View Full Version : Our track project - including diary of a Sprint N00b...
I've been keeping a diary of the work and progress I have been doing on the track car. I planned to bring it online once he had passed his MOT, but we have decided to do the work he needs to pass the MOT anyway so we are still on with the project!!!
12 Jan 2008
Before I go into what we did today, I think a bit of background information is in order.
The first time I saw Humphrey was in a train station car park. He had been in the same space for a number of days and it was obvious he hadn’t moved. Being the East Anglia Area Organiser for the MR2 Mk1 Club, I stuck a note on the windscreen with details of our meets, with the idea that if the note hadn’t moved in a week, he had been abandoned and was fair game.
I got a PM on one of the MR2 forums a few days later from his owner, saying Humphrey was very much not abandoned but the owner didn’t have anywhere for him to go at the moment. Unfortunately having 3 MK1s on the drive at that time, we couldn’t offer the space either. Eventually Humphrey was moved and I got another PM a few weeks later saying he was for sale and could I let anyone know who might be interested. He had a few bits wrong with him so we weren’t interested, and at the time I knew no one else looking either. Another few weeks passed and I got another PM saying did I know anyone that would take Humphrey as he was now getting in the way and the owner wanted to just give him away!! Well, we thought we may as well take him then, with the plan of getting him up to MOT standard and selling him for a few hundred. We did make this clear to the owner too, who just wanted to get rid of him. He is named Humphrey because we got him just as John Inman died, and decided as a tribute to name him after Inman’s character in ‘Are You Being Served’ – Mr Humphries, because he was free. ‘I’m free’.
So than we had four. Humphrey, My Sakura, Phil’s imaginatively named ‘Mister Two’ and Phils old car ‘The Red One’.
Plans for Humphrey were put on hold for a bit due to a house move, and then the plan to strip ‘The Red One’ so we had room in the garage. Unfortunately we then found some terminal rust in Mister Two, meaning Phil had to get a new car too. Hence the eventual purchase of ‘Phil’s Car,’ ‘Mister-Two-I-Mean-Phil’s-Car’, ‘The New One’, and various other names as Phil won’t name his cars. The cruel sod
Realising that out single garage and two car drive was getting a little overcrowded with five cars, we quickly stripped The Red One, and got the shell taken away. Moved Humphrey into the garage and started stripping Mister Two as he had some good bits on him that people were hankering after.
Phil asked me one day ‘How much spare money do you think you will have next year?’ I started to get worried thinking his biological clock was ticking, but far from it!! There is a Toyota Sprint Series that he was thinking of entering, and what better car to use as a track toy than Humphrey?
So that brings us to today when we finally decided to pull out fingers out as Humphrey needs an MOT. The main thing was to get him out of the garage and get Mister Two in it. We are more likely to work on Humphrey if we can see him.
Cue much shoving about of cars. Sakura driven over the road, Phils Car sat on the front garden. Mister Two starts with minimal persuasion, after having his tyres pumped up. Humphrey gets pushed.
An important bit on Humphrey is the brakes! We have decided to use Mister Two’s brakes and also the good Koni suspension that he had. Every flipping bolt on Mister Two is either rusted on, rounded off or generally inaccessible. It doesn’t help that we only have one of each socket and one of Phil’s extensions has gone missing, so I do a lot of standing about listening to Phil swear, rather than actually helping. Anyway, finally all four callipers and discs are off Mister two – this will also stop them seizing back on and make him easier to manoeuvre. Phil then starts looking at the suspension and realises that the Mk1b suspension (Mister Two) is mounted differently to the Mk1a (Humphrey). So, we will be running Humphrey on standard suspension, or forking out for a new set.
It’s starting to get cold, so we begin packing away. Mister Two gets pushed into the garage. There’s more room in there now as he hasn’t got a front or back bumper so is much shorter. Humphrey gets pushed into place on the drive, and we decide to leave him uncovered. Phil’s Car and Sakura get driven in as normal.
It doesn’t sound like we have done much today but with the amount of shoving cars about, cracking off seized brakes, and undoing rusty nuts (heh), it takes time. At least we have made a start.
Some non car things I need to do are:
Get track experience.
Get a race suit, not compulsory but it’s nice to look the part.
Get a helmet, compulsory but I can use Phil’s as our heads are the same size!
Humphrey - up in the air as usual...
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/back.jpg
He's going to need cleaning a bit, been parked under a tree!!!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/moss.jpg
13th January 2008
Didn’t help today, was feeling a bit ill but did hear Humphrey’s engine. At least that works!!!
19 January 2008
Cold and rainy today but things need doing!
Went to Parcel Force first of all to pick up some tools Phil had ordered in the week. He had ordered some more sockets so that we could both work on different sides of the car. They are all different colours too, very funky.
Also nipped into SCA Race and Rally just to see what they had. I found a cool sparkly steering wheel and some pink harnesses, but Phil wasn’t impressed. Also found that my fat arse does just fit in a bucket seat fortunately. On another note, I ordered my race suit and helmet this week too.
Anyhoo, back at home and the brakes that we took off Mister Two last week now need to go on Humphrey. What a great help I was. I got the seized up side, which meant Phil had to stop doing his side every time I needed a nut cracking off. I managed to undo 5 nuts today once they were started, and I did one clip all on my own. That’s about it. Then I was just fetching things for Phil as and when he needed them. Bled the brakes but they are still a bit spongy, then dried the tools off and put them away.
Phil has booked the MOT for next Friday!!! Not sure we’re gonna be ready. This is D Day as well, because if he fails with something terminal it’s no sprint for us.
20th January 2008
Had a bit of a lazy/ill morning but finally got up and took some ibuprofen and went out to help Phil with my W-heat sac sound my neck!!
When I got out, he was doing the front brakes, so we now have new (newer) discs and pads all round. Took him out for a run and discovered a slight pull when braking, and a spongy clutch. About a mile from home we realised we hadn’t torqued up the wheels though so hastily, yet carefully drove back home.
We decided to bleed the brakes to see if this helped the pulling problem. LOADS of nasty crap came out of the front drivers side, although the brake pedal felt no better afterwards. All the time we were doing this, it was peeing it down, so we abandoned the clutch bleeding, and packed up. This time we torqued up the wheels, and took him out for a run again. We think the pull is little better now, but still a bit unsure as to whether it’s going to make a difference for the MOT. We have also found that he does pop out of fifth – we were told this when we got him but wondered if it was an exaggeration. It’s not. We definitely can’t do a gearbox change, so we are just going to have to put up with this. It’s not like we are going to need 5th whilst sprinting, but we are going to be driving to events and this might prove annoying. Phil didn’t realise what had happened when it popped out as he hadn’t realised he had gone into 5th – just totally did it out of habit. This is what it’s going to be like when we are driving, we might have to try and stick a note somewhere going ‘DON’T GO INTO 5TH!!!’
All packed up now and we are confident that we have done all we can to pass the MOT. Scary time.
Oh, I still haven’t driven Humphrey yet!
I’m also getting muscles from all that lifting of wheels and undoing of tight bolts!
Phils shiny sprockets:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/wip1.jpg
Shiny brakes...
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/brake.jpg
24/01/08
Today I got my helmet and overalls!!! How exciting! And I don’t look that much of a fool in them either.
I ache like anything, and I’m sure its due to the work I’m doing on the car!! Ah well can only be good for me I guess.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/racingvix.jpg
25/01/08
MOT day, and I was so excited I got Phil to ring me with the result. Unfortunately, he failed, but it’s all cost effective and fixable. The brakes passed (just). He needs a new droplink, which Phil can make. The number plate fixing is broken! Needs a new windscreen (we wondered about this, as we weren’t sure how much space is measured in the MOT), and unfortunately needs some welding to the B pillars and back arches.
The MOT guy gave us the details of a local bodywork guy though, who seems pretty decent so we are booked in for that in a fortnight. If he’s any good, he’ll be getting a lot of business from us too as Sakura is going to need some welding for her MOT in March.
So, we finally have a cost to apply to the car - £45.00 for a MOT! I’m sure the costs are going to go up in the next few weeks though!
My costs so far are £69 for the helmet and £66 for the suit, although I could have spent more on the suit and got a motorsport approved one. Phil already has all the clothing so he’s just spending money on the car!
Rusty B Pillar:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/brust.jpg
Phil pondering over number plate mounting options:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/phil1.jpg
Great read Vix :) Can't wait for more updates on Humphrey’s progress :)
I'm getting a bit confused by all the names, but very interesting :)
I'm getting a bit confused by all the names, but very interesting :)
I thought it would be slightly less confusing than going 'the red car', 'the other red car'... it's awkward as they are all the same make :/
Good luck with this!
One day i'll get my backside out on track in a car. Been saying it for years, stupid house costing money.
Good luck with this!
One day i'll get my backside out on track in a car. Been saying it for years, stupid house costing money.
We've just given up on spending money on anything else but the cars :D
27/01/08
Too ill to help on the car today. I’ll explain now that I have very bad back problems, (caused by a car accident!), and sometimes can’t move very much.
There wasn’t much I needed to do anyway, although it could have been a good day for cleaning. Phil changed the droplink over, apparently the original droplink was difficult to remove. I swear none of these bolts have ever been undone before! He found a droplink in the garage to replace it with, deciding his own made ones might not be suitable. How handy having a pile of spares!!!
He has decided to just stick the numberplate on to the front bumper with sticky tabs! It’s a bit of a risk drilling into the front bumper as the metal bumper bars are notorious for rotting away, and we don’t particularly want to be drilling into nothing.
Windscreen people are coming on Monday so that’s another task out of the way. Welding is booked.
We’re away next weekend so no updates for a week and a bit unless the windscreen people do something horrible!!!
We've just given up on spending money on anything else but the cars :D
I'm rapidly heading that way. Gradually building up a stash, what I need is a rich gf who really likes being driven around at warp 9 :D
Phils car that gave out, was this the dark blue MR2. I thought that was in reasonable nick?
Phils blue one had big big holes in the floor although the rest of the bodywork and mechanics were great :/ It's very very sad seeing that sat in the garage as a breaker.
Got plenty to do First event is 16th March. Before then I need to: (This list is as much for my benefit as anyone elses!)
Get windscreen fitted - Currently booked for tomorrow but I need to phone them first thing and maybe change this to later in the week
Get welding Done - booked for 8th Feb
Take it back for MOT retest - Ideally need to get it in same day as the welding is done as my free retest is only valid up until that day, otherwise it'll cost me again
Once the MOT is done I can start preparing it properly (This is things I'd like to do, it's likely that not all will be done before the first event, some might not happen at all):
Replace cracked exhaust manifold (ideally this will be done at the same time as exhaust (see below)
Get a decent exhaust on there - This will involve some serious juggling of the exhausts we have on various cars atm. Essentially I'll need to remove 4 exhausts and fit 3 to get everything how we want it and unfortunately the track car is at the end of the line.
Have another look at brakes - They passed MOT OK but they're a bit soft for my liking, probably still some air in there somewhere as I suck at bleeding brakes, also got some braided hoses to fit if I'm feeling brave
Simple stuff to meet regs (Yellow tape on battery earth, timing strut, mark tow points etc)
Remove as much weight as possible including interior strip.
Fit better suspension - Either mk1a KYBs or swap rear hubs over which should allow my mk1b Konis to fit
Fit poly bushes - Got them already just need to find the time to get everything apart and fit them
Ideally both of the above suspension jobs will be combined then followed by a proper alignment.
Gearbox swap - Not having 5th gear really shouldn't be an issue for the sprints but if we want to use this car on trackdays as well then the gearbox has to be swapped out. Unfortunately my road car also needs a new 'box and as far as I'm concerned it's a higher priority.
Fit smaller steering wheel - Will entail getting a nice leather one for my road car as the suede one that should be in the track car is fitted to that at the moment
Fit a race seat and harness - Currently classed as a nice to have but will probably be quite a way down the list as these are things I'll need to buy. Most other things can be done free using parts I already have
Wheels/Tyres - Again not a high priority as I've got plenty of standard wheels and part worn tyres to use up but ideally I'd like to have some nice light wheels and decent soft tyres when funds allow.
Bodywork - Proper low priority. It's really tatty atm. At a minimum it needs a good clean plus probably a once over with a PC to bring the red back from faded pink, ideally want to rub down the scabby bits and paint the whole car matt black then stencil on the various original stickers in yellow.
Flibster
27-01-2008, 20:28
My costs so far are £69 for the helmet and £66 for the suit
*sob* wish mine were that cheap....
SCA Race and Rally is a top place though. Not cheap, but most of it is decent quality. :D
Enjoy yourself. :D
*sob* wish mine were that cheap....
