GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Southdowns Stages - Goodwood - Saturday 10th February 2018

This year I'm not going to West Cork for various reasons, mainly financial (after spending too much on Fly last year!)

So I'll be doing a few in this country and started with the Southdowns Stages at Goodwood a few weeks ago with Carrie codriving
Richard came over from Essex with another friend Stuart who usually marshals

I'd given DVY a good check over - fitted the tarmac springs, new rear coilovers, lowered all round and a new centre box as the noise regs are quite tight at Goodwood

There were 9 stages, most were 2 laps of the circuit with a couple only one lap. We were seeded car 9 out of a full entry of 55 cars - I thought we were a bit high but was hoping for a top ten at the end of the day.

We started very slowly on the first stage, trying to remember to use the whole circuit and brake late enough into the chicanes. The second stage was not any better as it started drizzling and we were still on the slicks. We fitted the wets for the 3rd stage, but nearly slid into a chicane and had to reverse a few yards to get through. By the 4th stage we were up to speed - the circuit was now properly wet and my wet tyres were working better. The 5th stage was a short one and at the lunch break we were down in 19th...

So 4 more stages after lunch and these were the correct way round - the corners seem to flow better this way.
Stages 6 and 7 went well and we moved up to 15th.
Stage 8 was at dusk and here we benefited from a good seeding. My friend Chris (DrDub) was at 29 in his new Escort and being 20 minutes behind it was dark by the time he went round.
We only gained one place but were a lot closer to those in front.
The final stage in the dark went well, until I out braked myself into a chicane, managing to avoid all the cones we made up our own route (to keep the marshals happy) and our time was 10s slower, but this was enough to move us up to 12th overall and 6th in class.

We had an enjoyable day, DVY was running well and we managed not to hit anything! Thanks to Carrie for co-driving and Richard and Stuart for looking after the car.

A few pics from Andy Manston







And some in car (when I'd remembered how to work the camera!)

SS5

https://youtu.be/kOxTHMlazHM

SS8

https://youtu.be/TzhPgmNJv68

Next event should be the Corbeau Seats Rally Tendring & Clacton in April - the first Closed Road event in mainland England...

[mexicotait]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

So how did clacton go then Gavin?

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Clacton was great fun, well organised and everything ran on time

Very enjoyable until the engine went on SS9

This was us on SS7

[mexicotait]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Any updates Gavin?

What went wrong with the engine?

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Hi

Exhaust cam snapped in 2 places - between 3 & 4 and just behind the cam pulley
Not sure why, maybe a valve got stuck down then the piston hit it hard and the shock was enough to break the cam - always difficult to tell when 12 out of the 16 valves are bent!

Anyway, everything in the head has been replaced, new bearings in the bottom end, head skimmed a few thou and pistons skimmed to match and she's up and running again

Rolling Road booked for Thursday morning, then Wethersfield Stages on Sunday with Carrie
I'm hoping for a good run without any problems

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Wethersfield Stages - Sunday 9th September 2018

The rolling road session went well, we just added some fuel at part throttle to improve the pick up and lowered the rev limit to 8k - power was 220bhp but still climbing at the this limit

Carrie was codriving - we'd competed here twice before, in 1997 and 1999, and helped Chelmsford MC set up their other stage rallies there. More recently I've done Targa events so I was looking forward to the tricky bomb dump section - apart from this, the rest of the stages were very open without a chicane anywhere
There were 6 stages each over 10 miles long (it's a large airfield) and we were seeded car 11 out of the 50 entries.

