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Sprinting (not the Usain Bolt type)
 

Three Sisters 17/06/18

I arrived Saturday evening with Tony Smiley and got settled for the night, A member of staff from the track approached me and asked if many more were likely to arrive that evening being unsure i said probably up to 10pm. He handed me the key and said well can you lock up tonight and open up in the morning.   We walked the track using the double lap formation for this event and soon realised that none of the videos portray just how tight and technical the circuit is. The track has been re-surfaced over the winter as is no longer the 7 different types of blacktop it once was. Sunday morning up at 6 to open the gate and prepped for the day. set off in P1 massive misfire issues managed to get round but nearly 20 seconds off the target time.   Checked everything over added 3L of fuel just in case and went out for P2 a little better but out of the tight hairpin onto the back straight again a bad misfire an improvement but still nearly 7 second off the target. Ian Davenport who was attending who also has a K-series offered up a spare set of pugs in case that was the issue but in conclusion we thought fuel starvation from a standard road size tank and i don't run a swirl pot .over my first few events i have been keeping the fuel level quite high on the gauge as my old car read terribly and was unsure just how much was in the tank.   T1 with a full tank no issues the balance felt good a little loose on the back end but 100% better than the practice runs, over the finish you have to be committed and the track falls away massive lock up and came off the breaks to get it turned away from the wall and in to the pit entry. My time showed on the left 82.13 boom i went mental in my helmet punching the air, Howard Gaskin and Alex Gaskin watched from the pits and walked over as i was heading back to my trailer "enjoy that did you" yes it was brilliant i beat the target time by 0.94 seconds.   T2-6 the weather changed and it got much cooler I felt like i was getting faster but the times weren't showing it, i tweaked a few settings and pressures but didn't help so T1 was my fastest and hopefully if my calculations are correct My first 101 points from an event and new class record.   Overall a fantastic day a class win points in the bag and a new class record. Lots different to the circuits I have driven so far, I'm having a month off now until the WSCC Blyton weekend with a few jobs to do on the car.Just want to say a massive thank you to Longton & District Motor Club for putting this event on with so few entries. It was a great event so if you have time please support the other three sisters events.
syman84

syman84

1
My Lawnmower Runs on Super...
 

On the Podium....Yippee!! (with short vids)

Back to Pembrey on the ‘Classic’ circuit for rounds 5&6 of the Welsh Sports and Saloons Championship.   I stayed down the road at the usual place and with my trusty ear plugs in and had an ok night’s sleep despite my mates ridiculous snoring again. It was an early start with sign-on at 7.30am. Annoyingly we were the last race of the day as well at 5.30pm. It was going to be a long day in the hot sun…..   Still, it was dry and that’s how I like it as these caterfields just don’t seem to go as well as the saloons in the wet (or is it just me!) Quali went well as I dialled ina tidy lap having cleared the traffic early on the session. I was very surprised with 3rd overall, albeit the grid was only 14 for this race, down on what it normally is. It was tight with 4 cars within a second of each other from 3rd to 6th and some powerful cars behind.   Into the first race I had a shocker as I missed 3rd gear on the rolling start. That put me well down and my main championship competitor two cars in front. I just thought ‘get your head down’ and don’t panic as it’s class points that count – I won’t be winning any races outright. The two cars between him and I, passed him mid-race and on about lap 10 of 14 I managed to get past him, overtaking around the outside of the hairpin again. This car is great on the brakes! A class win and 4th overall was a result I was pleased with but a bit of a let off really as I screwed it right up at the start.   The second race was looking interesting as I was on the outside of the grid. I also had some powerful cars ahead of me so I had it all to do on the brakes into the first corner. But… just before the 1-minute board came out,  main my class competitors got out of his car. Turns out he had left the filler cap off his petrol tank located in the rear of the car. Sportingly, my mate gave him a hand and he started from the pits, setting off as the last car went past.  He had a great race through the pack by all accounts.   At the start, I got lucky on the brakes round the outside of one car in front of me, then managed to go round the outside of one other car before the back straight (I backed him up a bit before the straight as I thought he might just outdrag me otherwise) and before I know it I was second overall! It didn’t last! One very fast car that had a problem in the first race drove from the back of the grid and caught me on the second lap. Impressive stuff with only a 1.05 lap! Still, I managed to hold onto 3rd place overall, albeit with a lot of defending at the hairpin and doing my very best to get away in the twisty bits from the more powerful cars. 1st in class too. I was well chuffed to be on the podium (even if they don’t actually use it at Pembrey!). Fastest lap in both races was the cherry on top! In what must be the fluke of the century, I’m still leading the championship after 6 of 12 rounds. Rolly on Donny in July, one of my favourite circuits.   Bad race start:     Mid race shenanigans:     Good race start (up to second - that's a first for me if you can excuse the pun!!!):     Mike    
Terzo204

Terzo204

6
Tel's Tales
 

Tel's Tales Silverstone 3rd June 2018

Tel’s Tales Silverstone Stowe Circuit 3rdJune 2018 After around a 6 or 7 years break we eventually managed to get invited to attend this meeting although it turned out to be a single lap and not the 2 lapper I remember from the past. We had quite a good turnout of 11 Westfields even though it was on the same weekend as Pembrey (2 events in the south on the same weekend!). The forecast for Sunday was good but as I loaded up the car and set off it was raining hard in York. The first bad news I had was that Mark Anson’s engine had failed in first practice at Pembrey so he was not a happy bunny particularly after his long haul from Blackpool. That track does seem to eat engines for some reason. We could only arrive after 1600hrs to get a decent paddock position but what a shock Steve and I got as it was in the worst condition I have ever seen. Basically it was a gravel covered dirt area with no chance for cars on slicks (one actually punctured on the gravel and you can’t repair slicks) There was dust everywhere and even a sweeping brush had no effect. Steve, Margaret, Simon Waterfall and I walked the “new track” and it looked very tight in places through the chicane in the straight which was about 40m wide so it was anyone’s guess as to where the best line was and there was even gravel patches on that too. On getting back we noticed that the main toilet block was being locked for the night and were told of an alternative hut where there were only men’s toilets so that went down well for the people camping with girlfriend’s , wives and kids. The place reminded me of a rundown building site. We met up with Lee Collar who is now driving Mark Anson’s old orange blade car and it was good to see Richard Houlgate, Matthew Haynes out again. The sunny evening and a few beers with my chilli diner made the world look a bit nicer but sleeping was hard as there were 2 generators running all night. Sunday was a hot, hot day. The contrast between surviving the Siberian cold and wet of Croft compared to today’s Saharan desert sun was crazy but just as difficult as we suffered in our hot babygrows and helmets whilst in long queues towards the start line. Some of us signed on and were scrutineered on Saturday night but Howard Gaskin was panicking a bit as he had left his competition licence at home. I was lucky enough to have Steve’s wife Margaret acting my pit buddy and carrying tyres as well as doing a great job cleaning them between runs. The first clean after P1 produced two tack nails that she found stuck in my tyre.  We were promised 2 practice and 3 timed runs but an hours delay at the start plus problems with the heat affecting the timing gear meant we only got 2 timed runs. Whilst waiting in line for the start some of us were politely told not to lean on the pit wall which was odd as the event had not even started. It was obvious from early incident of cars hitting the tyres forming the chicane that this was a tricky area that could cause bug damage if you got it wrong. I missed the tyres by a whisker on my first run and I think that Richard Houlgate and Matthew Haynes had to go for a gap between the tyres as they lost their way through the chicane. The timing was also frustrating the drivers as often there was only one car on the track which slowed proceedings down so we did not finish P1 until 1115hrs approx. After P1 there were 10 Westfields in the top 12. Just to add to the fun the Gents toilets became blocked and the café ran out of food. Most of us found that by P2 we were beginning to get an idea of where the track went and starting to get some grip through the tricky bends. T1 started at around 1400hrs by which time the heat was becoming intense and god knows how many cans of diet coke I drank.  T2 was the final run except for me as my engine refused to start as I headed to the start. Despite the help of Steve Carpenter, Roz Kennett, Steve Everall and Howard Gaskin we could not get it sorted. The other guys put in some great times in a field of 110 cars and there were some very close battles going on for class on the day awards as well as our own classes. In the end there were 6 Westfields in the top 12 cars and Simon Waterfall, Matthew Haynes, Howard Gaskin and myself won our classes on the day. I had a personal with Lee Collar and I just beat him by half a second (he looks a good bet for future honours as does Simon Waterfall).  Overall Positions on the day were as follows: 3rdTerry Everall 4thLee Collar 6thHoward Garkin 8thMatthew Haynes 9thKeith Adams 12thSteve Everall   I was quite jealous of the trophies awarded as they were huge and well received by our guys. In summary it was a good challenging track to drive but the weekend did not run smoothly.     Terry Everall Class G competitor  
Sprinting (not the Usain Bolt type)
 

