GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

[Sidways93]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Good write ups Gavin. Well worth doing the clutch conversion, mine is very similar, I could barely get one rally from a cable.

How you fit in all the competing and organising the Exmoor I’ll never know. I managed to get the Escort around the 1000 Tracks and finish 6th overall with Dad navigating for the first time. It was a tough event, my time for the last test was something like 56 minutes and that was a top 5 time! Good to hear they may ease it up a little this year.

Lewis - Red Mk2 4 door

[mexicotait]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

I have been thinking about this recently too

if i go down the pinto route i think ill do the same.

[Graham]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

i like the way you tackled the clutch conversion so much better to have an external slave you can replace easily then those stupid concentric units. its ridiculous how any gearboxes we remove just to change a slave. interesting point to note bmw still use a conventional external slave cylinder. so much better and no need to bleed a clutch if you remove the box either

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Onto the hydraulic clutch conversion - I should have done this years ago, but have managed with a cable coming through the bulkhead about 2 inches nearer the tunnel than standard (with a bracket on the clutch pedal to match) and that meant the cable was routed between the block and the exhaust manifold, and I would fit a new clutch cable whenever it started to get stiff. The last cable wasn't that old and didn't actually break, but the outer section had pulled through the top plastic section.

I decided to use an external slave cylinder from a landrover and had a good look at Dan Stone's Mk2 which has a similar set up. The slave cylinder was going to be fitted on the passenger side to keep it away from the exhaust. The pedal box end was simple enough as the very old Gartrac pedal box already had the mount for a clutch master cylinder. I used a 0.625" Girling cylinder from my spares and welded a bit of 10mm metal strip to the top of the clutch pedal to line up with it.

Ally bellhousing - I cut one side a few years ago to make fitting clutch cables easier but I know mud sometimes gets in there so I covered the hole with some alloy plate.





Bracket made from 6mm plate with countersunk M8 bolts to make studs.



Mocked up on the bench



M10 Clevis bolted to a std clutch release arm and a 5/16 UNF rose joint on a cut down bolt to make the push rod for the slave cylinder. Everything was lockwired before putting it together



I even made a "sump guard extension" from some 4mm ally sheet - the front was attached to the sump guard with M10 countersunk bolts, and the rear was bolted through the passenger footwell





My other job for the winter was to swap the steering column as the splines had twisted at some point during the last few events - I spotted it before the Bustard but didn't have time to change it.
Unfortunately the only spare I had was the shorter version of a Mk2 column, so I bought a long Gp4 steering coupling which is supposed to make up the difference.
The silly thing is that the shorter type of columns are 30mm shorter, but the longer Gp4 coupling is only 20mm longer And I have a lowered rack mount!

Anyway, I got it fitted with the steering wheel 10mm closer to the dashboard, and moved the stalks down the column by 10mm too.
If anyone has a spare "long" steering column, then I'd be interested in it.



I tried the hydraulic clutch on a Test Day at Smeatharpe Airfield in January - the pedal is definitely lighter than with a cable but it needed a bit more bleeding and some adjustment at both ends. I've also made a pedal stop by welding a nut underneath the clutch pedal (a couple of inches from the bottom) and fitted a bolt and locknut so I can stop the pedal going too far and possibly damaging something. I'm going to drive her around a bit more then I'll be happy it's set up ok

[mexicotait]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Good to read your reports Gavin

I used to have trouble with clutch cables until i realised that it was the angle between the pedal box and clutch hole in the bulkhead pulling the cable at an angle

I tweaked it to be straight and have had no trouble since However hydraulic is a better solution and will probably make the clutch lighter too

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

To finish off 2021, I organised the Exmoor Targa Rally - it didn't go particularly well this year with a lot of the permissions arriving at the very last minute (very stressful), a smaller than usual entry and a few incidents on the day which delayed things forcing the cancellation of the 2nd two runs up Porlock, but it was good to be able to run it again after a year off.
Owen Turner was pushed very hard by Ethan Davies throughout the day, with Owen winning by 18s and retaining the trophy.

1000 Tracks Targa - 7th November 2021

This event was run by Heads of the Valleys Auto Club who are better known for running the 1000 Lanes Road Rally.

