collection of wedges

[Engineer1949]

just a couple of pics of my 350i a 400se and a 390sx in my workshop

john

IMG_20151125_124821 by Brundall Motorsport, on Flickr

IMG_20151125_074222 by Brundall Motorsport, on Flickr

[mrzigazaga]

Hi John...Whats a matter with the SX...That was a sorted motor and belonged to a good friend of mine...The orange Wedge is coming along....Ziga

[stevoj]

Some people have all the luck; I can only have one

[gmw9666]

That's just plain greedy lol

The SX is lovely.......did swoon over it at furnhursts or wherever it was for sale last mmmmmm

[Engineer1949]

The sprintex is coming out as it has had its day and one off my and scpowers rotrex blowers going in.

John

[mrzigazaga]

Engineer1949 said:

The sprintex is coming out

Go nice on the 350i...

It will be interesting to see what the outcome will be...This SX is one of only two 400SX so is a big part of TVR Wedge history, It was outrageous for its day..Im surprised they have lasted as long as they have and thats not a derogatory comment towards the work that went into them...Just that the timing advance and retard reaction rate with the old distributor always worried me especially with modern fuels...The sprintex is still one of the best superchargers ever built for the V8..Its best in the "V" for maximum beastness...Coupled with a good ignition systems and programmable ECU's you can end up with a really wild animal...

As said i know this particular SX very well and have some fond memories...Being behind it one sunny afternoon in a Surrey high street popping and banging like an AA gun..Here is one of the whine and pop...Awesome...Turn up the sound!..
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

Inside a tunnel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOijSVBaYGY

It had a lot of money spent on it and i hope this is not too painful for my friend who owned the car when all this was done...Its a rare beautiful beast
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

[Campbell]

Sounds like a good up grade for the SX

Mr Zig, do you know if the SX is on a mappable ecu, it will free up quite a bit of room and I'm guessing it will get an inter cooler to help the engine run smother

Liking the line up in the work shop John

[mrzigazaga]

Campbell said:

Sounds like a good up grade for the SX

Mr Zig, do you know if the SX is on a mappable ecu, it will free up quite a bit of room and I'm guessing it will get an inter cooler to help the engine run smother

Liking the line up in the work shop John

Hi mate...As i understand it the original ignition system was changed for MS..(Not sure what version) I believe and was mappable to a degree..The high intake temperatures were apparently interfering with the parameters of the ECU system and it couldn't adjust the timing properly or correct the fuelling, An intercooler was fitted but my personal opinion was that this actually restricted the air flow to the blower causing a suffocation which in itself poses a few problems down to the pipe work not being big enough...Lets face it there is no room under a Wedge bonnet for that..I would of changed the ignition to something more suitable, Even something less complicated so that it mainly controls the timing..The fuelling could be boost valve rising FPR with a tweaked ECU..As for cooling...Well if it were me i would of had a scoop in the bonnet...Or major fabrication to the nose cone and air intakes....Twin turbo fans on the rad help not only to cool the rad but to push air around the engine bay...Done right its very effective....I think Adams mod on his SX in Oz is a sensible way to go..Utilising the wheel arches is also a way forward....

[adam quantrill]

If you go back to the original ECU there's an adjuster to tweak enrichment under load.

My sprintex has done 70k miles and is still going strong (excepting the oil leak/consumption).

I think they are pretty bulletproof assuming you don't let crud get in (run with an air filter) and the gearbox inside is properly lubed.

I think that car seems to spend significantly more time off the road than on it!!!

[boxer456]

Hi chaps, I'm the new owner of this lovely Wedge. It's a long story but as John says the Sprintex had its day and it's now time for a modern equivalent to keep the sx title alive (I'm keeping the old sprintex if I can find someone to rebuild it).

The previous owner got the car to a great standard, It hasn't been on the road much in the past 12 months, gearbox has been rebuilt and Johns now doing a great job on the sc install. David from sc power has also been a big help in providing the kit with plenty of advice along the way. A few alterations required for the pre serp ac install. It's running a mega squirt Ecu. Hopefully John will keep us posted with the install as it progresses.

