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30th December 2006 - New Workshop
We moved the car into the workshop and it's brilliant, we can now start
making a proper race car!! The farm is lovely, lots of space, and is in the middle of nowhere and the workshop is far
away enough from the main house that we can make as much noise as we want.
The workshop itself was a working one up until recently, so it has
loads of tools, lathes, pillar drills, workbenches, etc, which means we'll be able to get on with the car pretty quickly,
so keep watching!!
We also had to get some pictures taken, but that's another story and all
will be revelaed next week (hopefully!).
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| Painted Front |
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| Looking good |
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| And again |
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| Good looking rear!! |
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31st December/1st January 2007
Happy New Year. I hope everyone has a prosperous new year and I wish
everyone luck (especially me!!) for 2007.
**GUEST ARTICLE - Miles Hutton** 6th January 2007
"Pouring rain and cold and an old workshop on a good friend's farm,
from such beginnings do dreams materialise! This was my first visit to see the car and I was so impressed by what you have
achieved. It is really beginning to look the part.
Vince and Denis were busy beavering away and in the short time I was there
I got the full guided tour of the "Snoot" from you, plus both axles were removed and a door and the snoot itself was
hung up to keep it from damage.
As you well know I am a complete idiot when it comes to the mechanics of
cars (Editor's note - Yes he is!!), but even I could appreciate the calm, professional and expert help you are getting,
from Vince in particular, and also Denis.
I hope you do not mind me saying this, but I think your Dad would be quietly
(well maybe not quietly!!) chuffed about what you are doing. Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing the car again
soon".
Many thanks for the kind words Miles and I'm glad you were impressed.
See below for some pictures that Miles took.
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| A bit of advertising for Corbeau |
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| Engine Bay |
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| The Snoot |
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| The off side |
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26th to 28th January 2007
More time off, but more work!! We got a lot done in this time, the
fire extinguisher is all plumbed in, the pedal box is in place, all the lights now work (we only had to replace one bulb!),
we managed to get the rear screen and rubber in, we got the door windows in and the windo mechanisms working and I'm sure
there were a few other bits too!
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| Dash - Getting there |
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| Plumbed Extinguisher |
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| Rear screen rubber |
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| Working lights |
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9th to 14th February 2007
Right, we decided to stick as much as the stuff we have hanging around the
workshop onto the car, firstly it would look better and secondly iy would give us a bit more space in the workshop!!
We've got the boot securely mounted, have to use the original hinges and
I've added some rubber latches to keep it in place. Again, similar thing with the bnnet and I managed to find some black
bonnet pins, which seemed very difficult to find for some reason.
I also fitted the two fuel pumps, both Facet redtops, which look good and
they both work, just need a fuel tank now!!
I also managed to finally finish painting the underneath of the car, it's
now all sparkley silver Hammerite.
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| Front with numbers |
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| Seat and harness |
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| Go-faster sticker |
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February 28th - On wheels in the sun - what a sight
I must admit that the last couple of weeks have been really hard work
and things were getting to me a little, money is very tight and there are severals bits that we still need that just aren't
coming together but after seeing the car on it's wheels and in the sun if brought a huge smile to my face and made me remember
why I'm doing this.
By no means is the car finished or set-up but at least now it's looking
good and I can see the chequered flag by the finish line.
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| Note the novice sign! |
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| Rear near side view |
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| Rear off side view |
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| Front view |
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| Front near side view |
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| Front off side view |
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| Head on! |
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| The cockpit |
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April 8th - Another Collection
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| Viva front |
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| Offside front |
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| Nearside front |
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| Interior |
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| Janspeed manifold |
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| Twin Strombergs |
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| Offside rear |
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| Nearside rear |
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| Offside sill |
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| Nearside sill |
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| Exhaust |
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| Cherry bomb |
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April 9th - Visitors and Sunshine
We tried to get the engine in the new white Firenza going, as it had been
running a few months ago. The plan was to re-build it anyway but if we could get it going then we would know more what
we needed.
An early start as ever and for once the weather was with us, blazing sunshine
and nice and warm (I even got my legs out!!). We set the workbench outside and got to work, checking oil, water, battery
and fuel. The engine turned over, slowly, but wouldn't fire, so I sprayed some petrol straight into the carbs and whoosh,
big flame and the engine caught, brilliant.
After lots of smoke from engine and exhaust we then had a lot of steam,
the radiator was buggered and there was a leak in the block, right at the back, probably a core plug. We left the engine
running for 10minutes and it eventually gave up on itself but at least it did work!!
Denis, Vince and I then stripped what we could from the engine and removed it. Unfortunately we didn't
have an engine crane, so a bit of scaffolding and ropes and straps and Denis and my shoulders' removed it!! I then got
to work cleaning everything up whilst Denis and Vince worked out what we needed. I feel a big shopping list coming on!!
We also had a few visitors; my Mum brought two of my little nephews up, Harry and Daniel. They enjoyed
seeing the cars, sitting in them and also seeing the tractors and sheep on the farm. Hopefully they enjoyed seeing their
Uncle too!!
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| Harry getting comfortable |
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| Daniel getting comfortable |
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| The boys with the white car |
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| Denis in the sun |
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| The boys and I with my Land Rover |
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| With one of Peter's tractors |
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15th April - More running around and visitors
Another early Sunday morning, I had to get to the Vauxhall Sports and Social
club in Luton to meet up with Colin (who was attending the VBOA AGM) as he very kindly agreed to give me a couple of dearsticks.
One was a used chrome Viva GT stick and the other a new black Vauxhall FD stick. You may ask why two and the reason
is that they are both very differant in shape and angle, that will be fun for another day!!
18th April 2007 - Breaking
News;
I won't be able to make the first race of the season at Brands Hatch. Unfortunately too many little
things need finishing and I've decided in the words of Shakespeare "'The better part of valour is discretion; in the which
better part I have saved my life." on this occassion. Massively disappointed but it was not meant to be then not
meant to be. Next race is May 13th at Mallory Park and I should be ready for that, fingers crossed.
5th May - Finished...almost!!
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| Finished interior |
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| Finished from behind |
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| Mean looking front |
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| Left Profile |
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| Right profile |
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| At last!! |
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8th May - The Twins!
I met Mario and Edmund at the workshop, as Mario had very kindly collected
some Avon Safety wheels for me and Edmund has loaned me some wheel nuts (for some reason I only have 12!!) for the wheels.
It gave us a chance to catch up and talk about the car in more detail, as
we hadn't really been able to do that at the DSG AGM. It also meant they could get some pictures of the car whilst it was still in one piece after being finished.
After they had gone it gave me some time to fit the new spark plugs, cam
belt, new (well, re-conditioned!!) Alternator, Griffin for the front of the car and also make up the Dymo Tape labels for
the dashboard. The car runs extremely smoothly now, no popping and banging, which is a bit of a shame, but it does still
sound like a racing car.
Almost finished!!
9th May - It's definitely raining; Mallory Park isn't happening
I had called HP Tyres on Tuesday and they
promised to let me know before the end of the day if the tyres would be in, I also checked with Silverstone
and the BARC that spaces were still available for Friday and Sunday respectively and yes they were.
As per my usual luck HP Tyres didn't call back so I rang them first
thing Wednesday morning and they confirmed they were going to Fort Dunlop in an hour and they would definitely have the tyres
for me but I would need to go up there on Wednesday as they were out Thursday and Friday.
I then rang the BARC to make sure there was still a space for Sunday's
race, there was as long as the entry was received by midday (it was about 10:30 by
now), great.
Last step, rang Silverstone to confirm my booking and the lady said
they had just filled the last few spaces that morning and they couldn't actually reserve
me a space on the strength of my phone call, only when payment received. I asked if there was anything
she could do and she said the only thing was to put me on the reserve list but as no-one had cancelled
by now then they probably wouldn't do and if they did it probably wouldn't be by midday
(BARC cut-off).
So, it was take the financial risk of paying for the tyres, entering
and paying for Mallory and hoping we would get a cancellation for Friday. Go to Mallory
without any testing, which I wasn't happy doing from a car and me point of view and from a safety
point of view, or miss Mallory and be ready for Castle Combe on the 28th May, which gives us time to test somewhere properly, get the new radiator and catch tank fitted and get the
suspension sorted, so I think that's best really.
14th May - Castle Combe or bust!!
Right, I've entered the Post Historic race at Castle Comber for Bank Holiday
Monday (28th). I'm planning to test one day next week and as long as that goes smoothly I'll be making my debut at Combe!
15th May - No Oil
Finally eceived the oil catch tank this morning. It is extremely well
made and compact and I will fit it to the car this coming weekend.
16th May - Water and Tyres
The new radiator finally arrived this morning and it looks fantastic in
aluminium and has a huge core; another thing to be fitted at the weekend.
Also, I had the afternoon off and went up to HP Tyres at Whittlebury near
Silverstone to pick up five Dunlop tyres. I had four tyres fitted to the second set of Avon Safety Wheels and also balanced. I
brought the fifth tyre back with me, as I have managed to get hold of some 6x13 Revolutions which I'll probably use as the
main race wheels due to lightness.
17th May - Another disaster!!
For the last fortnight there has been a small leak from the where the prop-shaft meets the rear axle.
I thought it was a seal but afer taking it apart it's actually the nose on the flange that has mottled and is therefore leaking.
I'll try and find another one otherwise it's back to the drawing board...again!!
24th May - Final preparations
This really is the last chance we have for finishing the car off, the catch
tank needed fitting, the new radiator needed fitting and the flange problem needed resolving.
The catch tank was fairly easy, a bit too big to stand up horizontally but
we fitted it at a slant, so not problem.
Right, on to the radiator and this looked like it was going to be hard work,
as it just looks far too big to fit where the original went. We cut the front of the water pump, moved the alternator
slightly, cut away two splash guards at the front of the car and then the main bit of work, hammering and bending the inner
front of the engine bay. After about an hour we managed to get it all to fit, brilliant!!
Now onto the real problem, the flange. After being told so many different
things we decided to go our own way with it and attached the flange to the pillar drill and then filed down the nose of the
flange to make it smooth. We then re-attached it to the propshaft and axle (using lots of Araldite) and all seemed good.
FINISHED!!
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