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@marcusb @W Shep @Lee Smith @Dave (OnliestSmeg) - Manchester AO @John Williams - Blyton Organiser @Terryathome It's took me a while, but i've found it Well it tickled me 😮

Driving to Sunk Island.

We had a brilliant day today. We decided to go visiting 5 ROC bunkers from the Cold War and one aircraft spotting station from WW2. We entered 3 bunkers and the WW2 spotting station. Had great fun trying to find one in amongst cow poo and all the surrounding woodland but after an hour we found it. One bunker was full of water and one was sealed. The one that was sealed used to be intact inside and was complete with all the fixtures and fittings. It is such a shame that instead of taking nothing and leaving only footprints that people trash the places and take what they can. Here are a few pictures of some of the bunkers.

The gearbox had faired slightly better, and despite looking like it had spent some time sat outside or in a damp barn, the damage initially appeared limited to an inspection cover which had rusted in a hole but the inside still had a good layer of oil protecting everything and gear selection felt smooth. As I intend to build this car to be raced, the gearbox was duly despatched for a thorough inspection and rebuild to ensure all was working and in good order. As I worked to finish JW4 which I'm pleased to say is now complete and soon to be on its way to join the home of two of its sister cars in Belgium I only had time for a few small jobs on the Costin Walker, which mainly involved sourcing a few much need parts for the rebuild and for now that almost brings us up to date. Realising that the engine was not in a salvageable state I made the decision to strip it for all the parts that were unique to its install in the Costin chassis and then to seek out a replacement. The Costin runs the engine in a near vertical orientation at an angle of approximately 20degrees whereas in the Imp its laid near to flat, this means that all the inlet manifold, exhaust and also the cooling set-up are unique and needed to be swapped over. An adaptor flange is also mounted between the engine and gearbox to accommodate the different orientation of the engine but also because the box is run inverted in the Costin.

I like to start my build threads with a little bit of background and history and although this cars history started all the way back in 1968 my knowledge and involvement with it began much later than that. Those of you that have seen my other posts and build thread will know that my involvement in single seaters and specifically Johnny Walker's F4 cars began in around 2014 when I bought my first JW4 Formula four car, one of the first 1966 250cc Mk2 chassis. Walker only made 56 cars of which only 12 were Mk2's and search to find original parts to rebuild my particular car lead me on an unexpected journey which culminated in me obtaining much of the original factory records, drawings and tooling for the JW4. One car that had always intrigued me during my research was the very last car that Johnny Walker made; the Costin Walker. This car was something quite different to any of his previous F4 chassis and for which Walker had employed the talent's of Aerodynamist Frank Costin to design the chassis and bodywork who was famed for his early work with Lotus cars then later Marcos. More used to working with a wooden monocoque for his chassis construction on previous projects, for this commission his 18th car Frank Costin chose to adopt a space-frame construction and in his words to "carry it to its logical ultimate". Costin set out to design what was to become one of the stiffest space-frames ever produced for its weight and this very car went on to be displayed at the 1969 Racing Car Show at Olympia. I will continue the full history in later posts but, the history of the prototype was short lived when in 1971 during an F4 race at Lydden, the car spun striking the bank which caused damage to the front suspension upright and steering rack. Rather than rebuilding the car a disillusioned and financially strained Walker sought to sell the car, but it was not to be run again by any of the subsequent owners. The last recorded information I had of the car was a magazine cutting from 1991 where then then owner of the remains was seeking information about it's past. This article was the first breadcrumb in my search to find the whereabouts of the car as I wanted to learn of it's fate. As luck would have it the owners name in the article was quite unusual and after a session of googling I was able to find somebody with the same name but promisingly working in the motorsports industry. An enquiring email was sent and luck was again on my side as I had not only found the right person but also they were still the owner of the car having by then had it for nearly 40 years. I would add that at this time I had no intent in buying the car as my interest was in the researching the history of the marque. I arranged to meet the owner Denis and I was grateful that he was also willing to show me the car and fill in a few blanks about its history and whereabouts over the preceding years. Denis had bought the car in 1976, 5 years after its Lydden accident. back then it was in a sorry state having languished in a damp and draughty barn for 5 years and it's original 85bhp imp engine and jack knight gearbox had long since gone. After a period of storage Denis had set out to restore the car and at the time I first saw it in 2016 the car was still in pieces and the only part which had then been restored was painting of the chassis. A pleasant afternoon was spent kicking tyres and talking cars then I went on my way back home. A few more emails were exchanged between us over the next few weeks as I found out more about the cars history and we shared information and then that was it.

