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X430 - my SC'd 2.3 Duratec in a CSR chassis


Se7en

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After something like 2 years of planning, development and countless hours of work, my supercharged 2.3 Duratec engine finally got on the dyno and ran. I am over the moon at the power and torque – 423bhp and 316lb torque on an engine dyno. 😬 It will be going into my CSR chassis very soon and I will post pics and dyno sheets in due course along with the build story if people want it.

 

The first thing I want to do is thank a bunch of people:

 

Obviously, the original inspiration came from Caterham and the X330 so I am going to have to thank them first.

 

The first contact I had with anyone on this project was Raceline and they were very helpful but they had not done anything approaching my power goals using the larger Rotrex SC unit.

 

I bought a crank and rods from Ammo at Raceco who was also fancying doing something SC'd at the time.

 

By chance, from a post on BC, I got in touch with Jeff Wilson at HWR about some steel rods and he said he had been involved in the X330 (as well as Raceline) and he said he was interested to build the engine.

 

Then, I read about Jamsport conversions on Fiestas etc so I got in touch with Jamie who helped a lot and also ended up supplying my cams from new blanks.

 

I also bought the mother of all cylinder heads and another (2.0l) steel crank and rods from Ian Howell at Area6 who had done a major turbo build that ultimately split the block on the dyno. He was very helpful in all aspects.

 

Lastly, whilst Russel at RS Performance did not actually help, I did use some of his components that have been proven on the V8 Caterhams.

 

Whilst a lot of people are probably going to say “Why do this?” Well, I did it because I wanted to, and it had not been done successfully to these levels (to my knowledge) in a Caterham. Also, you can’t buy an X330 let alone and X430! It would also be a personal challenge because I was behind most of the engine spec and design of components and the engineering of the SC and for the installation. I also have a friend with a Levante supercharged car and a NA V8 and I wanted to try and keep up with them!

 

I will get some pics sorted at the weekend and post up a dyno graph/sheet.

 

Bye for now.

 

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I have set the whole thing up as track oriented so I have gone with wide 13" RIAL wheels and Michellin slicks. I hope I can get a bit of grip and it is not too much power for the car (!). That meant the stupidly expensive race CSR rear hubs, AP callipers and no handbrake.....
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Some pics of the car as it is right now.

 

X430

 

I have had the wheels coated satin black since the pics.

 

The engine is just back from the bench dyno and will be going in soon. I will get some engine pics at the weekend.

 

How do I share Word and Excel files on here?

 

Cheers.

 

Edited by - Se7en on 12 Aug 2010 21:38:52

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Dave J - I like your stripes. I was not sure what stripes to put on this as the 2 nose ducts are in the way. Also, there are 3 rows of bonnet ducts so not easy to apply.

 

Ideas on stripes please.......?

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my stripes are painted under the laquer

 

All the best cars have this feature 😶‍🌫️

 

 

The engine is just back from the bench dyno and will be going in soon. I will get some engine pics at the weekend.

 

*arrowup*Pants Like an over enthusiastic black lab *tongue* *tongue* *tongue* *tongue*

 

 

 

 

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Some basic info on the car build:

 

I started with a bare CSR chassis and began modifying it for areas I knew needed strengthening for the sort of power I hoped to make. These included a lot of work adding additional mounts for the diff, rear diffuser mounts, side oil cooler mounts, front chassis top rails, pedal box bracing, dash bracing, brake bias mount, moving roll cage mounts etc etc. I also shortened the passenger footwell to make space for the dry sump tank. I had to change the pedal box to an SV one so the exhaust would not foul the master cylinder (big job!). I needed to route -8 send and -6 return fuel lines which required some modification in the tunnel. I have probably forgotten some things I did as this stage really took a lot of time.

 

Then the chassis went off for powder coating and ally panelling but I deleted holes for the petrol filler because I wanted it on the rear ally boot cover. I also deleted the side exhaust manifold hole as the custom manifold would come out the bonnet. I then made some removable side panels similar to the Blackbird but larger. I wanted to fit these to allow better access to the SC and other engine parts that would be under the plenum or exhaust manifold. I also mounted them differently. I destroyed one set initially but I got it right eventually.

 

The bonnet needed to have additional vents to get the hot air out from the intercooler and the water radiator. I would not be able to use the CSR nose vent as I had to get air into the intercooler. More on the nose later. You cannot get a bonnet made with 3 rows of vents so I had to add a row in. I destroyed one new bonnet by welding in a vent before settling on bonding one in from the underside.

 

The nose cone started as an SV one (no vent) and I spent about 100 hrs making the nose intakes and bonding them in and filling to make nice and smooth. I think the result was worthwhile and they feed the intercooler nicely. The plenum inlet hose I had made to fit the DTH Jenveys sticks out the side of the bonnet and part of the nose so I made a raised section to protect it a bit.

 

This all sounds very easy when you write it down but I can assure you it was challenging and time consuming!!

 

Will post some more pics of the build when I can and then the engine......

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