Tilton Slave, Zircotech Headers and Injector cleaning

[gruffalo]

If Kent Cams do have the specs I am sure they could make a batch up if people wanted them.

[aide]

My Tilton salve has arrived
And ordered some new -4 clutch lines from http://www.earls.co.uk

[aide]

Some more progress..

Tilton Slave;







A visual comparison of standard, RP and Tilton slaves:



Tilton slave moc mounted:



Prep the bellhousing (I put keyserts in last year so that I could torque the RP slave a bit more)


gently tapped in a torqx bit to unscrew the serts:


All prepped:



Start cutting;


Hole made:


No turning back now...



Random workspace picture:



I wanted to cut a groove on the face of the bellhousing, that mates with the gearbox, so that I would be able to remove the gearbox and slave while leaving the bellhousing in situ. However, looking at the thickness of the area, I don't think it's a good idea to remove material around there. I'm probably going to drill holes in the bellhousing to accomadate the feed and bleed clutch lines.

Aide

[julian64]

can't quite see how to are attaching the slave to the bell housing?

[CerbWill]

It doesn't attach to the bellhousing. Its screwed onto a threaded tube which locates over the gearbox input bearing retainer. An anti-rotation bolt is then fitted (needs a hole drilling & tapping) to ensure that it can't rotate and therefore alter the preset distance from the release bearing to the clutch fingers.

[FarmyardPants]

Excellent stuff Aide. Well done to you and cerbwill for pioneering this mod!

Cerbwill, how is your clutch feel these days?

[CerbWill]

I've only done a few hundred miles, maybe a thousand, as I've been doing some fairly extensive winter maintenance (making my own replacement engine wiring loom, suspension spring change etc etc etc) but it seems fine, and no leaks!

Aide, I didn't remove the engine when I did this mod and I found the easiest (only?) way to refit the gearbox was to put the gearbox back in the transmission tunnel, complete with correctly adjusted slave cylinder, then fit the bellhousing to the gearbox and route the hydraulic hoses through the holes in the bellhousing, and then slide the gearbox & bellhousing forward onto the clutch. In theory the clutch could be changed by shifting the gearbox & bellhousing backwards down the transmission tunnel as one without disconnecting the hydraulic hoses, and the slave changed from the same position by measuring the diatance from the bellhousing/engine mating face of the bellhousing to the release bearing before unthreading the slave from it's mount and disconnecting the hoses. I live in hope though that this will fix the Cerb's inherrent clutch weakness and won't be necessary! All in all, if you do go with the cutting holes for the hyd lines rather that a slot as per your first thought it shouldn't make future component changes too bad.

Edited by CerbWill on Wednesday 10th February 15:13

[aide]

Some more progress..

Prepped the bellhousing:


Removed the sharp edges and buffed it with some scotchbrite:



And checked the diameter of the anti-rotation bolt hole:


I'll tap the spigot cowling to fit the anti-rotation bolt this week.

But instead of a bolt I might get some 6mm stainless rod, cut it down to size and thread it just enough so that it thghtens flush with spigot cowling.

Does anyone think cleaning a bellhousing in the dishwasher is grounds for divorce?

[gruffalo]

[quote=aide

Does anyone think cleaning a bellhousing in the dishwasher is grounds for divorce?

[/quote]


Obvious place to do it really.

I once cleaned a cylinder head in the bath, got some what told off but got it nice and clean.

[aide]

I might coat it in oven cleaner for a few hours this evening while I'm removing the air con condenser.

Or maybe not!
http://www.hdforums.com/forum/detailing/229259-ove...

Edited by aide on Thursday 11th February 08:41

[pmessling]

i spent a few hours using alloy wheel cleaner getting my bell housing clean when i done my clutch last year. I should have tried the dishwasher.

Keep up the good work Aide, its looking good.

[aide]

Thanks Peter - I have alloy wheel cleaner, perfect.
And then in the dishwasher.

[aide]

Some more progress this evening.


