Latest pics (April 2011)

Thursday, August 31, 2006

LBM Shop almost ready.. delays to engine/turbo

Will set-up a link to the new LBM shop for various goodies and apparel. Using Cafe-Press in the US - should work a treat. May help attract sponsors - can't harm and will make eays Xmas gifts.. even includes a baby line,,lol

No word back from V8 folks, now prices back from John Welch and Dunc can't commit to a slot in the workshop as he's floored... light at the end of the tunnel...?

still looking, still in the dark.

Aeromods - some progress @ MVS

Pics of rear diffuser and undertray - MVS' access to an Esprit is really helping. How cool is that!!!





MVS' rear diffuser plan



The advantage of the aero mods should really pay dividend on the faster tracks. Hopefully progress on the front diffuser and rear wing will also move along. I've also canvassed Martyn @ MVS to make a lightweight carbon roof panel and rear hatch.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Just imagine - letstorque!

Imagine - if I could hit both power and weight targets - hypothetically speaking of course..

http://www.letstorquebhp.com/calculator.asp

Welcome to letstorquebhp.com, the site about theory acceleration figures for standard, modified and yet-to-be-tested performance cars. Using very limited data we predict 0-60mph, 0-100mph and ¼ mile (with ET) figures for road legal cars within a few tenths of its correct real times. The main aim of the site is for a fun comparison between all types of performance cars, from standard to the highly modified. How quick is yours?……Use our guide lists (above) for your car’s weight, and then check out our performance calculator.


Power at Flywheel (BHP) : 525 @ 1.2bar on T04E Stage 4
Weight without Driver (KG) : 980
Power to Weight Ratio (BHP Per Ton) : 544.31
0 - 60 (Secs) : 3.20
0 - 100 (Secs) : 6.75
60 - 100 (Secs) : 3.55
Quarter Mile (Secs) : 11.27
Terminal Speed (MPH) : 129.25
Drag Strip Quarter Mile (Secs) : 11.17
Drag Strip Terminal Speed (MPH) : 130.73

or at max boost: (est.)

Power at Flywheel (BHP) : 600 @ 1.5bar on T04E Stage 4
Weight without Driver (KG) : 980
Power to Weight Ratio (BHP Per Ton) : 622.07
0 - 60 (Secs) : 2.98
0 - 100 (Secs) : 6.07
60 - 100 (Secs) : 3.09
Quarter Mile (Secs) : 10.98
Terminal Speed (MPH) : 134.47
Drag Strip Quarter Mile (Secs) : 10.88
Drag Strip Terminal Speed (MPH) : 136.01


WOW!!!! If I coudl get the traction and not blow the gearbox..lol :o)

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Merde: Uprating the Renault UN-1.. no way round it!

Spoke with Kev at GTO Engineering who use the Derek Bell UN1 5-speed conversion - looks like I'll def need to upgrade plus drop in a Quaife atb l.s.d.

more money.. £2K prb once VAT and installed,, merde!

aero evolution.. ground effects undertray

spoke with MVS - firm who is making the rear diffuser/undertray - they're instead going to make me a full undertray, diffuser etc to fit the Esprit - 4' 6" long x 4' wide to fit under engine bay then another section under front of car to tie up main underbody whcih is pretty flat already.. they have access to an Esprit to get shape etc right.. They also know where to cut the correct holes in the tray to improve suction.

Larger front splitter will bring the car down an inch at the front plus more aggressive top wing in due course. With some adjustments to the suspension and slicks she should go well... eventually.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

John Welch T04E Stage4 upgrade (notes)

This will give Garry K a basis to build a 910 for me:

Engine spec:
1-2 mm over size intale valves
104 intake cam moved 4 degrees
370ccpm mains 440ccpm secondarys
43 psi rail pressure
Open exhaust
Electronic stand alone boost controller (no fuzzy logic BS)
Good compression numbers..

