[Silverkat]

Hey guys and girls, I'm on the hunt for some FRP driveshafts, I need both sides, either to borrow or to purchase.

If anyone has the correct length measurement, that could also work.

I'm going to have some motorsport shafts made but my FRP came without any, if anyone could help, I would be most grateful.

Cheers!

[Kizza]

the frp is wider by 25mm over the standerd car so if you find out the standard length just add 25mm. thats what im doing when i do my front end but im tubing my standard shafts instead of getting new shafts made.

cheers kieran

[Dogsbody]

Where in the country are you Silverkat?

I have a spare pair for my FRP, if your local you could borrow.

[Silverkat]

Hi Dogsbody,

I live in Malvern and work in central Birmingham, if I could borrow a pair that would be superb. It may take a few weeks to get them back to you if that is OK?
Let me know and I'll sort out collecting them.
Hopefully the new shafts won't be too costly, it might be another part to keep FRP's on the road.

Kind regards

[eldoodarino]

Alan at Pumabuild has got loads of them on the shelf...

i believe shaftec also have that length...

remember the drivers side is 5mm shorter..

[Silverkat]

Hi,

I brought the rolling shell off Alan, without the driveshafts, I think they were already sold.

I know they fetch a fair price and I would rather borrow some as I need very heavy duty shafts for what I'm doing and would not use the standard ones.

Also, I've got to buy an FRP box off Alan soon and I don't want to push my luck as I want it muchos cheapness.

Cheers for the info though!

Regards

[eldoodarino]

Whats wrong with the stndard FRP shafts? they're pretty good quality i'd say compared to atermarket stuff...

If the bar is getting huge amounts of stress i'd sooner break that than the gearbox... />

usually you only snap off the end of the bar if you dump the clutch when the wheel is turned....

[Silverkat]

Hello again,

I had better explain my motives, I am building my FRP as a tarmac rally car. It was going to be a circuit racer but I am now building a different car for that. There is nothing wrong with the standard shafts but they will be subjected to severe shock (she has a cerametallic clutch, plate LSD, sticky tyres) and I just don't want them snapping mid-stage.
The shafts I am having made will be super strong and gun drilled for weight, they are proper motorsport components. As for the gearbox, that will also be played with and hopefully a bit stronger, (I'll let you take the piss if it breaks!) so we'll see how it goes. Thanks again.

Regards

Al

[Dogsbody]

My shafts are complete with the joints on both ends, so I don't really want to disturb them.
You just need the shaft lengths exactly ?

If your in Brum, why not either borrow from PB or buy and return using the sale of goods act?
Of even get you tape measure out at Alan's.
I copied a tow bar for a Sierra once doing that

[Silverkat]

Hi,
I will need the shaft without CV's, they aren't too hard to remove, I'll hammer them off for you if you want.... only joking, leave them together I'll try to find some bar shafts without CV's to save disturbing yours, thanks for the offer though.
Also, having dealt with specialist motorsport manufacturers for years I know it's just easier to give them an exact part you want copied. Even if you give them loads of measurements, they will invariably bugger it up or never actually make it.
As for borrowing a shaft, I need to borrow it off someone who doesn't need it for a few weeks so they can pattern it, Alan doesn't like removing stock without some form of compensation, which is fair enough and I don't want him to have favours as leverage when I go down to barter with him!
If needs be I'll just have to bite the bullet and buy some, I'll sort it one way or another.
Thanks again guys.

Al

[Dogsbody]

OK then.
Pretty sure there are other FRP owners with just the shafts tucked away.

Like Chris says the drive shafts are quite strong, I'm currently running 200 BHP with 40 bhp NOS jets and Chris has run up to 60 extra.
I'm intending to fit some 75 BHP jets (just to try) which will give me 235 BHP in total

Its wicked off the line, Traction control and my Uniroyle tyres just give up in first and second gear.

[Silverkat]

Hi,

Sounds like your running similar bhp to what I'll be running, hopefully I'll squeeze near 200bhp and 160lbs/ft naturally aspirated, there will be no torque limiter or traction control and I'm hoping not to break traction!
It's also not just under acceleration that I'm concerned with, slamming down the 'box approaching a 1st gear hairpin will probably work them just as hard, with the clutch I'm using, there will be no give at all.
I've had a few competition cars end up with OE shafts looking like barley twists, especially if you have a particularly 'enthusiastic' driver.
It will be good fun trying them out either way!

Regards

Al

[Turby]

You looking to rally an FRP ? The 1.7 will put you in the 2 litre class and you will be severely underpowered / torque compared to most other cars in your class, IMHO you'll be much better off running a 1.6 Zetec, similar power and torque as well.

[Silverkat]

Hi there,

Rallying an FRP is a wonderful idea, I was going to race it in Britcar next year but they have changed the regs and the car would now be uncompetitive, so I'm building something different for that.
I agree that it will fall into a funny class position, but who say's that it's staying at 1.7 litres? Yum.

Kind regards

Al

[Dogsbody]

Silverkat, on 29 December 2012 - 08:48 PM, said:

Hi,

Sounds like your running similar bhp to what I'll be running, hopefully I'll squeeze near 200bhp and 160lbs/ft naturally aspirated

Mine ran up at 175.3 Ibs/ft of Torque

[Silverkat]

Nice!

Bet that scurries along well.
From my point of view, as the car develops and I can squeeze more out of the engines, I didn't want to have to replace parts again.
I am intending to get the engine near 2 litres in version 2, but the 1.7 will have to do for the time being, I'm getting that to the 160lbs/ft mark.
If they can take it, then I may well have to run FRP shafts for the moment and upgrade later for the bigger engine, we'll see.
Cheers again for your info, it's all helpful to learn more about these cars.

Kind regards

Al

[happy-kat]

Tarmac rally is that not the same sort of class that Dave built his Rally Puma for?
I will enjoy reading your progress with this project :-)

[Turby]

I'll be amazed if you get anywhere near a genuine 160lbs/ft from the 1.7 engine (1676cc). Will be interesting to see what you end up with. Swindon Race Engines developed a 2 litre F3 engine based on the Puma 1.7 block. Nearly everything was custom made for it and it wasn't exactly cheap. There was a guy on here selling one in the last few months for very sensible money.

It would probably work out cheaper to whack in a 2 litre duratec with MTX75 to whatever spec you can afford />

[Dogsbody]

Mine was 131 Ib/Ft of torque with out the laughing gas on

[Silverkat]

Hi,

I think that 160lbs/ft is just about achievable with the 1700, the trick is to not build the engine peaky, big overlap cams and massive ports are great for power but kill your low and low/mid range torque.
The 1700 will be fairly lightly modified, most of the work will be done with the fuel and ignition timing and the intake. The 2 (ish) litre I want to build will have much more aggressive cams and higher engine speeds, with the aim for big mid range torque and much higher top end. The extra capacity will be a big help here.
With regards the engine itself, I don't want to take away what the car is, I want it to stay as a Zetec-SE, everybody whacks bigger engines in, but that just puts a much heavier engine and 'box over the front wheels.
I don't want to lose the cars natural balance and agility, I'll just squeeze the SE a bit and try for big numbers.
Anyway Turby, your little beastie is proper rapid, that's a 1600 isn't it? Who needs a Duratec!
If people are interested, I'll post some details of the project to date and as it progresses, let me know.

Regards

Al