Gave the bellhousing a good clean:



New Wilwood 0.625 Master Cylinder:


Measured the connection so that I can get an adapter for the new hoses I ordered:



I moc mounted the Tilton slave and clutch assembly to see how it looks.

When I took the engine out, and while the clutch assy and bellhousing were still fitted, I measured 87mm from the face of the bellhousing to the tips of the clutch diaphragm.

And with that distance roughly set; the gearbox, slave and clutch look like this:







For the shoulder bolt that stops the slave rotating - I ordered a 50mm M6 Cap head bolt, a nut to lock it down and a NordLock washer to ensure it won't vibrate loose.

I'll tap the spigot cowling for the shoulder bolt and drill holes in the bellhousing for the bleed and feed lines tomorrow evening.

The new clutch lines should arrive either tomorrow or Saturday..

[aide]

Just found this shoulder bolt:
http://www.wdsltd.co.uk/product/5009/stainless-ste...
Just ordered a 887-M5-6-40.

[jammy_basturd]

Looking great aide.

The only other thing I'll say is that you have the plushest garage seat I've seen outside of Iron Man!

[julian64]

I'm still confused and a bit worried.

When the clutch is engaged its pushing on the fingers. The bearing is spinning round and the only thing stopping the whole thing from spinning round is a screw going through to the spline shroud?

The original is connected to the bell housing with the four big bolts you had trouble getting out. Yours have the equivalent of a screw close to the lever point of the shaft?

What happens when the bearing gets a bit dirty, or stiff?

I don't think I'm actually understanding the connection between the slave and the gearbox????

[ukkid35]

Thanks for sharing this Adrian, looks like amazing work.

I am very optimistic that the Tilton will be more reliable than OEM.

I only have one big concern, and if CerbWill hadn't proved that it could be done then I would have serious doubts: Fitting the Gearbox.

With this arrangement you can't disengage the clutch before offering up the gearbox, which means it has to be perfectly aligned. Like you I have had the gearbox off several times, and I always find that refitting is a three man (or person) job: GF depresses clutch, assistant takes the weight of the gearbox, and I try to manoeuvre it into place whilst swearing profusely. Even after using an alignment tool we still couldn't fit the gearbox without my GF's assistance. And all that without the hassle of the Tilton's hydraulics.

Good luck and congratulations on your progress so far.

[julian64]

I could be wrong here but can't you lower the engine and gearbox back in together. As far as I remember it could be done if you took the front pulley wheel off. I would make the reassembly so much easier

[aide]

jammy_basturd said:

Looking great aide.

The only other thing I'll say is that you have the plushest garage seat I've seen outside of Iron Man!

Thanks j_b, wish I had Jarvis to clean up the huge mess I made cutting a hole in the bellhousing!

[CerbWill]

ukkid35 said:

Thanks for sharing this Adrian, looks like amazing work.

I am very optimistic that the Tilton will be more reliable than OEM.

I only have one big concern, and if CerbWill hadn't proved that it could be done then I would have serious doubts: Fitting the Gearbox.

With this arrangement you can't disengage the clutch before offering up the gearbox, which means it has to be perfectly aligned. Like you I have had the gearbox off several times, and I always find that refitting is a three man (or person) job: GF depresses clutch, assistant takes the weight of the gearbox, and I try to manoeuvre it into place whilst swearing profusely. Even after using an alignment tool we still couldn't fit the gearbox without my GF's assistance. And all that without the hassle of the Tilton's hydraulics.

Good luck and congratulations on your progress so far.

julian64 said:

I could be wrong here but can't you lower the engine and gearbox back in together. As far as I remember it could be done if you took the front pulley wheel off. I would make the reassembly so much easier

I've had the joy of doing the clutch slave on my car twice. The first time I took the engine and gearbox out as one complete until to let me tidy up the engine back, and swapped the failed standard TVR slave for a Raceproved unit. The second time I took the gearbox out from underneath the car to replace the Raceprooved with the Tilton. I didn't need to take the front pulley off to get the engine & gearbox out in one, getting the gearbox off and back on the car is a pain, but with a lot of perseverance, a pry bar, and a trolley jack to take the weight of it, it was just about possible.