TECH TALK - ask your technical car questions

darknight788 · Post by **darknight788** » 05 Apr 2007, 05:39

atleast your thinking of ways to improve tires. but yea the tires would want to pull out from each other causing massive tire wear kinda like if you have too much toe out

boganbusman · Post by **boganbusman** » 05 Apr 2007, 11:53

rofl . . . Hazmat, I don't think you quite understand what camber is for.

Setting negative camber on your wheels will put more pressure on the inside of the tyre (you got that part), but when you go round a corner the car and tyre roll to the side and the load is spread evenly across the contact patch.

With your tapered tyre, the outside edge would be placed under pressure (in corners) and thus defeat the whole purpose of having camber in the first place

Edit: and the theory about the outside spinning faster than the inside is irrelevant (also, it would only cause the tyre to turn inwards on the driven wheels, any free spinning or braked wheels would turn outwards --and those rules apply to all wheels in general)

race_invader · Post by **race_invader** » 03 May 2007, 08:56

What Engines can be put into a Volkswagen.... Coz later on in life im getting a Volkswagen Kit car and if its possible im thinking about changing the engine but i have no idea what could replace it.

steelsnake00 · Post by **steelsnake00** » 03 May 2007, 12:20

Um, what VW kit car? There isn't one.
Specify what VW you mean and I should be able to tell you what you can squeeze in and with how much work.

race_invader · Post by **race_invader** » 04 May 2007, 16:57

Well im not sure what VW but its similar to the VW FiberFab Aztec kit car if that helps

steelsnake00 · Post by **steelsnake00** » 04 May 2007, 18:21

Done a bit of looking around; assuming you mean a kit-car based upon a VW chassis, but without knowing what car your repicating and what chassis is being used can't tell you what engines are avaliable.

race_invader · Post by **race_invader** » 04 May 2007, 18:54

steelsnake00 wrote:assuming you mean a kit-car based upon a VW chassis.

Yeah thats what i mean

umm hmm... Sorry but all i can give you is the engine is in the rear umm.. other then that i cant say anymore my dad knows the rest but yeah

steelsnake00 · Post by **steelsnake00** » 04 May 2007, 19:03

That indicates it's based on a VW Beetle chassis.
With that in mind, the engine is probably an overbored 1600 or 1800 on carbs, which means that a KR 1.8 16v transplant is possible. These engines are 140bhp standard and respond very well to turbocharging, individual throttle body conversions and head work. It might also be possible to drop a bored-out 2-litre block in for a bit more go.
A VR6 conversion is a distinct possibility but it might well require custom engine mounts and dampers, and a larger gearbox. VR6 motors are 192bhp standard in 2.9 12v form, 210 in 2.8 24v form and 243-255 in 3.2 24v form. They'll see around 350bhp with an ITB conversion, head work and cam modifications, upwards of 600 if turbocharged and around 400 with a supercharger kit.

race_invader · Post by **race_invader** » 04 May 2007, 19:09

Sweet! thanks for the info
Hopefully i can do the VR6 conversion ill look into that one

Thank you

Grez~Supra_RZ-S · Post by **Grez~Supra_RZ-S** » 04 May 2007, 20:20

Dont forget the old Porsche engine conversion.

steelsnake00 · Post by **steelsnake00** » 04 May 2007, 20:23

Yeah, the problem with that is that 930 and earlier 911 engines are very hard to get hold of

Grez~Supra_RZ-S · Post by **Grez~Supra_RZ-S** » 04 May 2007, 20:36

Ive never looked into it. A guy I work with always raves on about them as he had a 911-engined Beetle for his first car. I think it lasted 6 weeks before it was upside down in a field.

steelsnake00 · Post by **steelsnake00** » 05 May 2007, 02:44

A 911 engined beetle is basically just a 1960's 911 replica. That's all they really were.

darknight788 · Post by **darknight788** » 06 May 2007, 20:25

navistar international ( the company i work for ) is suing ford for 2 billion dollars

from auto blog :
Ford has not been having much luck with the 6.4-liter diesel engines for its Super Duty trucks of late. In the latest twist of a saga that began in January, Navistar, the company that makes those engines, had added additional charges to its $2 billion counter-suit against Ford.

