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The news of the sale came as quite a surprise to me and even more so that I was being offered first refusal on it. This was a car which I felt would be well beyond my reach and a project which I could only hope to work on but here was that opportunity. Well you can guess the rest (or if you're on Facebook then you might already have read). Yes this is the story of how I came to become the new owner of Frank Costin's Auto XVIII.

Ignore @IanK (Bagpuss) Patrick................. he's the one that has shares in anything pink, paint , coolant and this time of year , nose And its not bulk Ian, its just a thermal jacket for my six pack

Visiting Radtec...... So I rocked up and said..... "here's my very poorly fuel tank that I rang you about, sorry about the Odeur Esso pong and all that..... It's got holes and cracks in it and it's more like a sieve than a tank, can you copy it only make it "Better"?..... Better says he...... yes says I.... tighter baffles and maybe a swirl pot built in, anything that cures a tight Left Fuel Surge?? Oh and I'd like a thicker gauge metal here and here.... Pointing with my none engineering pinkie at the bits I reckon would benefit from more thickness of metal...... There was not a hint of snigger or contorted face to be detected, I was simply shown into the emporium of dark arts that they call a fabrication shop..... I can only say that it got me moist, there were people applying electricity, talent and skills to metals in order to fashion said materials into products..... one of those products will soon be mine..... in the form of new and improved, none leaking Fuel Tank for the ASBO. The Sage (Mrs Nem.... ) is gonna crap a brick when she gets the bill (she has offered to pay for this for a couple of birthdays and at least 2 Christmas pressies, so no guilt complex here!!) So in short... go see them and buy stuff..... the place is clean enough to eat your dinner off the floor. Nem............

Clothing always goes down well: (I know some has already been mentioned) Snood/buff/neck warmer type things T-shirts Hoodys fleeces outer layers beanies/caps etc gloves A typical list, BUT, making sure that you included proper layered type products, including wind stopper layers as well as water proofs is a key way to differentiate from the norm, that goes beyond just badges/printing/embroidering. Brollies are always popular, specialty cockpit covering styles. Luggage. Take a look at the number of owners doing everything from track day stop overs to full continental expeditions. Luggage that was designed to fit in and on Westfields, from boot bags with built in straps to attach to the roll bar, through to tall thin style bags that would go behind the seats etc. Tunnel saddle bags are great, but owners don't always have room for the traditional SBfS style, what about effectively making something similar to the two pouches that hang down either side of the tunnel, but as separate items, that could be attached to the tunnel sides or inner side panels by press studs or similar? Given how many people keep huge files of receipts and paperwork, how about a nice, smart leather bound, (or similar) classic car log book style folder, but say an A4 ring binder, that all the cars documents could be kept in. If you wanted to be really swish with it, you could include branded, pre-labelled dividers, too. Smart phone/iPad covers... Its all about raising brand awareness and at the same time making owners feel part of something bigger when they're out and about, AND things around the home etc that remind them of the car and inspire them to get out and about with it.

No reason why you cant cut to shape, then stick in the oven at 150 deg , run out in the garage, mould on the wheel arch and let cool ( in oven gloves ). Adjust with a heat gun if needed. Just a thought to be honest and not tried it myself. Was looking at using it for the chassis rail protectors until Mickmade appeared and sorted them for me.

You can make some CAD versions and then buy some heat mouldable carbon sheet . Stencil the size and then mould with a heat gun to the arches , then just adhesive them on. Quick google shows places that supply .

Over the years I've been writing this build thread I've spoken to a fair few people about Formula IV in that time and wherever possible I've documented it in this thread. There has been the very rare occasion though that for various reasons I've haven't published certain meetings or details. One such meeting took place in May 2017. I'd been following up on an old lead trying to find the very last of Johnny Walker's cars, a collaboration with Frank Costin which was to be the Costin Walker. My interest was sparked in this particular car as it was reputably the strongest space frame chassis ever to be produced and Frank Costin later went on to patented the design. Unfortunately as the car was very much in prototype form when it was displayed for the first time at the 1969 Racing Car Show the cockpit and the unique chassis was hidden from photographers view. The other reason for my wanting to find the owner was that in amongst all the drawings I had acquired for the JW4's I had a small number for the Costin which I felt should be passed to the owner. I had scant information to guide me in my search and the only lead was an old magazine clipping from a classic car magazine in 1991 giving a possible name for the then owner but as luck would have it my googling and emails paid off and they still had it. The car had been bought by him back in 1977 and was by now in a condition where it was stripped down for a full rebuild. The parts were all there but tired and deteriorated given their age but it was obvious this was the car and the story checked out. As I'd published on this thread before the design and Development of the Costin Walker was somewhat ad-hoc with Costin only working on the project when Walker had raised sufficient funds to pay him for the next stage of work. Frustrated with progress Frank Costin eventually left the project and Walker handed over the development to Tony Hilder of Piper cars with the car being renamed the Type AH after Hilders initials. Hilder's brief was to sort the handling of the car which required some modifications to the suspension geometry. The drawings I had were of Hilder's modifications and charted the bump plots of the suspension and the revised rear upright design which matched exactly those which are now with the car. When I saw the car 2 years ago work had restarted on the rebuild, the chassis had been painted and some of the aluminium parts had been remade. It was looking likely that the car would be back together soon so rather than spoil the surprise it was decided to wait for the car to be completed again for that big reveal after all the years of hiding. So a few of you are probably now thinking that this is it and the Costin Walker is now complete again but unfortunately it wasn't quite to be. Progress stalled and a change of plans for the owner meant that the for the first time in 42 years they were now thinking of selling up.

