Mike Biddle

Do carbon props deteriorate over time? Is there a way to get them tested/looked at/X rayed or something? Where to get such a service? Note original supplier not interested, not replying to mails/calls etc. My car is being put back together after being rear ended earlier this year and the question has arisen.

I had excellent service from Quantum.

I've had both, first with the outboard setup, then converted to inboard. The inboard version is much better in every respect. Outboard inboard

heat helps with loosening up loctite.

Don't know offhand, and can't look at any records due to leaving my laptop in security at JFK last Saturday. Will take a look when I get the new one next week, but even then, may not have the information, Gary used to keep this information a little close to his chest.

When speccing up my super wide freestyle set up, Gary advised that a roll bar on the front was unnecessary, and therefore none was fitted. Try it without and see how you get on with it.

You could take a look at Image instead, good product and service from them.

The hardware like wishbones etc may still be obtainable from Arch, since they fabricated them for Gary. I have in the past got a replacement front wishbone from them. After that its just a matter of springs, platforms and shocks. Made a huge difference for the better on my car, everything improved. I'd post some pictures but they are on my laptop hard drive and system requires a URL. Can e-mail some if I have your mail address, which I think I do somewhere........ Nope, only blat mail from when we met in Dubai.

Peter, I have a Pectel available, not sure what model though, just replaced it with a life racing unit. Nothing wrong with it, just needed additional features offered by the life racing unit.. If you are interested I will mail Northampton motorsport and get the model No for you.

Good point though, I sometimes have concerns about removing plugs, is there any debris down there that could get into precious cylinders? Surely I could come up with a vacuum equipped plug socket, shove it on, press the tit, and hey presto, a clean plug cavity before unscrewing it.

Hair dryer? Tie off the trigger and rig to blow down the gap. leave for a while to get things thoroughly hot. Or just drive it for a while if its running reasonably smoothly, that will dry them out.

Have Gary's (Freestyle) front inboard suspension on my car. Memory is a bit hazy but I think it only fits 96 onwards De Dion cars with the later arrangement of front suspension mounts. You could still buy it if you knew where to look, but if I am correct in the above you would need a new front on the chassis. Blatmail me for more info.

Do you want to keep your existing calipers? Hi Spec also do a separate cable operated handbrake caliper.

Get a carcoon.

Still cannot understand why anyone would think that they "look like a tool" when wearing a helmet??? You will most certainly be a confirmed tool if a decent size rock gets kicked up by a truck and it smacks you in the face. I wear a full face helmet at all times with aeroscreen and have had several experiences with flying debris which confirm the wisdom of doing so. I'd rather keep my head/face/teeth intact.

used to have a 2.0 VX in my car and it would do that if the oil level was the slightest bit too high. I dry sumped it in the end because the cam followers used to get awful rattly during a decent blat

That happened to me many years ago when I had a VX in the car. In my case one piece of the fan went downwards, bounced off the chassis and appeared through the side skin. I would have preferred it to go through the nosecone!

Yes I'm sorry, should have also pointed out that a Pectel or Life Racing unit would be OTT for the rover engine. The Emerald or Omex will be fine, I was just pointing out that after sales service is the most important factor after ensuring your choice will do the job in the first place.

Back up should be your primary concern. Northampton motorsport will be replacing the Pectel ECU in my car with a life racing unit soon. Why? Because if I have a problem, even a suspected sensor down, and I contact the Pectel dealer, they will say OK, take the engine out, bring it to us, and we'll put it on the dyno. I could have a software copy if I am prepared to pay both arms and legs, but I am not. Life racing are entirely different, and Northampton motorsport are a dealer. I can have a copy of the software, and using team viewer or similar can have them look at any problems as long as I can get the car and laptop to an internet connection. Both are top quality ECU's, the difference is in attitude/support.

You might also look at Northampton Motorsport, I'm very pleased with the work they have been doing for me. Not that far away from you, looking at the map.

I have the extra wide carbon wings, from MOG I think, plus alloy inner spacers to account for the fact that the body is an S3 and the De Dion tube is an SV item.

Indeed, a shiny knob is a happy knob I reckon.

I have 280MM discs and Hi spec ultralite 4 on the front of my car and 13" wheels just fit over, so 260MM should not be a problem. It's true that you should be able to lock up the fronts with the standard brakes, but that does not make them as good as bigger discs, there is another important factor here. The main benefit of having larger diameter discs is controlability, it's much easier to control braking at the limit with bigger diameter discs. I fitted bigger ventilated discs to the rears because they were overheating, and a dual master cylinder system with balance bar to allow for front/rear adjustment. An LSD will transform the car, and is an excellent value upgrade.

Carcoon also do framed units now.

OK, then the ECU must know the following. Engine speed, which is a given. What gear the box is in and which way the driver is shifting. Must be programmed to account for ratio change to know how many RPM to put on the engine. Graham, are you sure the radical system does not quickly, and briefly, disengage the clutch while its doing this? Don't know about the Busa box, but the Sadev for sure does not have a "neutral" between gears to alow for a blip. I suppose a very precisely timed blip could occur just after the lower gear is engaged, but that would also rrequire the ECU to know exactly where the gearlever is during the change in order to get the timing right. I do know from experience that the Sadev will not change down if the clutch is engaged and there is any throttle on. Maybe the geartronics system includes this function? Even if it does, is it worth 4K just to acheive a throttle blip? Again, suggest you talk to Steve at SWR, he will explain all in great detail. James, when are you planning to do this? I would be happy to demonstrate the box in my car, but that would probably not be posssible untill next April due to shipping back to Dubai and back to UK again.