54 and 65 in Australia

[Willa]

Picture of the flywheel due to be fitted and the car at turn 1 Collingrove

Cheers,
Willa.

[BDA]

Congratulations on your lap record, Willa!!!    Great pictures, too!

I don't know anything about using an LSD in a Europa, but Quaife units are well respected. It might help but I don't have any experience with them. Back in the day, I drove an MG Midget in club racing. I used either a rear end with an LSD or that had been locked by welding. Other than the ratio, I'm not sure I could tell the difference.

[jbcollier]

Quaife uses a Torsen LSD which means it will not prevent wheel spin if, for example, the inside rear wheel is lifted right off the road

[Willa]

HI JB and BDA,

Thank you for your reply's and kind words about the event, I will give it a push again at next months event and hope to be able to go a bit quicker again!!
Regarding the quaife, they describe it as a ATB which I think means auto torque biasing. I was finding that I was spinning an inside rear wheel in the tight uphill corners and thought that the LSD would make a difference there. It may also be that the chassis flexes or I have to play with the suspension settings.
I am looking forward to testing it once it is in and will report the difference.
Cheers,

Willa.

[jbcollier]

I have a Quaife in my 395 5 spd.  I mainly installed it as the 395 comes stock with a two spider diff and I was increasing the power over stock.  My suspension is stock except for adjustable shocks and a twin link system.  I have had it at the track and have not had a problem with wheel spin.

[Willa]

HI JB,

After the next round of engine improvements I am aiming at 145hp at the fly or 115 ish at the wheels, knowing that my diff is only a 2 spider I agree that a stronger Quaife diff is a good option and the LSD an added benefit. I spoke to Richard some time ago and he advised to simply shim the diff to tighten it up. The car has been great however it is time to upgrade. I hope I will see a little better transition of the power to the road during the tight corners.

With the engine I am planning on better pistons and cam than those currently installed, for both power and reliability. As I build the new engine I will add a few pictures. At present I am waiting on the cam people to make a recommendation based on the flow figures of the cylinder head and other data they requested. Will advise as it comes together.

Cheers,

Willa.

[StephenH]

Well done on taking the record on the hill 

I have a 'mystery LSD' in my S2, the previous owner inserted something but I don't have the invoiced details to know exactly what it is.
Actually thought it had an open diff until I started looking at why I was having trouble with 'push' on tighter corners.
Whatever is in there is reasonable tight, there is no traction issues from launch or corner exit on power, just had to adjust style on the slower bends.

That clutch is interesting, but I wonder about going that way and lightening the flywheel if you are primarily running the Europa as a road car.

Mine is using a Fuego Turbo clutch and it is has been really good for road and club level track work, no shudder and enough slip to play with rather than being on/off only.
Looking at it last week while the engine is out and it looks really good considering it has been through probably several hundred launches for hillclimbs and sprints, plus some hundreds of laps on trackdays. I have been consistently quicker away from the line than the benchmark 160HP Alpine A110s I often compete against.

With the flywheel weight, do you really need the reduced mass for a bit of acceleration at the expense of reduced tractability?

Pondering, pondering.... 

[Willa]

I am competing again at the end of the month and will take better note of my split times compared to the competition. The data should give me more insight into how I compare to others off the start line. I do think though, that a lighter flywheel will be beneficial and given the car is light I do not expect to see problems on the road. I am a little concerned that the on-off clutch will be a challenge, particularly in traffic....

When you run hill-climbs, what tire pressures are you running?

Cheers,

Willa.

[StephenH]

When you run hill-climbs, what tire pressures are you running?

Oops.... didn't pick up this question several months ago.
Depends on the weather and how the day goes.
Running Toyo R888 in 185/60-13.

For short hillclimbs I generally start at about 17PSI Front, 23PSI Rear cold and then check warm to keep around that level after each successive run.

Have found on track days I'm still using the center of the tyre more than I would like to, so have started dropping further cold.

[Willa]

Hi Stephen,
Thank you for your feedback, it is similar to what I run, although I am playing around to see what changes occur when I increase the pressure difference between the from the and back, so far I am happy with about 7 psi. I have found that on a hot day I try to place the car so that the sun is above the car otherwise the pressures change very quickly from the heat!!

I have almost completed a mechanical rebuild and need to do so by the end of the month as the AFM Adelaide Festival of Motorsport commences with a 4 day rally which I am looking forward to running in. I will post a photo of some of work.
Cheers,
Willa.

[Willa]

Here are a few pics of the recent work,
Cheers,
Willa

[BDA]

Nicely done, Willa! How did you attach your radiator hoses to the transfer tubes? Hose clamp or did you figure out a way to put a fitting on the tube?

[Willa]

Hi BDA
We welded on a -16 proflow fitting at the engine end and -20 fitting at the radiator. The tubes are stainless so won’t need to be removed for a long time, hopefully!! in most normal cars the hot water flows into the top of the radiator so this is how we have plumbed it, hence the crossover pipes. The system is much better than the original so should keep the engine cool although some proper testing will show up any issues.

Also,

We have done a lot of work on the engine both in the block and head with particular attention to the oil flow which on the original is quite restrictive. The rods are 8mm longer and from a Renault Clio Cup with some mods to fit properly and the pistons are custom giving an 11.1:1 compression ratio and a dynamic compression at 8.5:1 this will allow the engine to be run on 98 octane pump fuel without detonation. We will run the engine in on the dyno next week so should have power figures soon’ish.
Here is another picture of the rocker assembly, modified with bronze spacers.
Cheers
Willa.

[BDA]

I was thinking that it would make it hard to take out your transfer tubes if you needed to, but you're right, it would be a rare circumstance that would require that and you could cut the fittings off and weld them back on. Pretty cool!

[jbcollier]

Silver-solder if stainless, strong enough and easy to reuse.