Where to go for an engine refresh?
Discussion
I have just got my first SR3 its an older chassis with a 1400T ? engine.
The engine was fitted in the car in 2014 and was mapped / dyno'd at Northampton Motorsport showing 214 bhp.
The car has only done track days whilst the last two owners have had it. - the engine is sweet but total running time is unverified and has a couple of small oil weeps. I intend only to do trackdays myself, but for the sake of reliability and peace of mind I'd like to have it refreshed and would value your recommendations. - It still has the seal on the engine.
The engine came out this morning (so no tuning back) - what would you expect them to do and not to do on a refresh - assuming nothing untowards is found when inspected?
I'm based in Cheshire, not far from Oulton Park.
Thanks in advance.
Jason
The engine was fitted in the car in 2014 and was mapped / dyno'd at Northampton Motorsport showing 214 bhp.
The car has only done track days whilst the last two owners have had it. - the engine is sweet but total running time is unverified and has a couple of small oil weeps. I intend only to do trackdays myself, but for the sake of reliability and peace of mind I'd like to have it refreshed and would value your recommendations. - It still has the seal on the engine.
The engine came out this morning (so no tuning back) - what would you expect them to do and not to do on a refresh - assuming nothing untowards is found when inspected?
I'm based in Cheshire, not far from Oulton Park.
Thanks in advance.
Jason
That would all depend on what needs replacing if anything.
I imagine Dan will be along in a minute he works there and will give you more details prices etc etc.
They are a little busy this time of the year, so if you decide to have them refresh it get in the que now I think he had 30 plus motors to do and that was last month.
I imagine Dan will be along in a minute he works there and will give you more details prices etc etc.
They are a little busy this time of the year, so if you decide to have them refresh it get in the que now I think he had 30 plus motors to do and that was last month.
Ric355 - Yes, I believe it is your car, and the missing 3hp was just a typo that I only spotted after I'd submitted it.
I’d appreciate the opportunity to hear a little more of the history of the car, what else did you do to it, why the engine swap etc.
I am optimistically hoping to be out on my first track day with it, late on in Feb – if everything goes to plan.
I’d appreciate the opportunity to hear a little more of the history of the car, what else did you do to it, why the engine swap etc.
I am optimistically hoping to be out on my first track day with it, late on in Feb – if everything goes to plan.
So I bought it purely to run as a track day car, and with that in mind I didn't want an engine that needed a lot of TLC so I avoided the 1500 spec as I just didn't think I needed it. Possibly a mistake in hindsight but I was happy enough without it.
I bought it from Keith Bisp, who is reasonably well known in the Radical world. When I bought the car it was running a bog standard 1300 straight out of a bike but with the correct radical dry sump installation on it and all the other relevant bits. I ran it like that for a while but eventually started to want more power - it was acceleration on straights where it was lacking particularly at castle combe and silverstone. It had originally been running a 1500 as a race car in Germany, but Keith had taken the 1500 out of it and put the 1300 in so they could run it as a track day hire car.
I was actually thinking of selling it on and getting something else when a 1400 engine turned up for sale via this site (ISTR someone posted on the forum that they had one available during a conversation and I just contacted them privately about it). So I ended up fitting the 1400 (which I did myself). At the time, it was running an MBE 992a ECU which turned out to be one of the very early ones that could only be remapped via a serial connection and I couldn't find anyone to do it. I ended up buying a replacement later spec ECU which was locked by Radical and hence they were the only ones that could remap it. I had spoken to them and they said they'd book me in but time passed and it eventually turned out that Radical had some sort of incident with their rolling road and it was no longer operational, so I had to pay MBE to unlock the ECU for me so that I could get someone other than Radical to map it. That was how it ended up at Northampton Motorsport.
I then ran it for another year or so on the 1400 until I'd got to a point where I wanted to let it go.
Is it still red with the yellow stripe? The person that bought it off me was going to have all of the bodywork redone and was pushing me hard on the asking price, but when I spoke to him later he'd decided to run it as-is and get the bodywork done later so don't know if he ever did.
