New Birkin-First impressions

[Eraser-X]

I run the Toyo RA-1 on the front of my Birkin it just required bending the fender bracket a little bit. I even think with a small mod to the fender bracket I could run that tire on a 8 inch wide 949 wheel.

 

Which wiring harness is causing the problems the main one supplied by Birkin or the FI harness added by the builder?

Edited August 27, 2011 by Eraser-X

[Kitcat]

Not sure who supplied what, but car was built by Birkin USA (Dick Brink) so whatever they use.

 

I will play w/brackets. I know I can shim w/washers etc, but just eye-balling it, the tire just looks way too big, esp w/respect to the horizontal bracket at the back of the wheel. The top bracket doesn't seem as short.

 

On the plus side, more discoveries: the anti-roll bars front and rear are adjustable, there is a brake bias bar, shocks are adjustable for stiffness (in addition for height).

[Automoda]

I have Toyo RA1s too plus custom wheels and I built my own stronger brackets for the front fenders. Moved the fender out from the tire slightly and away from the car a touch. With fenders that hug the tire like a Birkin has, you'll probably end up fiddling with the brackets if you want to put anything special on.

[yellowss7]

Mike, easy fix is just to swap back over to the Clams:iagree: Come on, you know you want to. :jester:

 

Tom

[KiwiBirkin]

Mike I run Toyo TR1s 195/50/15 under my front gaurds of my Birkin and had to make a small 5mm wheel space to help get them under and away from the guard stay, the reason for this though was they had a anti curbing rim on the tyre that mad them slightly wider then a normal 195 tyre. I think 205 tyres are far to wide for the front of these cars anyway.

[Kitcat]

The Avon 195's are tiny, even compared to the 195 Firestone street tires on that were on the car. So they shd fit easily. I have ordered a set of Birken spec 949's (8" rear, 7" front) and will use the for now. Once I get the fender issue sorted, I will have a street tire set and track tire set.

 

Anyone one running a staggered tire set up (225's in rear, 195's up front)?

[MMTX]

Maybe they will have a Birkerham (Caterkin?) love child, with a Duratec on out of sync Weber's that leaks oil.

 

Steve

 

I always did like out of sync webers. :banghead:

[timax]

Ok 5 pages now and still no pictures!! Come on get your act together.

[Kitcat]

Too busy chasing mechanical issues/upgrades. Car has been in the shop 12 of 14 days of my ownership, as it is now and has been all week. I have driven it 2x, once 3 miles when it had to be towed and again 5 miles when it ran great but needed many upgrades for track use. I am scheduled to pick it up today. We'll see if the upgrades have made it more user friendly. Stay tuned, it is pretty.

[twobone]

you must be really cheesed off with the initial weeks of ownership. Hang in there.

[Kitcat]

Nah, not ticked off, it's just the breaking in process.

 

Got the car back from shop w/high expectations yesterday. They were able to shim the fenders over the Toyo RA1's. Also squeezed the Caterham race seats in wh/made an amazing improvement in comfort. I sit 1-2' lower and 3" further back in the race shells. I now can see the gauges between the wheel spokes, arms are comfortably extended, etc. I can barely touch the pedals but it has an adjustable pedal box which even I can manipulate. So it's perfect right?

 

Well, the new Simpson race belt adjusters are behind the seat so to adjust you have to slide the seat up. Even tho it's on a slider the seat will not move. Yes, Caterham race seats fit, no they don't fit well. How tight cld it be: I finally tied a rope to a tree and then to the seat and backed up hard, while holding the seat adjuster lever, to tug the seat forward. Nuttin. So it's back to the shop for a seat belt fitting.

 

So close, so far. The car is same spec and same color as Onken's R400 so I am dying to get to the track and do what he does:). My doctor grounded me for my event at Watkins Glen this weekend so the car's lack of readiness is not a issue. I just had my first, and hopefully last, experience with kidney stone. (To duplicate, have someone kick you in the nuts, hit you in the back w/a bat, then jab a hot poker into your stomach).

 

So the car's lack of readiness is not a problem. Now I have a Mid-Ohio event in 2 weeks. We'll see.

