damn, that really was wet, and the LED's stood out quite nicely. Are there going to be more videos of races or was it a one off?
damn, that really was wet, and the LED's stood out quite nicely. Are there going to be more videos of races or was it a one off?
Cars, because you can't get enough kicks out of walking fast.
snett was televised a sippet here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo0u0...ature=youtu.be
i'll do a report later, but after the brands GP circuit race where i drove a tactically safe race, i now have a healthy championship lead in my class and find myself sitting 2ND overall
actually i got told off by a couple of peps on the day because i could finished a bit higher in the overall results, that said 5 and 6overall from a field of 40 cars isnt to be sniffed at, but because for the first time in many years i find myself with a real chance of a proper championship result i decided protecting my points score was more important than risking an off or overly stressing the car to get a higher finish that doesnt really count for anything.
Well done yesterday Graham, two very good race results
FANTASTIC news!
http://escort.accelerator.org
1968 MK1 Escort 1300GT
1969 'Big Wing' MK1 Escort
1972 MK3 Cortina 1600XL
1984 Sierra XR4i
And other junk I don't like to talk about!
Well done Graham a good days work
Some snaps here
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...00000586165482
great result, well done
its not dead till it's buried!
T.I.T engineering. "Feel the power!"
still to do the report, but in the back of my mind i know i could of gone a couple of seconds a lap quicker, been thinking about it over the last couple of days, despite using the same tyres as year before last which are now well and truly old and therefore hard, the car felt very composed, last time on the gp circuit i remember it being very nervous and feeling right on the limit,
out of curiosity i looked up the old results, the lap times were as near as dammit the same! ergo i must of been trying much much harder last time, i had to of been as i now have more power! although the old tyres would of offset some of that.
its now got me thinking if i really tried could i match the lap time i did with the turbo............................
Last edited by Graham; 23-08-2011 at 21:30.
pre event prep was minimal, apart from fitting a new windscreen i dropped off the sump to attend to the leaking gasket, lucky the dry sump pan just about wriggled out with have to remove anything else
TBH i didnt expect to see this again so soon!
whilst the sump was off i did split the ends and took a look at the bearings, they clearly had done some work but werent worn as such, in fact the mic'd up thicker than my new spares! so they went back in, along with a new oil filter and valvolene 20/50, several people have questioned why im running thick oil pinto oil in a multivalver, simply because i've never had an issue running the stuff and despite not running an oil cooler oil pressure holds up perfectly even over a 20min race.
so of to brands and the gp circuit, thankfully no scruiteering issues, although driving up tp scruiteering there im sure a heard a momentary big end rattle, which worried the hell out of me, but seeing as it survived the meeting it cant of be, more likely it was piston slap, which surprisingly i've never heard despite the long stroke shortish rods and ultra short skirt pistons.
this meeting is vital for my championship, i went into it with an 8 point lead over bill richards, after this meeting there are only 6 races left, at lydden, donnington and a final brands, now lydden is bills backyard, it will be tough to beat him there especially as it favours small cars, donnington which i've never driven so that will be difficult and brands, yes i can at brands if things go right, so to leave me breathing space i really neededl to get the better of bill.
not much to report in practise, car felt ok except a worrying knocking through the steering and horrid grinding noise and vibration through tight left handers, up until now i've struggled with teh gp circuit in terms of learning the gp loop, but i was doing ok, i came across bill on track and hoped to follow him round and learn something, unfortunately he had similar ideas and wanted to follow me so i ended up in from of him! he didnt learn much though because it ended up with a couple of other cars between us, then just as i really was getting into some sort of stride a car beached itself in the gravel at surtees and it was session over.
