Cadwell Park Test Day - The Results!

Well it didn't go quite as to plan as I was expecting or hoping for.  In-fact the day had hardly begun and found myself heading home for an early bath :-(

I had asked Tim Gray to come along and help steer me through the mine field of setting a car up.  Well its a mine fields to me.

Post sign on and briefing  it was a case of heading out on track to the obligatory sighting laps.  After 3 laps we all came off track and the day could commence.

Straight away Tim started questioning what have I got set on the car already, taking notes as he went.  At this point the track was still wet  from all the rain from the previous night, so Tim recommended we focus on setting up the car for a wet set up.  Fine with me.  Essentially a wet set up would be to soften every setting possible.  Body work back on and strapped in and i was off.

Unfortunately for me....my first lap would be my last lap of the day.  As it was wet and greasy still on track I took my time going round playing with the brake bias to achieve a sensible balance under braking.  This done  I proceeded to 'Charlies - Park Straight (up through the box) - into Chris Curves (making sure the brakes felt good, through the Gooseneck then into the Mountain section.  This is where it all went wrong.

Approaching the 'S' bends at the foot of the Mountain section, I was determined to start the day i meant to go on.  I.e. get my gear selection right.  Last year in the Fury i would quite often go through this section in 3rd or 4th even....which really isn't quick.  In the 'S' bends, through in 2nd gear.  Applied the power for the Mountain, up over the crest.....back end went very light.  The rears lit up as they broke traction from the wet track.  Slightly off the line meant i came over the top at a slight angle.  Downward force on the rear axle was regained and promptly spat me off the track, down the bank to the right hand side straight into the barrier.

Needless to say I was a little miffed with myself for stuffing it on the first lap......but everything happens for a reason.  Although i punted the barrier with the front left the body work surprising just seemed to absorb the blow and flexed back into position.  However, it was the second rear impact that did the damage with the rear wheel taking the full impact.  Not knowing the extent of the damage; 20 mins later revealed all.  I was actually quite lucky.  The wheel and the rear upright took all the force of the impact.  Wheel was bend and buckled and the upright was twisted, but other than a small amount of bodywork damage, that was pretty much it.

So after feeling very miffed; knowing the extent of the damage wasn't quite so bad, i felt somewhat relieved.

I dropped the car off at TG Motorsport as it was en route on the way home (sort of) and Tim set to fixing it all up over the following weeks.  He also did another Geo set up on the car.......so i couldn't wait to see how it handled at the next race meeting at Pembrey :-)

Test Day Planned - Cadwell Park

A much overdue test session is imminent......thank god! Having spent the Brands weekend making sure everyone else had a good a grid position by me taking one for the team by occupying last place; its not a place I want to frequent too often.  So i have opted to get some quality seat time in to properly get used to the car.

As Cadwell is a 'trackday', obviously lap timing is not allowed, but the beauty of gps data logging is that it automatically captures the times, so I guess I should check the card periodically through out the day to ensure the memory card doesn't get full and is still working ;-)

Anyhow....laps times round Cadwell last RGB round 2012 ranged from 1:29 to 1:44.  Needless to say it was me in the Fury last year that set the 1:44, but this was my first ever outing in RGB.  I think if I can achieve a 1:35 by the end of the day, and if I can I will be extremely happy.  Bearing in mind other track traffic, I believe this is a reasonable target.

Anyhow, watch this space and i'll report back with how i get on

Brands Hatch Race Weekend 2013

First race of the season in the newly rebuilt Genesis RR.  So what could I expect?  Thinking back over the past 12 months to when I had my first outing in the Fury at Cadwell Park last year, arriving at Brands Hatch on the Friday afternoon to watch the Friday testing, alot of the nerves started to resurface from what I felt like about this time last year.

It was exciting, yet a little intimidating   It almost felt like I had never been in a race situation before which was a little unsettling.  But after the initial half hour worrying about things, the weekend started to get under-way and what ever fears I had soon were forgotten.

I ventured down to Brands in the car and new trailer in tow which was all pretty uneventful other than when I was parked up at the services at South Mimms on the M25, when returning to the car there was some young lad sat on the storage box next to the tow hitch......"ahem......do you mind!?".  He quickly scarpered.  A quick check round the vehicle to make sure he hadn't unplugged anything and I was on my way again.

