My E30/R5Turbo track car - Gearbox MkIII

[GeoffBob]

Looking good Geoff, I bet those straight cut gears are going to sound brilliant.

For about the first five minutes Baptie, after which I'll need/want ear plugs. I suspect that the novelty will wear off once I've gone deaf

Looking good but... no soft jaws?

Guilty as charged I'm afraid Gareth I have a set of Aluminium soft jaws for the vice but wasn't bothered (read as I had my thumb up my arse at the time) to put them in when I posed the gears for the photo. The vice is not tightened BTW, the gears are resting on the handle of the vice (which is pointing upwards) preventing the whole assembly from tipping forwards and falling out the vice.

[GeoffBob]

Polycarbonate windows now all finished. I wasn't happy with my first attempt at the windscreen, so I had to do it over. Second time around I used a sheet of 5mm thick as opposed to 6mm. So much easier to work with despite only being 1mm thinner. All other windows are from 4mm polycarb. To protect the windscreen from the wiper blades and grit/dust I bought a sheet of 50micron security film from Llumar. While I was at the shop they very kindly gave me a 20 minute tutorial on how to apply the stuff. Not as easy to apply as I initially thought - I thought it would be like covering a book in vinyl wrap. Turns out there are a few tricks involved which they very kindly shared with me. The Llumar film is fairly scratch resistant, but just how scratch resistant remains to be seen. Quite frankly, it's cheap enough that I don't care if I have to replace it twice a year for the sake of maintaining a clear view of the track.

The fact that I can gather up all my cars windows (front and rear screens included) in my arms in one go should give you some idea of just how much lighter polycarbonate is compared to glass. Technically its roughly half as dense, but the fact that it is so much stronger than glass means that you can use a thinner polycarbonate sheet compared to the original glass. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of reducing the weight of a track car, particularly that weight which is high up on the car (such as the windows) in the interests of handling.

[GeoffBob]

I attended my 3rd Silver Cup club meeting last night at the Kyalami marshals club. I still haven't managed to get the car onto the track yet. Some of the members are getting curious as to why I attend the club meetings but never the race events. All comes down to money really. I've spent so much this past month on mandatory safety gear (helmet, suit, gloves, shoes, fire extinguisher etc) that I've been too broke to make it to the track. TBH, I'd rather spend the money on quality safety gear and miss a few races while I recover, than rush into anything with cheap equipment.

Of interest at the meeting was the report of an incident that occurred last weekend at the Zwartkops circuit where someone from the Superhatch race club kicked in the door of Philip Emmenis' E30. Very unsportsmanlike behaviour that. Simply not on. I can understand people feeling aggrieved with regard to incidents on track, but kicking in doors afterwards is not the way to settle these matters. Philip, who is not small by any means, deserves full credit for keeping his cool throughout the incident.

[MillRat]

If someone kicked my door in in the pits, I think I would be a little upset, and possibly prone to retaliate in some way.

However if someone stoved my door in on the track, that would be a little different. Funny how these things go...

I agree with your safety philosophy. Dad and I probably hit the track a little later than we would have liked while we kitted ourselves out in safety gear. My only regret was running a 6-point harness for over year without a cage. I wouldn't ever be doing that again (luckily I didn't require either the harness or the cage during that time).

Can't wait until you finally hit the track in anger.

[billgatese30]

As with most things Geoff, I normally take the "best I can afford" route with most things in life, but when it comes to safety gear, then it really is a case of buy the best, period! After my track smash, that seems more relevant now more than ever.

[GeoffBob]

As always, thanks for the comments Gents. In full agreement with both of you with regard to safety equipment. It's as a result of your incident Chris that I decided to scrap my old open face helmet in favour of a full face. Even though I have a harness in the car I still don’t want to take any chances.

Took the car to "Cars in the Park" at Zwartkops raceway today. Was a fantastic day in all that was spoilt a little towards the end by a savage headache, probably due to the fact that I only had two hours of sleep last night getting the car ready (was fitting the door catches at 3am this morning). Nonetheless I had a wonderful time sitting in my deckchair on the side of the track watching the world pass me by. The weather was absolutely gorgeous.