i wasnt unhappy with practise but didnt feel i had gone very fast, more worrying was i appeared to of done yet another wheel bearing,
what was really nice was stephen my son had made it down to the meeting so with his help we checked out the bearings and found nothing! eventually i found the issue, the R/H engine mount sits on a plate which sits on 2 RS2000 engine mounts, the metal disc and stud on the rear one was was coming unbonded, and allowing the engine to more sideways enough to touch the steering U/J, so with the help of a ratchet strap, wheel tether we found a way to lash the engine over a bit so it stayed clear of the U/J
when the grid sheets came round i was suprised to see i was 8th overal, and alongside bill, all bar one all the cars ahead of us were turbos, this was excellent news for me, being alongside bill ment i was in with a good chance of beating him, now i NEVER have a pre race plan, bit as we formed up on the grid one came to me, for unknow reasons, pole man was missing, also was gavin thomsons ultra fast pug ( he was 5 seconds a lap faster than bill and i but had lunched his gearbox) this meant i had 3 cars ahead of me but bill had an empty gap and only one car in front, i knew the one car in front of bill would move up into the space vacated by missing pole man leaving a double space ahead of bill, that space was going to be mine it had to!
knowing i can out accerate bill ( but not by a great deal) as we came round on the rolling start i made sure i was exactly level with bill and watch the start lights like a hawk, the rolling start was i highish rpm 3rd gear job leaving the s14 right in the power zone, lights out throttle nailed we headed for paddock for the first time, the cars infront spreading out but as i prediced a gap open out out in front of bill, things were tight but i went for it, i knew i'd out gunned bill and it was going to be tight, i figured i had a cars space ahead of bill even if sapce was a bit short the pit lane exit would allow bill some extra space if needed, and so it was, i made the space got round paddock ahead of bill, he instantly came back at me, i took a defensive line around druids to keep him behind me and headed for graham hill which all got rather crowded as ian butlers focus rs tried to outdrag me and go for the inside, holding me nerve i made graham hill without loosing a spot, and pushed on hard, pleased in the knowledge i was leading my class, according to the results i had pushed hard enough to of set my fastest lap on lap 2 with 3 following identically timed laps, watching the mirrors i couldnt see bill anywhere, neither could i see him rounding paddock as i headed out of graham hill, meaning i didnt know where he was but knew he wasnt anywhere near me, a short while later i found i had andy woody dean in his megane on my tail, as we hit clearways i could see rod birley had gone off leaving skidmarks across the track, as i hit these i had a BIG moment, this had two effects, it allowed woody to close up more and make me realise it wasnt worth trying to hold him off, so i didnt my class position being far more important than the overal risking an off fighting for an unimportant place wasnt worth it, later on again i had a big moment as it hit the oil left by peter taylors sick cossy, so again when danny cassar in a flying proton pushed me for a place i didnt put up much of a fight, a lap later i passed him on the straight but he retook the place, quite simply he was using all the track and big chunks of kerbs whilst i was driving well within things to protect my first class win of the season, nect lap it was race over 5th overall and 1st in class,
back in the paddock i discovered bill had dnf'd, having broken a driveshaft, he had had a coming together with the rs focus and ended up on two wheels, although i didnt see it and apparently the focus didnt see bill a couple of people had said to me afterwards that perhaps bill should of hang on a little longer before trying to pass the focus, but i suspect that with me ahead of bil both on track and in teh championship that was something he was never going to do
race two, the plan was to push a bit harder, i knew gavin and his pug would be on the grid and that with a 5 sec lap advantage he would catch me, but that wasnt the concern i didnt want bill who'd fitted a new driveshaft catching me,
fairly easily off the start i took a place off the proton which haddent fought of in race one and worked to keep him behind along with andy mitchells 205 which was also a long way up the grid, which is how most of the race was, i had ian bulters focus a head, i had the edge on the twisty bits and even got alongside the turbo 5 pot motor a couple of times but he had the straight line speed top keep me behind him, as predicted gavins ultra fast 16v 205 caught me, had the focus not been in my way im sure it would of been later in the race before the pug made an appearance, i held the pug off for a while with some defensive driving at least a whole lap if not two, but my not shutting the door into paddock i allowed him to get up the inside for druids and he was off into the distance, but as i said earlier he had vastly more speed than me, and with the focus in my way it was only matter of time because i wasnt able to up my game enough to keep the pug behind me, that said i wasnt worried too much about the pug the important thing was to finish and ahead off bill.
as it turns out bill never started race two gearbox gremlins sidelining him,
next event being lydden, im looking forwards to trying to beat bill there, but that will not be easy and i have a championship to consider so it will a another risk free race if possible
Well done Graham
GavinR
nice 1 mate, hope u get the engine mount sorted in time, or you gunna keep the strap oh and congrats on the class win..
