Mike Biddle

I'm running a Sadev right now and I can report that it is a very good box, with a very nice change, much better than the (previous model) Quaife, less clunky and less lever effort required. It does have one annoying aspect though, it rumbles and rattles in neutral when the clutch is engaged, Sounds awfull and many people have asked what the noise is. Don't have the flatshift connected yet but that is imminent.

Rebuilt three of those myself back in the late seveties, a very easy motor to work on as I recall.

I havre the ultralites and have reatined the standard MC. If you change to the standard MC then th pedal effort will be lower.

Just a word of caution to anyone who is thinking of spraypainting their car. I know someone who has used paints containing isocyanantes and not taken the correct precautions re breathing aparatus, and the poor chap has been in hospital for almost 6 moths now suffering from acute emhysema, basically his lungs are totally screwed up. Now obviously this was not caused by spraying one car, but all the same please be carefull!

I was looking at one not long ago and i have to say it looked very well put together, and had a decent looking independant rear suspension set up as well. I think it's Certainly worth a good look at it.

Mickrick, I can't find it either, and thats strange because it was on their site. I do have a quote and basic tech spec without ratios on a mail from Sadev which I can forward to you if you like. Just blatmail me to confirm your mail address. 7 wonders, I now have this in my car. Mike.

Sadev also do a type 9 direct replacement box, and it has the drop gear facility, also a built in flat shift signal, and gear indicator output.

Yes Richard, thats what I've been trying to acheive. I still cannot make the rears lock up first, and then adjust the bias valve in the rear circuit to tone them down a bit. However, I don't beleive it is simply a balance problem with the fronts because they sometimes lock up under quite normal braking, as if there is naff all grip, and it's usually one or the other, never both . There is something else going on here. Standard Caterham rears are sh*te, thats why I changed them, they overheat far too easily and then it's big time brake fade.

Thanks guys. Guy, don't think I'm overbraked on the rear yet, otherwise the rears would be locking up first. I do have a bias valve in the rear brake circuit for tuning that out if I can ever get to that situation. Dave, possible I suppose. We have an infrared surface temp measuring device somewhere, I'll utilise that first before I go back to solid discs. I changed to ventilated because the standard rears always overheated, resulting in brake fade, and blue discs whereas the fronts, while getting resonably hot, never did overheat. I reasoned therefore that vented rears made more sense than vented fronts. For the rears, I think the best course of action would be to fit a bigger, four pot caliper and the softer pagids, then see if the rears will lock up, and compensate with the bias valve. That will maximise rear braking but will do nothing for the fronts, which really are locking up when they just should not. I used to be able to brake untill they squealed a bit, and keep em squealing throughout the braking period, they were very progressive and controlable. Mike, 2.5 degrees of camber with the Cr500's as opposed to 1.5 degrees previously with the ACB 10's. What about shocks, would a better quality set up there improve things? Nitrons maybe? Edited by - Mike Biddle on 21 Oct 2009 07:11:25

Thanks Paul, rear changes as follows. Initially, nothing, continued to run the standard set up then changed to bigger brakes at rear which significantly improved overal braking but did nothing for fronts locking up far too easily. Several thousand miles on rear brakes now including a two week tour in and around the Alps where I can assure you they were given a right good bedding in! Edited by - Mike Biddle on 20 Oct 2009 15:21:43

Since rebuilding the car in 2005 I have had problems with fronts locking up too easily under braking. This occured both with the initial standard wide track and the current Freestyle ultrawide inboard set set up. Currently Avo shocks all round on the freestyle system. Now these are the same front brakes that were on the car prior to rebuild (Hi Spec ultra light racing four on 260MM solid discs) and then I did not have the problem, in fact the braking was superb. So, I suspect that I have too much tyre on the fronts, (CR 500, 205/55 R13) because before rebuild a narrower ACB10 (7.0/21.0-130 was utilized. The Cr500 has a tread width of 186MM, and the ACB 10 is 175MM. BUT that does not seem to be a huge difference, so am I correct? What other factors could be in play here? Problem occurs with both suspension types, so unlikely to be down to that. The rears have also changed, they are now the ventilated disc from the front of the Caterham big brake kit with Hi Spec handbrake caliper. Standard master cylinder, and Pagid pads all round.

