Good work! I really like the position of the alternator
Looks good Graham, be interesting to see how 'out of harms way' the alternator looks with the car on the deck.
Whats left to do now??
Sierra cosworth turbo race car
QMN saloon car championship
RETRO Motorsport
a slight sidetrack, i've bought another car!
its a base model non sunroof 316, ultimately its going to be the new shell for my car, but meanst while it wil provide a few spares
having lowered the front end a bit more i was once again in trouble with tyre/arch clearance, and have long since used up any clearance availiable by beating the arch upwards, so cutting a section of wing out and replacing it with a similar one from the new shell, ive effectively x packed the front wings, arguuable i should do the rears to match, but theres no actual need and times short so for now the rears stay as is
Good work but if it was mine I think I'd smooth/blend in the front of the boxes Graham otherwise the saying aerodynamics of a brick really do come to mind.
Just what i was thinking, but will still look mean once painted upOriginally Posted by Pushrod King
See what they look like all painted and then if you're happy do the rears later on to match
Sierra cosworth turbo race car
QMN saloon car championship
RETRO Motorsport
Just what i was thinking, but will still look mean once painted up
See what they look like all painted and then if you're happy do the rears later on to match
all for the next shell.....
for now its a bit of a race against time, i only have 3 days off between now and the seasons start
managed a bit more progress, swapping the baking tray for the scoop which was on the otherside of the bonnet will allow the bonnet to sit lower, the hole left by moving the scoop has been filled with a replica cossy bonnet vent i had spare
i've fibre glassed the front bumper/spoiler back together AGAIN! i had to make a whole corner from scratch, it should look presentable from a distance, to be honest i didnt try to make it really nice its been smashed up so many times it would need a whole day on it, i've also made it a new mounting system from a plank of wood a couple of coach bolts and some squirty foam,
finally the wings have had some filler. they arnt great, the folds and lines in the metal arnt straight enough, but like the spoiler i didnt want to spend a day on each one, in any case they should look ok from a distance which will do.
no time or space to shift the cars and trailer, so to paint the panels i simply put a trap over the car and used it as a stand to put the panels on,
at this point it occurs to me my garage looks rather like dave roberts shed,
unfortunatly the results are nothing like as good as dave gets, mainly cos i only had a couple of hours to prepare prime and paint the painels,
the finish is pretty poor, when i remember i used to do accident repairs and resprays professionally its absolutely dreadfull, but they will look ok when the cars on track, the top quality paintwork shall have to wait for the new shell.
i've bought some new willwood 4 pots, there just like the old ones but have bigger pistons, the idea being to gain more bite froom the brakes pedal travel wil go up a bit, but i'd prefer a pedal thats a got a bit more give and feel, fingers crossed i dont have to start swaping master cylinders also!
bit of a hitch with the new calipers, they are 12mm wider than the old ones so i've had to make new spacers for the brackets
got the front winggs on and fitted a nice new unbroken front grill, which ive robbed off the new shell
.
its deffo looking like daves shed in here!!!!!1
Good work Graham,you're getting on better than I am with mine! Rolling road on friday and the engine is in bits awaiting piston rings,there's no prop (sent if off to get balanced) as it's not back yet and I need to rewire the left hand side of the engine bay for the alternator.
Considering how much time you've had to prepare the car I think it looks pretty good.
I think you've gone the right way with the brakes, now that you're N/A you can brake later and harder than the turbo boys and these should provide plenty of bite
Sierra cosworth turbo race car
QMN saloon car championship
RETRO Motorsport
i hope so dave,the car always was good on the brakes even when turbo'd i could take distance out of lighter slower cars under braking, my hope is that with big slicks and a relatively heavy car i can make it really good on the brakes, just sitting in the car which admittedly isnt very conclusive especially with new pads, the pedal feels great, not quite as solid as before but i regard that as a good thing.
