solstice Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 When we fitted a VVC head to my car I lost some ground clearance because the engine had to be canted over a little, it now looks a bit like it is on stilts compared to other sevens, what is the realistic minimum sump clearance for road use?ThanksG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted March 22, 2015 Member Share Posted March 22, 2015 It's usually described as just enough to roll a can of Coke underneath... which was 66 mm the last time I checked.From memory the most commonly quoted value for road 7s is 80 mm.Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6speedmanual Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 How much can you raise the engine under tje bonnet? How much sump clearance do you have? Are your lower wishbones parallel to the ground? Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6speedmanual Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Sod this lack of ability to separate paragraphs on android!! Can't it be fixed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter G Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Chaps, I too had this problem when I fitted a vvc engine, in fact it wouldn't fit even with the correct engine mount, I had to get the plenum adjusted to clear the bonnet. The new mount lowers the engine by about 20mm I recall. I'm about to fit adjustable platform billies to jack it up a bit (I'm on 13" rims) as the sump has kissed a couple of cats eyes already. I aim to get the lower wishes level and go from there, any improvement on what I have now will be a good thing, the I'll be round to Mr 6speeds to aim for a flatish floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solstice Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 Hi PeterI've got about 70-75mm of sump clearance, but the body sits quite high due to the engine being canted over which was necessary to get bonnet clearance, I did wonder whether a dry sump would give me a bit more clearance, but it is an expensive solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shn7 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 From the title i thought this was going to be a Wightblat thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mankee Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I did wonder whether a dry sump would give me a bit more clearance, but it is an expensive solution.An alternative expensive solution is to ditch the plenum and fit throttle bodies. Then you can put the engine back in its original position, as it will all fit within the confines of the bonnet with an appropriate filtration setup. The extra height of the VVC head's upper cam ladder (18mm or something like that?) doesn't make any difference. Expensive solution yes, but the noise and extra unicorn power = Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted March 24, 2015 Member Share Posted March 24, 2015 You're not alone, Steve, every time I see it!Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6speedmanual Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 My floor is quite flat, thank you Mr G. I'll happily flatten yours! Carriage return. Mid May would be good, after I'm back from annual ScotBlat :) Carriage return. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter G Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Hey Mr 6speed. May sounds good, ain't seen you for a while are you busy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy77 Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Sorry to drag up an old thread but I didn't want to start a new one...I had my car flat floored last Autumn and I asked for an in between road/track set up. Generally I'm very happy with the results, but I measured my sump clearance at just 60mm!!Is this too low for road use? How much suspension travel can you expect at the front under heavy braking? I've heard of some owners getting into fights with cats eyes, loosing miserably, and faced with a bill for a new sump.Should I raise it back up or am I high enough to miss the cats eyes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonyH Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Mine is in the mid-60s and the front of the sump (K-series) has had its vanes grated off in not very long (since having a new sump 18 months ago). I'm having the car raised a bit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy77 Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 I'd be happy to raise the car 10mm on each corner myself, but would this screw up the corner weighting / flat floor set up? Or in other words, would it be best to get it flat floored again if I just want to raise the ride height? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solstice Posted April 28, 2015 Author Share Posted April 28, 2015 My understanding is that provided you do the same on each corner you should be fine, my new car has 55-60mm which worried me, but so far it hasn't really caused any problems (although I have been careful) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arv Mc Slow Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Anything around 60mm for road is taking a gamble, my 500 has 90mm but I'm not doing any track days yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM25T Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 I put 250lb springs on the front to help keep the sump away from the ground and road hardware in high speed compressions. Smooths out the bumps at speed too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mankee Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Don't forget that a dry sump is of a lower profile than the standard wet sump. I think I've got some spare 180 and 200 lb 2.25" ID springs (from Alan Bowler) kicking around if anyone wants to give them a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy77 Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Well if it can be confirmed that simply raising the ride height equally on each corner (i.e. equal number of turns on the shock adjuster) will NOT affect the flat floor / corner weight set up, then I'll do this myself. Are the C-wrenches required universal, or do I need one specific to the Bilsteins?Looking at spring rates is an interesting approach, however, the car currently handles superbly and without knowing the existing spring rates I don't want to go down the road of messing about with that. I don't think I would want the ride any firmer for the road anyway... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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