my road rally mk2

[mexicotait]

Re: my road rally mk2

So into the new year and due to work being flat out i have really struggled with time on the car.

I entered a 12 car in january as a first event and also to test the car before a proper road rally. I was entered with Josh on the maps and despite having the fuel pump wiring fail before the start we had a good clean run. It was a warm dry night and the car was handling well. We nailed the regularity only dropping 6 seconds and cleaned everything else so we thought we had won. Only to beaten to first spot by Jonathan Webb and his wife who got a zero on the reg. So 2nd place was a good start to the championship. The Championship works well as you have to drop two scores but if you marshal you get 12 points (the same as a win) and as these events are normally over subscribed it lets more people have a chance.

I am currently 2nd and have to miss the next round (reason will become clear) so plan to marshal on the next to keep me up the sharp end.



Apart from a good clean the car was ready so i concentrated on setting up my Xmas present to myself. I've wanted a tyre machine for a while and finally got one cheap off a friend. It needed a bit of a service but now works well and is one less job i have to farm out.




Then onto the road rally which was the John Robson ran by my Motorclub Hexham. For the past three events i have helped organise it but fancied stepping back from it and having a go at competing. Leading up to the event we had some serious storms but on the saturday it was bright and sunny but the weather forecast was threatening heavy rain and winds.

Seeded at 19 we awaited our minute before getting the route plotted and then a small 20 minute runout to the first competitive section. The rain was coming down hard now and the wind was beginning to pick up. Off into the first section it was tricky but we were quickly on the pace and managed to clean it by a few minutes. Helped mostly by being my local lanes and also going past my dads house .

Then a short transport section and into the next comp section which was a loop around Allendale some roads i knew but others i didn't. We caught a few cars in this section including a yellow mg that had a small brush with the scenery but we were quickly past them all.

Then onto the 3rd section we got caught out by a a 45 right on the map that tightened and narrowed. We ran wide and hit a large rock which knocked the tracking out and also caught a protruding stone from the dry stone wall which made a mess of both doors on the passenger side. We hardly dropped any time.

We finished the section with no real drama and managed to keep on the pace. On the next transport section i got out and checked underneath and found a bent steering arm. i managed to reset the tracking close to where we started and the mk2 was back handling like it should have.

We made it to petrol where we were comfortably leading our class and lying joint 7th overall. Not bad for a kent powered mk2!

I had another quick check at petrol but everything looked fine and the car was going great. Although i was surprised by the amount of damage done


After petrol there was a small run to the start of the next competitive section. This first part would be plot and Bash. Josh was superb as always here and we were catching cars quickly until i started to notice the exhaust starting to get louder. I guessed the manifold had cracked but kept pushing on but it got worse and worse and eventually broke completely. Although the car still drove it was lacking in power and i could barely hear josh. we pulled off the route and waited until the closing car had passed before slowly driving back to the trailer. To say we were gutted was an understatement.

we have both wanted to just have a clear run on this event and at the minute we just cant get any luck.

we loaded up, had breakfast and then headed home.

here you can see the damage done



Im meant to be competing again at the end of march but all i have had the motivation to do is take the manifold off and take pictures to send to the supplier. It hasn't been hit or had an impact and is properly supported so i'm a pissed off its broken. it's been on less than a month!

The supplier have agreed to replace it but i think i will strengthen it myself before it goes back on



so not a great weekend and im still down in the doldrums about

i hate cars

[Graham]

Re: my road rally mk2

shame that, part of the issue of the exhaust it really needs bracing against the bellhousing to avoid having manifold having to handle twisting forces placed on it by engine/exhaust system movment

[mexicotait]

Re: my road rally mk2

That’s a good idea I’ll try and add one

I’ve added a further mount on the floor and changed to spring mounting the exhaust so it can twist now

Hopefully it stops it happening again

[Graham]

Re: my road rally mk2

my dyno mule manifold just broke like that for the second time! and its not got a whole exhaust hanging off it just a 4 foot length of tube. im going to have to make a brace for it

[mexicotait]

Re: my road rally mk2

Hi folks

After sorting the manifold I started to get on with the body work.

I managed to buy two doors locally which were a lot straighter than mine but needed the bottoms repairing.





And some filler



and primer



and finally in paint



i'm glad i made the wing bolt on this made it much easier to knock the small dent out.



I stripped the gearbox out and found the blockers for 5th gear had come out and the circlip had broken.