Navistar has been the exclusive maker of Ford's Super Duty diesel truck engines since 1979. In January of this year, Ford sued Navistar over the price of the engine and excessive warranty claims. In February, Navistar halted shipments of the just launched 6.4-liter engines, saying Ford had stopped paying for them. Ford got a court order to compel Navistar to ship the engines (which Ford paid for) -- then Ford had to recall more than 8,000 trucks because customers were reporting tailpipe fires. Navistar has now filed a counterclaim that seeks more than $2 billion in damages, and alleges that Ford is planning to develop its own diesel engines prior to 2012. There is no indication as to which party, Ford or Navistar, has a better case. For now, though, while the engine issues can't be good for Navistar, it is far more damaging for Ford to have to deal with these kinds of problems with its newly-launched bread-and-butter vehicle

boganbusman · Post by **boganbusman** » 07 May 2007, 04:45

darknight, this thread isn't for posting (boring) news . . .

darknight788 · Post by **darknight788** » 07 May 2007, 17:05

what you think is boring might not be to me

steelsnake00 · Post by **steelsnake00** » 07 May 2007, 17:32

It's in the wrong thread.

race_invader · Post by **race_invader** » 08 May 2007, 04:48

steelsnake00 i found out the car name what i was trying to get.. its a Purvis Eureka Kitcar that runs on a Beetle chassis

xturbo · Post by **xturbo** » 29 May 2007, 04:26

Well guys, it's rare for me posting here. But now that I have money, I need to change the entire brake system. For my luck, my uncle is going to do a trip to the USA to buy some parts for his store and offered me the chance to ask some parts. And he told me by checking my ride (2004 Mazda 323 /protege) that the brake system was a little bit damaged, and I could ask him a good one. So thats the question: what kind of brake systems do you recommend for me? I have $1200 dollars to spend. Need something of good quality and the same time with a nice and DECENT price.
Thanks if anybody can help me.

darknight788 · Post by **darknight788** » 29 May 2007, 05:33

what part was damaged ? booster or cylinder ? not usre if the car has all disc brakes but that would be a good start, also stainless steel brake lines, and maybe some upgraded calipers. i have no clue how much any of that would cost but it would help in braking performance

xturbo · Post by **xturbo** » 29 May 2007, 07:27

yup it has all of them and the cylinder and booster are damaged. So I was thinking to get a new set of brake systems, that's what I need the recommendation my good bro from minessota

I was thinking to increase the ammount of $ (ouch!!

) and get some race calipers or racing brake system...

boganbusman · Post by **boganbusman** » 29 May 2007, 10:13

If you drive normally (not racing around), then just fit a standard braking system. That way you can be sure it will work and you might save some money. It will also cost less to service.

If you still want upgraded brakes, just get some nice slotted rotors and larger calipers. Don't go crazy on a high performance setup because you won't need it. Racing brakes are for race cars. If you plan to race on a track, you have the wrong car

steelsnake00 · Post by **steelsnake00** » 29 May 2007, 12:01

The best idea is to swap all of the basics (disks and calipers) for new or refurbed standard stuff, replace the master cylinder and upgrade the fluid to 5.1, the lines to braided steel and some fast road pads.
That would be more than sufficiant for your car. A big-brake kit (4+ piston calipers and larger diamiter disks) is expensive in itself (the AP Racing kit for the BM cost the previous owner Â£2200 and the Porsche brakes on the (R)S2 retail at about Â£800 front and Â£700 rear) and with a car not designed to take that much braking power (Mazda 323) you'll probably need to upgrade the master cylinder as well to avoid having several kilometers of pedal travel. Master cylinders aren't especially expensive but they can be nightmarish to fit.
If you really want uprated braking, and you car has drum brakes out rear, you could consider a disk conversion? Theres most likely been a model of your car with rear disks, you'd need hubs (so possibly axel), lines, calipers, mounting brackets, disks, pads et cetera. However doing rear brake conversions yourself isn't for the faint hearted, when I was converting the Audi to Porsche Big Reds I had alot of difficulty doing a Porsche axel conversion.

boganbusman · Post by **boganbusman** » 29 May 2007, 14:11

steelsnake00 wrote:when I was converting the Audi to Porsche Big Reds I had alot of difficulty doing a Porsche axel conversion.

323 aint got rear axles though

Anyway I still sthink standard brakes are the go. The other option is to buy a car that's worth upgrading. 323s are just basic economy passenger cars, and they were never intended to be anything more than that.

Grez~Supra_RZ-S · Post by **Grez~Supra_RZ-S** » 29 May 2007, 14:34

Grooved/drilled discs, 5.1 fluid, braided lines and Yellow stuff pads. Done.