[billgatese30]

Car is looking great Geoff, glad you've went for a full face helmet too. Did the car get much attention.

[GeoffBob]

Thanks Chris, And indeed she did. I'm not sure why as there were plenty of other great looking cars around her. It possibly has something to do with the fact that the R5 shape is well known down here, unlike the R5Turbo shape which was rarely ever seen. The majority of questions came from people who thought I had drastically flared the arches on an R5. I had to explain that she is actually a space-frame with E30 subframes/suspension with an R5Turbo body kit on top.

To add to my above post, I was quite pleased that my first outing to Zwarkops didn't require for me to drive on the track. This was my first time towing "Mello Yello" (that's what a friend has "insisted" I name her ) and it was great to get used to loading and unloading her in a stress free environment. It's really only that first time you load a car onto a trailer that you find out the hard way whether you are going to scrape the spoiler or undercarriage. And I do indeed need to make a few modifications to my trailer to make loading the car easier.

The modifications I would like to make are:
1) Fit tread-plate to the ramps and bed to making loading smoother. At present the wheels thump their way from gap to gap between the steel slats.
2) Fit two dampers (shocks) to the tipper mechanism to both slow down and limit the travel of the bed when she tips.
3) Weld a few custom tie-down loops to the bed that are more in-line with the dimensions of my car.

Anyone have any advice on the best way to tie a car to a trailer? I have already been told not feed the straps through the wheel-rims (so as not to oval the rims) or the suspension (to prevent misalignment of the suspension components). Sounds to me like the only way to do it properly is to weld a few custom loops to the chassis. These would be a bit difficult to access TBH once the car is on the trailer. Suggestions would be appreciated.

[UweM3]

you can always loop AROUND the tyres and strap them down the bed. Make a wedge to drive against with the front wheels (or a tubular stop), feed a strap through wedge around the circumference of the tyre down to bed of trailer where another swivvel steel loop (swivvel to fold it down while you drive over it) take the strap.
Have a look how big car transporters secure the cars and you will get the idea.
I don't like welded/bolted hooks to the chassis. Very hard to get too and only as strong as the bolt/weld to hold your WHOLE car.

At the moment I use these "around the tyre" add-on straps but that's always a fiddle to get the main strap behind the wheel and one of the metal buckles always ends up right over the edge of my rims

[MillRat]

^^ This is basically how we tie our car down. Just pass the strap behind the tyre, and cross it over in front. A 1 tonne ratchet strap on each corner and it's all sweet.

I like the look of those purpose straps Uwe. Nice idea, I can see how lining up the loop straps might be a little akward though.

[GeoffBob]

Thanks Gents for the suggestions. Uwe, I really like your idea of passing the strap over the circumference of the tyre and I am going to try that to start off with. If I don't come right I'll look into your second method. At present my rachet-straps look exactly like those in your photo, rated to 2-ton each. If I can find four of those purpose made middle bits I'll be set, otherwise I could try the way you suggested Millrat.

A friend helped me load the trailer on the way home last night and fed the straps thrugh my rims. I didn't feel comfortable about this, although no damage seems to have been done. It could have been worse though TBH, when I loaded the car by myself in the morning I almost passed one of the straps around a brake line to a calliper Luckily I checked before I tightened the ratchet.

[GeoffBob]

This photo courtesy of my friend Jaco Robertson. High res version (4.7 MB) available for download here

[appletree]

is it all drivable now then Geoff? what do you think to her, as quick as you'd hoped?

[GeoffBob]

is it all drivable now then Geoff? what do you think to her, as quick as you'd hoped?

As will always be the case Matt, I have a list of bits an pieces to fettle and fiddle with till the cows come home.