Silverstone Stowe 3/6/18

Thought i would document my sprint attendance and maybe entice some other fresh faces to the Paddock it really is a blast    Well what a feeling. First trophy. Home from a very successful outing at Silverstone today with 6 in my class of what looked to be some fast caterham's, the only goal I had set myself for the day was a 60 second run. Starting the day with a P1 time 61.8 felt good and new once I had found my way round a very confusing course (everyone else agreed) it was possible. Second practice was slightly improved with a 60.3. After lunch and our first timed runs it had got really hot and thought like with blyton 2 weeks ago we would probably go slower, In T1 I managed a 59.45 close at the time to some of to 2.0L boys and 2 seconds faster than my closest class rival. T2 I tried a different approach to the last complex and It didn't work out going a tenth slower with a 59.59. Over all a great day and my first class win with a pot. Still work to be done on myself and the car but getting more and more comfortable with it on every outing. Well done to all the other winners Howard Gaskin Mathew Haynes and Terry Everall Cheers
syman84

syman84

3
Quinten's Mighty Blog

May 2018

May 5th, 2018 Spend: £0.00 Cleaning the car for the big day tomorrow. May 6th, 2018 Spend: £30.00 Stoneleigh.  Arranged for breakfast at McDonalds and was happy to see I was not alone.  @richyb and @dombanks had both just arrived so we got ourselves some unhealthy food and coffee and just as we finished up, @lewis arrived in his 'regular' car as he had broken his car the night before.  Doh!  As we set off, about 5 minutes into the journey I noticed that the car would try to stall again whenever I needed to get into 2nd or 1st gear at a roundabout or traffic light.  Thinking that maybe my fuel gauge is lying to me I changed route desperately for a petrol station.  The first one we came across was in Southam, so filled up but this made no difference.  We did manage to make it to the show and once parked up I started to look at what could be the problem.  Start the car, blib the throttle and when the revs drop again, blipping it again would make it stall.  Think @Northampton Motorsport need to have a look at it, as it's nothing like I've ever read about on the forums. Picked up a new 2" fuel filler hose and the electronic fan switch from CBS I ordered earlier this week. May 7th, 2018 Spend: £0.00 Came back from shopping with the family and walked into the garage to be greeted by a puddle underneath the car.  Because I had not parked it in the usual place (on the carpet) it was now quite apparent that there is something leaking from the tank.  A quick look revealed a 4cm gash in the bottom of the tank from which the petrol escapes.  Absolutely no idea how that came about, but now I know, I need to empty it quickly.  Not helpful that I brimmed the tank yesterday on the way to Stoneleigh .  One of my sons friends popped round and we filled his tank up with my petrol. May 8th, 2018 Spend: £0.00 Working from home today so I can remove the fuel tank from the car in the afternoon.  There was still a surprising amount of fuel left in the tank, which the fuel pump did not manage to pump out.  Once removed and emptied, I hosed it down with copious amounts of water and then left it to dry. May 10th, 2018 Spend: £33.80 Fuel tank dropped off at Precision Welding and it's now fixed again.  After work put it back into the car and fitted the new fuel filler hose.  Just need to wait till a new fuel pump seal arrives before I can fill it up again.  Also temporarily fitted the electronic fan controller so I can reach it from the drivers position and set it up 'on the go'.  When it is working satisfactory I can hide it from view as it's not the prettiest of boxes   May 15th, 2018 Spend: £7.19 The seal finally arrived, but unfortunately it doesn't fit.  Another £7 wasted .  Re-used the cork gasket and struggled a bit to get the arm back on.  I feel another winter project coming on...   Went for a short shakedown and am surprised that the stalling issue seems to have gone.  How? May 19th, 2018 Spend: £0.00 Trying to avoid the Royal Wedding by following @GaryD1971's example and cutting a little bit away on the steering column bracket that prevents the clutch pedal from providing enough travel.  Hopefully this takes care of the crunching in 1st/2nd gear.  After a short drive I can report it is better, but not yet resolved.  Looks like there is more travel required, which from studying the pedal box can be created, but is a little more involving. May 23rd, 2018 Spend: £0.00 Took the car to work for National Drive your Westfield to Work Day, and on the way back stopped for petrol.  Then the engine stalling issue appeared again, all the way home.  Parked up and took a video showing the revs dropping to the point of stalling when blipping the throttle May 26th, 2018 Spend: £0.00 Had a look at the car again in Easymap 4, but the stalling behaviour was gone again.  Had the engine well into running temperatures, but could not get it to misbehave.  My theory at the moment is that twice it happened when I had briefly driven it (to Sixfields from home & to petrol station from work), then parked up/filled up with fuel, and then continued driving it.  Next time I need to fill up we'll see how that theory holds up.     Last month: £  7931.96
This month: £    70.99
            ----------+
Total:      £  8002.95  
Tel's Tales
 