It was a nice dry day but not that warm so I started with soft Hankooks all round and there was plenty of grip on the concrete and tarmac. Chelmsford had also laid a couple of sections of concrete in the bomb dump where the surface had deteriorated over the years. We made a sensible start, 15th quickest, but got going on stage 2, 30s quicker - it's amazing how much speed you can carry round a 90 degree corner on the perimeter track when it's 30-40ft wide

Stages 3 and 4 were in the opposite direction - the tyres were working well so we left them on. Going into the bomb dump on the second lap we were catching an Escort WRC and were on his bumper by the time we exited, but had to wait a couple of corners before going past as he hadn't seen us... Another couple of good times brought us up to 9th

Onto the last 2 stages, really going well now, hitting the limiter in 5th in a couple of places (108mph on the slicks), 7th quickest on the last stage

We finished 10th overall and picked up a pot for 3rd in class - it was a very enjoyable day, DVY was running well, we finished on the same 4 tyres we started on and just added fuel during the day!
There's a couple of things to do over the winter such as fit a bigger electric fan, reseal the rocker cover and rebuild the gearbox which was whining a bit, but she can go away in the garage for a few months while I concentrate on other events in Fly

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Clacton Stages - Sunday 28th April 2019

Back in March I got round to having a look at improving the cooling on DVY, as recommended by John at JPR Tuning when I went to his rolling road last summer
When I had bought the alloy radiator a few years ago, it came with a fan and I assumed it would be the right size, but maybe it was the one they could fit with the pipe orientation I had requested
Anyway, when sat idling the temperature would steadily increase and overheat, which is not ideal on a rally car!

After removing the rad and fan I took a few measurements and decided I could fit a 14" high power Davies Craig fan, which actually measures 13.8" and is rating at double the CFM of the old one





To make it fit, I had to mount it in front of the rad (which was where DVY's original fan was) and cut some of the front panel away, and move the oil cooler to the outside a bit more
I used 2 lengths of 25mm ally angle to mount the fan, bolted across the radiator supports and everything fitted nicely



Apart from buying some new WRC style slicks, I had to get a new battery as the old one had died
I thought it was a starter motor issue so spent a while swapping starters and other bits around (as the battery showed it was fully charged) but finally tried a different battery and everything was fine


Onto the rally which had a similar format to last year but the first 2 stages of each loop had been joined together making a decent 6.5 mile stage to start. The other 3 stages had also been modified or extended slightly, giving over 50 stage miles. Still nothing compared to an Irish event, but a welcome improvement on last year's route.
The weather was also colder with a possibility of a few showers on the day.
Scrutineering was passed without any troubles and we did the recce before meeting up with various friends.



There was a full entry of 125 cars and we were seeded quite high at 36 but with the short stages I didn;t think we'd be caught by the historic spec BMW M3 behind us
The first loop of 4 stages went very well, we were up to speed quickly on the first stage and going well on the others, although the 1/2 mile of farm road which might have been tarmac 20 years ago was interesting with a lot of loose gravel on top, and the farmyard section had been extended to go round a few barns so was very slippery



Before first service we had a regroup and when we went to leave I had to push the starter button a few times before it would engage, so we decided to fit the spare in service as we had plenty of time. All done and ready to go, pushed the button and there was a clonk and nothing happened
A bit odd as I had bench tested the starter before the event. So there followed a bit of panic to round up some helpers and bump start the car for the next loop!

Stages 5 & 6 went well but when we arrived at the start of Stage 7 there was a slight delay. The marshal said we should turn off but obviously we couldn't so we sat there for 20 minutes through a rather heavy shower, but at least the engine was keeping cool
The rain stopped just before we started the stage but the roads were soaking wet and this stage had the farm road and farmyard sections so I made sure I was careful. We were 30s slower on this one, but everyone around us had similar issues, and a couple of the top crews had gone off on the next stage when they were caught out in the rain.



