Having done the rear ARB, or at least one of them, it was time to get back to the front of the car. In particular to attend to the ARB at that end of the car.
Again, I want to make two of these and this is the thicker one. After some faffing about and making sure the lengths were right I made the bar, much the same as the one at the rear but a bit shorter and here it is in position. Intriguingly, the drop links for the front bar turned out to be exactly the same length as those for the rear bar. Not sure why but that’s kind of entertaining.
One problem with the ARB, though, is that it’s hellishly difficult to fit. This is because the straps that support the splitter frame, you can see one in the photo, are in the way. Essentially you had to remove those to be able to get the bar in. At the time, I wasn’t sure what to do about that.
One issue I’ve found with the car is that the splitter makes a truly excellent place to plonk your tools, as you can see in the photo. I shall have to be careful about that as it’s also clearly not the place to leave things.
One of things on my list, you may have noticed, is to fit a different splitter. So, I took the lump of carbon fibre/epoxy I made a while ago and trimmed it to the correct shape using the plywood splitter as a template. Already this seemed a good thing to do as the CF is much stiffer than the plywood and already felt more secure.
However, you’ll notice in this photo that the splitter frame has disappeared. This is because it occurred to me that if I supported the splitter from the ARB mounts then I wouldn’t have the problem with the supports getting in the way of removing the ARB.
A secondary issue is that I’ve been looking for a way, for some time, of fitting a towing strap to the front of the car; it’s easy at the rear as there’s a lump of chassis in the right place. As always, the problem at the front of the car is the radiator and the bodywork. For some time I’ve been looking at the splitter frame and wondering if I could press it into dual use as something to tow the car with. However it wasn’t really sturdy enough for that, especially because the straps only really support the frame under downward 
loads and when the car’s being towed you get pulled all over the place.
So, I decided to change the support strap to a lump of steel and with that provide a more secure connection to the chassis. With a bit more triangulation in the frame then hopefully it could be used for towing the car. Of course, if it doesn’t work then I find out that the worst possible moment. Oh well…
So, I retired to the work bench and after a certain amount of cutting, grinding, welding and painting had modified the frame. Here it is in situ on top of the CF splitter. What’s more, I’ve made a towing strap. Rather entertainingly, I thought, I made this out of some of the harness webbing from the harnesses on the Fury I set light to a couple of years ago. Some of the harness was melted but quite a bit of it was OK and I reckon this is a good bit. If it works right then when I put the bodywork on, this’ll be just under the front of the bodywork. Of course, if I’m unlucky when I get towed then the frame will flex up and destroy the bonnet. Hmmm..
One issue is that the wooden splitter was attached to the bonnet with some rubber hooks. I’m wondering if I’m going to need those with this splitter as it’s hugely stiffer. I shall see. I do, though, need to make a “wall” at the rear of the splitter to act as the place that airstream will stop and, hopefully, create a region of atmospheric pressure which will act downwards on the splitter. That is, after all, the whole point.
Next thing, now I’d got the front of the car sorted, was to attach the transponder which I pinched from the Fury. Here it is attached to the rear of the splitter frame, with some cable ties. This is interesting because it’s the absolute last bit of wiring. I’ve had a wire labelled “transponder” floating around the front of the car for ages now and it’s nice to see the back of it.
So, you might well ask, if I’ve nicked the transponder from it, what about the rest of the Fury? Well, as of yesterday, I’ve sold the car although at the moment it’s still in my garage. I’ve sold it to a chap who’s raced before but not in anything like a Fury or with a bike engine. So, I should be racing against it next season. I hope he doesn’t beat me!