Tim's Kit Car Journey

A little photographic evidence of a little progress.

2012-01-26T21:29:00.001Z

I've managed a couple of hours in the workshop this week. I've realised that the current situation is nice in that I can move to something else once I get bored of a particular task and go back to it later; but also frustrating in that nothing is complete. Obviously getting the chassis ready to powdercoat is the big task, but I reckon that is about 6-weeks off given the current rate of progress. I'm therefore going to try to get the axle finished along with the front uprights in the mean time - mostly by farming some blasting and painting work out.

Anyway, I did say that the upper engine mounts were progressing. The blurry photo below provides some evidence. If you squint a bit.

If you look really closely you'll see several new tubes, and a couple of tabs, all of which have been shown in previous posts. In addition, there are four threaded top-hat bushes waiting to be tig-welded into place.

I've also done some work on the roll-cage mounts. The rear mounting plates are pretty conventional. In mounting these I've discovered the benefit of decent drill-bits. Having become frustrated by the amount of time that it was taking a couple of 10mm Erbauer drills to cut through what is admittedly some very thick plate, I visited my local tool shop and spent £10 on a single drill bit. I can't recall the brand (helpful eh?) but it made an enormous difference. Lesson learnt: Avoid cheap shit from Tool Station.

The mounts for the front hoop have required a fair amount more thought. The chassis wasn't really designed to take a front hoop so I've had to weigh-up various possible mounting points. As I believe I've mentioned before, the cage needs to be removable to allow the bodywork to be fitted so this has added further complications. I came-up with a final plan when lying on a sun lounger in Majorca - proof that the project is frequently on my mind! I'm actually really happy with the solution that I've come-up with.

The L-shaped section has been folded, welded and drilled to my design, albeit a flawed design as I'd read an angle straight off my inclinometer without realising that it was the difference between the displayed value and 180degrees that I really needed. Thankfully Joe, who was making the parts, spotted the error. The folded L-Shaped part sits atop a simple folded plate designed to help spread any load put through the front legs of the cage. I think of it as a 'striker plate' which bridges over the welded join. At the side of the tube beneath the L-shape, turned top-hats like those in the foreground will be welded in place to avoid tube crush and generally help to provide strength. The difficulty in fitting this lot is getting everything nicely lined-up for drilling. I'm a third of the way through the first side. Even with one makeshift bolt in place it feels pretty sturdy however. The front hoop will be cut in such a way that it can be welded to both legs of the L-shape.

One purchase to arrive this week was the gear that will sit between the prop-adaptor and propshaft as part of the reverse mechanism. This, it has to be said, is a real case of 'Me Too Engineering.' I've blatantly copied what Dan Bromilow has done, albeit I'm planning to use a pre-engaged starter motor to act upon this gear, rather like Austen Greenway has done. The only problem with this is that the pre-engaged starter is bulkier than Dan's Fireblade starter, meaning that I can't get the standard starter gear onto the prop-gear without the body of the starter clashing with the propshaft. The proposed solution, in fact the route I'm taking, is to replace the starter-motor gear with a larger diameter one. This is a little easier said than done - I've already chopped bits off the starter motor with a hacksaw and the Dremmel. I'll no doubt return to this in due course - I need to get the engine mounts finished before I can determine how big the smaller gear needs to be. Incidentally, my prop-gear is ever so slightly (one tooth) larger than Dan's as I'm trying to keep the torque-relationship as close as is possible to those of proven systems (i.e. Dan's.)

The above photo simply shows the prop flange sat atop the gear sat atop the prop adaptor. The gear now needs to be machined to sandwich neatly between these parts. Yet another job for Dave and his lathe.

No Camera..

2012-01-22T21:39:00.000Z

I forgot to take the camera to the workshop this weekend. I've made further progress with the engine mounts. The position of the motor is now decided and fixed; my welding is still unbelievably hit-and-miss but at least I'm having a go! It seems robust enough though - I can't seem to break it so that's a start.

I'll try to remember the camera soon.

Operation Swiss Cheese

2012-01-15T20:53:00.001Z

The time spent on the car has been minimal this week. Only a tiny amount of progress has been made on the engine mounts. That said, Dave at Track Developments has produced most of the turned parts to fabricate the upper mountings.

I should have had the pedal box welded in place by now but it occurred to me that I might be able to lose some more weight from it, so it's been attacked with a selection of hole saws.

The holes now need finishing and I will then get it blasted this week ready for fitting next weekend.

A good start to the New Year.

2012-01-02T18:37:00.001Z

I spent a couple more hours on the car yesterday. It was time well spent. I took the starter for the reverse mechanism apart to try to find a way forward. I think I have a plan. More shortly.

I also sat in the chassis for the first time to see where I'd want the pedals; more good news. They fit beautifully where I need them and will need next to no fabrication to get them fitted. I have a couple of mods to make to the main box and will then be getting it blasted so it's nice and clean for me to weld in place. Cripes, that'll be a good test for me and the Cebora!

Pics soon.

Arse-end...

2011-12-31T10:18:00.000Z

A little more progress was made yesterday - not as much as I'd have liked but there you go.

The reinforced back-end which is necessitated by the MSA requirement to have roll-bar back-stays is now almost fully welded. I say almost as there are some weld-runs that I need to do once the chassis has been inverted.

The strips of white tape are reminders that there are welds that need finishing once upside-down. This chassis mod took me ages. Cutting the angles on the horizontal(ish) tubes proved a little problematic. Some of my welding was then utter dog-sh*t so I ended up grinding it back and having another go.

I will not be welding the roll-cage and may even leave the engine mounts to someone better than I! Ah yes, the engine mounts. What was going to be square is now round. I realised that I had some nice water-cut brackets left over from the aborted se7en project that would do the job quite nicely. I was also worried that the tube that's been lying around various garages for almost two years might be fubared but it's minty-clean inside so we'll run with it.

As, usual, ignore the improvised spacers on the overly-long bolt. I am going to see if I can get the original bolts on a lathe to get the thread cut to length to reuse them. We'll see.

The last 45mins of the 'garage-time' yesterday was spent looking at the possibilities for fitting a reverse. I have no real idea what I'm going to do yet - not good!

Happy New Year by the way.

Poly go me

2011-12-21T21:11:00.001Z

I'd love to report that there has been lots of progress on the chassis. However, when your success rate of cutting tubes with awkward and opposed angles is about 1-in-5, it does tend to slow you down. At least I'm not making my own chassis from scratch!

Some items have arrived, notably the plates to mount the main roll hoop, a pillow block bearing that isn't suitable for the intended job and a set of four poly bushes, crush tubes and housings.

The vast majority of the suspension joints on the car are to be rose jointed; the front can be seen here. In fact the only exceptions are the axle-end joints on the trailing arms. My thinking is that the 5-link live axle set-up will probably benefit from an element of 'compliance' (read 'squish.') As such the bushes I've gone for are at the lower-middle end of the hardness scale at Shore A = 80. My experience is that anything harder than this defeats the object and doesn't really do the job that I want it to do. My experience is also that these, whatever the hardness rating, need to be very carefully matched to the accepting clevis so I think I'll be calling on Dave at Track Developments and his lathe to get them right.

Anyway, I'm sure that this will be my last post this side of Christmas so may I take this opportunity to wish you Nadolig Llawen

If you didn't know me better...

2011-12-10T20:21:00.001Z

... you might think that progress was being made.

I KNOW> some sort of tangible progress. What ever next?

Where to start? Well, I have an engine. As I explained last time, the budget is tight. As such, I'd set myself a target of obtaining a running 5VY R1 engine for £1500. There didn't appear to be much around. Andy Bates said that he had one coming in but that would have blown the budget. Malc at Yorkshire Engines didn't have one but he did have a later 4C8 engine. I asked him what he thought of the reliability on the 4C8 as numerous have exploded when fitted to cars. He explained that cooling is key and you also need to retain the EXUP gubbins - but he said that he runs one himself without bother. This got me thinking, and prompted me to look again at eBay. Amazingly there was a 4C8 package, still in the frame with everything needed to run it and it was at £600-and-something with 20-odd hours to go. Long story short, after several messages to the vendor I decided that it was worth a punt. One free EZSnipe later and it's mine for £842. Shazzam!

The only downsides were that it was in Wigan and that it needs a couple of new covers. Anyway, last Saturday I borrowed a van and picked it up. It was great to be able to see the motor running before loading up. The service history was a rare treat too, as was the V5 and the fact that the guy selling, Steve, was one of the nicest blokes you could wish to deal with. Here's the heart of the beast in Steve's garage::

While I'm very pleased with my purchase, it could spell trouble. As I mentioned above, the 4C8 doesn't have a great reputation as a reliable unit. Of the RGB-bunch, Austen described me as "brave," Al Boulton urged me to rethink and I wouldn't be surprised if dragon-tamer and series sponsor Bates thinks I'm a prat. Anyway, it's 4C8-devotee Paul Rickers' fault. When I told him that I was fitting a 5VY, he just said "No Mate. You want a 4C8 - I've got it sorted." Here's hoping!

On Thursday evening I started to get the engine into a state where I could remove it from the frame. In essence all I had time to do was to remove the airbox and to start freeing-up the loom - wow, there's a lot of loom!

I waded-in again this morning and within a couple of hours had the radiator off, the damaged exhaust (cut) off and the wiring out of the way so that the frame could be lifted over the top.

Like I said, it's a lot of wiring! Once it was all removed, it was time to introduce it to its new home.

With the engine loosely in place, I could start thinking about fabricating the engine mounts. There is still lots to do, but the most substantial addition is a new longitudinal tube which will support the upper mounts. This isn't welded in place yet but, its fairly self explanatory.

Also cut and awaiting welding is the tube at the bottom of the tunnel which will bridge the gap between the two footwells, hopefully adding some stiffness to the whole front-middle of the chassis.

Finally for today, I spent some time removing the angle section at the rear which was designed to support, if memory serves, a mini-van fuel tank. The angle is to be replaced by 18g square section and complimented by another tube connecting the left rear to the right rear. The aim is to make the structure strong enough to provide mounting points for the mandatory rear roll cage supports.

There's still work to be done, as can be seen in the pic above, More flap-discs required!

In other news, Procomp Motorsport are busy rebuilding my diff with its new Quaife ATB as well as checking and altering the camber and toe on the built-up axle. Also, I really need to get the bodywork ordered. Rather charmingly, Autotune have asked me to post a completed order form.

Oh, one final thing - the provisional race calendar is out which has rather spurred me on. Time to renew my license!

TC

Whining and grinding.

2011-11-27T20:46:00.001Z

To be honest I've been a bit troubled of late. On the one hand I've been looking at the spreadsheet that I've constructed to estimate the cost of the build. On the other hand I've been looking at the cost of our wedding. Kate and I are very fortunate that we both have good jobs and earn decent money. However the car and the wedding are both significant projects and I'd started to fret. What brings the issue into stark contrast is the availability of race-ready machinery at a fraction of the build cost. The sensible thing would undoubtedly be to go out and buy one of these cars and get back to racing - something which I'm now missing more than ever.

However, the fact remains, I intend to complete one build and I've come a long way and invested a lot of cash already. So, having flirted with the idea of either moth-balling the Gemini or even selling up and buying some turn-key solution, I've resolved to carry on. Thankfully the future Mrs C is hugely supportive, if probably fed-up of me talking about cars. The only slight change is that, whereas Plan A was 'Gold Standard' throughout, Plan B will probably leave some room for later upgrades. So, for example hubs will probably be reconditioned OE stuff rather than lightweight aluminium and brake pipes will now be kunifer and braided rather than top-of-the-range Goodridge throughout. These type of decisions will be relatively small beer providing I'm out racing in 2012.

Anyway, I have done a bit to the car. Roll bar mounts have been rather exercising my grey matter as the chassis was never really designed to have a full cage fitted. I think I've got it sussed now and have sent a couple of drawings away to get brackets water-jet cut and fabricated.

I even spent a happy morning making models!

I've also started making the necessary mods to the chassis. Hopefully my fabrication skills will improve with practice; it's taking me an age to cut and file tubes such that they are a half-decent fit!

I'm on the hunt for a suitable R1 motor and I plan to order my bodywork when I'm in Lancashire with work next week. I still haven't fixed my welder. MUST DO THAT THIS WEEK!

W E L D O N E

2011-11-05T08:07:00.001Z

Before I attempt to construct a to-weld list, I must commend the team that I supported at the Birkett 6 Hour Relay Race as Silverstone on Saturday 29th October. The guys were all very quick and ran faultlessly. The result was a 'scratch' class win. Uber-Mega. I'm not going to give a blow-by-blow account of the day. Others are much more able than I in this regard. For example, click Dr Bob's linky-doo-dah on the right hand side if you are interested. What I would say is that although its an enjoyable day, it's not easy - and I inevitably get cold and wet at some stage. I actually hope that it's my last year 'taking part' as an administrator. I'd best get some work done then...

I'm a bit fearful of rushing this list as it will hopefully be a really useful reference. Thankfully I can edit blog entries so here goes. The list at this stage only covers the chassis itself and not things that hang-pff it.

Front ARB mounts
Radiator mounts
Oil cooler mounts
Engine mounts (taking inspiration from Wyn)
Electric reverse mounts - I'm a bit worried about clearance - more in a later post
Additional tube at bottom-front of the transmission tunnel
Gear shift pivot mount
Pedal box mount
Prop catchers x 2
Some side impact protection (tbc)
Engine undertray Dzus tabs
Tunnel cover Dzus tabs
Rear undertray mounts/suppots
Front roll cage mounts - I'm not 100% sure how best to do these yet
Steering column mounts (top and bottom) - to incorporate paddle-shift mounts
Crotch strap mounts for 6-poiint harness
Fuel tank bobbins
Replace hindmost tubes with something capable of supporting roll cage rearward supports
Roll cage mounts for the above
Tow strap mounts
Rear ARB mounts (need to discuss with Dave at Track Developments)
Bracket for rear brake line & cable at rear of tunnel.

And that's before I've tried to fit the body and worked out if that needs anything different.

I'd better get my welder fixed.

The good, the bad and the ugly...

2011-10-08T20:41:00.002Z

Well, it seems that I'd not really thought through the axle-alignment / finessing job. Apparently you need the actual differential unit that's going to be used to make sure that the halfshafts are in the right position. I'd foolishly assumed that the issue would revolve around the axle tubes themselves rather than the way that all the parts fit together. The issue with this is that I haven't yet purchased the Quaife ATB diff - and due to the payment of a hefty deposit to secure our wedding venue/date I'm not in a position to do so this month. Having apologised to Matt at Procomp, he's agreed to postpone the work. Oops.

I spent Wednesday and Thursday of this week with Martin Keenan in Rotherham essentially getting an introduction to MIG welding. I wouldn't say that I was "born to weld" but I seemed to do okay. My main issue is making sure that I can see the joint properly - it's all about getting my head in the right place. I laid-down a fair amount of welds over the two days. Apparently I used over a third of a big bottle of gas; Martin uses roughly the same amount to produce two chassis!

Here's my early practice runs:

These practice pieces were very useful and not only in their intended way. They also made me realise how much heavier things can get if you have to weld something several times to get it structurally sound. Right-first-time = lightness.

Anyway, by lunchtime on Day 2, I was producing welds like the two below with reasonable consistency. They aren't wonderfully pretty but they don't break in the vice. Result.

While we all know that a 'bad workman always blames his tools,' Martin made it abundantly clear that a good reliable weld is a result of both man and machine doing what they should. Unfortunately this means that I need to spend some money on my eBay welder.

The bearings on the wire feed seem to be shot and as such it can be a bit hit and miss. When it works though, it does so very well so it's worth sorting out.

In any case, I'm looking forward to getting stuck-in, something that I'll be able to do as my local workshop space is sorted at last. I'll be in by the end of the month. I'll make my next blog entry a welding to-do list.

Finally, the front wishbones from Dave at Track Developments are just about there with good levels of adjustment, more than sufficient freedom of movement and of course the intended geometry.

One needs to ignore the unnecessarily long bolts, odd spacers saving nyloc nuts (we are in a time of austerity after all!) and upside-down damper (borrowed.)

Axle..errr...rater.

2011-09-14T20:06:00.001Z

My axle casing, differential and half-shafts are being dropped-off with Matt and Ivan at Procomp Motorsport tomorrow evening to be given the once-over. The casing should return nice and straight or possibly even with a smidgerino of desirable angle.

The search for a local workshop/garage with power is on; I may have tempted fate with Plan A in this regard.