I don't think I did anything else to it of any significance other than the engine as it already had the floating brakes on it. I had a high resistance in the coil +ve supply cable which took ages to find at one point, and as a consequence there's a bypass wire in the loom to fix it if you're ever in that area and wondering what it's for. I just didn't want to cut into the loom sleeves. Another problem I had was the front crash box kept pulling away from the chassis where it is riveted on. I did a more comprehensive repair at one point which might still be present. The rivet holes in the chassis rails were getting too big I think so they were just pulling out.
There should be a fuel drain kit with it (at least there was when I sold it) - you'll need it to work out how much fuel you're using. There were two sets of rims as well - one silver one gold.
I was using the air jacks for tyre changes but part of the deal was to sell the lance separately since they're worth a few quid, and I wanted to keep the bottle and regulator anyway. I left the jacks themselves on the car though as it was too much hassle to remove them. There were a few other bits that were removed as well so that the next owner could pay a bit less for it and I could still get the total amount I was after - data logger, ECU interface, AMB transponder etc. I think I still have the fuel pressure sensor from the datalogger somewhere - it was the only thing I didn't get around to selling.
At the time I installed the engine it had done 7 hours. And I ran it for about 10 track days after that I think before I eventually sold it. Given the use the next owner gave it I'd say you're doing the right thing getting it refreshed assuming the last owner didn't do it while he owned it.
Hope you enjoy it - you know where I am if you want to ask anything.
I bought it from Keith Bisp, who is reasonably well known in the Radical world. When I bought the car it was running a bog standard 1300 straight out of a bike but with the correct radical dry sump installation on it and all the other relevant bits. I ran it like that for a while but eventually started to want more power - it was acceleration on straights where it was lacking particularly at castle combe and silverstone. It had originally been running a 1500 as a race car in Germany, but Keith had taken the 1500 out of it and put the 1300 in so they could run it as a track day hire car.
I was actually thinking of selling it on and getting something else when a 1400 engine turned up for sale via this site (ISTR someone posted on the forum that they had one available during a conversation and I just contacted them privately about it). So I ended up fitting the 1400 (which I did myself). At the time, it was running an MBE 992a ECU which turned out to be one of the very early ones that could only be remapped via a serial connection and I couldn't find anyone to do it. I ended up buying a replacement later spec ECU which was locked by Radical and hence they were the only ones that could remap it. I had spoken to them and they said they'd book me in but time passed and it eventually turned out that Radical had some sort of incident with their rolling road and it was no longer operational, so I had to pay MBE to unlock the ECU for me so that I could get someone other than Radical to map it. That was how it ended up at Northampton Motorsport.
I then ran it for another year or so on the 1400 until I'd got to a point where I wanted to let it go.
Is it still red with the yellow stripe? The person that bought it off me was going to have all of the bodywork redone and was pushing me hard on the asking price, but when I spoke to him later he'd decided to run it as-is and get the bodywork done later so don't know if he ever did.
I don't think I did anything else to it of any significance other than the engine as it already had the floating brakes on it. I had a high resistance in the coil +ve supply cable which took ages to find at one point, and as a consequence there's a bypass wire in the loom to fix it if you're ever in that area and wondering what it's for. I just didn't want to cut into the loom sleeves. Another problem I had was the front crash box kept pulling away from the chassis where it is riveted on. I did a more comprehensive repair at one point which might still be present. The rivet holes in the chassis rails were getting too big I think so they were just pulling out.
There should be a fuel drain kit with it (at least there was when I sold it) - you'll need it to work out how much fuel you're using. There were two sets of rims as well - one silver one gold.
I was using the air jacks for tyre changes but part of the deal was to sell the lance separately since they're worth a few quid, and I wanted to keep the bottle and regulator anyway. I left the jacks themselves on the car though as it was too much hassle to remove them. There were a few other bits that were removed as well so that the next owner could pay a bit less for it and I could still get the total amount I was after - data logger, ECU interface, AMB transponder etc. I think I still have the fuel pressure sensor from the datalogger somewhere - it was the only thing I didn't get around to selling.
At the time I installed the engine it had done 7 hours. And I ran it for about 10 track days after that I think before I eventually sold it. Given the use the next owner gave it I'd say you're doing the right thing getting it refreshed assuming the last owner didn't do it while he owned it.
Hope you enjoy it - you know where I am if you want to ask anything.
Thank you Richard, for taking the time to compose that history.
