Reynard 98E and Hewland MNT201

[2226cc]

Newbie alert, let's put it that way.

I'm not involved in any form of formula racing at all, just a sudden fan after taking a Barber Dodge Reynard (98E I believe) around a track for a while. The company that allowed me to do this has about 30 of them out here at the base of Africa and run them for corporate events. They are the Reynards with Michellin Pilot SX slicks, Hewland 6-speed 'box and the Dodge 3.5 V6.

The machines are in the hands of a capable technician, except that he is not confident on handling the Hewland 'box rebuild. The boxes are Hewland NMT 201 units. I'm looking to find out advice on rebuilds, tools required (in order to have these on hand in the workshop), etc.

I will be calling Hewland sometime this week to speak to them there. The week has just been horribly busy.

Anyone here work on the NMT201, been involved in disassembly, inspection and re-assembly, and can provide a helpful practical guide?

I'm sure you can understand that letting the general public loose in such things will eventually lead to plenty of undesired wear in these gearboxes. I had to sit behind someone the other day coming down the Killarney pit straight and it all smelt very funny. Turned out we had a clutch rider. :P

Thanks to anyone who can send me in the proper direction on this.

[carnut169]

Have you tried Taylor?

[rickjohnson356]

Carnut is talking about one of the US's best gearbox companies--- Taylor Race Engineering.

They have a banner advertisment on this site and are listed in the links posted on the 'business classified' section here.

They know all there is to know about gearboxes and are extremely helpful. May not do you much good since you are in Cape Town, but they might be able to point you to where you can get a PDF of the manual for that tranny.

Be sure to visit the Hewland web site too and poke around for any manuals.

There are acouple of posters here who are in your part of the world, they run an OW car based on VW GTI engine (I think).

Use the search function to try to find their posts. They can hook you up with a local racing organization to get you started.

[Rick Kirchner]

Go to www.hewland.com

They have a manual online, as well as a parts locator. it's an incredibly beefy box compared to the Mk or LD series. Even with slicks, I'd be suprised if your corporate event drivers are able to stress it too much compared to a skilled open wheel experienced driver. Maybe first gear gets beat a bit due to stalls, etc.

For most racing gearboxes on small formula cars, every so often you have to replace the dog rings and gears if you are hard on them. Every few years you have to replace the bearings on the hubs and in the bearing carrier, and set the shift forks and detent balls.

A bit less often than thay you'll need to replace the ring and pinion.

There's usually a specialized tool to set up the ring and pinion and another for the shift forks.

Unless you have a marginal application or incredibly abusive drivers, that's about it, but every now and then there's a surprise - like the staffs gearboxes that were turds until they were blueprinted, and then they're OK.

[2226cc]

Thanks folks! Much appreciated. I found the rebuild manual and will give Hewland a call tomorrow to find out what fancy little alignment tools and stuff will be needed, and perhaps what they can supply.

I'll let the mechanic know to look into asking the Formula GTI guys if they have done builds and have proper tools.

Those Formula GTI machines are apparently a mission to catch with these Reynards once they get off the line.

[D.T. Benner]

Unlike most of the world, formula car races here in the U.S. mostly use rolling starts. To bad as I liked standing starts when racing in England.

[2226cc]

And they certainly are geared for rolling starts too. I was informed of a 110MPH in 1st, which must be some heavy gearing for an engine going only to 8000rpm.

[Roux]

The tricks needed to work on that Hewland might be comparable to the MK9 LD200 (or not) and there are FF guys with prep shops in SA who could perhaps give a seminar if asked. Check with Hewland UK to see if the advice of an LD200 expert will be valuable. If yes, then try to set that up.

Last time I was at Killarney I was driving a Gilbern Invader MKIII street car and unaware that I would ever have the cash to be a competitor in FF. Times sure have changed!

[2226cc]

Thanks. I'll check with Hewland on that info. I'll see who could give some info down here now that I know what to look for.

Yeah, I was just in the Reynard for the pleasure, but it is definitely something I'd like to be in more often. I envy those guys who get to play in all the formulas.