Charity Event at Kames 13 Nov 2010

With Gales and Heavy rain into Friday evening, expectations were not high for a dry Saturday. However, the morning dawned, cool, bright and clear. The atmosphere on arrival was very laid back. Nobody seemed to be getting het up regarding getting things going.
My goal for the day was to break the 100 second barrier.
First practise run was okay with a time of 104 secs, second practise run improved at 100.8 secs - getting close to target. It was fun watching some of the rally cars competing who were driving most corners sideways, or if they got it wrong, going for a spin (there were quite a few !)
After lunch, 1st timed run, which is the video below

My fastest time of the day - 98.3secs, so target achieved., You might catch the cry of success at the end of the video. The final timed run of the day didn't see any improvement - 99.1secs, but I knew it was a bit ragged.
However, the shock of the day was I won my class !!
So, a great day, dry weather, but very cold, and a good turnout to support John Frew's Charities.
Can't wait for next year.
Now it's rebuilt time. So future posts for work being carried out on the car.

Swimming around Kames

Never been good with diaries! Anyway, visit to Kames 3rd October http://www.eastayrshirecc.co.uk/track. Kames is by the town of MuriKirk in Ayrshire. An ex mining/industrial town, which has lost it's industry, and is miles from anywhere.
The day dawned very wet, and looked like continuing.
When walking the track, came across a stream across the track on an exit to a major corner, large puddles on inside of corners, and finally a 'lake' completely across the course, just after the hairpin where the fastest stretch of the course is.  Luckily the rain stopped for a while, and water started to clear.

The stream stayed for the day as you can see in the video above. An interesting course as you do 3 laps each run, which gives a chance to review corners etc. The course did show up how 'slow' the steering rack is, when attempting to negotiate the hairpin, and catch any oversteer on exit. The other issue was that the course allowed me to get into 3rd gear, but I missed the downchange on 2 occasions !!! . As usual, got faster each run.

However,during lunch break, a rain storm could be seen coming up the valley. Eventually appeared in time for the last timed run after lunch. If you watched the Korean Grand Prix, and saw any of the car/driver views, it was that bad. Between steamed up glasses, and soaking visor, visibility disappeared to the point where I couldn't see the marshal waving the chequered flag to indicate the end of my run  !

Despite being soggy, it was still an enjoyable day. 

Looking forward to the John Frew Memorial Charity Sprint on 13th Nov. Please donate if you are able, by going to the site 

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/PhilipRowlands

Hopefully the weather will be kind,

Demon Doune - Delayed Post

Doune, near Stirling 18th/19th Sept was approached with trepidation after a number of people warned me to be careful at this course.
Check youtube http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=doune+hillclimb&aq=1 After Forrestburn, I had stripped the brakes, new seals where I could (got wrong rear brake cylinders, stnd Viva, required larger Magnum/Firenza). I found some horrors; a blockage of 'sludge' was created in one pipe !
We were also borrowing a Camper van from friends( Thanks Rosi & Boyd) to be on site. So, it was a convoy to Doune from L.G. 
Started early (couldn't sleep), so got car ready in a very busy paddock.
Signing on also included run up the course with an experienced driver, which was useful, as he pointed out the areas to watch out for (East Brae hill, with blind right hand bend over crest). Didn't get chance to walk the course that day, as busy with scrutiny etc. 1st run was taken gently(67.26), particularly as I wasn't confident of the brakes, but did have a slight moment on last bend out of the trees, where the car ran wide, and put a wheel on the grass after the armco :-)
Next runs during the day were getting quicker, as I was finding I could use more speed, even changing up to 3rd!. 2nd run - 65.07, 3rd 64.15, so going in the right direction. Had a few issues with the starter not doing it's job reliably. So after final run for the day, set about making a jumper cable, with Anderson plug, bolted to the bulkhead where it's accessible.

Sunday woke up to light rain, got a chance to walk the course, as this was a single event spread across 2 days, rather than the normal 1 event per day. So, no signing on, scrutiny etc.

The track, although wet, was draining well, mainly areas where moss was growing. East Brae hill is a struggle to walk up, and walked down with care.
The runs started soon enough, with most people being very tentative, with times somewhat slower than the day before. My 1st run ended up almost the same as my fastest in the dry (64.69)!. Various people were moving to slicks, as we'd had no further rain. My 1st timed run was quicker still - 62.16s, definitely going in the right direction. Lunchtime provided a little bit more rain, and so the afternoon's runs were turning into car bending sessions. This slowed the whole afternoon. Queuing for my final run, we had a variety of holds, finally with things getting very serious for Donald Ross, 3 cars in front of me. New came down of a big "off". Doctor was dispatched  up the hill. News was he was okay, but car wasn't. The competitive drive dulled a bit at that news. So a cautious run was made - 63.86, and thankful to keep the car in one piece. Packing up, we were lucky to get off the field before the heavens opened.
All in all, and enjoyable and productive weekend, with me & the car developing. Main issue I came away with was lack of bit in the brakes.

Competition ! ... Finally

Finally, got the car ready, and out to an event. Forrestburn Hillclimb, organised by Monklands Sporting Car Club 28th/29th Aug. It was an eventful weekend.
Arrived at the site with plenty of time, and awaited nervously, the visit of the scrutineers. I had already dicussed items with Robin Wallace, but without him seeing the car, I was cautious. However, the experience was much better, with Robin discussing the changes I had made, Ticket issued, car okay to compete.
It was then try to find out how everything worked, expecting driver briefing, but in the end the Clerk of the Course drove me round to show the critical points etc.

Being brave, stupid or deluded, I fitted the slicks which came with the car, and was then a mad rush to get on Fireproof kit etc before being released from the paddock. Gently off to the start line, plenty of butterflies.Tried warming the tyres prior to the start line, started okay, and then found every time I got to the power-band, the rear end stepped out. This got worse, when approaching the hairpin, just went straight on. Marshals, pulled me out of the gravel, but just a bit further on, the car took a liking to the grass, and off again, but could get back on.
A very scary uninspiring start. Suspected the tyres, and in discussion with other entrants this became the direction of thoughts. The tyres are at least 8 yrs old, and feel very hard, some softening after the run, but not what was expected. Went out for 2nd practise run, and attempting to warm up brakes, the car cam to a halt on the bank prior to the start line. Wouldn't move with clutch in, engine stalled and wouldn't restart. As the queue grew behind me, I signalled the start-line marshals for assistance to get out of the way. Thoughts of seized transmission etc going through my mind, but with assistance from family ferrying tools from the paddock,
I started dismantling rear brake drums as I suspected these had jammed on.
Application of large ball-pain hammer would not reset the pistons, so it was a strip down. Found a ridge has formed in the brake cylinder, and my heavy braking had pushed the pistons past, and they would not return.
So spent an hour or so by the start line stripping the rear brakes, and carefully removing the ridge. Finally got things working at about time of 1st competitive run. Note, the brakes hadn't been bleed at this point. I asked if I could drive the car back to the paddock after the session had finished, which I did on brakes which had to be pumped a lot. Gave up on any attempt to get a further run in, and set to with Angie to bleed the brakes. Everybody was stopping by to ask what had happened, and would I be ready for Sunday. So, tidied up, covered the car and went off for a hot bath, & then take family for a curry & a film.

Sunday
Not quite such an early start, uncovered car, and started changing to the wet tyres which were somewhat softer. A bit more organised and got to the start line without mishap. The car was now drive-able, although I had a very tentative run, with a final sting in the tail - the throttle stuck open on the finish line. Killed the engine fearing damage, but couldn't restart - pushed back to paddock by a group of good Samaritans :-). No sooner bonnet was up than various heads appeared attempting to diagnose problem. Problem fixed within minutes.
Second practise run was an improvement - at least 3 secs quicker. Car wouldn't start for 3rd practise run, but after assistance from John Fitzgerald(another Leader owner), got things going.

So, each competitive run was 1/2 sec quicker, but a lot more to come. I was  satisfied  with the weekend considering this is the 1st time the car has been used in 8 yrs, and a lot longer for me and competitive motorsport. 

So, Doune on 18th/19th Sept will be the next outing, with overhauled brakes, and a few other minor tidy up jobs done.

