neville Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Hi chaps I'd be grateful for a few more pearls of wisdom please! I've got an 1800 Zetec fitted to an MT75 gearbox. There's been a lot of discussion on this forum about the risks of sump grounding, and the wisdom of the sage is to fit a non-standard sump which increases the amount of ground clearance. However, I haven't seen anything about the risks of grounding the gearbox bellhousing - which sits almost as low as the standard Zetec sump which presumably can be just as catastrophic if caught on a speed hump or kerb. Is there anything I can do about this (for example, should I fit a skid plate or even grind away some of the the bellhousing?) Or am I worrying needlessly about something that will never happen? Thanks for your thoughts Neville Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thos Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Have you not got a chassis hoop under the bellhousing ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steppenwolf Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Neville, You should have a chassis hoop to protect this area, however, having installed a low profile sump ( Raceline ) I ground off the bottom of the gearbox flange too. The measurement for ground clearance on my build site may be of interest/help in determining whether or not you have a problem. Ride Height As for grounding the gearbox, yup, I can confirm that on a scale of 'bad' to 'excellent', this would be a bad thing .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westfieldman Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Steve from your web site Front Ride Height 125mm 29/04/2001 Rear Ride Height 138mm 29/04/2001 Are you running an offroader Speedsport Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oioi Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 i run a dry sump Vx. when blatting hard on country lanes i have been known to knoclk the box out of gear results in a signifcant over ref but arent engines and boxes disposable items Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steppenwolf Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 Are you running an offroader Speedsport From what I have seen, it's lower than many and it grounds out several Sussex roads when two up! Any lower and it will be rocking on it's chassis hoop How low can you go Paul? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steppenwolf Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 Oioi, does your first sentence explain your last sentence? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westfieldman Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 How low can you go Paul? Steve it's not how low it's setting the front ride hight to suit the suspension set up you have You should with the car weighted is you would drive it [Driver fuel etc] have the front wishbones so that you draw a straight line through the center of the outer ball joints and the lower wishbone pick up points this determins your ride hight then add 10/15mm to the rear This then alters the geometery and the cornerweights a little so you go round and round until the changes are very small or you get feed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neville Posted December 17, 2004 Author Share Posted December 17, 2004 Thanks for the advice guys. Yes, I do have a hoop under the gearbox, but I'm more concerned about the flange which juts out where the gearbox mates with the engine. I'm encouraged by Steve's advice that this can be ground away without fatal consequences! Neville Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilb Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 You should with the car weighted is you would drive it [Driver fuel etc] have the front wishbones so that you draw a straight line through the center of the outer ball joints and the lower wishbone pick up points this determins your ride hight then add 10/15mm to the rear Can we have a diagram please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilwillis Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 The flange can be ground off without any problems. You should fabricate a plate to cover any resultant hole to stop debris entering the bell housing however. I have also had my chassis hoop removed, and replaced with a section that doesn't stick out as far. I use a multi storey carpark every day, and even though I'm running with low ride heights, it never grounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steppenwolf Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 The flange can be ground off without any problems. You should fabricate a plate to cover any resultant hole I ground mine off so that I still had the thickness of the bellhousing wall left ( if that makes sense ). See Photo below:- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westfieldman Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 Steve is there one cap head and one hex bolt holding the starter on this is not like you mixing and matching Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 Coooo shiney and thats after how many miles Steve ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westfieldman Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 Drawing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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