Welding slash Wedding...

2011-09-02T22:33:00.001Z

In an attempt to become a bit more self-sufficient, I've just bought myself a Cebora MIG welder. I've also got two days of training booked in Rotherham with Martin Keenan of MK Engineering to learn how to use the thing.

In an attempt to add something pictorial to the previous post, here's the prototype wishbones - the top 'un is a touch too short and the bottom one really needs the rod-end to be cranked upwards a bit. Dave at Track Developments has all this in hand.

Dave also accompanied me to Silverstone last weekend - we went to watch the (very wet) RGB race, to have a look at some of the cars and to have a chat with the builders - I wanted to give Dave a feel for what is involved and what people are doing. As usual the RGBers were very accommodating and generous with their time. My thanks go to them; particular thanks go to Della Rogers for the fabulous cake!

Oh and in other news, I asked Kate to marry me. She said "Yes." Brrrrrrrrrrraaaap brrrrrrrrraaap! Err, I mean splendid news!

Location Location Location...

2011-07-31T20:22:00.000Z

The chassis has been lowered from the ceiling. The wishbones are now in production and should be trial fitted this coming weekend.

It also looks like I may have found a new home for the build that has two major advantages:

It's not 1hour+ away from home.
It has power.

I don't think the move will happen until the autumn but it will make a huge difference in terms of the prospect of getting out next year.

All positive stuff.

timsmnr.blogspot.com is no more...

2011-07-03T21:18:00.002Z

... welcome to farcester.com

In an effort to refect the fact that I sold the MNR in 1947, I've now changed the title of the blog to farcester.com. I think the new name embodies both my aspirations and my modus operandi.

TC

Fate? Coincidence? Black (and white chequered) magic?

2011-06-28T18:44:00.002Z

Long-suffering readers will remember that I raced as #41 in the 750MC Locost Championship in 2009. Interestingly the chap I bought the Gemini chassis from, Dave Beddows, built and maintained another Locost that used to compete as #41. Well, there's now a third connection to Locost #41 and things are starting to get a bit spooky. I'd better rewind a little...

For some time I've been watching 3.54:1 ratio English differentials on eBay. The going rate for these has been somewhere between £160 and £190. With a new crown wheel and pinion only costing £250, I'd pretty much resigned myself to buying new. However, this weekend there were four potentially suitable diff's on the world's favourite auction site - very unusual - there's only usually one or two available at any one time. Basic microeconomics tells us that when supply goes up, price (ceteris paribus) goes down. I decided to watch the auctions closely.

The first one to end wasn't anywhere near home but the seller was offering postage at £15. I won the auction for less than £113; tidy! I paid via Paypal and received the usual e-mail confirming the transaction and also giving some more detail about the seller, including their name: Keith Malpus. "That's familiar" I thought.

I had a feeling that there is a Keith Malpus racing in Locosts. Sure enough, there is - and guess what his race number is... I e-mailed the seller to ask if it was the same person. Of course it was. How's that for a happy coincidence? The upshot is that I'm collecting the item from Donington on the weekend, saving myself the £15 postage. So, it's clear to me that the car needs to compete as #41 - its karma. The only problem is that someone already uses that number in the RGB Championship and has done for many years. Fingers crossed he'll have a great second-half of the season so he can 'upgrade' to a nice low number for next year. Go Neil! :)

Pedal Power...

2011-06-25T10:27:00.000Z

The pedal box is just about complete. Although its based on a design which dates back to the 60s, I think its infinitely better than the vast majority of fabricated kit car pedal boxes that I've looked at and used.

Andy at Arrow Auto Engineering has been brilliant to deal with and has done everything possible to make the pedal box suitable for the Gemini - he's also taken as much weight out of it as possible which is good.

There are a couple of questions that remain. Firstly I'm not yet setted on how/where the steering column with negotiate the pedal box. Secondly, I may need to move the accelerator closer to the brake - we shall see.

I'm going to Donington Park next Saturday to see the RGB race. Unfortunately the number of entrants is down slightly due to mid-season fettling, holidays and other pressures. Even so, I'm looking forward to it very much.

Track-ing Development(s)

2011-06-18T17:20:00.005Z

Dave and the team at Track Developments are in the process of making the wishbones for the car. I nipped down there today to have a quick look, to meet some folk from the Bristol Kit Car Club and also to get the geometry checked on Kate's MX-5. Dave has altered the toe settings and it is much better to drive now - much more confidence inspiring, particularly around the dead-ahead. I really can't say enough good things about the service Dave, Tom and Ben provide.

My current thinking is that I should get Track Developments to do all the performance critical stuff - including anti-roll bars and specifying dampers. If it's good enough for some of the big-spending historic guys, it's good enough for my little retro rocket...

I've also been talking to 'Handy Andy' at Arrow Auto Engineering who's in the process of sorting out a custom lightweight pedal box based on a MkII Escort unit. I'm very pleased with how it appears to be coming together.

This will bolt to fabricated mounts above the footwell. The master cylinders will be backward facing, meaning that I'll need a quick-access hatch at the top of the main tub - no problem and this will provide very easy access once the job is done.

Fleet of fancy...

2011-06-03T19:45:00.002Z

No kit car related news yet, but there's a couple of new daily drivers.

Long live summer!

TC

Back to work...

2011-05-17T11:13:00.000Z

Good News: I start work on Thursday, signalling the end to a series of events that started in February 2009 at the time of this depressing blog entry.

In other news, I visited to the Stoneleigh Kit Car Show a couple of weekends ago. A good number of the RGB cars were on display but the main reason for going along was to have a chat with Richard Taylor from Autotune. What a nice guy! I'm sure that they are going to be great to deal with going forward. In fact, there has been some discussion since about me appearing in another Gemini in 750MC SR&GTs later this season. We'll have to play this by ear at the moment as there is an inevitable trade-off between getting on circuit this year and spending on the new car.

I dropped in to see Dave Gallop at Track Developments yesterday - we had a general catch-up but I also wanted to check that he still had the drawings for the front wishbones - I'm hoping to get these ordered in the next few weeks.

So there we are - positive news! As if racing weren't often at the forefront of my thoughts anyway, my cross-country commute takes me straight past Castle Combe. At least I won't need to pay for postage from Merlin Motorsport any longer.

Across the river without a pedal.

2011-04-11T15:25:00.001Z

Have you ever put a well-known phrase into an online translator and then converted it from a foreign language back into English? No? Me neither. The title of this micro-post instead serves to explain that I've moved across the River Severn to South Gloucestershire and also that I've agreed to sell the pedals that I kept from the last chassis to the new owner of the aforementioned chassis. The reasons for doing this are:

It would have proved just as difficult to get the pivots made and the bulkhead panel cut as it would to buy a whole new pedal box.
I have in mind that I'd like a pendulum-style pedal box. My Striker had a modified Escort MkII box and that was great to use. My only concerns are whether it might clash with the steering column and also that it might be a bit heavy. In any case its a thought for another day.

There's nothing more exciting to report I'm afraid!

Back from travels. Well oiled.

2011-02-06T15:57:00.000Z

We're now back from our travels - which we thoroughly enjoyed incidentally. I can't say when work on the car will recommence as I have to find gainful employment first. However, I have had a look at the chassis and can confirm that the oil and stretch wrap method appears to have done a great job of keeping the rot at bay - it pretty much looks like it did when we put it away. Moral of the story: if you too need to lay-up an unfinished chassis or any other raw steel part, it's worth investing a bit of time to store it properly. I'm just not willing to contemplate the joys of the degreasing process at this stage.

From Kit Car Journey to Southern Hemisphere Journey...

2010-11-07T00:48:00.000Z

Well, I'm afraid that this is likely to be my last post on this 'ere blog for a while.

Kate and I finally head-off travelling tomorrow. The last Gemini-related job was to finish rubbing-down, oiling and wrapping the chassis and then inverting the whole thing so that it could be ratchet-strapped to the ceiling beams. Not as easy as it sounds - particularly with just two of us. Anyway, 'Mission Accomplished' as they say.

Wrapped:

Going Up:

Enough room to pop the run-about (read post-travel interview transport) underneath:

So, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Fiji and Australia await. Guess what....?! There's a NEW BLOG to chronicle our trip.

I'll ensure that I update my ramblings here as soon as we're home and things start happening with the car again.

Until then, Ciao.

Angles of dangles and mummification...

2010-11-03T15:51:00.002Z

A bit of catching up to do... I picked the chassis up from the very amiable Dave Gallop some three weeks ago. I'm really pleased with the work that they've done. The combination of a beautifully welded and arrow-straight chassis from Autotune and the revised geometry is quite exciting!

Once I got the car to the garage I started to worry a little bit about the engine; or rather if the engine would fit. Unlike on a Seven-ish, Striker or Fury the car stays the width of the rear bulkhead until the end of the footwells. The chassis then tapers quite severely to form a rectangular engine bay. Because bike engines effectively have the gearbox and clutch pack bolted to the side of the motor, the whole unit needs to be offset to the passenger side in order to run a propshaft off the output shaft. My concern was that I wouldn't be able to offset the engine by enough to get a straight or even near-straight run for the prop.

My solution was to borrow a 5VY R1 engine (my chosen powerplant) from my mate Ed. I lay the chassis on what used to be Ikea shelves and dropped (not literally Ed) the engine into the engine bay onto an identical shelf. This effectively represented the flat floor. Initially, things didn't look great. With the engine shunted against the footwells it was debatable whether or not the propshaft would interfere with the tube at the front of the tunnel. Of equal concern was the high angle that the universal joint would need to run at the centre bearing. Not great.

However, having stared at it for a short while and having taken some photographs for reference, I decided to shunt the engine forward in the engine bay. This had the effect of reducing the angle on the prop to something that, intuitively at least, looked a bit more sensible. The picture below shows the engine at 85mm forward of the bulkhead.

Once I got home, I did some web-based research into prop phasing and angles and also posted a question on Locostbuilders to see what the general thinking was. The other consideration that also comes into all of this is the angle that the engine is mounted at, that is, the degree to which it is canted-over. There seems to be two schools of thought on this. Fisher and Dan B advocate mounting the engine so that the sump flange is parallel to the ground, as seen here (from Dan's site.)

I gather that Andy Bates also favours this approach. However, MNR mount the engine so that the bottom of the sump is parallel to the road as in the bike. What concerns me about the former method is that the oil pickup is halfway along the bottom of the sump and is therefore not at the lowest point. Both Dan and Andy Bates (for Ed's Phoenix) have used an extended sump to solve the issue. However, I was never convinced that all this was necessary. I then met a local chap who runs a Caterham with a supercharged 5VY engine. Winston has run this car competitively for several years on slicks with the sump bottom parallel to the road; with no issues. His only mod is a dressed version of the "Nitram" sump baffle that everyone seems to use. As I understand it, his son holds a number of course records in the car too. What was also apparent is that he knows the motor back-to-front and inside-out. Hence, if its good enough for Winston, its good enough for me. This is good news as if the engine was mounted in the more upright position it would be more likely that the sump would need to protrude below the floor. Having just spent a serious amount of cash getting the pick-up points moved to run with the floor at close to 75mm, needing to run the chassis higher to accommodate the sump would have been pretty joyless news. Also, in the more upright position it is very difficult to see how the exhaust primaries would route - in fact they'd more or less come out of the head and want to go straight into a chassis tube!

Aside from resolving the prop angle issue, moving the engine forward has some other positive and negative impacts. On the negative side, it moves weight towards the front of the car and therefore affects the weight distribution of the car and increases the polar moment. The convention with bike-engined cars seems to be to move the engine in the other direction. However I suspect that it is possible that moving the weight forward a little might actually aid front-end grip and also steering feel - which is generally relatively absent in a BEC. The other positives from a 'packaging' perspective are that it gives me room to mount the starter motor for the reverse and also means that the exhaust primaries can be a little longer. The overall consequence is that I'm not all that bothered about it, particularly when I can move my short-arse 90kgs self back in the car by mounting the pedal box further back. What I will probably do is modify the very large footwell slightly (as shown in the Microsoft Paint-modified pic below) to give everything a bit more room. The webbed portion at the top of the footwell should even provide a suitable place to mount the fulcrum/pivot for the rod-operated gear change.

All of this will of course have to wait for my return from travelling (plus subsequently finding a job and somewhere to live!) With the departure date ever-closer, attention has turned to storing the chassis while I'm away. When I collected the chassis originally, it had been stored for a year in a timber garage. This meant that it was virtually free of oxidation, except for a few finger prints. It hasn't fared quite so well since it has been at Track Developments and in my tin-roofed garage so I'd planned to give the metal a bit of a 'polish' with some wet'n'dry and a wire brush. Stage Two is then to give everything a damn-good coating of oil before wrapping it all in stretch-wrap.

I'm about halfway through and am really pleased with how its gone. It's quite time consuming and I've exhausted my supplies of contour sanding blocks and a can of spray oil but tomorrow should see the job finished.

The last job will then be to suspend the chassis from the garage roof. That could be quite exciting.

Progressing Pick-Ups…

2010-10-11T15:05:00.000Z

After fairly extensive analysis and drawing from Dave and his associates at Track Developments a plan has now been formulated. What is rather pleasing is that the rear geometry is apparently very good, with a low roll centre and a good amount of anti-squat – all at circa 100mm ride height. I must admit that I wasn’t expecting such good news and anticipated having to get all of the pick-up points moved.

The front-end wasn’t quite as perfect and clearly wasn’t designed to run at c.80mm ride height. Hence, the original pick-ups have been removed and new ones are in the process of being welded on.

As part of the process of correcting the geometry Dave has also had to turn-up new inserts for the bottom of the uprights – it’s a bit of a pain as it means that the original ones I had made were effectively useless. Its fairly small-change compared to the overall loss as a result of aborting the last project though so I remain philosophical(ish)…

I should pick-up the chassis next weekend and then just need to get it wrapped up for storage while we’re away. A covering of oil and then stretch-wrap is the favoured method of keeping the rust at bay at the moment. If anyone has a better idea, please let me know.

Out with the old and in with the… errr... old skool!

2010-09-23T21:52:00.004Z

So, five kit cars/projects in five years; ridiculous right? I quite agree, so I’ve solved it – by buying another project. What?

Allow me to explain, or at least try. I’ll be honest – I was a bit frustrated that the chassis still needed work. I tried to suppress it but the feeling was too strong. I feel like I should be saying that like James Brown… (Good God!)

Anyhoo, it led me to ask if I was going to be really happy with the car; did I really want another 7ish? Well, the problem is that I’d found my head being turned by all sorts of racers from the 50s and 60s. So, I did the sensible thing (?) and put the chassis and associated parts up for sale on locostbuilders.co.uk and phoned Westfield about their XI kit.

Unfortunately they only wanted to sell me a complete kit for £8.5k. As I still want to race the car in the RGB Championship I’d be throwing half of the stuff away. I thanked them and moved on. I spent a few days thinking about cars I really liked but had never considered building. A Lola replica would be nice, as would a one of the Lotus 15 replicas or even a Jag D-type or XKSS. Unfortunately these are all BIG money and not terribly suitable for a 1000cc bike motor and racing.

Next thought was the Autotune Gemini which uses an exact copy of the Falcon MkII bodyshell from the late 50s (as used on a relatively famous Elva racecar.) I contacted two people before speaking to the factory. Firstly, the only person I knew of who was building one – a chap called Dave Beddows and secondly Matt Gilmour from Procomp. The car uses a live axle and Cortina uprights, much like a Locost, so I thought Matt might have an opinion.

Dave came back with good reports and then mentioned that his lightweight (18G) chassis was untouched due to family commitments and that if I was interested, he’d sell at a favourable rate.

The reports from Matt were less good – he said something along the lines of “People have tried to race them but I can’t see why.” Another shattered dream; I contacted Dave and said that I wasn’t interested.

Then I thought about it some more. I respect Matt’s view an awful lot. If he says something would need a lot of work to be race-ready, it needs a lot of work to be race-ready as far as I’m concerned. Unfortunately, I’d rather set my heart on the thing. The picture below may go some way to explaining why.

I thought about asking Matt to do the necessary mods. However, I suspected that he would talk me out of it – the sensible option would no-doubt have been one of his LA Golds….

So, I made another call. I’d read about Track Developments in one of the kit car magazines years ago. They’d been involved in a feature where they analysed a V8 Fisher Fury with dodgy handling traits. They eventually determined that only major changes (moving the pick-up points) would make any real difference. Apparently the owner wasn’t impressed. I liked their honesty.