SCA Race and Rally is a top place though. Not cheap, but most of it is decent quality. :D
Enjoy yourself. :D
Well, I kinda wish I could have afforded more expensive and better gear, but I really couldn't :/
Just a quick note to say the screen was put in this morning. They managed to get the screen in before it started to hail, which is always a good thing!!! Looks good!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/screen.jpg
9th Feb 08
Wow, we have had a productive day. Phil has devised a schedule so we know what we should be doing each weekend. Today was exhausts. We have to remove 4 exhausts, one from each car, and fit three, one to each working car. This palaver is because Phil wants his Mongoose which was on Mister Two (the breaker) on his car. I’m a bit fed up with my rattly Janspeed as it’s rather loud, so I’m having the one off the red one, which looks like a custom job. Humphrey is having the Janspeed as it’s a good racing car noisy exhaust. He currently has a standard one. His new exhaust will be fitted when we do the gearbox change…
Earlier in the week, Phil removed the Mongoose from Mister Two, so today he set about removing the custom one and once this was off I polished the tailpipes with Autosol, whilst he fitted the Mongoose to his car. Just as I was Autosol-ing the mongoose, the bodywork guy called to say that Humphrey was ready, yay!
We zoomed down to the bodyshop in Sakura and admired his handywork. It had taken him longer than expected and cost Phil about £262. However we now had a car that would pass the re test. We booked Humphrey in for a retest and had an hour to kill. We had noticed that one of Humphrey’s indicator bulbs had blown and upon investigating discovered that the indicator/ sidelight assembly was sat in a pile of rust and not much else! Phil made a little bodge, in case the indicators were tested again. We weren’t sure what a re test would cover and didn’t want a failure on something as small as a blown bulb, and we especially didn’t want the MOT guy to see that nice pile of rust!!!
Here's what the bodywork guy did, not that it's particularly descriptive!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/welding1.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/welding2.jpg
Anyway, he literally just had a look at the work done to pass the re test, so it was all panic for nothing. We now have a MOT’d Humphrey!!! I drove him back from the test centre too, so at least I can say I have driven him now!
As it was such a nice afternoon, I decided to attack him with soap and water whilst Phil removed the Janspeed and fitted the custom exhaust to Sakura. I got thoroughly soaked as I tried to power wash him with the hosepipe, and then rather frustrated as I realised how dirty he actually was. I swear I have never seen a car so dirty! There were cobwebs in the headlights!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/cobwebs.jpg
It took a lot of elbow grease but he now looks passable.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/clean.jpg
We have a Porter Cable polishing machine thingy which we will use to try and improve the paintwork a bit, as it’s horrendous but I thought I’d have a go with the T Cut to see what a difference I would make. You can certainly see a difference now but it took a heck of a lot of polishing and my arms ache!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/wingbefore.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/wingafter.jpg
Well that’s it for this weekend as it’s Phil’s birthday celebration at his mums tomorrow. We both feel a real sense of achievement at the moment though and are currently on schedule!
Cracking progress there, bit organised on what needs doing each weekend. Have either of you two had a go in the mk2's, specifically the turbo'd ones?
There are some mk 1's on pistonheads and autotrader that look cracking! I'm really leaning this way over say an mx-5 because of the mid engined setup...... that and mx-5's cost a fortune (well a 1.8S with the LSD does). Longer term I will head down this route especially when for £1500 + new head you can take the elise to 180bhp and then it becomes ~220 bhp/ ton :D :D
Cheers Zirax, no never been in a Mk2, they don't interest me in the slightest. Lardy old things :p
There are some decent examples of mk1s out there for very little money comparitively, although Mk2s are now becoming as cheap too. You know you want to :p
Lol, I don't need tempting trust me :D The number of times I've nearly just gone and brought one recently is just plain nuts.
You and Phil know just how long i've been banging on about getting something sporty. The house is sucking up funds at an alarming rate, but once the windows & guttering are done it'll start quieting down. The overtime is rolling in from work but I just have to wait :D
12th Feb
Just over a month to go. Although I’m confident we’ll get the work done on the car, I’m getting a little nervous about the track.
Just found this video of a Noble doing the same track:
http://www.pistonheads.tv/clip447
There are trees to hit!! However there is lots of track to sail about on too, although it looks in terrible condition!
After the first Sprint, I’m going on a novice trackday at Snetterton, so hopefully will be a bit more confident by the second one.
Or I might just be a natural :p
Del Lardo
13-02-2008, 12:23
12th Feb
Just over a month to go. Although I’m confident we’ll get the work done on the car, I’m getting a little nervous about the track.
Just found this video of a Noble doing the same track:
http://www.pistonheads.tv/clip447
There are trees to hit!! However there is lots of track to sail about on too, although it looks in terrible condition!
After the first Sprint, I’m going on a novice trackday at Snetterton, so hopefully will be a bit more confident by the second one.
Or I might just be a natural :p
Would that be Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire?
Yup! Want to come and see us?
Del Lardo
13-02-2008, 13:36
Yup! Want to come and see us?
Well it's only 5 miles as the crow flies (or 13 miles as the Mundano drives) so I could certainly be very tempted.
Mini meet anyone?
I posted a very good (IMO) summary of my first sprint on OcUK a couple of years back but it seems to have disappeared :confused:
IIRC I compared it to losing my virginity, the red mist decented, there was 60 seconds of high intensity action and as I crossed the line I couldn't remember a thing about it ;D
Woo, I'm going to post about it nearer the time, even though it's just over a month now!!
Anyone is welcome, however spectators have to pay £7 :(
16th Feb
The plan for this weekend was to change the gearbox. As already discovered, Humphrey popped out of 5th gear, which wouldn’t be so bad for the actual sprints but might get rather annoying on the long drives to and from the tracks.
As you can see, we had plenty to choose from:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/gearboxes.jpg
The two in the picture were the most easily accessible, although if the worst came to it, we also had one in Mister-Two. One of the ones in the picture were out of The Red One, and the other was an absolute bargain. Phil got it on eBay for 99p, although ended up paying a fiver for it in the end as the guy he bought it off gave him loads of other MR2 bits too. Obviously it’s a bit of a risk as it’s a complete unknown. Watch this space…
The plan to get the gearboxes changed was to raise and lower one side of the engine, using a rather lovely engine hoist.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/hoist.jpg
This plan worked rather well, although it was difficult to get the bolt back in to the engine mount at the end of the day. It took ages! Phil tried all kinds of methods including getting into the engine bay himself:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/philin.jpg
However, in the end, perseverance and hammers did the trick.
I caught a sly pic of Phil working under the car:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/philunder.jpg
Whilst Phil was doing the gearbox, I was stripping the interior. I’ve got a bad back again today for a change so took quite a long break, but I’ve got to the point where there is just carpets left in there:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/interiorstripped.jpg
It is just a case of unscrewing every screw you can see, and then finding a few you can’t!! Tomorrow, the carpets will come out and then the seats and centre console will go back in. We aren’t sure which seats yet as we think we have someone interested in Humphrey’s, but we do have two other sets to choose from! There is also the option to put in a proper race seat, although we are currently trying to think of a way to make one adjustable as my legs are slightly shorter than Phil’s!!!
The exhaust will be going on tomorrow so I thought I’d attack those tailpipes with Autosol.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/tailpipes.jpg
It’s a bit battered anyway but much shinier now!
We need to pay the final part of our entry fees this week and have also been told that we can buy spectator tickets at £3.50 rather than the £7 they will be on the day. Does anyone want to come? The first sprint is at Waterbeach (Cambs) on the 16th March. It would be great to have some support!
I'd be up for heading along.
Before the new (old) gearbox goes on is there any way to have a good look to see if its knackered?
No, it's a complete unknown! Fortunately we have better ones if this proves to be a complete donkey!
You are welcome to stay over if the journey is going to be too far for a day too :) Might help me take my mind off it the night before too :p
Sun 17th Feb…
Phil started fitting the exhaust manifold and I carried on stripping the interior. Once the carpets were out, I also removed the glovebox and radio! It all adds to the weight saving! Once this was done, Phil gave me the bad news.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/carpetsout.jpg
Where there is a funny red bit on the side of the fuel tank, the floors and also the back wall, is covered in a soundproofing material that needs to be removed in order to save weight. This is horrible stuff, like glued foam, which chips off in small amounts. I protested loudly as I wasn’t getting anywhere, and eventually with Phil’s help, we discovered I was using the wrong tools. If anyone is thinking of doing this, you need a small sharp screwdriver and a small hammer, unlike the blunt screwdriver and large hammer I was originally using! Once I had the correct tools, I was well away, and it’s a rather therapeutic activity.
Here is the result of todays chippings, and next week I have just the floors to do!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/soundproofoff.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/soundproofoff2.jpg
Whilst I was doing this, Phil had finished fitting the exhaust. The cat can do the next one for us as she expressed great interest in the whole thing.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/zorston.jpg
Phil also managed to sort out the rats nest of wires discovered upon removal of the carpets. The car had two alarms fitted, both of which were coming out. It was a slight worry that they may immobilise the car, but we managed to sort that, despite a worrying moment when the engine turned over but then died. We realised that we had no fuel, as we’d been running him about on the fuel light more or less since we got him, and coupled with the fact that he was on ramps at the back when we tried to start him, no fuel was getting through. Once he was wheeled off the ramps, he started, although fuel is now needed!
Total costs so far amount as follows:
Getting Humphrey through MOT £500 approx – includes welding and windscreen.
Uprated suspension £160
Entry fees £200 (£100 each driver)
We have also gained about £3 from what we have found in Humphrey when stripping the interior! I found another 56 pence today.!
Plans for next week are: suspension, stripping floor of soundproofing, and hopefully a bit of time for polishing and fitting nice race parts like steering wheels!
As the first sprint is on MoD property, we need to buy spectator tickets in advance, and we also need to tell them the names of the ticket holders. Can anyone who is interested *looks at Zirax... please let me know their names by the end of Weds.
If you aren't a total definite, don't worry as I think we can get names changed up to about a week before.
Ta!
Just got home from work. I felt this need to come check this thread :p Yep count me in.
Are you going for dash out and door card removal as well? One thing you haven't mentioned is the speakers, are these in the doors.
Nope, all that came out the dash is the glovebox. We decided to be wusses and leave the heater in :p
There is some kind of rule about the door cars that the door and window mechanisms need to be hidden, so it's really pointless to remove the cards as we'd have to make some kind of cover for them! I think by the end of the series we might have done this but it's not a priority for the first event.
The speakers are on the dash, so I might take them out next weekend!!
Del Lardo
18-02-2008, 23:11
Stick me down for 2:
Paul O'Donovan
Klara Gajdosova
Can't be sure of attendance but for £7 I'll happily cough up and take the risk.
What time does it start/finish? Can recommend a few nice pubs in Cambridge & surrounding areas if people want to do lunch/dinner.
Vix, what is the format for the day? How many runs do you get to do and roughly how long is each run?
Don't know exact times but it's a full day. Don't think we'll be leaving the venue for lunch but going somewhere afterwards could be doable. (Vix likes Cambridge anyway)
Format is basically 2/3 practise runs in the morning then about the same number of timed runs in the afternoon. Exact numbers of runs will depend on how many competitors there are and how slick the organisers get at putting people through. Each run will be about a minute or so.
Suddenly sounds like crap value for money when you compare the amount of time behind the wheel to a track day but I like the element of competition, even if it is only trying to beat your own time. :p
I think food afterwards sounds like a great idea! Bring picnics for lunch :)
Thanks everyone for your support *hugs*
Del Lardo
18-02-2008, 23:39
Suddenly sounds like crap value for money when you compare the amount of time behind the wheel to a track day but I like the element of competition, even if it is only trying to beat your own time. :p
This is why I stopped doing sprints in my Elise. Used to take park in the SELOC spring series at North Weald and that was £50 for six 1 minute runs. While it was fun I was always in the middle of group on my own (too good to compete with the bottom 3 and never good enough to compete with the top 2). On the other hand I could do an Activity day at the same airfield for £20 and easily get 20-30 minutes of "track" time. I'm personally not convinced that Sprinting is very good value though if you are looking for the competitive edge it's certainly the cheapest and easiest way to start.
Ooh, yes please as a spectator :)
Richard Cooper (Al Queda membership lapsed tell them!).
Cool, paying the fees tonight so last orders please :)
I have been reading around and the stock weight figures for the mk1's seems to be in the 1100kg mark. How much are you looking at shaving off with what you are doing?
His weight at MOT day was 1050kg.
I think the aim is just to get as light as we can without chopping metal!
I'm going to weigh all the soundproofing when that's done so that we know how much weight that was.
24th Feb
I returned home from work on Friday to find that Phil had managed to do three corners of suspension already! Cue some quick pics before he gets done:
The new suspension waiting to go on, currently sat in the front boot!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/newsuspension.jpg
Suspension on the car:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/suspensionon.jpg
Undoing the droplinks to get the old suspension off:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/droplink.jpg
And Phil finally putting the last wheel back on. All done!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/suspensiondone.jpg
Well, that’s now the end of all the really technical stuff, and we now have a car that is road and trackworthy. We’re well ahead of schedule so we can now do all the niggly bits such as polishing, and trying to save as much weight as possible. However, first I had to clean my own car as she looked like this:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/dirtysakura.jpg
She’s been neglected lately so I gave her a quick wipe.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/cleansakura.jpg
OK, now on with Humphrey! I carried on shipping away at the soundproofing whilst Phil got started on the dash and heater. We had originally decided to keep these items in, but as we had time to kill, we may as well remove them.
