My RS Turbo - Plenum project (+ MORE!)

Post by **Ben** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:09 pm

Also look at their feedback on ebay .. dire .. they are not popular on GTR.co.uk either

mneame · Post by **mneame** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:23 pm

Makes me want an RST again.

Agree about the techniclutch as well. Back in my RS days a few of us had them and quickly swapped them out as they slipped like mad. Even on pretty much standard power cars when the clutch plate was said to be rated much higher.

mneame · Post by **mneame** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:30 pm

Christian,

How much hassle would it be to convert to a hydraulic clutch? Surely this way you'd be able to fit a nice ap racing 240mm 4 paddle clutch but still have a nice smooth feel to the clutch pedal.

Matt.

Christian and Beccy · Post by **Christian and Beccy** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:37 pm

Fitting a Hydraulic clutch would mean stripping and rebuilding the gearbox into the correct casing now and since the diff has been properly shimmed, it's not easy. Also, there is no easy way to fit a cylinder either.

I'm hoping to run a 240mm Paddle and even with the cable it should feel OK, after all, Cossie's have been run like that for years. Thats my theory anyway.

Mr Fletcher · Post by **Mr Fletcher** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:57 pm

very nice work there christian.superb effort, have you got much more development work to do ?

cheers

jason

mneame · Post by **mneame** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:33 am

Christian and Beccy wrote:Fitting a Hydraulic clutch would mean stripping and rebuilding the gearbox into the correct casing now and since the diff has been properly shimmed, it's not easy. Also, there is no easy way to fit a cylinder either.

I'm hoping to run a 240mm Paddle and even with the cable it should feel OK, after all, Cossie's have been run like that for years. Thats my theory anyway.

ah quite a lot of work then.

can't wait to see the outcome. it's going to be stonking! :thumb:

Christian and Beccy · Post by **Christian and Beccy** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 3:08 pm

I removed the exhaust to do some welding on it as the downpipe has changed slightly and needed the rest of the exhaust matching up to it. Also, I knew that the exhaust was full of oil from the turbo failure, so I planned to stand it up on end to let it drain. However, to my surprise, this fell out......

LOL. The back end of the turbo from the failure 18 months ago! I would have thought that would have fallen out when it was on the back of the recovery truck, but clearly not!

The exhaust has now been standing up on end for a few days and some oil has drained out, but not as much as I expected. I imagine it's going to be quite smokey when I start it! Hopefully a few hours on the dyno should clear it all out. I set fire to the front pipe to burn as much out of there as I could, although some parts of the exhaust are new now anyway.

My gearbox has been sitting around built for a while now. I had all the build pics, but lots my camera, so can't show you those. However, it's an MTX75 gearbox with a rare gearset in it. It's nothing fancy, but the ratio's suit me perfectly and it was a real lucky find. There is also a Ford Racing Torsen ATB Diff in there too, which I am looking forward to using. I think that, along with the equal length driveshafts will make it a very vast improvement on how it was before.

I had stripped and painted the casings prior to building, but once it was built up, I changed my mind from Silver to Satin Black, so I removed all the bolts, masked everything else up and got busy with the Hammerite!

So, now thats ready to go. I have a clutch too, but will post pics of that later.

Thats it for the moment, but there are some more bits on the go, I'll sort some pics out soon.

Christian and Beccy · Post by **Christian and Beccy** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 3:11 pm

Got the Clutch a couple of weeks ago. Couldn't get any firm answers as to whether a 240mm Clutch would fit inside an early MTX casing, so decided to say 'Bollocks' and just get one ordered. I figured that I will know whether or not if clears the casing without running the car, so if it doesn't fit, I can just sell it.

So, I went for the AP Focus RS Clutch. 8)

Yes, the 6-Paddle. Reckon that might stand a better chance of holding the power?? I should hope so at over

Christian and Beccy · Post by **Christian and Beccy** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 3:12 pm

I've had fuel pipes on the go for a while. Never really had much of a 'thing' for Aeroquip, but then I discovered Earls Ano-Tuff fittings and Pro-Lite hose.

Man, thats some spangly-ass shit. I thought "I gotta have me some of that", so after a conversation with Earls themselves and a very good deal, I have some rather sexual all-black fuel hoses, built by my own fair pen-pushing keyboard-operating hands.

I have left the steel lines under the car and got some olive-type adaptors to take these steel lines to a female thread, into which I inserted a male/male adaptor taking me to a more useful -6 JIC male thread. This all happens down behind the steering rack. From there on, everything is done in this black goodness.

Here's a close-up, so you can see it in all its black glory. Black, isn't it?

.....and here's what it looks like nailed to a

Christian and Beccy · Post by **Christian and Beccy** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 3:15 pm

There have been some (rather grim) discoveries made as a result of a 1.00am finish last Saturday night (early hours of Sunday morning!!!). I set out to get the Flywheel/Clutch/Gearbox fitted and that I did (with the help of my good lady :-D ), however, I soon learnt that the 240mm AP Clutch categorically DOES NOT fit inside the early MTX casing. OH F**K. Double F**K. So, what followed was a yo-yo effect on the gearbox, in-out-in-out a total of 5 times. Gradually removing small amounts of material from the parts of the casing where it was fouling, but to no avail.

So, I left work very pissed off and not knowing whether I would have to completely rethink the whole thing.

I had thoughts about altering the Clutch and/or further altering the bell-housing, but still in my mind, I didn't know whether this Clutch would actually be suitable. Would it be too heavy to use? From what everyone has said, that is quite likely.

Anyway, Gary had the idea of connecting up the Clutch cable and actually trying the operation of the Clutch to get an idea what the pedal will feel like, so thats what we did. I have to say, early signs are that it's the nicest feeling Clutch that I have had in that car, so that is reassuring.

Next up, I bastardised my other MTX casing (I own 2 of them), by drilling large holes at the points where the Clutch appeared to touch. Then I was able to fully bolt this bell-housing up and turn the engine. This helped to see what was needed in terms of alteration.

So, further to this, it was decided that I will have the Clutch cover altered VERY slightly and hope that it is enough to give the clearance that I need. It is quite likely.

All-in-all, this has further reinforced my opinion that this is one of the hardest things I have ever done to this car.

Thats all for now.