Simply Red has to loose a big lump of weight from her rear end this winter. John is starting to move forward with the horse power but is not getting it down onto the track as the front end is running way to high, and this is not only loosing draw bar height but John is struggling to put down straight runs ,a problem he overcame two seasons ago with a new profab diff. Last year with the motor running strong the problem returned and was brought home to the team at the Euro Champs at Bakel were a heavy sledge setting had her front end pawing the air like never before. John got a lot of good advice from teams at the pull and had a long chat with Rob Van Derwall . Rob had done a lot of work on the engine block last winter and the work was top quality. After returning home John also had a lot of conversations with Peter Clarke who has always pointed him in the right direction. Peter had a set of hollow drive shafts in the USA which would give approximately 35 kg saving. It was a start but not enough, so it was decided to get the shafts and then get Rob to do all the machine work on the rear end casting. John decided that if he went for the maximum weight loss it is hoped that when he goes for an intercooler, there will still be a fair bit of movable weight left. The tractor was stripped and a trip over to Holland was arranged .
The parts to be machined lighter include:
Rear axle housing
New cover plate
Axle funnels & final drive (bull ) gears
New light weight drawbar
Alum bearing housing for brake axle
Alum bearing housing for diff
While John was in Holland he visited several teams and got a lot of very good advice. On his return he started to really look at where weight savings could be made. There is a lot of cover plates on the gear box that are made from cast, so these are being replaced with allum. The front engine cover has been machined off, all the old cast water pump, power steering pump mountings and the high low gearbox have been stripped out completely and new drive shafts installed. A new roll cage is being made with chrome molly. It’s going to be a big job to get all the jobs done for the start of the season, but with a lot of late nights the team are confident it can be achieved.
