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Well today , the whole family went to Williams GP factory near Wantage. Santa was kind enough to give us some tickets ( on my card !!) to have a look around at the place and the cars. Now, I dont actually like F1 and find it a bit circus like to me. So, bear that in mind in this thread. We were late , with 2 women giving me directions , it went pear shaped , but luckily they hadnt started the tour. and we miss anything. The site is vast, from the security gate , to negotiating which building on the map we were in and which car park. The grounds were very neatly cut and the place was spotless. We parked up and walked to the conference and museum building. We were met by this hedge outside the building. Walking into the reception, we had a couple of cars in front of us. The one on the ground was the 2016 race car We discussed the cars evolution through time and the current designs and aero changes through the years. The 1.6 litre 4 cylinder engines and all the electrical systems and motors and regulations were touched on. We then went into the hall of fame of all the drivers and their crash helmets and how they had changed with safety in mind through time. From there, we saw a video , with the infamous Murray Walker wailing away and clips of Williams wins and Jacques overtaking manouvres . This , we were told we werent allowed to record as poison drawf aka Bernie Ecclestone had copyright of the film . Sad really............ So, then the doors opened to the museum of cars. Alan Jones cars from the very beginning all the way to the 2016 cars in there. We then headed through the cars and saw the changes from designs with fibre glass and alloy tubs to carbon fibre . NA cars to turbo cars to NA cars and back to turbos. Fuel tanks on either side of the drivers to now being in a cell behind them, to now sitting on loads of batteries. We had a Laguna Touring car there , which interests me more and a fantastic 6R4 , which Patrick Head was lead designer of it . The cars all smell oily and thats because they all ( well mostly) work and get used. The 6 wheeler and some of the others were away for a classic french race , so there were a few empty spots. Interestingly , when Honda pulled out of Williams, as they were chasing Senna to Maclaren, they took every engine away and the car stood with an empty engine bay up until about 6 years ago, when Honda let Williams have an engine and wished them luck to get it running, which they did manage to do. So, we headed into the Honda era of cars ( via Judd ) and the turbo time, which some cars in later years ran over 1300 hp. Seems quite frightening, when there was still no real interest in safety , other than moving the drivers a bit further back to stop them loosing their legs in a front impact. Aero wasnt really catching on and the first carbon parts were appearing. This was mainly wings and later tubs . We then headed into the Senna, Mansell, Prost days. Very much technical changes with carbon appearing on wishbones, extra wings and downforce appearing and NA engines again. Interestingly , we headed into the Coulthard era. He took over from Senna after his death. When he jumped in the car, he found out that in the early days , he was paid £5k a race !! Bear in mind that Senna had commanded a million per race. He wasnt happy and approached Frank Williams and asked for a rise, to which Frank said, you signed the contract at that pay ! Then into the BMW era and these cars looked amazing. We also have a Le Man car , which was raced. After this, we then headed upstairs to the trophy room, which they admitted was a bit dusty currently. They also had some cars in there, so we had a picture with Ayrtons winter test car We then proceeded to have a fabulous lunch laid on, which we all enjoyed and then went back into the trophy area ( via the IT department as we got lost ) and you could sit in the test car and take a picture, which we got Mini TJ to do. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable few hours for all of us and from an engineering perspective was just mind blowing. The finish and detail on the cars and the passion you could see in all the staff was incredible. If you want something for a birthday or christmas, then this is the best 2 1/2 hrs of petrol head heaven going. As for the Westfield and FW link Even the most advanced cars can leak like a crossflow !! Note: I am not an F1 geek, so may have confused a few things, but hopefully its a good insight into Williams

Swmbo. The oven's on. Me. Yes, I'm cooking tonight, just warming it up. Swmbo. What are we having? Me. It's a surprise, keep your eyes closed.

Sadly not - it went last year. Guy reckoned he was going to drive it to Africa - at 15mpg I dont think he’ll have got very far!

For Sale Megablade Turbo Westfield. Brand new MOT. £10000 ono This has a massive spec. Has been featured in Car & Track magazine and comes with a fully documented history from new. The Westfield has done less than 100 miles since last October and is fully ready to be enjoyed for the Summer either on Road or Track. Cheap to insure and Tax. Car was build in 2004 by a professional engineer, with incredible attention to detail. It has some minor general use marks to the fibreglass body but is still in great overall shape, and even now has only down 11,500 odd miles. The car has 4 new Toyo tyres. Last October the car had a service check and oil + filter change (with the correct quality bike oil). Car is not on a Q plate but a genuine age related issue. There is a massive amount of paperwork for this car, detailing all the work that has been done, including hundreds of build photo's and a 5 inch high pile of receipts for easily over £25k spent on this car. All build manuals are available and IVA documents. Log book etc. The car is a Westfield Megablade (yellow/black) with a Honda Fireblade 919cc bike engine, which has been professionally turbocharged and is running at a safe 6 psi pushing 190 bhp to the wheels giving a power-to-weight of about 440 bhp/tonne. Needless to say it is very very quick, and handles extremely well! The car has been built with ultimate lightness in mind, and which the main items include: Magnesium split rim wheels (very light, rare and expensive set of race wheels!) Genuine carbon fibre nosecone (genuine item from Westfield, a very expensive option and incredibly hard to find today) Genuine carbon fibre race seats, with brand new custom pads made specifically for these seats. Genuine carbon fibre rear diffuser (custom made) Genuine carbon fibre screen scuttle (genuine item from Westfield) Genuine carbon fibre dash + wing mirrors + transmission tunnel Genuine carbon fibre engine side vents (custom made) Genuine carbon fibre rear wheel arch shields (genuine item from Westfield) Additional items fitted include: Brand new MOMO Team steering wheel + correct spacer kit (is a gorgeous steering wheel, cost £180 and was only fitted last month!) Custom large exhaust, with genuine carbon fibre housing (much quieter then the standard Westfield item) Water Aquamist injection (cooling for the turbo) Rear Limited Slip Differential (Uses the more expensive, but lighter Freelander LSD) Fully adjustable race suspension. Professional Sabelt harness (with a 2022 date expiry, so lots of life!) Onyx Rev RPM limiter RAC roll cage (Westfield item) Toad immobiliser (brand new fitted, come with 3 working dongles) Fully track ready and prepped safety fire extinguisher kit fitted (never used) Full new SAMCO and professional braided hose fitted through engine bay Fully sequential paddle shift Battery isolating switch Complete cat brake conversion with EBC Green Stuff pads Daytime running LED lights + additional high level rear brake lights. Any questions please ask, will upload more pics shortly.

