ProComp LA Gold

If they are any good they will have a waiting list, doubt you will get it seen to next week. Good luck

He used to do the Triumphs that I used to drive for Jigsaw racing. They had nothing but praise for him

Was that when you raced at Le Mans? not many people know that.............

You know I didn't realise that I mentioned it I was going to save the story for one night when we are all huddled round the BBQ

He's been running rolling roads for donkeys years (I used him in 1988 when he was operating out of the back of Marshalls garage in the centre of Cambridge). Not sure what his figures are like now, but they used to be about 20BHP optimistic, but he's got loads of experience with carbs, which is what you need.

Thanks Billy

looking at gauges for end of season fitting.
TIM gauges from Burton look ok.

I need;
Oil Temperature. TIM
Oil Pressure. TIM
Water Temperature. TIM
Rev Counter. RaceTech

When it comes to engine gauges what are peoples thoughts, mechanical or electrical?

Mechanical oil gauges don't need big sender units and don't suffer from voltage changes and the nylon oil line is quite easy to route to the gauge.

Mechanical temp gauges have a cumbersome line from the sensing bulb which can be difficult to route, but electrical ones can suffer from voltage changes.

In an attempt to discover if my engine power is pants or I have a right foot constructed of feathers I removed the cam cover this afternoon.
Doing this told me nothing so went for a beer.
Came back and looked at the cams and the markings thereon.

After some digging on the internet, it appears I have a pair of Kent 'Sportcam''s as this is stamped on the cams

Now, they could be;
FZ1801K 1500-6500rpm 262 duration good for an extra 20 bhp
or
1802K 1500-6500 rpm duration good for an extra 14bhp

Unless I remove them I will never know, that is for the winter.

The odd thing is, there are no vernier pulleys fitted to dial these in.
I have variously been told that all uprated cams need verniers and also that unless they are wild cams the standard pulleys are good enough.
Dammed if I know.

Any information leading to a much more speedy engine or the removal of feathered foot replaced by lead gratefully received.

Imho Jack Vernier Pulleys will always be better as they allow some fine tuning of the cam timing. Although as you say maybe not strictly necessary on some milder camshafts

Standard pullies on mine

I have a DTI and a degree disc you can use if you want to go to the trouble of measuring how much lift they have and where it occurs.

Thanks Billy.
Any pulling apart is likely to be over the winter.
I am pricing and sourcing parts now.

After much rootling around using bring em near devices I have found what cams are fitted to the venerable silvertop.

KC750123 cams.

Clearly kent cams ground for 750MC.

But, I can find no specs on either 750mc or the Kent cams website.
So, I do not know if they are set up correctly, need verniers, or what the settings need to be.


Short of phoning Kent, any ideas chaps?..................

Procomp ? But I know Matt and Ivan were not guge fans of the 750mc control cams I remember him saying that they were designed to make peak power at 8000 +rpm where the engine could only rev to 7500ish rpm due to the Hydraulic lifters so the cam did not suit the spec of the engines that was ran

I had a long chat with Ivan at Snet'.
Great fun, there are a lot of things he is not a fan of, 750mc cams is one thing.
The planned engine change in Low Cost for 2017 which none of the drivers wants but the formula rep is pushing, is another.

I'll give Procomp, Jonathon at Stanwood Engineering and Kent cams a ring in the morning.

Phoning ProComp is similar to calling Andy Bates, a large mug of tea and packet of biscuits is needed as they are always long, fun and informative conversations.

More Cams info'

They are KC750FZ134
Power band 2500 - 7000
Duration 278
Can be timed in on Ford pulleys.

Talked with Matt at Procomp, he was not that rude about the cam's

Springs
Matt thinks
Front 350
Rear 120

Nodiz
Ordered this morning.

Hi John

With having a light car and a beam axle at the back, I would expect the rear springs to be fairly soft, around about 130 to 150 lbs/" as a starting point. Matt is the expert on your car and has loads of experience with it, so he has probably found that 120lbs" works best.

However, after looking round the car at Snetterton, then unless the dampers are extremely stiff at the rear, I reckon that you have much stiffer springs currently fitted. Therefore, it would be worth removing one of the springs just to see what the rate is.

First surprise.
NoDiz ordered yesterday at 13:30
Arrived today at 11:30

Second surprise
I did a very un blokey thing and had a swift read of the instructions

Plugged it in as per instructions and it as quick as their youtube video.

Unless I am missing something, this piece of kit does exactly what it says on the tin.

In fairness, I purchased the already wired, based mapped Zetec option.
I get on with wiring like Herod got on with child care.