Anyway, I spoke to Dave Gallop, who boosted my confidence in their abilities, and eventually agreed to deliver the chassis straight to him for analysis and potentially to make some of the necessary physical changes.

This is where the chassis sits now. I’m going to be a little bit limited in terms of what I get done in the short term however as I’ve finally booked for Kate and I to go and see a bit of the world… we fly on the 7th November. Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Fiji and Australia here we come.

Perspective…

2010-08-10T14:35:00.003Z

I’m sorry that I haven’t posted on here in nearly two months. A few days after my last instalment a close colleague and friend tragically died after a terrible accident at work. I just haven’t felt like reporting on the car’s progress since. My mate Gav mainly got his kicks on two wheels – he was an outstanding bike-trials rider in particular. He really liked his cars too and had helped me with one or two little bits relating to the new build. Hence every time I hold my Moto-Lita wheel (which he drilled much more confidently than I’d have managed) or pick-up my repaired C-spanner my thoughts will no doubt turn to Gav. You’re very much missed Mate!

Rather in the spirit in which Gav lived his life (Carpe diem) it seems right to get this blog and life in general moving forward again.

The chassis and other parts are now in South Wales. A plan was hatched for me to take a van up to Lancashire and for Steve, Joe and I to finish the fabrication that day before I brought it all home. These things always take longer than anticipated and I came home with a few jobs still outstanding. These include:

Fabrication of the upper front wishbones
Steering rack mounts
The addition of anti-roll bar tabs on the front and rear wishbones
Some tidying of the chassis

Not so long ago I’d have got quite upset about the chassis not being finished. While “right-first-time-on-time” is still a bit of a mantra, if one accepts that problems are part of ‘life’s rich tapestry’ then such problems should, almost by definition, be viewed as precious. This is very much a new perspective for me! I’m off to see my friendly local fabricators to chat about the outstanding jobs shortly.

I had intended to take a raft of photos yesterday. Unfortunately Sunday’s wedding (congrats Mr & Mrs Breakwell) had taken its toll on the camera batteries so I only managed a few shots. The first shot was taken after I’d roughly positioned the steering rack to check that the steering column would pass unhindered through the chassis bars – I needn’t have worried.

The other photos show some of the thought that has gone into making the subsequent build up and use of the car as easy as possible. Where body parts will be removable, these special tabs have been added to facilitate the use of Dzus fasteners. These are to be used all over the car including on removable sections of the flat floor, the nosecone, bonnet, scuttle and rear ‘boot’ cover(s).

Next are these tabs, made from folded washers. These will carry the cables (electric and control), and fuel and brake lines and largely remove the need to drill the chassis tubes, except for when attaching fixed sections of bodywork.

This final picture shows the result of my decision to rose joint each of the linkages to the front upright. Douglas at Westgarage again did the machining work which should both remove any slop and allow fine tuning, by moving the stub axle in or out using the adjustment in the rose joints, or indeed up or down (by using different tapered inserts.)

More photos should follow over the next few days.

I really should update on the position relating to the RGB regulations. The committee has been busy drafting a revised set of regulations that basically centre around 1 litre engines. The regulations freely permit one-off cars and hence the ‘Paradign Locost’ fits into the new structure quite nicely. This has left me positively enthused about competing in the championship. I’ve just seen that a draft version of the new regulations can be found at http://www.hoverd.org/Tim/2011_draft_Regulations.pdf.

Series of musings / Musings on series

2010-06-14T10:34:00.002Z

The plan has always been to compete in the 750 Motor Club’s RGB Championship. It’s a well established championship with lots of friendly folk involved. However, I have a couple of concerns. Central to these concerns is the fact that I’m now not leaving for my 9 months “gap-yah” until September/October which means that I’ll almost certainly miss all of the 2011 season. If the truth be told, I’m not entirely sure what the championship will look like in 18 months’ time. The regulations are being debated at the moment and I think there is a possibility that ‘one-off’ cars could one day be excluded from a front-engined class. This is far from certain but it has meant that I’ve started to consider what else is out there; and I’ve been pleasantly surprised.

I’d heard about the Classic Sports Car Club’s Magnificent 7s series over 12 months ago but hadn’t given it too much attention. A few weeks ago, prompted by Matt Gilmour at Procomp, I started to look into it in more detail and contacted the series organiser Peter French to find out more. After some correspondence regarding the eligibility of the Paradigm, I decided to drive up to Cheshire this weekend to watch the race at Oulton Park. I dragged Steve along for a second opinion. We arrived mid-morning and post-qualification so were able to wander around the pits, look at the car and have a chat with some of the drivers. Most of the cars were Caterhams with a smattering of Westfields and derivatives of the Stuart Taylor Locost thrown into the mix too. Most of the cars had Ford or Rover K-Series engines but there was a good selection of bike engines from Suzuki (Busa), Yamaha (5PW R1) and Kawasaki (ZZR1400) too.

Everyone seemed very friendly.

What was immediately apparent was that the regulations were far less strictly defined that in the 750MC series. As long as the car is 7-shaped and isn’t covered in aero-addenda, basically, anything goes. Talking to Peter, if you are an outlier in terms of your pace within a class you should expect to be moved – sounds simple enough. This flexibility is born out of the fact that ‘Mag7s’ does not have Championship status. This keeps costs down, but does mean that awards are strictly informal. The race format is also very different to RGB. Races are 40 minutes long and include a mandatory pit stop. This can either be a simple timed stop-and-go, can involve a driver change or a complete car/driver change. This therefore provides an opportunity to share entry costs and get involved as a team entry. This got me wondering about value for money. If I add up the cost of entries and divide this sum by the time racing in RGB this season, even allowing an extra 15 minutes across the season for the +1 lap format, each minute of racing costs £11.30. If I add in qualifying, each minute of driving on track costs £6.34. In Mag7s, each minute of racing costs less than £7 and each minute driving (either qualifying or racing) costs less than £4. That’s a hell of a difference!

So what of the racing? Well I’ve been lucky enough to witness some great battles in RGB. However as one competitor observed recently, there isn’t really that much overtaking evident at the moment. This I believe is a function of increasing speed differentials and a grid of often only about 25. While one cannot really make a judgement on Mag7s on the basis of one round, the grid was full and this led to a lot of action. The pit stops also seemed to add something too and I like the fact that you at least have the option to share the costs, for example if funds at the end of a season got a bit tight. However, the speed differential in Mag7s is much greater than in RGB with the top four cars lapping faster than a RGB car has ever gone around Oulton and the slowest three lapping at speeds similar to a quick 1300cc Locost! That said, I liked what I saw and will certainly be looking to get involved.

The only question that remains is whether or not to continue to build the car to RGB regulations or whether to plan for the greater freedom of Mag7s. Of course, if the car is built primarily to meet RGB regulations then it is possible to enter Mag7s as well. The same is not true the other way around. Hence, Plan A remains THE plan.

44 months on…

2010-06-04T11:21:00.000Z

06:30hrs Friday 4th June 2010.

A thirty-year old man yelps somewhere in a sleepy former mining town in South Wales. A black and white cat leaps for cover, unsure of what caused this most unusual of sounds. The cat peers from around a corner to see the yelping man holding aloft two reams of white A4 paper. He looks happy. Over 3 ½ years of endeavour has all but come to an end. His Masters in Business Administration degree is finally finished!

I’ve just got back from the binders having dropped-off two copies of my final and most extensive piece of work. Joy fills the room. There’s more good news; my chassis is nearly finished as well. Joe and Steve spent an obscene amount of time getting it welded-up last weekend. The hope was to have it finished. The reality is that there is probably another five hours of work to do, mainly focussed around the front suspension. In any case, here she is with Joe ar the wheel

I’ll get some better photos when I go up to Joe’s for final fitting for the headrest and steering column. I should hopefully bring it home the same day which should be good. Then its off for powdercoating. Splendid!

I haven’t forgotten about the exhaust end pipe that I mentioned in the last instalment but I’m now going to hang-on until I’ve got the slice of catalyser to fit it before I try to explain the issues and plan on here. I’ve sourced some very smart aluminium bearing carriers for the back to replace the heavy cast iron ones, which I hope is going to make my drum and hub assembly somewhat lighter than even posh Wilwood billet calipers and the associated bracketry. That’s the plan anyway.

Enough for now; I feel knackered! That’ll be the lack of sleep resulting from the final push to get the dissertation done! Plus, I’d better do some proper work…

Dissertation Distraction.

2010-05-20T17:19:00.002Z

Apologies for the lack of updates. I'm rather busy trying to finish the dissertation for my MBA (sooooo bloooody close now!) Anyway, today we got news... the chassis has gone off for final welding.

There she goes:

Steve has enlisted the help of (total star) Joe the Welderman. Here's the two fine specimens concerned - engaged in some fetching hand-on-hip action:

My own efforts have been limited to devising 'an innovative tail-pipe solution.' More on this next time. Do not get excited; you will be disappointed.

Paddling (Upstream.)

2010-04-22T09:58:00.002Z

I’m quite proud that I’ve managed to use the verb ‘paddling’ as both a metaphor and in a literal sense in the same post. I never claimed to be terribly normal….

In the literal sense, we now have a ‘flappy-paddle’ (do I need to credit Clarkson for that term?) and rocker assembly - two of the major components to be used in the rod-arrangement paddle shift system that we’re employing on the car. These aren’t just ANY old components however. They’re not made from steel or even aluminium. There are made of kevlar composite. Steve created a sheet of suitable material by building up layers of matting, sheet and resin. I’d love to tell you more about the process put it might as well be juju for all my knowledge of it. Anyway, I’m told that it is very light and should be more than strong enough to do the job. The sheet was then cut to shape by AndyW7de using a water-jet cutter. Here are the results:

The sheet was big enough to get couple of sets out. My paddle is the larger one. I’ve experimented with wheel sizes and have found that I don’t get on terribly well with tiny wheels. My wrists are increasingly prone to aches and pains (no lewd remarks necessary!) and I just feel a bit more comfortable with a 12” wheel. The intention is to finish the edges either with gel coat or possibly by polishing with cutting compound. I did the same on the carbon back panel on my MNR with good results.

I use the paddling upstream metaphor in relation to Steve’s activity on the chassis of late. I really do not envy him trying to find time to work on the car and help look after a new baby and work full time. I’m in no rush so everything is fine my end – I just wish I could help a bit more. The two Ds, distance and dissertation, don’t lend themselves well to this unfortunately.

That said, I’m hoping to have a day off studying to go to Brands Hatch on Sunday to see the RGB race and to have a look at some of the new cars that are joining the Championship. Hopefully, Saturday’s race will be without incident and I won’t miss anyone. My old comrades from the Locost Championship are there too so it should be a good day.

Top ball joints. Or not.

2010-04-13T09:54:00.004Z

‘Plan A’ to connect the upper front wishbone to the Cortina upright had been the usual Locost method of using a ball joint in the form of a drag link or track rod end from a Ford Transit. We’d also intended to use a ‘quick camber adjuster,’ essentially a threaded sleeve that sits inside a 1” inside diameter (ID) tube and allows you to move the ball joint in and out without removing any parts. However, there has recently been some discussion about the fragility of these items following a total failure on a road car. In addition, 1” ID tube was proving frustratingly difficult to obtain. These considerations, along with the fact that the rest of the suspension uses rose joints, were enough for me to look at replacing the upper ball joint with a suitably tapered pin and rose joint set up.

My MNR had used this system. However, I had a feeling that they no longer offered the parts to use the Cortina upright – in the back of my mind I was pretty sure that I’d had the last set for my old car. I contacted Chris Nordon to see if this was the case and indeed it was. My next port-of-call was the ever helpful Matt Gilmour at Procomp. I had a chat with him about design and joint heights and he made it clear that he could make the parts. However, I was also pretty conscious that he and Ivan are up-to-their-eyes in work. No surprise – they really do sterling work. So, I started to investigate alternatives. I had a look at some of the Westfield specialists like CAT Motorsport but had little joy. I then found a post on the Locostbuilders forum by someone calling themselves ‘mintici.’ The post showed a very similar set up that had been machined for a Westfield. On further investigation, it turns out that ‘minitici’ is Douglas Anderson, proprietor of Westgarage Engineering Services. Douglas usually specialises in chain drive differentials, carriers and associated parts for mid engined cars. However, it’s clear that he can turn his hand (pardon the pun) to most things.

After some efficient communication via e-mail, I sent one of my Cortina uprights to Douglas so that he could be sure that the taper was right. I also sent him the relevant measurement from Steve’s suspension drawings. The great thing about this setup is that the height of the top joint can now be changed relatively easily to aid fine tuning of handling characteristics. Good news all round. Douglas’ pro-forma invoice suggested that delivery would take up to 4 weeks. No great problem for me. However, just two days after posting the upright I received some pictures of the first pin, top-hat and rose joint assembly. It’s clearly a relatively simple job for Douglas and I’m likely to get the parts much sooner than expected.

As Douglas says in his e-mail, “The pin and top hat have been shaped to allow maximum articulation of the rod end.” This can clearly be seen in the pictures.

One other thing that the pictures show quite clearly is the casting marks on the upright. If I was in any doubt before, these are definitely getting powdercoated now. I know that it’s a race car, but cosmetically that just will not do!

Safe and Sound...

2010-04-01T15:29:00.000Z

Few words this time around; just a couple of snaps.

Cage from 'Caged' - rear supports yet to be installed:

And an apparently foggy shed:

If anybody reading this has access to 7/16" high tensile bolts with a 2" shank/shoulder and overall length of 2.75"-3" could they please let me know? The only ones I've manged to source would cost over £15.00 each - and I need 22 of the things so that just isn't going to happen!

Thanking you!

The other consequence of tobacco advertising…

2010-03-22T15:23:00.000Z

Let me be clear: I am not and, aside from a few experimental puffs as a teenager, I never have been a smoker. In fact I intensely dislike the habit, in particular what it does for the smell of one’s clothes when in close proximity to a smoker. And then there are the health implications! Despite this, Tobacco advertising is good for a few things. Who could forget some of the brilliant Hamlet TV adverts of the 1980s? Well, me actually although a quick search on YouTube brings it all flooding back.

Tobacco advertising has been good for something else though, and it can be summed up in three little letters: JPS. The John Player Special livery was on the first ever race car I can remember seeing. I had a model of what was almost certainly a Lotus F1 car when I was quite small. I can still remember it to this day. I don’t think I have it any more, but I might raid my parent’s attic in search all the same. Anyway, it has always struck a chord and when it came to selecting a colour scheme for my new race car there was only really one option.

Below are a couple of pictures borrowed from the excellent www.jpslotus.org website. I’ve picked these in particular as they show gold wheel rims and black centres:

I’ve been fortunate enough to come by (via Steve) as set of Superlite’s Ultralite 3-Piece wheels that are in need of a refurb. As such the idea is to replicate the wheel design seen above.

I also had in mind that I wanted to have the chassis powdercoated in gold too. This I felt was a bit of a risk as the car might end up looking like a complete ‘tart’s handbag.’ However, my mind was finally made up when I saw the vehicle below on the MEV stand at Autosport International in January.

Now, admitedly, this is still a bit 'in ya face' but there will be a lot less tube visible once the racer is clothed. Essentially the roll cage will be the only expanse of gold chassis visible.

The wise Tim Hoverd is a keen advocate of lighter finishes on chassis as it allows easier crack detection, so as well as looking great I’m hoping that it will be relatively practical too. That said the wishbones will be black as anything else on a ‘7ish’ just looks wrong to me.

Steve has been busy again. Yes he did do some work on the car, for example finishing off the radiator mounts as seen below.

Much more importantly though, he’s been busy after his lovely wife Milenah gave birth to their first son, Josef. Many congratulations to all concerned!

In other news, there is some steel tube sat in my garage that is hopefully going to come together to form my roll cage. More detail on this at a later time.

Paradigm Shift…

2010-03-09T17:19:00.002Z

After much debate, Steve and I have decided to call the new car the Mercury Motorsport Paradigm. Dictionary.com defines the word paradigm as: “a set of forms all of which contain a particular element, esp. the set of all inflected forms based on a single stem or theme.” This rather sounds like the ‘sevenesque genre’ of cars to me and hence it stuck. The same source also gives the following as synonyms: “mold, standard; ideal, paragon, touchstone.” Well, we hope so.

