Beej

someone, somewhere has said that if you are going to run ACB10s, you need to have the correct camber settings front and rear (which on a Dedion car means special ears). Can anyone tell me what the correct camber settings are and how I can tell if the correct "ears" are fitted? cheers. don't worry, they all do that sir!

Hi, does it have a fixed A frame or is it the fold up type? let me know mark@claissestvincent.com cheers

sorry guys, I have no further info at the moment. I am waiting for him to supply sample material, quotes for tooling etc etc

hmmm.. twintex bras, now thats an interesting idea? so, is twintex a good thing or a bad thing? I can't really see how good it looks from the photos on the website

Road and Race it is then.. thanks? BTW, what exactly is a plate type diff?

oh blimey don't ask me what it actually is, the brand name is something like "twintex" but I may have misheard and it could be playtex :-). I am just repeating what he told me. Its probably shredded wheat and play dough - which would at least give you plenty of colour options. I will find out ASAP.

a mate of mine is technical director at a composites firm who mostly manufacture very high quality parts for the aero and aero space industry. They have a material which, he tells me, is stronger lighter and no more expensive than carbon. I am potentially prepared to cover tooling costs (which = lots).. how much are you prepared to pay for front and/or rear wings sensible answers only please. cheers.

I am getting some really bad banging juddering and graunching and, sadly, it aint in bed, its from the rear axle. This is a Vx race car (road legalised) and I'm guessing its stripped some teeth (not that surprising when you have a solid clutch and drive it mostly on track). So, if its got to come out, what should go back in? I assume I have the AP slippy diff but since it just looks like a Sierra back axle from the outside how can I tell - apart from the fact that its a LSD? Rumour has it that AP want lots and lots of wonga for a replacement and somebody mentioned something about Subaru diffs fitting and being lighter and cheaper? any ideas. Arnie - this is your sphere of knowledge isn't it?

ok, I can take ridicule, bring it on ;) However, been there done that with the caterham concentric release bearing version (anyone want to buy a dry sump tank bellhousing?) which was absolute cr*p. In fact, i have yet to hear of anyone who has managed to get more than a few hundred miles out of one. So which version actually, genuinely, works and can take a proper race clutch set up?

I'm sure its been asked before but has anyone engineered a more robust solution for keeping the lower end of the clutch release arm in place at the spigot on the bellhousing? A piece of plastic tube is what I was given by the factory. V. scientific!! It lasted a nanosecond when the clutch cable (inevitably) let go piling into Lavant hairpin - so what should have been a 10 minute cable replacement has meant detaching the engine from the bellhousing. Is this going to happen every time? help.

Weber head type, complete (except for sump) engine, in bits. Standard spec head and block ex Lotus Cortina. No reason why it shouldn't run as it is but obviously a perfect base for building up a quick motor, or get QED (or someone) to rebuild it for you. I don't need it anymore so please make me a sensible offer. mail me or call on 07973 179512. Cheers

oops correction - the new single braid breather is 5/8ths also - it was 1/2" previously (from caterham!)

Roger, as always, you have been very helpful. Its also reassuring to know I am not a complete idiot. The new hose is 5/8th ID and specced to 600psi stainless steel external braid - it looks pretty at least!! The vac hose (breather) is regular single braid 1/2". So I'm ok. Phew.

help please? as I have mentioned on a previous thread I am converting my Vx racer from the caterham bellhousing with integral dry sump tank and hydraulic release bearing to a conventional cable clutch with seprate dry sump tank. 1. which way round do the two breather pipes on the top of the tank connect - ie which one is the catch tank pipe (I have assumed the centre one) 2. how critical is the ID (bore size) of the pipes. I have had some lovely pipes made up with the correct 5/8ths BSP fittings but it wasn't until I got them home I realised that the external diameter of the new pipes is considerably less than the caterham ones i am replacing.. this obviously implies a bore size difference, but the fittings are identical so the new pipes must have an internal diameter at least equivalent to the old fittings? concerned in case I blow my engine up on first start!! cheers

Thanks CC, I take it DT = Demon Tweeks? Is there only one dave there? It occurs to me that one advantage of staying with an integral hydraulic release bearing is that I don't need to change the pedal box assembly at all.

