Cactus

Updates on LWC? (Life with Clewett)

NP993

I can't quite figure out improvement this makes on a street car. I can imagine that it's more reliable on a track car that operates at sustained high RPM's. But on the stock setup, pretty much the only cause of problems is operator error.

trophy

LWC has been excellent..... For my predominately track orientated beast.

I have a high idle (over 1000 rpm) and the charging etc is not a problem. While tuning my car when the idle was below 900 ish I did notice the charge rate dropped considerably.

I would think that for stop go motoring this could be a problem potentially damaging the battery due to undercharging.

As NP993 stated not a good upgrade for a street car.

For my car that rev's very quickly and rev's high (7500) it is a necessity, for many others save your cash

EDoyle

5000km with my kit this season runs impeccably and is one less thing to worry about when going on long drives.

AOW162435

During my 500-mile shakedown cruise a few weeks ago, I regularly used the A/C, headlights, defroster, ejection seat, etc. - no issues.

According to Richard Clewett, the pulley ratio is between stock & RS ratios. So yes, it drives the alternator slower, but not as slow as the RS solution. At cold idle, I see a steady 14.2v, and 13.8v or so once it settles into its usual 800 rpm idle.

The stark simplicity of the Clewett version is what pulled me in.


Here's a few pics of the recent surgery:

















Andreas

Mike J

Looks great! Your voltages look close to the money - I found with the RS setup, in the winter, with the defog on/lights/heat/stereo/heat seaters on, my pre-HID headlights would actually dim when idling at a stoplight. That was after driving in city traffic with a lot of stop and go. It would not show up on longer runs (like 500 miles you mentioned) at all. I also had the Targa, and the roof sucks a lot of amps when opening, so if the car was idling, after a lot of loading, the motors would not get sufficient power and the roof would stall opening while the car sat there idling. If I pulled away and then tried it, the alternator was spinning fast enough to supplement the current draw and the roof would operate fine.

I like the looks of this solution, it's a nice and clean alternative to the RS option.

Cheers,

Mike

AOW162435

Thanks Mike. I'm very pleased with the end result, and just wanted to add that the pulleys are beautifully machined, very nicely finished, and fit dead-on perfect. Richard was a joy to deal with - answered my slew of questions very promptly.






Andreas

DiegoR

I'm guessing with this kit, you don't have the fan belt sensor working anymore?

AOW162435

Correct. It went straight into the trash.

I replaced it once a few years ago. When I removed the 'newer' one last month, I found the bearing dust cover was gone and the ball cage was in the engine tin...



Andreas

race911

Wouldn't expect any less. You would not believe the 912 he did back in the early '80s (when I first met him after I'd moved to Phoenix). He then did up a 914-6 into an SCCA racer, another work of art. I think this belt replacement was born of that, after he moved back to So Cal to take over the family machine shop.

(There's a sort of companion SCCA GT-2 914-6 in the classifieds now, built by another of our '80s Phoenix gang.)

Quadcammer

Don't really need it. Since this serpentine setup drives the fan and alternator, if the belt breaks, your dash lights up like a christmas tree. Hard to miss.

AOW162435

Yep.



Andreas

1990-964

It's a nice mod with the exception of less voltage at idle but it's not a real problem. I had the kit in my previous 964 for over 50,000 miles. Used it a a DD without any difficulty.

KMASS993

Andreas,

Welcome to the club! I haven't had an issue since installing 2 years back. Much more confident than ever in driving on long road trips, etc. without worrying about a belt breaking and changing on the side of the road. Also - never have to worry about any adjustments.

Enjoy!

pp000830

I am not considering this aftermarket change for the reason listed above. I do keep a spare set of belts in my frunk and have added some tools to my tool kit to make a belt change easy. I have owned an 86' and now a 96' Carrera and have had a belt break twice while on the road over all the years. If I had changed the belts every three years or so I would have probably never experienced a belt failure. Not a big issue for me.

Andy