I also noticed a crack starting to form in one of the selectors.



After all this work it was a short test drive before loading up ready for the Shaw trophy Targa Rally

[mexicotait]

Re: my road rally mk2

Shaw Trophy Targa rally.

After the bad luck i've been having on the past few events i was hoping for a clean run on this local event. Dylan was once again in the navigators seat. He was a bit worried about it only being his 2nd targa event but i wasnt worried.

In the past few years i have help organise this event but since the change of venue i fancied having a go at competing again. The event was based around Stewartshield Plantation on otterburn ranges.
This place is a maze of Gravel tracks that they had been allowed usage of so it looked like it would be a good event. It would be the same 2 tests repeated 3 times before reversing them in the afternoon.


Scrutineering was passed. The scrutineer was very nice and said how impressed he was to see that i had fixed the damage so quickly which was nice to hear.(he was the same scrut from the last event)



Then onto the first test. This went ok apart from Dylan struggling with the maps as the Letters were very small. He was learning my way of calling things and despite not having the last part of the 1st test he was fine.



Onto the second test where he labeled the cones with bigger letters so he could see what he was supposed to be shouting at me much better. this test was quite a bit longer and we were getting into the groove. I started off quite slow but i was just wanting to get to the finish.


The next set was a repeat of 1&2 and a few people reported the tests were cutting up and getting a bit rougher. My mk2 is fine in the rough so we pushed on a bit harder taking 46 seconds out of our first run round.

Onto the 3rd set of tests we were going even quicker catching a car a short way into the 5th test and then another on the finish of the 6th.


Unfortunately as we pulled up to the line the car filled with smoke.

we pulled forward and jumped out and firstly checked we weren't on fire (we weren't thank god!!)

The speedo bung had come out of the gearbox and chucked oil over the hot exhaust. Luckily it only smoked and alerted us to the problem. Im not sure how it came out as it was lockwired in.

this was a lucky escape if it had happened mid test or on the road it could have caused me a box.

I managed to get the plug back in before slowly driving about 1/2 a mile to the trailer where we loaded up and called it a day.


We enjoyed what we did and the car felt great. Hopefully it will run again next year.

SInce then i have taken the engine and gearbox out.

The engine was fine but i thought as i had a bit of time between events i would give it a refresh.

As for the box i have machined and ali plug that now bolts into the casing and i have made a much better breather for the box so hopefully it doesn't happen again.


more soon

[JimKeogh]

Re: my road rally mk2

Well done especially after all your hard work!

[GavinR]

Re: my road rally mk2

Shame you had to retire, sounds like it was a good event

I've got plenty of spare selector forks if you want one (and haven't changed the cracked one yet)

[mexicotait]

Re: my road rally mk2

Shame you had to retire, sounds like it was a good event

I've got plenty of spare selector forks if you want one (and haven't changed the cracked one yet)

Thanks Gavin

That would be helpful I had to rob one out of my spare box

If I had been more organised I would have brought my 4 speed to the event and the other mount and I could have swapped to that. We had more than enough time.

The 4 speed is in now as my next two events are historics The Berwick classic and the white rose classic

Not fancy a run in the scimitar?

[GavinR]

Re: my road rally mk2

I'll dig one out
I hope to be out on the St Wilfrids in August in the Scimitar

[mexicotait]

Re: my road rally mk2

I haven't updated this for a while but quite a bit has happened.

Firstly the engine was due a rebuild. It was noted on the Rolling road that it was breathing quite heavy so now i had a gap between events i took it out to give it a refresh.

After stripping it i found it had broken a piston ring but somehow hadn't damaged the bores. It also must have been starved of oil at some point as the crank was looking a little sorry.

The crank was sent away for a grind and the block was honed ready for new bits. it had all new bearings and new pistons. it went back together without problem and i ran it in. It was giving good power and not using any oil or breathing heavy.

After this there was very little to do before the Berwick classic regularity rally.

This is a popular event with regularities on the road and tests on private land all based in the wonderful borders countryside.


I borrowed a friends Camper van to tow the car and sleep in as the event was over two days.

Dylan was once again in with me and after some practice during the week (whilst running the engine in) we felt ready for the challenge ahead.

The first road section was a slow cruise up the A1 before turning off into a large farm for the first test on the saturday afternoon.