Banner for the garage wall

See you all there.

I hired a limo the other day, cost me 300 quid! They just dropped it off and handed me the keys and left. I couldn’t believe it. 300 quid and nothing to chauffeur it.

I vinyl wrapped mine before I found some carbon guards, was easy enough to do and looked ok. It offered minimal protection, but certainly better than none!

No guys, I’ve had no luck in sourcing these. No one has any or makes any now. I’ve been looking at vinyl wrap as an alternative. Might give that a go. Doesn’t seem too hard to apply. Plenty of videos on YouTube.

Can't make it this month I'm off crusing,not even sure where I'm gonna be Sunday.Thailand,Singapore,Malaysia,Vietnam or Cambodia. See you next month

Nobody makes them any more, so you’ll need to be lucky and hope some come up second hand. Took me two years of patience and being ready to pounce at a moments notice! look good though

Eek. Looks like I'll have to put the dog box back in after all. Or maybe keep the synchro - then I'll have something to blame

Hi, I have what is referred to as the 'Half Cage, MSA Specification' on the Westfield website. It's brand new, never been taken out of its packaging after collecting from the factory. I've also got the fitting kit, also never been unpacked. Happy to sell it if we can agree a price.

Just a thought on clothing, a size guide is essential IMHO. One companies L, is often somebody else's XL or M! A simple guide takes the guesswork out (hopefully). Doesn't take account of people's optimistic view of themselves though

Tragic! Just make sure you don't get your finger (or anything else!) stuck in a dyke!

Clio 172 - Supercharged MOT till June 2019 Currently Sorn. Engine- 182 Engine, rocker cover painted white, block painted black.- Rotrex Supercharger kit with associated boost pipes.- Gen90 ECU- Toyosport Intercooler- Custom Roose Motorsport hoses- Samco Coolant hose kit- Magnecor Leads- Mocal Oil Cooler- Mocal Catch Tank- ARP Rod Bolts- K-Tec / Vibratec Solid Engine Mounts- Matched Inlets- K-Tec 3.5" Recessed Supersports exhaust- Megane Injectors- 102k miles, new cambelt, dephaser, aux belt, megane keyweyed pulley and megane crank bolt fitted and timed by Dan@SJM- Powdercoated inlets, fuel rail guard, engine mount and brackets- Bosch S4 battery- Air con delete- Nimbus heatshield- Mapped by RS Tuning, Rolling Roaded at 248.7bhp and 220 ft lb.- 105,800 milesTransmission - New Gearbox- Gripper LS Diff- PMS Race Shifter / Gear linkageHandling- AST 5100 Coilovers with custom spring rates- Northloopcup / BIGASH Roll Centre Kit- Whiteline ARB- Eibach Hubcentric Spacers (16mm front, 5mm rear)- PMS Solid Top Mounts and Strut Brace- Eibach Camber bolts- -2.5 deg camber at the front, 10 mins toe. -1 deg camber at rear- PMS Stud and Nut kit fitted- 15 Speedline Williams wheels with Dunlop Direzza 03g tyres- Cup wishbones fittedBraking- Brembo 4 pots (Megane 225)- Custom HEL braided lines- Custom Chris Powell Brembo brake brackets- ABS delete (incl. Loom), full Cup brake lines and MC setup fitted- Ferodo DS1.1s, Ferodo DS2500s rear.- Brembo grooved HCs (Front)- Renault OEM Discs (Rear)- ATE Super Blue Racing brake fluid- Fog lights removed and no arch liners- brake ductsInterior- 2x Sparco Evo 3 Bucket Seats- OMP Subframes- OMP 3" Harnesses- Custom Oreca / Renaultsport 330mm Steering Wheel- OMP boss- 6 point Roll Cage- K-Tec Rear Boot Mat- Renaultsport Front Mats- Sony CD Player with Ipod Connector- White Dash Strips & Gear Insert- Alcantara Handbrake Cover- Rear Strut BraceExterior - Cup Splitter- Trophy Spoiler- Renault Sport 197 Badge- Porsche 'Bee Sting' Aerial- Lockable Aerocatches It will come with a spare set of black 15" speedline williams wheels with Dunlop Direzza 03g tyres (plenty of tread) and the standard set of 172 wheels with some pirelli p-zeros (although these are a bit "time expired"). £6995