Blyton weekend 19th/20th May 2018

Tel’s Tales Blyton Sat/Sun  19thand 20thMay 2018 (LDMC event) It was a good job that I did not get an invite to “The Wedding” as I completely forgot that it was on the same weekend as the Blyton sprints run by Longton DMC and I would not have been able to support Harry and Meghan in church or at their evening do. There was an added bonus in that I did not have to sit through the 6 or so hours of TV broadcasting the proceedings but I understand that it all went well without my support! Back to the serious stuff as Steve and  I arrived on the Friday to see the back end a of a Lotus 7 trackday. We had a great forecast for the weekend and I gave out a whole batch of the new red 2018 T shirts.  We had a good Westfield attendance and after speaking to Doran (the chief paddock marshal) I negotiated a great paddock position for most of the non road going cars which was close to the results office, toilets, had clean smooth tarmac and was 25metres from the start line! As usual we had a few beers on Friday night and discuss tactics for the weekend which mainly revolved around how much sun cream we needed to apply and at what intervals as this varied for factor 30 or 50. Saturday Signing on and scrutineering was quick and easy and was followed by a convoy run around the Eastern circuit which LDMC had not run before. I went in Steve’s VW Tiguan which was full of tools, clothes, beer, petrol cans and god knows what else and we cruised around at 25mph enjoying the scenery, forgetting all about apexes and braking points never mind what gear to be in. After the convoy run Derek Hodder seemed to have a leaky water problem and the nose cone and bonnet were of as they quickly diagnosed that a mounting boss on their alloy radiator had cracks around the weld edges. Nobody on site or locally seemed to have a welder or be available (Del did not think that alraldite would work) but in the end a Caterham driver took pity and offered a tube of Quiksteel epoxy putty. I have to say that not only did the repair look very neat but it did the job and set almost immediately and lasted all weekend (must get a tube of that stuff for my spares). Also a few of us had got a hook up for power running  a long way from the supply point and someone ran over my cable and pulled it out the wires from the plug during the convoy run! Actually it was a doddle for me to repair and we all were back up and running with power to our campers and motorhomes again (mainly to keep the beer cold).  P1 - Immediately after first practice Mick Skidmore noticed that his battery power was low so I quickly tested a few things and found it was his alternator that had packed up so he had to keep charging the battery between runs but that worked fine and it was lucky that we did have 240v power. Del’s air powered actuator for his gear shift seemed to be having an off day as it kept changing up and down the box on its own. Del and Garry were on the case and cured it by remounting the actuator valve in a better position/orientation. The general consensus of the drivers was that this was a very technical and tight course that was challenging everyone in terms of how tight the first section was and the braking point into the wriggler from Curva Grande at high speed. This was compensated for as the long twisty flat out blast from Bunga Bunga was exhilarating and took some guts before braking late for the tight right hand finish.  P2 – I was really on it this time and as I exited the Wriggler out came a red flag so I abandoned the run and as I crawled to Bishops left hand corner there was my mate Mick Skidmore reversing out of the ploughed field but at least he was living up to his reputation. I gave him some stick back in the paddock and suggested he repeated the performance in the timed runs so I could have a rerun on warm tyres. Mick Dent was pushing the limits of adhesion in his Busa and went off near the finish spinning out and taking a cut through between the tyres, to avoid hitting them, only to find himself facing an oncoming Jedi!  T1 - Simon Waterfall was out for the first time enjoying his new (ex Kevin Bamber) car but his clutch adjustment screw had worked loose but was an easy fix. This session saw me getting a bit too aggressive with my right foot at the tight lefthander called Chapmans and I clipped an outside cone and caused a bit of damage to my rear wing and rivets holding the tub in place. Everyone was going well but target times seemed hard to get near as we pushed hard. Newcomer Tony Smiley was out in his Busa and John Loudon and I spent a bit of time trying to change the set up to get it to handle better and it seemed to work. T3 – Mick Dent threw it off after the finish but still posted a good time.  It was good to see Steve Robinson call in for a chat and catch up with a few friends (and also Ron Siddle on Sunday) T4 – This would be our last runs and chance to bang in a good time but we had quite a long hold after a TR4 rolled down at Bunga Bunga causing a lot of damage to the car, which was a shame. Richard Houlgate went well as did all the roadgoing cars and they all seemed to put in some good times. Del (fastest LDMC member) just managed to beat Garry and I held off John Loudon in a very close contest. Keith Adams went very well in class D scoring the best points of anyone against target and Steve Everall was finding it hard to match his pace. Sunday Well miraculously nobody had headache from last nights relaxation and all slicks had been cleaned up yesterday. Today it was the challenge of the normal outer circuit with the fast straight from Lancaster to the Wriggler so it should suit the more powerful cars. Today we had Matthew Haynes joining in the fun but no Richard Houlgate and all the Westfields from yesterday were still running.  Practice started at 1000hrs and our two runs were over by about hrs 1130hrs proving just how slick the LDMC crew is.  T1- We went straight into the timed runs and all went well apart from Mick Skidmore who reported what he thought was a propshaft vibration so we whipped off the tunnel panels but all the bolts were tight so he was good to go.  T2/T3 – Things were hotting up now, particularly in our babygrows, and in T3 Del was a bit late on the brakes into the Wriggler and got it all sideways taking out a cone and spraying gravel everywhere. Mick Skidmore thought his clutch had failed but it turned out to be just a large stone stuck under the pedal.  T5 – For Del this was a bad end to the weekend as he was towed back into the paddock with oil all over the engine and exhaust pipes so something had gone badly wrong and it looked similar to a problem he had with the engine at Croft last year. Fingers crossed that it is an easy and simple repair. T6 – John Loudon was pushing really hard as he battled with me in class G and he hit a cone and split a wing. (more gaffer tape please!). Keith Adams had a senior moment as he presumably forgot to clip down his ally boot cover which was picked up by the marshals about 20m after the start line…whoops ! Garry Bunn was best LDMC member, I beat John Loudon after an epic battle and I took most points against targets. Simon Waterfall had another good day as did Keith. Steve’s car engine needs stripping down and taking to Exon Racing to cure the head porosity problem it has which was getting worse. Well I hope I have given a report of some of the weekends entertainment which was made all the better by LDMC’s efforts where we had 2 practice and 4 timed runs on Saturday and 2 practice and 6 timed runs on Sunday and I was home for dinner by 1815 after a 90 minute drive. Maybe a contender for event of the year?     Terry Everall Class G Competitor
My Lawnmower Runs on Super...
 

First Class win, but nose cone might need a repair....

