scottydog

Just had a look at the Ultralite web site. Very weird beasts, looks a like a seven that went a bit wrong!! Also shows that the honda engine cannot be that heavy if they get their cars down to 520kg I am running a bit more torque than theirs as well, 171 vs 151, not sure how much difference that would make.

We have a huge 7.5" silencer on it as well! Its as quiet as a mouse, until you open up the rollers and the VTEC cuts in, then its gets pretty loud, still its a lot quieter than the old VHPD engine!! Might try and have a word with Frank, find out where the noise meters are now, if I can get a few laps it would be better than nothing, failing that will take it to Silverstone international the following week.

Just checked with Melindi, we have not got a noisy Donno until July, its actually 98, which there is no way mine will be under!! Its the Silverstones that are unrestricted D`oh!!!

Could ask Frank in race control, if he could switch theirs on see where we are at. Should be able to see if we are setting it off. Think most of Goldtrack`s days are noisy this year, apart from the dreaded goodwood, and bedford!

I`m one of the main instructors with Goldtrack. As far as I`m aware its a noisy day, which gives us a 120dba limit I think, we have a porsche that comes on the days, that is physically painfull to listen to. Don`t have an airbox as yet, just open roller throttles, but may have to get one if we have problems. Am hoping it goes well, suppose time will tell!! Scott

Lakey, How have you been getting on with the Toyota engine?? What sort of power is it developing? and how does it compare on weight with the K, as I understand the Toyota is a very similar engine to the Honda. Got a day at Donno, early Mar, so hoping to take it there and put it through its paces, see how she goes. Scott

Maybe a magic eye setup similar to those used on large machinery to stop it running if the safety guards are not in place, with the belt inbetween the sender and the eye, then if the belt gets thrown, the eye would no longer be blocked by the belt, and be able to see the beam and switch a light on to let you know. Now to find somewhere that does a 12v magic eye thingymajig Scott

Sandy, All going according to plan, should be able to bring it to the next meet. Hoping to get it on the rollers this weekend, so we can make sure the mapping is spot on, and new bigger rad should be here next week. Then its just a case of enjoying it, fingers crossed!! Scott

Not weighed it as yet. But having removed a lot of the bulky items, i e 60 amp alternator, cast inlet manifold, mega thick steel exhaust manifold, heavy flywheel, etc. and then fitted lightweight alternatives. We have also removed about a ton of excess wiring from the K series loom, most of which was not used 😬 Expecting it to be a tad heavier than the K, but not by a huge amount, will need to get it flat floored, so should know soon. Besides Ian said that if we do a bit of internal work, should be able to get 280bhp, as is completely stock at the moment, and he is developing a 2.5, which in its early stages is pushing over 320bhp! Also would be happy with a slightly heavier engine that I know is not going to let me down, blow HG, fry starter motors etc (not that I am dissilussioned with the K you understand!! 😳) Scott

Ian is the owner of clockwisemotion, who deal with tuning bits for type r honda`s, I seem to remember him saying that he did the first honda engined elise, for a friend, quite a few years ago, but never took it any further. My car was given to him as a guinea pig, to see whether he could make this work, although he was certain he could. After 6 months of very hard work and a huge amount of fabrication work, he has finally finished it. It was designed as a conversion, the same as the elise one, I seem to remember him mentioning £9K, for a complete conversion, although it would be worth giving him a call just to check, as I said he has 2 people that have given him orders, and he has the engines and ancillary components waiting. Scott

Completely standard civic, albeit for roller throttles and remapped ECU. Scott

Looks a neat install! Think thats an SV bodied car, as my engine bay is a lot tighter squeeze than that, we couldnt fit the standard intake plenum, and are using roller throttles, also have a pace dry sump tank wedged in as well. The exhaust runs around the steering column, the radius would have been too tight to do anything else. Has taken a lot of work to get everything to fit in and work together, really glad that its done, can now get on with having fun again!! Scott

Yep, will have some pics sorted shortly, don`t think Ian has updated his site for a while, has been too busy getting it finished. Scott

Finally after fighting with a few electrical gremlins, the Hondaham is finally finished, and I was able to take the first proper test flight. Push the start button and it fires into life, sitting at a constant 900 rpm, oil pressure at around 6.5bar. Into 1st and off we go, instantly I recognised a complete difference from the VHPD, the engine would drive happily, at low revs with no coughing, or misbehaving. Driving around in traffic, the car is now a complete joy to drive, will pull cleanly from 1500rpm, in any gear, pulls away from lights without having to be above 4000rpm, and is a complete pussycat! Then onto a bit of open road, drop 2 cogs and floor it, instntly the bellow from the roller throttles, assaults your ears, you notice a pitch change and the extra push as the VTEC cuts in, and you are pinned to the seat up to the 8500rpm rev limit, with all the shift lights going nuts, into the next cog, and away we go again! 😬 All 240 ponies screaming to be let loose, absolutely brilliant!! Got back from the first 30 miles or so, with a huge grin on my face, the car is so much easier and more rewarding to drive, and the noise is fantastic!! Shame mine won`t be the only one for much longer, as Ian already has 2 more in the pipeline, which should be started very shortly. ☹️ Really pleased I decided to give this engine a try, will be really interesting to see how she goes on circuit! Scott

With the Honda engine we have installed, it runs in a totally sealed state, the rocker box is vented into the dry sump tank via flapper valve, so if in a positive pressure at tickover it can vent out, but when running at revs, the engine runs in a vacuum state. On the dyno we found that running it this way increases power by around 7bhp I`m unsure of why he has done it this way, but the figures seem to prove he knows what he is doing. Just to add, my VHPD had its cam cover vents sealed up, by a small peice ot tube with a bung in the end. Scotty