Last edited by Graham; 17-03-2010 at 21:26.
more progress to day, although it seems to of been two steps forward one back all day,
finsihed re fitting the bonnet catches, they now sit in some nicely recessed alloy housings, which were fairly cheap from rally design, bonnet now sits much lower than before
i whipped the rocker cover off and checked the tappets, 1 exhaust was a bit tight, and put a torque wrench on the head bolts, the middle two tightened slightly, not bad after its been on track over 20 times since i last checked, so i rewarded it with an oil change.
looking tidy- just dont look closely
When is the first outing of the year?
brands sat 27th march, in fact ive entered two meetings so i'll be out on sunday too
Good luck. It looks like you are all ready with a few days to spare. I will be looking forward to the post race updates.
the rear mirror view , seeing the arches sticking out , is going to terrify anyone you're just about to pass/lap!
Proper BTCC stylee now Graham.
Are you all ready for the big weekend Graham? Looks like you'll need a good range of tyres, especially wets
Sierra cosworth turbo race car
QMN saloon car championship
RETRO Motorsport
http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/4293?area=DA3
not looking particularily nice
Cars, because you can't get enough kicks out of walking fast.
http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/...code=DA3%208NG
cloudy but no rain?
not sure which one is more accurate, i'd prefer the metcheck to be right though.
though in theory, would you not have an advantage in the rain due to the monstrous rubber?
monsoon tyres
Cars, because you can't get enough kicks out of walking fast.
Is the wet weather better for the non turbo cars?
generally yes, due to not having stupid amounts of BHP breaking traction alot, however a nice big V8 soon puts paid to that theory.
Cars, because you can't get enough kicks out of walking fast.
I'd be more inclined to believe the BBC forecast Stephen, metcheck has never really been particularly accurate in my experience. The BBC one comes straight from the Met office.
the weather's getting worse dad, HEAVY rain saturday and light rain on sunday
Cars, because you can't get enough kicks out of walking fast.
quick update,
had the car on the rollers today, got it warmed up and did a power run, wasnt good news though it was 14bhp down!
after much mapping and experiementation we got back most of the missing power and finished just 3 bhp down, its actually 3lbft up on torque now churning out 211lft, so i've gained in the midrange which wasnt what i was after i was hoping to gain a bit at the topend as the long straights are where the fwd cars kick my arse,
where did the 14bhp go Graham?
dunno, the exhaust is slightly different so maybe it was that or simply after 22 races last year the engines a bit tired but as we got 11 of the missing 14bhp back and gained 3lbft torque in the midrange who knows
i cant even blime the alternator, being diff driven the rundown losses would of taken its drag into account.
it certainly works though, it doesnt come to life until you hit 50 mph, but once its charging it stays charging even down to 10mph
Last edited by Graham; 26-03-2010 at 08:46.
excellent stuff . Bet you're surprised it works so low .
ok we've started the season with vengence!
saturday i'd entered the intermarque race at brands, the aim was to use it as a test session for sundays DMN, with brands having been partically resurfaced there was lots of talk of low grip levels, which made me a little neverous in view i couldnt be sure of the effect of my setup changes and how well the brakes would work. during practise i gradually built my speed the brakes feeling very woolly for quite a few laps, the car felt horrible through clearways on the new tarmac it didnt really want to turn in and then rather washed out after the apex ( if i could hit it), but paddock hill bend which havnt ever really got to grips with since i binned my dear old bmw 2002 years ago felt great, the car was very stable under braking into it, druids too felt good, a check of the tyre temps showed a bit of unevenness, the extra castor appart from making the steering much heavier was a good thing as the o/s/f was spot on, i've taken a bit too much camber out the n/s/f, and although i've reduced the rear camber theres still too much, so dave white set too and adjusted the spring platforms, i didnt have any real idea what the lap times were so i was pleasently suprised to see i'd qualified with a 55.7, my best lap last year being a 55.4
so for race 1 i was 18th on the grid, most of the grid consisted of caterfield type cars and shillouttes, the best i could do would be get stuck in and bring it home just outside the top ten, off the start i pushed as hard as i dared on cold slicks and held my own, i get well stick in with all the caterfields, compared to most of them i had lots more grunt out the corners and could gap them, which was handy because they would catch me again come the corners, not suprising when you consider my car being 3-400kgs heavier is never going to turn in as well or be able carry the same corner speed, it didnt matter though, i was loving the car paddock in particular i was taking huge chunks of distance out the others, the car was more grippy and behaved through clearways although the extra castor was punishing my arms especially as i have to exit that corner with a gear change so im steering one handed at that point.