James

[mrzigazaga]

adam quantrill said:

If you go back to the original ECU there's an adjuster to tweak enrichment under load.

My sprintex has done 70k miles and is still going strong (excepting the oil leak/consumption).

I think they are pretty bulletproof assuming you don't let crud get in (run with an air filter) and the gearbox inside is properly lubed.

I think that car seems to spend significantly more time off the road than on it!!!

Hi Adam..I don't think there was anything wrong with the way the SX fuels, Simpler the better...Maybe an addition of a rising FPR or FSE boost valve and maybe some more modern injectors..My concern with the blower install on Delilah was with the mechanical advance and retard..Detonation to any engine is not good but on a supercharged one it can be catastrophic...You definitely get more bang for your buck...I wanted something that would change as quick as it needed to without going trigger wheels and MAP sensors...I was trying to keep it simple but up to date...I probably would still be driving her around if both heads were unleaded as first thought.....

boxer456 said:

Hi chaps, I'm the new owner of this lovely Wedge. It's a long story but as John says the Sprintex had its day and it's now time for a modern equivalent to keep the sx title alive (I'm keeping the old sprintex if I can find someone to rebuild it).

The previous owner got the car to a great standard, It hasn't been on the road much in the past 12 months, gearbox has been rebuilt and Johns now doing a great job on the sc install. David from sc power has also been a big help in providing the kit with plenty of advice along the way. A few alterations required for the pre serp ac install. It's running a mega squirt Ecu. Hopefully John will keep us posted with the install as it progresses.

James

The S102 is a hardy unit indeed and still fetch good money, I do believe that Sprintex has a branch in Australia who are making the next gen twin screw and still sell parts for the older S102's...Perhaps this is the way forward for the ole girl...At least she will get enjoyed again....Looking forward to seeing the install...

[Campbell]

boxer456 said:

Hi chaps, I'm the new owner of this lovely Wedge. It's a long story but as John says the Sprintex had its day and it's now time for a modern equivalent to keep the sx title alive (I'm keeping the old sprintex if I can find someone to rebuild it).

The previous owner got the car to a great standard, It hasn't been on the road much in the past 12 months, gearbox has been rebuilt and Johns now doing a great job on the sc install. David from sc power has also been a big help in providing the kit with plenty of advice along the way. A few alterations required for the pre serp ac install. It's running a mega squirt Ecu. Hopefully John will keep us posted with the install as it progresses.

James

Good luck the with the rebirth of your SX but if it were me I would get shot of the mega squirt and look at some thing better known for running on engines with supper chargers and go fully mapped for fuel and injection and then you will never have any danger of doing damage to the engine like Zig had mentioned.
I went down that route and what a difference its made and ultimately more reliable when you are asking more from the engine with added stress.
Look forward to reading about the upgrades.

Cambelt

[boxer456]

Thanks for all the advice and support, once the install has been completed most of the car will have been refurbished or replaced so looking forward to getting out on the road at last. We plan to get the car running then look at performance / running enhancements afterwards. The mega squirt will not allow larger injectors to be fitted and has its limitations so thinking canems or emerald? Hopefully the intercooler will be ok, the pipework is narrower than supplied by sc power for the Chim although the intercooler itself is larger.

[mrzigazaga]

boxer456 said:

Hopefully the intercooler will be ok, the pipework is narrower than supplied by sc power for the Chim although the intercooler itself is larger.

If the pipework of the intercooler is narrower than the inlet of the Supercharger then you will most definitely be losing psi..Even 1 is a lot!...What makes you say the S102 needs rebuilding?...If its a bit noisy then that is normal...If its horrendously noisy then the bearings are fubarred...When i had the S102 installed on my 280i the heat almost trebled under the bonnet...This was dramatically reduced with the addition of a 3 core alloy rad with a 18" Turbo boost kenlowe fan...Albeit too late as the heads were not what they said on the tin!...The Wedge bonnet design leaves a lot to be desired in some cases although the early Tasmins were more efficient and made more sense.

The S102 Sprintex function of forcing more air down the gullet of your engine is a simple one....The right plugs..The best air filter you can buy...Correct grade fuel and access to more of it when needed..Bingo...However due to the changes in fuels a bit more attention would give peace of mind on the timing side of things, Even something like mega-jolt just to control the advance/retard..You shouldn't need an intercooler.

