Having had a quick inspection of the grass track car tonight after our first race meeting, I can add a further couple of racing driver excuses to explain my poor performance. Firstly the nearside rear brake was binding on, which would cause drag and slow us down. Secondly, the nearside front brake pads have almost no friction material left, meaning they overheat the moment you use them and are somewhat ineffective. I have freed off the sticky brake and taken off the handbrake cable for now to stop it sticking again. (A chock off wood will suffice in the meantime - no MOT standards in autograss racing) i will be replacing it once I've freed it off or renewed it though, as I think a handbrake might give a little advantage at times in those corners - keep the revs up and flick the back end round with the handbrake.
My shopping wish list now includes 4 x M&S tyres, brake pads, brake shoes and a handbrake cable, or work to free of the existing cable. That is the essential list. We are on a tight budget for the year though, with just £133.61 left to pay for entry fees and fuel for the remainder of the year, plus any repairs. A decent set of four tyres will eat up almost all of that, although I might settle for two up front and leave the road tyres on the back.
Tyres of course make all the difference - being on road tyres last Sunday meant we were at a real disadvantage. Standard fitting is 155/70R13, but I think I can get M&S or proper Autograss tyres in 175/65 R13 size, which will give a 5% advantage in the gearing as well as better grip. That should put us up 1 or two places in the finish order I reckon.
On the if we can still afford it list we have a new nearside CV joint and boot, as it is worn out, but still works. It is only worn out to MOT standard, so I will probably run with it until it fails completely then stick a second hand driveshaft in it. I have a source for these things now, so it should be cheap enough.
On a positive note I have fitted a large Caravan/towing mirror inside the car, so we can now see who is about to overtake us and position our car accordingly to block them, not that that is the sporting thing to do of course, no. (I was just taken the racing line, Mr Stewards-Enquiry, honest!) It will be nice to see other cars though, it don't half make you jump when they suddenly appear besides you, particularly if like me, you have been road driving for 30 years and are used to having mirrors.
Tuesday 30 June 2015
Thursday 2 April 2015
Painting!
The car is back from Full On Fabrications with the roll cage complete. Well it's been back a couple of weeks or more to be honest but as ever time is short and work gets in the way. It just needed the seat frame fabricating and one tube welding in to take the harness at the right height to feed it through the slots in the seat, which I have done myself. The welding isn't half as nice looking as James Heselton has achieved on the main roll cage, but I'd happily hang my hat on it.
I had taken last Sunday until this Saturday as leave from work, originally to go away with the family for Easter, but that fell through so I had time on my hands - time to crack on with the car then. after all the season start deadline is long past. Unfortunately on Saturday I came down with the great Granddaddy of all man flu's which has knock me for twelve.
Today however the eye bolts arrived for the harness, so I thought I'd just fit that in. I was feeling up to that at least. A word of thanks at this point to Luke Sparrow of Sparrows Recovery at Brough. Sparrows are one of a number of recovery agents I come across regularly in my day job, and it was whilst chatting to Luke I discovered he does a little Autocross racing. More importantly, I discovered that due to different rules he has to change race harnesses regularly as they are date expired under AutoCross regulations, but are still fine for Autograss. Worth knowing, as he had a couple of harnesses lying around surplus to requirements which I was able to grab gratis. Anyhow, as ever things are not simple - the offside strap is no problem, the eyebolt screws in the existing seatbelt position. The nearside for some reason is a different thread size, so I need a different eyebolt. There is nowhere to screw the crotch strap eyebolt so I'll either have to weld it to the seat frame mount (whcih in turn is welded to the floor and frame) or I'll have to weld a anchor plate with the screw mount into the floor. The rear shoulder straps meanwhile are of the wrap around the rollcage type, and as my rollcage has no suitable tube it's either weld a new tube in, or weld a short tube to some angle iron and bolt it into the rear seatbelt mounts - which is probably my favourite idea. The shoulder straps would then fix around that. Should satisfy the scrutineers.
Faced with nothing more I could do on that for now, I figured that even with my head spinning and losing my balance from an inner ear infection I ought to be able to paint, I set about making things look pretty. When I say pretty, that is to a certain value of pretty. I see many autograss cars that people must have spent many hours and much money on with beautiful paint jobs only for them to be trashed first time out. And I have noted that the shiny mirror flecked paint does not make them go any faster. With that in mind my plan is black hammerite for the interior and a simple plan to paint the exterior using a roller. Looks are not at the top of my agenda, ease and convenience of repair is. The rollcage is now looking good in black hammerite, as is the drivers floor area - but then I ran out of paint. The rest will get done ion due course.