I replaced my locally manufactured AFR gauge last weekend with one made by Stack from the US. The local one is obviously microprocessor based and would simply freeze up (maybe it has windows as its OS ) at the most inopportune moments. Piece of local crap

Likewise, I'll be a while fiddling with the suspension setup till I'm happy. For the time being she has no ARB's (front or rear) but these will be refitted (and enlarged if necessary) as dictated by any noted tendency towards oversteer or understeer. I still have to do skidpad (roundabout) tests to verify.

I also need to get her to the dyno for a proper tuning. I have been promising her this for months but have been unable to get there due to licensing issues with my new trailer (mostly down to the fact that the licensing authority has been on a strike for almost a month, and what must have been a substantial go-slow before that as my paperwork kept coming back unprocessed. It's one thing to sneak down the track (which is close by) along the back roads with an unlicensed trailer, it's another altogether to take an unlicensed trailer down the motorway to Johannesburg

In short, however, in her current state of tune she is living up to all expectations. I am particularly happy with the electronic boost controller I fitted, which works a real treat at controlling the turbo wastegate. Through the ECU I can specify how much boost I want at a given engine speed, and so long as the turbo is sufficiently spooled-up at that moment in time to deliver the demanded amount of boost, then that's the amount of boost I'll get. This system is incredibly useful at smoothing out that hectic transition from off-boost to on-boost that can cause a loss of traction while shifting gears on the track. While it is true that more torque results in better acceleration, it's only through the smooth application of that torque to the wheels that this acceleration can be physically realised. I remain convinced that it is not the sudden application of a large amount of torque that wins track events, but rather the smooth application of a necessary and sufficient amount of torque. This is why, despite the fact that I have a great love and fascination for turbocharged engines, I also have a great deal of respect and admiration for well-tuned normally aspirated engines.

Apologies for the long-winded answer Matt, I guess I just felt like writing something today .

EDIT: For everyone intersted I'll post up the dynograph once I get her dyno'd, and acceleration times and cornering forces once I get my DAC installed in the car. It's the DAC data that always interests me since 600bhp on a hub-dyno means bugger all when you try to put it down to the ground through a set of bicycle tyres. Regardless of what my engine can deliver, it's how much of it my chassis, suspension and tyres can put to the ground that interests me, and how much of its "performance" it can sustain when forced to negotiate a corner.

[RPM]

Amazing build thread- loved reading it all

Get a video camera in for your next outing Geoff, so we can all get a feel for the car in action

Thanks

[cool_ram_in]

WOW!

GeoffBob,your project is brilliant!!!

Must be a dream come true sitting on the machine and being able to put the right foot down...

Congratulations and keep up the fine work!

Oh! Don´t forget some vids!

[GeoffBob]

Thanks RPM and cool_ram for the comments.

Get a video camera in for your next outing Geoff, so we can all get a feel for the car in action

Not one of my priorities at the moment RPM as I am focussed on getting the car setup properly, but a camera is definitely on my list of things to get in the future. I also need to get a data acquisition unit installed in the car so that I can study telemetry data along with the engine data logged in my ECU. One day I'll get around to doing these things ..... one day

WOW!

GeoffBob,your project is brilliant!!!

Must be a dream come true sitting on the machine and being able to put the right foot down...

Thanks cool_ram, I don't really have words to express how it feels sitting inside a car that I built myself, but I'll do my best. Scary mostly, expecting to be responsible for my own demise because I failed to add in that one last gusset, or maybe I should have used a different grade of steel, or maybe I should have used a thicker walled tube etc. While I guess that self doubt is quite natural, all indicators are thus far that I have nothing to worry about.

Anyways, needless to say that driving a car where virtually everything around me is a function of my own handiwork is a pretty cool feeling And I should remain happy and contented up to the point when she explodes and kills me .