On arriving at the circuit there were a number of RGB lads already there testing, so promptly went over to say hello to the RGB veterans and also all the newbies.  You could tell there was already a good atmosphere flowing through the paddock........"this is why I love RGB".

It wasn't long before new boy Danny Keenan turned up with his entourage.  Very kindly Danny offered to share the his marquee with me and it was very much appreciated as it would turn out the heavens opened right on que 30 mins before our first race.  More on that later.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS OF QUALLY, RACE 1 and RACE 2

Saturday Qualifying

Well this session was going to be my; learn the circuit and try and post a decent lap time session.  Took the first few laps quite steady in an attempt to scrub the greasyness that is characteristic of new tyres off.  As I started to crank it up, I soon noticed some unique handling characteristics I hadn't noticed at the shakedown at Bylton.  Some really shockingly bad under-steer   Clearways saw me in the kitty litter after I had been giving more and more right turn input in attempt to coax the car round the corner.  I was having to back right off any kind of pace as I had to get the car to stay on the tarmac.  After slowing a lot the front end regained grip, back end came round and off I went.  

Rest of qually was a case of post a decent time and don't fall off the track again!

Result: Qualified 20th out of 20
Best Lap Time: 59.64
Conditions: Sunny, Dry

Race 1

Could it get any wetter?  30 mins before the start of the race the heavens opened after it being such a wonderful day.  Bloody typical!  I was already dealing with the fact the tyres felt incredibly greasy still after qually.  So the the fact there were rivers flowing across the circuit filled me joy!  However, I don't know what I was so worried about.  Pre race adjustments meant I had set anti roll bars dampers to soft soft soft.  First lap of the race....the car was brilliant!  It felt very grippy and, compliant in the corners which really provided a much needed boost in confidence.  Unfortunately Race 1 was red flagged and restarted.  The restart meant I was sent back to the back of the grid even though I had made up a few places on the first lap.  I hope this sending to the back of the grid malarky doesn't become too much of a theme as it happened at Mallory last year after having made up places.

Although post restart I finished last, this was mainly due to 2 spins I had getting on the power too early on the exit of Graham Hill bend.  First spin was beautifully executed keeping it on the tarmac.  The second spin saw me slide onto the grass so braced myself for the imminent impact into the barrier, but thankfully, I stopped short of the wall only to be greeted by Duncan Horlor off of Acorn Printing parking up next to me.  Phew that was two close shaves in as many seconds.  Like I said, if it wasn't for my spins I would have finished 13th or 14th.  Had a quicker lap certainly than the 2 guys who finished in front of me which was pleasing.

Result: 16th out of 20
Best Lap Time: 1:12.73
Conditions: Very Wet.  Monsoon!

Race 2 

Kept the back row of the grid occupied once again.  Dry race meant I reverted back to a harder setting but in turn brought back my horrendous under-steer.  Race 2 was pretty uneventful to be honest from my point of view.

Post race analysis, I soon realised I kept fluffing the gear change.  I put this down to not being used to stick shift and taking my hands off the wheel having gotten used to paddles last year.  Also due to the under steering issues meant I only felt confident to push the car to circa 80% of what it could possibly do.

My intention is to have a dedicated set up day with the car with the objective to achieve a compliant, confidence boosting car......so Snetterton wont seem so daunting.  There is a lot of tight bends at Snett!

Result: 16th out of 20
Best Lap Time: 58:04
Conditions: Dry, Sunny

Exciting news..... revealed!

Well....after much waiting the exciting news really isn't that exciting at all.  After a complaint from Mr AB Performance....."well what's your news then?......"   Turns out AB has been waiting feverishly for the news to break.  Think he thought I would be ordering a Sabre G2 (I would love too i might add), but unfortunately had to set my sights a little lower in the "exciting news" stakes.

Yes folks....I have treated myself to a new trailer!!!!  Oh yeah!!!  Its got a cover and everything.  Which ultimately means I don't have to clean the crud off the car every time I take it some where.