So this was Rounds 3 and 4 of the Welsh Sports and Saloon Car Championship. The race meeting was with the Aston Martin Owners Club at Oulton Park in Cheshire, about a 3 hour trek for me. Not fun on a Friday afternoon, but taking the back route via Worcester was a pleasant drive. My wife was coming along to help.   I had not driven Oulton Park since doing a trackday there in 2012 and to make matters worse, the championship had a meeting there last year. I know I was going to up against it for this one. I tried to learn the track the best I could by watching the Driver 61 track guide (it’s a great website) and numerous Caterham races to understand the lines/overtaking/defending places. I was a little apprehensive when I woke up to overnight rain meaning the roads were wet. Last time I was at Oulton Park in the wet, I very nearly had a ‘big one’ exiting Druids and going backwards towards the Armco at silly speeds…. Thankfully it was just about dry for quali and dry for both races.   Quali was only 15 minutes so I had to tighten the belts and really go for it. I managed a 1.59.8 which I was pleased with. It put me 5th overall (a small grid for this meeting for some reason of only 14 cars) and most importantly 1st in class, but only just. Looks like it was going to be a battle again! No bother as I like to ‘race’. After quali I decided to measure the petrol I had used. I was carrying way too much fuel for the whole of the last meeting - its excess weight and all in the wrong place out the back of the car. I parked the car high on the trailer and used my trusty garden hose cut off to syphon the fuel out. It worked a treat in my garage….this time I choked on super unleaded and then spent the rest of the morning burping petrol (really – was degusting and reuned lunch which was all petrol tasting). Whilst the smell of petrol is actually quite nice in my opinion, I can say that the taste is, err…an acquired one and blooming strong. Still, 6 litres used minus a mouthful.   The first race was a long wait and the start was a total mess-up. The invitation racer on pole set off way too quickly (after the safety car peeled in,) and then slammed on his brakes when as lights took a way too long to go out. This bunched up the whole pack and I was off the throttle when the lights did eventually go out (doing an emergency stop!). I held position, but my main class competitor drove past almost all of the main group at the front and it ended up with him in front of me and one car between us. I tried to go around the outside of one of the slick shod cars into Old Hall at the start and quickly regretted it as I was right on the limit of spinning. An big armful of ‘oppo’ just about keeping me facing the right way. Pure luck rather than skill really. I then spent the next 2 laps trying to get past the car in front (a Cupra touring car thingy) until he got past my class competitor and drove off. I was now right behind my class competitor - race on! As we did for the last 2 races, it was ‘hammer and tong’ for a long time with little between us. A few laps from the end I managed to get past, again, round the outside of the hairpin (Shell Oils). I then drove it home nervously for the class win. I was well happy with that and punched the air as I took the checkered flag. I must have looked like a right numpty. After the race, I spoke with the championship organiser who told me that whilst it was another great battle, it was academic. My competitor was due to be served a 10 second penalty for jumping the start. This never materialised as I eventually finished ahead of him.   Race 2 was late in the day – 6.05pm in fact and much later then I would have liked. It’s just too easy to mentally switch off. The winner from Race 1 choose not to race (not sure why) and one of the other cars ahead of me was a double drive (so they go to the back of the grid). One other car, the father of my main class competitor decided to ‘have some fun’ and go to the back of the grid. I was not convinced and said to my wife when we were in the holding area ready to go out ‘I hope he doesn’t get in-between me and his son’….. Still with the attrition at the front I was promoted to second on the grid. My first front row start which was a little weird. The start this time round was much better. I kept first place honest for at least one corner….. until he took off like the proverbial scolded cat (he was in another Cupra touring car thingy). I was side-by-side with my main competitor into Cascades and it was all very tight for the first few corners. He eventually got ahead until I out braked him on the following lap into Cascades, it was properly close stuff. We followed each other for a bit until I got outbreaked into Druids, a great by move by him to be honest and one I was not expecting! By the end of the second lap, his dad had joined the party. Great. He overtook me down the straight then ‘parked’ his car for nearly 4 of the 8 laps between me and his son (see the TSL timing extract below which is very telling - fastest three laps after he cleared off!). I used my frustration for motivation and tried to get the most out of the car. Taking risks, when his dad had finally cleared off, I nearly got past on more then one occasion, but it was not to be. I also managed to just touch him on the breaks going into the Shell Oils hairpin. I now need to repair my nose cone (I ordered blue Duck Tap specially on EBay this morning!)….that’s two bodywork repairs in two races…..woops (although the fist was not my fault). Speaking with his father after the race, I made the point that he got in the way. His response -  'I had a gearbox issue'. Quite a coincidence that!   Even more annoying was I don’t have any video. The SD cards were both saying full when they were empty. Meh.   So it was a bittersweet end to the day. I had fastest class lap in both races and a first and a second in class. I really should have been happy but felt a little cheated as I know I had the pace. Nevermind, there’s always Pembrey on the 10th of June and now I’m really keen to win my class again as I know it will put me in a good place for the Championship.
Terzo204

Terzo204

2
Tel's Tales
 

Shelsley Walsh - by Paul Morcom

In the end the WSCC Speed Series was represented by 7 entries at Shelsley Walsh, four Westfields in the WSCC dedicated class, Mike West hiding in the Road Going Specialist Production class (which was merged with various other classes throughout the weekend), Mark Schlanker in 1000cc to 1600cc racing cars and myself in a (non-WSCC scoring) National A Formula Ford class. Stu Hill and David Birch were there spectating and providing support in the paddock. I would guess David consumed multiple ice creams during the day. We awoke on Saturday morning to a slightly misty Teme valley that was soon burnt off by the strong sun providing us with immediate track heat and perfect conditions from the first practice run on Saturday through to the last competition run on Sunday. With temperatures were well into the mid 20's from early morning the paddock garages provide much needed shade. The organiser's warned us of a "green" course as this was their first event of the year, but practice times showed that this was not worrying many drivers. Both days progressed like clockwork, MAC running the event in their normal almost military-like fashion, and the drivers didn't connect with any immovable objects and had very few breakdowns. Saturday ran so smoothly that we (Nation A lot) were even offered a third practice run, though not many took the opportunity as had retired to the camping field and averting serious cases of dehydration with consumption of ice cold beer. Sunday was equally as perfect, seeing many PB's being set. The Westfield drivers showing what can be achieved in these great little cars, in front of 100's of spectators. Tim Pennington took honours on both days with the other Westfields close on his heels. Mike took a class win on Saturday but only to be beaten on Sunday by a very well presented and driven Westfield (ex Paul Morcom ) by John Bradshaw. Mark was on his own in his class on Saturday and then joined by some quick 1600cc race cars on Sunday but was the quickest up to 1100cc car on both days (excluding the National A runners). I came second in the National A Formula Ford class, only 0.1 seconds behind the winner. For those that have not experienced the atmosphere and challenge of the Shelsley Walsh hill then there is still another round of the of the Speed Series on 17th June (get your entries in quickly as will be over-subscribed), so enter the event or come along and spectate. Or join the WSCC Speed Series 21st Anniversary Celebrations on Saturday, 23rd June, for some non-competitive runs up the hill - you can drive any kind of car but the more Westfields there the better. A great event, enjoyed by all.     Report by Paul Morcom
Tel's Tales
 

