Caterham Sump Guards

[Mike Rohaley]

FOR SALE: CATERHAM SUMP GUARDS

 

I have been using this sump guard for about 5 years on my Zetec equipped Caterham (MY2001) and have made a few to see if there is a need out there for a well designed unit to protect those pricey Raceline sumps.

 

I have 3 units for sale which includes all stainless steel mounting hardware. They are made from 12ga. steel and are primed and painted black. The photos below show how they are designed to work. They are priced at $100.00 each (minus actual shipping cost) presently and if there is a demand I will make up a larger batch (probably not at this price though, there is a lot of time involved to produce these buggers).

Edited February 18, 2010 by Mike Rohaley

[Mike Rohaley]

The U-bolts support the rear of the unit and the front hose clamp with nylon buffer are to eliminate vibration only. If the sump guard takes a hit the hammer-formed front transfers the load to the chassis and at the rear there are tabs to hold the guard captive should you hit it while backing over something (like leaving the track backwards over the rumble strips for instance). The bottom photo shows how it tucks nicely under the sump without touching, reducing ground clearance minimally.

 

It also provides a safe and easy lifting point for your floor jack and the tapered design will hold the jack pad captive instead of letting the car slide off.

Edited February 18, 2010 by Mike Rohaley

[Mike Rohaley]

I also have some other potential products if there is a positive response. A rear belly pan for DeDion equipped cars and a (true) cold air intake system that pulls air from the nosecone with no external modifications or welding needed. I get intake air temperatures only about 10 degrees higher than ambient with this setup (per my ScanGuageII). Every 10 degrees you can reduce your IAT is like adding 1.5 HP and 1.5 lb./ft. torque.

Edited February 18, 2010 by Mike Rohaley

[scannon]

Great looking parts Mike.

 

I like that sump guard. How far below the frame rails does the raceline sump drop? I'm wondering if it would work with my Miata engine.

 

I'm also interested in the rear body pan. Is it sized for an SV or the standard width car? How is it attached, is it easy to remove to service the diff and rear suspension?

[Mike Rohaley]

The sump sits about 1 3/4" below the plane of the front chassis tubes used to mount the guard (I will post a sketch tomorrow that better explains it). It is built for a standard extended cockpit S3 but should mount to any chassis where the out/out dimension of the tubes are 10 5/8" (also in the sketch).

 

The belly pan is formed aluminum and is mounted using a modified nylon conduit style clip with an aluminum rivnut to simplify assembly and disassembly (versus holding tiny washers and nylocs from above). I will take a photo of this too to better explain it. Generally for servicing the diff I would just unbolt the center A-frame and drop it out of the way or remove the wood plate from the boot.

Edited February 18, 2010 by Mike Rohaley

[Mike Rohaley]

I forgot to mention that the forward deflector on the bellypan is riveted into the floorpan. Everything would come pre-drilled to simplify assembly. everything else is easily unbolted.

[gjslutz]

Mike, very nice looking and well thought out.

[glenntwincam]

I have this sump guard installed on our caterham . it works very well . I've had several opportunities to test it. i.e.cord wood in the road , construction debris, ect. easy to install & remove. with the price of raceline sumps. a good sump guard is a must !!

[Mike Rohaley]

Scannon:

Here are a couple photos of the clips for the bellypan. The rivnut is aluminum and the bolt and washer are stainless 8-32 (if I remember correctly).

[supersportsp]

Interested in the sump guard and the rear under floor panel.

 

On the sump guard I am curious as to your thoughts on why not to extend it to protect the underside of the pan as well. I am thinking of things like speed bumps that are higher than you thought etc.

 

I know you will have warning in the form of a scrape on the protector, but if you are going more than 1 mph that might not be enough. Also things like potholes where you might dip a wheel once you have passed the guard section.

[Mike Rohaley]

Good question. In my opinion at least, if I were to extend the guard to the rear of the engine I don't think it would add any real protection if I were to drive over something (not to mention the additional weight penalty). The obstruction would just deform the guard into the sump and if the force was enough it would just crack the cast sump the same as if the guard were not there.