[GeoffBob]

The company that manufactured my trailer for me (Mechter Trailers) very kindly failed to have it inspected by an official of the NRCS (National Regulator for Compulsory Standards) prior to delivery. This is why, as it turns out, I have been unable to licence the trailer. Three weeks after confronting the manufacturer (on a daily basis I might add) nothing had been done to rectify the situation, and so I took the matter into my own hands and contacted the NRCS directly, who in turn contacted Mechter trailers. And suddenly Mechter trailers were my new best friend (given that the NRCS has the power to revoke their licence to manufacture).

Despite Mechter's best efforts to convince me otherwise, I opted to deal directly with the NRCS, and yesterday my trailer was inspected (thoroughly) at my home - and passed. Very little (aside from the basic frame) shown below is due to the efforts of Mechter. Mechter couldn't even manage to mount the axles parallel to each other, and the brakes were incorrectly balanced. I even went so far as to remanufacture their badly made mild-steel mud-guards from aluminium. Having fitted a pair of dampers between the A-frame and the flat-bed I can now attest that the bed tips smoothly as the car mounts the trailer without the rear edge of the trailer bottoming out on the ground !!!.

And yes, before anyone points out the obvious, I got taken for a ride. But given that it's my pride and joy riding on that trailer, I would rather fix it myself to my own satisfaction than enlist the services of a lawyer in order to force a blatantly useless bunch of pricks to repair something they obviously couldn't get right in the first place. If they f*cked it up once they’ll no doubt f*ck it up a second time. And I'm not about to trust anyone who can't even mount two axles parallel to each to try and put them straight. Useless Sods.

Now that my trailer has passed inspection I can finally get it licensed.

[MillRat]

The best thing about little cars, is that you only need a little trailer.

Now you just need to mount some toolboxes to the side of the trailer so that you can easily store everything.

This is very much like the trailer I intend to buy/make. Light weight with the centre section of the floor removed so that the underside of the car is easily accessible at the track (and at home as well).

[GeoffBob]

The best thing about little cars, is that you only need a little trailer.

The trailer is narrow enough that it fits through my garage door.

Now you just need to mount some toolboxes to the side of the trailer so that you can easily store everything.

I was thinking of welding up some boxes and mounting them in the back of the ute.

This is very much like the trailer I intend to buy/make. Light weight with the centre section of the floor removed so that the underside of the car is easily accessible at the track (and at home as well).

After 3 & 1/2 years of building my car I just didn't have the energy left to build my own trailer. For all the effort I landed up putting into it after Mechters mammoth c*ck-up, I may as well have . I am pleased with the end result though. Fitting the two dampers between the A-frame and the bed is an idea I am particularly proud of. I have seen trailer beds come crashing down at the track as the drivers mount their cars (erm, onto the trailer that is), and the dampers do a great job of sorting that problem out. I guess I'm not the first to think of that as there's nothing new under the sun these days.

[sprocketman]

Geoffbob, Been watching this on and off for months now......I know it's been said by a lot of people,but I just wanted to add my own little whitter,

Well done!! Outstanding! Simply wonderful!! and Inspirational!!

I just wish I had the time and ability to create such an amazing and insightful project.

[GeoffBob]

Thanks Sprocketman, your comment is gratefully received. Thanks for taking the time to read my thread.

Well, since my trailer woes are now a thing of the past (licence documents now in process) I have had the time to look at finishing off some of those small things that I really need to finish before I can technically declare the car properly finished, such as fitting the new gearbox and the Quaife differential. Nothing wrong with the gearbox on the car at present, but those who have been following my thread will understand that I am keen to fit the new box with my custom ratios and straight-cut gears ASAP. I am just dying to try out the new gears! The Quaife ATB diff will be fitted as soon as I have gained sufficient experience with the current plate-type LSD to be able to draw an objective comparison between the two. After participating in a discussion on LSD's on the Zone some time ago I promised that this is something that I would do. It's no good arguing that one is better than the other unless you have recent experience of both.

I have also picked up another two medium case (type 188) diffs from the scrappy. A 4.1:1 ratio from an I6 E32 auto, and a 4.45:1 from an E36 auto. This completes my collection of crown-wheel and pinions, for use in my collection of E30 diff casings (mostly from the abundant local supply of old medium case 3.46:1 and 3.64:1 diffs).