The 1000 Tracks was based in Walters Arena (a large forest / wind farm / motorsport complex near Neath) with plenty of tracks to choose from. I was entered with George and we were seeded Car 7 out of the 60 starters. There were 3 separate Tests laid out and 3 loops during the day - the first loop was supposed to be straightforward with just one lap of each Test, the second loop had 2 laps of each Test and the third loop had 2 laps of each Test joined together to give a 22 mile Test

The organisers provided detailed maps based on Google Aerial views with the route drawn on to them - the only problem was that the contrast between the dark green and brown trees and the dark grey tracks made it difficult to work out where we were supposed to be going! We made it round the first loop ok despite missing a PC early on and were lying 6th overall, one of only 20 crews who had managed to beat the bogey times. The clutch was starting to slip but I was hoping it would last the day.

The second loop started well and was a bit easier (for me anyway as I had tyre tracks to follow!) and the organisers had cut out the roughest bit after a few cars got stuck. But by the end of Test 5 the clutch was slipping very badly making it difficult to go up hills or even pull away from a marshal. We parked up for 15 minutes to let it cool down - this didn't make any difference, so we crept through Test 6, ignoring all the manoeuvres, marshals and other cars to get a time at the finish control. Then it was a gentle drive back to the paddock, except we didn't make it up the slight hill at the end, so I left George with Fly and walked up to hand in my timecards and collect the trailer.

As we handed everything in correctly and had completed 6 out of the 7 tests, we were classified 16th overall out of the 20 finishers.
It was a very tough event and the organisers are planning a similar but easier event in 2022

One picture from Alan Jones over the jump on the first Test




Bustard Targa - 20th November 2021

This was run as a single venue event in Worthy Farm and they had a nearly full entry of 54 cars, with George and I at Car 10. When we had last done this event in 2020, I was on "tarmac" tyres (as there are tyre restrictions) and we didn't have much grip on the gravel tracks, so this time I thought I would try something different and bought new 4 Falken Winter tyres in 14" and fitted them on some 14" Wellers I had acquired over the past few years. It was a damp and misty day but we had plenty of grip and caught the car in front a few miles into the first Test, which is always a good sign!

After the first loop we were 6th and made up two places on the second loop, when a slight variation to the route caught out a few crews, to lie 4th at lunch, behind the usual Welsh drivers John Davies, Dan Morris and Huw Morris.

The afternoon had similar Tests but backwards and the tracks were starting to dry out. Queuing up for a short car park Test 8, there was a bang and the clutch pedal went to the floor. It was lucky it didn't happen during a Test, so we pushed Fly to the side of the road and I spent 10 minutes lying in the mud changing it, with George's help.
Even though I had fitted a relined clutch plate after the previous event, I hadn't fitted a new clutch cable as it was new in September so shouldn't have failed that quickly

With the new cable fitted we completed Test 8, then back to the paddock and a few slight adjustments to get ready for the final loop. Not knowing why the cable had failed so quickly, I was worried that the replacement would break, so I changed gear as little as possible on the final loop, putting it in neutral under braking to stop at the marshals, then into 1st just in time to drive off. This might have cost us a few seconds but I wanted to make sure we finished.

On the final Test, there was an extra loop to use a track the other side of a hedge - George was spot on with the maps as always, so we did the correct route and found the PC, but 16 crews missed it and got a 2 minute penalty, including John Davies/Nick Bloxham and Dan Morris/Geth Johnson.
This promoted us up to 2nd Overall, 52s behind Huw Morris / Alan Williams, and just 1s ahead of John Davies, which was a good result to finish the season.

Some pictures from Any Manston





Over the winter I have been doing a hydraulic clutch conversion for Fly so I can finally stop worrying about clutch cables!!!
Details to follow

[para144]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Good reports.

I did the Three Shires too, it was a shame to lose the stage mileage to canceled stages.
We were caught out by bales missing or in different places compared with the roadbook. Finished in one piece & drove the car onto the trailer which is always a bonus

By the way, you beat us on the rally by 18 seconds

[onecamohv]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Great write up Gavin as usual love reading all the updates, you sure do get through some amount of events!

I had a targa last saturday, and one tomorrow - first time ive done 2 events back to back and i can hardly deal with the pressure!