Thanks guys, So it sounds like I can use pretty much any DS tank I can find.. just not sure about stuff like catch tank and breather pipe level. I don't need to modify any footwells cos its a Vx race car, so the tank will go where the battery and catch tank currently are (in front of the passenger footwell) and they go on top of the passenger footwell, because, of course, there is no heater. BUT.. where do I get and how do I fit a hydraulic clutch to a cable bellhousing? I can see that there may be certain advantages in ease of use but am i still faced with an engine out job everytime there is a problem? Not forgetting that its been in and out 4 times in 6 months, I'm not so keen. Cheers

Cheers Cap'n so you can sympathise with my heart and wallet ache over the last 6 months! Last time was on the dartford crossing en route to brands. I'm running the AP rigid 4 plate ceremetallic clutch and Helix cover plate, also known as "the switch". I wanted to spend my pennies on upgrading the engine/induction but now its all going on just keeping the thing on the road.. £400 just on missed but paid for trackdays! Yep I'm pretty sure the bill was £200 plus VAT for the tank.. and I have to get my own pipes made up. Total bill for parts so far £580!!!!

The hydraulic slave cylinder has gone again (4th time in 6 months), so I've thrown all my toys out and bought a cable clutch bellhousing (Vx to type 9). That means I need an external DS tank. I'm told that the caterham supplied X-flow dry sump tank fits fine but at 200 smackeroonies its almost double the cost of an off the shelf item from Demon etc. Any idea what size external tank works best and whether I can expect any problems by not using the X-flow version from caterham? This is all in Vx race car. Cheers

Thanks. My price list says £194 for the bellhousing but does it take a cable operated fork (and is that included) or a hydraulic (slave cylinder) operated fork or a modern style concentric release bearing? I'm also going to need a dry sump oil tank. This is all getting very expensive!

CC supplied new external O rings. These sat noticeably more proud of the cylinder body than the (brand new?) O rings that were fitted to the unit, as supplied a few weeks ago. How can there be so much variation? Either way, it didn't help. The engine is back in and fluid is pouring out AGAIN! Has anyone got any good ideas on what other bell housing fits between a Vx block and a type 9 gearbox? - I would rather fit an external dry sump tank than keep taking the engine out every five minutes because the slave cylinder design is rubbish. What do the regular HPC cars have?

Thanks Nick. The complete assembly was replaced about 300 miles ago so I can't believe that the leaks are occuring between piston and cylinder. Its green. The one it replaced was green. There are no obvious problems with the bore of the bellhousing/sump tank. The factory line is.. "well it should work". Aaaarghhh. I guess I will have to try and find some bigger/better O rings.

Guys - sorry to hijack your thread but I have just posted some questions concerning this type of slave cylinder and one of the contributors kindly pointed me to this thread. I have had problems with the slave leaking past the O rings (at least I assume it is leaking past the O rings) - I slowly lose fluid even though I have good pedal pressure. Furthermore, the fluid is getting onto the clutch plate and causing all kinds of nasty vibrations. So far as I can see the fluid is leaking both sides of the housing (ie bell housing side and gearbox side). I recently (300 miles ago) replaced the whole slave cylinder as a unit - i.e. on advice did not try and fit new seals. The new one is probably worse than the old one! Now I have the engine out again, i have noticed that the O rings hardly stand proud of the cylinder body at all - they certainly don't look like they would seal anything. Are there different versions of this part? Are there different size O rings? Any help and advice is very much appreciated. Mark.

brilliant - thanks. How do I get hold of these guys? I am not familiar with the Titan concentric release bearing - whats the difference. It sounds pretty much the same (I'm pretty sure that Redline mentioned something about the caterham part being made by Titan). Can I fit one as a replacement?

My problems continue.. (reminder 1993 vintage, registered 1998, Vx racer, dry sumped with the concentric clutch slave built into the bell housing) having fitted a nice shiny new AP rigid ceremetallic driven plate and Helix uprated cover to accompany my new slave cylinder, I really thought my clutch problems were over.. ha ha, foolish me! After just 300 miles, the new slave cylinder is p*ssing out fluid from both ends, so we have the engine out AGAIN. It looks as though the O rings just aren't thick enough to provide a proper seal. They barely sit proud of the grooves. In fact, i would suggest they don't really sit proud at all. Certainly there is plenty of sideways movement when fitting the unit into the bell housing casting. Of course, I didn't check this before I fitted it, it never occurred to me that a brand new part might not be correct. Has anyone had this problem before. The guys at redline (who kindly supplied the part) seem to think that there may be different versions of this component - the one I have been supplied and fitted is green, apparently they may also come in different colours!! Does anyone know what the correct colour/spec part is. Does anyone know how thick/proud the O rings should be? Help, I need the car for Llandow on saturday.. thanks Mark

Steve, did you get my mail?