I said that I’d give a few more details about the car. There is absolutely no doubt that the car is a risk, or at the very least an experiment. Steve and I (particularly Steve) are pouring everything we know about these cars in to this new build in the hope that we make something which is greater than the sum of its parts. My input comes mainly in the form of knowing what I like, and more importantly knowing what feels comfortable for me on track e.g. pedal arrangement etc. Despite all this, we’re still researching as we go along on some stuff. The majority of the mechanical spec became apparent in my last post. The final departure from convention is that we are going to use (Sierra) drums at the back. We could have easily used Sierra disc brakes but they weigh a shed-load. The alternative would have been aluminium callipers and light weight discs. The cost would have been considerable though and there seems to be some concern over mechanical advantage for the handbrake no matter what brand of calliper one uses. And so, having overcome a totally illogical hatred of drum brakes - largely through great experiences with both Striker and Locost - we decided to give drums a try. We then had to decide whether to use 8”, 9” or 10” drums. Taking some advice from RGB racers, we concluded that 8” drums were a bit marginal on some cars so we went to the next size up. It should be interesting if nothing else.

My original plan for bodywork was to use aluminium alongside a Locost nosecone, scuttle, bonnet and wings. The idea was that it is cheap and easily replaced. Unfortunately, because Steve had made the chassis an inch taller than the standard Locost to help accommodate a tallish bike engine, the nosecone looked ridiculous. Fortunately Steve had a couple of Westfield nosecones that he was prepared to sell to me. These look great, and are very (VERY) light since they are pimpy (PIMPY) carbon fibre. They aren’t perfect but since I’ll need to paint the aluminium side panels, bonnet etc this is no great problem.

Here’s a few more pictures – very little has full welds as yet – the idea has always been to tack it together in case we incurred unexpected interference. That said, apart from the roll cage and some of the smaller parts like harness mounts and earth points, it’s almost ready to weld-up.

Custom-cut brackets:

Radiator and Oil Cooler mounted:

Pedals mounted:

Back-end:

So, there we have it... most of the big decsisons are now made. This includes the choice of colour. Given my penchant for retro race liveries, what do you reckon I've gone for? It won't be Gulf-colours again though. Those colours are cursed!

What do you get if you cross a Ford Cortina, a Ford Sierra, a Landrover Freelander and a Kawasaki ZX-10R?

2010-02-25T15:46:00.002Z

There’s no other way of putting it. I’m back on the road to ruin! I was finding it impossible not to have at least a fledgling project on-the-go and had a few options:

Another Locost racer
A BMW powered kit car to race in the Welsh Saloons and Sports
A RGB car

Well, I guess Fate played its hand; you remember Steve Hignett? Regular readers will remember Steve as being the chap (read Godsend) who helped me so much in progressing both the MNR build and the Locost refresh. Steve had been researching and scheming in preparation for his own lightweight bike-engined car for some time. In fact, he’d made a start on the chassis. Unfortunately for Steve, the prospect of a new baby (that’s obviously not the unfortunate part!!) on the way meant that his vision was unlikely to reach its full potential for a long while. However, he was keen to see his own design of chassis built and in use and hence he offered it to me.

It seemed like the push that I needed. I’d always wanted to race in RGB and this would give me the chance to do so. While common consensus suggests that a traditional 7-styled vehicle is at an (aerodynamic) disadvantage against some of the other cars, I’d never had an interest in full-bodied kit cars and as Steve’s car was a 7ish, everything seemed to make sense. Not wishing to make myself out to be some sort of idealistic zealot, but I also think the series could benefit from a few more shapes familiar to bike engined MK, Mac#1 and Locost owners.

So, on the basis of the picture below, a plan was hatched whereby the chassis and associated parts, including wishbones and rollcage would be completed and then put into storage awaiting my return from travelling.

In order to complete the chassis, Steve would require a list of parts so that the correct mountings could be fabricated. First job was to select an engine. Steve had originally planned to fit a ZX-12R which would have put me in Class A with the fastest machinery out there. I took the view that a Class B ZX-10R would be better for my purposes. This also worked well with the Freelander diff that Steve was planning to employ, giving a maximum speed of about 134mph, which should be about right.

Suspension will be double-unequal-length wishbones at each corner, using Sierra hubs at the rear and Cortina uprights at the front. While this build is not expected to be cheap, it is not a ‘money-no-object’ exercise either; hence the donor-sourced parts. In addition to the shape, we’re also departing from conventional wisdom with the reversing mechanism. Many have tried mechanical systems and have had issues. We are using the relatively new MNR reverse box. The issue for me is that if my storage remains the same or even similar to how it was this year with the Locost, it would be virtually impossible to manoeuvre the car towards the trailer and back into the garage on my own without a robust and reliable reverse. My experience of the starter-motor based electric systems is that they’re just not man-enough. One piece of encouragement is that Redback Racing are utilising the reverse box in Australia with no apparent issues. Fingers crossed!

So there we have it: a new project. I’ll explain a bit more about the spec and issues thus far next time. As I type this, the chassis is probably 4-8 weeks from being powdercoated

Hair-dresser's car...

2010-02-15T10:17:00.001Z

At Snetterton a couple of fellow competitors had a chat with me about the future of my car, with reference to family and friends looking to enter the championship. One such person was John Bunce, who we’d been camped near. John shares a MK chassis’d car with his mate Anthony May. 2009 was their first season as well and they had encountered a few issues with their box-fresh car and had also struggled for grunt (and revs) from the motor. There’s no denying that it looks really good though in bright yellow.

John had another good mate who was looking to join the series after dabbling with Formula cars for a number of years. Hailing from only an hour or so down the M4 they were quite keen to see the car. I still had the issue of the failed gearbox/selector to deal with. I contemplated swapping the gearbox myself as I had a spare. However, the fact that I didn’t know if it was serviceable and the usual pressures of MBA work meant that I decided to outsource the work. I had a think about who could do the work and remembered that there was a RWD Escort aficionado in the form of http://www.bobdowen.co.uk/ just 20 minutes from home. I gave Bob a call and arranged to drop the car and spare gearbox down to him the following Saturday morning. He removed, stripped, inspected and reassembled the gearbox, effectively making one really good unit from two. The cause of my gear change problems was found to be a snapped selector pin. The cost was pretty reasonable and aside from needing to readjust the clutch cable, everything was perfect. Just moving the car around the yard and into the garage the gearshift felt better than ever.

John and his (hair-dressing) mate Kev were still keen to see the car. They were also interested in the trailer which was a bonus and asked me to bring the trailer over to the car (it was stored elsewhere) in anticipation of a sale - Excellent. I cleaned the car and organised the spares into three sections: bits that should go with the car; bits to scrap and; odds-and-sods that I was keen to keep. When the following Saturday came around, having chatted about all things motorsport-related and a good look around the car, a deal was struck, I had a figure in mind, and having sold the car and trailer to Kev and my wheel straps to John I was bang-on target. I’d made nothing but had come out of it ok. Only the costly gearbox rebuild meant that my ownership period resulted in a net outflow of funds, and even then it was marginal.

Ciao

This obviously doesn’t include the cost of actually racing which was never going to be as cheap as fishing, golf or salsa classes.

I was of course sad to see the car go and had toyed with the idea of keeping it. However, I knew that I didn’t have the room to store everything while travelling so it was the only practicable solution. I hope Kev goes well in it. While I’ve met some great people racing, I imagine that competing against ‘proper’ mates-since-school must be brilliant. It should be an exciting season for Kev, John and Anthony.

What about me? Well, the problem is that I’m totally obsessed with all things automobile and now racing so I was already thinking about keeping an eye-out for a few bargains which could be used on a future project. As it was, I was soon accumulating more stuff than originally anticipated…

Norfolking way; not now!

2010-02-09T18:01:00.006Z

Another race day was upon us, the last of the season and the first 750MC event to be filmed for television (Hi Mum!) I really was pretty desperate to pick-up where I had left off (in terms of pace) at Oulton. More importantly, I was determined not to make a daft mistake and spin. I hadn’t in testing, although I’d pushed a bit hard into The Esses on one occasion so knew my limits there.

Scrutineering went without a hitch, although the gentleman looking at my car wanted to ensure that there was brake fluid in my integral master cylinders. Of course there was, but I had put the caps on a bit tight so they were not easy to remove for inspection. Qualification was soon upon us. I was lined up in the holding area about mid-way down the field alongside friendly faces in the form of Mr Boucher and Mrs Stafford. Oddly a few of the cars required bump-starts which raised a few eye-brows. Later checks revealed nothing untoward but it can’t help driver confidence if your car struggles to splutter into life.

I’ve found that I seem to take a long time to get up to speed in any session. This could be down to a number of factors:

Car set-up and the way that I warm my tyres
Depletion of fuel load
Growing confidence, made all the more prominent by my inexperience

I strongly suspect that it has more to do with the latter.

The result was that I was nowhere near as smooth or committed as I was during the last two sessions on the Friday. The lower track temperature may have played a part too but I wasn’t terribly happy when the chequered flag was shown at the end of the session. It was still my best grid position; sixteenth.

As usual, there were a few hours before the race. I made the usual checks to fluids and bolts and tried to chill-out a bit. Kate and I also packed the van so we were more or less ready for the off as soon as we could strap the car to the trailer after the race. It was soon time to get togged-up and strapped in. For once I had a nice clear view of the starting lights. I was very pleased with my start; using just 3000rpm to get off the line. Ideally I should have squeezed the power in a bit sooner than I did but it was a 'good un' none-the-less. I was conscious that I didn’t want to throw it away in the melee that is lap-1 and, as a result had lost a place by the time we crossed the stripe for the first time.

The next few laps were typically hard fought and I found myself as low as 17th and as high as 12th by the start of the sixth lap. I felt like I was ‘getting into the groove’ too. My pass on Campbell was shown on the Motors TV footage and I remember throwing the car into Riches to make it stick. I had a good run to Sear and braked, went for third and was inexplicably unable to move the gear stick from fourth! This unsettled the car horribly and I had a huge tank-slapper which carried me well wide onto the run-off area. Thankfully nobody was really near me. Campbell, Vicky Pickles and others shot up the inside as I yanked at the gear-stick to try to get it out of fourth. Eventually I was succesful and I set off in warm-pursuit. Not having any speed to carry down the Revett made it excruciating. Even the Monkey-mascot on my dash appeared to glaze-over. My subsequent shifts felt only a little awkward - at least until I tried to short-shift to fourth for the Bomb-hole. Again, it was wedged in gear and I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and pulled off the circuit half-way around Coram. I was able to drive onto an escape road and a friendly Marshall then opened the gate allowing me to drive onto the infield and back to the trailer, all in third gear. I launched the car up the waiting ramps as best as I could and headed off to find Kate. I was disappointed but my race was effectively over at Sear so I was pretty philosophical by the time I got out of the car. Kate was relieved to see that I was ok – it’s clear that I do her nerves no favours when stopping out on track!

So, just when I was finding my feet and on the cusp of the top-ten, the car let me down for the first time. Still, I consider myself lucky, particularly given the problems that Sian has had with the more expensive car that I almost bought! As for my general outlook, after the lows and highs of Oulton, the events at Snetterton meant that I felt pretty peeved. I still feel a little glum when I think about it now, some five months on. This probably isn’t helped by the fact that I won’t get a chance to put those feelings ‘to bed’ in 2010 due to the sale of the car and travel plans.

On the plus-side, the weekend had resulted in some strong interest in the car. Presumably though, any prospective buyer would want a car with a functioning gearbox.

After Oulton and Snetterton Test afternoon.

2010-02-02T17:59:00.002Z

We had two weeks between Oulton and the last round of 2009 at Snetterton. Fortunately, there wasn't really anything to do to the car. Things outside of racing had rather changed. As per previous posts, I knew that I would be made redundant at a point in the not-too-distant future. What had changed is that I'd stopped looking for work and Kate and I had instead started planning a 6-9 month career break and some travelling. This meant that I was actually facing a situation where this would be my last outing in my Stuart Taylor Locost #41. This wasn't at the forefront of my thoughts at this stage however. There was a race weekend ahead.

I originally thought I'd be unable to find time to test at Snett on the Friday but as we approached the race weekend it became evident that I would have time. Daily phone calls to MSV finally resulted in a booking for the PM session. Kate and I arrived after a long west-to-east journey to Norfolk to find a paddock bristling with all sorts of machinery. There were clearly some on budgets much bigger than the usual 750MC clubbie crowd.

Amongst the cars testing was a Caparo T1 (the car that set fire to Fifth Gear presenter and BTCC racer Jason Plato) as well as a Mosler MT900. These are some of the fastest cars it's possible to buy and pretty much the exact opposite of my Locost. Pictures can be found on Dan's write up of the day here: DanB back in RGB. Fortunately, the T1 had been moved into the single seater sessions, but for some reason the Mosler had stayed with us in 'closed wheel.' Already there from Locosts were Sian Stafford, Dave Boucher and Campbell Cassidy - all supported by the good folks at TMC. After a quick chat with them, I got myself signed-on, got the car unloaded and got myself kitted-up.

The test day was different to the one at Oulton in that the afternoon would give me just two fifty minute sessions. The difficulty with this is that my fuel tank wouldn't hold anything like enough juice for that period, particularly as so much of the lap is at full throttle. I'd thought ahead and had velcro'd a stop-watch to the dash. The plan was to do 15-18 minutes, come in, refuel and get back out again giving myself four smaller sessions in the afternoon.

Initially, the other Locosts were much faster. They had been testing all day and, in some cases, using data logging and comparison against multiple race winner Matt Cherrington to help them improve. As the time went on though found myself keeping pace, only occasionally unsettled by the Mosler. That thing is ridiculously quick. I was exiting Sear Corner onto the long Revett Straight and checking my mirrors: nothing to report. Then, BOOM the Mosler would explode past on my left and thunder down the straight in front of me; truly something to behold.

At the start of my last mini-session David, Campbell, Sian and I were all bunched-up having a mini-race of our own. It was great fun - Campbell later gave me a bit of a ribbing as he made a lunge for a pass at Coram and I backed-out fearing that he was following Sian and not wanting to turn-in on anyone. As it was Sian had fallen back and I needn't had worried. Campbell was quite happy with that though (the swine!) and it set the tone for the race on the Sunday.

The following lap, as I accelerated out of the Russell Chicane something started making a horrible noise and I thought I'd lost power. I pulled-off into the pits wondering if my season was over. Once parked-up I called Matt at Procomp and explained the lawn-mower-like noise. He suggested that I find Tony from TMC and ask him to check the rockers on the engine. I hadn't really met Tony and felt a bit cheeky asking for help, but he didn't hesitate to assist. On hearing the noise, the rocker cover was removed and all of the clearances checked. Everything seemed to be fine. If it was the bottom-end it was game over! I considered going home. All that made me stay was the fact that we weren't racing for 48 hours so that gave me some time to find a solution. Even so I was less than happy. After finding a good spot to camp and getting the tent sorted out, we spent the evening in the bar with our fellow ‘Locosters’ and had a good chat with some fellow 'Welshies' who raced in SaxMax and Stock Hatch.

The following morning I got up and started the engine. The noise seemed to have gone. I had a look over the car and spotted that the rear exhaust mount was broken. I must have grounded-out when running wide at The Esses where there is a big drop from the race circuit down to what may be the surface of the original airfield. I checked the rest of the exhaust and found that number one primary was no longer welded to the flange; result. Easy enough fix. I went and found Tony again and asked for his help in welding it up. I went and removed the exhaust while he got his welding gear and headed for a pit garage. I then rang Matt and asked him to bring a replacement exhaust mount. Later that day, the car was all back together and clean (Motors TV were filming the weekend for their 'Race & Rally UK' series.)

Job jobbed (this is becoming a bit of a cliché on this blog I think?) I showered and Kate and I then took a drive to Strada in Bury St Edmonds for dinner which was nice. I was fairly tired by the time we got back to the circuit and was looking forward to my sleeping bag. I certainly needed to get some rest ahead of another race day.

Oulton Park

2010-01-21T17:25:00.003Z

Not to put too fine a point on it, the weekend of 4th-5th August at Oulton Park was epic. It felt like a coming of age. While Silverstone was a hugely important day for me, the combination of the ‘newness’ of it all and what is a pretty featureless (National) circuit meant that things hadn’t really sunk in. After Oulton I felt like a racer and was totally addicted.