i actually finished the race 2nd in class14th overall some of my passing others being offset by others starting further back than they should have, when the results came round i was really pleased, my best lap being a 54.3, thats an enormous improvment over last year on a track thats generally regarded as slower, what was really apparent in that race is the bigger caliper pistons have given the brakes more bite it certainly pulls up harder, for the first time ever i found it easy to snatch a brake on cold tyres, although oddly if you really stand on it the backend feels rather loose under braking, i guess thats due to greater weight transfer, but more of that later.....
race 2, i started with most of my opposition immediatly behind me, just one in front a BMW mini, who's drivers being coached by non other than bill sollis, rain was more than a little threatening but didnt amount to much more than a very fine mist, which isnt what you want when your on slicks, anyway again i pushed hard off the start really hard, having beaten off the mini i was leading my class and aiming to be the first non shiloutte ( ignoring a certain mr birley who had also entered) home, for several laps it went great guns, untill a shiloutte had a coming together with a caterfield blocking 2/3rd of the track, going round them i ended up on the grass, what does damp grass and slicks equill, yes a spinning car, on the same grass i spun on at the end of f last year which ruined a great race, the spin dropped me well back, and fired me up even more, after a safety car to clear the track of a stranded car i had teh bit really between my teeth and was reeling in the caterfields, 1st in class might of now been out of reach but i was giving it my all and homed in on my prey the slight rain mist we had earlier had now turned a bit heavier and as lined up right behind john chasy's caterham at druids had to barke just a bit harder than i expected and the car swapped ended, that was pretty scaring, going backwards into druids actaully passing a car in the process! spin number 2! i recovered having somehow managed to stay out the gravel and brough the car home, my crew dave white and stephen felt from the way i could catch the caterfields i would of set a new PB lap time, sadly i didnt i just think i pushed harder than the others did for the conditions, i dont recall where in class i actually finished, but i was a great day i had learnt more about the car got back into the groove and proved the winter changes good, we also weighed it, despite adding a few bits to the car incudeding an alternator the car weighed the same as last year, which means its still overweight!
Last edited by Graham; 30-03-2010 at 07:43.
What did scrutiny think of your new alternator position
Well no one complained, and after all it is completely legal. Looks a very nice setup in the 'flesh' too.What did scrutiny think of your new alternator position
Well done for saturday Graham, some great lap times and you looked to be pushing a bit harder in the car with the changes you've made over the winter.
Sierra cosworth turbo race car
QMN saloon car championship
RETRO Motorsport
sunday,
it rained like hell over night and washed what little grip the track had at clearways away, everyone had serious grip issues there, where the day before i was using full throttle i was probably using 1/4 throttle and that no exageration, i had a very very scarey moment at the end of practise, ashley hargreaves came howling past me on teh straight, his supercharged peugoet 309 making the most unbelievable noise, it just so happened it distracted me and i didnt see the end of session chequered flag, tucked in behind ashley for paddock only to find he braked unbelieveably early, i hit the middle pedal harder than normal just as the track dips and the back end came out AGAIN, resulting in yet another spin, a very scary one it was too, i think i managed a full 720 degrees because i finished pointing the right way having had a trip across the grass, and several good looks at the barriers, i was incredably fortunate to avoid them and the gravel traps,
in actuall fact i'd qualified with a 58 something second lap, which was dreadfull until you looked at the rest of the field who were all well off the pace everyone even the 4wd cars at front of the grid were a couple oof seconds off the pace, the back of the grid more like 6-8 seconds off pace
race 1+2 to follow, cant stay awake right now...
good write up! look forward to the sunday races
I wish I had realised there was something on... I was near brands on saturday collecting car bits and never been there before
race 1 + 2!
need more reading material
Cars, because you can't get enough kicks out of walking fast.