Well done G and nice race report to.
Well done Graham, and also well done on using your head, as the saying goes '' what do points make ..... PRIZES!''
Well done Graham , great result and very interesting and entertaining right up
love reading up on your races well done fella, excellent driving, and fantastic thinking, good on ya, your'll have a nice shinny prize at this rate (touch wood)
its not dead till it's buried!
T.I.T engineering. "Feel the power!"
cheers chaps, although already giving next year some thought, i'll have to raise my game still further to beat that unbelievably fast pesky pug which if it starts finishing regulary will give me real problems.
Great job Graham, keep it up
Sierra cosworth turbo race car
QMN saloon car championship
RETRO Motorsport
Well done Graham
http://escort.accelerator.org
1968 MK1 Escort 1300GT
1969 'Big Wing' MK1 Escort
1972 MK3 Cortina 1600XL
1984 Sierra XR4i
And other junk I don't like to talk about!
Thought you might like this: http://youtu.be/6wG8ayyFfv0
"Horsepower sells cars, torque wins races" - Enzo Ferrari
I think he'd like this more: http://pistonheads.com/sales/3188632.htm although he'd have to fit a turbo restrictor if he wants to race it in DMN
LOL @ nick,
TBH although i dont have the kick up the arse power i had when i was turbo'd i prefer the car n/a , now a supercharged s14 might be something very good....................
Funny enough I was wondering if anyone has supercharged a YB the other day after driving that cooper S JCW, very nice linear power band and sounds amazing. I guess a modern rotex style s/c would be even better, Ashleys 306 seamed to hold its own against the turbos anyway.
Sierra cosworth turbo race car
QMN saloon car championship
RETRO Motorsport
How did it go today Graham,did you manage to take the fight to Bill
Bill was unstoppable although his kad gearbox did end up stuck in 5th towards the end of the day which almost gave class A a chance of catching him...
Graham drove very sensibly and got another good haul of points despite an overambitious scooby turning the beemer into a 1 series
Sierra cosworth turbo race car
QMN saloon car championship
RETRO Motorsport
i'll do a report later but, in ideal, i.e very hot conditions i can take the fight to bill at lydden, but on a wet/damp track and slicks that need lots of heat to work i never had a chance. just pleased to come away with some handy points, although reduced i still have a 42 point lead over bill, with just 4 races left finishing is more important than ultimate position
ouch, nasty, your gonna need to sort that re shell out soon by the looks of things, poor old girl seen better days. hope your good with a slide hammer
its not dead till it's buried!
T.I.T engineering. "Feel the power!"
take more than a slide hammer i rekn alex, chain around a tree get that kink out or loadsa bogo,
Ouch !!! Bloody hell they keep banging you ? I hate body damage!
given the right i.e hot and dry, conditions round lydden i can worry the likes of bill richards, but alas it wasnt to be, about an hour before our practisce slot the heavens opened, and torrential rain poured out the sky, thankfully it stopped and we had good half hour for the track to dry, unfortunatly it didnt so i found myself in classic too wet for slicks far too dry for wets situation, so practising was limited to slithering around slowly, the track simply had zero grip, a fact proven when a 4wd cossy on treaded tyres went backwards into the gravel at the elbow, this red flagged the session for a while, restarted i started to get into some sort of groove when it rained again, ARRHH! end result i quailified in a mind numingly slow 59seconds, some 16 seconds off what i'd expect to do in favourable conditions, i wasnt last but might of well as been, that said, im in championship mode, drive sensibly and finish is the top priority.
race one from the back row despite a still very damp track and cold hard slicks i made a couple of places, and i had a bmw mini in my sights passing it would be good for my championship as its was in my class, i had no chance of catching bill for a class win but 2nd would of been good, unfortunatly with a 4wd scooby spinning on the start straight and nicks escort ending up stranded in the gravel following an incident the race was red flagged,
somewhat to my frustration when we were regrided we were back in the origonal starting positions! this meant i had to work my way back through the field in order to challenge the mini, but in the damp and with insufficent laps i ended up trailing home 3rd and last in class, still points makes prizes and with serveral cars dnf'ing i was happy to finish ok.
