clarkey, Our email has been down all morning, but as soon as it's back up I'll send some things through. Graeme. _________________________________________________________________ graeme finlayson / tyre warmer / fluke motorsport graeme.finlayson@vicorp.com / www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk

Clarkey, I've recently bought an alternative to a Stack system. It's a datalogger from a kart called the MyChron Pro. it comprises an LCD display that shows revs, speed and two temperatures, five sequential shift lights and two over temp lights. It logs for 62 minutes (you can extend this if you lower the sampling rate), records lap-times (beacon supplied) and calculate track maps (sprints and circuits). The unit is not as sexy looking as a Pi or Stack, however, it's a quarter of the price (£500). The software is excellent, allowing you to calculate all the usual beardage things (linear g, gears, wheelspin, horsepower etc.), the only limitation is the inputs (speed, rpm, two temps, lateral g, ie. no throttle/steering position sensor). I'm currently constructing a web-page about it but if you would like more info feel free to email me, I can put you in contact with the importers and send you samples of the data I gathered at Donnington on Monday. Cheers, Graeme. _________________________________________________________________ graeme finlayson / tyre warmer / fluke motorsport graeme.finlayson@vicorp.com / www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk

Ditto Mike smile.gif. Also, if you're fitting it on the front you're getting the true speed reading (unless you're locking brakes! smile.gif), fitting it on the rear means that you can light the wheels up to give hugely false readings (my SPA speedo sensor is on one of the driveshafts, nailing the throttle can result in a sub-2s 0-60mph recorded time as the wheels just spin up). The cordless one that I looked at (Panoram 17) was only good for 50cm line-of-sight. However, running the wire along the brake lines means that it's hardly visible at all. Cheers, Graeme. _______________________________ www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk

Hi Nick, I've posted some photos showing the location of the swirl pot on my 2.0 Vx. Grab them at Front shot Side shot Side shot (fuzzy) Close up showing hoses into swirl pot Overview shot, showing cleaner scuttle Plays-Kool did the build so they may be a good starting point. The swirl pot has given me no trouble whatsoever, temparature remains solid and no leaks. It also cleans up the scuttle area greatly. It could be a pain putting it right underneath the nose-cone as this would mean having to remove the nose-cone everytime you want to check your water level. Cheers, Graeme. _______________________________ www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk

Are there any MBE units left? Can you drop me an email (graeme.finlayson@vicorp.com) with the price and to sort out payment? Cheers, Graeme. _______________________________ www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk

I think the downside to the bellhousing option would be that in the event of a failure you'd have to shell out to replace both (witness R500s sawing through their bellhousings and the resulting dent in the credit card). If you can put up with the small loss of space in the passenger footwell go for that option. It also makes a handy footwarmer for the passenger in the absence of a heater! _______________________________ www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk

1.6 Ecotec Vx is an awesome little engine, have a nose at SBD (www.sbdev.co.uk for their kits (reputed 220+bhp). If the Astra 1.8 is identical to the 2.0 XE then there's lots of bellhousings out there. Try SBD or Titan for a nice alloy one. Alternatively, www.plays-kool.co.uk have sorted mine out a treat. If I remember correctly the bellhousing is about 140UKP, the clutch should be easy enough, just needs a standard VX cover, and a friction plate from the appropriate Sierra (the flywheel does need machined though). This is all West field related info but I'm assuming it still applies to your conversion. Hope this helps, Graeme. _______________________________ www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk

Hmmm, the Autosport directory is online now, now that's useful smile.gif Contact details - Tony Law Exhausts Unit 3, Queen Street, Stourton Leeds, West Yorkshire LS10 1SL United Kingdom Phone: 0113 2715422 _______________________________ www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk

Tony Law does custom manifolds for the Vx (pic at www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk/gallery/misc/front_carbon.jpg or www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk/profiles/images/graemescar2.jpg. About 375UKP for a bonnet exit one if memory serves me correctly. Not sure how they compare to Arnie's 1000UKP one but they're well made and the bonnet exit ensure smooth gradual bends along with claimed improved cooling (debatable, although there is more pipe in the airflow). I'm afraid I haven't got his number to hand but it will be in the Autosport directory. _______________________________ www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk

Bridgestone RE720s (185x60x13) are available from www.bookatrack.com at UKP 49 a tyre, including VAT, delivery and fitting. I run them for hillclimbs and have no complaints, rain or shine. Only minor issue is that I seem to eat them rather quickly at track days..... smile.gif Cheers, Graeme. _______________________________ www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk

Yes, I think it's possibly age related. If your car was built before a certain date you don't need them. Not certain of 'the date' though I'm afraid..... _______________________________ www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk

Edited by - gee_fin on 24 Jan 2001 10:34:07

Hi Alex, Well, I was happily pootering along as if Sunday driving (still blowing away the assembled Elises smile.gif) until I got the wake up call from you! I won't be making the next one (Feb 10th), I've had to cancel it too. Next one will be an airfield day though - Anglesey was fun but too frickin' cold and windy! Cheers, Graeme. _________________________________ www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk

Yikes, you leave the forum for a couple of days, return and this thread's four pages long! With regards to "gee_fin - promotes oversteer". My reason for stating this is that if you turn into a corner trailing ONLY the brake the back will step out (just think of the friction circle - if you turn in and use the full width of the circle with lateral grip, then add in the braking load, bingo, outside of the circle and into slip territory), however, I think Peter C was talking about trailing the throttle as well (LFB, RFT), this would balance out the weight transfer and if done correctly promote the understeer depending on the level of throttle/brake applied. Just needed to clear that up :) Graeme. ___________________________________ www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk

For some further info with regards to LFB/heel and toe in FWD/RWD/AWD go to http://www.drivingtechniques.co.uk and look in the techniques section. Lots of interesting theories/information. Cheers, Graeme. _______________________________ www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk

I've often found left-foot-trailbraking into an apex helps to promote oversteer (obviously not trailing a throttle mind you) - weight transfers to the front, less weight on the rear, light rear pops out, oversteer..... I use this technique every time I go to Curborough to get the turn-in at the hairpin as it alows a setup that can still be nicely balanced through the first left hander. Just my two cents. _______________________________ www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk