The Build
Preparation
Getting Started
The Chassis
The Bodywork
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
December 2007
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
December 2008
2009
Wordpress Blog
RSS feed
Racing
Anglesey June '08
Cadwell July '08
Silverstone Aug '08
Oulton Park Sep '08
Snetterton March '09
Tuesday 2nd September, 2008
No more car fettling but I've been doing a bit of shopping. In readiness for my engine swap I ordered some more gaskets and heavy duty clutch springs from Powertec. Whilst they're famous for their Radicals and tuned engines etc. they have a nice online shop and a good stock of standard parts at what seem to be a bit less than main dealer prices. When I do swap the engine I'll need to get the clutch cover off to stick the upgraded springs in, the alternator cover to swap the rotor and the dry sump will all need swapping over so I ordered all the gaskets I need for that yesterday and they arrived today. I also ordered some oil - James Johnson had said to stop using the Castrol stuff and get some Silkolene. Powertec stock the 15/50 race oil and I figured it might hold oil pressure up a bit better when it gets hot compared to the usual 5/40.
I also splashed out on a Clarke rechargeable impact driver from MachineMart, been thinking about getting one for ages and it'll make getting wheels on and off a doddle.
I got the timetable for the testing emailed through yesterday along with a note that not only was the weather forecast for Friday terrible but they also had some garages available! So I chickened out, picked up the phone and booked one. According to the Finals us RGBers have got the garages for Saturday anyway.
Yesterday afternoon I rang Malc back at Yorkshire engines. He's a nice enough bloke but although he'd said he was going to ring me back I had to remind him who I was and what I was after. He said the promised 2000 engine hadn't materialised yet but that he'd ring me when it did. I got the feeling that I might well be on his to do list but that there might well be quite a few folks above me on it. I decided to give Jack Frost at Holeshot a ring - he had a more or less new (300 mile) 2007 engine with ancillaries and it was him who had said I could use that with my ECU so long as I swapped the alternator rotor. He'd also said the post-2002 engines had a much better starter motor too which had quite an appeal. Granted it's a more expensive engine but it's also 7 years younger and pretty much new. After all my trials and tribulations getting this car sorted I'm starting to place a higher price on peace of mind! So I committed to buying it. He's based over in Northern Ireland and rather than send it via courier was on about bringing it over at the weekend, he's racing somewhere near Ipswich and was talking about meeting up somewhere near Oulton. He sounded pretty relaxed about it and said he'd have a look at his route and give me a bell back. Sure enough he rang back this afternoon and said after looking at the map he'll drop the engine off with me at Oulton on Friday afternoon which sounds pretty ideal.
My brother Andy's planning on coming down to Oulton on Friday afternoon and staying for Saturday and we have hatched a couple of tentative plans - certainly if my 4th gear gives up the ghost completely on Friday afternoon he and I should be able to swap the engine over at Oulton for Saturday, especially if we're in a nice garage out of the weather with lights etc. We've even thought of doing the transplant anyway but there's always a risk that I start off with a car that has a minor problem and end up with a show stopper!
I called in JT's today and got a new oil filter. I also asked about the puller to remove the alternator. £72 + VAT, and even worse they thought it might be a different one for the 2 different model years. There was a muttering about maybe hiring their tool out so the guy said he'd speak to their mechanic and give me a ring back. I got a call a couple of hours later saying the tools belong to the mechanic but if I leave a cash deposit I can borrow them, so I'll pick those up on Thursday ready for the weekend.
I've also been doing my homework on the circuit. As well as perusing the circuit guide I've had a look round YouTube. As it happens Paul Rogers and Derek Jones were there last Wednesday on a trackday and Paul's uploaded some nice video from his R1 Phoenix - footage from an RGB car with a good driver's worth far more than stuff from a tin top etc. Here's Paul's vid:
Sunday 7th September, 2008
Well, I'm back from another action packed weekend! The car's almost intact having sustained a bit of damage when I spun into the gravel on the penultimate corner of the last lap. I suspect a bent upright but I'll have a look later. I'll stick the weekend's report on a separate page.
The short version is I pitched up at Oulton, met Jack and collected the new engine. It absolutely peed down all day Friday and testing was really scary. 4th gear got worse so when Andy arrived after the second session I took the decision to swap the engine. So we swapped the engine then I qualified Saturday morning and did the 2 races in the afternoon.
After unpacking everything I did whip the wheel off to have a look at the damage and as suspected it's a bent upright. I didn't spend long looking but couldn't see any other damage apart from a scuffed rim and half a beachfull of gravel jammed between the tyre and the rim. I'll order a new one from Fisher tomorrow although it's possible I might be able to straighten this one. I know Tim has had this problem before and tried using a stud right through the 2 lower bushes rather than separate bolts to try to beef it up but I don't think it worked. I was wondering about welding some reinforcement across them but that would make the bolts difficult to get at.
Saturday 13th September, 2008
I did try getting the gravel out myself by deflating the tyre but it didn't work so I took it down to ATS and they whipped it off and refitted it. The replacement upright came from Fisher/BGH Geartech on Wednesday but I didn't get a chance to fit it till today. It didn't actually take long this morning, only about an hour to remove the caliper, hub and the bolts through the rose joints then fit the new one.
I did make a start on setting up a string box around the car to check all the suspension settings - when I originally did it I could fit my aluminium angle across the front of the chassis but it now has a radiator and oil cooler in the way so I had to come up with another cunning plan. I worked out that I could do it with axle stands which could conveniently hold my string lines at hub centre height and was making progress with that when I went in for lunch and to watch the Monza F1 qualifying. I didn't get back out to the garage as something else cropped up that needed sorting. Here's a before and after pic of the upright:
Friday 19th September, 2008
The something else was actually pretty serious - while watching the F1 qualifying I realised my vision wasn't good and started checking out what I could see and what I couldn't. I had a cataract removed from my right eye in July which all went well but on Saturday afternoon I realised I'd lost the upper outer corner of my field of vision. It wasn't a difficult diagnosis to make - I realised I had a retinal detachment - so I rang the hospital and spoke to the on call ophthalmologist and arranged to be seen in the afternoon.
The short story is I had an operation called vitrectomy on Sunday and will be without useful vision in the eye for a few weeks. I have to remain hopeful that my visual field will be sufficient for me to get a competition license next year.