GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Thanks

Last year West Cork cost £2,850 which is why I only go once a year
This includes pretty much everything (tyres for van, rally car and recce car, fuel, food, etc) and it's also a weeks holiday

If you need any more info, or are thinking of a specific event, let me know - you'd enjoy it over there

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

I've entered for Ireland again and got an MOT booked next week so I've been getting on with sorting out the new gearbox...

I assumed the clutch would need some work, so the other week I got my spare paddle plates relined by http://www.clutch-specialists.co.uk - great service, posted them on a Tuesday and received them back on the Thursday

When I got the old box out and the clutch off I found it needed more than just the paddles - the intermediate plates had worn into the steel wear clips which protect the cover and needed some force to get it all apart. So it made sense to replace all the wear clips and the 2 intermediate plates. After a bit of searching over the weekend I found these on Camillus Bradley's website and 2 days later I had everything I needed. I cleaned up the cover and it's all back on DVY now



Got the new box ready, with another bell housing as the one on the sequential box has a cut out for the layshaft bearing
I've also had a go at the rosejointed stick - there was a lot of play between the spherical bearing and the circlips so I added some shims out of an old steering rack which fit perfectly
And a new gearbox mount fitted to a cross member off a Mk1 Capri box



While I was there, I had a look inside the sequential box - loads of mashed teeth and for a constant mesh gearbox there's not a lot of mesh left
The input shaft (on the left of the pic) seems fine and the gear below it, so I assume the centre bearing failed letting everything drop out of mesh
I'll take it apart myself and work out which bits I need, but I'm not in any hurry / haven't got the money to rebuild it at the moment...



Thanks

[Redrocket-]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

was at west cork also this weekend gone by and was nicely surprised to have seen DVY blast past me. I was only at 3 stages and was too late a few times with the camera, first time i wasnt expecting it to be DVY, second time i was all thumbs and only got bad shots of the car, and third time lucky.. the weather was awesome for mid March in Ireland, so here we go, I have a few more but they are much the same shot from the same place:

[Geordie]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

[QUOTE=Huxley;2052607]Just spotted your Longcross action I remember that event as I was course car 0 was rather wet on that one lol

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/Huxley/B976712D-E50A-45D3-AB7F-E7066F429F8B-25698-000027B766BBBD86.jpg[/

???? Was this the carfax stages?? if so i did that one too and it would have been better with a boat!!!

[Huxley]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Yep it was the Carfax

[Huxley]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Gavin could you PM me as to the costs of doing west cork please

Paul

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

was at west cork also this weekend gone by and was nicely surprised to have seen DVY blast past me. I was only at 3 stages and was too late a few times with the camera, first time i wasnt expecting it to be DVY, second time i was all thumbs and only got bad shots of the car, and third time lucky.. the weather was awesome for mid March in Ireland, so here we go, I have a few more but they are much the same shot from the same place

Thanks for the pics - it always surprises me how people recognise cars just from this forum

Gavin could you PM me as to the costs of doing west cork please

Paul

I've sent you a PM with a breakdown, it was a bit cheaper this year as the Euro rate is better and I only bought 2 tyres instead of 8 last year

Thanks

[Huxley]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Cheers Gavin looking forward to competing over there sometime

Paul

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

West Cork Rally 15-16th March 2014



My 11th time of competing on this event and George’s 3rd time co-driving. Carrie was servicing but as Guy could not make it this year, we were joined by my old friend Richard Turnbull. He used to come over when we were based in Essex but hadn’t been for 10 years so was looking forward to some Irish hospitality.

This year the rally comprised 13 stages, 7 on Saturday and 6 on the Sunday giving a total of 130 miles. The recce went smoothly, we covered all of the stages once and a couple twice on the Thursday so it only took a few hours to finish off Friday morning before we all went into Clonakilty to the Farmers Market for lunch.

Late afternoon, we went to scrutineering which took longer than usual – the scrutineer didn’t like some of the roll cage padding as it wasn’t specifically marked as fireproof (it is) so he asked us to remove it. After signing on we parked DVY in Parc Ferme for the night, went back to the cottage to watch some DVD’s and have a takeaway – always good preparation for a rally!

The weather was beautiful on Saturday, not a cloud in the sky, as we lined up at the start of stage 1, Ring, slightly longer this year at nearly 12 miles. We started well, I was up to speed straight away and George was spot on with the notes, we even caught the car in front after 5 miles! Stage 2, Clogagh, was even better, we caught another car and passed them when they overshoot a slot right and our time was 39th quickest on this stage. But on Stage 3, Ballinascarthy, disaster struck after 3 miles when, coming into a square left, the rear studs sheared and the wheel came off! We clipped the bank on the outside before I managed to steer into the verge and I hopped out in time to show the OK board to the next crew. The square left was on a junction so we walked up the escape road while the rest of the cars went past.

