The photo shows our oil tank which has suffered crazy cracking. This is believed to be from the methanol which inevitably gets into the castrol R oil, past the piston rings. The tank is made from polycarbonate and although it has a tough reputation, it's no match for methanol. Approx 300ml of oil is all that Excalibur carries for engine lubrication. The replacement tank is machined from opaque marley conduit and is probably pvc. The search is on for a suitable transparent tank that can withstand the aggressiveness of methanol.
The gearbox came due for review and because of minor surface rusting, the oil type was changed to Castrol transmax M (ATF). This is a thin oil of #37 viscocity, commonly used in automatic transmissions. Lightweight oil was chosen to improve horsepower delivery.
The aluminium clutch plate shown above has broken the tangs. This is thought to be the result of shock and is a known issue with these lightweight items. Sadly we had to go back to using steel based plates, adding more than a half kilo.
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