race two, well i was a bit further up the grid, a long rolling burnout start to the green flag lap showed there was some grip, for me it was vital not to get left behind off the start the fwd cars having a distinct advantage, with a good start i made a couple of places when going into pilgrims (1st corner) for the first time i felt an almighty clout up the rear, the car wagged its rear heavily but thankfully it was early enough in the corner i haddnt turned in so i wasnt spun out, my oposition on the first couple of laps comprised of a renault clio and the bmw mini, i had the legs on the straights but they had the corners, the renault and i changed places a couple of times, then the mini out braked me into the elbow so got the advanage up the hill, getting a tighter line round north turn gave me the inside line into paddock bend, i held the inside but the compromised line saw my exit speed too low and the mini repassed, not for too long though the next lap i had retaken the place and pulled away, whilst i was catching those in front they were a long way infront, and i decided once again not to push, no way could i catch bill richards who went on the be the fist dmn car home or to make up meaningless overal positions and risk a dnf.
so with more carefull than anything driving i came away with a decent stack of points, enough to make my class position within the championship pretty solid, what only occured later is with darren bly's skyline loosing an engine i now have a mathematical chance of wining the championship outright!
since then i've porta powered the worst of the dent out the back of the car, but perhaps better with the assistance of my son stephen we gave the garage a massive tidy up and got the new shell in a workable position
above pic is of modified beam mounts, which are now shorter and and a welded part of the beam the length of straight tube sticking out the bottom gives a clue how much higher the beam will sit, this will put the beam much higher in the body than the modded polybushed beam currently in use
the current beam also has been modded to remove some camber, i wanted to see what effect that modding the mounts alone would have so we fitted a trailing arm and wheel and jacked it up to match the ride height on the current car, the good news is it gave exactly the same camber as the current car, this means if i carry out other mods to match the ones on the beam in use i can get the ride height down a couple of inches and keep the rear camber sensable
Last edited by Graham; 22-09-2011 at 21:48.
Sounds very promising Graham, and glad to see you are able to get on the new shell properly again.
Get some bars in the car and we can start looking at the rest of the prep work and build. I have a cunning plan...
Sierra cosworth turbo race car
QMN saloon car championship
RETRO Motorsport
ok been a little bit busy, i taken about 10kgs of sound deadning out the car and did some more work on the rear beam, which basically involves moving the inner pivot up to take camber out, having refitted the beam initally it looked good, i had 1/2 degree Positive rear camber, ok positive isnt good but the ride height was only an inch lower than the current car, so when it comes down more (im looking for a total of 3 inch at the rear and 2 inch at the front it should of been about right) then i found a glitch trying to jack the supsension further up tipped the shell, odd seeing as no springs or shocks are fitted!
it turns out the combination of the much raised beam and me trying to drop the ride height so much further means the trailing arms was hitting hard on the chassis rail near its pivot, Dam!
checking the blue car indeed that has only about half in of clearance,
of coarse this would never be an iusse if i was using 14 or 15 inch wheels like the car was designed around!
a quick dig around the shed and find another beam, this time instead of just moving the inner pivot up, i've sliced the beam and moved in inner up only half as much and moved the outer down, which if i couple that with a slightly lower ( but still higher than the blue cars) beam mount i should be in bussiness, alternativly you lot can all sponsor me so i can switch to 16 in wheels
so after what seems a whole weekend of bashing cutting welding, i've reached a point im happy with, a 3.5 inch drop on the rear ride height results in 2 degrees neg camber, without the mods that would of been about 9 degrees! i wont run it as low as minus 3.5 but its worth checking to see what happens when the rear sqwats, the actual ride height at the rear will be about 2.5-3 inch lower than current and gives me a sensable camber of 1-1.5 neg,
the reason i cant go with a 3.5 inch drop is the car will end up with its nose pointing skywards, the tyre to inner arch clearance allowing a max 2 inch drop at the front, but as the rear sits a good inch higher it all sort of pans out
clearly i've a bit of work to do in the wheel arch dept!
Is that 1 to 1,5 degrees per side ?
Do your tyres wear evenly? I have a problem with the insides of the rears not touching the ground at all. I'm hoping for more camber in the future as I now only have 0,5 degrees. One degree in total.
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