MarkKassim

Hi Bibs , funny you should mention it , I have one under construction at the moment , just finalizing prices. It will cover Esprit's Stevens, Giugiaro (+Federal ). This time it will cover all the Alunox products in one group buy , shall I put it up under Site Sponsors & FFM Discounts as before. Mark

Hi another update from Alunox, they now have the full system designed for HCI federal Esprit As well as the other full systems for G and Stevens cars . Here are some shots of the new HCI full system which is a 3” Direct replacement for the original. The is built to the usual Alunox standard , Mandrel bends, purge welded and V bands etc. I can get full specs if needed. Alunox can now offer the full systems for the G, HCI and Stevens Esprit and are open to a mixed Group Buy. Could you give me some idea if you would have an interest in this and what model your car is and if it would be a manifold , rear system or full system. This would give us some idea of the group buy quantities and so we can then work on the prices. Thanks Mark

Hi Just an update, Alunox now have a genuine exhaust for the HCI Esprit and can now supply the full system for federal cars in the US and Europe. I will give an update when the someone orders one and we can see the final result Mark k

This is the first time Alunox have done a Titanium rear system for the Esprit. In recent years they have been developing Titanium rear systems for a lot of their customers and I thought it might be time for the Esprit. The main advantage is the weight saving and in the Colin Chapman concept of adding lightness it comes in around 7.4 kg. Titanium maintains its strength characteristics easily at temperatures above 900 degrees Fahrenheit and is less susceptible to rust, dulling and corrosion. Alunox source their Titanium from Kobi Titanium in Japan. It does produce a different sound which I’ve tried to catch in the video further down. The construction process is similar to the stainless steel system using mandrel bent tube, but this time wall thickness is 1mm due to its high strength to weight ratio. The welding process is more complicated for titanium with certain sections requiring a tent full of inert gas (Argon). This is a 3” rear system from the downpipe back being a direct replacement for my existing 3” stainless steel unit. The main silencers are re-packable , hence the rivets on the inner of the tube. When ordering the desired noise level can be specified within reason ,which is set internally by the length of perforated tubing within the silencer. The main downpipe is made of stainless steel mounted on V bands allowing for a CAT or bypass as shown here, an additional silencer can also be fitted in this section if needed. The tail pipe position is adjustable both at the tip and silencer using the clamps which also allows for easy fitting and small adjustments in alignment. There aren’t many exhaust tip options in Titanium but I think the slashed one suits the car well along with the slightly angled pipework coming out of the silencers. The Titanium is very bright almost silver before the heat treatment which brings out the colours. Due to its strength allowing for a 1mm wall thickness it does produce a different sound , if I had to describe it , I would say its more aggressive, raspy and metallic, I’ve tried to catch it in the video below Titanium systems are expensive If anyone would be interested in this system, Alunox are open to a group buy. So this is price is for a minimum order of 12. The system will come with the downpipe from the turbo but that section will be Stainless steel as mentioned. 12 off - £1400 Plus shipping Alunox are willing to mix the configurations if someone wants a single exit Let me know if you are interested or want anymore info Mark K

Thanks , I have updated Loen and he has taken that into account. Sections will be connected using V Bands alowing for options.

Alunox are looking for a rear system (turbo back) from a HCi Turbo to use to develop a Stainless Steel direct replacement. I know this is rare car but if anyone has one and is willing to let Alunox have it for a while, they Will give a discount on the new system. They will also pay the postage each way. If you can help with this you can hold of me or email leon@alunox.co.uk Or richard@alunox.co.uk Thanks Mark

I believe the flange is SS316 , the main tube is SS321 to avoid cracking at the temperatures we run at. The flange is a lot thicker and cracking isn't an issue. I believe this configuration is also used in the motorsport systems Alunox make for other cars.

I've spoken to Leon at Alunox , he will do a sports high flow cat for £650 for the same spec , they use the cells in many other cars. They are based in Wrexham Mark

Sorry for late reply, The 2nd gear synchro failed on the transmission which could be down to age but probably due to all my modifications. As I’ve not changed it since I’ve had the car, I decided to upgrade the box to UN1027 from a V8. Dave Lisle help me out by reconditioning an old unit he had, which included the later style selector. I also re designed the existing SE master unit to translate for the later design, which I have posted in a bit more detail under the gearbox section. Then I made a bit of a school boy error I decided to replace the elephants trunk air intake hose between the filter and the turbo for a smother flowing tube of lager diameter which I should have done before the Dyno. Leon made me a stainless steel tube to reduce the diameter from the air box down to the entry size of the Turbo (67mm) with a bend in it to help flow. Instantly the car has now developed a cough on high boost around the 6000 RPM region but by turning down the boost on my POT I could eradicate the problem in the short term which can be seen in the video around Castle Combe last year. After discussions with my tuner John who has now moved from Emerald to another tuning company, he helped me diagnose the problem, basically since the turbo is spooling up faster due to the better air flow we are now blowing out the spark, so by increasing the Coil On Time which effectively is the dwell time for charging the Coils (COP) we can create a bigger spark. I increased the dwell time by 0.19ms and this seems to have helped but it’s difficult to test on the road so I want to power run it again on the dyno to be sure before returning to castle this year. My Video here from castle Combe last year , the boost control pot is on my right. Which brings me to my latest upgrade the Titanium rear twin exit exhaust to replace my existing stainless-steel rear system. Alunox have been developing Titanium rear systems for a lot of their customers in recent years and I thought it might be time for the Esprit. This is a 3” rear system from the downpipe back being a direct replacement for my existing 3” stainless steel unit. The main advantage over the stainless-steel part is the weight saving and in the Colin Chapman concept of adding lightness the rear system weighs in at 7.4kg Its constructed again using mandrel bent tube, but this time the wall thickness is 1mm due to its high strength to weight ratio. The welding process is more complicated for titanium so a tent full of inert gas (Argon) is required. The silencers are repackable due to the riveted design allowing it to be dismantled. I will post again when its fitted with a noise test Mark