I told you it weren't that exciting.  Those of you at Brands Hatch at weekend would have seen it possibility 

As it is now the trailer doubles up as accommodation which provides some quite luxurious living area boasting a full 91sq ft of living space.  Enough for a double bed, kitchen area and a couple of comfy chairs....oh and a tyre rack!  I had even sorted out the lighting and heating in form of a gas heater much to dismay of AB.  I think ABs fire service days kicked in and was very concerned about carbon monoxide risk, which to be honest was a fair point.  So I might have to bin that idea and go electric for heating in the future. When i said "dont worry Andy....I have a fail safe at night to ensure I have switched the gas off before going to asleep" the fact the fail safe would constitute a phone call from the Mrs to remind me to switch it off really didn't wash with him.  Reviewing the fail safe plan I now realise there were a couple of flaws in my plan.
A) What if I had fallen asleep already and missed the phone call
B) What if I was out of phone reception
C) What if my battery died on my phone already

Anyway, I take the point.  Bin it off before it bins ME off!

Anyhow, i'm still alive, so I best get on a edit some video footage and write up the antics of Brands Hatch weekend.

Exciting News..........

...............I have some exciting news!  I will reveal all tomorrow once it has become a reality.  Cant wait ;-)

New look Genesis...it's been TANGO'd

Quick update to unveil the new look Genesis. Decided to go orange...... just coz. Well I think it looks amazing! Just about ready for Brands Hatch now. Just got to get some new tyres and away we go!

Buying coffee...and extorsion

When it comes to buying a coffee from a service station on the motorway, whether it be Starbucks or Costa etc; I think everyone would be in agreement that to buy, it is extremely over priced.

For example, a large Costa from this particular location was £3.19.  £3.19!!!!  However for fairness and balance it did come with a choice of 'free' syrup flavouring.  Whoope!.  Anyway, on paying at the till I was greeted by a large, fairly young chap, who stank of bio.  Reeling from the stench, I tried not to pull any 'eeeeuuuurghhh' face, but it was difficult.  The ironic thing was, next to the till (it was a WHSmith by the way) they were selling Lynx deodorant!

Anyway, he asked me for the £3.19.  I duly dusted off the wallet and pulled out a £20 note.  Now I am 100% positive it was a £20 and so too was he as he did that thing with a UV pen.  He took the note and handed me my change.  I hadn't calculated how much change I should get at this point but knew it should be at least a tenner with fistful of coins to boot or a tenner and a fiver and a bit.  He ruffled his way through the coins and gave me £8.12 change in coins.  I stood there looking at the change in my hand out stretch.  He shut the till and said 'Thank You'.  'Thank you?....what you mean?" Staring at the change he'd given me. Thank you for ripping me off, or thank you for being polite enough not to notice that he was ripping off.....or thank you for excusing the fact he was a thick as two short planks.  

I stood there and said 'I gave you a twenty mate', not sure why I said mate, he wasn't my mate at all, but you know how British you become when confronted with a awkward situation.  

"Errr awfully sorry old chap.....but it would seem in these austeric times you have swindled me somewhat.  What you say to that?"  No I didn't say that for the record.

"No you didn't, you gave me £10" "No I didn't, you know I didn't, as you had to UV it."  "Oh yeah, I remember now....here you go" and gave me an extra tenner.  Now for all you bright sparks out there, you may have realised I am now at fault here for not declaring the fact I have just acquired a coffee for 2/3 the costs.  But before I had time to contemplate that notion, as I turned away with coffee and change in hand I saw him pull out from beneath the counter a wad of £20s that I can only assume he had been squirrelling away over the course of the day.  To provide balance and fairness however, one might have assumed the till was bursting with £20s so he put some under the counter for safe keeping........but lets be honest, that theory is b*ll*cks!

So in summary, should i feel guilty in buying an already over priced coffee for 2/3 price?  Should i feel guilty for not reporting him to someone more superior of what i saw?  OR should I just feel happy i wasn't servilely ripped off?

In my totally none biased opinion..... I really think this chap had been scamming people all day.

TIP OF THE DAY: Check your change, when dealing with bio ridden bloke!

Sale: Iveco Daily LWB Race/Camper Van

I decided to sell my van that I use for race weekends some time ago, but have now realised I had listed it on the internet in all the wrong places.  I have had a number of enquiries to date and few tyre kickers come round to view it, but hasn't been suitable for their needs i.e. loading up motorbikes predominately.