Exterior wise I have gone for "Toolstation Blue" for the main body with roof and detailing in "Toolstation White." Some motorsport disciplines make novices paint the roof a specific colour - i.e white, but this is not the reason I have done it. The colour schemes for Autograss are entirely open, provided they are not deemed offensive. No there is a personal historical reason, plus of course aesthetically it looks good.
Back in the early 1990's when the Berlin Wall came down a friend of a friend of my sisters boyfriend at the time rescued a Wartburg Knight from a fate worse than death - well death at least and brought it to England. Originally mustard coloured many panels had been replaced with spare dull red coloured parts when it came into the possession of sisters boyfriend, who planned on making a three wheeler out of it. Always a sucker for the word and unusual, I bought it for £80 and saved it from a fate worse than three wheels. I ran it for two years until it succumbed to my yearning for an American car, and it was sold on. But in the meantime I had painted it (with a roller) blue, with a white roof and with a little thin pink heartbeat pinstripe down the side. If you lived in Hull in the early nineties you may remember it. It was certainly unforgettable, smoking around in it's little cloud of two stroke. Anyhow the racer will be a tribute to that little Wartburg.
The car now also has a name - Dennis, which was my late fathers name. Dad used to tell an anecdote: He served with the RAF in Germany in the late 50's and early 60's. Whilst out driving on one of their challenging mountain roads in his Borgward Isabella estate car he was giving a flashy Italian sports model a good run for it's money, and when he eventually stopped to allow the Borgward to cool down he was approached by the wealthy owner of the sports model who offered him a trial as a racing driver with a professional racing team. He apparently declined as with a young family to support and motor racing being much more dangerous in those days he did not want to pursue such a risky career - he remained a fast driver though as I recall from my young childhood, and he later mellowed and became a professional driving instructor, passing on those skills to many. I dismissed his anecdote as one of his many tale tales - until after his death two years ago, when amongst his treasured possessions I came across a photograph of him with the Borgward, and a mystery gentleman in an early Ferrari in the background. It doesn't look like Enzo Ferrari himself, but could have been one of the many drivers who worked for him - or maybe just a punter in a flashy car, but it might lend a little credence to what I always thought was one of dads Tall Tales. Either way, in honour of dad, the car will henceforth be known as Dennis the Datsun.
The body needs another coat of paint before I can finish off with stickers and the race numbers, but S99Y "Dennis" should be ready for action very soon - pictures to follow.
I had taken last Sunday until this Saturday as leave from work, originally to go away with the family for Easter, but that fell through so I had time on my hands - time to crack on with the car then. after all the season start deadline is long past. Unfortunately on Saturday I came down with the great Granddaddy of all man flu's which has knock me for twelve.
Today however the eye bolts arrived for the harness, so I thought I'd just fit that in. I was feeling up to that at least. A word of thanks at this point to Luke Sparrow of Sparrows Recovery at Brough. Sparrows are one of a number of recovery agents I come across regularly in my day job, and it was whilst chatting to Luke I discovered he does a little Autocross racing. More importantly, I discovered that due to different rules he has to change race harnesses regularly as they are date expired under AutoCross regulations, but are still fine for Autograss. Worth knowing, as he had a couple of harnesses lying around surplus to requirements which I was able to grab gratis. Anyhow, as ever things are not simple - the offside strap is no problem, the eyebolt screws in the existing seatbelt position. The nearside for some reason is a different thread size, so I need a different eyebolt. There is nowhere to screw the crotch strap eyebolt so I'll either have to weld it to the seat frame mount (whcih in turn is welded to the floor and frame) or I'll have to weld a anchor plate with the screw mount into the floor. The rear shoulder straps meanwhile are of the wrap around the rollcage type, and as my rollcage has no suitable tube it's either weld a new tube in, or weld a short tube to some angle iron and bolt it into the rear seatbelt mounts - which is probably my favourite idea. The shoulder straps would then fix around that. Should satisfy the scrutineers.
Faced with nothing more I could do on that for now, I figured that even with my head spinning and losing my balance from an inner ear infection I ought to be able to paint, I set about making things look pretty. When I say pretty, that is to a certain value of pretty. I see many autograss cars that people must have spent many hours and much money on with beautiful paint jobs only for them to be trashed first time out. And I have noted that the shiny mirror flecked paint does not make them go any faster. With that in mind my plan is black hammerite for the interior and a simple plan to paint the exterior using a roller. Looks are not at the top of my agenda, ease and convenience of repair is. The rollcage is now looking good in black hammerite, as is the drivers floor area - but then I ran out of paint. The rest will get done ion due course.
