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Author Topic: Wade Supercharger on a Bagheera  (Read 54613 times)
andyowl
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New exhaust "straight through" - good sound!


« Reply #45 on: July 08, 2013, 06:43:05 am »

We have now done two events with the new blower assembly. Prescott La Vie En Bleu and a sprint at Lydden Hill on Saturday.

Liz and I are now "dual driving" so the car is entered twice, once with me as the driver and again with Liz as the driver. The cost is obviously double but the fun is doubled too!

At Prescott I struggled with the gearbox jumping out of second just where I needed it most at the entrance to the "Pardon" left hand hairpin bend. It went if OK but kicked out again just when I tried to get the power down as I turned into the corner. I tried holding the gearstick but it happened every time. Liz didn't seem to be having the same problem - very puzzling! In consequence I found myself trying to find first without having enough hands or feet as I coasted around the very steep apex!

Otherwise the car did well. Prescott no longer performs a noise test as you queue up for the practice start line. They have a "drive by" noise monitoring system and call you in if the noise is too loud. We had not been called in so that was OK then! I then realised that it would be good to know what the actual noise level would be if they did the test the old fashioned way. I asked one of the scrutineers to do a standard noise test and we found 97dB at 4,000 RPM. That should be good for the sensitive circuits like Goodwood.

I'll write separately about Montlhery and Lydden as my screen is jumping about becasuse this messege is too long!

Andy
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andyowl
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Posts: 456


New exhaust "straight through" - good sound!


« Reply #46 on: July 08, 2013, 07:02:53 am »

The problem with the gearbox jumping out of second gear proved to be easy to fix! The new exhaust outlet from cylinder No. 1, as the engine rocks backwards under hard accelleration, was knocking the gear linkage and pushing it out of gear! As simple as that! The lever on top of the vertical layshaft has an offset bend and it had been fitted (probably by me) with the offset upwards. I turned it over so that the offset is downwards and that cured the problem! I replaced one of the M8 ball joints for good measure and we have not had the problem since then. Liz did not find the problem as she is not yet driving as hard as I do.

We joined the Matra Enthusiasts Club convoy to Montlhery on the next weekend along with 2 other Bagheeras (Marion Quarrington and Greig Dalgleish), three Murenas and the Rancho of Tim Martin as team leader. Brilliant Saturday and a very wet Sunday. We opted out of the Sunday display and visited the Matra Museum in Romorantin looking (unsuccessfully) for the Matra development engine with their supercharger as pictured in the Bagheera book. If anyone knows where this engine is I would be very pleased to know - so would the museum staff who were helpful but not able to suggest where it might be. It certainly is not in the Paris show car as the book suggests! Among the 53+ beautifully restored Bagheeras Baggy Joe was the scruffiest! But there was a lot of interest too and nobody mentioned his battle scars!

I'm very glad we went and look forward to "Bagheera at 50" in 10 yearstime.

Andy
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andyowl
Sr. Member
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Posts: 456


New exhaust "straight through" - good sound!


« Reply #47 on: July 08, 2013, 07:26:09 am »

Lydden Hill Sprint was last Saturday. This is the racing circuit near Dover in Kent that was (is still?) used for RallyCross as was shown on ITV most Saturday afternoons in the '60s and '70s! Think of an oval track about 1700m long bent into an "L" shape. Hills and dips, fast bends and a slow hairpin. Great fun when I went first there two years ago when "Prymeg" walked me around and showed me the lines to take. Thanks again Graham!

Liz and I were dual driving again, a first for Liz on a racing circuit with much higher speeds than Prescott or the Rushmore Sprints in her Audi S3 on a narrow road around a grassy army exhibition ground in Hampshire. She was very apprehensive at first but after "doing a Graham" and walking around most of the track she settled in and started to enjoy herself (as I was enjoying myself again too!). By the end she was keen to have another track session as a bonus.

Baggy Joe had three problems, two of my own making! I had noticed before that the Blower Manifold pressure sensor pipe came off the sensor under maximum boost (about 1 bar) and I had failed to fit a small cable tie to keep it in place. Halfway through my first run the engine felt sluggish and I worried about pre-ignition and blown head gaskets again. A cable tie fixed that problem and we went back to full power again.  I fitted a new battery for Prescott as the old one had died over the winter. In error I fitted the battery intended for our competition Fiat 126 (650cc twin cylinder) instead! It has a struggle starting the new 1442cc + Supercharger Baggy if the engine does not start first time!  A new heavy duty battery should be delivered today (70Ahr and 690 Cold Cranking Amps!) More of the third problem next time!
Andy
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GP
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« Reply #48 on: July 08, 2013, 10:20:26 am »

Well done Andy and especially Liz,

Great to see it is up and running with only a few minor teething problems.

A very impressive feat of engineering indeed Andy!

Cheers,

Graham

P.S. A few pictures of the installation would be good.
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andyowl
Sr. Member
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Posts: 456


New exhaust "straight through" - good sound!


« Reply #49 on: July 21, 2013, 12:49:55 pm »

Thanks for the good wishes!

Some pictures below. I'm not now sure where I have sent them so I apologies if you ahve seen them before.

The head valves are intended for a Triumph Spitfire, 1600cc race engine. They are similar in diameter to the Simca valves but have a much thinner valve stem. This increases the flow area just below the valve head where the area is most restricted.

The other head work is related to smoothing off the internal surfaces and increasing the cross section area.

I seem not to have taken any pics yet of the new OMEX electronic ignition system. I must do that soon.

Andy
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Spyros
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I'm a real donkey!


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« Reply #50 on: November 17, 2013, 08:12:50 pm »

Hi Andy,

I haven't been here for a long time.
My question is probably stupid but would it have been possible to cut the chopper grooves on the puley itself ?
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