One big pile of stuff later:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/pile.jpg
And we have a much more stripped out car:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/partstripped.jpg
We had to be in Chelmsford on Saturday night for a friend’s surprise party, so work was finished early. More stripping (!) will ensure next weekend. On the way back from seeing our friends on Sunday, we picked up some Sparco race seats and harnesses, which are a lot lighter than the standard MR2 seats. Have you ever seen an MR2 with four seats before? Now you have:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/seats.jpg
Unfortunately it rained on the way home so they are now drying off in the living room!
Good effort all round :)
Looking forward to seeing you cane it on track!
Looking good, oh and there is carpet in that boot, as well as a wheel. Get a can of that weld stuff in instead.
Looking good, oh and there is carpet in that boot, as well as a wheel. Get a can of that weld stuff in instead.
No there isn't ;)
Actually on second thoughts there is but it doesn't count. I did empty the front boot but then I temporarily filled it with junk which happens to include the carpets from the interior.
Spare wheel will be going back in there (although not the one in the pic because the tyre is down to the canvas) but will come out before hitting the track anyway. As we'll be taking a spare MR2 to each event anyway the plan is to have 4 decent dry weather tyres on the car (admittedly to start with it'll just be the best 4 of whatever I've already got lying around, probably 2 good Yokohama A539s and 2 quite worn ones), we'll then carry a pair of spare dries (one in the front of each car) for emergency use or if we kill any tyres on track plus the support car has a set of Goodyear Hydragrips on which we'll swap over to the track car if the track is wet.
Ah, you seem to have it sorted. Considering this is your first season you do seem very prepared.
One thing that I remembered last night. There was somewhere doing replacement cams fitted for 500 which takes the mr2 upto about 160bhp? Just thinking since you are mechanically minded whether getting the cams and installing yourself is an option?
Hope you don't mind me spamming with questions, but which owners club are you members of? There are loads on the net, most with very limited mk1 sections. I also spotted a mk1a with a 1b engine on pistonheads, damn windows need buying first *shakes fist*
Leaving the engine as it is at the moment. If I decide to play around with it further down the line I'll probably go with some sort of aftermarket Engine management (Megasquirt or something) plus cams. Tuning a 4A-GE isn't terribly cost effective though so it's way down the list.
Club/Forum wise the mr2 mk1 club is the 'main' club we're a part of (Vix is treasurer plus East Anglia area organiser, I'm supposed to be doing the new website when I get sufficently motivated to finish it). The mk1 club currently have a forum hosted by imoc.co.uk so forum wise I'm mostly on there as it's the most active mk1 forum around. I also browse the east anglia forum on mr2oc.co.uk as most of the local MR2 owners are on there. I also stick my head into twobrutal every now and again just to see what the nutters are up to these days.
Got insurance sorted today, just 3rd party to get us to/from events plus it'll mean we can use the car as a backup should one of the road cars be out of action for any reason.
Bit more than I wanted to pay. Cost a whole £172.
1st March
No pictures today as nothing was really done worth documenting! I continued chipping the soundproofing, and have finally finished this awful task. The whole bag of chippings I created weighed 10kg, so that’s some weight saved!
Phil had other things to be getting on with today due to his car failing the MOT on Friday and also Sakura’s being due at the start of March. We know she is going to fail and is already booked in for bodywork, however her brakes also need attention. So once I had finished the soundproofing, I helped Phil change the brake fluid, and we also found some other problems which would explain why her brakes had been so pants lately. Good!
There have been some interesting announcements in the Sprint Series this week. They have managed to get a sponsorship from Toyo tyres which means cheap tyres for us!! The best thing about this is they are doing the deal on the tyres Phil decided would be the best for us. We got a very good deal, although we aren’t allowed to disclose the price.
The other announcement was that Toyota are entering 5 diesel Auris’s (Aurisses?) in the series. The are going to be driven by a different driver at each event and we have been told to look out for celebrities and racing drivers as well as general customers, employees and press.
We have paid our entry fees for the first round, and currently there are only 3 drivers in our class. It is official that I’m the only girl driving too. However we beat the Aygo class as that only has one entrant! I will be soooo gutted if that beats me though.
We still have a few things to do, the seats need fitting which is going to take some bodging. We also plan to do an oil change. I still haven’t cleaned Humphrey but obviously this can be done last. We will soon get our entry pack with sponsor stickers and numbers to plaster all over him too. He looks like a racecar on the inside now, with the stripped out interior, but the logos and number will make him look like one on the outside. Hurrah!
Received an important delivery today:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/tyrestack.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/tread.jpg
Eek, how much did that little lot come to?
I'm not allowed to say :p They came direct from Toyo at a *very* competitive price.
Flibster
05-03-2008, 21:20
R888's?
Good tyre. :D
Very nice :)
What's the details on the waterbeach do? I need to start making sure I don't book anything else! What time to get there etc? :)
Not got any exact times at the moment, but based on previous experience, as competitors we have to be there silly early but there won't be anything going on until maybe 9-10am and even then it'll most likely be practice. The proper competitive stuff will most likely be in the afternoon.
Should be getting full details early next week though.
Ok cool :) Had a bit of a panic yest when I thought it was the Sat, but Sun is fine, hence the Q :)
9th March
ONE WEEK TO GO!!!
Phil has taken next week off work to get the last few bits sorted. We have had a bit of a setback with Phils car failing the MOT last week and Sakura failing this week! This weekend has mainly been spent getting Phil car ready for the retest which he passed on Saturday, and having a look at what we are going to do with Sakura.
The only work done on Humphrey were an oil change, top up the gear box oil and then grind off the front towing eyes. That might sound like a bit of a silly idea, but the towing eyes at the front were really only there for tying the car down, and are connected to such rust prone area that it’s a gamble trying to tow from them. It’s better just getting rid of them and pointing to the tow points further under the car! (Hopefully we wont have to be towed anyway but it’s a requirement to have marked tow points!)
So there might be some updates in the week but if not, the next report will be the Sprint report!!
Looking good! Sorry to hear about Phil's car & Sakura failing their MOT's. At least you were pretty much expecting it though. Bloody cars!!! :D You doing any events in the Midlands? Would really love to come and see you go round/ try and take some decent pics. Let me know when the dates/venues come out :)
Closest we get to the midlands is Barkston Heath in Lincolnshire on 4th May. Full calendar is:
16th March – Waterbeach, Cambs
4th May - Barkston Heath, Lincs
14th June - Teesside Aerodrome (Daylight)
17th August – Woodbridge, Suffolk
25th October - Teesside Aerodrome (Dark)
Weather is looking a bit crap at the moment (as is traditional when you take time off to work on cars) but it's supposed to get a bit better this afternoon so I might still get something productive done today.
Got some running around and odd jobs to do this morning anyway:
Take Sakura to the body shop in 10 minutes time or so.
Wander into town to get tax for Humphrey
On the way back home drop by the tyre place and get a price for fitting our nice new tyres
Order some bits that I'll need to do the other MOT work for Sakura
Maybe drop some wheels/tyres in at the tyre place pending the outcome of above.
Hopefully by the time I've done that lot the weather will have calmed down.
Anyone fancy a lift to Cambridge from Chelmsford on Sunday?
One of our groupies have dropped out so there is a spare ticket, but I'm not sure how we go about changing names.
Kate - I hope you can make it to one of our events as I'd love you to do some pics!!!
12th March
The seat is in and the tyres are on!!! Unfortunately it’s been peeing it down since the tyres went on so we haven’t had a chance to really try them out yet!!!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/tread.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/interior1.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/interior2.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/interior3.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/interior4.jpg
At the moment we still have a standard seatbelt in, although we have managed to get some proper harnesses for a 2 seater car, which will be in before the end of the Season!
The steering wheel is a pink suede Momo job, which I had in my last classic Mini! It’s been kicking around here ever since I sold my lovely Mini as it was my sole reminder of her. I’m really glad it’s being put to a great use now!
Today, Phil is mainly pottering and just doing little jobs. He has removed the back trim from the numberplate:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/backstripped.jpg
You can also see the TOW stickers on this pic!
He has taken the heater out and made a very neat job or re-routing the pipes in the frunk:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/frunkstripped.jpg
A few other weight saving things happened in the frunk, plastic trim has been removed and also the clips for the sunroof storage.
Here is Humphrey from the front, along with TOW stickers!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/frontstickers.jpg
I’m also publishing this diary and reports from events in a magazine called MR2 Only, which is quite exciting!!!
I quite enjoyed reading that, even though cars bore me to death ;D
You go guys :cool:
I thought I’d best try on the gear again and get in the car. I’ve never driven with a helmet on before so it’s going to take a bit of getting used to I think!
My driving pose:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/racingvix2.jpg
Flibster
12-03-2008, 21:02
Lets hope there's some reasonable weather before the event so you can wear the release agent of those tyres. Very slippery otherwise.
This may sound silly, but do the bumpers contain a rather dense foam in them? I remember putting an Esprit on a diet and we got something like a 20kg reduction just from removing that crap from the bumpers.
Seating pose... As long as your elbows are slightly bent you should be fine. :D
If you can get one, there's a little thing for the seatbelt that allows you to pull it tighter than you normally would and hold it there - holds you in place better than a normal seatbelt, but not better than a harness. Wish I could rmember what the thing was called.
Enjoy. ;)
Not sure if Phil has consindere the bumper foam, but yes there is some in there. I think we are worried about taking the front bumper off as there is just rust behind there ;)
Re the seating pose - I was massing and will bend my elbows. I'm probs just gonna use my normal fast driving pose anyway which is similar (not the cruise pose where my hand is at 12 O clock :))
We have the CG locks (seatbelt thing) on both our road cars. It helps my back no end especially as a passenger in Phils, so we will be using one of those in this. We will get the harnesses done though but also leave the normal belt in for road driving.
Flibster
12-03-2008, 21:37
Naaah - strip them out - saves more weight. ;)
The bumpers are a big steel bar with foam outside them and then the decorative outer skin.
The back bumper is definately being gutted at some point, plan is to ditch the foam plus as much of the steel as I can whilst still being able to bolt it to the car leaving just the outer skin in place. If I go into anything backwards there's still an engine and 3 bulkheads between me and the outside world so it should be safe enough.
Right we've got some details through on times and stuff. Easiest thing is if I direct you here:
http://www.fensport.co.uk/downloadfiles/Waterbeach%20TSS%2016.03.08.doc
Most of this is only of relevance to competitors however it does state that I'm supposed to make sure all our groupies are aware of certain bits of it so please have a quick read. I'm guessing we'll be aiming to arrive somewhere between 7:45 and 8am. On track action will be starting at about 10am.
One important thing you'll need to be aware of that I've picked up from there is that you will need to have some form of ID with you. Seeing as this is presumably for security reasons as part of entering a live military facility I'd suggest you make sure you bring something a little more credible than your nectar card. I've also seen mention that they will need addresses for all spectators. Not sure whether these will need to be given in advance or if it'll be information that they'll take from you on the day so could you please PM me or vix with it just in case I need to pass it on.
Hmmm, when should we be looking to roll up then?
Whenever you want really. Anytime from 8 if you're really keen but it might get a bit boring if there's nothing on track to watch.
Sent both a text with addy details
See you tomorrow :D
Mr Z, you'll be pleased to know I only had 1 beer after my meal, so should be reasonably coherant for the journey :)
Ok, so I had a few before watching the rugby, but that don't count, right? :evil:
Give me an hour's notice before you're ready to leave please :)
Del Lardo
16-03-2008, 14:27
On the off chance there is anyone there with a net connection on their phone unfortionately Klara and I won't be able to make it. Young lady lady been riding the Chunder Bus to the Temple of the Porcelain Godess for most of the day and it looks like it's going to be a long ride!
PM bank details and I will transfer money for tickets straight away.
Just got back, it was very very cold. Gradually regaining feeling in hands.
Looks like a lot of fun, not much room for spectators though bar the paddock. Still met a few good people from the owners club and generally had a laugh. When we left Vix was getting more confident with hooning around.
Having had a good look at the car, it really is stripped! Bar as Phil said, cutting metal there isn't anything else to go :D
Agreed :) Just a tad chilly and draughty! Was a good view of the start point, but then the cars disappeared out of view, and was too cold be be advemturous and see if there were any other viewing areas.
A good mix of cars going round, from ~1983 to date.
We hung around until the end of round 3 and they broke for lunch, but alas pneumonia was knocking on the door!
Took a small number of pics, will post them shortly.
Pics:
http://www.saabcentral.com/phpgallery/album119
Cool pics!
Cheers to you guys for coming along, and braving the elements. I haven't been that cold for a long time!
I also haven't had that much fun for a long time! It was a hoot! I did get a lot better in the afternoon, and managed to improve on my time by 14 seconds. Still I was the slowest there but it was such fun, and I'll get better and faster with more practice.
Proper report to follow but too tired tonight!!!
14 seconds improvement is great progress. Don't forget you're a noob - by the end of the season you'll probably have to push incredibly hard to just knock 1 or 2 seconds off :D
A track that slippery also probably helped you explore the limits much more than somewhere like silverstone would.
How was Phil's times?
oh, feel free to link to the pics. The album is hidden from public view, so only people with the direct link to either the album or pic can see it.