Details:

Iveco Daily 2.8 Race / Camper Van 77,500 miles £6,750 or sensible offers

Converted early part of 2012 to as it is today.  Used for race weekends only.  Good solid van.

Features include:

The dog is not included in the sale!

2 x Double beds (one permanent, one fold away)

‘L’ Shaped seating area

Fully upholstered zip able cushions

Hanging wardrobe, Drawers, Fold away table

Gas Oven, Hob, Grill, Fridge (12v only)

Sink with running water and drainage

Units for storage

Overhead side lockers and above cab

LED Lighting throughout, keeps energy usage down.

2 x 100amp hour batteries

Skylights

Fully insulated and carpeted walls

Garage at rear for carry race gear / luggage

Vehicle levelling chocks

Tow hitch with electrics

Rear reversing camera

3 x Forward facing front seats

Sony Stereo Head Unit with MP3 connectivity.

Good fuel MPG

Privacy side window glass

11 months MOT, 4 months road tax

New Tyres on Front

New ish tyres on rear, done 800 miles, if that.

The van is X reg, which is the year 2000 I believe, off the top of my head.

Bad Points:  The driver and passenger door cards could do with replacing as the plastic had cracked in places.  But are still perfectly functional.  The last MOT had some advisories on it which detailed issues with slight play in various items, but nothing alarming or £50-£100 couldn't put right. 

When I initially purchased the bare van, I took it to an Iveco Dealership and had it fully serviced, but also had a full safety inspection done checking every nut and bolt.  As well as all the usual service items, it under went gearbox oil change, axle and diff oil change.  New rear brake calipers and various others bits and bobs.

Please contact me on: edward.scotney@gmail.com  I check my email multiple times a day so I will be able to respond very quickly.

Pink or Orange?

Right then.....survey time!

Before I go ahead and do the rest of the car, thought I'd gauge opinion on what people think of 'orange' rather than pink for the Genesis.

Photo below is a small section I did last night of the air intake.  By no means is the application perfect, but thanks to Duncan off of Acorn Printing and his guidance, for my first attempt it ain't too bad if I say so myself.

So people, "likey" or "no likey"?  To be honest I have already made up my mind :-)

Leave your comments below.

Blyton Park - Genesis RR Shakedown

All photos : Tristan Kipling

Wow!....need I say more.....well probably.

First time in the car after the winter rebuild.  Really didn't know quite what to expect but all in all a good test day.  However it wasn't without its issues.  But hey.... that's what a shakedown is for right?  To find any issues that would prevent you  from finishing a race.

The day was almost over before it even began.  Only a few miles out of Daventry at about 05:45, trundling along the A roads towards the motorway in the van with the trailer in tow and what you know....the headlights on the van packed up.  What!  Other than the initial panic "oh crap i cant see anything" doing 50mph, once I brought the rig to a halt, my thoughts turned to "i hope its fixable". By some bizzare stroke of luck it was the fuse that had blown and I had a whole box full of spare fuses in the glove box.  I must of had a premonition.  So with the assistance of my trusty wingman (Tris) from last year, the drama was over.

Rocked up to Blyton about 08:30.  Quickly signed on, unloaded the car, a few pre flight checks and safety briefing later it was time to head out for the sighting laps.

Sighting Laps: - Pretty uneventful to be honest.  I was right at the back of a long queue of cars in a procession round the track.  Just listening out for any knocking or other such sounds I should be concerned with.  All was fine.

Session Starts: - I went out a couple of times to get to know the track.  All was going fine until I was heading towards "Bunga Bunga" corner when the back end of the car swapped ends on me with no warning signs at all.  Well when I say no warning signs....maybe I glazed over the truth slightly.  I remember glancing momentarily in the wing mirror thinking....."I don't remember it being foggy".  Before I had time even to compute what "foggy" meant that's when the spin happened.  The top coolant hose of the engine made a break for freedom and coated the rear wheels in coolant.  Lost all cornering grip and the rest was history.

For the eagle eyed...you may notice Derek Jones old Fury in hot pursuit being showed no mechanical sympathy what so ever.