[mexicotait]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

You sound very busy Gavin. Im having a difficult time rebuilding mine so nice to read some reports to get the motivation back.

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Two very different events over the last 5 weeks

Three Shires Stages - Sunday 5th September 2021 - 65 miles of Closed Roads based at Malvern Showground
I'd done this event 2 years ago in DVY but as I am still lacking an engine, went out in Fly instead
Abi Haycock was codriving for me for the first time and we were seeded Car 85 (out of 140) with a lot of quick cars around us

The format was 3 loops of stages, 4 on the first loop, then 5 on the 2nd and 3rd loops (due to a Church Service on one of them)
We had completed the recce a few weeks before in wet weather but it was a hot and sunny day for the event
Some of the stages I recognised from 2019, and others had been lengthened or were completely new

I knew we wouldn't be quick but ended up with a Group N Subaru behind us so were confident we wouldn't be caught on a stage
The first loop went well, apart from stage 2 being cancelled, and we returned to the showground with just the basic checks required, lying 95th overall (!)

The second loop was better, with all 5 stages running and slightly quicker on each one, we didn't get caught by anyone and back in service the only slight worry was a bit of play in the steering, but there was nothing obviously wrong. We did enjoy the ford at the end of Stage 8 as there wasn't enough water to worry about
At this point we were 80th overall



The 3rd and final loop was a bit of a disappointment - Car 24 had a big off on the first stage - the crew were ok but the stage was cancelled, then just as we were getting ready for the second stage, that was also cancelled, so we arrived at the regroup 1.5 hours after leaving service and felt like we had just driven around for no purpose!
There was a regroup at a Village Hall but, although the marshals tried their best to get us back into the right order, there wasn't enough room for everyone so we headed off to the 3rd stage and sorted ourselves out to make sure there was a slower car behind us
We were also worried about the time as the 1st car needed to start the last stage by 5:30pm for us to be allowed to run through it competitively. Luckily they got it going at 5:28pm so we had a good run through the final 3 stages of the event, arriving back at Malvern Showground around 6:45pm

Overall we finished 71st, but more importantly, Fly ran well all day, we just added fuel and carried on. Abi did a good job on the notes despite being tired after codriving on the Woodpecker the day before!


Targa in the Dark - Saturday 2nd October 2021
After a few weeks removing the homologated seats and refitting the comfy bucket seats, fitting the spotlights and knobbly tyres, I was ready for the Targa in the Dark, run by Bath Motor Club
This was using some Tests previously used on the Bath Festival (part of Stourhead Estate) so I sort of knew where I was going, but the 2 Alfreds Tower Tests had a different format, with a combined start and a split halfway round to get back to the start the first time, and the second time we went onto a new section in New Park Wood.

Abi was also navigating on this one and we were seeded at Car 5 behind Dan Morris in a green Puma and Ethan Davies in a red Puma - Cars 1 and 2 were non-starters and there were 55 cars in total. Abi had competed on the Bath Festival twice before although never that high up, but with a comprehensive roadbook and very good maps and diagrams for the Tests, I was sure we would be fine!

There were 10 tests in total, 5 in each loop with a regroup in the middle. The event was called the Targa in the Dark, but we started in daylight, with rather wet and horrible weather, and did a short farm track then a familiar test around Frome Showground. We were a bit slow on the first Test but 5th fastest on the second.
Into Alfreds Tower for the first time and it was very slippery, followed by clouds hanging in the trees near the end made it a bit interesting in the fading light. We got close to the undergrowth a few times but nothing to worry about. Back around to the start for Test 4, we joined in behind Car 25 who was on Test 3. It was going well until after about a mile we got to a Stop / Go and found Car 24 had got beached, with no room to go past. Myself, the marshals and the driver from Car 25 managed to get Car 24 going again and he headed onwards while we ran back to our cars. We were stopped for nearly 2 minutes but completed the new section without any further problems although the new section was even more slippery with a lot of grass up the middle of the track. As quite a few cars were affected by the hold up, we put in a query at the end and the organisers gave us a "Nominal Time" (as would happen on a stage rally).
The final Test of the loop was Castle Wood, and we got round this without incident and at the Regroup we were 6th overall.



