my new nova

[david_white]

Re: my new nova

Bumper looks much better, should make a real difference.
I like that pedal box, what make is it?

[Toymex]

Re: my new nova

Bumper looks much better, should make a real difference.
I like that pedal box, what make is it?

Not sure what make Dave i got it off ebay an absolute bargain ,came complete with cylinders reserviors pipes and bias adjuster for half of the cost of the Tilton in my escort

[Graham]

Re: my new nova

splitter looks great jezz, it looks very close to the ground, it might be the camera angle but it doesnt look blue book compliant, circuit racing has a 4cm min ground clearance rule

[Toymex]

Re: my new nova

splitter looks great jezz, it looks very close to the ground, it might be the camera angle but it doesnt look blue book compliant, circuit racing has a 4cm min ground clearance rule

The back is on axle stands Graham it should be above 40mm on a level surface

[PIG]

Re: my new nova

Fcuking cheating now son lol

[Toymex]

Re: my new nova

Another QMN race day ,Brands GP circuit this time ,i have never driven the GP circuit but was keen to see if the new bumper and splitter was going to make any difference to the feel and handling of the car .
It was a massive 43 car grid so was going to busy ,i had purchased some new tyres earlier in the year but hadnt had an opportunity to use them so i thought i would put them on for qualy .I had bought the same compound that i have been racing on but it has only recently been bought to my attention that the compound has been changed and was probably going to be to soft ,so i planned to do a couple of slow laps then try to put a couple of quick laps in then come back in ,as it happened on my quick laps my brake pedal dissapeared but i thought i had got a reasonable time in .
Back in the paddock we removed the wheels to find that the rear cylinder 1 side was seized and that as my pads were wearing down ,the metal part of the pad was hitting the disc bell on the front .
The times came in and i had qualified 15th ,not too bad but both Nick and Graham had qualified quicker and most importanatly the other 2 cars in my class were in front ,but i was pretty happy that i could go a fair bit quicker if i could follow someone round the rear of the circuit as i knew i was quick enough round the familiar bit .

Race 1
I lined up on the grid behind Jordan Batts in his leon cupra and alongside Ian Butlers (tintop) Focus RS ,got a reasonable enough start and went round paddock on the inside ,then on the run upto Druids the Focus Rs was along side and trying to squeeze me i had no where to go other than on the grass so stayed where i was then we had a small coming together wheel to wheel ,i slotted in behind him then as we went round the rest of the lap the car was not right and was pulling badly to the left so i exited the circuit at Clearways with a left front flat race over .

Back in the paddock we swapped wheels to my new tyres ready for the race hoping they would last , thinking worse case senario was they would go off and i would need to slow down ,as i didnt finish the first race i had to start towards the back in 39th place .

I got a reasonable start and started to pick off the slower cars ,and i was getting quicker allthough i was not that quick on the GP part ,but was pushing as hard as i could then my long brake pedal started again but i could slow ok but was losing a bit of confidence as i was having to pump the brakes and the pedal was getting longer ,but was still managing to pass cars i seemed to have good straight line speed and even managed to pass a cossie along the straight ,out the back of the circuit and i could see Nick in his escort and more impotantly for me Andy Woods Dean in his Megane as he was leading my class ,so head down and push as hard as i could .
I managed to get up behind Nick ,then as we went around the Gp Loop they pulled away a bit but i managed to claw the gap back and by Druids i was tucked up behind Nick i tryed to pass around the outside coming out of druids but Nick shut the door ,the car was feeling a bit strange and wasnt really going where i was pointing it and i was getting a bad vibration from the steering wheel , but i was on a mission so i tucked up behind him along the Cooper straight knowing i had good straight line speed,i followed him through Surtees as best i could as the car was feeling really bad now and as i thought i managed to out drag Nick on the run upto Hawthorns and had the inside line so managed the pass ,but soon realised i had no grip aswell as no brakes now ,so i tried to get out of Nicks way as soon as i could so he could resume his battle with Woody .In hindsight i never should have overtaken Nick as the car was finished i was having to pump the brakes to get the pedal of the floor and the car was vibrating and just handling badly so i backed right off ,this let Tony Skelton through in his Clio ,but i think that was the only person to pass and i managed to take the chequered flag in 15th place i think.

I drove back to the padddock jumped out for my mate Andy to say what happen the tyres go off i said yes and the brakes ,we looked at the tyres and they had massive holes in them where they had overheated and blistered ,so it was a bad weekend for tyres 2 brand new ones fcuk,d and 1 old one mullered where i drove off the circuit on a puncture ,but i managed to inprove my quali time to a 144.4 and got quickest lap in class .

A big well done to Nick who did really well in both races beating many cars from the higher classes including mine and getting driver of the day .i have got some video from race 2 that i will edit and post at some point ,it was pretty busy for overtaking as i went fron 39th to 15th

[david_white]

Re: my new nova

Well done mate, getting up to 15th was some going. Hope you get the brakes and tyres sorted quickly.

[Toymex]

Re: my new nova

Cheers Dave ,we have some ideas on the brake front ,worse case scenario we go back to the old bumper without the splitter , the tyres are the main issue ,but im hoping Nick is going to get some for me

[Graham]

Re: my new nova

yes it does look like you need some brake cooling ducts in that bumper/spoiler, incidentally what fluid you running? after issues with boiling fluid years ago i switched to AP600 with that stuff you can make the discs red hot and set the pads and caliper seals on fire before it boils

[Pushrod King]

Re: my new nova

I think that part of the problem with the brakes is that the pads have hardly any meat left on them so the heat transfers into the pistons. I'm on the tyre supply chase

[Toymex]

Re: my new nova

I have got ATE blue fluid Graham ,its never been an issue before so as Nick says i think its a combination of low pads and the new splitter ,i guess the brake ducts just couldnt cool them enough ,was a real shame as i could have joined in the battle with you Nick and Woody .
Cheers Nick i will wait to hear from you

[Toymex]

Re: my new nova

Well another Qmn race at brands ,the last of the season ,as usual it was all a bit of a last minute panic ,after brake issues last time out i had unloaded the car to find no fluid in the reservior ,assuming it had boiled and evaporated i filled it up and bled the brakes and left it like that untill a couple of days before this race where i went out to have a final bleed of them ,to find no fluid again ?Luckily it was a dry day and i could see a big wet patch below 1 caliper ,after stripping it nothing was obvious so we rebuilt it and put new pads in hoping it was where the pistons were quite a way out was causing the problem .
On arrival at brands we unloaded the car and went to start it but it wouldnt have it we managed to flatten the jump pack and varley and kill the starter motor and still it wouldnt start so we had to bump it .It went straight through scrutineering and out i went for a damp qualifying on slicks .
I was really very gentle for the first few laps of quali as i had to bed the brakes in and it was really very slippery at druids and clearways so i just poodled around trying to get some heat into everything ,then the session got red flagged so back to the pit lane ,almost immediatly the sent us out again and i had a different mind set now and started to push ,i really enjoyed it from here as the car was all over the place ,i like to think i was in control but probably wasnt ,the car would understeer under power then it would find some grip and launch itself across the track .I had done quite well and had qualified 4th so was pretty pleased at that .
Race 1
I was lining up along side Ash hargreaves in his 306 and behind Lee Allen in his mini ,with Rod Birley on pole ,i worked hard on the installation lap to get some heat into my tyres so when the flag dropped i managed to take the outside round paddock to pass Ash i then followed Lee into Druids and down towards Graham hill where i managed to get a better exit so was upto 2nd the rest of the lap i pushed as hard as i could to try to keep up with Rod and on the next lap he had a moment coming out of Graham hill which enabled me to get a run at him along the Cooper straight but as soon as he could put his power down he pulled away ,as we approached surtees Rod was quite slow ,i guess now wary of his cold tyres after his moment at Graham hill my car is really good here so i just launched it round the outside and managed to take the place but as soon as we got to the straight Rod powered back past but i gave chase as best i could and grabbedback going into paddock but as i went to accelerate i had no drive ,Race over

I got the car back to the pits thinking the clutch or possibly the gearbox had given up and had a massive oil slick underneath when i parked it up waiting for a tow back to the paddock ,but when we got back it was clear that the driveshaft had popped out ,so we set off home to grab another shaft and sort a spacer .


