Having now got the front uprights from Jeremy the first job was to take them to bits! So, I took the bearing caps off and hence the hubs and exposed this rather nice looking spidery thing. These uprights are interesting in that they’re essentially a set of parts. The bearing support shaft here is just held at the back of the upright by a big nut. The steering arm, as you can probably see, is also a separate part.
Tag: Preparing
(Possibly) working again
Well, I think I fixed the clutch, and also changed the oil and so on so if I’m lucky I’m ready for the next race at Silverstone.
It turned out that the problem with the clutch at Mallory was due to something really rather dim. When we’d put the replacement plates in we couldn’t make things fit properly in that the plates seemed to thick. When I took it all apart, in the calm and lack of heat of my garage I realised that we’d left one of the plates behind; it was just that it had worn so smooth and shiny that it looked like the clutch backplate! Once I realised that I took it out and everything fitted properly.
Preparations…
It’d be nice to get going, but of course I need to wait for things to be manufactured. In the meantime I’ve been getting the Fury ready for its next outing, and starting to organise myself for the Spectre build.
Apart from starting to make a big list of things to buy, do and design, I started out with clearing out the garage. I’m going to have to try and build the car with the Fury tucked in the corner of the garage, unless I can find some other convenient way of storing the Fury. In the meantime, I know this will work as I originally built the Fury while the Dax was still in the garage, and I think that was wider than the Fury is, even though it was a se7en-like car.
This post intentionally nameless
It’s back to fettling the car for the next track outing, in this case to Brands Hatch. Somehow, this all seems very amateurish after listening/watching the Le Mans 24 hour race at the weekend; the level of preparation and care that must go into one of those cars is truly awesome. A chap I’m working with at the moment is a complete sportscar endurance racing anorak and he’s managing to convey his enthusiasm to me. If nothing else, I’m looking forward to the Birkett with renewed intensity. I’ve only done this race the once; my two other attempts foundered on the rocks of setting the car on fire and Anthea’s heart surgery.
Spoiling, splitting and sparring
It’s been a while since I posted here, for which there’s a complicated reason that won’t fit into this margin.
We’re working up now to the next race at Anglesey. As I write it’s warm and sunny outside; doubtless this presages a race weekend at Anglesey with horizontal rain. Having suffered hugely at Anglesey in the past I’m very wary about the weather there.
Fettling…
Well, it’s back to that in-between races fettling period. In fact, it’s a bit more than that for me because I’m going off to Spa again in a while for a couple of days whizzing around the track. Although that’s a trackday and as such I won’t be able to time myself I’m still planning on using the occasion (apart from the sheer rush from shooting up Eau Rouge) to do a bit of testing. As such I’m planning on trying a few new things.
Sorted
Thankfully the new cover and the proper RTV sealant fixed the oil link. Today I started the engine, having first watched the Chinese Grand Prix, and left it running for quite a while with nary a drop of oil. That’s a relief.
Back on track
As there’s a race coming up at Brands and it’d be really nice to actually make it onto track this time, I’ve been working towards that.
After having made the bump steer gauge I spent a day setting up the suspension very carefully. In order to do so I did something I’ve been meaning to do for ages and bought some bags of sand to make a fake Tim with in order to set up the car properly. With that in place I set the ride height, corner weights, camber, toe and stringed the car. I must admit that when I next build a car I’ll arrange for a setup frame to be easily fitted to the car which will make a lot of this a lot easier.
Normal service resumed
I’m still working on the car with an eye to the next race, at Brands, and the upcoming rolling road visit.
I’ve added a small stay to the airbox. At snetterton a scrutineer leaned on the airbox and the throttle bodies came adrift from the rubbers that attach them to the cylinder head. This stay should stop this happening. I am, though, probably going to move the bottom end of so that it attaches to the engine mounting, rather than the top of the pedal box.
It’s very nearly race time
I’ve been doing a few small things which are essentially about getting the car ready for the upcoming race weekend.
First thing was to fit the rear undertray. This is made rather more difficult that it ought to be because the CBR1000’s fuel pump sticks down rather more than the old tank sump did. I resolves this with this power bulge in the undertray. Not very pretty but it should work OK.