Sump Guard For Rover Ss

[AndyW]

I feel I'm living on the edge with my Rover engined Super Spec - only about 7 cm of ground clearance to the sump and bellhousing, Rover alloy sumps are near impossible to get hold of now, and all my local roads are peppered with road humps and cushions. One of these days I'm going to forget I'm not driving my normal tin-top and try to straddle one at speed in the Super Spec. The narrow but high ridges across many industrial estates, shopping centres etc are the worst, as I can't stagger the wheels and end up grinding the bottom of the car across them.

 

So I'd like to build a sump guard or some sort of skid plate / rubbing strip for protection. I don't need anything too hefty, not going off-road rallying or anything, just need something to protect the sump and oil filter from grounding and gradually wearing away or being cracked or holed.

 

What material and thickness is best? - I've seen various materials used : 2mm steel plate, 4mm aluminium chequer plate, duralmin alloy, and even sheets of moulded polyurethane or HDPE plastics. Ideally I want strong, light, not easily punctured, but with some degree of 'give'.

 

And how best to fit the guard - mounted to the sump itself with the sump bolts, or side to side across the chassis rails?

 

And finally, does anyone have any design plans for making a sump guard. I recall seeing a picture on the forum of something made by RedSpec(?) in 2009ish. Anyone have a copy of the plans?

 

[cb750]

Mine isn't a superspec but I used 6mm ally chequer plate for mine. Bent it so it had an approach angle on it (well the local fabricator cut and bent it!). It's bolted to a heavy chassis x member that runs across in front of the engine.

[Guest mower man]

The only 2 problems with a sump guard are 1 it reduces ground clearance 2 it dds weight , if you have only7 cm now if you fit a guard that will come down to 5 /6 making matters worse ! . Get in touch with resident supaspec guru AL on here I know he has had many of the supa spec probs with his car . I ran an early mono car and only had minor probs at 10 cm under sump and your car seems very low at 7 hth mick

[alanrichey]

Mine actually came with a hole in the sump Initially I had only 5cm clearance and it was an accident waiting to happen. So the first thing I did was raise the ride height by just over 2cm by winding up the springs. I then used the boot lid (3mm Stainless) to build a sump guard and attached it to the engine. So I now also have a 7cm gap between sump guard and road. Since then I have only grounded a few times and the sump guard has proven it's worth, it has now been pushed up and has shaped itself to the sump so that there is not even an air gap between them and has a number of 'war wounds'

 

Now that solution will never help if I hit a rock in the road or something sharp, but for sliding over sleeping policeman it is fine. Nevertheless I have a spare sump in the garage just in case I should also point out I have a remote oil filter so in my case there is no risk of that being 'removed'.

 

I guess if you have a really solid guard (6mm+) and attach it to the chassis your sump will never be in danger, but you will probably ground 2 or 3 times each trip. Could be fun

[AndyW]

It's actually worse than I thought now I've measured the gap. In fact I've only got 5.5cm of ground clearance under the leading edge of the sump. And that's without my added weight in the car! So adding any thickness of sump guard material is going to reduce my ground clearance even further. Thanks for suggestions everyone.

 

cb750 - in the Super Spec there isn't a heavy chassis crossmember in front of the engine. It's open for 35 cm up to the L-shaped ally cross member that the lower wishbones mount on. It might be possible to mount a sump guard there but it makes a long stretch back to the sump.

 

Al - as you know I've already got Gaz coilovers fitted which seem to be wound up fairly high. So I don't think I've got much leeway for adjusting the ride height. So not sure why my ground clearance is so poor compared to yours with Zimmers?! We need to get our cars side by side

 

Alternatively, is it possible to lift the engine higher relative to the chassis? I was thinking maybe some spacers under the engine mounts where they attach to the chassis? Not looked yet to see if that is technically feasible. Or would raising the engine have any other negative effects?

 

I still feel I need some sort of skid plate for added protection. Even if it's only 2mm of steel plate mounted on the engine and folded down underneath to give the sump another layer of 'skin'.

Al - how is your guard mounted to the engine? Can't remember from my last look.

