I am going to have to increase the bonnet line for my engine somehow. I am thinking of lifting the whole of the scuttle, bonnet and nose by putting a 1" square aluminium tube along the tope of the top chassis rails, but I think I am going to need even more height.

a) where is a good place to get a scoop/bulge?

b) how good a result could you get with an aluminium sheet bulge? it seems to me that you could potentially cut a hole in the bonnet then make a scoop with a constant slope from front to back, then bend the sides down over a round edge to get a half reasonable looking finish.

or c) how feasible would it be to make parallel 2 cuts front to back in the bonnet and raise the front of the "flap" to form the opening of the scoop, filling in the sides with aluminimum sheet or similar? a bit like the pic below.

All suggestions gratefully received
Rescued attachment scoop.jpg

version C

hold it apart , with some ally , and lay up fibreglass underneath , rub down and fill , make it look nice again.

why the hell do you need to raise the bonnet line, when it says under your avatar that you're only using a 1.4 k-series????!!!!

Ned.

Simple: Height of engine > height of bonnet!

The ST bodywork is quite low and a combination of keeping the engine central, the oil filter, etc. clearing the chassis rails and maintaining a reasonable ground clearance mean "the only way is up"!

I have moved the engine back as far as it will go to use the higher part of the bonnet as much as possible, but it can't got back any further without the clutch release arm fouling the footwell.

quote:

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Originally posted by ned
why the hell do you need to raise the bonnet line, when it says under your avatar that you're only using a 1.4 k-series????!!!!

Ned.

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i was of the impression the k-series was quite a small engine as caterham fit it under their body which is pretty low (prob what the st stuff was originally modelled from) so how far under the chassis does the sump protrude? has the sump been chopped at all? I'm just curious..

cheers,

Ned.

In the interests of avoiding too much extra expense the sump hasn't been chopped - it's a standard one.

I believe a lot of Caterhams have minimal ground clearance, or a special shallow sump or replacement dry sump. I have set mine with the sump an inch below the chassis in order to keep reasonable ground clearance...

the need to maintain alignment limits the position as well.

hi mate.

id seriously weigh up the options of cutting the sump against cutting the bodywork! remember, both can be ball ache, but no one sees the sump! i did my pinto sump myself. Unless the k series uses an alloy sump, its really easy to do. Whereas, myself i find bodywork terribly difficult.

Unfortunately the sump is alloy, like the rest of the engine

i understand what you're saying, but are you modifying the standard sump at all? the engine in a road car (assuming where you got it from) will have been transverse and fwd, so you'd need to modify the sump to reduce/get rid of oil surge anyway surely? why not then just get it chopped at the same time (sure you can find someone nearby/friendly garage etc that could tig it up for you if you prep'd it all yourself?!)

best of luck..

Ned.

I'd agree with Ned (for once! ). It's far easier to chop the sump and drop the engine an inch or two.
Why chop up a lovely set of bodywork if you don't need to.

Have a word with the ST guys to see what they say- I can't believe there's no work around.

Good luck,
James

Chop the sump.

My modified Pinto sump still sticks down 50mm.