However using a modern inter-cooled blower with programmable ECU's and trigger wheels..Map sensors......Is probably the way to go for forced induction....And of course to get the best out of any blower camshafts and head work are a must......."Houston...We have lift off".....

[boxer456]

Cheers Ziga, it has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride since I picked up G692 MEO last October. Basically the Srintex S102 dissintegrated whislt stuck in a traffic jam on the A2, the revs were stuck at 3000 rpm likely due to an air leak (very loud) and I had to keep stopping to prevent overheating. Whilst pulling over to let the car cool the supercharger belt snapped and the car went back to Austec Racing for me to find out that the supercharger's screws had collided causing serious damage, Sprintex no longer. Trying to rebuild or find a second hand s102 Sprintex supercharger is difficult. I think the Sprintex has proven to be generally a very strong unit, even after 26 years and 81,000 miles, I was unlucky. On top of that the gearbox dissintegrated, I know this rare TVR has had its fair share of bad luck but its worth the effort. When this car is going well, its pure magic!

I then decided that I needed to look elsewhere, SCPower to the rescue. I digress..

The intercooler pipes are wider bore than the supercharger outlet on the Rotrex, I dont have the exact dimensions but we will see, the intercooler was already installed so will see how it performs. They are narrower than SC Power specify, the intercooler they use increases power significantly due to the decreased intake temp.

[mrzigazaga]

Blimey that was unfortunate...This was a Procharger install on a LHD 350i by a reputable fellow...It looks a really neat fit and has some impressive figures...Intercooler is definitely the way to go...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IbjsXYGFd8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YndLIU1SmKs

[boxer456]

Sure was bloomin hell at the time! that's looks like a nice install and no intercooler. Johns last install makes about 385 hp from the same engine, amazing, not looking to make quite that power for road use but it should be good.

[Jasper Gilder]

Sorry guys, hit this one a bit late - but I try to keep a register of all the SXs having had my 350SX from new.

Great to see the 400SX as this car has always been below my radar for whatever reason. The expert on Sprintexs was Dennis Priddle of Yeovil but he must be very old now

The good news is that Sprintex superchargers are still being made by a company in Perth Western Australia. Not sure if they could do a rebuild on an s102 but a new one retails at about £1200 at today's exchange rate

The S102 was pretty much at the limit of what Haughins could get out of it on the 400s and when someone wanted to Supercharge a 4.5 Tuscan racer I sat next to David as he advised him to go for twin blowers. (I think that was the end of that)

To be original the car should also have a Haughins sticker on the boot lid and front spoiler and (by owner preference) SX stickers on the spoiler end plates

When it's done you should bring it on the TVR Spain Tour in April

[boxer456]

Hi Jasper, fantastic to hear that you have owned your SX from new, they really are very special TVR''s, Dennis's and Haughins collaboration made for one of the most unique TVR's ever made. I would like to get the S102 rebuilt as I would like to keep all the original mods together with the car. I have been in touch with Sprintex Australia and they unfortunately don't rebuild them or sell a direct replacement although they do still make superchargers. I'm sure it would be possible to modify a modern Sprintex to fit although there is no Rover V8 package on offer. The Rotrex I am installing is a proven modern take on the original I guess, hopefully Dennis would approve, as you say he must be getting on, it would be great to hear from him.

I'm really looking forward to getting the car back on the road and hopefully meeting up with ya all too, shouldn't be too long, John is starting the install soon!!
James

[Oz2]

Hi all,

That sx was probably off your radar jasper, because it spent some time here in Australia, I almost acquired it, if the guy could produce the paperwork..... He couldn't so I didn't.
The weird thing though was I bought my sx and they must have passed on the high seas as the guy sent it back....
Basically he imported it to Oz without the correct paperwork to put it on the road so it was never registered here therefore it sat unused for about 12years IIRC.....long time to sit, I think that's why everything needed rebuilding or replacing.
I look forward to seeing it finished, keep the progress updated coming.
Good luck
Adam