Sunday morning back at the car the weather was terrible but we set about repairing the driveshaft which was fine ,but there was no brake fluid in the reservior again so we filled it up and bled them through again in the wind rain and hail stones and we put a wet setting on the car and put the wets on ready for the race .
just as we were called to the assembly point we dropped the car off the stands and luckily my mate saw the front wheel move in the arch ,so we jacked it back up and had a wiggle and it soon became apparent the cause of the driveshaft failure on Saturday ,the front tie bar bkt had split and was allowing the strut to move about So it was a mad panic to borrow a mig and weld it up which we managed just in time to make the grid .
I was starting at the back as i didnt finish the race on Saturday but on the way to the grid i couldnt get 2nd gear ,not to worry i dont use 2nd other than at the start of the formation lap ,so i could get round this .
I have never driven the car on wets so it was all new i have never even driven it with the wiper on so it was really wierd but i managed to get away ok ,couldnt see much and was really surprised by the lack of visibility,i can now see why we have high intensity rain lights .
I managed to pass what i thought was a couple of cars ,nearly got wiped out by a citroen that didnt realise i was alongside on a couple of occasions ,then coming out of druids i think it was a mini ,fiesta and another car had come together and were in the middle of the track so had to brake hard and take evasive action but not being able to get 2nd i had to try to keep going in 3rd ,the car bogged down and it seemed like everyone i had just passed went back past me so i had a bit of red mist now and started to push way too hard .i think i managed to get my place back and was chasing down the next bunch of cars ,went into paddock way too fast ran out of tallent and put it in the gravel




So that was that another race that i didnt finish .
It wasnt until after the race that i found out i hade made up something like 15 places in the few laps i managed

[Toymex]

Re: my new nova

Well i am in a typing mood tonight
So i have managed to do 5 of the 8 rounds this year and have had some good results and driven like the novice i am on other occasions .
Out of the 5 rounds i have managed to win my class ,i have managed to get overall pole in the qmn (due to a very short red flagged quali)
Managed a 3rd overall ,not sure how TBH and managed to dnf or dns 7 times so all in not the best .
It seems that if the rumours are right that the organising comittee are going to alter the classes again and it seems that i might be moved up another class ,originally when we built the car i would have been in the bottom class e ,racing mini miglias and the likes of Nick and Andy ,then it was altered and i had to go up to class d to race with the 2 litre 16v,s and now it seems that i might be racing 2.6 16v,s. and possibly proffessionaly built clio cups and turbocharged leon,s
Obviously my class win and 7 dnf,s have made me too successfull
What i have found is that circuit knowledge is vital and time in the seat is priceless ,so i will wait to see what work is like next year,if i have the funds and if the rumours are true then i will look for another series that will put me with similar cars or if my mate has his way we will rebuild it even better and go and try to race the more powerfull cars but i dont see trying to pass people in the corners only to lose the place down the straights as being my idea of racing ,i used to have that in my old sport on trackdays

[PIG]

Re: my new nova

Those fuckwits on the comittee that run that fuck qmn are jokers mate.change this change that.may be people should try make there own fuckingnrace cars faster rather than changing classes every year to suit.fuck off and join a race seris with a proper class system .it looks easy in your nova tho mate id even fancy my chances against some of those mugs in your thing lol.

[PIG]

Re: my new nova

Still on the case for the ap's son.might be worth checking the roll book 1st tho mate.aps may put you in birleys class tho son.and we all know he has to win lol.....