Mike Biddle

Adam, of the 8 Levantes originally planned, 5 have been sold, and the first one will be on the road soon.

Pat, yes I did, at Brize Norton, 161 on the satnav. I think it would do more given a longer run, maybe up to 165, must give it a go someday somewhere very quiet, early in the morning on a Sunday perhaps. The Levante would probably get somehere near it if it wasn't limited to 150. It obiously has alot more power than my car and has better gearing since it's running 15" wheels as opposed to my 13" IF, my car had enough power the rev limiter would come in at approx 195.

Yes Tor, a bigger dia slave cylinder will produce the same effect as a smaler master cylinder. Might be cheaper as well. Only really an option for external slaves though.

Drenth is the other choice, more expensive but a much slicker change mechanism and will cope with the power.

Yep, mine rattles too. To make it a bit easier to use try a smaller bore master cylinder, just 1 MM smaller will make a huge difference to useability. see similar thread, "hydrolic clutch" on this page.

If you do go down the hydraulic route I have a 15 MM bore master cylinder you can have to try if you wish. It's done about 6,000 Miles.

Thanks Peter, I may very well do just that. Mike.

Hi Paul, sorry I don't have any pics of the slave cylinder set up, but its a fairly standard concentric slave cylinder set up. (fits over the gearbox input shaft, mounts on the front of the gearbox and acts directly on the clutch) If you have a cable clutch now and its a problem, suggest you first check the cable system out as suggested in posts to make sure it's functioning OK then if your still not happy with it then consider a hydraulic clutch. You could probably fit an external slave cylinder to opertae the existing clutch arm, or go with a concentric system, but thats a much bigger and more costly approach, engine and box out etc.

Yes Peter, but nothing to do with cars I'm afraid, we arebuilding a trailer mounted pump unit and this is the first time wev'e done it. The trailer has a hydraulic braking system and we just can't find brake pipe material here. So, the next question is where can I get some? We would buy a "wholesale" type quantity, however it comes, the standard "trade" qty.

Does anyone know what sort of pressures brake systems operate at in your average car?

A heavy hydraulic clutch can be cured by fitting a smaller bore master cylinder. This changes the "gear ratio" between master cylinder and slave cylinder. I have quite a hefty clutch in my car but with a 14MM bore master cylinder the pedal is light as a feather with the added advantage that engagement is very progressive, and the car easy to drive in traffic.

If your using an aeroscreen, bike crask helmets with the headsets fitted in the helmets are the best all round solution. Provides protection from flying objects, weather, and you don't even know the earphones are there untill they are in use.

Just got a new laptop, and apart from dowgrading from shista to XP to make the thing work at more than snails pace I've got one really annoyining problem. While (two finger) typing in any programme, including making this post, the cursor jumps around all over the place resulting in reams of gobbledegook. I've tried playing around with settings but there does not appear to be anything I can do. Having said that I'm a 55 year old IT idiot with not the faintest idea of what I'm doing. Any expert ideas out there?

Problems changing up but not changing down does not sound like a clutch problem, that would more likely be the other way around. Anyway, regardless of whether it's gearbox or clutch its an engine out job, and since you suspect the clutch anyway it would be a good idea to replace it anyway as well as sorting the gearbox.

I've not experienced uneven tyre wear Rob, even after some track day sessions at Castle Combe, in fact the fronts looked to be evenly affected all the way across the tread. Iguess the best way to find out is to take tyre temps after a hard run or track session. Would be interested to learn how you get on with the Khumo's. Your Car is looking great by the way. Edited by - Mike Biddle on 12 Jun 2008 23:18:49

Steve, why is 15 PSI "way toooo low"? Not looking for an argument here, just interested to know if there is any hard evidence. I have run my seven for 10 years with these tyre presures including long high speed runs at up up to 120 MPH and (Breifly) at speeds up to 150 MPH with no problems at all.

If you send me your mail ID I'll send you some pics.

Good point Rob, my car will not fit on a Minno or similar, but it is possible to get a wide enough trailer. Mike.

Darren, as Mav says the inserts are there to make sure the rear wings cover the Wheels. In my case they are 75MM wide to accomodate the widest set of rims I have, which are 10.5 inch. If you blatmail me your e-mail address I'll send you some pics. Was there anything else you wanted to know? Mike.

I find I get more grip with those pressures, I used to run the ?????? (Avon crossplys that I can't remember the name of) at that pressure too with good results. Sevens are very light!

What's the "correct pressure" I always run mine at somewhere between 12 and 15 PSI.

Here are a few things you will need if you go down the RST route. The other V8's will require very similar attention. Dfferent engine mounts. Gearbox mounts remain in same position but are different for the Drenth (my next upgrade, 🥰) which is the same size as a type 9 (so they tell me) Steering system requires serious re routing, terminating in a 90 deg gearbox and vertical shaft down to the steering rack. New, bigger radiator required A LOT of oil cooling capacity, (I have two laminonova's) these bike based engines run very small bearings and the oil gets red hot very quickly. A clutch that can handle it, mine is a twin plate 7.25" cerametalic. Lots of plumbing! A new ECU (not cheap!) You have already mentioned exhausts. Now the key question, will it be worth it? Well....yes and no. No if you just compare it to a duratec. YES if you want something totally different. Can you use the power on the public highway? Only for a few seconds, warp 9 is acheived faster than you ever thought possible. terrifyingly fast. Gut churning. having 10.2 KRPM to play with is a whole lot of fun! My car is at available for tset drives, I've decided to SVA it and register in UK rather than shipping back and forth all the time, with the added advantage that we have a demo car available. It's at the shop in Hodddesdon and Russell will organise a trip out for you if you want to try. He has trade plates and access to an airfield.

I have the Hi specs at the rear over the same vented disc as the "Big Brake" fronts. The handbrake works reasonably well, enough to pass an MOT anyway. They made a huge difference in terms of overall stopping power once they were equiped with Pagids (they came with greenstuff, Yuck!)I still think I may be short of braking power at the back though, since I can still lock the fronts up all too easily, but that may instead be due to being over tyred at the front so I have to sort out that conundrum first, maybe I can find somone kind enough to lend me a pair of 13" wheels with 195 CR500's on in order to test the theory before I shell out dosh on a set of narrower front wheels and tyres. Currently running 205's at the front.

Bit behind the game though aren't they. I've had had two piece front discs with aluminium hubs (bells) on my car for the last 9 years.

I used the rear caliper from Hi Spec which incorporates a handbrake mechanism. I'm in Kuwait right now but could get you more info when I get back to Dubai if you like. Since you don't need a handbrake, you could use the same calipers that you have on the front provided you can make them fit, which shouldn't be too much of a problem. You might need a brake bias valve to tone down the rears a bit but at least that would optimise your braking and resolve the high temp problem which is why I went for the vented disc. In fact IMHO there is no need for vented discs at the front where there is plenty of cooling air rushing around, it's the rear that really needs them. Another way to do it would be to fit the same set up I have on the fromt, 280 MM solid discs and Hi spec lightweight "racing four" calipers and transfer the vented units to the back. That system JUST fits under my 13" rims with about 3MM clearnce and the big diameter discs provide powerful and more controlable braking than smaller diameters. A lot lighter too, I think I saved almost 1KG each side over the standard two pot set up so they would be significantly lighter than the AP four pots.