Tel's Tales Anglesey 5th and 6th May 2018

Tel’s Tales Anglesey May weekend  2018 The second visit to Anglesey this year was arranged by MGCC (NW) and was 2 laps of the National circuit on Saturday and 1 lap of International on Sunday with 9 Westfield drivers on Sat and 8 on Sunday. Friday afternoon saw the Westfield mob arriving in bright sunshine with wall to wall blue skies such that I even had my shorts on and my legs frightened most of the paddock. Del and Garry were preparing their car in the garage and I watched Garry cleaning their wheel rims with a sponge and soapy water. He made a great effort but failed in his task as Del rejected them and they needed cleaning again. Several of us continued our preparation in the bar until the bar closed at about 2230.  Saturday morning came and was a bit of a shock. Where was the sun and why was it only 6 deg C windy and cloudy when the rest of the country was having a heat wave? Thermals, race overalls and fleeces were definitely needed to keep warm and we exchanged our problems of freezing cold fingers as well as steaming up visors on the start line. Richard Houlgate was out in his class B 2.3L duratech engined car along with newcomer Chris Griffiths and his 2.5L Millington Diamond engine class H car. P1 ( the only practice as it was 2 laps) did not see too much drama apart from Steve Everall’s gearbox breather pipe coming loose and a bolt holding my cycle wing on stripped its threads but it was cured in minutes by the use of locktite and lashings of matching black duct tape.   T1- John Loudon aborted his run as he had to deal with a large stone stuck under his clutch which made it slip. Mick Skidmore reinforced his surname by spinning at the hairpin on the cold track (that was his excuse). Meanwhile Del’s car seemed to have developed a bit of a misfire which he was trying to trace or at least understand what was causing it but it was still setting the pace. Tony Mitchell was covering both days as photographer and was clad in his warmest clothes under his HV vest but he still looked very cold as he wandered around trying to get the best pictures. T2 & T3 – saw the competition hotting up and personal battles made the times very interesting. Garry Bunn just got the better of Del in class H . Chris Griffiths had a flat battery  issue which I eventually found was a wire on the alternator had come adrift so that was an easy fix. The track remained cold so getting near to target times was becoming very difficult despite our efforts. John Loudon and I were having a close battle but John’n missed gear change just after the start ruined his last run leaving me fastest in class G by about 0.4secs. Howard Gaskin won the class D contest with Steve. Eventually Westfield cars performed very well with overall positions as follows: Garry Bunn -2nd Derek Hodder – 3rd Terry Everall – 4th John Loudon – 6th Chris Griffiths – 7th Howard Gaskin – 8th Steve Everall – 10th   As usual we all congregated in the café bar at night and with the help of a few drinks and a disco (with dancing, at which Howard Gaskin excelled). A few more of us were dragged, screaming onto the floor by Julie Hodder and Sandra Bunn but it was not a pretty sight. We left at 0030hrs for a bit of sleep.  Sunday’s weather was cloudy and cold (warmer than Saturday) due to a continual seafret most of the day so we did not see any sun until around 1600hrs and at times visibility was around 200m. P1 and P2 was interesting as when you were flat out on the back straight towards Rocket it was tricky see exactly where you were going. Del got a rerun after a Morgan went off a nd he never got a red flag. John Loudon also wangled a rerun and the cheeky monkey cane back into the paddock to “refuel” when actually he was resetting his flatshifter. Steve Everall refused a rerun as he had water blowing onto his helmet from the header tank after overfilling it slightly.  T1 – John Loudon continued to make lots of adjustments to his car including changing his rear springs, altering front camber and tracking. It seemed to keep him busy but he looked like a cat on a hot tinned roof. He was setting the pace and I could not match his times so I needed to pull my finger out. Chris Griffiths was going well and putting in some good times in class H but Del and Garry were having the usual close battle. T2 – witnessed Del’s car being pushed back into the paddock from the track but it only because the car had run out of compressed air for the gear shift system. Mick Skidmore (who was battling with Steve on similar times) found his gearbox to propshaft bolts had come loose but quick action with his spanner solved that issue. T3 – no big incidents but Howard banged in a quick time. T4- was a bit strange as we did not run in order and just queue for the last run. Mick Skidmore had a big moment as he went off at high speed on the hill up to Rocket where he touched the grass on the outside of the track and ended up in the tyre wall suffering damage to the offside rear arch and tub. It did not look too bad so hopefully not an expensive repair. Steve Everall had to pull out of the queue to the strat as the car would not start due to either a battery issue or a starter problem. So that was it …..John Loudon beat me by 0.06secs and Garry was fastet Westfield again. Positions in top ten were Garry Bunn- 2nd Derek Hodder – 3rd Chris Griffiths – 5th John Loudon – 6th Terry Everall – 7th Howard Gaskin – 8th     Terry Everall Class G Competitor
Quinten's Mighty Blog

April 2018

April 1st, 2018 Spend: £0.00 Big day today.  It is dry, almost sunny and now it is time to enjoy it!  Checked oil/coolant levels again before I started the engine and then set off to fill up with petrol 0.7m away.  1st and 2nd gear still not feel right so I returned home and adjusted the clutch cable slightly.  But it was a step too far, so undid the work and then tried to go for a longer run.  Unfortunately, the engine now kept on stalling as soon as I dipped the clutch.  Didn't even make it out of the street before I returned back home.  How to make a grown man  April 2nd, 2018 Spend: £0.00 After putting a message up on Facebook, got a text from Jody (who rebuild the engine) with some questions and a suggestion of checking for an air pocket in the thermostat housing where the coolant sensor sits.  He explained that he had that happen once and the result was that the car kept on feeding duff information to the ECU who countered that with feeding in too much/little fuel.  As the car also smelled like a petrol station, that seemed all too plausible.  Run the engine again, this time squeezing as much as I could the hoses to move air around and out.  It ran much better, but because I'd fiddled again with the TPS and throttle body stop it was high on RPM.  Decided that I'd leave it for another day. April 5th, 2018 Spend: £1.90 Wife complained about the stench of petrol, so went home to check.  Couldn't find any leaks, so must have still been residue from Sunday/Monday's tinkering.  Received a new throttle cable end, so fitted that as the old one is a pain to do up. April 19th, 2018 Spend: £474.00 Big day today.  Car was given into the care of Troy at @Northampton Motorsport to remap it.  Initially couldn't write to the ECU due to a PIN block on it, but after the executive decision was made to erase and rewrite the ECU with a map from another car with the same/similar engine all the options were enabled again.  Troy did his magic and after 3.5 hours was told of the end result; a healthy 177.8bhp @ 6931rpm / 142.2lbft @ 6064rpm.  Suits you Sir! April 20th, 2018 Spend: £0.00 Finally the thrill is back.  Car behaved impeccable for the 120 miles I drove today (and work is only 36 miles each way ). April 21st, 2018 Spend: £0.00 I complained on the forums about my gear knob which keeps coming off as the grub screws have to bridge a large gap, and @Ben (bunje) worked his magic and turned a sleeve for my gear knob so the grub screws got something better to grab into.               April 22nd, 2018 Spend: £17.47 Changing the oil after running it in.  Started with 5W30, but was advised that 5W40 would be a better choice for this tune of engine.  Never had to do one with the engine in the car, and I'm already not looking forward to next year's change.  Emptying the sump is straight forward, but access to the oil filter not so.  Removed the alternator and bracket which allowed enough access for my wrench to undo it. Maybe next year I'll be organised enough to install some flared arches, or a remote filter housing...   Last month: £  7438.59
This month: £   493.37
            ----------+
Total:      £  7931.96
My Lawnmower Runs on Super...
 