There's a nice little tutorial on diffs here for anyone interested. What he calls the "small case" diff, however, I know as the "medium case" (the type 188) diff. He appears to be discounting the "small case" diffs that were fitted to the smaller engined E30's as the "small" diffs (or maybe he calls them "tiny case" diffs ).

[GeoffBob]

Trailer finally licenced!! It's going to feel so weird driving to and from the track legally. I no longer have to stay away from main roads and motorways. First thing next week I'll book a slot on the dyno and then head down the N1 for Jo'burg. I can't wait. Time to get the tuning tidied up and verify the torque and power.

[MarkT]

Brilliant, just brilliant. You must be standing beside yourself with excitement. Really can't wait to see the dyno plots for this and find out if the gearing that you have specified works as you had anticipated. Also can't wait to see the thing in action, what a tool.

[GeoffBob]

'Am indeed feeling very excited Mark. I've been in touch with Sergio at Doc's Technologies to dyno the car for me. First appointment I can get is next week Thursday, although I'll likely go for something the week after when my own schedule is a little less hectic.

I'm back at the Zwartkops track tomorrow afternoon for another open practice session. I plan to take the wife along this time (since I am now 100% legal while towing on the road), so maybe I can get her to take some photo's for me. Taking pics or video is the last thing on my mind when I am there by myself. Unfortunately I don't own a video camera (I spend all my disposable income on car parts, and the rest I squander ) but I promise to get one soon so that I can take some video footage from inside the car.

[Liam554]

Wow, just wow. Why haven't I seen this thread sooner!?

Just came across this tonight, since I've started reading from page 1 I've noticed 90 minutes have just vanished.

This thread has left me astonished, this is by far the best one I have come across on the site so far, your work and dedication is absolutely incredible! I hope one day I have the talent to create something as brilliant as this.

Looking forward to seeing the video footage of the car in action.

[GeoffBob]

Thank you Liam for your most excellent comment and for reading my thread, much appreciated. I really am pleased to hear that I am ticking the right boxes here on the zone.

Well, as promised, I took the wife with to Zwartkops yesterday, and if it wasn't for her I would have forgotten the camera. I remembered to take the tool box with this time, but then left the key to the padlock on the workbench, doh

As always the weather was fantastic and it was a great afternoon of testing. My cornering tests are now complete and I am more than convinced that I have no need to add either the front or rear ARB's back onto the car. I've seen a lot of discussion around ARB's, so don't get me wrong, I don't doubt for one moment anyone else’s reasons/motivation for fitting stiffer ARB's on their own cars, but somehow, I seem to have got it right on my own without them. This means that my left wheels are fully independent of the right wheels, and vice versa. And I like it this way. The reason I have managed to achieve minimal body roll without ARB's (and thus reasonably neutral steering) is simply because I focussed strongly, throughout the build of my car, with keeping my COG/roll centre as low as possible. Please note that my comment is not intended as a criticism of the stock E30, since the location of the suspension on an E30 relative to the frame/floor is pretty much non-negotiable (bar 40mm or so of drop). This is partially why I went the route of attaching the E30 sub-frames to my own frame (where I decided the height of the sub-frames relative to the frame). The other reason it seems to have worked out for me is just plain dumb luck, as I am not nearly intelligent enough to have got it right any other way.

So that was the good news. The bad news, however, is that I foresee an engine rebuild in my near future. Progressively pushing my engine towards its limits has taken its toll and she has now taken up smoking. Time to wind the "dial-a-boost" down, and leave it down me thinks! I have most likely damaged the rings/grooves/pistons as there is now blatantly obvious blow-by out the valve-cover breather. The engine will be back out shortly for a rebuild and the turbo will get it's bearings replaced if need be. On the bright side I now have the excuse I have been looking for to fit the new gearbox

Below are two of the pics my wife took. Apologies for the quality, not only do I need to buy a video camera, but I also need to buy a decent quality stills camera (one day).