Not wanting to be perturbed by the whole thing, got the car back to the pits, refitted the pipe, topped up the water levels and I was back in business.

Couple of shorts stints later I was starting to pick the pace up a little, then that "Oh crap" feeling was back.  The car went from a sweet revving 13,000 rpm engine to something that sounded like a tractor on steroids.
In our infinite wisdom, whilst rebuilding the car, I decided it was worthwhile to wrap the exhaust.  In doing so all the springs holding the exhaust were wrapped too.  The springs failed in a monumental way and the exhaust was loosely held together what was left of the exhaust wrap.  After to talking to several people my suspicions of the springs getting toooooo hot were confirmed i.e. they had gone beyond their normal operating temperature and meant they became really pliable.  Not ideal.  So some impromptu botch job was spear headed by Tris and managed to get the exhaust back together and I was back in the game!!

After that last issue the rest of the day was fine.  The video below shows some tentative out laps of my final session.  Sorry about the music.....but I just love this tune!  Only have a few laps to show as the battery died on the camera.  Doh!

Some more photos of the day courtesy of Tris.

I think the pink will have to go!

All in all a good day.  I think another trackday is in order to start to get to grips with set up.  Although the car was incredibly pointy through steering input. I have decided I quite like it, but I will need to address the rear end grip.  Few options on the cards.

One thing i was particularly pleased about it does corner nice and level.  Which was pleasing.



That is it for now. Cheerio!

Back in the game....

....not that I was really out of it to begin with.  Replacement, high flow high pressure, fuel filter fitted and looking good.  Thought it would a 5min job to be honest, but access to the filter is hampered somewhat with the engine cradle restricting elbow space meant it was anything but a 5min job.  So rather than faffing around, up it went on the ramps....floor pan off....bish bash bosch, jobs a gooden!

Fired the old girl up to check for leaks (smutty innuendo not intended) and was pleased to noticed that the oil pressure was registering much higher than usual. On start up it should be making 60psi but since we calibrated the dash I have only seen 58psi tops.  Especially as AB reckoned cold whether it should actually be marginally higher.  Well I'm pleased to say the old girl was doing 63psi, so I am much happier.

So just got to bolt on the floor pan next; do some pre flight checks as I have booked a trackday next Sunday for a bit of a shakedown and hopefully I will be ready for March 23rd!

I'll be sure to report back with photos and video of the trackday.

COME ON!!!

Replacement filter has arrived

So here we have the replacement fuel filter.  Very nice aluminium billet anodised unit.  Hopefully this should do the trick!  Can withstand up to 146psi so no more burst filters for me.....

All that remains now is to get it fitted.....(probably a job for the weekend in-between decorating), and get a track day booked.  Cant wait!

Fuel filters

One thing I forgot to mention in the last post; partly because the last post was about last weekends exploits and partly I had just plainly forgotten; but it brings me onto the topic of fuel filters.

I guess, if I am brutally honest with myself, this is the one area of the rebuild I had over looked.  On removing the fuel system when we stripped the car down I had made a mental note...."replace fuel filter".  I duly went out and bought several infact so that I could service this part regularly over the course of the season.

What wasn't factored into the equation was the difference in high pressure systems and low pressure fuel systems.  Bit of school boy error, but hey ho, have to learn one way or another.

Whilst tinkering on the car yesterday, I turned my mind to setting up the dash (well what bits I could without actually being on track).  Started her up and all was good.  A gentle blip of throttle, temps rising all was looking good.  Until I heard what sounded like running water.  "What the......!"  Fearing a water hose had come off I shut the engine down then was overwhelmed by the smell of fuel.  "Oh s**T!".  In fact that is quite mild in terms of what I was really thinking.

You got it. Low pressure fuel filters are not designed to take high pressure fuel feeds.  After dealing with what was quite a significant fuel spill (all you environmentalists would be proud of me..... I actually dealt with it)....I set too trying to discover where it was coming from.  Fearing the worst i.e. i would have to remove the fuel tank to reaplace the fuel pump seal, on tracing the fuel lines back I came across what was left of the fuel filter.  It had literally exploded.  Plastic filters it would seem are not that strong.  So lesson learnt I saw to mopping up the remaining fuel.  Even my next door neighbour came outside wondering where the smell of fuel was coming from.  What I couldn't quite believe was his mate who decided to spark up a ciggerette just yards from where the spill had occurred.  Couldn't believe it!  But thankfully it didn't cause any spontaneous combustion.