More Bodywork Needed..... Two Trophies Though (Now with Video)

So this was my first race weekend with the Caterham. I stayed locally at a hotel with my friend and with the lesson learnt from Donny a few years back I packed the earplugs in anticipation of the ridiculous snoring. Luckily I got a good night’s sleep, but woke to very dark sky’s when I opened the curtains. It just started to rain as I left for the circuit and it was not to stop until mid-morning. This was not forecast and I had never driven the car in the wet before.   Quali was very damp and oil was dropped over the entire length of the circuit about half way through the session so it was driving on ‘tippy toes’ for most of it. The car felt great on the soft Khumos and I qualified 7th overall in a field of 20, 1st in class. Or so I though. Turns out the entry list was wrong and I found out a little later that the current Champion had decided to put some sticky tyres on and enter my Class for the year. Great. I was just behind him on the grid with a powerful (240 horses powerful) Westie between us (who was clearly going to drive away from us both on the rolling start). The grid was a little muddled-up with the rain mixing up the usual order. Game on.   In the first race it was damp when I left the paddock. I wanted to maintain the current set-up as it was a ‘known quantity’ from Quali, but it was a mistake. The sun came out immediately and with a long wait in the holding area and a breeze the track was dry by the time we went to race. Turns out my class competitor was also on wets. What ensued was one of the most epic battles I have ever had. We only changed places 3 times but were side-by-side for nearly 3 corners at one point and side-by-side for many others. He had the legs on my car but I think I was slightly better on the brakes – I went round the outside of him at the hairpin and I’m still not sure how! We both were racing hard, but giving each other just enough room. It was very close racing and great fun. However, it nearly ended in tears when one of the other BS class cars (on full slicks) joined in. I saw him approaching very fast at the new hairpin and thought ‘no way will he stop that’. He sped past me and my competitor, locked up the front and just missed us both (he later apologised as it was a little wreckless) he ultimately gained two places as we both tried to miss him, but we both got past him within a lap. Ultimately, I lost out on the penultimate lap as the leading cars came through and I got held up as I was block passed. I finished second by two tenths but gained fastest (class) lap as consolation.   To add to the excitement, my  gear knob came loose after about the first lap. I spent the race trying to tighten it up on the straights. It was quite distracting as I had enough to think about!!! Reminded me of this brilliant video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k38LyqmUeM0). When I came into the holding area, I unscrewed it and handed it to my buddy. For comic effect.   Race two was dry and sunny. With grid positions determined by the finishing place from race 1 I was along-side my class competitor. It didn’t start well. I got tagged into the first corner by a overoptimistic Saxo, breaking my rear arch (see pic). I carried on nonetheless, but lost loads of time and in my fluster, missed 3rd on the corner exit. I had a bit of clear track so I looked to grit my teeth and get some quick laps in. Then it was red flagged for a car that was stuck, facing the wrong way on the at the other hairpin. Good for me as we would re-start the race.   On the re-start, the lights held for a long time. One car accelerated before the lights went out and it spread like the plague. Yes. I was guilty too, but I got away with it along with half the grid. It was another race long battle. We were both on semi-slicks this time so the speeds were greater and we drove away from the others in our class. We both maintained position until a car in front had a tank slapper and my competitor had to take evasive action. He left the track, lost his splitter and returned to track near to me (I was a little worried that he was going to ‘t-bone’ me at one point) but I got the position. Fortunate really. We raced for another 10 minutes, or so (side in many corners) and I was caught napping overtaking a slower car at the hairpin. He passed me with about 3 laps to go. On the last lap I threw everything at it. A last ditch move into Honda (the last corner and a fast right) nearly worked, but I just could not make it stick as he held it round the outside to finish just ahead of me. Close, but no cigar.   First looser in both races, but it was intense fun. It reminded me why I am penniless and spent far too many cold nights in the garage. Still, I got two tacky trophies for my efforts.   It’s going to be an interesting season.   Mike   Videos:   Mid-Race Battle (Race 1):       Manic end of race 1 (I like this video it was crazy out there!):     New arch needed.... Silverware:
Terzo204

Terzo204

9
Toys4x4boys Westy Journey
 

Rolling Road

So teamed up with the guys form NWKCOG again, and met for a rolling road day. Just a get together, see what your car ran and have a laugh, not a full day of minor adjustments to get the best. Great weather and a good turnout. Eventually it was my go Now being vertically challenged next to our rolling road supremo for the day Ade, meant I had to work the pedals in my own car. As he couldn't fit in ! Result ? Well all road vary, but those that had done it before got the results they expected, so I'm happy to think the  100BHP at the wheels ( 118BHP at flywheel ) is reasonably accurate. And I'm happy with that, specially given some of the other results on the day. But all in all a great day, great company, and good to know there is a small one man garage that knows kits and carbs locally !
toys4x4boys