George phoned Carrie and Richard to explain what had happened and then got a lift with some spectators back to service so she could navigate the van back to where we were. I stayed with the car and when the marshals said the last car had gone through went back to check out the damage. The marshals had some tools and I had some in the boot – between us we managed to remove 3 of the broken studs, wedge a couple of bolts to get the wheel back on and push DVY back up the escape road just before the first cars came through on their second run. When everyone arrived, Richard and I changed the studs while George and Carrie sorted out lunch!

This year, instead of a Sunday Run, they have a system called Rally 2 which allows you to rejoin at the next suitable point after being rescrutineered, so we headed back to service to see how this would work. It was sorted quite quickly and we were given a time to leave service for stage 7 that evening, a short stage to the West of Clonakilty. We had some spare time in service, so gave DVY a thorough check over and examined the studs on the other side. I’d had a similar problem with FLY a year ago and had renewed the studs on DVY at the same time so I wasn’t sure why they had snapped, and George wasn’t too impressed either…

Stage 7 went well despite a low sun causing problems with visibility we set a decent time but we were lying 84th overnight as maximum times are given for the stages not completed.

Sunday was another lovely day and we started quickly on Stage 8, Ardfield, which was very fast this year with some great smooth flowing sections. When we got to the finish, we were both glad the wheels had stayed on! There was a hold up at Stage 9 and after a while we were directed straight to Stage 10, Sam’s Cross. This was a good mixture of fast and slow sections and near the end we caught the car in front, but it was quite a narrow and twisty section and would have been difficult to get past so I eased back a bit and followed them to the finish.

Back in service, we checked everything on the car and headed off to the final loop of 3 stages, while Carrie and Richard headed to the final stage for some spectating. Unfortunately Ardfield was cancelled on this loop, but we did get a run through Stage 12, Glandore, which was a repeat of Stage 9 which we didn’t do the first time. This was rough all the way through and I was having trouble keeping DVY on the road – the Bilstein suspension wasn’t soaking up the bumps quick enough, so we were bouncing around quite a lot, even George was having to hold on more than usual, but we got through without any problems. The final Stage was a re-run of Sam’s Cross and this went very well, we didn’t catch anyone and were 5s quicker than the first time through.

Overall we finished 60th but would have been a lot higher up without the problems. It was a very enjoyable week, many thanks to Carrie and Richard for servicing, and George for another great job co-driving.


It's going to be a quiet year for DVY, my next planned event is the Mewla on Epynt in August, but this does give me time to sort out a better axle...
I was pleased with the times we were setting in Ireland - having switched to the Quaife Pro my gear changes were definitely slower - I had to think about changing gear and even looked at the gearstick a couple of times to remind myself which gear I was in
But the other change was going to a 5.1 CWP and overall we were about 1s a mile quicker than last year

[RWD fords rule]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Hard luck with the wheel studs, remember the same thing happening a rwd fiesta right in front of me many years ago, grp4 studs are a must
Very tough class you are in, I see Declan Gallagher in the starlet got 3rd over all, some serious driving there beating the class 14 cars

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Yes it's amazing the pace of the top cars, I never worry about the times, I just enjoy the stages and everything else

Some in car from the stages we did

SS1 Ring

SS2 Clogagh

SS3 Ballinascarthy

SS7 West Clon

SS8 Ardfield

SS10 Sam's Cross

SS12 Glandore

SS13 Sam's Cross

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

West Cork Rally 14-15th March 2015

After last year's West Cork I didn't manage to get out in DVY again, having transplanted the Cossie into FLY for the Neath Valley in August only to have number 1 rod let go on the first stage and I let Ron at HT take his time to put it back together. When the rod let go, it hit the jack shaft and the cam belt came off bending all 16 valves. As Ron said when I collected the engine in February, about the only part he hadn't replaced was the head and cams!

It was a bit of a rush to get everything back together as I had to move workshops at the end of February and did about 60 miles running in. I'd never got round to upgrading DVY's axle, so I took the one off FLY and put it in the back of the van for the Service Crew to swap in Ireland. This year Richard was back along with David Morgan, another friend who used to come servicing with us.

