Just seen this
http://www.thekitcarworkshop.co.uk/Parts.html

Anyone know how much this sump takes off the height?

Also, what purpose does the baffle plate actually serve (is it necessary?) and does it just go between the bottom of the engine and the new sump?

Sounds like a lot of money to me - had my ZX9 chopped for about £30, and made a baffle plate myself out of a sheet of ali.

The baffle plate stops the oil from surging from one side to another in cornering. In a bike the lean in corners pins the oil to the bottom of the engine, but not in a car install.

There are plenty of blades and zx9's without baffles, but I reconned for the extra cost (one more sump gasket) and a little time it was worth adding.

Tis a bit different on a blade tho, because of the shape of the sump its nowhere near as easy to mod as the ZX9. John spent about 5 hours chopping and baffling mine, which obviously didnt cost me anything, but if you were paying him to do it, it would be a lot more than £30. If I was weighing up the options of paying someone to mod a blade sump, or buy one of the Kitcar Workshop / Stuart Taylor billet ally sumps, I'd get one of the billet sumps every time, as it wont be a lot more expensive and is a lot nicer.
The sump reduces the height by about an inch, but it also puts the drain plug on the side so its not so vunerable to getting caught on speed bumps and / or losing it.

I'd agree that adding the baffle is worth it, if only for peace of mind. The way its shaped with the main hole above the pickup, it not only stops the oil sloshing up the sides of the sump pan, it also channels all the returning oil back into the pickup area of the sump, so in conjunction with sump baffles in the sump itself, gives a good feed of oil to the pickup at all times.

Chris

but having said all that iv'e run a 893 blade with no sump mods with no probs for over a year and 4.5k miles......

Yup, I agree, neither is strictly essential, the reason I got mine chopped was to increase the sump clearance and to get the sump plug out of the way, but had it internally baffled at the same time. Also I already had a sump plate I was going to fit, so I put it in cos I mainly do track days and like the peace of mind and the "belt-n-braces" approach.

With regards to shortening it, prior to doing it I only caught the standard sump twice, once at about 1mph on a speed bump coming out of the petrol station prior to loading the car on a trailor for a track day. 2 sessions into the track day the plug fell out and I blew the engine! The other time I caught it on a kerb going into my dads drive and 5 miles later again the plug dropped out, thankfully that time I was just pulling into a garage forecourt and there was still oil pouring out when I turned it off, so no damage done.

The chopped sump certainly helps general clearance and puts the sump plug into a non vunerable area, but the moral of this story really is, LOCKWIRE your sump plugs boys n girls!

Chris

mmmmm, the one thing i dint mention, i made a sump gaurd out a 1" box n ally plate, that as been on the floor more than once...... dont you just hate speed bumps.... ????

So, I should get the baffle plate right away and save my pennies for the billet sump?

From the look of it, I assume the baffle plate just goes between the sump/case join?

With a helmet, brakes and quiet exhaust yet to buy, getting 'track ready' is going to be pretty cheap then....

Incidentally, anyone know whether ST do sidescreens? I imagine they will, as always with ST, be pretty expensive if they do, any others that fit?

As we've said, neither is strictly necessary, but for the sake of a few quid then I dont see much of a reason not to put a baffle plate in.

Yeh it does just sandwich between the sump and the bottom of the block, just need two sump gaskets to seal either side of it.

Not sure about the sidescreen thing, possibly not as they do very few windscreen'd cars as far as I know.

Chris