toys4x4boys

1
Tel's Tales
 

Tel's Tales Anglesey 7th and 8th April 2018

Tel’s Tales Anglesey Sat/Sun  7th and 8th April 2018 After a very disappointing Easter Monday event at Croft which was wet, freezing cold and probably should never have started about 10 drivers were entered for this LDMC extravaganza attended by approx. 70 cars. The Croft event was abandoned before any timed runs had been offered, so we all scored a miserable 75 points (I will be discarding that score). We all arrived on Friday to find plenty of room in an almost empty paddock and plenty of space to get an electric hook up for our campervans and motorhomes. This was a bonus as it was quite cold and heating was essential as we had to leave the onsite café/bar due to too many staff and not enough business. Saturday Saturday morning saw a wet, gloomy start and the rain continued all day until 1700hrs when we finished sprinting! The day saw some great battles between all classes as well as individual personal targets irrespective of which class you were in. This would become the first event in 19 years that I have used wets all day rather than slicks and the competition was close and hard fought on a track that was wet but perfectly driveable and created a bit a level playingfield between cars of different specs/engines etc. During practice the pace was set by Richard Kerr and myself running around 10secs slower than the target time. It was good to see Mick Dent out again after his broken ankle caused a premature end to his 2017 season and his busa was going well. He also had his son as a secret weapon cleaning tyres and checking the car was going ok after the Friday trackday sessions. Their car would not start despite charging the battery and I quickly diagnosed a seized starter motor. Luckily they found a local supplier who had a secondhand one and they did not miss a run !. There was a lot of slipping and sliding mainly on the black stuff as well as a few spins but I did not witness any damage to Westfields. Mike West was enjoying the conditions and during the day he reduced his time down to 78.10secs from 82.74secs. John Loudon kept changing front springs for stiffer ones to improve grip and handling and it seemed to be working as the two of us were having a close battle in class G. Derek Hodder, Garry Bunn and Richard Kerr were after the class H points chasing Mick Dent. Steve Everall and Mick Skidmore were close in terms of times but running in different classes ( D and F respectively) We had 5 times runs and in the end Richard was quickest banging in a last run of 63.23 to better my time of 63.98secs and Mick Dent’s 64.10secs.  We were 3rd,4th and 6th overall fastest with John Loudon 9th. Sunday Well it was a cloudless night and there had not been any rain but it was a cloudy start but it stayed dry all day and the afternoon was very good and we had a drying track to play on. Mark Anson had arrived at 0230hrs and was joining us in the Jedi. He had a few jobs to do fixing the front wing brackets and softening the trickshifter. During practice 2 Mark came back to the pits on a tow rope as it turned out he had fried some wires in his harness. This took him around 3 hours to trace the 12v power issues (or lack of power) but eventually he sorted it. I helped a bit by making him a nice cuppa tea. It really was a dream to be able to drive a dry track and push on a bit. We now saw Del and Garry showing the pace of their car whilst Rich K was trying to repeat his Sat performance. Unluckily for Rich when he came in after T1 the engine bay was full of oil and it looked like a blanking plate on the block had come adrift and ended his weekend. My weekend nearly ended too as I was way too quick into the left hander at the end of the garages and as I ran off the end of the outside rumble strip I hit the soft wet grass and soil to do a 360deg spin. I ripped off part of my carbon fibre floor but back in the paddock Steve, Mick Skidmore and John Loudon did a quick and great  repair job to keep me running. The car looked like it had been used for grass tracking and the amount of soil and mud under the bonnet was ridiculous and took some cleaning up. Later in T3 Mick Skidmore ran over a rumble strip coming out of corkscrew and split part of his tub. In the end we had 5 timed runs and were well pleased with the day. Garry just beat Del and was 2nd fastest overall with Del being 4th, me in 5th and John Loudon 6th. Mark Anson with only 2 runs was 3rd overall so an impressive performance by him. That made 5 Westfield speed series drivers in the top 6. A newcomer was Chris Griffiths in his class H car and he was 9th overall behind Rich Kerr 8th. (7 cars in top 10!) We return in 4 weeks time to do the MGCC weekend.         Terry Everall Class G Competitor
My Lawnmower Runs on Super...
 

First Test in the Caterham

So having bought the Caterham in October of last year, I had still yet to drive the car. As part of the purchase, I had negotiated that the seller (who runs a Caterham motorsport outfit) to attend a trackway with me to help prepare and set up the car. I booked a trackday at Donny for Friday with MSV trackdays. I can recommend to anyone with a race or sprint car to attend one of these days as they are race car friendly, in fact, most cars were race cars on the day - Mini's, Exiges, BMW's, Clios etc.  I had approx 30 hours work on the car over the winter: 1. Trimmed and re-covered the bag seat 2. Perfected the fit of the tonneau 3. Greased the extinguisher lines 4. Replaced all the stickers 5. Painted the interior 6. Fixed the exhaust (which was squashed to say the least - record and re-packed for only £65!) 7. Given the car a blooming' good clean and tidy up I should have been looking to this day but I was bedridden for 3-days earlier in the week. I still felt rough on the day but it was too late to cancel. Nonetheless, the day was dry and bright even if a little breezy. I got up early and trailered the car to the track, only to find one tyre had picked up a puncture on the way. No bother as I swapped the spare at lunch.  So how does it compare to the Westie? Well, its hard to compare when I have been off-track for 6-months, but for sure, the chassis is more communicative and the turn-in is much better (it's got a quick rack). Its better on the brakes too, presumably due to the weight saving. The bag seat is not as comfy as the Tillet and the layout of the dash and pedals to too compact initially, until you get used to it. Power is comparable. Overall, I would say an improvement over the Westie, but not by any significant margin.  In fact, my best lap time was a 1.21.5. I think there is more to come when I heel and toe (one step at a time I thought) and can use the whole of the track (the grass was so wet a lot of the kerbs had sods of grass on them!) and under the pressure to perform during Quali....but my best time in the Westie at Donny? Yep. A 1.21.5. Funny how these things work out!  My first race for the dark side is on the 22nd of April at Pembrey. I'm in a difference class now with the 1.6 so I hope to be competitive. Wish me luck!   Mike Pics below inc. some nice historic racers who occupied the garage after I had packed up. Interior shot in my garage at the end
Terzo204

Terzo204

5
Andy665's SEiGHT
 

Few more jobs completed

Few more jobs completed.

Replaced the old carbon effect front wings with 100% full carbon fibre items from Carbon NV, fabulous quality at sensible prices. Decided on the CSR style wings because the extra moulding lines at the top of the wing provide a slight but noticeable increase in rigidity.

Really wanted to save the old wings as I could have sold them on but they were bonded to the brackets and the one thing I can say about Tiger seal is that once its set nothing is coming free too easily.

The bracket is mounted to the front suspension by three bolts but cannot be entirely freed from the car unless the wing is removed from the bracket - after a while of attempted and failed efforts to remove the wing from the bracket with no damage being done to the wing I gave up and cut the wing across its width, thus enabling me to remove the bracket / wing from the car and getting good purchase on the wing to break it free.

Once separated it was a laborious job to remove all the existing sealant from the bracket, rub down and re-paint (so much more satisfying and so much cheaper than replacing them)

Position the new wings was relatively straightforward, couple of key measurements taken to ensure that each side was identical then a single run of Tiger seal on each "leg" of the bracket was enough to hold each wing in position.

24 hours to allow the sealant to harden off and then more seal applied to fill in any gaps and job done

Only downside to the new wings is that they fit so closely that to remove the front wheel now requires the wing bracket to be undone and moved slightly up and across - fortunately access is good and only tales a couple of mins per side

Before


After


Second job was to balance the Jenvey throttle bodies, I had a feeling that they were out of balance side to side and despite reading up on the matter I was slightly concerned I might make things worse.

Having acquired a synchrometer to measure the pressure it was a case of winding down the main idle bleed screw, measuring across all 8 trumpets and then adjusting each pair in sequence, once equalised the main idle could be adjusted.