Back to regroup via a petrol station (with the engine still running) and into the last service. Richard (who was servicing) had tested the original starter and said it was fine so we refitted it and it worked after a couple of attempts.
Due to the rain, a lot of crews were changing to slicks, but George and I thought it looked like it was brightening up and we knew how the slicks worked in the wet so we left them on!
This proved to be a good decision as the last loop was the driest of the day



At the finish we were pleased to be 25th and 7th in class
Thanks to George, Richard and all the organisers and marshals - it was a very enjoyable weekend


A footnote to the starter issues - I tried it in the workshop and nothing was happening - the solenoid engaged but the starter did not spin
I also tested the spare one on the bench and it worked fine, so I left everything for a while

The other week I had a bright idea - when I had been playing with the starter before the event, I had fitted new solenoids to both
Maybe these were a slightly different spec / length to the original solenoids - I use the Bosch geared starters which are made up of different components from various starters so it is not always easy to work out which spares are needed
So I decided to try spacing the starter away from the bellhousing - this would then give a slight longer solenoid more throw before the one way clutch behind the drive gear hits the ring gear, and maybe this would be enough for the plunger to hit the main contacts. So I tried it with part of an old xflow sandwich plate as a spacer and now it works perfectly


All being well, my next event in DVY will be the new Three Shires stages in September - a Closed Road event based at Eastnor Deer Park near Ledbury, and using stages in Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, hence the name

[mexicotait]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Car looks great Gavin.

As for closed road rallying
Do you reckon you would get up to the borders for the Jim Clark?

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

No, I'll stick to doing the one in September then make plans for next year

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Time to bring this thread up to date, nearly a year since I wrote anything

In September 2019 I competed on the first running of the Three Shires Closed Road Rally, based near Ledbury in Herefordshire
Carrie was codriving as George was away
There were 110 cars with us seeded rather badly at 69, although there was a lot of strange seeding, it's one of the problems trying to correlate a top 10 result on an airfield or circuit with a top 30 result on a Closed Road event

There were 6 stages run 3 times each, 4 of these were quite short (1-2 miles) with one 3.5 miles and one just over 5

We started well and got into the groove quickly on the first 2 short stages, then on the next narrow and twisty 5 mile stage caught the car in front just after 2 miles but could not get past
Anyway we made sure we were ahead for the next stages and didn't have any problems
Back at service at Eastnor Deer Park, everything was checked over and the results showed we were 38th Overall

Onto the next loop, all going well until some puffs of steam on the long stage and the temperature gauge started climbing, so we pulled over at a suitable spot by some marshals and had a look
The hose to the expansion tank had moved (it's normally tied in place) and was touching the alternator fan which had split it open
I managed to bodge a repair using a 13mm socket as a hose joiner which I'd seen someone else do before and the marshals managed to find enough water to replace what we'd lost, and they helped us back onto the stage between passing rally cars

Cruising to the end of the stage everything seemed ok so we did the road section and lined up for the next stage
I wasn't sure if we were OTL but with regroups on the way into service I thought we would be ok, but halfway through Stage 10 I saw clouds of steam out the back as the head gasket failed
We completed the stage slowly then headed back to service on the road and went home



Over the following weeks / months I took the head off and had it skimmed, then put everything back together with a thicker Cometic MLS head gasket to ensure the compression ratio was the same (and removed the Wills rings as these do not work with a MLS gasket)

In Jan and Feb 2020 I did about 75 miles on the road, testing as much as is sensible (driving up steep hills, etc) and everything was good

[rallyrob]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Another great write up Gavin.

Shame about the bloody head gasket, good idea with the socket in the hose as a temporary repair though. When you say you removed the wills rings did you just leave the grooves in the block comepletely empty or did you put a normal wire ring in them to fill up some of the gap before seating the new MLS gasket on it?

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Another great write up Gavin.

Shame about the bloody head gasket, good idea with the socket in the hose as a temporary repair though. When you say you removed the wills rings did you just leave the grooves in the block comepletely empty or did you put a normal wire ring in them to fill up some of the gap before seating the new MLS gasket on it?

I just removed them and left the groove - I would have needed some 0.25mm wire to fill the groove, and the grooves are 2-3 mm outside the bore so it didn't seem necessary

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

In March 2020, I headed over to Ireland for the West Cork Rally, together with George and this year's service crew, Tony Hewitt and his son Jack who had come over from Ipswich
As I'm sure everyone knows, the rally was cancelled on the Thursday evening due to the lock down in Ireland, so we came back on the ferry Friday evening - DVY never got off the trailer!
Many thanks to George, Tony and Jack for coming - hopefully next year everything will be back to normal


Once lockdown started to be eased, I wanted to have a proper test of DVY so booked a track day at Castle Combe last Monday (20th July)
Carrie came for a day out and was slightly bored not having a map or pacenotes to read!