The track dried considerably in the afternoon so I also improved by 4 seconds or so. Unfortunately it wasn't enough and other cars in the class improved by more and I only finished 3rd in class.
I wasn't sure whether to put the R888s on at lunchtime or not, with the poor quality of the surface I wasn't convinced they'd make much difference but in hindsight I probably should have used them.
My times:
Run 1: 1:15.23 (wet)
Run 2: 1:15.13 (wet)
Run 3: 1:15.35 (wet)
Lunch (At this point all of my runs were faster than anyone else in class had done)
Run 4: 1:14.57 (damp)
Run 5: 1:13.76 (dry)
Run 6: 1:11.10 (dry)
Run 7: 1:12.90 (dry)
1st in class did a 1:08.xx and 2nd in class was only 0.05 ahead of me.
March 17th
So yesterday was the moment of truth!!!
We got up at 6:30 which is a feat in itself on a Sunday and set off to Waterbeach. As we knew the weather was going to be wet (bit of an understatement actually!), Phil had changed the tyres from our lovely new R888s to a set of Yokohama A539’s. They would at least help on the drive to Waterbeach and of course we took the R888s with us in case the weather got better.
Once we got to the track, we put waterproofs on straight away. The weather was horrendous. Freezing cold rain and a wind which built up speed on the way down the runway in the same way the Hawker Hunters had done in the past. Well, lets just say it was Cold with a capital C!!!
Our first task was to fit the stickers, as it is required by the Sprint Series that all cars carry the sponsor’s stickers. Have you ever tried to stick things to a car in the cold, wet and wind? My advice is don’t!!! We gave up on the sunstrip as that was just going to end in tears!!! Anyway, we sort of got most of them on in the end!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/stickered1.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/stickered2.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/stickered3.jpg
At 9:30 we had the drivers briefing and then it was a mad dash to get in the cars for two sighting laps. As it was compulsory for every driver to do the sighting laps, Phil took his road car out onto the track too. I thought I best drive Humphrey though to see what it really felt like!
The track began with a layout of cones, with the idea that you go between them in a ‘gate’ sort of fashion. My first worry was that I’d get lost so first of all concentrated on remembering where they were. Then there was a fantastic sweeping left hander, opening out onto a long straight ending in a tight chicane. After that was a right hand sweep into a long straight for the finish. After the finish was a very long trek to get back to the paddock, which we were warned to drive slowly for, which made it take even longer!!
Once the sighting laps were done, it was time to start queuing for two untimed practice laps. Phil decided that as we were sharing a car, it was a good idea to out early otherwise we might find that we miss out on runs. As it happened, we did start to get behind, but the marshals realised this and allowed drivers sharing cars to jump the queue.
Phil went out first for his practice, so he could tell me what the track was like. I went to the start as it’s important to get the start right on a sprint, so I wanted to watch some others to try and pick up tips! Throughout the day, the ‘traffic light’ starting system kept failing and towards the end, the marshals were just doing a 5…4…3…2…1…GO! Which was lots of fun!!
Phil finally got to the front of the queue. For his first run the traffic light was working and he went on the green light. Through the first gate, and suddenly he braked sharply and locked up the front wheels! He had nearly missed the second gate! It was quite a sharp right from the first gate and it was out of his line of sight, so he had started heading for gate three before realising!!!
The way the track was laid out meant you could only see to the end of the coned section, and missed seeing the second half of the track and the finish. It wasn’t great for our spectators (thanks to all who showed up to support us!!). However I finally saw Humphrey driving up the runway towards to paddock, and then it was my turn!
I got a bit nervous waiting in the queue, but once I got to the front and started concentrating on my start, I felt fine. After the third gate I was loving it! However when I got back to the paddock, Phil said people had laughed at me because of how slow I was. I never expected to be a natural at this! I knew I needed to concentrate more and really get my foot down, brake less and start scaring myself!
We had three timed runs before a lunch break, and I was definitely feeling more and more confident each time. I was GUTTED when Phil brought my times back and saw that I was a good 20 seconds off the pace. However I had made a 7 second improvement from my first to last run! Phil was doing brilliantly and was first in the class.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/racingphil.jpg
On to the afternoon, after a yummy chilli and chips from the catering van. As the track dried out, I got more and more confident, and just had more and more fun! Phil was debating a tyre change, but every time he thought about it, it would start to rain. However, in the dry, power becomes a higher factor than skill and Phil dropped down to 3rd in class – only a few tenths of a second behind the 2nd in class – something we might have been able to claw back with the other tyres. However, on the plus side he was the fastest in a N/A Mk1 so that’s an achievement! And before you ask, yes I was slowest. Still well off the pace although improving on my morning times by 14 seconds. I’m embarrassed to say that the Toyota Aygo actually beat my times
So finally we were packing up and I was dreaming about the lovely hot bath I would have once I got home. My arms and shoulders ached, I never realised driving could be so painful. Maybe this is even something that is holding me back!
I’d had the most fun possible today. I really didn’t think I’d enjoy it as much as I did. I was pooping myself in the morning and nearly bottled it quite a few times. At least not I’m going to be confident from the start at the next sprint and hopefully will push myself further.
Phil and I have booked a trackday at Snetterton next week, and also a tuition session each, which I’m sure I’ll benefit from immensely. In the meantime, Humphrey is being used as a daily driver as Sakura is still at the bodyshop!
25th March 2008
Just got the official pics back from the photographer. They are cool! He even got shots of our road car when Phil had to take him out on track. Hopefully later in the season we will have some nice pics of Sakura!
Just uploaded a few.
My ‘driving face’ is either a mad grin as seen below or quite a dumb gawp…
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/me3small.jpg
Phil giving it some!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/phil1small.jpg
Me giving it some off the start line muahaha!!! Phil is in the background of this shot. He says he had been to the loo as I was in a long queue. Just as he came out and started walking he heard a car wheelspinning off the line. He thought ‘wow they are trying’ then realised it was me. He was proud :D
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/wheelspin.jpg
Some of the other stuff that was there to give an idea of the diversity:
Aygo:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/waterbeach08/aygo.jpg
Celicas:
(There were plenty of other ST185s and ST205s but I just included the liveried ones because they look more interesting :p)
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/waterbeach08/st165.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/waterbeach08/thor celica.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/waterbeach08/daitoku celica.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/waterbeach08/loctite celica.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/waterbeach08/gen 7 celica.jpg
Corollas:
AE92 Corolla GTi, was second in our class. Actually driven by someone else from work although I didn't know him beforehand.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/waterbeach08/ae92.jpg
Fensport Corolla - Set fastest time of the day.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/waterbeach08/fensport corolla.jpg
Lexus:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/waterbeach08/lexus.jpg
MR2s:
mk1.5
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/waterbeach08/mk1point5.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/waterbeach08/mk2.jpg
Mk2V6 which I almost beat (Will get him next time :p)
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/waterbeach08/mk2v6.jpg
Sera:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/waterbeach08/sera.jpg
Starlets:
Mad RWD 4A-GE powered starlet, conversion was only finished the night before the event. Spent most of the event sideways. Won our class.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/waterbeach08/starlet.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/waterbeach08/ep82 starlet.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/waterbeach08/ep91 starlet.jpg
pics are currently down due to me trying to upload large files and our ISP deleting our entire webspace :(
*pics are now back up...
pics are currently down due to me trying to upload large files and our ISP deleting our entire webspace :(
Booo :(
We went 97MB over our limit last night and plusnet's calm, measured response was to wipe the lot overnight without warning. :angry:
Did a trackday today. Mini report to follow, in the meantime have some pics from this link;
http://finkydink.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album09
Ooh, you got the windscreen thingy on now :) Hope you had fun!
edit: and another seat!
We went 97MB over our limit last night and plusnet's calm, measured response was to wipe the lot overnight without warning. :angry:
Meh.. our automated systems just redirect access to the site to a holding page, like on most sensible / standard platforms.
Ooh, you got the windscreen thingy on now :) Hope you had fun!
edit: and another seat!
Yup instead of doing the sunstrip on a windy and rainy airfield, Phil did it last night in the dark :D
We kinda had to fit the other seat as we needed to both be in the car today, so I could get experience of Phils driving, and so he could give me some guidance*, and also the instructor needed somewhere to sit :D
*mainly 'get your foot down' 'Give it some juice' 'Go faster...'
27th March
Today Phil and I took Humphrey to Snetterton to do a trackday. Phil had also booked us a tutorial session each.
Last weekend, Phil had fitted the passenger seat as the idea was for us to go out in Humphrey together so that I could see Phil driving and get a feel for what the car can do and also so that Phil could observe me and give me some tips. Also, during the tuition, our instructor would need somewhere to sit! Phil also finally fitted the Sprint Series sunstrip, which we had decided not to do at a rainy and windy runway in Cambridgeshire.
We had an early start but fortunately Snetterton is 10 minutes down the road from us. Some people must have had very early starts however as most of the garages were used when we got there. We did get a garage though which was rather handy as a base to dump things – especially as it was raining. It was pointed out that it’s good for me to get experience in the wet though as obviously grip isn’t as good so I will be experienced enough to control the car in the wet and also go faster in the dry! In theory anyway!
We had a couple of sighting laps with Phil behind the wheel and then Phil went out for a run with me as the passenger. It was still quite wet and actually raining so we took it fairly steady as were most of the other drivers. I was amazed though at how much grip we were still getting even in the wet and how fast you can actually go round corners. I’m learning!
After a few laps, we took Humphrey back to the pits to have a cool off and make sure everything was still where it should be. It was, and so I got in the driver seat and went out. I was much slower than Phil and got rather frustrated at having to keep moving over for the faster cars. We had been told in the briefing that overtaking could be done on the straights only, but it’s still rather unnerving to have a car right up your bumper when trying to concentrate on speed, braking and racing lines!
Unfortunately after about 4 laps a red flag was waved and we all had to go back into the pits. I decided I was hungry so had a rather nice full English at the café whilst they sorted out the stranded car on track.
We went and arranged our tuition and then Phil had another go on track. Unfortunately as we got to the first corner we noticed a car had overcooked it quite a lot and had managed to get stuck in the gravel. Another red flag so a trip back to the pits. We decided to just stay in the queue this time and went straight back out once the car was cleared. The track was drying quite nicely now and there was a definite drier line to follow. Phil had trouble with understeer and we had a few hairy moments round some corners! Once he had done a few laps, we returned to the pits and changed tyres to our rather handy spares on the road car. Upon removing the tyres from Humphrey, we saw that they were virtually slick on the inside so a major contributor to the understeer!
It was time for my tuition! I did a few laps without him saying much so he got an idea of how I was driving, and then started giving tips and advice. He was absolutely fab, and I really improved. He even told Phil this afterwards. I found that I had been driving up to a corner, panicking, braking hard, realising I was braking too ahrd, accelerating, being scared, braking again, going all over the place and coming out of the corner all wrong! I learnt to smoothly brake into the corner, get all my braking done, then start steering and finally booting it out of the corner. I realised that most of my hairy moments were actually down to me panic- braking rather than any speed or other reasons. Good lesson!
My tutor also made me laugh a lot. As there were still cars coming up faster behind me, I was pulling over on straights and after corners, and he was like ‘what are you doing? Don’t tell me you are pulling over for that? Let him sort himself out and you concentrate on the driving, I’ll have words later if anything is said’. He also explained to me that the use of two fingers was entirely permitted with aggressive drivers (but I was still too scared and pulled over anyway!)
Lunchtime was soon upon us and after a cheese baguette we had a nice lounge around at the garage. The sun had come out and it was rather pleasant sat just out of the breeze. This sun meant the track had dried pretty much completely and I was looking forward to my first run on dry track! After lunch Phil had his tuition, which gave me the opportunity to take some pictures at Russell.
Phil also said he had felt the benefit of the tuition, probably not as much as I did though! Once Humphrey had had a rest, I went back out. I really felt a lot smoother and less panicked, and Phil noticed a difference too. I got the tyres squealing at most corners which must mean I’m going faster! However, I was still slow and cars were still bullying me out of the way. I got very stressed when a Porsche tried to undertake at Russell, it’s a hard chicane to do anyway and they weren’t supposed to be doing it on corners I came in soon after as my concentration had gone to pot. I’d love to have just been out on the track with no other cars to really get the corners sorted!
After another rest, and a top up with fuel, Phil took Humphrey out again. It had been raining on and off whilst I had been out so the track was getting a little greasy again. At least this had the advantage of fewer cars on track. We were just remarking how much grip there still appeared to be, when Phil lost the back coming out of the bombhole. We ended up going backwards down the track, and then Phil cleverly flicked the front round so we were facing the correct way. No other cars were about and phil had managed to keep us on track at all times. Good show! We carefully went back to the pits however just to make sure everything was ok. It was, and we were soon out again. The track was much greasier now as it had still been slightly raining and we noticed that there was very little grip on most corners. A few laps later and the intimidating Porsche was back on our bumper. Not sure what happened next, maybe Phils concentration was a bit off because of the Porsche, maybe we had gone on to a wetter part of track so he could pass, but the next thing we knew we were spinning again. Phil managed to control it again, so we ended up off the track, but on tarmac. We were a bit worried as we were right before the apex of a corner after the pit straight, and cars didn’t know we were there. However a marshall could see down the straight and waved us out when it was clear. We took it steady back to the pits in case there was a problem with the car. We really don’t know what happened. Anyway Humphrey appeared fine on the way back, and we got to the pits with no other problems.