My 2nd gear synchro failed and as I have increased my torque output to around 300lb/ft I decided upgrade to a UN1027 to replace my standard UN1016 in the SE. As these are quite hard to find in good working order, Dave Changes helped me out by reconditioning an old unit he acquired. Dave rebuilt all the shaft assembles and crown wheel checking the synchro’s and hubs replacing if showing signs of wear, he installed new drive shaft seals and my original bell housing, so it was ready to install. I bought a new pair of gear change cables to suit the late style V8 cross gate, and routed them as shown If anyone has a shot of a factory setup that would be good, I routed the new cables to keep beds to a minimum. I made new brackets and positioned them on the side of the gearbox. Then came the interesting part of re-designing the Master Unit to work with this setup as the late V8 master units are hard to come by. Taking these two diagrams from the manual I reworked my existing master unit I wanted to make the gear selection as free as possible, so I used a selection of bearing types to cover all the different axis type and load. I 3d printed the bearing sleeve to help guide it along with a groove in the map bearing. I also printed side stop , both in hard plastic PTEG. I wanted to create a self centering action at Master Unit to assist the springs at the gearbox so I have set-up springs on each end of the main shaft to oppose each other and allow a centre position to be set(after working out a procedure) The translation movement can be seen in the video. I have to confess there was a great deal of trial and error with multiply test runs and modifications to put this together, but been running for about a year now and ran at Castle Combe Its holding up well but I am always looking for refinement, I’ve widened the gate 2 or 3 times as I’m afraid of miss selecting on the track ,I did this by changing the pivot point on the bell crank . I find the gate is slightly closer between 1st to 3rd than 3rd to 5th. I got it pretty good now and you can see it in action on my castle comb video which I will post soon Mark K

Hi Guys, the charge cooler has changed slightly from the link you have there , its now more compact It is about 3 time the volume of the original and maintains the same flow layout, so fitting is quite easy. The water hose connections come at the standard size which i think is around 16mm. However Alunox can supply with larger ones as shown here at 19mm . I can only speak from my own experience , it did hold up well with new BorgWarner 6258-G turbo on the dyno running higher flow and boost. I don't have a photo of the original unit as yet but I will try and get one. The standard unit will be a direct replacement for the original, built to the same dimensions. Mark K

Hi Guys, I've been in touch with Ben about another group buy for the Esprit 321 Stainless Steel Manifold if anyone would be interested. The prices Ben posted earlier in this thread are still current. These are the details of a group buy if we get the interest 30 units in total - mixed G Car and Stevens Fitting kit - All gaskets and Stainless nuts included G Car GB price including TurboSmart external wastegate £1650 normal list price £1950 Stevens car manifold - £1150 normal list price £1350 Rear system G Car 2.5” - £650 normal list price £850 Rear System Twin Exit Stevens car 2.5” £600 normal list price £750 - based on min 10 units Rear System Twin Exit Stevens car 3” £780 normal list price £950 based on min 10 units Special requests for T4 flange for turbo upgrade can be included in this GB, I will get the GB price on request Also the Charge Coolers can be in a separate group buy Standard charge cooler £500 normal list price £750 - based on min 10 units Uprated charge cooler £700 normal list price £1100 - based on min 10 units I will get more info on the standard unit as this is new, I believe it has the same dimensions as the original charge cooler. All prices are plus VAT and postage If you have an interest in any of the above let me know and I can create a Group Buy thread. For anyone considering the Alunox 321 SS manifold for the first time, they have been around now for about 10 years with no reported failures. Mark

Thanks guys for your great feedback, your comments are much appreciated. The transition is unmodified but the clutch is uprated, Dave helped me out with the specification of this putting together some of his old parts. The pressure plate and friction plate are AP capable of holding 330 lb/ft. I may be pushing my look if I go much further with the transmission. Mark K

Hi Robin, Yes that is a twin scroll manifold and if you have the normal Alunox manifold it is also a twin scroll as Barry has stated. My particular manifold design has been adapted in the final section (Collector) for the T4 turbo instead of the standard T3. This is the size of the T3 Flange vs the T4 Flange Sorry its not the best picture, the Collector design has been enlarged to match the bigger port sizes of the T4 flange. Hope this helps, Mark

Hi Thomas, Yes it is an expensive dyno that can hold static loads and so tune each speed site or cell in turn. During part of the video you could hear him holding constant RPMs while he dialled in the speed sites. I think this formed part of the base mapping Later on the power runs he tunes the Boost control. I'm not running a Knock sensor so its pretty much tuned under load avoiding detonation (knock), so it may not be as close minimum you are looking for. I forgot to mention I am running a wide band lambda sensor and EGT sensor (PLX) Just out of interest what ECU are you running. Hope the table helps Mark