So Top Tip for the day..... don't buy cheap nasty fuel filters that are not designed for high pressure systems.

Suspension, suspension, suspension....

Suspension set-up....

After all the effort that had gone into rebuilding the car I thought I owed it to myself to properly set up the car.  Whilst the car didn't have any of the suspension removed during the rebuild, i did have the front uprights re-welded and straightened out. So I took the car over to AB Performance where i set to on the tracking, camber and weight distribution. AB kindly guided me through the process and gave a few pointers, but i am proud to say that with the help of my new wing man (Martin Garner) we set the car up all on our own!  It took us 7 hours to set up mind but well worth it especially as I learnt sooooo much in the process.  I have to say it wasn't straight forward especially for a novice. After doing the tracking it was onto the camber, but after doing the camber it was a case of redoing the tracking as it all keeps moving.  So after a lot of adjustments and more adjustments we were finally there.  Fully adjustable suspension is great.....but from a novice point of view...i think there is a case for it being too adjustable :-)

591.8KG  Slightly on the heavy side, but this was with a full tank of fuel and my lardy arse sat in weighing in at just over 100KG. So the car without fuel or me would be in region of 470KG.  There is still plenty of opportunity to save weight, but this will be phase II of the project/rebuild.  

The ride heights were quite high, but soon realised that the front springs were quite soft which when sat in the car caused quite a lot of deflection, which by some stroke of luck brought the car in line to just over the min ride heights. One aspect we were able to dial out was the front beam weight distribution causing almost 50:50 distribution across the front, and as AB pointed out its especially important to get this aspect spot on to prevent wheel lock up under heavy braking.  Front to back weight distribution wasn't ideal. Again 50:50 would have been great but with so many variables to consider especially for pair of novices I settled on a 45:55 split.  With some different springs and more experience I think we could have achieved a slightly better result.

All in all a very enjoyable experience and learnt a lot in the process.

Ahh....finally finished it!

Whilst there, I had the pleasure of reviewing the new Generation 2 Sabre. It is quite a piece if engineering. Bloody magnificent it was! The detail and thought that had gone into redesigning the car is quite astounding.  I want one!!! But re mortgaging the house may be required first ;-)

I have to say, as AB was talking through all the features of the new car, his passion, enthusiasm and drive to achieve something like he has done is just unbelievable and this is only too apparent when he talks about it.  His philosophy was to create a race car where everything fits first time and most importantly take the "kit" out of kit car.  With every part being productioised through use of CAD design and some bang up to date production techniques, every part is indexed, so in the unfortunate circumstance of an accident it is literally a case of ordering parts knowing they will fit first time with no modification as all parts can be sourced off the shelf.

One thing I think AB is very proud of is the fact, and boasted about time and time again, is that you should not have to use a drill at all in the build process.  If you do, then the design is wrong.

In summary....although the price tag for a Gen2 Sabre is relatively high, when you consider the cost of other kit cars on the market, if you consider that the price IS the all inclusive price....no hidden extras, it is actually very good value.

I have built a couple of cars now and helped rebuild one, but when you get started with a base budget of £x, all too often the original budget is blown away.  When you consider the time it takes to build a kit car..... say 12 months in the hands of an average builder, 12 months is probably quite a reasonable time frame to expect to finish it in, but if you consider the demands on your own time, AB reckoned 3 long weekends and it should be finished. Which when you start to think about how much you value your own time, the cost saving is massive and makes the car exceptionally good value.