I think the spins had shaken me up a little, (but it was fun!), as I decided I didn’t want to do another drive. It was about 25 mins to the end of the day anyway so we packed up and watched the last of the cars on track. I think I was just tired and didn’t think I was going to get much out of the last run. I’d rather end on a positive and confident note than something bad happen on my last run and I’d have the lasting memory of it!
What with rain, tuition and red flags, we didn’t really get much track time each for a 8 hour day. However we have used a tank of fuel! I feel I got a lot out of watching Phil drive, and the tuition, and also having a chance to drive properly again. Hopefully this will show in the next sprint!!
We had a webspace problem earlier so I uploaded my pics to an album online. More pics from the day can be found here, and they aren’t all of us for once!
http://finkydink.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album09
'Professional' photos have been received. Sorry about the watermarks!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/track1prof.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/track2prof.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/track3prof.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/track4prof.jpg
i saw him take this one, the cheeky thing! I quite like it but it's a shame Phil has his eyes shut!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/pitsprof.jpg
Del Lardo
29-03-2008, 18:35
Who was the track day organiser? If you felt that the Porsche was bullying you out of the way or overtaking where they shouldn't do then you should talk to the organiser. I only ever did track days with LoT (Lotus on Track) as they were very strict about that kind of behavior. If the Porsche had been seen overtaking in a corner or braking zone he would have been black flagged for the day as is it simply too dangerous with people of a wide range of skill levels on the circuit.
I know someone got black flagged just as I came in so I'm pretty sure it was him. My instructor even told me not to be intimidated and to keep my lines when other cars were trying to push me out of the way, but that Porsche was just dangerous :(
I might try and get to a Mk1 Club organised day, or even another forum (!) one, as it will probably be a bit less intimidating.
Anyone fancy a trackday? :D
Just had a read through. Glad to see that its beginning to all come together.
Yeah! Some guys in the Sprint Series are also on about doing s driver training day at Donington, which I have expressed interest in. £158 for a full days instruction.
It's either that or £399 for the Academy at Snetterton :/
Not great quality but I took a video on my camera of Humphrey at Snetterton:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQUcKdepx3g
Yeah! Some guys in the Sprint Series are also on about doing s driver training day at Donington, which I have expressed interest in. £158 for a full days instruction.
It's either that or £399 for the Academy at Snetterton :/
Thats damn cheap. Is it a couple of hours training each spread over the day?
It is cheap but they guy who is organising it reckons it's one instructor each for the whole day! I somehow can't see it though.
I was under the impression it's one instructor for the day between a group of 4.
Yeah! Some guys in the Sprint Series are also on about doing s driver training day at Donington, which I have expressed interest in. £158 for a full days instruction.
It's either that or £399 for the Academy at Snetterton :/
If it's at Donny, you will have the added bonus of a free photographer on site. It's about 15 mins away from here :D
Woohoo! I'll do a trackday up there anyway :D
Well, the words and pictures you have all seen before, but this is what they look like in print:
(They actually look better but the scanner lowered the quality a bit!)
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/page1.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/page2.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/page3.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/page4.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/page5.jpg
Just over a week to go until the next event. Originally I had plans to get plenty more done on the car during the 6 weeks between the first 2 events. Unfortunately Vix's car has spent most of that time in the bodyshop resulting in her using my car and me being dependent on the track car for work making me reluctant to start any big jobs.
Vix's car is now back on the road though so I can try and get a couple of bits done before the next round. Today I removed the passenger seat again then had a go at the valve clearances. Most of our mk1s have had a rattly top end at some point and I usually just ignore it but with this one being abused on track I decided I'd better try and do something about it, then once I've done it once I'll have more confidence doing the same job on any of the others.
Didn't take any pictures but the job involves:
Remove cam covers
Set cylinder 1 to TDC
Use feeler gauges to measure clearances on half of the valves.
Spin the crank 360 degrees and measure the other half.
The valve clearances on a 4A-GE are set by having shims of varying thickness on the tops of the buckets. Adjusting is a case of determining the thickness of shim required and then swapping in the correct thickness shim. You should use a proper tool to depress the valve to help you get the shims out, not having access to this tool I took the alternative option of undoing all of the cam caps which allows the camshaft to lift just enough to get the shims out without having to completely remove the cams and have to mess with cambelt/timing etc. Also as I'm fortunate enough to have plenty of spares I pilfered all of the shims from a spare cylinder head to give me a good selection to choose from when setting the clearances.
Managed to set all but one of the valves to within spec (some of them started way out) only one I couldn't was right at the pulley end of the exhaust cam where I couldn't get the camshaft to move enough to get the shim out. As the clearance on this valve was too low rather than too high I didn't really worry about it too much. I'll try and remember to sort it if/when I do a cambelt change.
Engine started fine and sounded more or less ok. For some reason this car gets noisier once things have warmed up whereas they're normally noisy from cold so I will need to go for a bit of a drive sometime to see if I've quietened the head down but given how far out of spec some of the clearances were I'd be very surprised if I haven't made some difference. Only slight concern is that whilst I had the car running on the drive there seemed to be the occasional misfire at idle. Will have to keep an eye on that, see if it gets better/worse. The well around plug #3 was full of oil so I'm hoping it was just a bit of oil that got on the plug / inside the cylinder when I took it out and it'll cure itself after a run.
Not going to try anything else too adventurous this close to an event, sometime in the next week I just need to give the car a wash so I can apply the vinyl backing for our nice new magnetic numbers and if the weather looks like holding up I'll be able to refit the R888s. This may also result in going for a test drive as this car is so much fun on those tyres.
5/5/08
“Why Does it Always Rain on Raceday?”
Barkston Heath is about 2 hours drive from us, but we had an advantage as my parents were staying at a caravan site half an hour away! On Saturday morning, we packed up all the essentials, 4 spare ‘intermediate’ tyres, Humprey was on the R888s and we were taking Sakura on the full wets. Phil found a nice little toolbox which he fills with all the necessary tools needed to rebuild an MR2 at the side of a track, our box of random stuff including tape and blocks of wood, and of course the jack.
It was a lovely afternoon and once we got to the caravan, Phil decided he just had to tinker some more and decided to re locate the boot and petrol cap releases as he keeps kicking them when he is leaving the car. These releases are located normally just by the edge of the drivers seat by the door. He managed to put them on the back wall behind the seat, so they are still accessible and not in the way. Good show.
All tinkering done, we finally settled down to a fairly early night. It rained throughout the night although not constantly and when we got up on the Sunday morning it was very overcast and dull. There were still a few showers as we drove to the venue but they cleared up quite quickly and didn’t appear to put any serious water on the road.
We arrived at Barkston very early, and managed to get set up, scrutineered and signed on very early. We got some replacements for some stickers which hadn’t stuck very well at the last event – you may remember me writing that we’d had to put these on in the wind and the rain previously! These didn’t take too long to put on at Barkston so we were able to sit in our chairs and look smug whilst other people were dashing about.
Humphrey and support –Sakura
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/humphnsakura.jpg
As you can see from the picture we now have race numbers, which are magnetic. We just have to swap the 6’s to 7’s when I go out, hence Sakura is currently looking after my 7’s.
Our friends turned up in their Mk1 MR2 which they had finished painting yesterday, which led to a nice MR2 Mk1 Club entry:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/humphnbolly.jpg
Soon we were ready for the sighting laps, and as before one of us had to take the road car out as all drivers *have* to see a sighting lap. I took Sakura out, and had the advantage of taking Jo, the other MR2 Mk1 driver as a passenger, who has raced at Barkston before so was giving me advice on lines and braking etc on the way round. This really helped!
The track was really different to Waterbeach. It was a lot narrower, probably a car and a half width, and there really was no room for error. Most apexes were marked with a pole, and chicanes were made out of tyres or blocks. It was a twisty circuit with one long straight at the start and a short one nearer the end. This was a circuit that really tested ability and handling more than raw power. This was going to be interesting!
The organisers had listened to our feedback at the end of the last Sprint, and they were much more organised with the runs, and more sympathetic towards car sharers. The first driver was to go out quite early and then swap drivers at the end of the paddock, and the second driver would jump the queue, making it much less of a rush to get two runs in. Phil and I were grateful for this as we had installed the harnesses, and due to us being different heights, we had a lap belt each, ready adjusted to ourselves, which we would clip in, instead of having to keep adjusting the same harness.
As with the first sprint, there was to be two untimed practice runs, and the hopefully 8 times runs. Phil went out for his first practice, with no mishaps to report and then it was my turn. I was much calmer this time but as I went round the track I could feel that I was going too slow and got back to the paddock feeling very dejected. The harnesses had really pinned me to the seat and had caused pain in my shoulder, and I could just tell that I could easily have got more speed. I decided to use the normal seatbelt for a bit to see if it made me feel less in pain and more confident!
By the second practice run, I still felt like I could not get any more speed out of the car. I knew I was braking too much and accelerating too little, but couldn’t see where or how I could brake less or accelerate more. This was very frustrating.
The day went on like this for me, although each run I felt I was getting better. When the times came out at lunchtime though, it actually turned out that I had been getting slower. I could not work out how to get quicker although I was feeling more and more confident.
Phil, on the other hand was flying! The two non MR2s in our class had beaten us at Waterbeach, however the Corolla wasn’t doing anything this time, and Phil was slowly catching the mad Starlet.
The weather throughout the day was showery but warm, and it was a bit of a pot luck as to whether you got a wet track or a dry one. We managed to stay on the R888s all day and Phil only got one really wet run where he couldn’t get grip.
In the afternoon I went out determined to be QUICKER! The weather had put me off a little, but as the track dried further into the afternoon, I managed to start pulling back my times a little. My last time of the day was the quickest, as at Waterbeach, and I think I need to have that mentality of ‘right, this is it’ a little earlier in the day in order to throw the car about and really hoon.
We managed to get 8 runs in the end which was great, although Phil wanted one more as he was still catching the Starlet.
When the results were announced, we were really pleased that Phil had got second place in the class, predictably the Starlet was 1st. The difference in time between 1st and 2nd place was just over a tenth of a second!
Phil came 13th overall out of around 50 of us, beating a lot of the higher classes consisting of GT4’s turbo MR2s, V8 Supras, and V6 MR2s. You wont be surprised to know I came last again, but I still had lots of fun!!
The dynamic duo:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/philnhumph.jpg
Trophy:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/trophy.jpg
Official photos have been purchased but one of the other photographers had posted some of his pics, including the really fetching one of me:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/sleepy.jpg
Phil had mentioned that the clutch had been slipping throughout the day, and on our little convoy back to the caravan, I noticed he wasn’t keeping up with myself and Sakura at all. The clutch had started slipping badly and he was trying to keep the revs down as we had a 2 hour run home the day after. Needless to say we did manage the run home but now we have a new clutch to fit before the next sprint! So much for a relaxing weekend eh?! At least that’s something to write about, and who knows, we might even had beaten that Starlet with a fully functioning clutch!
I spotted a camera:
http://www.vibrance-net.co.uk/barkston_heath_08/content/DSC06198_large.html
A video of the last event, gives a good idea of some of the other cars there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElX6Iq99pk4
Got a nice shiny delivery today:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/doorcard2.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/doorcard1.jpg
Mmmm carbon:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/carbon.jpg
Checking it fits!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/doorcard3.jpg
The company who we ordered the performance clutch from has turned out to be utterly useless so we have cancelled the order and are just going to use a standard clutch – which should hopefully be here for the weekend.
mmmmm nice. So I guess the idea of cutting stuff out for free has gone out the window?
Or have you already done that?
Most things are still being done on the cheap but Zip spotted these on eBay and they weren't too expensive compared to what I'd have spent buying sheets of aluminium plus the hassle of cutting them to size.
Plus they just look cool compared to a scabby sheet of ally.
Can't fault you there saved a lot of arseing around.
Flibster
21-05-2008, 23:10
Is that true carbon or fibreglass with a layer of carbon?
From the closeup - I'd go with fibreglass. ;)
Still - much better than aluminium. :D
Is that true carbon or fibreglass with a layer of carbon?
From the closeup - I'd go with fibreglass. ;)
Still - much better than aluminium. :D
Not sure I had a quick look but didn't really know what I'm looking for, wouldn't surprise me if it's FG but then they're only 0.8mm thick and I wouldn't know whether you can get 2 layers of carbon plus FG into that sort of thickness. The pair cost £85 anyway so I'm sure you'll be able to work it out just from the material cost.
Even got a couple of offcuts in amongst the packaging (I think they were there to stiffen everything up) which I can muck about with and maybe make something nice out of. CF mousemat is the only thing I've thought of so far :p
25th May 2008
The clutch arrived in the nick of time on Friday just as Phil was getting ready to take the gearbox out. He fitted it easily but then spent about 6 hours trying to get the grearbox in as it was having one of it’s awkward days. We had been lucky before when we fitted the new box that it had just fitted nicely, obviously we weren’t going to have that luck again!