Exterior wise I have gone for "Toolstation Blue" for the main body with roof and detailing in "Toolstation White." Some motorsport disciplines make novices paint the roof a specific colour - i.e white, but this is not the reason I have done it. The colour schemes for Autograss are entirely open, provided they are not deemed offensive. No there is a personal historical reason, plus of course aesthetically it looks good.
Back in the early 1990's when the Berlin Wall came down a friend of a friend of my sisters boyfriend at the time rescued a Wartburg Knight from a fate worse than death - well death at least and brought it to England. Originally mustard coloured many panels had been replaced with spare dull red coloured parts when it came into the possession of sisters boyfriend, who planned on making a three wheeler out of it. Always a sucker for the word and unusual, I bought it for £80 and saved it from a fate worse than three wheels. I ran it for two years until it succumbed to my yearning for an American car, and it was sold on. But in the meantime I had painted it (with a roller) blue, with a white roof and with a little thin pink heartbeat pinstripe down the side. If you lived in Hull in the early nineties you may remember it. It was certainly unforgettable, smoking around in it's little cloud of two stroke. Anyhow the racer will be a tribute to that little Wartburg.
The car now also has a name - Dennis, which was my late fathers name. Dad used to tell an anecdote: He served with the RAF in Germany in the late 50's and early 60's. Whilst out driving on one of their challenging mountain roads in his Borgward Isabella estate car he was giving a flashy Italian sports model a good run for it's money, and when he eventually stopped to allow the Borgward to cool down he was approached by the wealthy owner of the sports model who offered him a trial as a racing driver with a professional racing team. He apparently declined as with a young family to support and motor racing being much more dangerous in those days he did not want to pursue such a risky career - he remained a fast driver though as I recall from my young childhood, and he later mellowed and became a professional driving instructor, passing on those skills to many. I dismissed his anecdote as one of his many tale tales - until after his death two years ago, when amongst his treasured possessions I came across a photograph of him with the Borgward, and a mystery gentleman in an early Ferrari in the background. It doesn't look like Enzo Ferrari himself, but could have been one of the many drivers who worked for him - or maybe just a punter in a flashy car, but it might lend a little credence to what I always thought was one of dads Tall Tales. Either way, in honour of dad, the car will henceforth be known as Dennis the Datsun.
The body needs another coat of paint before I can finish off with stickers and the race numbers, but S99Y "Dennis" should be ready for action very soon - pictures to follow.
Monday 23 March 2015
Progress report
Okay, so the first race meeting was cancelled due to weather and I didn't make yesterdays meeting as a driver either, although I did go to watch as a spectator - and to pick up a few pointers as the build reaches it's conclusion.
So where are we with the build? Well the rollcage is in and completed, with thanks to James "Hessy" Hesleton at Full on Fabrications. The only part missing is the tube the harness runs over which he couldn't fit as he didn't know what seat I was using. Not a problem, I'm sure I can weld that single part in place.
The doors are now welded in place, as is the boot lid, and switchgear is in the advanced planning and partially fitted stage. The battery box arrived today and has been fitted. I'm not too happy with it though - it was supposed to fit with the standard Micra battery, but there is insufficient height to clear the terminal posts. It's supposed to have a lid that makes it spill proof but if you can;t bolt the lid on without shorting the battery it's hardly fit for purpose. I have padded the posts out with foam rubber and packed the top of the box with more rubber, so it is sealed down, but not metal to meal - I just hope the scrutineers see it is leakproof. If not I'll have to look fr a smaller battery.
Still to do - paint the roll cage and interior, install the ECU and wiring, paint the exterior, add the roof numbers and door numbers and all the stickers my son Thomas has been collecting. Shouldn't take long now.
So where are we with the build? Well the rollcage is in and completed, with thanks to James "Hessy" Hesleton at Full on Fabrications. The only part missing is the tube the harness runs over which he couldn't fit as he didn't know what seat I was using. Not a problem, I'm sure I can weld that single part in place.
The doors are now welded in place, as is the boot lid, and switchgear is in the advanced planning and partially fitted stage. The battery box arrived today and has been fitted. I'm not too happy with it though - it was supposed to fit with the standard Micra battery, but there is insufficient height to clear the terminal posts. It's supposed to have a lid that makes it spill proof but if you can;t bolt the lid on without shorting the battery it's hardly fit for purpose. I have padded the posts out with foam rubber and packed the top of the box with more rubber, so it is sealed down, but not metal to meal - I just hope the scrutineers see it is leakproof. If not I'll have to look fr a smaller battery.
Still to do - paint the roll cage and interior, install the ECU and wiring, paint the exterior, add the roof numbers and door numbers and all the stickers my son Thomas has been collecting. Shouldn't take long now.