Things didn’t start well. By the time I’d completed my first lap on the Friday test day I’d been off the circuit, the back window of the van was broken and my mate’s posh gazebo which I’d borrowed had collapsed in the wind. Ah yes, the weather – blowing a gale and streaming with rain. I was just about to write it off as a bad job and go home. A big hug from Kate and a stern talking-to from myself had me mostly sorted out. As the day went on the weather improved and I seemed to be finding my way around a bit better. Even so, all the Locosts there seemed to be much quicker then me. Not a surprise but I’m not good at dealing with ‘personal failure.’

Apart from being an amazing (and long, at nearly 2.8miles) circuit set in rolling parkland, the other good thing about Oulton is that it’s close to Steve’s house. I’m very grateful to Steve and Milenah for their invitation to stay as that meant good company, a Chinese take-away, a DVD and a warm house rather than a wet tent.

Race day loomed and a ‘double-header.’ Qualifying would take the normal 15-20 minute format but with the best two laps being counted for the two races. I was still struggling; spinning a couple of times and making a hash of Lodge in particular. I never really got a good lap. Frustratingly, I nearly did – I followed Dave Black for nearly a whole lap with him on a flyer, only to throw it away at Lodge again. If I hadn’t have spun on the last proper turn, I think I’d have been far enough up the grid to give myself a nose bleed. As it was, I was 23rd for Race 1 and 21st for Race 2.

Race 1 saw a couple of big incidents. In the end a total of 10 of the field didn’t finish. I had worked my way into 19th at the end of the third lap before throwing it away at, you’ve guessed it, Lodge. Annoyingly, on this occasion I was forced wide by what was some erratic driving in front. Some useful advice, having viewed the footage from Campbell Cassidy’s car, came from experienced hand and front-runner Matt Cherrington. I should have allowed a bit more room and concentrated on putting myself in a position to pass the two cars in front on the start-finish drag rather than get involved at the point of turn-in. Lesson hopefully learned! I didn’t hit anything but flooded the carburettor and stalled. The car just would not restart so I watched the remainder of the race with the Marshalls, who were great. After a push start I was able to make my own way back to the paddock. At least everything was in one piece. I did have a small oil leak beneath the rocker cover but that wasn’t anything to worry about and just really needed a wipe down.

I effectively started in 18th for Race 2 as three of the guys in front didn’t make the start following incidents and problems in Race 1. I’d passed Max Lees by the end of Lap 2 and was going pretty well. This was pleasing as both Kate’s Mum and Dad and my best mate, Karl and his girlfriend came to watch. I was excited; maybe too excited. I was on my own as I entered the Knickerbrook chicane. I made a total hash of it and spun, stopping in the middle of the track. Now the car had at times felt unforgiving and I put some of my spins to-date down to that. Not this one; just a total lapse in concentration – idiot! I’d stalled as well so it didn’t take long for Max and the others to be on top of me. I’m massively thankful that all of those behind me showed great skill in scattering either side of my car (onto the grass) and didn’t hit me or anyone else. Sorry!!

This was Silverstone all-over-again. Dead-sodding-last! To say that I wasn’t happy would be something of an understatement. I had the bit between my teeth. I made one pass on lap 4, two on lap 5, one on lap 6 and a further two on the last lap; finishing in 18th. My best lap was a 2:08:43 which made me the 10th fastest car out there. It’s a shame I couldn’t be consistent! What is more, that best lap is over a second faster than Tony’s fastest lap when he drove the car at Oulton in 2007 – and he finished 8th! Clearly, everyone has moved on and got faster in the last two years and the conditions may well have differed but that gives me hope. The fact is, I seem to have some raw pace but I’m absolutely full of ‘rookie mistakes.’

Still, onwards…

I've been trying to take some screen-shots from Real Player but that's been a disaster so instead I urge you to check-out Steve’s great photos at www.p4nts.co.uk/tlr

Post-Silverstone but pre-Oulton

2010-01-07T17:04:00.001Z

I really need to get the blog up-to-date as there is quite a lot of activity on a new project. Unfortunately, there's also a dissertation to write so perhaps the updates will be a little more lightweight...

Having dipped my toe in the water at Silverstone, I decided that it made sense to get the suspension set-up to suit my bodyweight and establish what we were playing with. I also hoped that we might be able to dial-out a little snap-oversteer.

So, the car and I headed-off one Sunday morning to see Matt and Ivan at Procomp. Once the car was rolled into the workshop, they removed the dampers and got them on the dyno to see how suited they were and how balanced the pairs were. The results were not fantastic with the rear valving in particular looking more suited to a saloon car. In addition, the rebound valve on one of the fronts appeared to be stuck. I had never intended to replace these and so the decision was made to make the best of a bad job. At least the springs seemed about right. Next the ride height and geometry was measured and set. Interestingly, the rear wheels were shown to be running a lot of negative camber. Now, conventional thinking would suggest that the camber can't be altered on a live axle. In reality it can. I believe that the most common way of doing this is to weld the axle so that it gently kinks. In the case of my axle, no welding was evident and Ivan's best guess was that it had been put in a very large press. Money had clearly been spent on the axle so this seemed to add-up.

Once the suspension set-up was done, Matt extended my throttle pedal and repositioned it slightly to aid my heel-and-toe issues. Ivan then spotted the throttle mechanism and insisted that "No car is leaving my workshop like that!" He seemed to regret this exclamation as the fix took quite a while.

I eventually left Procomp's Birmingham base about nine hours after arriving. I can't fault their service - even the sandwiches tasted pretty good!

Next up... the fabulous Oulton Park circuit.

Silverstone

2009-12-19T15:50:00.005Z

We arrived at the circuit at midnight and found ourselves a quiet spot two-thirds of the way up the old runway. By the time we’d pitched the tent and got ourselves sorted it was about 01:00 before I got off to sleep. It’s perhaps not such a surprise that, contrary to expectations, I wasn’t quite raring to go the following morning. Rising 25 minutes later than planned, I found that the car didn’t like starting when cold and damp. After some frantic manoeuvring of the van I managed to get it jump-started and warmed up, taking a few gentle runs around our corner of the runway to get some charge into the battery. The next job was to find Matt Gilmour who had kindly offered to bring me an aeroscreen and mounting bracket. The regulations state that you must have a screen of no less than 75mm tall and 250mm wide. I just hadn’t had the time to get this done. Unfortunately Matt was still on-route and I was starting to worry that I might fail scrutineering. Fortunately Ivan, Matt’s father, was on site and had the screen. He helped me fit it, turning the bolts from above while I lay uncomfortably below the scuttle with my feet up in the air. “Thank goodness that is done.” I dashed back to the tent to get my racewear, then to the signing-on office, returning to the car just in time for scrutineering.

I was one of the first in-line. Unfortunately, the car failed on the first test – no brake lights. These had previously been working. I returned to the pit garage and was greeted by Matt. He told me to calm down and went to get a multi-meter. We soon found that the brake light switch was not getting 12v and decided that the best course of action was to run a jump-wire from a free terminal on the coil. With brake lights working I re-presented the car which sailed-through the other checks. It was a shame that I’d left the signing-on slip in the garage so the scrutineer couldn’t issue me with a card showing that I’d passed. I drove the car back to the garage and then jogged back to the scrutineering bay where I was finally issued with the critical piece of paper. To say that I’d had a fraught start to the day was a bit of an understatement!

There was now really only time to get togged-up and strapped-in ready for qualifying. Until now the furthest that I’d driven the car was from the camp-site to the pit garages; Gulp! Matt was again very helpful and told me to follow one of the regular racers to the staging area to wait for our twenty minute session. He then met me there and just told me to relax and enjoy it. To be honest, this was the most relaxed I’d felt all morning. I set myself the goal of not qualifying dead-last. After the first lap I was sure I was going to fail to meet my goal. It seemed as though everyone was streaming past me. The car seemed very neutral but then gave no warning before the back-end would lose traction. It certainly felt a whole lot less forgiving than my Striker. As a result I spun three times. As the laps went on and I started to get used to car and circuit, I felt like I was getting a bit quicker. The one thing which was making it difficult was that the throttle pedal was a huge distance from the brake. I’ve since had some debate about whether or not heel-and-toe is necessary or desirable in Locost racing but when you’re used to applying the technique, not being able to do so made my driving feel very clumsy. Worse still, the pedals were so far apart that on more than one occasion my boot just fell between the pedals and I found myself pushing on bulkhead!

It wasn’t long before the chequered flag came out and we were marshalled back into the pits. I felt relieved but was sure that I’d be at the back of the grid. Oh well, I’d never driven the thing before. About twenty minutes later a few time-sheets appeared. To my surprise I’d managed to qualify 26th out of 35. Goal #1 accomplished.

I figured that there was little point in faffing with the car and just checked the fluids and topped-up the fuel. I found that I had a very small oil leak from the rocker and just wiped-up a small amount off the back of the engine and top of the gearbox. I explained the handling characteristics to Matt who suggested that I soften-off the rear dampers, which I did. We had virtually the whole day to wait for the race, with only a lunch-time parade to mark the 10 year anniversary of the series to worry about. I was keen to do this as every lap of the circuit I could do was bound to be of benefit. The rest of the time was spent with Kate, my Mum and Kate’s Mum and Dad who’d all come to support. The weather was glorious so it was good to sit in the sun and watch the rest of the racing.

The parade laps were useful and Kate commented that I looked faster than I did in qualifying! This probably wasn’t far from the truth. Mid afternoon came and went and it was soon time to get my gear back on and get myself strapped-in for my first ever race. This really was something that I’d wanted to do since I was 16 so I was delighted that I’d made it. All the months and years of studying and grafting and striving to get up the career ladder suddenly felt worthwhile as I’d put myself in a position where I could afford to take my first tentative step in motorsport proper.

We waited for what seemed like an age in the staging area. Whatever race was ahead of us had a red flag and a lengthy stoppage. Finally we were sent out to the grid. I’d spoken to Matt briefly about the start and our plan of action had been to drop the clutch at 4000rpm. It was perhaps a symptom of my less than perfect rear traction but I didn’t get a great start and was passed by one or two but I then managed to get myself on the inside of Copse and took a place or two back and had a decent run up to turn two. I was actually racing! This excitement was soon cut to shreds of despair as I braked hard and went to take a good blip of the throttle as I changed down. I completely missed the throttle pedal; the drivetrain shunted awkwardly, locking the rear wheels and caused me to spin backwards off the circuit. Not good; dead last!

I was still 5.5 seconds behind the next-worst placed driver when I crossed the line at the end of lap one. I spent the remainder of the race gradually reeling in some of those in front of me, passing three ‘on the road.’ With several retirements I actually finished where I’d started in 26th. On balance I was delighted with this: I wasn’t last despite doing my best to throw it away early on. I’d done it though – I’d fulfilled my dream - the last milestone that I wanted to reach before I hit the ripe-old age of 30. There’s not a lot that feels better than that.

Race Prep

2009-12-15T23:08:00.005Z

By the time the car was home it was the middle of July. I had booked my ARDS Test at Castle Combe and I seemed to be on track (as it were) to make my debut at the 10th Anniversary of the Locost series at Silverstone on the 22nd of August. So what was there to do? Working from front to back:

The front arches were from two sets and, as the rest of the bodywork was changing from green to black, the green one had to go.
The scuttle area under the bonnet was just a bit of a mess and difficult to work on. The header tank was from an unknown production car and was precariously balanced/mounted in such a way that it obscured the fuse box and throttle-pedal pivot. The battery was also mounted upright in the general area and could have done with being moved away from the tank overflow.
The GRP scuttle itself had so many holes in it (from old mirrors and pull-cables) that it looked perfect for draining boiled veg.
The extinguisher was out of compliance and needed to be serviced and refilled.
The seat was a GRP item which sat far too far back for me and was mounted using timber! It also wasn’t very comfortable.
The passenger compartment contained lead ballast and some aluminium framework to support a passenger seat. Being a stone-plus heavier than Tony this wasn’t needed.
The rear arches were in a terrible state; broken and full of filler.
The back panel was aluminium and caved-in. It also looked like it had been welded back together.

So, it was a quite a long list but in essence should have been straightforward.

I started by removing everything that I didn’t need or was replacing. Ballast, bodywork, seats, battery etc were all soon removed. I should have guessed that things were not going to go terribly smoothly when the terminal snapped off the expensive ‘Red Top 20’ battery as I tried to disconnect the cable. Thankfully a mate was able to sell me a spare and with the help of a posh aluminium tray bought from eBay, the new battery was moved to its new location.

Next-up was to dry fit the bodywork. This is where the real problems started. The GRP back panel that came with the car had ‘radiused’ corners. The corners at the bottom-back of the chassis were square. Result: new part wouldn’t fit. Next, it became apparent that the new scuttle (from White Racing) was taller than the Stuart Taylor original. This meant that it would not fit below the roll-cage. Finally, the nose-cone was a completely different shape so would not fit the original mounting points. This was not good.

First thing to do was to have the back of the chassis cut away and a nice smooth curve welded in. Step forward Derek. Derek is my best mate’s Dad and I tend to think of him as a grumpy legend. He’s a ‘mobile mechanic’ and works on everything from large agricultural machinery to vintage cars. Where he generally excels is in problem solving. For example, if you snap a bolt off and need to remove it he’s your man. If your bike-engined MK Indy won’t charge and two auto-electricians can’t find the fault, Derek will. Or at least that’s my experience. On the down-side he’s grumpy. Rather like my mate.

Anyway, I trailered (my Striker came with a good home-built single axle transporter which I kept) the car to Derek and with the help of a template which I made, he did the job in a day. Having got the car home I used Hammerite to paint the fresh metal and the area around any holes where rivets had held on the old aluminium back panel. I also sprayed down the holes with Waxoil to help protect the tubes. I then used black polyurethane sealant from Car Builder Solutions to fill the rivet holes and then bond the back panel in place. I taped the body in place for 24 hours while the sealer went off. Job jobbed!

I’d been driving myself crazy trying to decide what to do with the scuttle. I considered replacing it, cutting it, even smashing it up. It did have some advantages however. Firstly, it was ‘free’. Secondly it had both an integral dashboard and bulkhead. I really do like to use as few separate components as possible so I liked the idea of using it. I cut, away the old bulkhead leaving a couple of inches for the scuttle to butt-up against. After much effort, I decided that if I could lubricate the part I might just be able to force it beneath the roll-cage for a touching fit. Nervously I pushed (shoulder-charged) it into place. It fitted – just. I marked some bolt holes, removed the scuttle, drilled the holes in the chassis and cut the holes for the dials and switch-gear. Finally it was fixed in place having slammed my body into it for the final time. At least it seemed to be well made and robust!

All of this and my ARDS test had taken three weekends. I only had one left and the job list wasn’t really getting shorter. The knock-on of the taller scuttle was that the bonnet no longer fitted. I had planned to change this at some point as it was a bit untidy but not now! I really didn’t think I had the skills to get this done quickly. I also needed a new cover for the boot area. I turned to the Yellow Pages and lucked-out. I found a superb father and son team of sheet metal fabricators in Andy and Ross Metcalfe of ADM Services in Brynmawr. They were interested enough that they came to look at the car on the way home. We agreed that they would have the car the following Friday/early Saturday to do the work.

I still had a lot to do – the arches needed putting-on, I needed a headrest and had to make a foam seat to sit on. I still had to re-install all of the dash components inclusive of running and reconnecting the wiring. The new header tank (from Chris Eva – as always) needed fitting, filling and the system bleeding. Oh, and the car needed an oil change and a full nut-and-bolt check. I was actually considering calling 750MC HQ and withdrawing as I didn’t think I’d make it. I needed help, but fortunately knew just the person to ask.

Steve Hignett and I hadn’t spoken much since the MNR build. In hindsight, I think we both had such an unhappy experience with that car and its foibles that we just didn’t need reminding of it. There was no bad feeling between us; we’d just been doing other stuff. I more-or-less begged Steve to travel down on the weekend and give me a hand. After consulting the lovely Mrs H he agreed. Suddenly I felt like I had half a chance of making race-day. Since I hadn’t driven the car at all and hadn’t been or the circuit in 10 years, I had also booked the Friday test day so the pressure was really on.

Steve travelled down on Friday night. I’d just spoken to Andy at ADM who’d told me that they had a bit to finish on the car in the morning. He said that we were welcome to start work on the car at his premises while he finished off the jobs. In the end, he and Ross were kind enough to let us stay all day and make use of his facilities (and materials.) Total stars! The bonnet was complete and looked smart but the boot cover was something else: perfectly formed return lips and a sliding door with ‘pinch’ stops for refuelling would later result in several positive comments by fellow competitors.