Delays all over

Lack of postings is not an indication of lack of progress. One of the major jobs I wanted to do was  to rebuild the drivers footwell. This had been 'mangled' and would not pass scruitineering. The job to extract it all was protracted, because of the limited space, and most of the panels being fixed by cap head m5 x25mm screws. Arms not being long enough to get to both ends! Eventually, all was removed, and the area cleaned up. The rebuild was a test in some areas. The flat panels of floor, & engine bay were reasonably simple, being flat, with right angle folds; the real challenge was the transmission tunnel/clutch bell housing. This ended up dictating a remake of some panels to get the balance of clearances for drivers feet & pedal, and clutch bell-housing. Various cardboard templates were tried, and directed the flat areas. The fun bit was the 'blister' around the clutch mechanism. After some delicate stretching and  compressing of the sheet metal, a suitable component was produced, and riveted into place

Next job was to sort out all the 'thro' bulkhead items, rationalising the various cables and hoses.
The capillary to the Temp Gauge was found to have split the gland nut, and then the pipe fractured. This required the removal of the thermostat/filler housing to create a blanking plug for the sender. The opportunity was also taken to re-route the top hose, so it wasn't nearly lying on the exhaust manifold. Another major item was the main power line which went from the battery box in the passenger seat position, along the floor, up to the dashboard, through, and back down to chassis. I managed to remove about 6' of cable by rerouteing at floor level, through an unused gearbox access panel. This helps with voltage drop when starting.
The bulkheads extra holes were sealed with glass-fibre & silicon sealant.

A cover for the pedal box was also fabricated from Alu sheet, to seal the great big hole over where my feet would be.

Following discussions with Robin Wallace - MSA Scrutineer, various modifications were required. The secondary hoop on the roll bar needed removing, which required some serious hacksawing & grinding - proper metalworking. Robin was also concerned on the run of the seatbelt shoulder straps, so that there was a straight line from the mounting to my shoulders, and not being interrupted by the seat. I achieved this by remounting the seat straight to the floor. This removed the dreaded wooden blocks, and presented a better driving position.
This also allowed me to use the original lap belt mounting points, which are welded to the chassis, rather than bolted through with nuts & washers.

The drivers floor was then remade using 2 sheets of 1mm alu alloy, glued and riveted together. The original sheet was 1.3mm (16swg), but had been damaged by the brackets for the side intrusion bar being pushed up into the cockpit. I'm not replacing the bar at this time, but the  brackets would need relocating to pick-up on chassis rails.

It was now a mad rush to get things ready for Forrestburn 28th/29th Aug. Sort out the fuel leak by trimming off the perished portions of the hose, clean & paint around cockpit etc. A electrical temp gauge had to be rapidly fitted. In the process of checking things were still working, it seemed like the rev limiter pack was 'squashing' the spark. Disconnection of the unit allowed immediate starting. The final bit was loading the car and all the other stuff for the 1st time. Finally finished at 11pm !. See the next post for the 'eventful' event :-)

Fueling affairs

Slow progress, I've got the replacement oil pressure switch, cleaned up the oil cooler adaptor, and repositioned as recommended in a CVH tuning manual. Gave the oil cooler a good flushing, plenty of black treacle :-).
While removing the carbs, 2 of the studs came out rather than nuts coming off. So suspicious of threads. On close inspection, UNF portion of most studs have a damaged thread, and the MISAB 'O' ring mounting plates are all perished, so no wonder the carburation varies. :-(. So more parts on order, and hopefully can put it back together, and will run better.
Also took the opportunity to do some cleaning around the engine bay. Plenty of parafin, and rags, just no source of ignition please !

Exhausting Concerns

After visiting Doune at the weekend, and realising why it;s referred to a car eating course. Saw 3 crashes including Roger Moran in his Gould.
Needed to Get back to my car, sorted the steering rack, with a new set of gaiters, and not as difficult as feared, as the car hasn't been subjected to road salt, muck etc which normal road cars have to suffer. So thought a bout a 'quick oil & filter change'. This proved to be a marathon, could not get filter to rotate, tried using a ring compressor, with no joy, then a screw driver punctured through, still no movement, but was limited as this is below the twin 45's. So, off came the carbs, tried all sorts, ending up with a piece of steel pipe  over a screwdriver correctly aligned, eventually got some movement !. However, in the process smashed the top off the oil pressure switch.:-(
Anyway, allowed me to check the oil cooler adaptor, clean & reposition, and then decide a good flushing of the oil system is required.

While reading the MAS 'Blue Book', I found the regs about exhaust placement. Problem with interpreting what it should be. Not sure if it's not supposed to protrude beyond a line between the front & rear wheel, or if a 40mm protrusion is allowed. It appears to be right on the 40mm protrusion, otherwise, its a bit of surgery !

 What seemed an easy project is now getting protracted.

We have lift off

Now with the trailer allowing mobility, got the car to a local rolling road (1/2 mile) to get the carbs/ignition checked setup. The owner of the rolling road etc is Bob Henderson (Argyll GT Turbo, Minnow Fish carbs), who is very knowledgeable. Plenty of history racing, building racing engines for the big boys etc. Anyway, after various problems, got the carbs sorted, but had difficulty holding the car on the rollers, as there's not an easy way to load the rear end as most is fibreglass. Bob is cheap - £45 to get sorted !

