SIMEXSLAVE

I have competed for years and worked my way through the different classes , my local club are ALRC and still have trails and events for beginners and road based vehicles. I now compete with 37" large tyres,shortened chassis, lockers and hydro rear steer, there are plenty of clubs and organisations that are open minded and forward thinking. I take part in events over in France and there are (as Al Murrey rightly points out ) no rules , we all play nicely together. I carry spare hydalic hoses and pump but have never needed them. And worse ways a failure at the speeds we compete at would not end in a high speed incident, surely its better to have steering and be in control than to have a non steerable car stuck in the bottom of a ditch having to winch themselves round.

To make a good clean weld clean the area with scotchbrite and then wipe down with isoproprenol alchol, make sure the joint is very well fitted as you will find it really hard to bridge any gaps, you could use an ally welding rod with a silicone content which is easier to use if you dont weld ally offen. I always use 5 percent magnisium welding rod .

Even though the restraining order was still valid ,he couldnt resist one last ride

Hi Jim I think it was these guys outside they have an eBay Shop Bolt On Bits 01274 869955 Best regards Jon

Hi Si The electric pump im using runs constantly and the pressure is directed by a proportioning valve, but i have also used a simple rocker switch to operate valves but this was an arse to use when theres loads going on in the cab, the proportioning valve duz give u a certain amount of feedback. I do only use this for the rear steering though so im not trying to balance two systems ,but what you were saying about the torsion bar /valve on the sweet valve should only be giving extra assistance when under heavy use of the steering wheel. Jon

Who's biaching for you then??

Hi I use Le Chameau shooting boots never had cold or wet feet for the last 3 years of use. Their a bit pricey but with these on and a pair of gortex gaiters Im sorted.

Thats the same ram as im using on my rear steering, theres no argument when you use it you just have to make sure the steering arms from the ram are upto the job.

It would be more straight forward and cheaper than all the kit we've been looking at. At the end of the day with an auto you only put it gear at the start of the journey and take it out at the end so it's position isn't as critical as a manual lever.

Not sure we always used bowden cables with remote lever, the system we used in the Prodrive rally cars was steering wheel mounted buttons and air actuated with a very small double acting ram with the same Xtrac sensor to monitor position and a RS timing relay to regulate how long the air valve stayed open and how much pressure was allowed through, bloody complicated though. Cant you have a small custom selector lever tucked away operrating via a bowden cable.

Hi Rhys I removed mine and had to change to tune resistor but I cant remember what colour I used, I can check tommorrow but no doubt someone far wiser than me will post the details before I get back to you. Jon

A big vote for Spal fans from me the two 12" fans keep my V8 cool as you like and they are only 52mm thick at the motors and taper down to 23mm at the outer edges. I got mine through Brunel Performance.

Hi SMO I've been having a think about what you need , when I worked on touring cars we used sequential Xtrac gearboxes and I have just been on thier site and they still make the simple sensor and display unit that can be configured for any shift pattern. Potentiometer and Gear Display Kit '00P-192-063' Xtrac sequential gearboxes are generally fitted with sensors so they can be integrated into the cars management and telemetry systems. This is a new stand-alone product that can be fitted to our sequential transmission. It measures the gearchange barrel position to display the current selected gear to the driver. The device uses a state of the art microcontroller technology to give a reliable, lightweight unit that displays the selected gear on a high intensity LED display. The display incorporates a light sensor which automatically adjusts the display brightness to match the ambient light conditions, ideal for endurance racing. The unit is simple to install. All that is required are for connections to be made to the 12v vehicle supply and ground. The connections to the potentiometer are made using the high quality wiring harness supplied, which uses environmentally sealed automotive connectors. In addition, the unit is fully reverse polarity protected and cannot be damaged by incorrect wiring. Hope this helps. Jon

Hi Will are you running a single ended double acting ram or a double ended unit ? Jon

Don't forget your cozzie for Wales in 3 weeks I believe the soft Welsh water is much kinder to your crackers too !!

Ah!! there lies my mistake I was talking about an earlier G/box with a rotary auto selector switch, no wonder it didn't make sense to you sorry !!

Hi SMO which gearbox are you using ?

Hi Will Just been looking at the sweet valves can you put them in line with the columb shaft or are they like an orbital valve ? Also which flow did you go for ?

I welded shaped steel tube to the axle and run dash 3 Aeroquip from the "T" piece through the tube and used reusable earls ends , this also means I can replace any pipe on the car by carrying 3 metre lenth of aeroquip and some new olives.

Hi Me again , why not use the std switch but connect it to the pivot of the auto selector so it will marry up with the auto pattern and the wiring. A simple "D" shaped shaft should be able to attached to the pivot point to actuate it.

Hi I had the same problem until I put copper slip on the bolts, it seems that stainless likes lubrication going into any material !!

www.pscmotorsports.com

I got my hydro bits direct from psc motorsport in the states a few years back, but tractors and loaders use the same orbital valve as for the pump I got one from a commercial vehicle breakers that was used to lower the front of buses for people to get in easier and it came with flow control valves and two 10" stroke rams all for £75.

What about putting an orbital valve inline with a quick diconnect lower columb that can be reconnected for road sections? My rear steering is electric over hydralic on road sections I have dead mans valves to lock off the hydralics ,even though I turn the power off to the pump.

Hi I can see what you want to achieve but when the system is not active you would be trying to move not only the std steering but the oil in the hydralic oil in the ram too, It's going to be a tricky one to get round. The single acting ram to assist the original Pas is the way to go , IF you can make the steering box strong enough to cope with the extreme loads that hydralics can dish out. Jon