Out on the second loop, the start marshal's clock was fast on the first Test so 22 cars beat the minimum time, then on the Showground I was trying to go faster but found there was less grip as the surface had got looser, and we were 8s slower. Back in the forests, there was a 20 minute delay at the start of the Alfreds Tower Tests as they were still recovering cars who had gone off or broken down the first time through! Finally we got going and didn't have any problems on these 2, although some of the later cars got held up by other cars getting stuck. Our times were similar to the first runs - the tracks had dried out a bit, slightly rougher and there were still some slippery bits to catch you out. We were pushing on through the New Park Wood section and came over a crest into an unseen left / right to find the green Puma off on the left. I braked hard and got very sideways but sorted it out just in time to get past



No problems either on the final Test in Castle Wood, and 4th quickest was a good way to end the event.
Back at Wincanton Racecourse, once the Notional Times had been sorted out for all the competitors affected, we were pleased to finish 4th Overall
Ethan Davies won the event by nearly 2 minutes, followed by Huw Morris in his Focus, then Jason and Dan Stone in their Duratec powered BMW

In a few weeks, I'm organising the Exmoor Targa, then hoping to try a new Targa event at Walters Arena in November and the Bustard Targa a few weeks after that

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

I had a set of splits in 2000 and sold them in 2004 as I thought the rules were going to change. They never changed the rules but who knows what will happen in the future!

Anyway I'm ready for the Three Shires Stages on Sunday, fitted the moulded slicks as it looks like it will be a dry day

[Sidways93]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Good write up and result at Caerwent, I managed a decent result but I’ve been going there to marshal for a long time, still never seen it laid out like that and some of the roads used. Running a little further back probably helped on the first loop too.

I could do with Splits on my Escort to make the most of the engine but see it as a bit of risky move now with potential rule changes!

Cheers, Lewis car 31

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Things have been very busy this month with the Ross MSC Hatsford Targa on 8th August and the Forresters CC Venta Silurum Targa on 22nd August
For both events, I had Tavern MC member Keith Emery sat in with me - I've known Keith for 10 years but we'd never done an event together

Hatsford is run at a Farm near Ledbury with the Tests laid out on 25 acres of fields. I didn't expect to do that well, especially as it had been wet the previous day. The first Test, it was just a question of trying to keep moving in the right direction, and the second one wasn't much better - some parts had dried slightly and other parts had got muddier.
We didn't have any more rain, so it got faster during the day, but we were caught out by a few cones which weren't quite where we expected them to be.
We finished 7th overall (in the Interclub event) and were the top RWD car, but well behind the leaders.





Venta Silurum is the Roman name for Caerwent, an Army Training ground in South Wales which has been used for Rallying for many years, but this was the first Targa Rally.
The organisers had laid out 3 Tests in a loop, with 2 loops in one direction in the morning, and 2 loops in the other direction after lunch. Each Test was 2.5-3.5 miles, making a total of 40 miles.

Caerwent is well known for having a maze of roads and buildings, and a lot of kerbs, so we just wanted to get round without any problems. The first loop didn't go well, getting used to the scale of the maps and how everything was laid out, but we had a clean run through the 3rd Test which gave us some confidence for the next loop. There were no changes to the Tests and we were 40-45s quicker on each one which moved us into the top 20.
The reverse direction after lunch worked well as there were enough tyre marks to follow. We were getting quicker and avoiding all the kerbs, setting times around the top ten. The last loop was similar along we lost a bit of time on the last Test as the axle had started rumbling and we didn't want to break anything!
We finished 12th overall but need to try a lot harder (and cut some corners) to be anywhere near the top crews. It was a great event though and I look forward to going back there next year.





Next event is the Three Shires Stages on 5th September - 65 miles of Closed Road Stages in Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, so I'm busy fitting the fire extinguishers, seats, harnesses, intercom, etc, from Dvy into Fly, and rebuilding the axle (the hub bearings had gone tight, so not too serious)

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

It was definitely hotter than I expected too - Jason and Dan Stone were also on Turbospeeds and had nothing left by the end!
As for Extreme VR3's, I would think Mediums all round would have been ok

I was surprised the 21R's lasted the day but they did and will do some more mileage
It depends a lot on driving style too - I've normally been good with tyre wear as I'm quite neat and tidy

[JimKeogh]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Excellent result......well done!