I have yet to take the car for a run, but it does tick over smoother

Billy, Ed, Ian, as fellow Zetecistas, where are you taking your water temperature reading from.
This would be to connect to an electrical gauge

Top hose? aftermarket house joiner thingy

Thermostat housing top? what looks like a ford fitting

Thermostat housing bottom? what looks like an after market fitting

Mine in the fury is in the top hose the long metal bit that goes over the exhaust but thats a capillary gauge.

when I had Billys Hornet I had the temperature sender for the electric gauge in the thermostat housing but I had to add an earth to the sender body as the Zetec thermostat housing was plastic Im sure it was in the bottom of the housing but Billy will confirm. I also think it was 1/8npt thread but again I wouldnt bet my mortgage on it

Thanks Ian

Yes its in the bottom one, but my gauge undereads by about 15 degrees.

Given the longer stints at the Snetterton 4 Hour and higher running temperatures I have invested in gauges I can read.

To replace the all singing all tap dancing SPA set up with every sensor known to man I have gone for 4 gauges.

Race Tech Rev Counter from Burton
Sump plug adapted for a temperature sensor from Burton

From ETB Instruments;
Water temperature gauge + sensor
Oil pressure gauge + sensor + adaptor including oil pressure light connection
Oil temperature gauge + sensor

This lot should arrive on Friday

I will no doubt have several bone wiring questions between now and Snetterton.

I have now started to open the boxes of shiny stuff.

Yesterday, Digi Dash and all its wiring and sensors removed
Today, oil pressure sensor fitted and wired into a temporary dash
Tomorrow is having a go at the water temp' sensor and gauge.

Best of luck, I know what your like with electric string

Water gauge and sensor trial wired and working.

That said, it tends to show
+10 degrees.

I have checked all the pipework temps and the temp of the coolant in the header tank that when they are at 70 degrees, the gauge shows 80.

If I get time to drop the oil before Snet' I would hope to wire in the oil temp gauge.

I still have to find some 10mm studding for the alternator mount, mine snapped at Mallory.
Seat to make and cover
Catch tank to fit.
New mirrors to fit
Nodiz to fit
Racetech rev counter to fit.

Other than that, I am ready to go

Hi John

Try turning the engine off and see if it then reads 70 degrees. With the engine running the alternator will be kicking out about 14 volts, with the engine stopped and just the battery powering it at about 12.7 volts, it may drop to the correct reading showing it is just the extra voltage from the alternator causing the inaccuracy.

Thanks Billy

The general consensus is the the suspension on my car is rock hard.

I have enjoyed how it handles in the dry but think it would be mental in the wet.

Does anyone have a low cost accurate method of measuring spring poundage I could use please

If you remove the springs and look at the ground flat ends of the coils, then they should be either engraved or have the rate written on them, though this is often difficult to read on a used spring. As a minimum, there should be the rate in lbs", and probably also the free length in ", and maybe the inside diameter of the spring.

You can also work it out mathematically but the diameter of the wire has a massive effect on its poundage, and it is difficult to measure if its painted or plastic coated (Google for the calculation). You can also place them on accurate scales and compress them a set distance and then work it out, but you have to take very accurate measurements, and if your springs are stiff then the distance they will move will be quite small for a large load and consequently the answers wont be that accurate.

Some race prep shops have spring rate measuring tools, and the short oval one near you might have one. Alternatively you can pop round mine and just make a comparison of "squashiness" against the spare springs I have.

I used the compress and measure method on a set springs once. Can't remember what they were rated at, but I placed the spring on a set of bathroom scales with a steel rule alongside and compressed with a drill press. Don't use the drill's depth gauge as the scales will compress. It's as accurate as the equipment you use and the care you take, but it will get you a reasonable result.

Thanks Billy.

I initially Googled this and found an American home brew test set up.
This involved  the tow hitch of a 4x4, a 6' length of 2"x2", a 6" nail and a set of bathroom scales.

I have googled the maths measuring method to get an approximate result, this works out at 420lb front and 175lb rear.
This will be measured again before getting into removing dampers and springs.

Ben Marjoram is my oval racing chap, he is only 2 minutes up the road.  His mob are obsessed with corner and spring rates, so he may have a testing rig of some description.

Sean.
I have looked at the scale method.
It may well measure the front springs at the approximately required 170lb
But, I am not sure how I will get on with measuring the required 350lb springs for the rear

all suggestions welcome.

It's all down to factors i.e. the required pressure to compress the spring half an inch for example. Problem there is the smaller the measurement, the higher degree of inaccuracy. Strangely opposite set up to mine. Our Locosts without an anti roll bar have 350lb fronts and 130lb rear springs. I did see once on someone's website from the beginning of Locost racing, recommendation of 550lb fronts! A bit extreme even for a Xflow.