I may have been lucky but it was not a difficult job and the car responds to the throttle much more sharply and has got the V8 burble it was missing, they were definitely out of balance before and whilst maybe not 100% balanced now they are not far away
 
andy665

andy665

0
Quinten's Mighty Blog

March 2018

March 16th, 2018 Spend: £997.40 I picked up my engine from Jody (JA Kit and Customs) today!  Complete checked over, and with most parts replaced she almost looks like she just rolled off the factory floor. March 17th, 2018 Spend: £0.00 With the Beast from the East making a return the conditions outside and in the garage are awful.  But I'm determined to not let it spoil my rekindling with the Westfield!  Ensured the gearbox input shaft and spigot bearing were not interfering and then put the gearbox back into the car with the help of my son. March 18th, 2018 Spend: £28.80 Putting an engine back can take 5 minutes, or 5 hours.  I ended up somewhere in the middle when after yet another minute change in position the engine finally mated with the gearbox and bellhousing. March 24th, 2018 Spend: £32.59 Miserable weather outside so had to do all the work inside the garage.  Not ideal.  Connected everything up and then discovered that I should have bolted the PCV breather pipe that goes just above the bellhousing from one side of the engine to the other should have been one of the 1st things to go back, not the last.  Oh well, I'm not taking it apart again, so managed to lock it in place as well as I could.  Another thing I now discovered is that my water temp gauge sensor wire seems a bit short.  Weird as nothing changed in the location, so I need to fix that as it looks a bit strained at the moment. Could not start the engine due to the weather, but forecast is really good for tomorrow March 25th, 2018 Spend: £0.00 Up early (not helped by the bl**** clocks going forward and a AUS F1 race early in the morning) and got the car out of the garage.  Fluids checked and topped up, plugs removed and hit the starter button so it would start to build up oil pressure.  With the gauge now part of my system the needle rose nicely and after doing this a couple of times decided to fit new plugs and go for it! Asked Mrs Q to film the start, but to my surprise nothing happened.  The engine would just turn over and over and over, but not fire into life.  b*****ks.  Mrs Q asked if the battery was charged, and like last year I'd fallen into the trap of trying to start the engine with a low battery.  Doh!  Half an hour on the charger and then... Had to change the accelerator cable tension slightly to set the RPM to a steady 1000RPM, and still have to adjust the clutch cable. March 30th, 2018 Spend: £0.00 With the threat of p*** poor weather, I sneaked out early and rolled the car out of the garage.  Adjusted the clutch cable so it now seems to work ok for 1st, 2nd and reverse.  Can't test it any further as I'm still on SORN.  Put the nose cone and air filter back on and replaced the batteries in the security gate opener.  Am leaving the bonnet off for now, until I've triple checked everything.  Also taxed the car online starting from the 1st of April...  no joke!   Last month: £  6379.80
This month: £  1058.79
            ----------+
Total:      £  7438.59
Toys4x4boys Westy Journey
 

Nodiz, it's alive.

It's alive. Its been a bit of a Saga, but the guys at https://motorsport-electronics.co.uk/products/ignition-only-systems/nodiz-pro/ have been great. Swapped to the Webcon trigger wheel setup, much happier with that, QED were good and refunded on their kit. Rolling road booked for 14th April !      
toys4x4boys

toys4x4boys

0
Tel's Tales
 

Tel's Tales Rockingham 25 March 2018

Tel’s Tales Rockingham Sunday 25th March 2018 So the miserable cold wet winter “closed” season was over and it was a return visit to the fast circuit at Rockingham. Despite the wet weather we have had recently the forecast was ok and so the drivers were looking forward to being out on track again despite the tarmac temperature being cold. I had only changed my engine oil and put a new set of radial slicks on the car but with Steve’s car we ended up changing oil, refurbishing the starter motor, welding up and repacking the silencer ( great service from Wunoff ), a lot of rewiring after a small incident with a wire shorting out on the block, plus a complete flush of the water system after we discovered a lot of creamy emulsion deposits floating in the header tank. This year both cars were going to ready well in advance but it actually a couple of days ….which is what happens every year. My other mission was to take a new set of Force rims to be delivered to Mick Skidmore via Craig Spooner and luckily I did not forget to take them. We decided to travel down on the Sunday morning which meant being up at 0430hrs and on the road at 0500hrs for the 127 mile trip and this was made even worse as the clocks went forward so it felt like 0330hrs. I did not think it had affected me much until after driving 5 miles I noticed I was still wearing my indoor Crocs and had forgotten my trainers. The convoy of 2 arrived at 0740hrs and we rolled up to our garage and met Craig Spooner, Mark Bishop, Matthew Haynes, Pete Goulding, Steve Carpenter and Roz Kennett and I handed over car stickers and SS competitor cards. The scrutineering was so slow that Steve and I missed out on the convoy run but the report was that the track was very wet so that was not good news. P1 did not produce any dramas for us but whoever described the track as a bit wet wants a good talking to! I had looked at the track from a distance and it looked to be drying and not too bad but in reality it was lethal. I had my new slicks on and the understeer was unbelievable and I wondered what the hell was wrong with the car. Clearly everyone else had similar problems as I still posted the fastest Westfield time of 92.88 secs with Steve in second with 97.65secs but my target was 74.31 secs so I was a bit concerned. P2 saw an improvement in track conditions as things dried out but it was still a bit tricky and a few spins and offs were slowing down ( it was mostly the Cateringvans that were having issues and they did have a big entry) the proceedings so we did not finish the practices until about 1300hrs. T1 started late and the lack of  a good PA system and no proper paddock marshalling made getting ready at the correct time a bit of a gamble. The delay did have one benefit in that the track was now dry buy still cold as the sun struggled to get through the clouds. Times were beginning to tumble and get nearer to the targets so we all were looking to give it the full beans on the last run T2 saw improvements with most people setting their quickest time apart from Mark Bishop who was towed back to the paddock after an off as his throttle stuck wide open and he took a trip into the kitty litter. Apart from  coming back with enough gravel in the car to lay a new path he was ok but he was baffled about what had caused the problem. In the end it was a good day for Pete Goulding in class J2 and we  had 3 class trophy winners on the day. BestTimes Class A            Mark Bishop                86.31secs Class B            Matthew Haynes        84.27secs Class C             Craig Spooner             81.85secs Class D            Steve Everall               80.66secs Class G            Terry Everall                74.45secs Class J2           Pete Goulding             68.35secs   Terry Everall Class G Competitor
Andy665's SEiGHT
 

Early 2018 update

Bit of a new year update:

MOT passed last week with zero advisories

Insurance renewed, slight increase but that was down to Agreed Valuation needing to be increased to reflect recent sale prices of other SEiGHTs Wheels refurbished in a slightly darker shade of grey -n they were 99% oerfect as they were but just wanted a subtly different look to them  New Caterham CSR vented style carbon wings ordered from Carbon NV

Run out yesterday - over to the superb Chocks Away diner with a few Tiger and Cobra replica owning friendson the Broughton Airbus site followed by a run over to the Ponderosa on the Horseshoe Pass then back home via Oswestry - a nice 130 mile Sunday run, even if trying to put down 330bhp on cold, damp roads was pretty challenging
andy665

andy665

1
Toys4x4boys Westy Journey
 

Sunday Jobs

My 5/8 impact socket arrived this week, so I got it into my breaker bar and got the crank pulley removed. Then got the new toothed pulley fitted, also used a new.bolt and washer, and fitted and adjusted a new gates belt. Whilst I had the bonnet off I took off the red oil catch can And replaced it with a blue one. The new can has a pipe into the can with holes drilled in it, then some wire wool to allow the oil to hold and not just vent out. I might have chance to fit the crank sensor tomorrow and get another step closer to the Nodiz install.
toys4x4boys

toys4x4boys

7

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