Thats what I was hoping to find in two. One I know is supposed to be intact inside has now been sealed with two padlocks. Another was always welded shut so I was hoping that would be intact. The welds are now broken and when we lifted the hatch there must have been 10' of water inside. What did surprise me was the number of live butterflies that we found in the main operations room in 2 of them. We did find a pair of bed ends and a bottle of old spice.

motorist new venue Sherburn airfield near Selby august/ sep 2019

Out of the blue I received an email from Denis at the start of this year explaining that he was thinking of selling. I wasn't looking for another project as by now I was mid-way through the restoration of my third JW4 but this car meant something to me and these opportunities don't come along everyday. I'm not sure my partner Dawn entirely understands my passion about old cars or why I would pay quite what it did for a pile of dusty rotten old car parts designed by some slightly famous bloke but I nevertheless did. Given the relatively short timeframe in which I bought the car and the fact I was financially crippled in buying it at a time when I was already haemorrhaging money on finishing the restoration of my JW4 together with attempting a garden room build for the house, there was no spare cash or time to make a start. So nothing more was done other than sorting, labelling and boxing up in readiness for the re-build to begin. The car came with an engine, but this also had been stripped into parts so when the time allowed this would be my first challenge to see what was salvageable. It didn't take long for me to find that the years hadn't been kind to this, and with the head split from the block, moisture had been allowed to get into the bores and the crank was locked solid with the pistons rusted in place. The head wasn't looking much better either with rust on the camshaft and many of the lobes stuck fast. The carburettor is beyond rebuild.

Moral of the story don't drive in front of @marcusb or expect him to stop in time, should you step out in front of him!

As the originator of this post, I’m from Irish ancestry, was born in London (actually a Cockney) and have a Scouse accent from my childhood in Liverpool. I also have quite a good sense of humour, am not easily offended and drive a Westfield. However I could get offended if someone tries turning an article into something it wasn’t meant to be. And how did brexit get into this post? But I’m not offended, quite the opposite, life’s too short. Rock on. As Bernie said, it’s called the British Sense Of Humour.

For goodness sake lets lighten up , as someone who is half Irish on my mothers side (from County Donegal ) which is indeed in the South (but its also in the North ) I have always loved something we British ( note the word British , not English or Irish or Scots or Welsh ) call " Banter " ( Oxford dictionary "Banter" the playful and friendly exchange of teasing remarks.) we are in danger of losing something unique to our race , its called " THE BRITISH SENSE OF HUMOUR " The best comedians in the world were, and still are, Liverpudlians , aka "Scousers " and Mancunians " Mancs" they are not alone in having a sense of humour which has helped to bring them through tragedy with an ability to laugh at the world and themselves when the going gets tough . I consider myself fortunate to live approximately halfway between the two tribes and can through my Irish ancestry understand and enjoy all forms of "banter"

I guess some people are wondering how to react this exchange, I hope you don't mind me intervening. I am in process of being educated by my grown up daughter that there has been a significant change in the way the world thinks about references to race, creed, colour, gender, sexuality, etc. We used to think it was all OK as long as no offence was meant, and I am absolutely certain no offence was meant here. The new way of thinking is that, to judge whether something is offensive is with each reader, not the writer, and as Andrew has expressed that he saw offense in it, we shouldn't do it. The way to think about this from Andrew's point of view is, if he heard a joke about the Ireland once, he may shrug his shoulders, but in fact Andrew has probably heard thousands of jokes about Ireland, and it be wearing a bit thin. The new word for it is micro-aggressions I think, and they are cumulative. I too saw the funny side in this. and Andrew pointed out that the fun is at somebody's expense. Us oldies, sorry peeps, are playing catch up. Interpreting how EACH reader is going to take your post is an incredibly difficult thing to do, I'm just playing catch up like most of us, but I do believe that is the way forward. Jim

