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!