ok ive recovered from the weekend now, not sure i remember the races in enough detail to write a report though
i didnt have much class competition on the day, only two others, dave usher in an mi16 engined peugoet 205 and martin johnston in a honda civic, sitting 18th on the grid i had way out qualified the honda, which seemed to make plenty of noise but didnt really go,the 205 was going to be tricky though, i know it had more straightline speed than i and it was several slots further up the grid,
off the start as usually i pretty much held my own, and had a chuckle to myself as pushrod king did his usual round the outside at druids, richard brent also uses that line to great effect, i guess i might but never seem to end up on that part of teh track, probably because it often requires a risky round the outside line at paddock to set you up for it, anyway kept my foot in until quite late at graham hill thus demoting pushrod to back behind me, graham hill itself was a very crowded place to be as we went through it 2 if not 3 abreast, a lap later (if i recall right) graham hill was again crowded and i found myself right behind dave usher who i think had made a mistake, anyway seeming him immediatly in front of me i siezed the opertunity turned in early for the corner, which left me closer to teh middle of the track on exit than normal and more importantly to daves n/s, foot hard and the engine served up all 211lbft in short order,
down cooper straight we shot side by side, trumpets howling the beemer out dragged the pug just enough that i could position myself to make surtees mine, fortunatly the track was now nicely grippy the car turned in nicely for clearways and i exited still ahead of my rival, not for long though, the beemer might out grunt the pug out the corners but on a highspeed straight i had now answer to the 9,000rpm pug and he just drove past me, although i have to say that i nearly hit him up the rear he braked so much earlier into paddock! steadily though the pug pulled away as he basically had 0.7 sec of a lap on me, as the race went it it got slightly lonely have dispensed with a couple of cars that started higher up the grid than me and pulled away from those behind and lapped a couple of cars, i realised i was catching andy woods dean in his renault megane, although the megane not in my class he made a great target,as well being behind dave usher in the 205 and i knew on a good day i could beat it ( as i had done in race 1 at thruxton last year) but generally the little renault had the meassure of me, pressing on i got closer and closer, going into surtees the woody was braking whereas i just backed off a bit, into paddock i was catching him under braking, next time into paddock and into druids i was on his tail immediatly infront of him was another 205 and honda of some sort squabbling for something like 30th posistion, woody got through at druids, intent on not letting woody get away i piled into graham hill,possibly the more sensable thing to do might of been to wait until cooper straight and just drive round them, but i didnt want to give woody the chance to escape, anyway into graham hill i piled thinking they should know i was there and blue flags were waving, but again things didnt go to plan, they either didnt know i was there or just decided to use the whole track and i ran out of track, and took to the grass and had yet another spin, whilst on the grass and trying to get pointing he right way again, martin johnson in the all noise no go honda unlapped himself, momentarily anyway, the spin haddnt cost me any places but any chance of getting further up the field was over,
so i'd started 14th and finished 15th although that was mainly due to faster cars like peter taylors RS500 starting behind me, i finsihed 2nd in class had improved my best lap to a 54.2 which was fantastic.
race two, err sorry guys its too long since i did it to remember much, i know i started 2nd in class 15th overall and thats exactly where i finsihed.
the main thing for me though is the winter changes though subtle have had a major effect, the car is in terms of lap times considerably faster and i was loving paddock hill bend which is never normally a strong point for me, more track time would pay further dividends although taking distance out of the others under braking im lifting too early not necasary braking too early but definatly lifting early, we learned a bit about the cars setup, whilst killing my arms the extra caster angle is good i just need to put back a bit of the n/s/f neg camber and shift the brake bias forward a bit. might try some still stiffer rear springs as the cars not oversteery but traction out of some corners could be better by reducing body roll a bit more.
clearly thoug im going to have to pedal very very hard to do anything about that mi16 engined pug, a ton of midrange torque simply cant match the lighter weight and top end of the pug on the straights, that said without any changes to the car i think thers a mid 53 sec lap in it so its not impossible task to beat it.
Last edited by Graham; 01-04-2010 at 15:47.
I love these write ups. Its like being there and almost in the car. Sounds like you enjoyed the weekend. Any video or photos of the two days?
Tom
Check out snappy racers website, there are some fantastic pics from the day.
Sierra cosworth turbo race car
QMN saloon car championship
RETRO Motorsport
Is there much you can do with the aerodynamics of the bmw. Maybe a front splitter, smaller rear wing, covers to flatten out the underside of the car or rear diffuser. I am no expert here but just thinking out loud.
Some nice photos there btw
Tom
the only areo devices allowed are a front spoiler/spliter and rear spoiler, rear diffuser or anything under the car are a no no, last year i did deepen the front spoiler and add a splitter, it made no difference
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