Phil eventually left it on Friday and decided to come back to it Saturday!
Here is what we started with on Saturday morning:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/newclutch.jpg
Observe our shiny new clutch! Unfortunately I wasn’t quick enough with the camera to take a comparison from the old broken one.
It took Phil another few hours to get the gearbox in but eventually it slipped into place. We fortunately didn’t have the problem we had last time with trying to get the engine mount back into place so that part of the job was much less stressful.
Phil then went to start the engine. I think he’d got over excited about trying to test the clutch because he had forgotten to re fit the exhaust!! Cue a rather spluttery and loud start up!
After re-fitting the exhaust, Phil took Humphrey for a run. The passenger seat was still out from the sprint, and there were four wheels in the passenger side anyway so I stayed at home, by the phone in case a rescue mission was needed. It wasn’t and the new clutch is fine, but I think I’m going to have to have a drive of him before the next sprint as the bite point is now very low.
The only other thing that was done today was a bit of extra weight saving by cutting the rear bumper bar out of the bumper. This is a large metal bar, and really does weigh a lot!
Again, Phil did this too quickly for me to take a picture. I can’t help much at the moment as I’m revising, hence the write ups at the moment are more like ‘what Phil did today…’.
I took some pictures around the place today as we have made some other changes to our fleet of cars.
Mister Two is nearly stripped and ready for scrap :(
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/strippedmister2.jpg
He is currently a ‘skip’ for all our bits of metal we are cutting off Humphrey, in order to get the weight up!
The garage:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/garage1.jpg
There is the best part of two cars in there with probably some parts in triplicate. Once the sprint season is over, it’s my job to sort all this stuff out, Phil to decide parts to sell and parts to keep, and then we might be a bit more organised.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/garage2.jpg
As you can see, even the roofspace is full of bodywork.
It’s raining today, so we aren’t sure what to do. Might have a day off and go watch some racing – get some tips!!
The amount of female interest in the Sprint Series has grown, and they have introduced a trophy for fastest female across the classes. Humphrey is capable of beating the faster cars so I really need to concentrate and try and get my times respectable.
I think the answer is simple, you need a bigger house. Preferably one with a double garage.
Problem solved.
Just had a thought.... Carbon sun visor?
We needed that a long time ago!
We don't need a sun visor as we have the sunstrip. Unless Sakura would like one :D
Phil has had a productive afternoon:
Doorcards have been fitted:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/card2.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/card3.jpg
As they came with no holes except for the door release he has also relocated the electric window switches so that we can still get some air whilst driving!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/switches.jpg
More weight saving has taken place, the fans from the front of the radiator have been taken out. A Mk1b side vent has replaced the Mk1a vent as they were much lighter. Only problem with this is it’s off Mister-Two so it’s blue, however it doesn’t look that bad! Mud flaps have also been removed, not much weight saving but it’s a bit. (And someone wanted to buy them!)
Some of the wiring has also been tidied up, as when we removed the two(!) immobilisers we kind of left the wiring dropping about, which is obviously a potential hazard. Phil has become a bit obsessed with removing any wiring he can find whilst still keeping things we need. It’s getting crazy in there!
Whilst tidying up the floor today ready for painting, Phil noticed a little rusty hole, so Humphrey is off back to the body shop tomorrow to have that patched up before it gets out of hand.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/hole.jpg
It’s tiny so not a very big job! Shame one of us can’t weld!
31/5/08
Humphrey returned today with a welded up hole, hurray!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/welded.jpg
Cost us all of a tenner!
Phil then undersealed the area, and then set to work preparing the area to be painted with a wire brush, and then applied the primer.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/priming.jpg
Waiting for the primer to dry
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/primed.jpg
and then applying the red paint
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/painted.jpg
As there was nothing else he could do whilst the paint was drying, we nipped to Snetterton to watch some historic racing.
1/6/08
Phil has been removing more unwanted wires from the loom this morning, I’m worried he’s going to go over the top!!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/loom.jpg
Anyway, fortunately he finally got bored, and started preparing the old rusty dash bar for painting. This is the bar which is usually covered by the dash unless you have a stripped out race car!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/dashbar.jpg
Phil covered it with a few coats of Hammerite and it’s currently in the garage drying as it has a few runs which need sanding down.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/dashbarpainted.jpg
4/6/08
So the Hammerite option didn’t work for some reason, and Phil has been spending the last few evenings prepping another dash bar. This one’s red:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/redbar.jpg
Round 3 at Teesside Autodrome this weekend.
The Teesside rounds are slightly different in that they run on a Saturday evening rather than all day Sunday. There's also the benefit that this event isn't on MoD property so spectators are able pay on the gate as opposed to having to give details in advance so if anyone in the North East is at a lose end this Saturday night feel free to pop along, proceedings are due to start at about 4pm and will run through to about 11pm or so. Entry is £5
The car is all pretty much ready to go, I'm using it for work all this week just to make sure everything is still OK as it's mostly been standing since the last round plus I've pulled lots of things apart. Just some last minute checks on fluid levels and stuff to do before we set off on Friday.
A bit of a late report this week as I have had exams and revision most of the week.
The Teesside sprint was held at Teesside Autodrome on the 14th June. It was a bit different in the fact that it started at 4pm and would go into late evening. We had been warned to make sure our lights were working! I was a bit nervous as I usually improve during the day and didn’t want the darkness to impede on my learning curve!
I think they decided to make the Teesside events (there is another one in October) evenings because of the amount of time it takes people to get there. The majority of entrants I think are South, and many championship contenders did not enter this round due to the travel time. Phil was rather pleased to notice the Starlet which usually beats him had not entered this round!
We were lucky in the fact we could have a stop off at my parents in Yorkshire before carrying on to Teesside, however due to my exams we would have to make the full journey back on Sunday.
So, Saturday morning dawned cloudy but dry and we set off from my parents with me in a bit of a panic as I realised I had no time to revise. (You will notice me being in a panic this weekend is a recurring theme). We had a good, uneventful drive up to Middlesborough. Living in Norfolk, you forget what it’s like to have good roads to get you places instead of B roads with tractors!
We had decided to see if we could check in at the Holiday Inn before we went to the track, to save us having to do this at midnight, or whatever the time the event would finish. However this was not possible but we did meet a few other competitors in the car park who had stayed the night before. A few of the MR2 Mk2 competitors were there, and Phil noticed that all of them had removed the rear spoiler. It was something he had been considering as it’s a weighty lump and really offers no benefit to the kind of driving we are doing. So when we got to the track (early), he decided to remove Humphrey’s spoiler too. Shame he hadn’t thought about this at home as there was lots of lovely moss and general muck where the spoiler had been, and we could have cleaned it up. Never mind.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/nospoiler.jpg
Time went by, and after a little sleep in Sakura, I went back to the hotel to check in. Unfortunately on my way back to the track, even with the satnav, I got inexplicably lost, and the satnav offered no help except suggesting right turns at non existent roundabouts. In the end I literally doubled back on myself and finally got back to the track, in a bit of a stressed mess.
The paddock had started to fill up now, it was tiny as Teesside is mainly a kart circuit so there isn’t much room for full sized cars. Sakura had been relegated to the car park.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/paddock.jpg
In no time at all, and feeling a bit calmer, we attended the briefing, in which we were told the track was three-dimensional, which was interesting. I dashed to the car park for Sakura to do the sighting laps, and took a fellow competitor with me for advice. The track certainly was three dimensional, with a nice left hander leading up quite a steep hill, ending with a right turn, almost a hairpin going back down. Fun.
I felt a lot more confident on this track than I did at the last event, I’ve always enjoyed hills so maybe that was something to do with it! The track was challenging but you had time to think, which wasn’t how I felt at Barkston. In fact I can hardly remember the layout of Barkston but I can remember Teesside. From the start there was a very tight chicane, then a small straight to a right hander, and then the left going up the hill. At the top of the hill it was completely blind going right, so a little daunting at first, but then into a very long straight. At the end of the straight was another tight chicane, which was a total pain was it was difficult to spot. After the chicane was a super-long right hander and then a small straight to the finish.
This was my first time driving Humphrey with the new clutch and I successfully managed to stall him within 3 seconds of being in the driving seat! Fortunately that was driving to the start, as opposed to driving off the start!!! I did have a few bunny rabbit starts though. My face must have been a picture!
After about 3 good runs, the rain came down. And did it rain! We took shelter under a nearby competitors gazebo. Of course my nerves set in then and I did quite a slow time. My times in this event had improved greatly and I was almost competitive. About 3 seconds off everyone else, but it’s better than the 14 seconds I had in the first round! You can tell how slow I was though as my times were comparable to the other female Mk1 driver who had either spun or gone off in each of her first runs.
My most memorable moments were just after the rain, at the top of the hill I suddenly felt like I wasn’t quite moving ‘right’ and realised I had got on a 4 wheel drift! Yahoo! Thing is I then got all excited and got a fit of the giggles which stopped me concentrating on the rest of the track! On my next run I had a total brain lapse and thought I’d missed the chicane, slowed down too much, then realised I hadn’t. Duh.
Phil had some great times throughout the day, however never improved on his first run. Not that this mattered too much as he managed to scoop first in class, and a whopping trophy to boot. The male driver of one of the other Mk1s in our class got runner up, the female driver of that car got fastest female. It’s a good car!
It had stayed light and so o need for lights too, and we managed to get back in time for last orders at the pub. I’m just wondering what the Winter event will be like – might be needing snow chains for that hill!
Some of the professional pics for the day can be found here:
http://www.norwichphoto.co.uk/tss/r3/MR2/Cutler%20-%20Hoult/index.html
Sounds like it was a good day and you enjoyed it. Pics of the trophy? :)
It's just a slightly bigger version of the one posted earlier.
And then there were three.
Phil has been stripping Mister Two (the blue one!) all week end ended up with a shell, which he then proceeded to fill with lots of unwanted metal, old brake discs, standard suspension, odd springs etc.
Weighed it in for £65, which is better then a kick in the teeth I guess.
The man at the scrapyard said it would be flat within the hour :(
RIP Mister Two, you gave us some good times, may your metal be put to good use.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/mr2/mr2onesmall.jpg
TinkerBell
05-07-2008, 23:27
Awwww noooo :( Bye bye Mister Two :(
I have loved reading this thread, it has been a really interesting read:) I have to go to one of your races and see what you have done with the cars in the flesh:) You should both be chuffed with what you have done! Looks like soooo much work!
Wahey, just picked up a copy of Redline and there's a picture of our car cocking a wheel in their short review of round 2 :D
Also booked a trackday at Snetterton for next week which should be fun.
15th July
We have a trackday booked at Snetterton tomorrow so today has been spent doing little checks on the car and preparation for the trackday. A lot of people ask what preparation is necessary for a trackday so here are the things we have checked today:
The Weather. As we have a choice of tyres, it is important we know what the weather is going to be like in order that we can take the right ones. Fortunately tomorrow is set to be warm and dry so we will be going on our R888s, the normal track tyre. If the track was far away. We’d be driving on road tyres, but as Snetterton is only down the road, we have changed the tyres today:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/tyrechange.jpg
Whilst the wheels were off, we checked the brakes to make sure there was plenty of pad left. There is!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/brakes.jpg
I then checked the coolant, and as you can see from the picture, there is plenty.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/coolant.jpg
And the oil, which was a little on the low side:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/oillow.jpg
So we chucked some more oil in:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/fillingoil.jpg
And checked a few minutes later – now there’s plenty!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/oilfull.jpg
I also added a purchase from the weekend, A sticker of Snetterton circuit:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/sticker.jpg
Phil then fitted the harnesses to the passenger side, (Usually we don’t sprint with a passenger seat in, but we will use it for trackdays). Today he has also utilised some trim from the old cars in order to clean up any sharp edges in the interior usually covered by carpet. Currently he is sorting out a leak we have discovered when it rains!
TinkerBell
15-07-2008, 16:14
Ooooooo! :D You looking forward to tomorrow? I expect to see LOADS of stickers of tracks you have been on Humphrey soon :D
Unfotunately Snetterton is the only track we are driving this season, the rest are airfields or at least don't have a sticker, like Teeside and Barkston :/
Plus as most of the competitions we do are sprints, the sticker would look odd as it will have a start and a finish, not be continuous! I'd love it if they did the sprint track ones though.
TinkerBell
15-07-2008, 16:20
Bah! That isn't good! I think you should leave a comment on how to improve the service "GET TRACK STICKERS" hehe!
Okay the other thing is to paint him orange and black :D I can support you with those colours! :p
I think you should leave a comment on how to improve the service "GET TRACK STICKERS" hehe!