[alanrichey]

Alternatively, is it possible to lift the engine higher relative to the chassis? I was thinking maybe some spacers under the engine mounts where they attach to the chassis? Not looked yet to see if that is technically feasible. Or would raising the engine have any other negative effects?

 

Al - how is your guard mounted to the engine? Can't remember from my last look.

 

Not sure about yours but my engine is solidly up against the underside of the bonnet, No clearance at all to lift it without putting spacers under the bonnet.

 

Because I have the steel sump it has a couple of very handy mounting bolts (not sure what they were for) at the front and the side near the top. So I mounted it directly to the sump and then ran a couple more brackets back to the bell housing.

[AndyW]

I'll have to use some plasticine on the high points to see what sort of gap I have between engine and bonnet.

Unfortunately I don't think my alloy sump has any mounting bolts or holes like yours.

[alanrichey]

You might be better off as your radiator top feed hose (brass on yours) runs down the side of the engine whereas mine runs across the top of the engine.

 

Chatting to Nigel (niduncan) at Castle Bytham Show today and he suggested you move to 205/65/15R tyres from the 205/50/15R tyres you have at the moment. That would give you another 2 cms I guess ? It would also make the speedo more accurate as I think yours is like mine and overreads by 10%.?

[AndyW]

Very true. Different tyre size would help, but would they fit under the front cycle wings?

[alanrichey]

Don't know, what sort of clearance have you got ?

[bullfist]

I have about 5-6cm clearance - but the lowest point is just behind the front wheels, so if the speed hump is gently sloping you can get over a hump greater than 5cm. I have grounded a few times. Made a skid plate from 3mm stainless clamped right up against the sump (and a bit of rubber matting between to stop noisy vibrations). Used fixing holes either side of the lower front of the engine and some extension brackets. Works a dream - country lanes with stones down the middle are the worst.

-steve

[Al Milton]

Thinking alternatively, what about a 'big wing' sump?

 

Rather than have the deep sump, have a shallower but wider sump? (increases ground clearance).

Would give similar (or increased capacity), would have to 're-calibrate' (re-mark) the dipstick and modify the oil pick up, but certainly do-able?

 

Might be a job for Steamer?

 

Just an option worth considering

[IanS]

You would not recalibrate the dipstick. The MAX mark on a dipstick is where the oil level is safe from being hit by the crank shatf and con rods.

[Guest 2b cruising]

You just need to trim the end to match the depth of modified sump.

[AndyW]

Don't know, what sort of clearance have you got ?

 

Got about 4-5 cm between tyre and wing in the arches, although I wouldn't want to reduce that too much as it would cause difficulty changing the wheels. Also there's only about 5mm between the tread shoulder and wing brackets, so not much leeway on the inside.

 

I guess I could change tyres (they need doing sometime soon anyway) from the current 205/50/15 to something like a 195/60/15. The extra 10 profile would add about 1.5cm to the rolling radius and hence ground clearance. And I think I've read that changing to narrower 195s gives a better ride for general driving.

 

Can anyone advise on suitable 195/60/15R tyres? Are they still ok on the standard 6.5" JJ Aray rims?

 

 

I have about 5-6cm clearance - but the lowest point is just behind the front wheels, so if the speed hump is gently sloping you can get over a hump greater than 5cm. I have grounded a few times. Made a skid plate from 3mm stainless clamped right up against the sump (and a bit of rubber matting between to stop noisy vibrations). Used fixing holes either side of the lower front of the engine and some extension brackets. Works a dream - country lanes with stones down the middle are the worst.

-steve

 

Steve, that sounds very like my situation. Your skid plate idea sounds good - can you explain in more detail how you fixed it. Which holes either side of lower front of engine do you mean? (Presume you also have the Rover t-series engine). A pic would be useful.

 

 

Thinking alternatively, what about a 'big wing' sump?

 

Rather than have the deep sump, have a shallower but wider sump? (increases ground clearance).

Would give similar (or increased capacity), would have to 're-calibrate' (re-mark) the dipstick and modify the oil pick up, but certainly do-able?

 

Mmmm! Nice idea Al, but at this stage I don't think I want to get into fabricating a new sump and altering the dipstick and pickup. That's more work than I want to do and rather beyond my current capabilities!

 

Cheers, Andy!