OK, so perhaps you found you couldn’t post any ware else on the forum but in here, the Membership Info and Help section. So you’ve posted a question about your car, or insurance or some other non-membership question, and now your post has gone... This section is for questions related to your membership of the club or directly related subjects only. Any questions or even adverts for cars or parts, that should be in another section, will be moved to the appropriate section by a moderator. Though normally, you will see a little bookmark, saying that the topic has been moved and a link to click on to find it. However, if you are not a paid up member of the club, and have realised that even though your membership has lapsed, you can still post in this section, though you can no longer post anyware else, then I’m afraid your posts won’t be moved, they will just be hidden and eventually deleted. Just to explain how the Boardroom works; if you are new to the club, and not yet a member, you can sign up to the Boardroom as a trial member. This gives a chance to post and ask questions for approx 30 days, to see if you like it and if the club is for you. At the end of that 30 days, if you want to continue posting and using the Boardroom you have two choices, join the club as a fully paid up member, or pay for another months extended trial - this can be handy if you just want to join for a bit, while you perhaps sell a car, or parts and so forth. Once your paid membership expires, unless you renew, you once again will be able to access all non-member areas of the forum, but will not be able to post.

I'll come along, had a laugh last year. I might even try to keep up with Dean's drinking if anyone else is up for the challenge???

Another interesting project to follow, excellent. Looking forward to updates.

Really looking forward to future updates

That's some history, looking forward to the rebuild

Sorry I see the humour in it. It's intended to be humorous and for me it was. I can't and won't change that view. If it upsets others then I have sympathy but I won't change my perspective to be pc.

A morning well spent, I'm liking the look of the new stripes.... Worth at least another 10bhp! 😂

My posts seem to have been entirely misunderstood. I have no issue with banter about Ireland or in general. Feel free to joke about my accent, my fondness for a whiskey (spelt correctly, with an "e"), and someone is always going to make the potato joke. The last one I don't find funny but it doesn't bother me. I take the p*** out of myself and my country regularly, but there are historical points which in my view are bad taste to include in the banter box. Brexit came into it for 2 reasons. First, the original post specifically talks about a hard border coming into effect. Second, because there has been a massive increase in the number of these comments since the brexit vote in my experience. I appreciate many are of Irish heritage, but if you grew up in GB, you've had a different education system, which doesn't include the history I'm referring to. That's all I meant. That's all I'm going to say on the matter. Not looking to start an argument. Was purely hoping to make people a little more aware. Feel free to ignore it or take it on board however you see fit.

I’m in boss

By the way, if you’re having problems re-joining, paying membership etc, Do please just give us a shout; in this section of the Boardroom is fine, it’s what it’s there for. But note, the moderation team will remove non-membership posts, or move them to the appropriate section as required.

Fully understand and appreciate that there was no malice involved. Just please understand there is a huge amount of Irish history which simply isn't taught in the UK. It is in Ireland, which is why Irish people can get a bit touchy about these sorts of jokes. I'm not angry at anyone for making these jokes, and I'm sorry if it comes across as me having a go, I just want people to be aware that there's a lot more background here that doesn't get talked about in the brexit climate. For anyone genuinely interested, feel free to Google the origins of the phrase "to hell or to Connacht" just as one example. The history of northern Ireland goes back long before the IRA and the troubles. Sorry for the rant.

It’s difficult I’m from Essex and have heard or told most of the “Essex jokes” doesn’t make it right but think we need to be respectful of other members views or opinions if something is deeply offensive report it and let the moderator team deal with it, we are all grown ups or at least should be, deliberately offensive or inflammatory comments are not on. but let’s not become “snowflakes” some may find it offensive some may find it funny, I treat forums and Whattsapp groups etc. The way I would treat a normal conversation if it’s not on say so, if you don’t like it walk away.

Yes Nick, totally agree, I was there, and this re-nationalisation idea is what I was referring to when I said 'a whole raft of poorly thought out, unrealistic and extremely expensive promises'

Finally got around to taking some proper photos of my own car in the ‘paddock area’ at Curborough last week.