She should have a Boat Drinks sticker :D
TinkerBell
15-07-2008, 18:32
She should have a Boat Drinks sticker :D
What a GENIUS idea :D
Today we had a trackday at Snetterton, so a fairly early start got us to the circuit just after 8. We got ‘our’ garage, number 25 and set up camp for the day. Signed on, noise tested and briefed, and ready to go by 9. I decided to do the sighting laps to get a feel for the circuit again, not that it’s really necessary, there’s 4 corners, 2 straights and 2 chicanes but it also got me used to Humphrey again too.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/pits2.jpg
It was a great warm and sunny day with no sign of rain, so we were looking forward to some good laps. Once the sighting laps were done, Phil got ready to drive, however just as we were about to set off, the track was red flagged and everyone came in. We didn’t think it would be very long so we joined the queue ready to go out when the track was re opened. It was quite a quiet track day with only about 30 cars altogether, and most of them were fairly experienced, so it was very pleasant being out on the track as you could get some good clear laps, and people were being courteous. My favourite car out there was this fab Beetle:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/beeple.jpg
Phil put some stonking laps in and managed not to spin once. He was really throwing Humphrey around, making the tyres squeal and putting the back out, and I was so concerned I would *never* be able to go that fast!
So it was my turn once Humphrey had cooled down a little. My first few laps were rather sedate, but I felt more relaxed as there weren’t as many cars to move out of the way from. Phil started to give me some instruction on braking points, when to life and not to lift, and what sort of gears I should be doing corners in, which helped so much, my confidence was building loads. Too much in fact, as I took Seer corner a little too tight and fast and ended up spinning! Not quite a 360 but it was fun. Humphrey had stalled during the spin and there was a bit of a hairy moment trying to start him back up, but I was off the racing line so it wasn’t that stressful. After the spin we went back to the pits to check him over and have a rest.
A few more runs each and my confidence was building, as was Phils. I was even overtaking people and learning not to drop back so much behind a car that was slow on corners but fast on straights, so they’d let me go past.
Just before lunch, there was another red flag so we decided to grab an early sandwich and then have a break. In true vix style, I then fell asleep in the pit lane.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/snooze.jpg
Not for long though as we were soon ready to go again
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/pits1.jpg
A fairly uneventful afternoon ensued, I was getting better at most of the track except from the first chicane, the Esses. Even when Phil was driving I was feeling he was taking it too fast, although we emerged from it unscathed. I just didn’t have the balls to hurtle down the Revett straight at 100 and then take two sharp corners. Phil was telling me when to lift and brake and change gear but I just couldn’t take it all in. I managed to get the entry in the corner right, once, then flapped and had a mad swervy tank slippery moment through the rest of the chicane, although for some bizarre reason managed to keep completely on the black stuff!
So soon it was nearly time to pack up, mainly due to the fact we were about to run out of fuel!!
We’d had a great day, and Phil commented that if I drive like I had today at the Sprints, I’d be much more competitive. Here’s hoping!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/hometime.jpg
TinkerBell
16-07-2008, 19:06
Woooo :D Great stuff, bet you are chuffed :) When is the next race? I forgot what you said when I was there :o
Next sprint is August 17th at Woodbridge, Suffolk.
This fab Beetle:
!!!!!!!!*bounces*!!!!!!!!
They've only gone and cancelled Beach Buggin (http://www.beachbuggin.com/) this year :( *pouts*
Next sprint is August 17th at Woodbridge, Suffolk.
Hmm, that's not all that far... What's the specating like?
Not sure on visibility but the procedure is same as Cambs, name address etc as MOD property.
What a disastrous weekend.
Got in Sakura on Saturday morning to find the clutch pedal went right to the floor and can't engage any gears. Got a leak somewhere, although we had been feeling that the clutch was failing and Phil had planned to fix this next weekend in preparation for a sprint we were going to do at the Lotus test track. We are unable to do this sprint in Humphrey due to MSA regulations, basically you need a cage if your car is stripped out, or you need a proper dash, and carpets etc!
So, with plans to fix Sakura next weekend, we set off to Phil's parent's as his family was over. I was designated driver, so spent the night on J2O and water! I went back to his mums for a little sleep whilst he got drunk with his family. The plan was for me to drive back home with him when he was ready as we were going to Snetterton on the Sunday. Phil came and woke me up about 11:30 and we got ready to go home. There is a small doorstep on Phils mums front door, which I managed to miss in my tired state, and fell flat on the ground. I felt like I had put my right foot down a hole, and upon inspection saw my foot was facing the wrong way to my leg :/ Cue a drnken Phil having to lift me back into the house and call an ambulance!!!
So, to cut a long story short, I'm in the ambulance breathing lots of lovely gas and air and getting very giggly. When I get to the hospital, they have to sedate me to put my leg back into the right shape and then X ray to find I have broken both my ankle and my leg, and I need surgery in order to put pins and a plate in there! Phil left me at about 5am Sunday morning and I was scheduled for surgery at about 8.
I'm not a morning person, especially after lots of painkillers and no sleep so I really can't remember much about going into surgery. I remember a conversation with the doctor about his son driving MG's in the MG challenge, which probably relaxed me a little, but nothing much else. When I came out of surgery I was even worse. I couldn't see properly and didn't know where I was, but the hospital managed to call Phil who arrived as soon as he could, which was nice.
I spent the Sunday in hospital, and was told I could go home on the Monday once the doctors had seen me. This happened at about 5pm so I was lolling around in bed most of Monday feeling sorry for myself.
I have the cast on until next Monday, when I have to go back for an x ray to see if everything is ok, and then a new cast. (Its orange and matches a shoe I have so it's ok)
No one's really given me an idea of when I'll be able to drive again but it looks like I'm out of the championship this year. So roll on next year!!
I was designated driver, so spent the night on J2O and water!
More dangerous being the designated driver :/ Glad you're home and hope you mend properly
TinkerBell
22-07-2008, 11:50
That doesn't sound like fun at all, Booo :(
*Big Hugs*
So today Phil has been doing a bit of preparation on Sakura for the sprint on Sunday. I think I mentioned before that we can't do this sprint in Humphrey as this is an MSA regulated sprint and therefore a dedicated track car needs a cage, however a road car can compete. The difference being how much interior remains in the car! I can't take any pictures on the day as cameras are banned at the site we are at (Lotus test track), so I asked Phil to prep her fully so I could have some pics today. Hopefully there will be a pro there who will be taking some on track pics.
First of all, Phil got creative with the numbers. Because we are numbers 56 and 57 in the Sprint Series, we have 2 each of numbers 5,6 and 7. Typically, Phil's allocated number of this sprint is 8!!! So, black electrical tape and white vinyl on our number 6, gives us this rather convincing 8:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/sakuraprep/number.jpg
Phil then went to the back of Sakura to mark out the towing eyes. This is when he found that the n00b who fitted the bodykit (previous owner) had decided the towing eyes were unneccesary and cut them off :/ So now Sakura has this lovely new bumper borrowed off Humph. Well it blends in quite nicely :/
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/sakuraprep/sakurasprintback.jpg
Hahaha, anyway the luggage rack is on there because we are going to have to strap my walking frame to it so I can actually hobble round the paddock a bit and go to the loo. Very important. Whilst Phil had both bumpers off, he decided to weigh them to see the difference, as he had removed some metal from Humphrey's as a weight saving exercise. The difference was 5kg, which is fairly good. Here's a pic of the two bumpers to show what has been removed:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/sakuraprep/bumpers.jpg
The Toyota Sprint Series does not require the use of a timing strut, however this MSA sprint does. The strut needs to be the first thing on the car that will break the timing beams. Phil made it a few years ago when he did his first ever sprint in his red MR2, it is basically thin aluminium with matt black paint. It's then fitted to the nose of the car with gaffa tape. Hardcore!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/sakuraprep/timingstrut.jpg
I wonder if I can persuade Phil to wash her tomorrow?
So that's basically one road car prepped for sprinting. I'm a bit nervous about her going on track and also very very annoyed and frustrated that I can't drive her.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/sakuraprep/sakurasprintfront.jpg
I said he should have carried the gaffa tape stripes up the bonnet, I rather like them ;)
Hmmmm, surprised that the main one can't run. I'd have thought that as its road legal you would have gotten away with it?
Nope, cos it's too stripped out inside to be classed as a road car :/ And it's too much hassle to put an interior back in! Phil did ask but it was a no no :(
TinkerBell
03-08-2008, 12:36
Looking good :D What a twit for a previous owner though!
At least you can go and spectate, not the same though I know :(
That's just it, I couldn't spectate cos I couldn't walk to the spectator spot :/
More tomorrow when I do a diary entry. I did walk the furthest I have yet since breaking myself though. Shattered now!!
TinkerBell
03-08-2008, 19:01
Bah, that isn't good :( *hugs*
Woooo for walking further :D
3.8.08
We had an early start this morning as the gates opened at 6:30, however fortunately the track is only 8 minutes from our house!
Phil had packed the car with all his usual tools that we take to sprints, so we were ready to go. It's a lot more awkward with a leg in a cast as you really have to plan ahead with things that will need to be accessible etc.
We arrived at Lotus just after 6:30 and there were a few other cars there. Phil unpacked the car and then unpacked me, and went to sign on, be scrutineered etc. The notes he was given said there would be 2 'untimed' (times were given but would not count towards your time of the day) runs and then 2 timed runs, shocking amount of track time really as we usually get about 8 timed runs in the Sprint Series. However there was just over 100 cars at this event so it would have taken about a week to get 8 timed runs!
The cars that were there ranged from farily standard road cars like ours, next to us was a Citroen AX, couple of S2000's, 205, some Evos, LOTS of Lotuses as there was a Lotus championship, also a TVR championship so lots of TVRs, single seaters such as Van Diemens and Reynards, Caterhams, Westfields and other variants, and Dave Massey's Bond Bug (with a Fireblade engine!) which looked like a lot of fun!
Phil went off to the drivers briefing in a massive rain shower, and I retired to the car to keep dry! The briefing was broadcast over the tannoy so at least I got a chance to listen, and it was amazing how brief it actually was. I've been to too many events with novices now and had things literally spelt out, so it was refreshing to be at a professional event where the basics are assumed to be known by all. A little worrying also though as the guy next to us in his Porsche had not ever done any motorsport before!
The cars were to go out in number order, so as we were number 8, we got out pretty early. For the first run the track was still a little damp, but Phil managed just over 93 seconds, he was aiming for 90. The car he had chosen to be competitive with, and MX5, turned out to be driven by a woman, so was well off the pace at 121. I reckon even I could have beat that.
So once Phil had got back to the paddock after his run, we had a huge wait to go out again. Phil had the luxury of being able to walk round the paddock so I had to just watch the queue of cars waiting to go out, and the occasional roof go past on the track. At once point I heard a rather long squeal of tyres, and then the ambulance went on track to recover a Caterfield type car who had lost it and hit the tyre wall. Fortunately everyone was fine, just probably annoyed at a very short day!
Phil went out for his second run and hit a cone! He got just over 90 seconds on this run but got a 5 second penalty for hitting the cone. Fortunately my car was unharmed!!!
After another long wait, Phil went out for his third run and got just over 91. ANOTHER long wait, and he lined up for the final run. About 12 cars were ready to go when there was an announcement that there was too much gravel on the track and the final run was cancelled as it would take too long to clear up! Everyone was annoyed at this, our places at this sprint had been funded by the Motor Club but everyone else had paid to run, and they only got one time out of it!
So a pretty non-eventful day for us, no prizes but we didn't expect any in a non-track prepped car!
Sounds like a bit of a waste of a day really, but its all experience which is good.
18/8/08
“Of course its going to rain, there’s a sprint!!”
In preparation for the next sprint, Phil had put the official door stickers on as we wouldn’t need to be changing the numbers over this time. He also put on our new ‘MR2 Only Magazine’ sticker.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/woodbridge/humphrey.jpg
We had been checking the weather all week to see what tyres we needed as it was going to be slightly more logistically difficult this time due to us only being able to take one car. The weather predictions for Sunday changed daily, from rain all day, to no rain, to showers. Finally, Phil decided to put the Hydragrips (wet tyres) on for driving to the event, and taking a set of R888s to put on if it was dry when we got there.
Well that was the decision made, now to find out how to get all this into one car:
Passenger
Passenger seat
Driver
4 wheels
Random box of sprint stuff
Toolbox
Jack
Axle stands
Fuel can
Helmet
Race suit
Coats
Chairs
Pillows (for my leg)
Walking frame.
He did it though, although I couldn’t catch a picture. We had a spare wheel in the frunk, which is where the spare usually goes! The other three spare wheels were loaded onto the engine cover and tied on! Everything else went in it’s normal place, either the frunk or the boot, and then the walking frame was hung out of the boot, the bootlid being tied on as it wouldn’t shut!
Although Woodbridge is only 60 miles away, the roads round here are rubbish so it took us just over 1.5 hours to get there. The weather looked quite fine on the journey, and one of the first things Phil did was put the dry tyres on, amongst amazed comments at how much stuff we had got in our car.
I assumed what is now my normal motorsport position! Which is sat on one camping chair with my leg on two pillows on another camping chair. Phil went off for the drivers briefing and it started to rain. I managed to make myself waterproof, however the rain just got heavier and heavier, and I needed to sit under two brollies in the end. The drivers all dashed back to their cars after the briefing and prepared to do the sighting lap. The circuit was much longer that usual, about 2.5 miles compared to 1 mile, but there was only one sighting lap and one practice run, so the drivers really needed a good memory. When Phil came back from the sighting lap, he said that he had no idea where the track went, it had been too wet to see anything and he’d just had to follow the car in front. The conditions looked terrible, airfields don’t have the best surfaces anyway and there was so much mud due to the massive downpour we were having.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/woodbridge/wethumph.jpg
Just before Phil went out on his first practice lap, the weather cleared up and I took this opportunity to hop slowly to the Toyota hospitality unit, where it was dry! The track was still wet, and there were lots of spinning cars and lock ups! Phil took the practice run carefully, as to try and learn the track!