Turbo: Garret T04E

T-3 turbine housing with a special internal wastegate setup that has a 3" v-band discharge. Compressor side has a 3" inlet and the normal 2.35 outlet to go to the charge cooler. Still uses a ceramic BB centersection. There is a bit of lag over some smaller turbos, but still less than the stock Sport 300. Highest we have tuned to so far is 441hp at the wheels.

I've also got a 3" down pipe for it, you can use as the start of an exhaust system, or if you have left hand exit, we have a one piece pipe with an additional o2 bung for a wide-band sensor.

I have several of the turbos from the original X180r's and what bothers me is how small they are. People claim that they were making 400-500hp on these engines, but the turbos are smaller that what I sell people for use on their street cars.

We can supply mem-cals or EPROM's with code if your's already have a socket.


John Welch

Possible 910 'Kemp' Race Engine spec

Possible spec for the proposed 910 engine - hopefully I can swing the forged conrods..

I agree that John's turbo will provide a big chunk of the extra power; so I will focus more on the reliability. The standard induction system is quite restrictive and while a bit of detailed work in the diffuser, plenum and intake manifold makes a big difference there isn't really any point in going for a seriously ported head: I could do you a head that flows 180cfm; but what's the point if the induction system will cap the flow at 150cfm?

I would therefore propose a head with just +1mm inlets - like the S300, a bit of tidying up on the short side of the port and some matching of the inlet manifold. I'd rather save the money and use it towards a crank or dry sump.

Regarding transaxles; the V8 version or the GT3 one are the strongest - they had a different material specification for the gears to the Renault versions. I suspect that 500hp will standard transmission quite quickly. The Derek Bell conversion seems to me a rfeasonable upgrade at sensibe money. I have however just read an article about "isotropic superfinishing" ; it is a new finishing / stress-relief process that is heavily used in high end motor sport and military applications (helicopter gears); it is not expensive and it apparently works wonders on gear sets ; extending lifespan massively; it's not particularly expensive; if you were to rebuild a stock transmission, put in a quaiffe LSD and superfinish the gears; it may well solve the problem at reasonable cost.

I think I would build you an engine from scratch; the other engine would need too much stripping down; I may as well start again. In terms of tuning it would be similar to the one advertised; but I would include some additional items:

ARP heads studs,
Iron liners or closed deck block,
10 dowelled mains
10 dowelled head gasket joint,
Extrude hone your exhaust manifold,
high quality balance of reciprocating components

I'd like to include steel rods, steel crank and dry sump; but that collectively will run to around ?3500; so we can't have them all. I suspect that the rods will have to go and possibly the dry sump.

I would therefore modify an S4 sump and a set of standard rods - I can lighten the rods a little and polish and shot peen them. The sump I can add extra baffles; maybe a windage tray and do some extra work to the oil system.


Garry

Notes from Garry Kemp (proposed 910 engine)

"I think ceramic coating is worthwhile at times; but the Esprit engine won't need that much: the pistons have chrome plated crowns and grafal coated skirts as standard. The exhaust manifold may be worthwhile; but beyond that I can't see anything in particular need of coating.

No problem to put my name on the engine; but if you don't mind I would like to agree the format. The inlet cam is the only one I'd change - I have one with more lift but similar overall duration to stock - which means it won't screw up the calibration of the race chip.

I don't think you need adjustable pulleys; I would swap to 104 / 104 cam timing; but you can use a production pulley for that. I would stick with the stock SE water pump; it works well and we don't have money to throw around on non essentials; although I may fit a larger pulley to slow it down a little. I would rather save money on bits and pieces and fit a set of rods or a dry sump, if we can run to it; than tinker around the edges.

Your larger chargecooler is fine; an electric chargecoler pump is worthwhile - I can find a large capacity one - there is a 21 litre per minute item available; but most people use the davies craig one which only flows 13L. I'll get the bigger one. a stock alternator will be fine; maybe with a slightly larger pulley. The standard starter has gear reduction and is an excellent item - no need to change that.

I will modify the sump and oil system; although it won't need an external feed. The Lotus engine suffers the opposite problem - it overfeeds the head and needs a restrictor to stop it doing that."