Garmin Zumo. Waterproof, connects to autocom system so verbal instructions vailable through that, and connects to phone/ipod etc via bluetooth so possible listen to music/use the phone via Autocom system. Edited by - Mike Biddle on 24 Jun 2009 16:14:06

The seperate rotor and Aluminium beel set will be lighter too. Edited by - Mike Biddle on 5 Jun 2009 04:38:17

Not just Dubai, USA, Europe as well. Sounds low because on a tin top it would be, but I have tried running various tyres at many different pressures starting at 18 over the 12 years I've had the car and 12 works well for me.

I have for many years run my tyres at what seems like very low pressures, currently CR500's at 12 PSI, and find that lower pressures work much better.

I use one too. As Alex says, good quality kit, totaly reliable, dies exactly what it says on the pack, therefore IMHO good value.

duh, you now have mail. Mike.

duh, I would have blatmailed you with my mail address, but it's not working at the moment. RIF, I will also be fitting a carbon prop, the existing one is bigger/beefier than standard and was fitted at the rebuild to handle the higher output from the RST, but it weighs a ton, and now that Russell has the carbon ones available might as well change it with the box. Edited by - Mike Biddle on 1 May 2009 16:41:54

The other ones to consider are Derenth, and the new one from Sadev. I am going to fit a Sadev SCL82-17 myself shortly, (anyone want my Quaife) it is a direct replacement for the type 9, same mountings, same prop connection, and has drop gear facility. options include display, flat **** output, and oil pump for crazy guys like me who want to stuff ridiculous quantities of power and RPM through it. Max engine torque rating is 260 lbs ft If anyone wants the details please mail me and I'll send a word doc. It's not on their website yet.

This is the kit that I had on my VX engine, and I was very pleased with it. Perhaps due to my constant enthusiasm I very quickly also fitted a dry sump system to cure the "tractor tappets" syndrome that resulted. Reccommend you also look at the oil baffle plate mod for the cam cover and a lighter flywheel clutch combination. The standard set is supertanker anchor material. You will need a decent exhaust system to get anywhere near the 225HP. Mine was dynoed at 224.

I've just noticed that Quaife are offering a lifetime warranty on the complete ATB Diff. So provided you submit your application for approval and fulfill the other conditions which looking at them are very fair, then that's a lot of peace of mind, and says alot for their confidence in the product.

Sorry for delayed answer to question. The Levante use both types, customers choice.

I would also not reccommend going to all the expense of buying a totally new diff. Mine is the original that came with the car in 1996. I had the quaife diff internals fitted by them in 98, and I think the cost then was about 450.00. Beleive me that diff has taken a pounding over the years. Before I fitted the RST I had a 225HP VX in the car and i did not treat it gently at all! It was checked out by Quaife before being refitted in the car during the rebuild in 2005 but no work was required on it.

"Seriously though, the ATB's can't handle much beyond 200bhp as they don't fully lock. Although it will 'survive', it won't act like a proper LSD at those power levels." Strange, mine does. Very well. Proof of the pudding etc. Mickrick, plate type LSD's can be very "sudden" in their operation if not carefully specced and set up for your car, so if you do go down this route make sure you get that done by a supplier that really knows what thet are doing. Knowing what you are looking at I would suggest that smooth progression is what you should be looking for. Having said that either one will be fine assumimg the plate type is set up properly.

I've just returned from Chine on a buying mission for centrifugal pumps and diesel engines. The difference in pump quality factory to factory was amazing with a lot of it being rubbish but I did find one company making reasonable quality that will be fine for our market in mid east. Re diesel engines most of the big manufacturers have factories there and I will be buyng some Cummins engines to try. Outwardly they are indistinguishable from US or UK made and the components also look to be same quality. Of course only a few yaers of hard running will tell. I think it depends on the standards set by the manufacturer, and there cetainly are quality crank manufacturers in China, at least for diesel engines.