Friday 27 February 2015
Things are coming together ....to do list
So, with just nine days to go before the start of the race meeting, we still have no race car. This does not present a major problem because I am working that day anyway. That gives me an extra 14 days before I can actually race, but will it be enough?
I have the car booked in for the roll cage fitting next week. You may recall that whilst I can weld, it is only pigeon shit welding, and I wouldn't trust myself to fix something as important as the roll cage, so it is being sent to Full On Fabrications in Pickering to get fitted out. Let's hope they live up to the reputation the recommendation suggests. They need the bare shell, so the doors and bootlid need to come off, and the seat needs to come out so they can weld the cage in without anything in the way.
The seat - oh the pains that has given me - literally. The car has to fit my 12 year old son as a junior, and myself as a 6 foot 1 inch adult, and as the seat cannot have a sliding adjustment mechanism and has to be firmly bolted in place the seating position has to be a bit of a compromise. After trying several ideas with the original seat base frame and a quick release bolt mechanism i eventually welded a mounting system in place.
The doors meanwhile have been skinned - i.e basically reduced to the outerskin, which reduces weight as well as freeing up room for the roll cage side protection/door bars. The hinges have to be retained (regulations) and at present the door locks are in pace simple to keep them shut, but once they are refitted they will be welded closed and the locks can be removed too.
So, in the remaining two weeks or so, we have the following list to complete;
Brake light (easy enough)
Towing point to be added front and centre (easy enough)
Battery box to be added (spill proof and secure) - costly in Aluminium, might come up with an alternative.
Seat belt harness (hopefully I have a date expired FIA harness being donated for free, which is adequate for autograss)
Door numbers and roof numbers - Vinyl numbers and a pucker roof pod are about £50 - I may have a cheaper solution - watch this space.
That just leaves the wiring to sort out and whaddya know - What was a runner with the replacement ECU and harness has now decided it doesn't want to run again - damned NATS system.
However, I'm confident that with a mix of the ECU's (3 off) and wiring harnesses I can make it go again.
I have the car booked in for the roll cage fitting next week. You may recall that whilst I can weld, it is only pigeon shit welding, and I wouldn't trust myself to fix something as important as the roll cage, so it is being sent to Full On Fabrications in Pickering to get fitted out. Let's hope they live up to the reputation the recommendation suggests. They need the bare shell, so the doors and bootlid need to come off, and the seat needs to come out so they can weld the cage in without anything in the way.
The seat - oh the pains that has given me - literally. The car has to fit my 12 year old son as a junior, and myself as a 6 foot 1 inch adult, and as the seat cannot have a sliding adjustment mechanism and has to be firmly bolted in place the seating position has to be a bit of a compromise. After trying several ideas with the original seat base frame and a quick release bolt mechanism i eventually welded a mounting system in place.
The doors meanwhile have been skinned - i.e basically reduced to the outerskin, which reduces weight as well as freeing up room for the roll cage side protection/door bars. The hinges have to be retained (regulations) and at present the door locks are in pace simple to keep them shut, but once they are refitted they will be welded closed and the locks can be removed too.
So, in the remaining two weeks or so, we have the following list to complete;
Brake light (easy enough)
Towing point to be added front and centre (easy enough)
Battery box to be added (spill proof and secure) - costly in Aluminium, might come up with an alternative.
Seat belt harness (hopefully I have a date expired FIA harness being donated for free, which is adequate for autograss)
Door numbers and roof numbers - Vinyl numbers and a pucker roof pod are about £50 - I may have a cheaper solution - watch this space.
That just leaves the wiring to sort out and whaddya know - What was a runner with the replacement ECU and harness has now decided it doesn't want to run again - damned NATS system.
However, I'm confident that with a mix of the ECU's (3 off) and wiring harnesses I can make it go again.
Saturday 31 January 2015
Licence and number
Work on the car progresses slowly, mostly planning and preparation due to the weather, and also due to a really tender finger end which now has no fingernail on it where I managed to trap it under the trailer ramp. It's the second finger of my right hand, so it looks like I tried to say goodnight to the boss whilst standing too close to a ceiling fan. Also it's bloody cold and wet outside.
Still, last night was licence night, so I am now £85 lighter in the wallet, for a junior and a mens licence for our team of dad and Son.
And we now have our race number S99Y. Thomas is working on fantasy paint schemes. At present the car is purple, but I'm fairly sure it will change to something lairy once he's finished with his felt tip pen sketches.
Still, last night was licence night, so I am now £85 lighter in the wallet, for a junior and a mens licence for our team of dad and Son.
