I think I'll be near the back aswell, never mind though, its where you finish that matters.. or so im told lol.
Hopefully we'll carry on from where we left off on the tour of epynt. Your new engine is going to be a little screamer isnt it.. should propel it along nicely.
We are car 63 for the Tour of Caerwent on Sunday. The car is still undergoing some fettling. The new rose jointed arms are on, front legs have been de assembled, cleaned and re fitted with new top mount bearings and new uprated mounts. The top mounts are being strengthened and a few little niggly things are being sorted. Geometry is to be set up aswell and then hopefully some testing tomorrow evening ahead of the weekend.
Not good, the results are showing Arwel as having retired after stage 1. Hope all is ok.
http://www.amcrallyresults.co.uk/
Total disaster Paul. Blew the inner cv to bits 500 yds into SS1. Lots of investigating to do to find out what exactly caused it as we have a few different theories at the moment.
Unlucky dude, not a good day for pugs!
Not at all Matt. Onwards and upwards and we'll try again i Pembrey.
So the last week or so has been spent getting to the bottom of the shaft failure. The conclusion we came to was that we basically we made too much adjustment and in turn it had pulled the tripod in the inner cv on the long shaft way past the point of being able to cope. It broke under braking and on a down shift so when we had forces trying to slow the car against the forces going forward it became too much and popped one of the three bearing out of the cup and the other 2 followed. School boy error really but we'll learn from it and move on.
Car has now been re set with less camber so we'll do a few more test miles at the weekend ahead of The Bob Shaw Memorial Rally at Talbenny on the 13th of April. The long term plan is to get some 309 shafts or have a set made up so we can make more adjustment at a later date.
Good stuff, glad it's fixed.
You travelling down Saturday or Sunday morning?
Cheers
How much camber had you added?
Hope you've solved the issue
We'll be going down Sunday morning Matt. I used to stay in a static caravan on the Saturday but budget wont allow it this time lol.
We had only added 0.75 of a degree but it was too much according to various forums and I suppose I have evidence to back it up. Its been set now to roughly 0.25 and everything seems happy now. As I said above, long term plan is either 309 shafts or custom made ones so we'll see what happens
Seeded entry list came out last night for the Bob Shaw Memorial rally in Talbenny. We've been seeded car 27 which is great. The class victory on the Tour of Epyn has certainly helped so we'll be looking and hopng for a good run down there on Sunday.
This week is being spent fine tuning a wet weather set up as if its raining on Sunday then its going to be very slippery down there. Also some cosmetic work is being carried out as when we were recovered after the breakdown in Caerwent, the hoist used to lift the front end of the car broke the front bumper and made everything a bit wonky. Other than that, everything seems ready to go for Sunday.
Talbenny is all done and dusted. We finished 22nd overall and 3rd in class. It wasn't my best days driving and wasn't as neat as I would have liked to be but we came away with maximum championship points for our class so we're back on track after the disaster in Caerwent.
Next round is Harlech stages in North Wales so we're using that as one of our dropped rounds and giving it a miss. So we have roughly 6 weeks before Dale Stages at the end of May which gives us plenty of time for a full check over, oil and filter change and tidy up some cosmetic damage after we had a little altercation with a fence and then later a chicane. Lap top is currently broken so hopefully I'll have some in car footage soon enough.
Managed to get one stage uploaded from last week.
http://youtu.be/ceBLfCQCMBM
Well done mate. Nice result that! I might come to Harlech for a watch. Might see you there!
Few of my photos from Talbenny,
Full set here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljmarc...7644010461823/
My Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ljmarch/
Cheerss Lee. Won't be in Harlech, did consider going in the end as mid summer Caerwent has been cancelled but decided against it as we have a little work to do and need to restock on tyres.
Lovely shots as always Lyndon. Thank you. See you on the next one.