Steve was quickly into his stride. Finding that the guys at ADM had a tube bender, he hatched a plan for the headrest, tacking it in place and allowing the talented Ross to finish the upside-down welding. Another job done. Next he had the rear arches mounted. Meanwhile I fitted and wires new rear lights to replace the crappy looking originals. Steve then fitted the front arch before we embarked on the foam seat. I’d attempted to make a seat for the Striker with minimal success but the experience was useful. I’d purchased the two-part foam a few weeks before along with a survival sack, essentially a big, sturdy plastic bag ideal for filling with foam and sitting on. The seat making went very well with the exception that I hadn’t taken steps to prevent the foam from expanding into the space between the chassis tubes on the edge of the cockpit. The result was that I could only get it out in two parts. I was able to later repair it but it wasn’t as tidy as I’d hoped.

The following morning Steve and I checked nuts, bolts and fluids before agreeing that he had done all he could and that he really should get back to Milenah. We’d made huge strides and all that remained was to cover the seat, finish the wiring, re-route the extinguisher cables, change the oil and apply some stickers. I was set for a reasonably busy start to the week so I booked the Thursday off ahead of Friday’s test – in theory this would give me enough time to finish the jobs before Kate and I made the journey to Silverstone that evening.

I really should know by now that these things never go to plan. Problems with the wiring and in particular rusty extinguisher cables meant that the car wasn’t completed on Thursday. Fortunately, Austen, one of the RGB guys that I’ve got to know was testing and he managed to sell my test sessions to one of his colleagues. Kate was an absolute star on the Friday – I’d have never have got the car back together without her help. I’m so lucky – beautiful and handy with a spanner! Finally we got the trailer and van loaded and set off for the circuit, arriving at midnight. Was I worried that I was racing for the first time in a car I’d never driven? Errr……..

What happened next (Part 2.)

2009-12-14T12:59:00.002Z

So, while travelling back from Anglesey through mountainous mid-Wales Kate and I got chatting about my racing ambitions. This culminated in a statement along the lines of, “If it’s the last thing on your ‘things to do before I’m 30 list,’ you have to do it!” It was and the encouragement was enough to give me the final push I needed.

On returning home I put the Striker up for sale. It was a short but pleasurable period of ownership. The low-point was when the accessory belt snapped one evening and I had to send Kate into M&S to buy tights to get the thing back to shelter; at least I have a tale to tell. Anyway, I priced the car at a level where I knew it would sell. I couldn’t afford to wait very long. Two guys from the Southampton area bought it (they’ve since sold it again) and, aside from them costing me a whole day’s work waiting for them to collect, the transaction went smoothly.

But what now? What was I going to race in? In my mind there were three options. I was certain that I wanted to race a kit car but I could do this in the 750MC Locost Championship, the 750MC RGB Championship or the WRDA Welsh Saloons and Sports Cars. The deciding factor in the end was cost, or ‘financial exposure.’ Given my work situation, I wanted to have as little funds tied-up in a car as possible. So, I looked around. There wasn’t a proven RGB car or WSSC-suited racer available for less than £7500 but there were three Locosts advertised between £4000 and £5200. My decision was made. One of the cars was less than an hour from home so I went to see Steve Kirby one evening. I’ve seen plenty of club-level racers and this one was in fantastic cosmetic order. I sat in the car and started it. I was pretty sold on it but decided that I should see another car. I spoke to someone I respected, Matt at http://www.procomp.co.uk/ and he informed me that a good friend of his, Dave Black was nearing completion of a rebuild of his old car to then sell. I spoke to Dave and the price was okay but, rightly or wrongly, the fact that it wasn’t ready and didn’t include a transponder was enough for me to look elsewhere. So, the following Saturday I travelled to Silverstone to see the cheapest of the three cars. Tony Jones had completed four races in 2007 and the car had sat idle since. It was the polar opposite of the first car in terms of appearance but it came with a huge amount of spares, including replacement bodywork.

The car had some good points though. The chassis appeared to be from Stuart Taylor which was good. The (primary) wheels were the excellent Compomotive CXRs and the harness was a very nice (read expensive) Schroth one. I chatted to Tony and while it was clear that he could drive a bit, the car had never been outside the top-ten in his ownership. I made a ridiculously low offer and, to my amazement, Tony accepted. This was great in that I had a car but, as much of the bodywork appeared to be held together with filler I knew that I had work to do.

What happened next (Part 1.)

2009-11-16T16:18:00.003Z

So, I’ve been thinking that it’s a bit of a shame that I never chronicled the next stages of my kit car experience. Well, having sold the MNR, several months passed and things looked ‘ok-ish’ at work. It looked like I’d be employed for a while yet. So, I started to look for a new toy to keep me occupied over the summer. Kate and I decided to go and look at an ex-RGB racer in Sussex. As it’s almost an age-away, we booked a cosy pub-slash-B&B so we didn’t need to spend the whole day on the road. About 90minutes into the journey we got a call to say that the car was sold. Dammit! It was then I realised that the Deitling Kit Car show was on the next day fairly close to our intended destination so we decided to press-on and go and see if anything caught my eye there. In summary nothing did. I did however buy one of the kit car rags and had a quick flick through the classifieds. Unbelievably there was a Sylva Striker for sale at an extremely good price… four (yes FOUR) miles from home! Just to emphasise the significance, we don’t live in a great metropolis where hundreds of thousands of people inhabit every square mile. The image below shows the local terrain. It’s green, because it’s essentially a mountain

I rang the guy and arranged to go and see it as soon as possible. Of course, after all that travelling, the car on my door-step was great. A 1600cc x-flow powered Mark II Striker; kit built in 1990 and finally SVA’d and registered by its second owner 17 years later! It makes you wonder how many kits are just sat waiting to be built in peoples’ sheds. Anyway, it was cheap and fun. I proved this by picking it up the following Saturday and driving it straight to Llandow Circuit for an afternoon on-track. It ran faultlessly. I didn’t touch the suspension settings, the oil pressure stayed good and it kept-up with a friend’s much more expensive (and heavy!) Zetec powered Striker. Happy Days.

Perhaps the car’s biggest adventure under my short spell of ownership was the trip that the brunette and I made to the National Kit Car show at Stoneleigh. We managed to get a tent, sleeping bags (lashed to the roll bar) and all sorts of other stuff in the little boot. The weather wasn’t great on the way to the show and it was even worse coming home – I was bloody frozen!

On the subject of poor weather, we also spent a weekend on Anglesey watching the 750MC racing; at least that’s what I think it was. It was so wet it could have been powerboat racing! I hadn’t visited Anglesey Circuit before and was keen to. Despite the weather and one or two bizarre locals (yes, I’m talking to you Restaurant Manager-lady!) we met along the way we had a good time. Problem was, I felt that racing itch again. Big Time.

THE END

2009-02-22T14:40:00.002Z

Well, this is it. The end of my sorry tale. The MNR went to its new home yesterday. The car is actually going back to MNR themselves to be finished and road registered. So, it looks like it will get used more often than I had ever planned - which is good.

What have I learnt?

These things take time. Think very carefully about whether or not you will have the time to complete such a project. I'd have been okay, I think - but once I was offered sponsorship for my MBA things inevitably became impossible.
These things take patience. At times I surprised myself with how calm I was. At times I scared myself with how angry/upset I could get.
It helps to have skilled and willing friends around you. In particular, I'd like to thank Lyn, the other Lyn and Steve. I couldn't have got as far as I did without you. I'd also like to thank Julia. While we have separated since, I could not have asked for a more patient partner as I wandered off into the garage and returned a number of hours later; sometimes happy, occasionally fuming!

I have no idea how many have read my ramblings over the past couple of years, but if you have, thank you. I hope that some of you have looked at my efforts and thought, "I can do better than that" and have been right and succeeded.

I'm conscious that this final post seems quite morose. In reality when I looked over the car for the last time yesterday, the overwhelming emotion that I felt was pride. I've looked at a lot of kit-cars over the past few years and some of what I'd achieved was way above average. Dan (the new owner) appeared to hold the same view, so I drove away happy, not just that I'd taken a step towards financial security given my impending joblessness, but also because I'd done a decent job.

There's no real news on the employment front, but when things pick-up I do hope I'll return to kit-car ownership. That said, I don't think that I'd build another myself. Perhaps a rebuild would be better...

Best wishes,

A very sad time...

2009-02-10T08:09:00.002Z

Having decided that I was going to keep the car and having made arrangements for it to be finished, the game changed completely.

My employer has gone into administration and less than 20% of the staff remain. Details can be found here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/7872725.stm

The future looks bleak for those of us that remain. I fully expect to be unemployed very soon. So, 'Gulfie' is up For Sale at the bargain price of £6500.00.

The advert can be found on Pistonheads: http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/891532.htm

Also for sale is my 1998 BMW Alpina B10 3.2.

:(

I've not seen the poor car in 3 months...

2009-01-05T18:46:00.001Z

... and am giving serious thought to its future under my ownership.

I used to have a life, then work ate it.

TC

Cut 'n' Shut (Pipe)

2008-10-08T20:09:00.004Z

I read some similar blogs and I’m left in awe of what one guy in a shed often achieves. In many cases I have neither the skill nor the time to replicate these achievements, so it's unlikely that anyone will find much useful advice, for example, on how best to fabricate something here. What I have proved reasonably good at however is finding people who can do this stuff for me. I’ll prepare a list of useful links/contacts sometime soon. One good example is Chris Eva of Evalution Designs (http://www.evalution-designs.co.uk/index.htm ) He’s made quite a few things for the car now (a catch tank is next) and is bloody brilliant at what he does.

You may remember me mentioning that the steering column clashed with the lower radiator pipe. I sent Chris the pipe and got him to yield his saw and welder. The result is below. Nicely notched with plenty of room for fluid to still flow. Job done, I’m sure.

I’d like to say a special thanks to Phil M from the Locostbuilders site for sending me the steering rack boots that I’d been searching high and low for – it’s very much appreciated.

Other parts supply issues: On the downside, I’m still trying to find someone to sew a zip in my boot cover; on the plus-side I think I should have my suspension spacers this week.

Right, must get back to the studying (yup, Year 2 of my MBA is underway!)

TC

Surely not another update so soon?

2008-09-29T21:04:00.004Z

So, I spent a few more hours working on the car today. The steering wheel buttons are all wired-in so it changes gear, which is nice. Neutral is a bit of a bitch to find, but the theory is that it might be a bit easier when the car is running. It’s a good job she’s wired to start in any gear just in case.

I’ve taken a couple more pictures of the surroundings.

It’s saying something when a car looks low and mean in this company, but I think ‘Gulfie’ looks the part!

The slightly blurry picture below is supposed to show the new brackets supporting the radiator and the front of the body tub.Anyway, two updates in two days; is that some sort of record?

In good company...

2008-09-28T09:47:00.003Z

The MNR has now moved to its new home. As you can see, it’s in good company. The car in front is a 2000 Nissan Primera Supertourer and the car to the left is Paul Radisich’s 1995 Valvoline Mondeo touring car. You might also be able to see the back end of the racing Caterham on the ramps in front.
I thought I had the cooling system finished when an eagle-eyed individual pointed out that the bolt on the steering column interfered with one of the hard pipes. I’m going to send the offending pipe off to be modified to solve this.

This will leave the suspension set-up as the last major job remaining. I’ve been advised to get some top-hat spacers made rather than use numerous washers so that’s the plan. There are still a few nagging problems. I can’t find any steering rack boots that fit my steel rack and I can’t find anyone to sew a zip in my boot cover. I’m getting tired of waiting to drive the car now and really want to get out in the thing in October.

I’ve been toying with the idea of going racing, either in the MNR or another car. However, I’m conscious that it may bankrupt me so I’m going to wait until 2010. So, it’s trackdays and some sprints for the MNR and me as originally planned.

I’ll take some decent photos (with a real camera rather than a phone) this week to show-off the radiator brackets and other small changes.

The picture I promised...

2008-08-30T08:51:00.002Z

I'm afraid that there's no real progress to report and nothing likely for a little while. :(

TC

Exhaust? Tick. Rev-counter? Check. Oil leak? Dammit!

2008-08-04T21:14:00.003Z

Good news: I have a fully fitted exhaust at long last! The exhaust has cost a fortune between ceramic coating, modifications and the original outlay. I’m just pleased to get it fitted. Once this was on, I was keen to put the car back together and briefly start the thing to get a feel for how noisy it is. The fuel tank was reconnected and filled from the jerry can. The scuttle was put in place and the Master Switch, Ignition/Starter, VR2 dash and SPA gauge all reconnected. Master on, ignition up. Fuel pump clicks until it’s happy and I then lift the ignition switch to its second position. The starter turns but it refuses to catch. This continued for a while until I sprayed carb cleaner down the inlets when it starts. I then realise that the fuel I’ve used is ancient. Oops.

When the car did catch I checked the rev counter. This was the only electrical part still unproven. What a result! It works a treat! I can now honestly say that my home-made wiring loom works in its entirety. Splendid. Just as I’m about to go and buy fresh fuel I notice the oil on the floor. I trace it to the join between the oil pressure sender and its feeder pipe. I must admit I cursed a little and then felt relieved that it was something simple. With the help of my brother, this all got tightened up and it leaks no more.

It was now too late to be starting the beast so I plugged in the Optimate charger and locked up, put the jerry can in the commuter and came inside to drink Becks. Still no sign of the camera charger but I will sort out some photos on the weekend.

Cheers

TC

36 days until RAF Valley...

2008-07-26T21:18:00.001Z

Decent progress. Unfortunately, I can’t find the battery charger for the camera to prove it. ‘Lenny the Lathe’ has been a huge help again; this time fabricating new brackets to mount the radiator and to support the front of the tub – if you remember, the old steel ones clashed with the suspension rockers. No such problem anymore and everything is aluminium so I must have saved at least 100 grams (Woop!)

Among my biggest worries was the cooling system because I couldn’t route the bottom hose with the radiator mounted as it was. The new brackets make this possible and I’ve forked out more cash for more silicon hoses to get the job done. Next on the worry list was/is the exhaust. I’ve got to be honest; the MNR exhaust is one of the least impressive parts of the kit. The tailpipe is nominally clamped to the silencer with the same U-clamp which supports the exhaust at the outlet end. It always struck me that this is a bit agricultural looking and has the potential to let the rest of the car down. I’ve already had the tip welded to the silencer and, having messed about with bike-style straps for longer than I care to think about, I’ve made arrangements to have a bracket welded-on by Charlie at http://www.pro-speedexhausts.co.uk/ . He’s got a great reputation with the guys on the Pistonheads South Wales forum and has been very helpful.

I’ve bought plenty of odds-and-sods to do various small jobs on the car. The contents of a small envelope from Demon Tweeks came to £50 - A bit upsetting but needs must. I’m just glad I stopped counting costs long ago! I need to tidy-up some of the holes in the GRP where they haven’t quite been big enough and moving parts have chipped the edge. Removing the scuttle has allowed me to ‘kill two birds with one stone’ and extend the hole for the steering column at the same time as cleaning up the aluminium. The perfectionist in me has also reared its head and I’ve replaced a switch cover that was tarnished with a new one before the car has even turned a wheel. Don’t even get me started on the way that one of those unturned wheels is already losing its lacquer…

Rear arches back on...

2008-07-03T10:32:00.004Z

Just a couple of pics.

Looking good:

And even:

P.s. Earache still bad but better.

Post holiday progress; or not…

2008-07-01T16:15:00.005Z

I was planning on having a really good run at the car this week after a week away. Unfortunately I seem to have ‘swimmers ear’ or similar which is absolute bloody agony. Hence, I’ve only pottered about really as I’ve messed-up the only thing requiring any level of concentration. This was a 2nd attempt at an inspection cover (in a better aluminium which matched the scuttle) so I’ll now have to make a third.

I have done one of the jobs that I was dreading though. The rear arch protectors are a flexible carbon polymer. They aren’t self adhesive and I’d been wondering how to attach them. The supplier, Carbonmods, suggested double-sided tape and a mate suggested Velcro. Neither of these were a satisfactory solution for me. Instead I went onto eBay and bought some strong spray glue. After washing and drying both the arches and the protectors, I marked how I wanted to position them and covered the entire back of the protector. I then lined them up and stuck them on. I’m as relieved with the result as I am pleased. Once I’m happy that the glue has gone off I just need to remove any excess with nail polish remover.

Excuse the mess in the background - the skip is due Thursday!

This job was made easier by the fact that I’d already removed the arches to trim back the tub where it was fouling the springs. I didn’t want to take too much material off as the tub is a bit ‘wavy’ but I think I’ve cleared it enough now.

