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Finally managed to get the tub to the painter over the weekend, borrowed one of the works vans and didn't break 40mph getting it there 😳 made it in one piece and now i can hopefully make some progress

For years my Westie has run the standard 7.5 gallon fuel tank and it worked fine. Recently the race sanctioning body I run under (the SCCA) lowered the minimum weight for my class from 1420 lbs (with driver) to 1400 lbs. My car was 1425 with a minimum full load and figuring out a way to lower the car’s weight to the new minimum was one goal. The other goal was to shift weight from the driver’s side to the passenger side (keeping in mind that I’m in the USA and so I sit on the left) to help even out the weight distribution. The idea was to cut down the fuel tank on the left side (reducing the amount of aluminum) and this would take about 3 lbs off the driver’s side of the tank. The other benefit was that I could maintain the same fuel depth in the tank (to help prevent fuel starve) with 1 gallon less fuel in it…and this reduces the weight by another 6 lbs. This means that this one modification reduced the weight of the car by 9 lbs and most of it coming from the driver’s side of the car. The downside is of course that the tank is smaller. It now holds only 5.5 gallons so long range touring would be a pain in the ass but I’ve never used the car that way so that wasn’t a big issue for me the way it might be for others. So - I cut off one end and welded a new end wall on. I also made a new pick-up sump that hangs well below the main part of the tank to help it not run dry during hard cornering. All this got welded together and reinstalled into the car. While I was at it I shifted both the low and high pressure fuel pumps to the right to help with weight distribution. In the end it worked as intended. This, and the relocation of the battery and lots of other small things, has made it so that despite the fact that my 185 lbs in on the left side of the car that the difference right-to-left is only 57 lbs. I’m excited to race again in the spring but as I type this the snow is falling and the car is tucked away in my warm workshop. Dave

I think living in a place like this one gets used to the idea that it can be cold most any month of the year. Summers here are stunning with very long days and warm days and cool nights. Those days are the best. I've lived here for about 25 years now and in that time I've seen snow in every month of the year...you have to go up very high in elevation to see August snow but it's happened. I'm setting up a GoPro camera on the car in the hope I can learn something that will help me be quicker. I went out yesterday before the snow moved in and while the roads were clear to make a few test videos. It was 29° F (about -2° C) and I found that I didn't take the long way home after testing the camera set up! No heat, top, side curtains or windscreen means that when it's cold you get cold! dave

Yes - I think I've picked all the low hanging fruit. I built the car in 2014 as a standard Mega S2000 and since then it's been a slow progression to a lower weight. During that time the car has shed 180 lbs to get down to it's current 1210 lbs (549 kg). To take much more weight out it's going to require spending big money on carbon bodywork and right now that's not in my budget. dave

5 'Great British Cars' Tricky driving with the low winter sun, but made from some great views on the way to the Museum.

He's no longer a member.. he has sold them though unfortunately

Sorry to be repetative, but when it's money and car insurance, I'm delighted to say that 50 mins on the phone with Jimmy at Howden has been very worthwhile. @Howden Insurance - Specialist Vehicle 😃

Spot on, that's what makes it great!

Says he with the Japanese engine 😮😉

Great day out and some great food and company👍 Ran into some more tarmac sheeps on the way home at chatsworth! (And loads of traffic lights 🤨) So the light was gone by the time I got back home and headlights were deployed.

We met at the Great British Car Journey car museum, most of us having de-iced at least one car to get our Westfield's off our driveway's this morning. We found the hot radiator in the cafe and the breakfasting began By now the sun had risen out of our eyes a bit and we set off on our great British car journey through the beautiful, sun soaked Peak District. I was revelling in how wonderful a place it is in the winter, with the very quiet roads, until we got to Castleton and what a contrast, I think the whole of nearby Sheffield had emptied onto Mam Tor. There were cars and people everywhere, not to worry, we soon came out of it and landed in Edale at The Rambler Inn. Thank you to Glen for removing his gloves and taking those photo's, in the cold, on the move. At The Rambler Inn We had lunch and decided we needed to top it off with cake from a new place that has opened in the Hope Valley, called Bike and Boot. The eatery there is called BARECA, so named because it is a BAR, a REstaurant and a CAfe all rolled into one. The car park at Bike and Boot The cake, well what's left of my Victoria sponge cake Today, Glynn was the Cake Meister and he blew you Andrew's @AndrewBClarke, @aeg, @Andy Westwood right out of the water with this dessert. It was enormous. Lovely photo there, Glynn. A lovely place to visit and one to add to our 'go to' list. Bareca The driving has been great (surprisingly), although it was cold early on, it was amenable during the day, the locations have been tremendous and the company was je ne sais quois, champion. Let's do this again very soon! Thanks guys XXX

Brilliant day out again thanks. 247miles of smiles. Some left home with salt on the ground. Some with full sun in their faces. Some avoiding the rain showers. I had long diversions (20 miles extra on the way and 37 mile on the way home) to avoid flooded A57 and A617 which seem to have cut Lincolnshire off from the mainland. Left home 7.30am in the dark and returned at 6pm again in the dark. 😁 My route to the West -

Thanks, hopefully it does work and we get more competitors enjoying what is a great sport.