I run a weddle mate,i think there the best value for money for a budget racer , plenty of cars out there running them with the same sort of hp as you, and aren't having any problems
Thanks guys - good advice.
Ive ruled out the UN5 and probably the Albins (just a bit too expensive atm).
Any love for the auto? Torque converter, handle up to 500hp?
What are the disadvantages of the auto? Rebuild costs, reduced travel, cooling issues? What else?
Cheers - Mark
I ended up going for the auto. I was looking at 3 cars all with the above mentioned boxes (was basically buying the car based on what box they had). The HV1 car was sold so went with the auto.
Not looking to win anything, just want to have hassle free fun. Here's hoping...
I ended up going for the auto. I was looking at 3 cars all with the above mentioned boxes (was basically buying the car based on what box they had). The HV1 car was sold so went with the auto.
Not looking to win anything, just want to have hassle free fun. Here's hoping...
Some of you new south guys may recognise the car...
FYI, we have one of the very early HV1's which has done plenty of racing with a mostly stock VQ35DE with no issues - even snapped an axle before we hurt the box.
We did eventually have an issue after 2.5 years of racing - snapped the input shaft. As ours is the early HV1 it has the thinner input shaft.
Cost about 1k to fix thanks to Racetrans. We had the option of spending a bit more an upgrading the box to the thicker input shaft but decided against it.
I still love the box. :) Awwwww.
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Green Sally up. Green Sally down. Lift and squat, gonna tear the ground.
I had a Jeff fields, and also have met Jeff.
He is a very helpful person, don't be afraid to phone him for advice.
I loved mine, sooo much easier on the drivetrain, and awesome to drive. Very cheap to maintain as well. All parts can be sourced from other places, rather than be tied to the fabricator.
Keep the convertor in check, as they are a bit small, too much slippage will cause overheating. Recommend the lowest stall you can get.
Throw a set of clutches and seals in the auto every now and then.
You should get around 10 000 race kms on the diff, run a good oil.
Only drawback is only having 3 gears compared to 6, and you rely a LOT on your brakes.
If you can, run a water-cooled oil cooler.
Thanks for the advice Steve - theres not a lot of info out there short of contacting Jeff directly.
I raced the buggy for the first time last weekend (other than blasting up my suburban street a couple of times) and on a wet slippery, fairly slow track was absolutely stoked with the auto. Basically just ran it in 2nd all day, great torque and useable power.
I think the stall is 1500 (?) so hopefully will keep slippage to a minimum.
The rest of the car is set up really well including the brakes so I understand what you mean about relying on them.
It currently only has a Derale electric fan cooler so kept a close eye on gearbox temp - didn't get up at all last weekend but Sea Lake next month may be a different story.
Pretty much any good automatic trans specialist can reco them for you, and a speedway guy should be able to help with the diff.
Is the car the one in the picture?
Yes the car in the avatar is it - I bought it off Todd Lawrance who has done a great job of setting the car up. But it was built by a Sydney guy originally (would say it looks a bit different now though).
Being on the Sunshine Coast I will probably talk to Laurie Svenson about servicing it there annually (don't expect to do many race miles per year).
Thanks again for the advice Steve.
When I built it it ran a sr20 turbo and Renault un 5 .I ran it for about 5 years then sold it to Ray as a roller in late 2003
Only reason I sold it was to build 2 seater so daughter could go racing .