The car is just in the base red now, with no stripes / decals – the body work hasn’t been repaired and I’m in two minds if I should either, it is quite crazed and marked as you’d expect for its age but fixing it won’t make me any faster and the plan is to run it for the year, If I fall in love with it then I’ll trade up to a newer one anyway. – I’ve not had an aero car before so it shouldn’t take long to know if it’s the future . . .
Thanks for the tip about the coil feed, I’m intending to have a tidy up and repair / replace some of the loom in the engine bay, so that useful to look out for.
Did you set the suspension up or is it how it came from Keith? – I intend to take some measurements and then see what people recommend as a good base line. – although I was told its very good as it is now.
It did come with the fuel drain kit and the wheels, although I’ve no idea what do with the drain kit, but I haven’t looked at it yet.
The previous owner didn’t use the air jacks, but I have tried them and they seem to work ok, not sure if they need a bit of cleaning or lubrication (should you do anything) after not having been used for so long?
The car is just in the base red now, with no stripes / decals – the body work hasn’t been repaired and I’m in two minds if I should either, it is quite crazed and marked as you’d expect for its age but fixing it won’t make me any faster and the plan is to run it for the year, If I fall in love with it then I’ll trade up to a newer one anyway. – I’ve not had an aero car before so it shouldn’t take long to know if it’s the future . . .
Thanks for the tip about the coil feed, I’m intending to have a tidy up and repair / replace some of the loom in the engine bay, so that useful to look out for.
Did you set the suspension up or is it how it came from Keith? – I intend to take some measurements and then see what people recommend as a good base line. – although I was told its very good as it is now.
It did come with the fuel drain kit and the wheels, although I’ve no idea what do with the drain kit, but I haven’t looked at it yet.
The previous owner didn’t use the air jacks, but I have tried them and they seem to work ok, not sure if they need a bit of cleaning or lubrication (should you do anything) after not having been used for so long?
I didn't do anything with the suspension, but I don't know if the last owner did anything to it. I remember asking Keith about it and he just suggested I didn't mess with it as he'd already set it up. It was running quite low when I had it.
Regarding the bodywork I fixed some weak points on the rear section of the bodywork by patching the underside, and was going to try and repair the surface but I never got around to it. I bought it to drive and couldn't see the bodywork while I was in it so I didn't really care enough to do something about it, knowing that structurally it was OK.
Assuming the lead I made for the fuel drain is still with it (cig lighter plug with a switch on top) that lead connects to a plug which is tied to the left hand side of the chassis, roughly inboard of the rear body section electrical connector and inline with the coolant swirl tank. The plug is probably on the underside of a chassis rail under a tie wrap. There should then be a quick-release connector on the end of the fuel rail which the fuel hose pushes on to. I used to power the drain from a jump start pack which had cigarette lighter socket on it, hence the cable.
When I sold the car it was sold without the fuel drain as the next owner didn't want it, but he later realised he did want it so I sold it on to him. Thus I dunno if he fitted the quick release connector on the same end of the fuel rail or not or made any other changes.
Not sure there's much to maintain on the air jacks although I guess there's some sort of seal in them. You got the kit to run them? They need 300psi.
Regarding the bodywork I fixed some weak points on the rear section of the bodywork by patching the underside, and was going to try and repair the surface but I never got around to it. I bought it to drive and couldn't see the bodywork while I was in it so I didn't really care enough to do something about it, knowing that structurally it was OK.
Assuming the lead I made for the fuel drain is still with it (cig lighter plug with a switch on top) that lead connects to a plug which is tied to the left hand side of the chassis, roughly inboard of the rear body section electrical connector and inline with the coolant swirl tank. The plug is probably on the underside of a chassis rail under a tie wrap. There should then be a quick-release connector on the end of the fuel rail which the fuel hose pushes on to. I used to power the drain from a jump start pack which had cigarette lighter socket on it, hence the cable.
When I sold the car it was sold without the fuel drain as the next owner didn't want it, but he later realised he did want it so I sold it on to him. Thus I dunno if he fitted the quick release connector on the same end of the fuel rail or not or made any other changes.
Not sure there's much to maintain on the air jacks although I guess there's some sort of seal in them. You got the kit to run them? They need 300psi.
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