7OAKS MOTORCLUB VISIT QUAIFE

On 16th May I organised a visit for 7Oaks members and guests to Quaife Engineering in Varsity Road Otford nr Sevenoaks.
At 7.30pm, myself and the 7oaks crew of about twenty, were met by two of Quaife’s 49 employees Andy Chivers and Mick.  We entered the reception where Quaife have a large display of their wares and here we spent a few minutes perusing the articles on show including glass cases of components and many cutaway gearboxes, which were fascinating as you could see how a gear box worked.  Andy answered many questions on Quaife’s products and explained the difference between “ straight cut”, “ dog” and “syncro” gears.  He then announced that we were to go through to the main factory and stores and that we were free to wander around as much as we wanted and to ask any questions we may have.
The main factory area of Quaife is a large shop floor with many machines some of which were working for us.  I found the machine in the far corner fascinating to watch as it was self loading.  It was cutting shafts and after loading a hopper with blanks, it would take a blank, lift it across the machine, then drop a completed shaft out of the back of the machine.
It was noticed that the calendar on the wall was not the norm.  Andy later explained as they have many customers visiting from all over the world, the “girlie” type might offend certain nationalities!
Quaife do all their own work apart from casting, which is the only work that is farmed out.  All work is done in small batches usually of 25.  They export to many countries including the USA and Japan where their Nissan Skyline gearbox is particularly popular, because of its ability to cope with 525lbs per foot of torque and 1000 bhp!
From the workshop we entered what looked like a small hobby shop, being as it was filled with small wooden mock gearboxes.  All components are made in mock form in wood etc before production.  It was commented upon that the man doing this work must be a real craftsman as it was probably a dying art; the staff then confirmed that the man doing this craft was near to retiring and probably irreplaceable.
From here it was a short walk across the yard to the large shed where Quaife’s demonstration and racing cars are kept.Unfortunately the GT Racer was in a sorry state.  The usual story of having been damaged in practice, the mechanics “jumped through flaming hoops backwards” to repair it for the race only for it to be severely damaged in a first corner incident!  The roadgoing version of the GT was there and very beautiful it was too!
Also on display was Quaife’s ex-race/rallycross Escort Cosworth (600bhp at 8 bar) with Quaife’s own six speed sequential gearbox; a Lotus Elise demonstrator as Quaife Engineering make five speed dog gear boxes for the Lotus Elise challenge; and finally a roadgoing Ford Focus 2.0 litre turbo 230bhp with six speed sequential gearbox.
We finished back in the Reception area where we were given goodie bags and then retired to The Bell with Andy and Mick for a drink and a brain picking session.  Many thanks to Andy and Mick and all at Quaife for letting us descend on them.
It was a good night and thanks to all those of you out there who supported it.  If you would like more of the same (or different even!) please give me a ring or e-mail me with any suggestions or ideas and I will see what I can do to put things in motion.

Graham Baker
Social Secretary

The Acorn : July Edition