It sounds great right?! Well in the interest of providing balance, the initial outlay is however going to mean you will need quite deep pockets in the first instance.....but projecting the time saving and associated costs of that time across a year i keep thinking this car is incredible value for money and some day worth taking a punt on;-)

As I left the unit at about 18:30 I quickly realised maybe I should have left a little earlier perhaps. With the snow starting to descend I knew I had to get back quickly. What with Daventry having its own micro climate, if there was snow Sufflok way it would be 10 times worse back home. Thankfully the A14 wasn't too bad most the way, but as we drew closer to home the hill sections started to induce some butt clenching moments. I'm sure in just a car it would have been fine, but when towing a trailer with a race car on it, traction soon became an issue.  Wheel spinning my way up the hills and other motorists giving me plenty of room as i was snaking my way up the dual carriageway we finally made it. Got back to my estate then the fun started again. Immediately got stuck and got Martin to get out and push. Finally managed to get the trailer backed up on the drive and unloaded the car all the while the snow coming down fast. All that was left to do was get the trailer back to the yard where I keep it. Easier said than done. With in the space of 20mins the roads became unpassable especially with a trailer.  It was time to admit defeat and leave the trailer on the drive and call it a day.

Wasn't ideal as I would be flying out to Sweden with work in the morning and my thoughts quickly turned to.....will I actually make it to the airport.  07:00 the next morning I set to clearing the car of snow and headed off.  I got all of 50 yards and got stuck on the smallest incline you have ever seen.  I was able to leave the car in 1st gear, get out with the wheels turning still and proceeded to push. Dam it....why are estate cars soooo heavy. Couldn't budge it at all. Then out of nowhere 5 people miraculously appeared, people walking their dogs mainly, and started to push. Few minutes later I was free! Time to go catch my flight.

Quite an eventful weekend all in all.

Forth Coming RGB 2013 Season

A bit of fun....

Something to wet your appetite for the up coming season.....enough said.

ENJOY!!

Just like buses.........

.....aint it true.  You do one post then have the inspiration to go on and continue to catch up past events.

So here goes!

So the shopping list grew and grew.  One thing and another, the odds and sods and the cost of rebuild started to mount.  Lucky for me I was able to sell a lot of the parts I had inherited with the car.  I had quite a lot of stuff to sift my way through, kept what I wanted and sold the rest.  Plus the sale of a spare set of 13" wheels and tyres meant up to point I have been able to do all the rebuild pretty much cost neutral   Well, that's what I tell myself.  I am sure its cost a lot more!

So other than my the bits I had to buy in my last post.  I can add a new set of diff bearings.  Renewed these more as a precaution really.  We made some substantial changes to the back end of the car.  Before the reverse gear was mounted on the diff.  In effect the diff was encased in a cylindrical tube with what was effectively a fly wheel attached to it.  When I first saw the car I had identified this would have to go.  The weight of this big lump of metal (purely there to enable a electric reverse to work, which consequently may only be used once in a whole season), was in the region of 6kg!  Couldn't believe it.  That's like having an additional wheel on the car.  The extra mass that is rotating hampers acceleration, saps the available bhp thus giving you a slower car.  So that was gotten rid of and AB Performance supplied me with a tiny tiny tiny spur gear that bolts inline to the bike sprocket on the output shaft of the engine. So I have high hopes for this mod.  In making the changes it was necessary to now mount a reduction starter motor to work off the spur gear bolted in place.  This involved a bit of clear well thought out welding to make it just so.  Well done Tris!


What with relocating the reverse mechanism, this proposed a problem in that the gear linkage now required some modification so that it could navigate round the reverse motor.  After a bit of ummming and arrrgghhhing I came up with the brain wave of installing a cable operated stick gear shift.  This decided I ordered a push pull cable from Cable Tec.  Very prompt service i have to say. Would well recommend if you are considering a Paddleshift gear change especially for bike engined cars.  Instead of buying a set of paddles i decided that I would keep the push pull gear stick and have the gear shift and cable mechanism mounted from that.  I would love to take credit for all the work that went into installing it....but, credit should be given to Tris once again.  I just came up with the idea!

One of the things on the shopping list was a new bespoke fuel tank to replace the rather leaky one.  I phoned round numerous companies that do bespoke tanks with the response mainly with two forms.  "OOooo.....it'll be expensive" and "sounds incredibly complicated".  I was horrified.  £630+vat for the tank I was quoted by one company.  On talking with them (i wont mention which firm it was), I simply burst out laughing.  'You got to be kidding right?!'.  I can only liken my reaction to someone getting their first ever car insurance quote.  A sense of anger, betrayal, despair........and the like. I began to wonder if I would manage to get one made.  I persisted in phoning round and started to get the quotes down.  I had a quote for £150 which was very good, but on calling MK Sportcars to see if they would consider doing something, my faith in humanity was restored.  Danny (owner) said.......'yeah we can do that no problem'  'jot down a diagram tell us what you want.....no problem mate'.  It cost £200 but i was more than happy with the result.  Big thumbs up for them.


