My other motoring hobby

And what takes up most of my time.

Firstly sorry to all who have sent emails about the L/R SSS, I have been flat out for the last couple of weeks getting my car ready for the first race next weekend.

I bought it as a bog standard road car and fitted the roll cage, seats and harnesses just so it was safe to use on my frequent trips to the Nurburgring, Germany and also on UK trackdays. In the last two weeks it has gone from standard car with track safety parts fitted to full race car. He is the story for anyone interested.

Starting this phase like this





Carpets up, sound deadening removed with hot air gun and scraper



Box of goodies



Plates for harness mounts and seat mounts







Floor cleaned with thinners


Rear harness mounts







Battery Isolator cable and extinguisher button on scuttle panel



New battery leads



Resistor kit to protect diodes in alternator for use with FIA cut-off



Steering lock removed



Extinguisher button


Extinguisher wiring



Old rubber suspension mounts



New shiny solid ones



Bilstein suspension on, along with larger torsion bars and bigger ARB



Loaded up ready to go





It was then handed over to my mate to do the finishing touches, it was finished today. Just a few more stickers to go on it to keep the sponsors happy. Here are the latest ones.









I am at Snetterton in it for the day tommorow for a trackday, then at Brands Hatch next friday testing and racing on Sat.

Thought it might be of some interest to some of you, if it is then please reply, otherwise I won't bother updating with pics and vids.

Chris

Gosh thats some memory busting project ther.
I, when I worked in a wee garage after leaving skool a few years back was privilaged to help in the building of a similar type project for the then Scottish champ Hill Climb chappy.
OK, I was only the dogs body but the project will always be in me mind.
And when I was able to drive it?
Before I haid me lic, it was awsome.

I felt 10foot tall and you must also.
Well done on the work and good luck tomorrows day.
Id like to be kept informed.

So, where will I send me bofa sticker to?

good luck and thanx for the memory

Hi there Bill,

Glad you enjoyed the read. Sadly there isn't going to be alot of room left on the car due to the large amount of series stickers the car has to carry, then there are my sponsor ones to go on too.

I also have to put a number of RAF related ones on too as I am representing the Air Force when I'm racing it.

Vid's to follow (hopefully).

Didnae want to send yer a bofa sticker anyways.
Ive none left, so ther.

Chris - Ok, thats the race car and the L/R sorted; so what else do you do in your spare time!!!

Ace project - words like ' Glutton and Punishment' spring to mind - as do 'Smile on Face'

Let me know when you're at Thruxton

looks fun!!! wouldnt mind a run in that!! what suspension are you running?

I used to running koni coilovers and uprated front and rear ARBs on my corsa! being only a little 1.4 didnt do much in a straight line but theres a nice twisty bit of open road around and certainly surprised a lot of people!!

amazing what you can do with a good suspension set up!

cheers for the comments fella

Harry, the suspension is Bilstein B14 stuff. Coilovers and big feck off pistons, maximum performance for minimal maintenance is the idea. Bigger torsion bars have gone in the rear along with a bigger ARB. The only bushes left on the suspension now are the top mounts, everything else has been replaced with either roller bearings or solid alloy mounts, so the suspension is pretty much sorted for the class I'm in at the moment.

Snetterton was a good day out, morning was crap though. We had issues with the rear brakes overheating in the morning, this was rectified though by adjusting the compensator valve at the back end, and the afternoon was much better.

I didn't get any decent video because my battery went flat. Here's an early one though:

Youtube Clicky

Sorry for the delay but while I'm bored stuck in Atlanta waiting to get home I thought I'd share a video with you all and a couple of pictures.

I'm driving in the MSV Trackday Trophy series this year with a good friend in my 306 Rallye, the first round was 27th March.

We qualified 6th O/A and 3rd in class. Nice weather most of the morning, we were the third group to hit the track.



And my first race start didn't go as well as was originally planned. Pole sitters for our race were also driving in the Toyo Tyres Racing Saloons too, I asked them what it was like at the start, it was described as driving through at car park at 100mph, just because cars are that close to you. I didn't realise how close together the cars are on the grid, quite daunting at first.

A severe downpour said hello as we were in the assembly area causing a delay of 20mins while we waited for paddock hill bend bottom to drain away. I don't really have any excuses for the start of the race apart from a complete lack of experience, not wanting to stop my mate from having a drive and being crap . But plenty of lessons learned and I can't wait for Anglesey now in May




YouTube clicky for race start

Jolly good Chris.
looks good also