[appletree]

Looking good Geoff, much nicer weather ther than at the bmw show at the weekend.

What milage is on the engine when it went in your car?

Did you have much trouble with traction whilst on the track??

[GeoffBob]

Hi Matt,

Great weather is the one thing you can rely on here (probably the only thing as the rest of the country is falling apart at the seams).

The engine has done 203km. Not even run in yet, which is partly why I have been taking the car down the track as often as possible. As far as traction is concerned it's difficult to say. I am currently running Dunlop Direzza 245/40/17's (R compound) at 25psi cold pressure on the rear, and they stick like proverbial sh*t on a blanket once they are up to temperature (I love the way they go all sticky). On the other hand I am not pushing the engine hard enough to find out yet whether I can break traction. Before I implemented the electronic boost controller, however, you could feel her kicking out after shifting 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd.

Good news is that I did a compression test this afternoon and all four cylinders read 130psi, so I don't think I have damaged the engine. Blow-by is not as excessive as I initially thought (it didn't help that I left the breather hose dangling down the back of the engine over the exhaust pipe when it should have been dangling into it's mandatory catch bottle. This explains why the cockpit began to fill with smoke the moment I pulled up in the pits.

Bad news, however, is that I pulled the air intake off the entrance to the compressor and felt the bearing, and it's buggered , so that's why my tail-pipes were smoking. This also explains the wet (non-combusted) oil smeared up my back bumper. Also explains why my oil level dropped by a half litre over the course of the afternoon.

I've had two incidents, thus far, where I have accidentally pushed excessively high boost, and more than likely over-sped the impellor causing damage to the bearing. I will, however, look at the oil feed to the turbo to confirm sufficient oil supply to the bearing, although I doubt this is at fault as I would have seen damage to the bearing much sooner. Fortunately, spares are readily available for the GT3267. Should all be fixed in the next week or two. 'Will unfortunately delay my trip to the dyno.

Before departing for the track yesterday I took the car to have the wheels aligned. I took the following photo on my mobile while the car was in the air. Note the use of the E36 diff cover on the rear of the E30 diff. I had had problems with the diff mounting bending and the rubber bush tearing as a result of the torque reaction from the diff. This problem is solved with the use of the E36 diff cover and two heavy-duty mounting points. Unfortunately a 6mm thick aluminium spacer/flange is required between the E36 cover and the E30 diff case to prevent the speed sensor from colliding with the toothed wheel.

[GeoffBob]

Well, since the fairy godmother formally turned my engine into an informal oil pump, there's no racing for me this weekend, but I thought I would mosy on down to the track anyway and see what mischief I could get into. And before I had even made it into the pits I bumped into Phillip and Wayne Emmenis (outside on a grassy patch) battling with a broken rear exhaust header on their M20B27 powered E30. They travel all the way up from the coast (300 odd miles) to support events at our local track, so it was a pleasure for me to TIG weld the flange back onto the end of the collector for them, just in time to get them back on the track for the final practice session. I'll get to see tomorrow how they fair in both Silver Cup (Phillip) and Super Saloon (Wayne) events.

[GeoffBob]

While at Zwartkops this past weekend I finally got to meet Jimmy Tammadge, who races a Toyota 3S-GTE engined space frame "Fiesta" in the Silvercup. Jimmy has been away from racing for a while, so it was great to have him back, along with his awesomely knowledgeable and incredibly gentle mechanic, "Oom Giel". His 3S-GTE is delivering in excess of 300hp (iirc) to his 850kg car on only 0.8bar boost. It may interest some of you to note that his chosen gearbox is the Getrag 420g 6-speed from an E46 330i. He used to run a Toyota W55 (same as my current box). I see this as a big thumbs up for the Getrag 420g which is becoming increasingly popular for race applications. I was very impressed with his car. Photographs do not do justice to how quick this machine is.