Haven't updated this since Talbenny. So we did Dale 2 weekends ago. We were seeded car 27 again. Conditions were very slippery but it played into our hands as all the bigger powered rear wheel drive cars struggled for traction until it dried out in the afternoon. We finished 14th O/A which is fantastic and 3rd in class. I think i've fully got to grips with the car now and can really start pushing on as there is more time to be made up still. We did suffer some cosmetic damage when we clipped the front end in a chicane but other than that there was no problem.
I did have issues during testing in the week leading upto the event. The return mechanism on the throttle body failed and the throttle stuck fully open which was "interesting" to say the least. I also spent about 3 days chasing a handling issue which turned out to be knackered polly bushes after only one event. I also went back onto the harder rear shocks which made everything feel much more positive. So we now have just short of 2 months untill the Harry Flatters Rally on the Epynt ranges at the end of July.
I did hop in the co drivers seat for a friend of mine last week on the Mini Epynt stages. It was a baptism of fire as he had never done a stage rally before and I had never read notes. It all went pretty well though apart from the odd mistake from both of us but we finished 40th overall and 15th in class.
Dale Stages
Mini Epynt
Some incar from mini epynt
http://youtu.be/9r4Es9q9A7U
My Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ljmarch/
Great result at Dale dude. Have you got anything on before the Flatters?
I'm doing Epynt Hillclimb and Brawdy to try and get a load of seat time
Matt
Cheers Lyndon, top pics as always. Luckily you weren't snapping away when i nearly fell off the bike in the morning ha ha ha.
Cheers Matt. Gutted that bad luck still seems to find you dude. I've got nothing planned before the flatters. Car needs a few odds n ends changing so i think we'll do that and do some testing up the mountain. Although if Brawdy still has entries closer to the time I could be tempted.
I'll hopefully come up for a watch on the hillclimb aswell.
Flatters
We did the Harry Flatters rally in July which is held on the Epynt military ranges. It all went wrong when the serivce/tow vehicle decided it didnt want to play no more and the oil pump packed up on the Saturday on the way to Scruteneering.
The rally started well and saw us leading the class after the first loop of stages. On the last stage of the second loop the clutch started slipping. We found the reverse light switch had come out of the box and dropped oil all over the clutch. The boys in service cleaned it all and got us on our way again, however the damage had been done. Right near the end of SS7 we lost drive whilst going down the box to slow for a left hander. The main input shaft had sheered off. On inspection it had been subjected to massive heat as it was all blue and purple. The heat had also transferred through to the clutch and turned that a nice shade of purple and blue.
The DNF puts us under pressure to finish the last 4 rounds of the championship to take the class victory, Next even it 24th of August back on Epynt again for the Mewla Rally.
Mewla
Another forgettable day yesterday on the Mewla rally. We were making do with the standard gearbox and were going at a reasonable pace. SS3 and we had got 3/4 of the way through when something electrical popped and the car started missing badly. Managed to limp to service where we changed the usual suspected items such as coil, ignition amp etc... Got out of service and all seemed well but the problem came back towards the end of the road section and the car died and wouldnt re start. We had spares in the car which I changed but still did not want to play.
Due to others not finishing and only 3 events left, Abigail clinched the class 7 welsh tarmac tittle for co-drivers but it looks like I will miss out unless a small miracle happens. Caerwent in September so we shall see what happens.
Normal service was resumed on Sunday. We finished 26th O/A and 2nd in class. We did have an issue with low battery voltage as it ran out of juice on Saturday going into scruteneering and on the way to SS1 on Sunday. SS2 the rear half of the exhaust dropped and got dragged around behind the car for about 7 miles. This was bodged back together in service though and we continued with our day. Full enjoyment, brilliant fun and good competition. Also it was the first time in 2 and half years that I managed to finish an event in Caerwent.
Peter Lloyd Rallying stages in Pembrey on the 12th of October so that gives us 2 weeks to sort a few little niggles that i've noticed and hopefully get the close ratio box back in.
My Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ljmarch/
Thanks Lyndon, very few of me from the two summer Epynts hahaha
Competed on the Peter Lloyd Rallying Stages at Pembrey yesterday. Despite very slippy conditions and a standard box with no slip we struggled a fair bit in places and just couldn't get any power down at all. Despite this we finished 17th overall and 4th in class and picked up the best mixed crew award.
That brings an end to our Welsh Tarmac championship campaign and Abigail took the class 7 co-drivers title and i finished runner up. The two DNF results on the two summer Epynt rallies basically dropped me from a comfortable position to needing a miracle to win. I guess thats motorsport for you. Next years plans are to be decided but I won't be doing any championship as I feel like some of the enjoyment was lost in the second half of this year but we shall see.
Next up is the Powys Lanes road rally which will see my girlfriend Helen sitting alongside me. She has many years experience in the silly seat on the maps as she comes from a rallying family.
Some in car footage will be up very soon.
My Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ljmarch/
Cheers for thos Lyndon. It was the slippiest i've ever experienced there that weekend. Here is some incar from SS1 and SS3
http://youtu.be/FbyGPRLCzms
http://youtu.be/aL4OxL3oi8M
Next up is a return to the lanes for me. I've not done a road rally in 3 years and not used the car in its current spec on a road rally so it could be a very interesting night. Powys Lanes on the 8/9th of November will be fun. Lots of work ongoing at the moment but he is looking very sorry for himself but by sunday he'll hopefully be back together again.
Will you be doing Christmas Pembrey dude?
I will indeed Matt. Me and Helen will be doing it. We're also planning on doing the Tour of Epynt. Thats all we have planned at the moment stage rally wise as it'll be mainly road rallies for me. But there will be one or two other events thrown in there during the course of the year.
We did the Powys Lanes last saturday night. It didnt go to plan really. The map reading potti failed before we left the start venue but despite this Helen did a superb job guiding us around. The pace was very very good and from the times we were setting in the sections we would have been on course for a top 5 which would have been fantastic. Unfortunately we lost the exhaust not far from the petrol hault so we retired as we would not have been allowed to carry on due to being too loud.
Many positives to take from the event. The main one was that we worked amazingly well together and secondly the speed is very much there. The car is absoultely perfect for the Welsh lanes so a season doing the Welsh Road Rally Championship could be on the cards for 2015.
We have an entry on this weekends Chris Hellier memorial road rally. We have been slotted in at car 12 after a late entry and someone pulling out so we are looking forward to hopefully a good run
Chris Hellier rally went well I guess. We ended up finishing 8th overall. We should have been 3rd but incurred a 10minute penalty for apparently missing a code board which we dont believe was there in the first place but despite an appeal we didnt get it withdrawn so the penalty stood. Still not a bad result for only my 2nd event down the lanes in 3 years and only the second event for me and Helen to be alongside eachother.
We lost the exhaust again. I realised that it drops down first and then eventually catches on something and gets ripped off so we need to strengthen that part of the car. Other than that everything works very well and the car is clearly very very competative.
Next up is a return to the daylight for the Jaffa Stages in Pembrey on the 28/12/2014 which will be Helens' stage rally debut and is going to be a very enjoyable day. It's the last event of the year with nothing to lose so I will be allowed off the leash for a full on maximum attack and just have as much fun as possible.
Good result on the last rally fair play, i hate codeboards!!! welsh championship for you and Helen next year then?
Have you got much to do before Pembrey?
I need to sort the alternator out, found another broken wire hence no charge until it was under load. Fit a standard exhaust as I need to have another one made up but no time or money before christmas to do that so standard one it is. New bottom arms as there is a bit too much play for my liking in the ball joints, swap rear shocks and thats it really. A days work and it'll be good to go.
What about you pal?
We've been seeded car 35 for this weekends Jaffa Stages at Pembrey. There are 21 in our class which is massive and we will be aiming to be fighting for the class win and as close to the top 10 overall as possible. The day will mainly be to enjoy the last rally of the year and get Helen som experience in the car with me ahead of next year but of course we want to be competative from the start.
Merry Christmas everyone and have a Happy New Year.
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