Co-driving this year was Carrie (as George was away with her work) and it was the first time she'd read pacenotes since West Cork 2003, but I was sure she wouldn't have forgotten how to! We arrived late Wednesday and spent all of Thursday recceing the 7 stages in pouring rain. We did 6 of them twice and the Ring only once as we've done it enough times. We added some extra notes on a few sections where there was water across the road but Friday was dry and bright with a good forecast for the weekend and we hoped everything would dry out. Richard and David got the axle changed on Thursday along with the alternator which had stopped charging and even had time to look at a diesel leak on the van

This year for the first time, West Cork was a round of the Irish Tarmac Championship which meant a full entry of 151 cars plus reserves and we were seeded at 107. The first stage was Ring and it was going well for the first few miles, although Carrie was complaining about sparks from the prop hitting the tunnel as the axle change had effectively lowered the rear and we were bottoming out frequently. Then the gear stick started to feel a bit strange and about 5 miles in it came off in my hand just as I changed from 3rd to 4th and we were coasting in Neutral.

I found a good place to stop and got the OK board out for the next car before removing the gear stick gaiter and finding the 3 bolts which should hold the gearstick in were nowhere to be seen. Not wanting to waste time trying to find spare bolts, I put it back in, selected 3rd, then took it out and left the gear stick in Carrie's footwell and we completed the stage like that, losing about 4 minutes altogether as 3rd was fine for the twisty bits but we had to let a few cars past on the straights. We did the next road section still in 3rd and planned to try and fix it before starting Stage 2, Clogagh, but when we got there it had been cancelled after Phil Collins had gone off and broken a telegraph pole which was then lying across the road (they were both fine). So we had a slow drive through and back to service, I even had time to phone Richard so he could find some new bolts and get everything ready to raise the rear by 1".

We got everything done in service and went back out for the second runs of Ring and Clogagh. Ring was going well but near the end we were flagged down by the marshals as the stage was blocked. An Escort about 10 cars ahead had caught fire and the following crews had stopped to lend a hand and managed to put the fire out. After about 5 minutes it was cleared and we convoyed out to the end of the stage. Clogagh was the first stage we had a clean run through and it went well, we just had to be a bit careful near the end where the road was very broken up and slippery through a forest. Raising the rear had made a lot of difference and she was riding the bumps a lot better.

Back in service there wasn’t much needed doing except checking everything was tight and we headed off to the afternoon stages, Newcestown and Ballinascarthy. The first of these hadn’t been used for many years but Ballinascarthy used some familiar roads. They both went well although the odd slippery section where it was still wet from Thursday’s rain caught a few people out. A short service and out for second runs, still going well and getting up to speed, we finished Saturday in 78th place but were in the top 60 times in the afternoon.

We had a leisurely start on Sunday, after being so far down I think our start time was 11:30am. There were 3 stages done twice, Ardfield, Sams Cross and Rossmore. Ardfield had a different start this year and we lined up behind 2 Mk1 Escort Mexicos, the Historic field having been reseeded in with the modern field overnight. We caught the first one after 4 miles and the second one after 9 miles. We had a good run through all 3 stages, making up a few places on each one.

Back in service there wasn’t much needed so we helped Richard and David pack up so they could head off to the final stage to spectate. On Ardfield we went 13s quicker than the first run but on Sams Cross I was having trouble selecting gears, it felt like the synchros were breaking up, possibly caused by the gear stick coming loose the day before. Onto the final stage Rossmore, trying to get the revs right to change gear easier, but I couldn’t get into first unless I was stopped. About a mile from the end we came round a square right and I dipped the clutch and booted it in 2nd gear, it snapped sideways and we clipped the bank on the inside and stopped. I reversed out but when I tried to go forwards again DVY wanted to turn right all the time and I realised we must have hit a rock and bent the steering. We struggled to the finish dropping about a minute and a half. After getting our time, I got out and had a look at the damage, finding the compression strut was bent like a banana but luckily wasn’t broken, we just had about 20 degrees of toe out! We were determined to finish so got going on the 10 mile road section back to Clonakilty. On wider roads it was a bit easier to drive although difficult on the left handers. We missed out the finish ramp (there was no control here so it didn’t matter) and reached Parc Ferme in a cloud of steam, the engine getting rather hot as it was like driving with the brakes stuck on.

We dropped a few places because of this, finishing 61st overall and 14th in class. Many thanks to Richard and David for working hard all week, and especially to Carrie for a great job on the notes. Despite the problems, it was really good to do all the stages this year.

[exboyracer]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Nice write-up Gavin, and a good finish despite your problems!

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

After finishing my other rallies this year, I decided it was time to get DVY looking good again - it's been 6 years since the last respray and most of the arches and wings have had some repairs...

Engine, box and front wings off


Front panel off - this had filler on one side where the wing had been hit, and it gives me access to repair the radiator mounts


This rear quarter is dented above the arch - the grey patches are where removing the stickers removed the paint as well!


This one has had come filler work


The drivers door bottom is going rusty, and both door pillars have rust starting to appear


I hope to get the new wings and front panel on next weekend

[Geordie]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Just spotted your Longcross action I remember that event as I was course car 0 was rather wet on that one lol

I did that one too i think it was carfax