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,

Installed Windows 7

Just installed Windows 7 RC 1(x64), on a new pc I built from  parts handing around.

Installation was clean, even with making multiple partitions on HD, so I can install & test other OS's. No need for extra drivers at the moments.

One curiosity was the auto creation of a system partition, Something to research, and understand.

A bit of the usual ' where the hell is that' as with any new OS, but mostly appears a re-organisation of Vista, with layers of menus, which means you have to chose the correct root entry point.

Joined to the domain eventually, after finding way to system page. SBS200 joining mechanism via web page didn't work, but Vista was a mess in this area, and appears to use same extension.

So now it's installing other software, and attempting to use it in anger !

Watch this space

Starting out

Well,

This is more to do with a friend's enquiry, than real intent to start blogging.

Let's see how this progress'es, I might like it