Edited September 3, 2011 by Kitcat

[yellowss7]

Ouch Mike. I understand Kidney stones are one of, if not the most painful thing you can have.

 

Hope you can get the new beast sorted to your satisfaction. Can't wait to see it in action.

 

It will be interesting to see your comparison of the Birkin to the Caterham.

 

Rest and relax this weekend and hopefully all will be sorted.

 

Tom:seeya:

[wemtd]

Yikes, kidney stones are no bueno. Maybe more time in the se7en for some home made lithotripsy?

A basic question, but have you tried removing the interior side panels to make room for the seats?

[blubarisax]

You can always trim a little off of the side of the carbon fiber seats with a sanding disk. A couple of washers under the seat rails helped me with the adjusting problem, the upper rail dragged on the floor.

Edited September 4, 2011 by blubarisax

[Kitcat]

Wemtd:

 

Yes, the panels are coming out. There is plenty of room on the inside of the seats: they dont touch the transmission tunnel. But their outsides are totally jammed into the leatherette interior side panels.

 

Question abt clutch pedal set-up: Mine is set to allow shifting just as my left foot touches a cross member on the interior wall next to the foot assembly. But that is about 3 inches from the floor. So I am shifting with the clutch pedal still in mid air. I am used to pushing it all the way to the floor. Is yours set up like mine? Also, where do you have the adjustable pedal assembly set? Mine is fully extended but unless I grow longer legs, it will have to come closer to the driver's seat (wh/is all the way back so I can extend my arms a little).

 

Karl, we added washers to add a bit more rake to the seat. We'll do some trimming as well, if the body panel removal doesn't do the trick.

[MHKflyer52]

Hi Mike,

Question for you and the way your clutch is setup.

Dose the clutch inguage and release completely at mid point or do you have to push the peddle to the stop to have full disengagement of the clutch from a dead stop?

My clutch is set so that once the car is moving all I have to do is push the clutch peddle about an inch and I can shift gears without any issues but from a dead stop and out of gear I have to push the peddle to the stop to engauge the transmition into first gear.

[Kitcat]

Good question Martin, I dont know. I haven't shifted it more than a few times and always made sure to go to the floor, tho, like your car, after the 1st inch of clutch travel it can be shifted w/o grinding, at least once on the move. What is the logic behind a system like yours?

[MHKflyer52]

No real benifit but a lot less leg work when rowing the gears at least for me. My cluch has just over 4k on it and works very well....now that I have said that it will most likely go out the next time I drive the car. The car only has 7648 miles on it and this is its second cluch as when I pulled the engine two years ago to replace the crushed oil pan I did a freshen up on it (the engine) and I figured that since I had the engine out I would just replace the pressure plate and clutch plate while it was apart along with the throw out bearing. The original clutch and pressure plate did not look bad or worn very much but a new one was just cheap insurance at the time and it gave me a spare but I dought that I will use it as they are not that expensive to just put a new one into the car when the engine and trans are out of it.

[Kitcat]

More impressions: The Birkin has the turning radius of a school bus. My driveway is L-shaped. I can't make the turn at the end without backing up. It has much more accurate gauges than the Caterham (Tach, oil pressure, etc.). Removing the inner panels has made it possible to slide the seats back and forth and generally provided a bit more elbow room. The large protruding seam where the leather upulstery over the shifter meets the tranny tunnel digs into my right leg. It seems to draw even more gawkers than my Caterham.

 

Advertised 0-60 is 4.0. I believe it. Torque is huge/flat. Many little ergonmic issues that Caterhan has resolved. Quieter, less windy, less vibration than my Cat. Engine wont rev over 3K cold and stumbles and misses and dies. Takes 5-10 minutes to warm, then it's a beast.

 

I am getting the hang of the clutch.

[Croc]

Question abt clutch pedal set-up: Mine is set to allow shifting just as my left foot touches a cross member on the interior wall next to the foot assembly. But that is about 3 inches from the floor. So I am shifting with the clutch pedal still in mid air.

 

 

An idea - Why not put together a clutch stop so that you are not changing mid air? I always have one installed in my past sevens for both throttle and clutch and prefer it.