 

Imagine this experiment: Jack the car up from the center of the sump, at some point it will cause the cast aluminum to fail and the jack would just break through. Now add a flat piece of 12ga. steel between the jack and the sump and lift it. the sump will fail at nearly the same loading because the steel is not able to be shaped in a way to keep the force from reaching the sump. It (in my opinion again) would provide negligable protection and add significant weight and mounting issues.

 

The main purpose of the guard is to protect against a frontal impact where the sump bolts would be stressed in sheer and cause the sump to crack. The guard running just underneath is to protect that vulnerable front edge from damage. Also, the front wheel centerline is ahead of the engine which means that over bumps the car re-settles before the guard comes into play giving some warning of the reduced clearance. And if I get the guard caught up enough to start to deform it I would be very glad that those stresses are being put into it and not the sump itself.

Edited February 19, 2010 by Mike Rohaley

[Mike Rohaley]

If however you were going faster as you say the sump guard would have to be formed in a way that would allow it to support the weight of the car without transfering the load to the sump itself (a channel maybe). The problem there is that we only have about 2 3/4" of ground clearance to put this in and the guard will likely be touching the ground which poses more problems than solutions.

 

Maybe someone out there has a solution...............or I'm just incorrect in my opinion. Anyway, that's the reason behind the current design.

[Mike Rohaley]

Skip (scannon),

I attempted to scan my sketch but cannot get the file size small enough to fit here. To describe the dimensions; The out/out dimension of the chassis tubes are 10 5/8". The rear of the guard protrudes 7 5/16" beyond the rear face of the rearmost chassis tube. The upper surface of the rearmost part of the guard sits 2" below the line drawn by the bottom of the chassis tubes. The level part of the guard at the bottom is 1 1/4" long brfore it tapers up to the diagonal portion of the guard.

 

I can e-mail you (or anyone else interested) the sketch if you would like. Otherwise I will take a digital photo and post it on Monday.

[slomove]

Mike, in my experience (and if you look at my worn sump guard you will find I have a lot of experience....) the are 2 reasons to have a belly pan under the engine:

- rocks on the road (abundant here in the mountains). For that a front impact shield will help a lot as long as the rock is crunched. But if the front shield rides up the tumbling rock will make its way under the sump and can still do damage there. I find a belly pan can really help. I have some long, deep scoring marks under that pan.

- speed bump solid type of obstacles: The belly pan helps sliding over that hump.

Edited February 19, 2010 by slomove

[Alaskossie]

Mike,

 

I assume that your sump guard is designed for a wet-sump Caterham?

 

It would appear that the design could be a bit shallower, for installation on dry-sump Caterhams?

[MichaelD]

Mike,

 

Nice job. I think sump guards are a must with the Zetec/Raceline combo if you are driving on the street, Hwy or unplanned off track excursions.

 

The guard I have been using

 

http://www.midatlanticcaterham.com/images/Caterham%20skid.jpg

 

has saved me untold times. To a point that the trailing edge is worn down to a knife edge. May be time for a new one.

I would say yours looks to be a bit easier to put on and seems to be easier to place the jack so it will not slip when raised.

 

I also like your rear pan. Are you selling that as well?

[Mike Rohaley]

Skip,

Here is the sketch as discussed:

[Mike Rohaley]

Alaskossie,

Yes, it was designed for the wet sump but if you needed one (and since I do not have a car so equiped), if you changed the dimensions on the sketch above I could fab one up as required.

[scannon]

Mike,

 

I will take some measurements on my car. Since you can make a shallower one for Tom, could you also make a deeper one for my car? I'm pretty sure my sump is more than 2" below the plane of the frame rails. If you can, I will buy one.

[Alaskossie]

Mike,

 

I'll get the relevant measurement from the bottom of the frame tube to the bottom of my Cosworth dry sump.

 

I'd have to drill an access hole in the sump guard for the drain plug on my Brise kidney tank for the dry sump system, but that can be a field modification.

 

If all works out, I could get the sump guard unpainted, drill the hole, and then have it powder-coated.

 

Tom