It seemed quieter than previous track days I had been to so we went out when we wanted and did 8-10 laps each time
DVY was working well with the temperature steady at 85 degrees, the only thing slowing us down was hitting the rev limiter in 5th too often (which is 107mph), once going past the pit exit down to Avon Rise, and again before Tower after getting my line right at Old Paddock Bend so I could take it flat.
The old medium slicks were perfect for a nice sunny day, and she hangs on very well around the corners

By lunch we had done 70 miles and pretty much run out of petrol so headed home







This was the last session, the camera now more solidly mounted on the roll cage

Now I have satisfied myself the Cossie is working perfectly it is up for sale but will be replaced by a Duratec which I bought last month

[rallyrob]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

I just removed them and left the groove - I would have needed some 0.25mm wire to fill the groove, and the grooves are 2-3 mm outside the bore so it didn't seem necessary

I used same gas welding rod when I took the wills rings out of my block many years ago and just filed the ends a bit like doing piston rings. I put a tiny bit of sealer on them too, only tiny bit though. But then I didn't use an MLS headgasket which I know is really good quality.

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Duratec install

After selling the Cossie last summer, I bought a Duratec which had been built for an MX5 Rally Car, used once then sat in barn for a few years
It's supposed to have 230 hp but we'll see when I get it on a rolling road...

It wasn't quite as described, but has all the bits inside that it should have such as Steel Rods, Forged Pistons and Raceline 250 hp cams, Jenvey single taper throttle bodies (with injectors in the head) and an older MBE Ecu with most of the wiring required

As with most engine swaps, the installation parts soon add up even though the inlet and exhaust are on the same sides as the Cossie
I bought an OPI Dry Sump set up, a bellhousing and hydraulic clutch, a Retroford alternator set up and Ashley exhaust, but decided to make my own engine mounts and a few other bits
The alternator set up put one of the idler pulleys a bit too close to the Dry Sump pump, as well as the alternator being very close to the exhaust, and the Ashley exhaust was a bit small and would have needed a lot of work to make it fit with my engine position, so they were both sold on with the exhaust being replaced with a very nice Stainless Steel Retroford one

I also got a Ranger/Transit water elbow from Trig and bought a matching Ranger water rail

First trial fit with engine position being determined by the gearbox mount and getting the engine as low as possible above the steering rack / cross member



Engine mount plates were made from a scrap piece of 8mm plate



I started with an old set of WCXM engine mounts that had previously been modified
Drivers side looked simple, the passenger side needed about 1" cut off the end



I also wanted to try and use the standard Fiesta ST oil filter plate, rather than the "oil in" plate which came with the dry sump and would have needed a remote oil filter
The plan of making my own mounts was so I could work around these bits - passenger side completed
The long bolt cannot be removed without removing the dry sump pump, but I'm not planning on taking the engine out regularly!



The crankshaft was sent to Dunnell Race Engines so they could machine a keyway for the timing chain sprocket and a smaller Retroford crank pulley, and they also balanced the crank
This was refitted with new bearings as it seemed sensible at this stage

Alternator set up from the kit with the Ranger water rail fitted



I didn't like the height of the water rail compared to the radiator, so I removed the bend and straightened it out which also removed the 5/8" outlet near the back

New alternator set up, after looking at various pics of how other people had done it
Looking through the scrap box I found a std xflow alternator bracket and some 10mm ally plate so put the alternator where I wanted it to go, low down on the drivers side under the exhaust



A few brackets to work out where the second idler pulley needed to go, and an old alternator mocked up with a transit diesel adjustment bracket which had the right offset



Then started maching a large lump of aluminium to make a proper mount



More to come in a few days