As the car was running better, I thought I'd take it for a run up the track by the house, which has been graded that day. Car went great, up into 2nd, BUT created huge dust cloud, which didn't impress the golfers !
However, it did allow me to find out that the steering was stiff, just not slow speed heavy.
So opened up the rack to check for lubrication. None showing, so started filling, and then went in for dinner.
Came out to find a puddle of gear oil !, the gaiters had perished. eBay to the rescue for Vauxhal Fireza gaiters.

Also found a fuel leak, thought must be one somewhere, as there was always a 'petrol' smell, and the contents of the fuel tank was disappearing faster then expected, even with the small tank !

So, a rack overhaul in prospect, and sort out fuel leak. Oh, what fun

Progress - Trailer to move car

Major progress with the collection of a trailer from http://racingfive.co.uk. I can now think about applying for events, as I can move the car. The car, being very low was interesting getting on to the trailer, mainly because of the side protection bar which connects under the drivers footwell. I'll have to check heights, as there may be an issue with min. ground clearance in the Blue Book.

Stripped off the silencer, for a clean-up and to see where I was getting a leak from.

The silencer, and mounting bracket got a rub-down, and paint. The leak is from the coupling to the headers, so will have to do so more 'fettling'

Here's a driver in the making :-) Youngest daughter thinks she should have a run !

Next job, get it down the road for a run on a rolling road to get carbs etc setup

Also, making some new brackets for mounting the seat

Back to an old interest

In an attempt to maintain sanity (Is that possible), I've bought a competition car with the intention to compete in some hillclimbs / sprints. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this branch of motorsport, it involves driving your vehicle over a course against the clock. Sprints are on levelish circuits/ courses, sometimes parts of race tracks; hillclimbs are driving on courses up hills !

To stump my detractors who know me, I've bought a ready build car, which has competed previously to some success in places like Loton Park, which is only a few miles from where I used to live. Here's old age, I can remember seeing Peugeot 205T16's competing for the first time in the RAC Rally Nov 84, against Audi Quattro S4, which 'jumped' between corners !. Just a blur of colour and sound !

I've had the car a few weeks, had to have it transported from Colchester to Scotland, but have been stuck as the car is not road legal, and needed a trailer to transport the car. However, that was resolved yesterday, with the purchase of Kev Hamilton's trailer.

Here's an idea of the spec

SYLVA LEADER HILL CLIMB CAR 1860CC BORED, TUNED CAM, NITRIDED CRANK, ROLLER ROCKERS, BAFFLED SUMP, TWIN 45 WEBBER CARBS, STARTED AS A FORD CVH.

PADDLE RACING CLUTCH
TONY LAW EXHAUST AND MANIFOLD SYSTEM.
ALLOY CASED FOUR SPEED QUAIFE GEARBOX WITH STRAIGHT CUT CLOSE RATIO GEARS.
ONE OFF BELL HOUSING MADE OF ALLOY
ONE OFF PROPSHAFT
ELECTRONIC REV LIMITER
SPAX ADJUSTABLE SUSPENSION
LINE LOCK
SHIFT LIGHT
PLUMBED IN FIRE EXTINGUISHER
LUKE HARNESS
COCKPIT RAIN COVER
ORIGINAL FRONT

I've got a number of jobs to do to get it ready for being used in anger, and be able to obtain a MSA Competition Logbook, and pass scruitineering(safety checks).

1. Flush brake system with new fluid
2. Fit brake light & mirror for use at Knockhill race circuit track nights
3. Overhaul carbs (twin dcoe 45), then get on rolling road to check set-up
4. Refit seat - found it was located by 4 large coach bolts, through some 3x2 wooden blocks !
5. Seal drivers footwell from engine compartment, it needs a cover over the pedal box to seal that area
6. oil & filter change on engine, may include timing belt
7. re-route top radiator hose, currently lying above exhaust manifold, and so is highest part of circuit, not good for air locks !
8. General cleaning & tidying, checking of fixtures & fittings
9. matching car to trailer - chocks, tyre rack etc
10. connector for slave battery

Not a major list, but requires some time and reasonable weather, as there's no shelter yet to work on it. I'm waiting on Screwfix to deliver some roof sheets !.

So there's a start, updates & more pictures to follow,