This year we chose The Air Ambulance - Charity Reg. NO: 1098874 and Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund - Charity Reg. NO: 1155322 as the nominated charities for the Stoneleigh show. So we collected donations at Stoneleigh by selling tea, coffee, biscuits and crisps. We were also again very generously given 8 charity drift rides by @Westfield Parts Dept @Julian Turner - Westfield Sportscars Ltd @Simon Westwood - Westfield Sportscars Ltd which were raffled off over the weekend Also this year we had members donate parts for sale on the autojumble the proceeds of which going to the funds raised, so a big thank you goes to all members who contributed here We have managed to raise a total of £570.32p which will be split equally between the two nominated charities The Air Ambulance - Charity Reg. NO: 1098874 and Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund Charity Reg. NO: 1155322. A very big Thank You to all who donated and helped to raise this amount so all the fun of the weekend at Stoneleigh 2018 has also helped two very worthy causes.

Looks like I've upset one of my neighbours. The forecast for today was looking so good i thought id go to work in the westy unfortunately it was a 6am start so leaving home at 530 so i pushed him out of the garage cracked him up and i was off as quietly as i could job done Then i got a call from swimbo , someone had posted a unsigned letter through my door Ive got to say im not fully to blame for this @Steve (stevel) - Lancashire AO told me to be at charnock Richard services for 7am Sunday morning for the trip to stoneleigh .so i think he has to take the flak for that if by any chance my neighbour is reading this please accept my sincere apologies but unfortunately i won't be converting to electric any time soon Tony

Yes, no problem.

Looks like s bit of a sleeper to me ,I see it has one eye half cocked looking for its next victim . Im off to Rockingham early tomorrow ,I phoned earlier in the week and there’s a bike event on if I get there by 8Am they will sound check my exhaust which I’m worried will be too loud.Hope all is ok and I can be there on Friday .Im booked in for an engine check at AP racing engines near Mansfield on Monday then an MOT mon afternoon back home .A busy week ahead look foreword to meeting you Friday on what looks to be a fair weather day . Steve

Taking further advice from an engineer would be very wise. Its not so much the weight of the building that would be a factor in determining the adequacy of the foundation but the soil type and the potential of ground movement , the forces from which would far exceed that of the imposed load of the building on it. Subsoils in east anglia would typically be either sands, clay, chalk or a mixture there off. Pure sands and chalk are non-cohesive and do not change volume seasonally or with moisture. However clay will both shrink and heave seasonally. Certain areas of norfolk particularly around thetford are suspetable to sink holes due to the underlying chalk being eroded by water in the ground which causes the surface of the ground to collapse into the void left by the eroded chalk. On a building of the size you're building if the foundation slab is cast onto anything other than a sandy subsoils there is potential for differential movement where the subsoils on one side may move more than the soil over the opposite side of the building. If the design of the slab and the reinforcement within it hasn't given consideration to this pontenial movement then the slab will crack and fail, as the groud pressure tries to bend it. With a timber building this isn't so much of an issue as the structure is flexible and would be more able to accomodate failure of its foundations unlike masonry which is inflexible and where a foundation failure would also be transferred to the sturture of the building.

I'll have the silencer packing and wire wool and the oil pump if they are still available .. £20 to charity ,, a tenner doesn't seem enough Thanks trev Pm sent

At least they were clean.

Didn’t really read the post before catching the photo out of the corner of my eye. Thought you were cooking the biggest black puddings I’d ever seen for a moment.

Few more. Pics......

I had JP make a link pipe up and was really pleased with it

Just a thought, JP exhausts are in Macclesfield and a nice drive to get to. They do custom work, and made several, high quality jobs for me. They made a track special db reducer too.it took 6db off my noise. However for a more permanent solution they do anything they can fit in. Apparently they do McLaren system prototypes for them. http://www.jpexhausts.co.uk. their website is not exciting but real, old school service and craftsmanship. Cheers Jon

Wunoff are fantastic, really happy with mine. They made me a bespoke can to fit in the space I had and make it as quiet as possible for trackdays.

it's exactly that, if you turn the pitch up / down it changes the sound of it to sound more Yanny or more Laurel. The sound waves are very similar apparently, well that's what I got out of a 5 minute YouTube vid.

I think it is an electronically generated "voice" of not particularly good/clear quality probably (like Andy M says) saying Laurel. Personally, to me it sounds like Laurel, despite my age. Mrs H says it sounded a bit like Yanny, but then I'm always telling her she's deaf, because she likes the telly etc., turned up more than me.

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.