IMPROVE GROUND CLEARANCE 3000M

[plasticpig72]

I wondered how you can improve ground clearance on a 3000M.
I am lucky to own a 3000S and a 3000M. The 3000S i have fitted 80% tyres and the 3000M has 70 tyres. The ride height on the 3000S is a lot higher and no problem for speed bumps/sleeping policemen.
I saw what was said about a winged baffled sump which could improve ground clearance.
When i bought my 3000M the seller gave me a spare sump and said the sump on the car i sold me had a repaired sump. This was because the sump hit the ground at some time and was damaged.
Could i mod my spare sump so it's not so deep and will not be at a lower level than the Chassis cross rail?
Alan

[anonymous-user]

plasticpig72 said:

I wondered how you can improve ground clearance on a 3000M.
I am lucky to own a 3000S and a 3000M. The 3000S i have fitted 80% tyres and the 3000M has 70 tyres. The ride height on the 3000S is a lot higher and no problem for speed bumps/sleeping policemen.
I saw what was said about a winged baffled sump which could improve ground clearance.
When i bought my 3000M the seller gave me a spare sump and said the sump on the car i sold me had a repaired sump. This was because the sump hit the ground at some time and was damaged.
Could i mod my spare sump so it's not so deep and will not be at a lower level than the Chassis cross rail?
Alan

Alan,
The sump should not be the low point on the car. The turbo cars actually run their exhaust manifolds under the sumps and manage not to flatten them every 5 minutes.

Ride height I would advise centre line of rear wheel level with the underside of the door and the front 1/2 to an 1" lower?

[Andrew Gray]

plasticpig72 said:

I wondered how you can improve ground clearance on a 3000M.
I am lucky to own a 3000S and a 3000M. The 3000S i have fitted 80% tyres and the 3000M has 70 tyres. The ride height on the 3000S is a lot higher and no problem for speed bumps/sleeping policemen.
I saw what was said about a winged baffled sump which could improve ground clearance.
When i bought my 3000M the seller gave me a spare sump and said the sump on the car i sold me had a repaired sump. This was because the sump hit the ground at some time and was damaged.
Could i mod my spare sump so it's not so deep and will not be at a lower level than the Chassis cross rail?
Alan

John is right Alan there should be no need on the M series the Sump i posted a picture of was for the Tuscan with the 302 V8 as ground clearance there is tight so every inch is a bonus especially with some of the roads around here and a heavy right foot.
Andrew

[plasticpig72]

Just a few measurements from my 3000M fitted with 195/70 tyres.
Ground to bottom of sump 9cms, ground to bottom of chassis cross member 12.5 cms.
The bottom of the sump is 3.5 cms lower than the chassis.
When driving a 1600M on 195/70 tyres i managed to break off an anti rollbar on a speed hump here in Brittany.
I suppose i will need to buy 195/80 tyres for the 3000M as fitted to my 3000S(ground to sump 13.5 cms). Yes the 3000S has 4.5 cms more sump to gound clearance
Alan

[SlimJim16v]

Going to 195s over your 195/70s will only give you about 20mm extra height, so there's more to it.

[magpies]

in the rallying world we modified our tin sumps where by reducing the depth of the sump well but add width to regain the missing volume (big wing sump). You then need to modify the level markings on the dip stick.