We looked like we were going to have a fairly competitive day with two other Mk1 entrants, Jo and Garrick. Their Mk1 was now running on the same tyres as ours, and all three drivers are of similar abilities. The track was still wet on the first timed run, and Phil just got the edge with a time of 208.07, compared to Garrick’s 208.42 and Jo’s 209.59. A lot of the drivers were talking of a tree at the apex of one of the corners, and Phil had hit this tree on his run! This poor tree got a lot of abuse throughout the day.
The second run was still wet as we had a small downpour, and Phil lost out to both Jo and Garrick on this one, Jo pulling a great 202.51, which was faster than a lot of the other more powerful cars. Phil and Garrick were both in the 203, which was still a very competitive time. By the time run 3 was off, the track had started to dry, however Phil hit the famous tree again and his time was 208.80, he had been concerned about the car as he couldn’t keep the back end, so took this lap steady. Again, Jo was top with a 201.49, Garricks spin costing him a lot of time.
Lunchtime was upon us, and the sun was now blazing, looking like the track would be very dry for the afternoon session.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/woodbridge/track.jpg
Everyone’s times improved over the last three runs, as long as they didn’t spin! It was getting very competitive between Jo, Garrick and Phil, and they were all coming back from their runs desperate to see the times, or annoyed because they had pushed too far and lost time. Phil was getting frustrated as he couldn’t remember the entire track, and knew there was potential for getting lots more speed out there. He was pleased with his last run though and hopeful for a trophy.
We packed up and then headed to the Toyota unit for the presentation. Garrick bagged runner up with a best time of 192.92, and Phil was announced to be class winner with his last time 191.59 being the best of the day. Jo got fastest female, so at least they all went home with something. We might need a bigger trophy shelf soon though!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/woodbridge/trophies.jpg
(the three at the front are the Sprint ones!)
Whoops, looks like Humphrey ate an OAP when we weren’t looking though:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/woodbridge/packed.jpg
Whoops, looks like Humphrey ate an OAP when we weren’t looking though:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/woodbridge/packed.jpg
;D;D;D Even Anne was laughing at that ;D;D;D
Needs "Om nom nom"ing :D
Latest Championship positions:
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e270/adriansan/Championship_Overall_Positi.jpg
Pretty chuffed with that, 9th overall and I just need to sign on and complete 1 timed run at the last event to be guaranteed of the class title. (It's not on there but for context our power is probably about 120bhp)
My aim now is to also 'win' classes B (same engine size but they're allowed forced induction) and C (bigger engines but still N/A) :D
Nicely done, I did spot the trophies when I came over and thought very nice (when not destroying the place).
Del Lardo
08-09-2008, 01:09
Was there an event up north this weekend?
Passed two MR2s on trailers on the way back from Newcastle, No26 (Orange IIRC) by Peterborough and No22 at the A14/M11 intersection.
Possibly part of the MR2 racing series, one was at Cadwell this weekend. I know for a fact Orange No 26 is in it.
A few pics from the trackday at Woodbridge:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/imoc1.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/imoc2.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/imoc3.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/imoc4.jpg
Tyres were nearly dead at the start of the day, and the intention was to kill them off, which I think was acheived! Front brake pads were also killed.
Thats how you do it :D Gutted I couldn't make this. Mine will be back on the road soon, is it wrong to miss the T-VIS noise? I did manage to score 4 Bridgestones fitted for £25 / corner today though.
No it's not wrong to miss the T-VIS :) I missed the sound of my own car so much that Phil has started taking me out in her :)
Ooh we pick up a new purchase on Sunday which will be implemented next season!
It needs a van to pick it up!
Hmmm, a van eh? Would this happen to be something that only requires transporting once? :cool:
Yes, there's room for one in an MR2, but only one. And you can't take the original one out in order to make room ;)
Yes, there's room for one in an MR2, but only one. And you can't take the original one out in order to make room ;)
Well you could fit a second one in but it wouldn't do much good.
Hmmmm, I shall have to think on this one. I was wondering if you had ventured for something a touch extreme. We need a pondering or chin scratching smily.
Psymonkee
03-10-2008, 20:34
Just read the whole lot from the start - fantastic read and great pics :D
As for what you've bought.....I'm thinking perhaps engine for more powa? :)
As for what you've bought.....I'm thinking perhaps engine for more powa? :)
Well thats what I was thinking, but I thought he was upto more work with Mr Grinder before that came about.
Make no mistake, the thing goes like an effing rocket at the moment. :evil:
I would love to get a track licence and a car after doing the VXR track days 2 years running, how much have you spent so far.
Psymonkee
03-10-2008, 22:03
Oh yeah knew I forgot to add something :)
I could just do with stopping spending money on games and buy a cheap car to track instead :> Not a clue where to start. Mind I need to lose a lot of weight before I'll fit in anything remotely fun...
I would love to get a track licence and a car after doing the VXR track days 2 years running, how much have you spent so far.
Car was free plus about £500 worth of work to get it MOT'd
Sprint entry fees have cost us £400 each for the season plus a few hundred to cover the trackdays as well.
Other nice non-essential stuff like seats, suspension and doorcards have cost about £600
Then various consumables, maintenance items and tyres have probably come to about £4-500 or so.
We've pretty much done things on a budget so far although we could certainly have spent less. This winter could get expensive yet though as I've got plenty of ideas for things I want to do, just a matter of how much cash I can spare.
New toy is a 4-AGZE, basically a supercharged version of the engine we've already got. With the larger supercharger pulley already on the engine it should take us from the current 120ish bhp to about 190bhp once I drop it in. Still not as much power as the front running GT4s but it might allow me to beat one or two more of them.
I see I thought you had gone really hardcore and gone for a full mk1.5 :D Actually if you are anywhere near the 900kg mark, thats going to be insanely quick.
I will ask, when you start fiddling mind if I pop over and have a look? I do know bugger all (you may have noticed ;) ) but I am certainly interested.
You might have to help him anyway :p I'm no good at the mo :(
Engine was a bargain, so we had to have it.
I was unsure what to do engine wise, a 1.5 would have been awesome but I'd have probably struggled with time/money/fabrication skills to make it happen quickly enough. The other option was a 20v 4AGE which would have given a nice power increase whilst still allowing us to stay in class D but it'd have been expensive finding one with a loom and ECU or a bit of a project (and probably still expensive) getting one to run on an aftermarket ECU. Wasn't really considering an SC conversion but for what this will cost and the relatively low effort required I couldn't not do it.
Of course I could have stuck to the plan and left the engine alone for this year and just spent this winter tidying up the bodywork and upgrading the suspension but where's the fun in that.
That's true if its a March kickoff again for the series. I still refuse to believe that the grinder won't come out at some point ;) You have to make a hole in the rear hatch for the IC. Were you thinking more along the lines of Koni adjustables for the suspension?
I don't know where you got it from, but if it is easier than a 1.5..... keep your eyes peeled for one for me :D I didn't think they honestly made 190bhp with the smaller pulley.
I think 190 is with engine from a later Corolla. Not quite sure what the MR2 engine gives with a pulley but suffice to say I'll be tinkering to see what I can get out of it.
Short term bodge option may involve cutting a hole in the std engine lid for the IC. I'll also be looking into using a Celica chargecooler rather than the std IC which may negate the need to cut holes.
Suspension wise I was looking at getting a set of these (http://www.technotoytuning.com/productdetail.php?p=581) in conjunction with the koni adjustables I've already got in the garage plus whiteline adjustable ARBs and generally freshening up ball joints, linkages etc then using all my new found adjustablilty to get the geometry sorted (At the moment I've no idea where anything is pointing but it's probably not right)
7/10/08
Went to Loughborough on Sunday to pick this beast up:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/supercharger.jpg
It was rather a good price and a fairly simple job to do. Well, I say simple.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/bits.jpg
All these bits have to somehow also be attached to said engine!!! Looks complicated to me and Phil is feeling a bit daunted but we have plenty of books and expertise to help us!
This will be our Winter project, along with bodywork and suspension. Once we have the supercharged engine in, we will be in a different class in the series, competing against cars such as the Starlet. However as Phil is currently beating most of the entries in this class already, with our current engine, he should still be competitive. He is hoping that the new engine will also get him higher up the overall rankings.
I’m just hoping I wont be last :)
Flibster
07-10-2008, 11:08
I'll have a word with an ex colleague about suspension.
He may be able to find something in the stores that needs scrapping. ;) If he's got anything, it would probably be 3 or 4 way adjustable with remote reservoirs as thats what we built most of.
Shall I just drop the car off and leave them to it? ;)
Flibster
07-10-2008, 12:01
Shall I just drop the car off and leave them to it? ;)
I wouldn't. I know how many cars they break. :D
Excellent, I'm surprised you managed to fit it in the garage :D I had a quick look at the picture and can see where some bits fit.... the rest, well that'll be fun. Can you bolt the SC engine to the NA box?
He tidied the garage specially :)
I can identify an alternator, a loom, an ECU, an air filter and an intercooler from the pic. The rest is just random tubes :/
He tidied the garage specially :)
I can identify an alternator, a loom, an ECU, an air filter and an intercooler from the pic. The rest is just random tubes :/
There's no alternator.
Theres:
MAF Meter with air filter attached
Loom
Starter motor
Distributor
2 Fuel rails (One with injector attached, one with the fuel pressure regulator)
Coil
ECU
IC
VSV
Some pipework including a nasty looking home made thing which won't be going near the car.
NA box is usable although factory SCs have a slightly beefier and heavier one. I'll stick with the NA one for now and might upgrade somewhere down the line if needed.
I meant distributor.
WTF is a MAF anyway :/
25/10/08
Final Round! Teesside Autodrome.
Teesside is the furthest even for us so we packed up on Friday and headed up to Yorkshire for a brief stop at my parents. As I am still not driving, we had to just tale one car again, and as it was so far we would only be taking one set of tyres. The weather forecast looked showery, and as this is an evening event, probably wouldn’t dry up. However we decided the Toyos were up to the job and decided to keep them on. Phil knew he only had to turn up to win the class championship anyway so the wrong tyre choice wasn’t going to be so detrimental.
Saturday morning arrived, cold and windy although dry, and we set off for our journey to Teesside Autodrome, which was fairly uneventful.
Once there, the organisation was a little different due to a drift event and a karting event being on, so we had to park up and sign on in a different area, and while Phil was getting Humphrey ready for scrutineering, I watched the drifting which looked interesting! We also met up with Matt (Zirax) who was looking forward to his first event in his recently purchased Mk1 MR2!
The event was a little slow to get started, due to the fact it was a dark event so we had to wait for the light to go. The drivers had a break after their two practice laps, and during this break the rain came down! At 6:15 they were ready to start the timed runs, it looked very dark and rather wet.
Additional lighting on car was allowed as long as it would pass an MOT. Phil had replaced Humphrey’s standard lights with the one’s we use on our road cars which are slightly more modern.
I retired to the rather useful café to watch the laps, which had a good view of the chicane and final fast corner. The track layout was the same as the Summer event, which may have helped the drivers in the dark.
The whole event ran smoothly and they were really getting through the runs. Many drivers appeared to spin at the chicane, which at least meant interesting viewing for us spectators! Matt span on the final corner on one of his early runs, however Phil managed to keep the car pointing in a generally forwards direction.
Phil’s times for the day were good, ranging from 56 seconds to just over 60 depending on the conditions of the track. We noticed that the super Starlet had entered however so we didn’t expect a first place in this round! The Starlet was back in full form and had a fastest lap of just over 54 seconds, finishing 6th overall! Matt managed to improve well on his times, his fastest being a 66. It’s a difficult first event but he hopes to compete next season in full. (so do I!)
As expected, Phil received the runner up trophy for the day, but did really well to finish 10th overall.
As this was the final round, the championship results and prizes were also given out. Phil was class winner for the championship with 327 points. This amount of points also meant he beat both winners of the classes above ours, (for engines above 1600cc n/a and for below 1600cc with turbochargers) and finished 8th overall! A great result for our little 120bhp car, up there with cars stating horsepower of 200 and above.
We have plans for Humphrey over the Winter, so this little episode is certainly not over yet. We will be back next year with more power, who knows where that will get us?
Pics from the series photographer, Andrew Cliffe:
Matt:
http://www.norwichphoto.co.uk/tss/r5/mr2%20hopkins/index.html
Phil:
http://www.norwichphoto.co.uk/tss/r5/mr2%20cutler/index.html
Excellent. He was the guy that had the uber flash that went off right on the entry to the blind right corner at the top of the hill. I did think he would struggle in the low light. Best pics seem to be as the light was fading on the practice runs.
Good work on the writeup as well, its much better than my effort.
Thanks :) I've had lots of practice at write ups :p
Andrew said he really struggled with the photography at this event, but the lighter pics are good.
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