So, as promised, I took it all apart again, painfully aware that there were lots of things that perhaps I should have done but haven’t managed to get around to doing. All the same, I put it on the chassis all on my own (the last time I did this I got Anthea to help and she ended up with 8 stitches in a slash to her knee). Here it is sitting on the trailer ready to be dragged over to Thetford where Andy Bates preferred powder coaters are. I’m getting it done in a colour often used by Andy which is sort of mid-grey. They call it anthracite but it isn’t as that’s essentially proper black.
Tag: suspension
Driver positioning
So, it’s been a bit quiet hereabouts, but I have been getting on with things slowly. I’m now just about at the point where I need to get the chassis powder coated. So, this is a bit of a catch up post. One thing that is worth mentioning is that I’ve decided to skip this year’s Birkett race so as to get properly prepared for next year’s race season. I’m also in the process of losing my responsibilities as RGB formula rep which should mean I can concentrate on just racing for a change; which will be nice…
As a bit of catching up on a previous post, Nick at AB Performance managed to get the recalcitrant bearing cup out of my diff, with the aid of a 30 tonne press! I’m just hoping that the diff itself is OK.
Sabrenaut
So, it’s full on to build a new car. I got the vast majority of the bits last week when Andy drove over with everything he’d got. Well, that was the intention but he left one vital box behind… Here’s the chassis sitting on my (newly swept!) garage floor.
Season’s end
And so it comes to a sputtering end. It’s not been a great season, to be honest. I don’t seem to have been focussed enough and there’s been a lot of other things going on that have rather taken my eyes off the ball. Still, the last meeting of the season was reasonably good, almost a race…
A tardy Caddington Park
As seems usual these days, I start with an apology. Since the last post I’ve been racing at both Cadwell and Doningon. It’s the usual excuse, I’ve just been too busy, although I did spend a welcome weekend tramping around the Peak District. All the same, despite the tardiness, I did go to Cadwell and Donington and completed four races without major mishap.
Wasn’t quick enough though…
Setting up again
Yet again, and extremely tiresomely, it’s time to set the car up for another race meeting. For some time now, I’ve been thinking about making it possible to mount a setup frame on the car, much like the one described in the Pashley book. Essentially this allows you to construct a rectangle around the car from which to take measurements to the wheels.
Rocking On
Time for the first track outing of the new season. I booked a track day with Bookatrack at the Rockingham circuit which isn’t too far away from us. I went to Rockingham many years ago in the Fury, when I was first learning to drive it. So, although I could just about remember the way round there wasn’t much in the way of knowledge; especially as the circuit we were using this time was different.
Hitting the ground dawdling
I managed to find a bit more time to get onto the car at the weekend. And, as you can see from the photo and jumping ahead a bit, I’ve got the car down on the ground and all the bodywork back on. Addmitedly I’ve now taken the bodywork off again but that’s in the nature of the racecar beast. Bloody hell, though, I’d forgotten how horrible the roll cage looks…
Ho ho ho!
It’s Christmas Eve (I wish this time of year was still as magical as it was when I was a child) and I’m stretching out the time until Santa arrives by writing this post. Not that there’s much to write about to be honest.
Temporary suspension of disbelief
With the engine in bits I could suspend my disappointment and get on with other things. First up is to sort the wishbones that I’ve been meaning to remake. This is to get rid of the Delrin bearings, which haven’t really worked, and hopefully to get a bit of weight out. So, making my usual MDF and bracket jigs I remade the rear upper wishbones, as seen here. You’re right, they’re awfully short (although you have to add a lot of length in the rod-ends to this photo) and this is what completely re-designing the rear of the car would have sorted. However, I just don’t have the time, especially as I’ve just got a new job. (As well as still teaching, this time to “Engineering Doctorate” students, up at York and my PhD viva being next week. Eeeek.)