This went well a little slow and struggling for grip but i just wanted to have a trouble free event and not put it off on the first corner. A time in the top 20 was good enough to start with so we were happy and headed to the next test. I cant remember this but it must have been ok then we headed into the first regularity.

Our system was working well up until about 5 miles in where we wrong slotted but managed to get back on track. we were pushing hard trying to make up time but ended up stuck behind another car (A very nice Marina coupe which sounded great) we realised we weren't too far off our desired time so stuck behind them which worked well and enabled us to see a NAM triangle (not as map, meaning you have to go the long way round a junction or into a layby normally) that they and a lot of other missed which got them a penalty.

The regularity then took us off road round a maze of farm lanes which was very tricky but good fun and we managed to not drop anytime. This meant we were lying 16th overall come the overnight halt which was far better than we expected.

We then went for a beer and some tea before a good nights sleep ready for the next day.


Then a small drive to the finish in wooler the following morning to drop the van and trailer off before a cruise up to Berwick Quayside for the restart.

More of the same today with a lot more tests which all seem to blur into one. One i remember was a really good test through a woodland sliding in between the trees



A few more regularities now and we were getting into a nice relaxed groove. i was getting quicker on the tests too which meant we had moved up to the leader board to 13th.

Then onto the last test where we were going well and showing off for the photographer a small jump over a wooden bridge and into a nice flowing gravel track.





There was a yump at the end of this that we took a bit quick and landed heavily in a hole on my side. This winded me as we landed on the sump Guard but we managed to continue to end of the test albeit slowly and got caught by the car which behind. At the end of the test i got out to catch my breath and realised i had hurt my back quite badly and done some small damage to the car. we drove the 200yrds back to the finish vewnue and put the car on the trailer and i got checked out by another competitor who happens to be an A&E nurse. all looked ok just a bit of a jolt.

bit of a shame to end the event like that but we still had a good result and kept our 13th place.

I was a bit sore for the next week but no real damage. Unfortunately this was to be the last event for a while as i pulled my entry for the White rose classic due to my back.

more to come

[mexicotait]

Re: my road rally mk2

After the event i was spannered for a few weeks and really not in the mood to do anything to the car.

I eventually got round to looking at it and decided that i wasn't going to mess around trying to repair the existing damage.

After the trouble i had fitting the wing and front panel a few months ago i was convinced something wasn't right with the chassis and after some measuring i realised that the chassis rails had a bit of a twist in them.

The inner wings and inner front panel were also quite shabby with numerous patches so i decided to go the whole hog and replace the lot.


after a few hours cutting i got to this point below.



Here you can see the twist, its always been there but after various bumps and events it's gotten worse, add to that more and more rust which i have patched and replaced there wasn't really any other options

I folded up a repair section for the chassis to extend the part that fits into the front chassis rails.

hopefully this will add to the strength





And this is the point im at now. I made a jig to hold it all in place and its tacked in now ready to start the other side




you can see there is a small gap between the inner wing and the bulkhead this needs to be pulled forward to meet the wing and bring the bonnet hinge down to the correct place.

[mexicotait]

Re: my road rally mk2

So after lots of faffing and messing around i managed to get the
passenger side chassis rail and inner wing sitting properly and tacked in before moving onto the drivers side.

this was much simpler as the bulkhead was straight and the inner wing and chassis rail needed little work to get them to fit.





this meant that i could fit the inner front panel and ensured everything could be lined up properly ready for final welding which i'm on with now.







More soon

[GavinR]

Re: my road rally mk2

Good work

[mexicotait]

Re: my road rally mk2

Its been a while since i last posted and i have been busy.

After the last little indiscretion i had a deadline of august to get the car complete. There was no way i was missing this event.



after quite a bit more fiddling i managed to get to this stage where the whole front was tacked in and lining up correctly.




i trial fitted the wings to make sure they lined up the drivers wing still needs a bit of work but it was close enough for now



Then i welded the front panel on fully and the slam panel



after that it was just a matter of chucking some primer at it




and then finally some paint



i think chucking is the best way to describe my painting skills!!

but after all this i could finally refit the engine box and suspension and give the old yoke a face again!!



Now all of this was for a very important event and i was seriously worried i wouldnt make it. infact my Dad and i were still putting stickers on the car a 10pm the night before!!!

However it made it to my wedding and drove there without a hitch which was a result as i didnt even have chance to test drive it!








ANd here it is in all its glory with me and my best man (and Toby the dog)

And better still it even managed to get us back again!!