Another job was to ensure I had a handbrake mechanism.  With removing the flywheel that was the reverse gear, this left a dilemma   The flywheel had a caliper mounted in line to it, which acted as the handbrake.  What with only having 2 pot calipers on the rears I set out to find out if Wilwoods did a 2 pot caliper that had a handbrake mechanism built in.  Short answer.....NO.  Bugger.  Some contemplation time later I had convinced myself that if I had 4 pot Wilwoods PowerLites on the front why wouldn't I have them on the rear too?  So it was decided.  Purchased some 4 pots for the rear with one of them having handbrake mechanism built in.  However this posed a couple of challenges.  How is Tris going to mount the darn things.  Some head scratching later and a little ingenuity some ally mounts were made to take the caliper.


As a result of having the same calipers on all 4 corners this would allow for making brake bias adjustments a bit easier to phatom out.  Well that's one of the excuses i had made to justify the expense!














Next on the list of jobs was to remount the exhaust, but not before taking a peak inside the silencer.  From having seen and more importantly, heard, of the car out on track....it was exceptionally noisy.  On removing the end of the silencer revealed, what wadding was present was rock hard, disintegrated and the total volume of silencing material would not have even filled a pint glass.  So, once again, i decided to brush off the mothballs and buy some Acoustafil wadding.  This stuff is great.  The website provides a calculator help determine just how much of the stuff you need to fill it.  Surprising little.  The idea behind it is as it heats up for the first time, the strands that hold the matting together burn away and it expands filling the voids.  Simple.  However, it is yet to be seen if the wadding will sap any of the power.

Next up was a new bespoke side mounted rad supplied by Radtec.  Beautiful piece of engineering and tig work. Excellent service and very very knowledgeable helpful people in general.  Doesn't look much from the photo, but believe me it is the dogs you know whats!

Next up was to weld a bracket onto the roll bar for the rain light.  Luckily, whilst at the Autosport show and talking with Andy Bates I noticed the Sabre had the light mounted on the roll bar and asked AB, why there?.  "Easy....it has to fall in line with regs." so having it bolted in-between the rear lights on the chassis was no go.

However this was a blessing in disguise to be honest as it made a perfect mounting point for the new GPS receiver I had decided to take the plunge on.

See below.






GPS receiver............. that's right folks.  A GPS receiver   One would argue this is a rather pointless purchase especially when you consider the car had an Aim Sports dash and it would not cater for one.  But, one has to these things and when in Rome (or rather AutoSport 2013) and you have Race Technology there offering me an amazing discount, its really hard to say no.

So now i am the proud owner of a DL1 Sport with Dash 4 Pro by Race Technology.  Oh yes!!!
With it steering wheel mounted, its just how a race car should be.  Looks pretty good uh?!

Again....hat off to Mr Kipling.  Although he had wired the car using the old dash already, he duly went on to stripping it out and started again.  Good lad!  (I am paying him btw).

However, its not all been plain sailing. Turns out the Dash 4 Pro has an inherent bug in the software, in the sense it doesn't like zero values apparently (so i am told) which makes custom config of sensors a little tricky when you don't actually know why the software keeps crashing.  So once that had been determined  hopefully the rest is plain sailing.

There is a whole load of other work that has been done on the car, but these were the biggie's.

Next up is get all bodywork back on and get a track day booked for a shakedown and pray it all behaves.  I envisage a lot of set up work will be required and testing the balance of the car.  Previous owner, Steve, mentioned to be that the rear end and a tendency to snap away mid corner so hopefully as none of the suspension was removed i can replicate this situation and start to make adjustments to help resolve the issue.

There are a number of things i would like to address in terms of balancing the car....not only mechanical but i think the aero has a massive part to play in all this, so i will be experimenting to say the least.