And we now have our race number S99Y. Thomas is working on fantasy paint schemes. At present the car is purple, but I'm fairly sure it will change to something lairy once he's finished with his felt tip pen sketches.
Monday 26 January 2015
We Have a Runner!
With the correct fuel pump arriving today, even though I had just finished a night shift I couldn't resist going and fitting it on and trying to start the little Micra. How rewarding it was to hear the old girl chug into life for the first time n months, with the little 1.0 litre power plant revving like a good 'un. Young Thomas has been through a tough weekend due to problems at school, but at least I can cheer him up with the news his car is now a viable race car once more. So, after a little tidying up of the wiring loom and fixing stuff down it will be ready to go for a roll cage very soon.
Wednesday 21 January 2015
Under pressure
The title sort of reflects the fact that the new season starts in just over six weeks and at present I still don't have a car ready.
But I think I have finally diagnosed the problem. The wiring is all replaced and correct but the car will only tick over for a few seconds and refuses to rev at all. This strongly suggests that not enough fuel is getting through. A quick check on the fuel pump and my original bargain buy proves to be a bit of a error. Somewhere in translation (I bought from China - big mistake) 0.3 Bar has become 3 Bar. The Micra fuel system runs at 2.5 bar, so a 3 bar pump is just fine, but one that can only provide a tenth of the fuel required is not. No wonder the poor thing wouldn't run, I had it on a weightwatcher diet. The new part should arrive Friday from a reputable UK supplier, and I expect the engine will then roar like a lion.
But I think I have finally diagnosed the problem. The wiring is all replaced and correct but the car will only tick over for a few seconds and refuses to rev at all. This strongly suggests that not enough fuel is getting through. A quick check on the fuel pump and my original bargain buy proves to be a bit of a error. Somewhere in translation (I bought from China - big mistake) 0.3 Bar has become 3 Bar. The Micra fuel system runs at 2.5 bar, so a 3 bar pump is just fine, but one that can only provide a tenth of the fuel required is not. No wonder the poor thing wouldn't run, I had it on a weightwatcher diet. The new part should arrive Friday from a reputable UK supplier, and I expect the engine will then roar like a lion.
Tuesday 20 January 2015
Progress at last
At last a little progress on the Micra Autograsser. You may recall that I had some major wiring issues resulting in what Rolls Royce engineers would undoubtedly call a failure to commence. The troublesome NATS was removed, but still we had a refusal to start, probably due to me using my fists of ham to cut out what i thought were unnecessary parts of the wiring loom.
In desperation I decided to start again from scratch and bought another Micra, reasoning the the first could be used as a donor of spare parts, such as wheels and body parts as and when the shell inevitably took damage. I bought unseen off Ebay, always a good idea (not!) I then realised I had bought more trouble, in that not only was the car rotten in the rear sills and both front wings, but more seriously the front crossmember had more holes than a Swiss cheese. To cap it all the cut off date for Autograss Micras is January 2000 and on receiving the V5 I found this one was registered in May 2000. striping back some of the interior trim showed a date coding of around September/October 1999 so I could probably have argued the date of manufacture prior to January 2000, but the general state of the car meant it probably wasn't worth it.
So plan C came into play. This meant stripping all the useful parts of the second Micra and scrapping the remainder, the most useful part being the wiring harness and ECU, which have now been transplanted into Micra number 1. I ran out of daylight tonight, but first impressions are good with the engine now starting but running rough, probably down to the air filter system being off the car and it being very damp, plus the petrol has probably gone off. Tomorrow we'll see if we can get it running right, and if so I then need to find the man to build the rollcage.
In desperation I decided to start again from scratch and bought another Micra, reasoning the the first could be used as a donor of spare parts, such as wheels and body parts as and when the shell inevitably took damage. I bought unseen off Ebay, always a good idea (not!) I then realised I had bought more trouble, in that not only was the car rotten in the rear sills and both front wings, but more seriously the front crossmember had more holes than a Swiss cheese. To cap it all the cut off date for Autograss Micras is January 2000 and on receiving the V5 I found this one was registered in May 2000. striping back some of the interior trim showed a date coding of around September/October 1999 so I could probably have argued the date of manufacture prior to January 2000, but the general state of the car meant it probably wasn't worth it.
So plan C came into play. This meant stripping all the useful parts of the second Micra and scrapping the remainder, the most useful part being the wiring harness and ECU, which have now been transplanted into Micra number 1. I ran out of daylight tonight, but first impressions are good with the engine now starting but running rough, probably down to the air filter system being off the car and it being very damp, plus the petrol has probably gone off. Tomorrow we'll see if we can get it running right, and if so I then need to find the man to build the rollcage.
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