Advice on turbo setups :)

[Rossp]

Originally Posted by maddison_vts

Just a question, mainly aimed at ross...

What power will the ma box take (in your opinion) before it begins to strip gears?
I've stripped 3rd once in mine when it was tad over 200bhp atw, it was wheelspinning, and then suddenly gripped and boom 3rd gear said good night. However, I ran more boost/more power and didn't have an issue.
Would 250bhp at the wheels do this on a regular basis? Or were you on the be set up when you had 270atw?

I'm not really in a position to answer that mate to be honest - I went straight to BE and never ran boost on the MA. To the best of my knowledge though, Titch, Shaun, and Brent all ran MA's for a while and didn't kill them instantly - I think a lot has to do with having some mechanical sympathy. Colin got through a lot of boxes because he has none! I think it's fair to say though you're asking for trouble - even the most careful driver will get the situation like you've described eventually - loss of traction then a sudden gain of grip. And 3rd gear seems to be the weak point on the MA's from what I've read.

I once asked John @ GMC at what point the MA gives up and he said "120bhp" I think thats enough said hehe. You're living on borrowed time on an MA.

Get a BE in - if nothing else, you'll not ever be bothered about a diff swap again - 20 minutes, boom. done. Do that in your MA.

The BE is a better box in SO many areas. Gearkits are far more common, easier to work on, stronger. And you can do a complete conversion for around the £800 mark now so it's a sound investment for sure

[maddison_vts]

Originally Posted by RossDagley

I'm not really in a position to answer that mate to be honest - I went straight to BE and never ran boost on the MA. To the best of my knowledge though, Titch, Shaun, and Brent all ran MA's for a while and didn't kill them instantly - I think a lot has to do with having some mechanical sympathy. Colin got through a lot of boxes because he has none! I think it's fair to say though you're asking for trouble - even the most careful driver will get the situation like you've described eventually - loss of traction then a sudden gain of grip. And 3rd gear seems to be the weak point on the MA's from what I've read.

I once asked John @ GMC at what point the MA gives up and he said "120bhp" I think thats enough said hehe. You're living on borrowed time on an MA.

Get a BE in - if nothing else, you'll not ever be bothered about a diff swap again - 20 minutes, boom. done. Do that in your MA.

The BE is a better box in SO many areas. Gearkits are far more common, easier to work on, stronger. And you can do a complete conversion for around the £800 mark now so it's a sound investment for sure

bugger, I was hoping you'd have ran the ma for a while! I want to get a bit more power from mine but I don't know when would be best to call it a day, 200 atw proved to be very reliable and I'm slightly nervous about going for more power because of the extra expense it could incur.
The be conversion has always been something I've tried to avoid because I never wanted the expense of it, is it really worth it? Have you had any transmission related problems with yours?
Another thing putting me off the be is how much i spent on a friggin ma box by putting the quaife diff in it!

[dannygti]

Originally Posted by maddison_vts

bugger, I was hoping you'd have ran the ma for a while! I want to get a bit more power from mine but I don't know when would be best to call it a day, 200 atw proved to be very reliable and I'm slightly nervous about going for more power because of the extra expense it could incur.
The be conversion has always something I've tried to avoid because I never wanted the expense of it, is it really worth it? Have you had any transmission related problems with yours?
Another thing putting me off the be is how much i spent on a friggin ma box by putting the quaife diff in it!

you can recoup some of that money though cant you mate.. thats what im doing. runnig my quaifed ma until winter (unless it breaks in between) then doing BE conversion over winter. the BE box conversions will continue to get cheaper as people become more aware of it and more people offer the conversions. good things is, we can get the rich people like ross,dean,colin t spend all money getting them right so when it comes to the peasants running them they should be mor affordable and more reliable.

[maddison_vts]

ideal, thanks guys. So you reckon 800 for a full be conversion? Shafts etc?

And danny, money is always an issue for me!

[Rossp]

Originally Posted by dannygti

you can recoup some of that money though cant you mate.. thats what im doing. runnig my quaifed ma until winter (unless it breaks in between) then doing BE conversion over winter. the BE box conversions will continue to get cheaper as people become more aware of it and more people offer the conversions. good things is, we can get the rich people like ross,dean,colin t spend all money getting them right so when it comes to the peasants running them they should be mor affordable and more reliable.

haha thats a bit mean

I consider them "cheap" now - you can get a set of brand new "ultimate F1 superdupa suck-you-off spec" shafts made up complete for £600, the box for £100 from a scrappy, the mounts new for £150, the selector rods you can adapt your own, new intermediate bearing for £80. Thrust bearing? £20. Fork arm £5 from a scrappy. Sorted. Don't need to diff it to start. Sell the diff'd MA box for what? £600? Only need to find about £250 to convert it.

Sorted. Future proofed, and peace of mind