A final piece of exciting news is that the boot cover has arrived. I need to spend some time fixing this in place once my brain isn’t warped by pain killers. In the meantime, here’s a picture of it lying in situ. I’m very pleased with it – the orange piping is just enough to pick-up the Gulf theme.
I’ve booked my first trackday in the car – the 31st of August at RAF Valley on Anglesey. That gives me two months to complete everything. It should be a ‘doddle’ but I still need to sort out some problems like the radiator mounting so it will naturally be too close for comfort – that’s just the way the build has gone.

Anyway, I’m off to wince some more from the ear-related pain!

TC

The Garage is tidy…

2008-06-16T21:45:00.008Z

... and ready for action.

The exams are over, and finally I can try to make some progress. The boot cover template is as good as I can get it and ready to ship.
The carbon back panel is riveted on.

I need some material to make some brackets and replace some mild steel bar in the pedal box. I was about to buy some from an eBay seller and amended a measurement by 5mm on 2mm thick Ali plate. The guy wanted an additional £5.50 so I told him where to stick it. So, I need to try to get to my local metals place sometime in office hours.

I put the nose back on today as I’d forgotten what the car looked like ‘complete.’ I thought while it was all together, I’d have a look at the carbon canards to see where they’d go and also put the stripe in place to see what it will all look like. Sellotape is a wonderful thing.

Now, my latest concern: If you look at the above photograph, the lower wishbone is almost parallel to the floor and the steering arms can only be described as diagonal. This spells one thing, bump-steer. The problem is, there is absolutely no way that the steering rack can move. Hmmm… will require some thought; likely by someone with more expertise than me.

A couple of pretty random photos to finish for the evening: Good night.

TC

Too close for comfort...

2008-06-08T22:13:00.006Z

I’m deep into revision for my last exam of the year at the end of the week but I have managed a few hours in the garage… all of which have been a bit concerning.

I’ve put the front suspension back together and have found two problems:

I’ve had Lenny turn my bolts too short – totally my fault; not the end of the world but annoying.
More worryingly, once it was all back together I found that the rocker actually clashed with the bracket that Steve had riveted to the chassis to support the body. I’ve always wondered if they should be on the outside if the chassis and this would appear to be the case. There was nothing about this ‘development’ in the manual so it’s not a great shock. The only way that I could attach the brackets on the outside of the chassis is if I removed the main tub – this is not going to happen so I’ll need to fabricate some different brackets. It’s incredible how tight things are around the front shocks. I’ve already mentioned that the lower mount are too close together; I now find that I have about 3-4mm only of clearance between rocker and chassis. I’ve leapt up and down on the front suspension and nothing touches with the aforementioned brackets removed but it’s a bit closer than I’d ideally like.

I’ve also had a quick look at the rear suspension and found that the springs touch the body in their current position. This means that I’ve got to space the wishbones and or dampers differently. Again, not the end of the world but an annoyance none the less, and another job for the list.
I have managed to complete something off the list. I bought some skateboard grip tape from an eBay seller and have since removed the pedals and applied it. You can also see in the photo my original and replacement accelerator pedals. I positioned the pivot too far to the right so wasn’t able to heel and toe. I contacted Grant at Optimum Balance Products who I guessed made the pedal box and commissioned a one-off replacement. Not surprisingly, he questioned what I needed a couple of times as it does look suitable for a club-foot. Still, it does the job nicely. Lenny’s done a great job on my new load spreading seat spacers. New (top) and old can be seen here:
I’ve also almost got the template for the boot cover spot-on. One more and I’ll have it done.
I have had a bit of encouraging news this week. Local MNR owners Ed and Jon (thoroughly nice blokes as it happens) took their car to Muzz Race to get the suspension set-up after I suggested that I would be taking mine there. It sounds like Steff did a great job which is the first bit of good news. The second is that their car weighed 486kgs with a fair amount of fuel on board. I’d expect their car to be quite a bit heavier than mine so I may yet get to 450ish kgs which would be fab!

Anyway, bed beckons – Ciao.

TC

About time I posted…

2008-05-25T16:22:00.003Z

It’s been nearly 6 months! How time flies! Well, I’ve been working pretty hard on all fronts hence I haven’t updated the blog. The car has moved on, mostly thanks to Steve but it’s been home for a while now. Steve and I agreed that there would be a few jobs left to finish, and most of them are still to be done. We left it like that because Steve found himself having to rectify so many jobs that we simply should not have had to worry about. This ate-up time and Steve had made commitments to other people so it was only fair that the car came back. Kit Cars eh? Part of the purpose of this post is to force me to make a list of what’s left to do so I can start to tick these off.

Before I get to that, I’ll try to explain what stage the car is at. By the time Steve returned the car, it actually looked virtually complete.

In reality, the suspension is all loose awaiting professional set-up and there are a few jobs to complete and a few remedial jobs for me to do also. Even if Pininfarina had been completing the build, I’d have wanted to amend something so this isn’t a slight on anyone.

The car is in many more pieces now than it was when I got it back. Most of this was to try and get things clean – the aluminium in particular needed some TLC – I’m about half way there with the Autosol. Hence, the seats and harness are out. The radiator is also off and the exhaust has been off but is now back together. The exhaust came off so I could get the cut-out as I like it. The radiator had to come off because in its original position I couldn’t fit the lower hose. The most substantive parts to be removed were the front shocks. The lower bracket isn’t ‘right’ and hence in standard form the two shocks wouldn’t fit together. By taking a little meat off the lower body Steve got them to fit, but I worried that in compression the adjuster knobs would clash. Hence, they had to come off again and get turned around. This meant that the other side of the shock body needed shaving as well. Not ideal!

So, what’s left to do? Jobs to complete 25/05/08

Engine and Ancillaries
Fit thicker foam on fuel tank straps.
Fit new o-ring in filler cap – it seems to have swollen.
Buy and fit hose tail for one-way valve connected to tank.
Consider if I’m going to change the fuel pump mount.
Wire-up steering buttons for Kliktronic shifter.
Get new radiator mounts made from Ali.
Fit radiator and associated hoses.
Fill with fluids.
Replace nasty screws holding-down airbox.
Get tailpipe welded to silencer.

Suspension and Brakes
Drill-out rivets securing brake line from M/Cylinder to Line Lock and have damaged fitting replaced.
Refit brake line
Replace front shocks and tighten all nuts not needed for suspension set-up.
Turn one rear shock around and tighten.
Fill brake fluid and bleed.
Set brake balance bar.
Get suspension corner weighted and set-up by Steff @ Muzz Race.

Bodywork and Interior.
Collect load spreading seat spacers from Lenny.
Clean all Ali. Refit seats and harnesses.
Tidy cut-outs in nosecone.
Refit quick release catches.
Re-make scuttle inspection covers in plain rather than machined ali.
Fit mirrors.
Apply stickers (having ordered pseudo-race number backgrounds.)
Rivet carbon back panel back on.
Paint Ali brackets for rear arches.
Run silicone sealant around chassis tubes to prevent water ingress.
Attach carbon CSR arches with polyurethane sealant.
Attach carbon canards to nosecone.
Attach carbon rear arch protectors.
Apply non-slip tape to pedals.
Clean engine.
Complete template for rear boot cover and get it made by Milson – fit poppers, and then cover.

Yikes – more than I thought. I have my final exam of the year in 3 weeks, after which I will really get stuck in.

Body On...

2008-01-01T15:04:00.001Z

I did promise a picture with the tub on and here it is:

It's actually starting to resemble a car!

My uprights/hubs etc are still AWOL in the post. Marc @ MNR has kindly sourced some replacement uprights which he'll machine and send across to Steve. I've been ordering all the other bits to build-up the uprights. One upgrade that I am going to make is a move to aluminium hubs - assuming the guy selling them gets back to me. It won't make a lot of difference with my heavy calipers but it seems daft to buy one set with a view to changing them next winter.

Keeping the blog up to date is making a nice change from all the revision I'm doing for my exams next week.

'Til next time, cheers

Happy New Year...

2007-12-30T19:34:00.000Z

Hello Dear Readers.

The seats are in:

More importantly, having said I would do it MONTHS ago, the bodywork is on for the last time! Pictures to follow soon I hope.

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a prosperous New Year.

Steve Hignett Showcase…

2007-12-15T19:30:00.000Z

It’s been an awfully long time since I posted on here. In fairness, I’ve been a bit busy – the MBA is full-on! Fortunately Steve has been making some excellent progress. However, the completion of the car has proved to be far from straight-forward with a few unexpected challenges. I’ve also had some specific requirements that haven’t necessarily made Steve’s job easy. Fortunately, Steve is 100% honest and will do everything in his power to replicate the dream/vision in your mind’s eye.

A good example of this is the scuttle and the holes for the steering column. The dash is integral which means that drilling accurate holes for the column is not as easy on some other cars. As a result, most builders cut slots so the scuttle so it can slide over the top of the column. Unfortunately, that wasn’t what I wanted so Steve had to carry-out a laborious measuring and mocking-up exercise to get it right. This is just one example of a job well done.

Measure - a few times:
Nice:

Another relates to a difference is size between the chassis and the bodywork. This is a ‘feature’ of all MNRs of a similar age to mine and things have apparently changed since. Some have used wood to shim the bodywork up. I think Steve’s done a much nicer job folding aluminium and riveting it at the right gradient to get a perfect fit. He’s simply not prepared to take half measures or ‘throw’ anything together. He’s a top man – if you find yourself in a similar situation to me don’t hesitate to e-mail him at: me@p4nts.co.uk .

Some rather ‘spiffy’ bits have gone on the car too – most notably the genuine carbon fibre bulkhead panel from http://www.carbonmods.co.uk/. It’s soon to be joined by rear wing protectors and canards (aerodynamic “whiskers”) from the Caterham CSR.

The rear suspension and drive-train is bolted together. The seats are now in. The exhaust is nearly fitted. It’s all coming together nicely… except that my front uprights have gone missing in the post. Not good, since they are relatively rare and not cheap. I’m still crossing everything that they will appear.
If you want to see more of Steve’s work, visit http://www.mercurymotorsport.co.uk/

Merry Christmas

TC

Precious little time...

2007-10-06T20:31:00.000Z

I’m afraid I’ve run-out of time! My July deadline shifted to August and then to September and beyond. On 1st October I started my Masters Degree which I’m studying part-time for the next two-and-a-bit years. This is a demanding course and I simply don’t have the time (working full-time too) to work on the car. So in terms of updates, I have nothing to show.

However, all is not lost. I have shipped the car (two trips, 735 miles, 21 hours and no sleep) to a fellow ‘Locostbuilder’ in Cheshire. Steve Hignett has built two similar cars in the past and is a top bloke. I have no doubts that he’ll do a great job on the car. We’re not yet 100% sure whether or not Steve will complete the car – either way I’m sure he’ll make more rapid progress than I did. He’s kindly agreed to take lots of photographs so I’m hoping to keep this blog up-to-date in the hope that it’s useful t someone.

I am of course very disappointed not to be completing the jobs on the car myself but I’ve taken a pragmatic approach to try to get the car ready for the track-day season next year. It’s been two years since I’ve done a track-day now and I’m itching to get back on to a circuit.

So, stay tuned!

TC

Bits and pieces...

2007-09-24T21:01:00.000Z

There's not been a lot a lot of action since the tub got painted and trimmed but I thought I'd post a few pictures of things that have been finished.

Here you can see a cover that I made to hide some of the wiring. I also wanted somewhere to put some stickers so here it is:

My battery needed something to lift it up in it's tray so it now sits atop some 12mm high density rubber. The result is that it is now fitted for what is hopefully the last time:

That's about it...

Yawn...

On the brink...

2007-09-12T17:54:00.000Z

I’m now very close to fitting the body tub for the last time. Unfortunately I’m also on the brink of cracking the side of the tub! I’ve cut and carved around the bars under the scuttle and I’ve had to take it quite close to the edge. The body has then flexed when moving it around and a tiny crack has appeared on the top of the tub. I’ve glued it together and also glued a plastic ‘splint’ (i.e. part of a zip-tie) underneath the crack. I’ll also duck tape some wood to the side when I fit the tub to make sure that it doesn’t flex again. Once it’s in place I’ll try to cut the holes for the suspension and permanently fix it so that the crack can’t migrate.

In the mean-time, the rear is all trimmed (as pictured) and the edges are sanded.

It took me an age to decide whether or not to paint the inside of the panels around the cockpit.

In the end the raw fibreglass was just a bit too raw. Despite the fact that the car is destined for the track it’s important that it looks good too.

I think the end result is good. I just hope that I don’t crack the tub trying to fit it!

TC

On second thoughts...

2007-09-03T20:09:00.000Z

The tub is not going on tonight. I've decided to slow down and do everything right. It's so easy to scratch the tub and the chassis so I'm going to take my time and aim to have it on by next week sometime. It's going to take me a while because I want to rub-down the edges so that they're not rough and also paint the inside of the tub in the cockpit area. I'm not fitting interior panels so this should at least tidy it up a touch. So, no exciting pics today I'm afraid.

TC

Quick update...

2007-09-02T22:13:00.000Z

The steering rack is in - albeit temporarily while I sort out some bolts which are the right length. The body tub is almost ready to slide on - I'm mid-way through trimming to fit.

Updates and pics tomorrow all being well.

TC

The best possible news...

2007-08-27T18:31:00.000Z

The engine is a runner! I haven't got a means of capturing it on video unfortunately so you'll just have to trust me! Considering the toil and worry that have gone into the wiring koom, it's possibly my biggest achievement on the whole car.

I've also fixed the leaky diff (I think) and I've painted my calipers:

They're not exactly light and the orange paint is a bit red but they look tidy enough. Masking them off was no fun at all.

This week should see the steering rack and main body tub go on!

All downhill from here?

Success snatched from the jaws of defeat...

2007-08-19T21:27:00.000Z

Okay, let’s get the bad bit out of the way: I nearly set the garage on fire! A dopey mistake when wiring my FIA Master Switch meant that the resistor attached to the switch caught fire. Because this was underneath the scuttle, I couldn’t see how bad the fire was and could only see smoke. As a result, I saw no other option than to give the whole area a thorough covering with the fire extinguisher. In 20/20 hinesight this may have been an over reaction. The loom tape that I’ve used is ‘self extinguishing’ and must have done a good job of preventing the fire from spreading. The net result of the incident was a very messy garage covered in blue-white powder and the need for a new resistor and (being cautious) a new FIA Switch. With this in place and correctly wired I now have a fully operable loom – at least as far as I can tell. All that’s left to test is the ECU when I try to start the thing – yes I know that I’ve talked about it for ages but I would have done it this weekend if it weren’t for the set-back!

Another problem that I’ve had was with prop-shaft and the alignment of the centre bearing. For some reason when the bearing was mounted directly to the chassis as designed it twisted the flexible part of the assembly into a most unnatural position. The bearing would not have lasted at all long in the position so a solution had to be found. This solution came from a mate of mine, Lyn (Lenny.) He fabricated some angled shims to position the bearing at a favourable angle and it seems to be a job well done.
In the picture above, as well as the shims, you can see a couple of other parts that Lyn has fabricated for me. These are a stainless steel vent pipe for the differential and a plug to take the place of the unused oil-level sensor in the sump. Each of the parts is incredibly useful and I’m as grateful as I’m impressed.

Once I’ve started the engine (please start!) I can finally start bolting-on big bits like the body and suspension; not before time. Unfortunately I also need to find a remedy for my leaky differential back plate. It's anothet job likely to get messy!

TC

The BIG update...

2007-08-12T18:13:00.000Z

What can I say? It’s been a while eh?

I’ve actually got some stuff done and I’m very close to being able to start the motor! So what’s been done? Well, I finally got the footwell panels back from the world’s slowest powdercoaters – I can only assume that the guy used to make Scotch for a living and works to the same timescales. Anyway, with the help of Lyn (Fesycresy to all you Locostbuilders out there) they were fitted and I honestly think that they were worth the wait!