The reason I mention all this is because a short discussion with Jimmy revealed the reason for my own cars recent smoking habit - an over supply of oil to the cams, ultimately flooding the top of my cylinder head with oil (also known as the "inverted sump dilemma", which can result in thrown crank bearings if left unchecked). According to Jimmy, the stock 3S-GTE supplies too much oil to the cams when run continuously at high rpm, which was certainly the case with my car last Wednesday. This was the first time I had held the engine at 6000rpm for any extended period of time. Under these conditions the oil pools excessively on top of the engine, to the point where the oil actually overflows out of the breather and oil-cap (if not secure) down onto the exhaust. An inspection of the underside of the car revealed oil over almost every component (well at least I now know she'll never rust). I am confident that this was the source of my smoke.

At Jimmy's recomendation I spent Sunday pulling my engine out and stripping it down in order to install a restrictor in the oil channel to the head, a simple mod to make TBH. Now that I have had the opportunity to inspect the engine components closely I can report that all is well with both my engine and turbocharger (maybe feeling the turbo bearing with my wrist bent over backwards down the side of the engine wasn't the best way to check on the condition of the turbo, given that I am a "glass-half-empty" kind of a person anyway). The cylinder bores, valves and pistons are clean as a whistle, and the play on the turbo shaft (axial and radial) is well within specification.

The engine will go back together with the oil restrictor installed, along with my new gearbox.

[gareth]

All good news then

It must have taken some lateral thinking to come up with the idea that too much oil flow can be bad! Messy to test too

[E30mjrc]

Just came across this tonight, since I've started reading from page 1 I've noticed 90 minutes have just vanished.

This thread has left me astonished, this is by far the best one I have come across on the site so far, your work and dedication is absolutely incredible! I hope one day I have the talent to create something as brilliant as this.

Looking forward to seeing the video footage of the car in action.

Ditto, great work!

[GeoffBob]

Ta Gents,

Gareth, In hindsight the oil literally pouring out the overflow pipe was a bit of giveaway. I still wouldn't have thought that there was an over supply of oil though. At worst I would have suspected poor drainage back to the sump.

Point of fact, the head is designed to drain with the engine over at a 15 to 20 degrees angle (the stock 3S-GTE is transverse mounted in the Celica/MR2). I have heard reports of installing an extra drain on the head when mounting the engine upright, which I will also be doing (an external line that runs back down to the sump). Jimmy Tammadge was, however, quite insistent that the problem of over-oiling is well known on both the 3S-GTE and 4A-GE engines when run at high RPM for extended periods. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that Zwartkops consists of all (but-one) right hand turns, with the oil drains on the right-hand side of the engine. With centrifugal force pushing all the oil to the left (where the breather is located), it's no wonder I poured out as much oil as I did.

This doesn't mean, however, that I am not nervous about fitting a restrictor in the oil-way to the head! Seems to go against best practice IMO. I fitted the restrictor last night. Jimmy recommended fitting a 1.5mm restrictor, but I have fitted a 2.5mm as I just don't feel I can go that small just yet. I'd rather try her on a 2.5mm restrictor first, and then fit a smaller restrictor later (if required), than have to replace the cams/head due to poor head lubrication.

[Mikey_Boy]

Hi Geoff,

Fitting a head restrictor is definitely the way to go. From my experiences, cylinder heads can be over lubricated in the interests of NVH as well as playing it safe on the durability stakes. A great example of this is the early Lexus V8 lump that drowns the heads with oil to keep it quiet...! There may be an additional oil breathing effect as well that you may have lucked out on - during my days at Cosworth, if you ran a YB engine at a certain speed at full load with very hot oil (sump temp 145 degrees), the sump would empty itself into the breather and airbox in less than 30 seconds! Took a good dyno operator to catch it... Several iterations of the oil separator later and the problem was cured, through a combination of luck and judgement!

From what you have said above, I think you are bang on the money with your solution - an additional head drain will definitely help as well.

Good luck!
Mike