The engine is in for what is hopefully the last time. The airfilter is on thanks to a custom base-plate from Mr MNR himself. The fuel line is connected up too. Oh yeah and the wiring is FINISHED! WOOOOOO HOOOOOO! I’m just a little bit pleased! I hope you agreed that the under-scuttle wiring looks pretty tidy – I am so anal about this stuff. I’m still not truly happy. The Odyssey battery and it's little tray are in - Alloy Racing Fabrications did the work. They're reasonable but I'd send them the battery rather than dimensios in future! The dash is also more-or-less finished.
The main dash unit still needs to be fixed but I can’t do this until the steering column is in to check sight lines – I’ve held it in place to give you an idea of what it looks like. The fuel tank is in – more powdercoating ‘a la’ Scotland’s biggest export. Again, I think it was worth the wait.
So (with the help of very pleasant Italian lager and music from The Bucketheads) I’m struggling to be negative. However there have been a few expensive issues. I’ve had to replace the looms for both the Veypor digidash and the SPA dual gauge. I’ve also had to buy another thermostat. Silicon hoses from siliconhoses.com weren’t cheap either but you should expect to pay for that sort of quality and service.

'Til next time - Cheers!

TC

Ugh... very little progress.

2007-07-08T20:51:00.000Z

I'm afraid that my target of finishing the car 'sometime in July' is going to be missed by some margin.

I'm still wiring the thing and to be honest it's led to a severe drop in enthusiasm. It's very nearly there however - the fuel pump runs, the starter solenoid clicks when it should and the dials seem to work. All that is left is to wire coils, the alternator, the neutral light and then the car is ready to start. That will just leave the SPA dual gauge which can be done last.

So that's it. Very little to report. I'm a bit fed up with my slow progress. It seems to be a vicious cycle.

I have a couple of days booked-off work in the next fortnight so hopefully I'll start the engine briefly to prove that it (and my cut 'n' shut wiring loom) are OK.

Christmas is coming... :(

How flippin’ cool is that….

2007-05-21T06:39:00.000Z

Believe it or not but the fact that the engine is in the chassis is actually holding me up! Now that it’s been in and I’ve connected both ends of the prop, I now need the engine out to be able to drill and fit the centre bearing.

The loom from the ECU to the engine is now complete leaving the ignition circuit, fan circuit, brake light circuit, instruments…. Oh dear! I’m waiting on the arrival of a fuse box with a bus-bar to keep everything neat. Once the wiring is in and I’ve measured where the exhaust cut-out (in the body) needs to be the main tub can finally go on.

So what’s so flippin’ cool? Well the solenoid for the Kliktronic is in and it looks fab! I had some nice fixings lying around so they’ve been used as well. The photo shows the hardware in all its glory. The only downside is that the gear-change arm isn’t aligned with the rest of the kit so I’ll need to get that re-made.

That leads me to an important point… I have been totally reliant on a couple of mates to get this far. I can’t weld and I don’t have a lathe so all of the parts that have had to be fabricated have been done by a combination of Lyn, Lenny (another Lyn) and Colin. Thanks gents – I owe you big time.

Where am I against my July target? Miles off! I’ll be lucky to finish in September at this rate.

It's set to be an expensive weekend...

2007-05-04T10:45:00.000Z

The engine is sitting in place to allow me to run cables to the correct length and fit the prop centre bearing.

I'm of to Europe's biggest Kit Car show on Sunday to buy a lot of "stuff" to complete the build.
It could be costly!

In other news we have two 8-week old kittens. They've kept me out of the garage this week but I don't mind - they're very funny! We've called them Daff and Dill. (Born in spring and the Welsh national flower.)

Hmmm... the most random post yet. **Nice**

TC

A picture speaks a thousand words...

2007-04-25T19:17:00.000Z

... or I hope so, because this installment is going to be light on words and big on visuals. Work is a nightmare so progress is still sloooow!

Below we have a nice picture proving that I can drill in straight lines (I'm getting better,) This is my rather lovely stainless braided fuel line.

Above and below you can see that the scuttle and one-piece tunnel cover have been trimmed to fit and now rest in place. The first Gulf logos are on too - I couldn't resist seeing how they'd look.

My very nice black/polished Minotaur Minilite-look-a-likes.

Also with Cortina stub-axle and Raceleda brake disc.

Work on the wiring continues but is now more-or-less on hold until the Stoneleigh show when I purchase the gubbins required. Soon after that, the main body-tub can go on.

About time eh?

Cheers

Kit Car Crisis (I am a Muppet!)....

2007-04-10T07:54:00.000Z

In a daze of stupidity this weekend I greased a couple of bearings with Copperslip! Copperslip: the clue is in the name. The stuff contains tiny pieces of metal - perfect for wearing down bearings. Needless to say that when the error of my ways was pointed out, I spent a good few hours cleaning everything with diesel then thoroughly rinsing. I will re-grease with the correct stuff tonight.

I also learnt that the motor is best lifted in by three of you - two lifting and one guiding. Have had to touch-up the powdercoat as a result of that "lesson."

So all in all, I've had less haphazard weekends. On the plus-side, the fuel line is in and the diff is in place. Huzzah! Pics to follow.

Cheers

TC

An unhealthy habit and a new addition...

2007-04-03T07:04:00.000Z

I appear to have developed a costly and unhealthy habit which has occasionally led to me jabbing myself with small pointy bits of metal. Contrary to what people might tell you, I have not become a heroin junkie. I do however have an unhealthy habit for drill bits. On Friday alone I snapped 5 – that’s right, 5!!!

It all started to go ‘Pete Tong’ when I was drilling a piece of flat bar which would normally be used to mount the handbrake. The 1.5mm titanium bit I was using snapped – I was probably going too fast. Some of the drill-bit got lodged in the chassis and subsequent attempts to drill the bar resulted in blunt bits, a melted bit and a pleasant red-glow around the hole – well the garage is cold! A brand new Bosch bit finally did the business and normal service was resumed.

So why all the drilling? I finally thought it time to crack-on and fit the posh stainless braided brake lines. On the whole it went ok. The only real PITA is that I didn’t quite have enough slack to go as straight as I'd have liked in the front of the tunnel. The result (pictured) looks more like a Welsh mountain pass than a roman road and I shall dispise that part of the car for ever as a result… hopefully once the prop and motor are in though it won’t be so obvious. It also took-up the area that I was intending to use to mount the regulator/rectifier so that’s now moved to the top of the tunnel. The brake lines are nearly all in. I just need to replace the Cleko fasteners with some ‘real’ rivets once they arrive.

That's real blood in the picture as well - Ouch!

There’s been a new addition to the family – Julia’s twin sister gave birth to Francesca Scarlett Coleman a few weeks ago. I’d like to show you a picture but I can’t so here’s a picture of my baby in its cradle instead.

The weekend also saw some serious head scratching in terms of the wiring. I’ll say more when I know what the hell I’m doing! Parts either returned or on their way back to me this week include rear bearing carriers (thanks Derek) with new bearings fitted, a modified steering column (thanks Col – your welding shames most of the manufacturers!) and my freshly ceramic coated exhaust. How exciting is that?

Anyhoo – I’m off to do a bit more.

Slow and steady wins the.... Hillclimb?

2007-03-23T16:48:00.000Z

I'm not exactly flying through the build at the moment - mostly due to work commitments allied to a lack of sundry-type parts. However, there is some movement.

The picture below shows the footwell panel ready for powdercoating and held in place with Cleco fasteners. These things are brilliant. I've had the panels on and off a dozen or more times and these temporary rivet type devices make it so easy! They are simply squeezed into place with a special pliers and removed in the same way. Mine were bought from http://www.nfauto.co.uk/ and are a must of you have a lot of panelling to do on a kit car. I think they're right up there with a Dremmel in terms of useful tools.

Other work has focused on the wiring and things are starting to fall into place. I'm desperately trying to keep the wiring as neat as possible. The picture below shows the ECU, starter solenoid and Kliktronic controller bolted to the centre tunnel. I need to invest in some wire to get it all plumbed in now.

The new flexible brake lines have arrived from Merlin Motorsport and these will go in as soon as I can get hold of some 6.5mm p-clips.

I was originally hoping to have the engine in these weekend but a combination of 4 nights out on the town this week and lack of time to order bolts has meant that it'll have to wait. There's little chance to make great strides this weekend due to work commitments.

That said, I hope to get the remaining aluminium panel (scuttle/footwell tops) drilled and ready for fitting at a later date. I really need to sort out a powdercoater also!

If you want to see a similar car coming together more quickly, try here: http://mymnrvortx.blogspot.com/ Steve actually collected his kit a week later than me!

In any case, I'm enjoying my time in the garage!

TC

P.S. If you've never tried drinking cocktails named after cars and talking to another Petrolhead with a similar machine I can recommend it. Cheers!

Still no pictures and limited progress.

2007-03-06T20:41:00.000Z

I have finally got all 100 holes drilled in the aluminium footwell panels and the chassis. I have 3 big holes left before the whole lot can be deburred and finally sent to be powdercoated. Two of these holes are for the brake master cylinders, the final hole is to run the brake line to my line-lock through.

There's more parts to be sorted for powdercoating at the same time. These are:

2 x Fuel tank securing straps
High level brake light mounting panel
2 x nose-cone supports

I'm contacting a couple of companies for quotes for the brake lines tomorrow. The ECU is mounted in the footwell. The position of the starter solenoid is marked. I am making some progress - honest Guv! On the subject of the wiring, I'm happy to do it as long as it's kept simple. For this reason, I'm not using the bike relay box or starter solenoid and am instead using a trusty Lucas-type. Where I'm not so good is on the size of cable to use for some of the wiring so I'll be taking advice from Vehicle Wiring Products when I order.

One final bit of good news - after much searching, I've located a source of new diff drain plugs. Mine is chewed to bits so this is a relief!

It's amazing what makes you happy when you're building one of these things.

Look after yourselves & each other... :p

I never said I'd make it easy for myself....

2007-03-04T12:49:00.000Z

Apologies for the lack of updates, but due to the house move, I've no broadband and we can't even find the charger for the camera!

There's 3 of us that have all picked-up our MNR kits at around the same time. Needless to say, they other two guys have raced ahead. So why is this? Well, predominantly because I've made a few decisions that have slowed me down:

The brake lines supplied with the kit have been sold and I'm going to run Goodridge flexible hoses throughout the car. The lines didn't fit anyway because of my line-lock set-up and I just don't like the look of copper pipes (I know - how daft does that sound!?) so with the help of a guy called Chris Mason (cheers Sir!) I've worked out what flexis I need. I haven't bitten the bullet yet because they're not exactly cheap!
I once had a conversation with a guy who successfully builds and prepares race cars. He told me that he rivets panels on at inch intervals. Stupidly, I've taken his advice when it comes to my footwell panels. So whereas other MNR builders may use 30-odd rivets to affix the panels, I'm using exactly 100! Great! I've also decided to have the panels powdercoated so they're not on yet either.

On the positive side, I have done a fair amount of planning when it comes to the wiring, so that shouldn't be too difficult. I've also dropped my 4-2-1 exhaust off at Camcoat in Warrington to have it ceramic coated. This should a) Reduce under-bonnet temperatures and b) look cool.

So, that's about it for now. I'm off home to get back in the garage. I should have some pics on Tuesday when I'll explain what a wonderful device the Cleco fastner is.

Ciao for now.

Frustration is an unfinished house....

2007-02-03T18:28:00.000Z

The good news: The paint is dry and the kit is in the garage.
The bad news: Work can't start until the house is finished.

It's set to be a week of slow progress while the house is sorted before I can really get stuck into the build. In the mean time, I'll write a bit about the "concept" (overstating it a bit) for the car and also what I've done in preparation.

The BIG idea
The idea has always to build something quick by keeping it simple and therefore hopefully light. That said, I haven't gone all-out for the lightest possible components. Value for money is a big driver. For example, my diff is the heavier lobro-type with viscous LSD and my front uprights and brakes are Cortina originals rather than Raceleda aluminium items. All being well, these components can be swapped at a point in the future to try to see what benefit they give me.

What I am doing is trying not to use anything that I really don't need. As a result, the car's not having a handbrake - just a hydraulic line-lock for occasional use e.g. on a trailer. Similarly, I'm having the bare minimum in terms of lights - hopefully just one bright high level brake light, Also, the loom's been stripped back to the bare minimum and also simplified as much as possible for reliability and to aid fault finding. Wise Man once say: Simple = Reliable. There's no clutch switch, tip-over wotsit or similar here.

Components - general ramblings

I've been collecting bits for ages and from all sorts of places. EBay yielded some freshly reconditioned Cortina uprights/hubs as a start point and it's all gone downhill from there.

The engine was purchased from a guy who races Jedi single seaters. It's supposedly done less than 1000 miles but I'll never know for sure. Looking back, I may have been a bit rash but the engine looks mint and already has all of the modifications done (sump baffle, drilled oil cooler bolt etc) to bolt it straight in. The price was OK, so we just live in hope now. I did end up having to buy a second loom and correct ECU since the one that the guy sold me was off a Fazer. A term meaning frequent masturbater springs to mind. I only have a dodgy photo of the engine but I'll post it anyway.

You'll notice that there's a strange cylinder hanging off the gear shift arm on the motor. This is the actuator for a Kliktronic gear shifter. The guys who built my original MK used one on their next build and I decided I wanted one too. I bought it off a guy on http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/ who had sold his bike engined MK and bought a Jedi single seater. How's that for coincidence?

Wheels are teeny 6"x13" Minators (when they turn-up) and these will be mated with some part worn slicks at least to start with. Cheap and light again.

The 3.62:1 LSD was free from a guy who races a Sierra in the Welsh Sports & Saloons Championship (thanks Ken!) and will be perfect for the hills but pretty rubbish for Brands Hatch. I'll invest in a 2nd longer geared one eventually. This and many other parts have been cleaned up using a combination of electrolysis (see Locostbuilders for more info,) petrol and Hammerite (should have bought shares!) Most of the bits are now shiny and clean. I just have the steering column to do.

I've splashed-out on my seat. I probably should have gone cheap and light again, but instead saw something I really fancied and went for it (same can be said about Julia.) It's an Intatrim Endeavour narrow version. It's surprisingly light, comfortable and should look fan-bloomin-tastic in the car.

In terms of instruments, I've gone for a Veypor VR2 to monitor speed, revs, gear etc and a SPA dual gauge to look after oil pressure and water temperature.

I've stopped keeping track of what everything has cost - I think it'll be easier that way!

Bye for now.

And so we begin...

2007-02-02T19:00:00.000Z

Greetings...

Well here we are. 1st post having just returned from collecting my MNR Vortx Kit. Some pics from today are intermingled with the tosh I've written thus far.

So where to begin?

Let's get the dull stuff out of the way. I'm 27 and from Cardiff. I've recently bought a house (with a garage!) with my incredibly patient and beautiful girlfriend Julia. I work as a Planning Manager in the food industry. I am totally car mad - I have been since I was about 16.

I've owned all sorts of cars from Peugeot GTis and Ex-rally Novas to an imported Mazda MX-5. A couple of years ago, I fulfilled a dream and bought my first (ready built) bike engined kit car. The car, an MK Indy with a Honda CBR1000 engine, was the king of bling. Big wheels, all black, chrome and polished aluminium. If an american rapper owned a 7 it probably wouldn't look too different! It was a great car, it still looks lovely. However, I got bitten by the trackday bug and suddenly realised that big wheels, showy chrome and carpet were no longer what I wanted.

The car was sold (eventually - Tip No.1 NEVER expect to get what you paid for a kit/kit car back when you sell) and the search began for it's leaner, meaner replacement. After narrowing the search down to Raw Striker, Procomp LA Gold and MNR Vortx I opted for the latter. Reasons are numerous but in summary, it was (in my eyes at least) better value, better quality and crucially easier to put together. This is my first build after all.

I haven't scrimped on the spec - I've gone for the RT+ kit with inboard dampers. I nearly went for the top-of-the range Super but determined that I'm not a good enough 'wheel-man' to reap the benefits. I've also strayed from the norm in terms of my roll-bar, scuttle panel, fuel tank and button operated gearshift to name a few. Chris and Marc @ MNR were extremely helpful (Tip No.2 Just ask!) The car is to be powered by a last-in-the-line carb-fed Yamaha R1 engine (5JJ for those in the know.)

I've been collecting parts for about 12 months and placed my order in September. This means that most of the stuff is ready to go which should mean that the build is a relatively quick one. It also helps that the car isn't being built for road use so I can leave a load of stuff off. It has two primary uses:

Get me around as many UK racetracks on trackdays as possible.
Give me my first motorsport experience in the forms of Sprints and Hillclimbs.

I hope that this blog is of some use to someone - I'll do my best to keep it updated.

As it stands, the kit is still in the van waiting for the paint to dry in my new garage (I'm not kidding.) Should be good-to-go by the morning.