A good weekend's work
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ScoobieWRX
- Posts: 2136
- Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:42 am
- Location: Northants
- Contact:
Well, what a lucky boy I was today 
I had a phone call from Lord Houghton this morning as he wanted to use the ramps. "No problem" I said as I knew I'd be there attacking Betty. A couple of hours later and I heard a distinctive rumble. I downed tools (any excuse) and said "That's got to be Gerry" Sure enough the growing swell of noise turned into a real visual treat. At real low speed Gerry and his steed made their way down the long drive to the unit, paint work glinting in the sun and the familiar 'tinging' of the components cooling down after the long drive from West Anglia to East Anglia.
I'll skip several finer points here but luckily I was offered the keys for an evaluation run Normally I'm mega reluctant to drive anyone elses car, especially something like this ( highly tuned and scalpel sharp on a damp, damp day) but I couldn't resist. I know the roads very well around that area and was soon getting comfortable with the great seats. A quick reccy of the controls and I started the car up, shuffled the car around on its aggressive clutch and bimbled up the drive onto the road. The clutch reminded me of the old paddle in the GTR. I bloody hated that and I bloody hated this one too! As soon as the car was under way though, the clutch was forgiven. Surprisingly supple suspension, crisp steering and laugh out loud acceleration up to 4,500 revs were early test drive highlights. The crackle of the exhaust, balance in bends and true braking will only imbue the owner with confidence when he is fortunate enough to get used to it. I have no idea about the ultimate performance in terms of pace or grip; this was not the opportunity to test those but the quick run around the block ended up being about 6 miles of my favourite B roads.
I have already made Gerry an offer on the car when he gets bored with it (I can only hope) I have driven these before but was very impressed with this example.
Once up on the ramps, we checked over the car and it was in really good shape. No rust, no lumps or bumps and no nasty surprises. Gerry has bought himself a cracker
I had a phone call from Lord Houghton this morning as he wanted to use the ramps. "No problem" I said as I knew I'd be there attacking Betty. A couple of hours later and I heard a distinctive rumble. I downed tools (any excuse) and said "That's got to be Gerry" Sure enough the growing swell of noise turned into a real visual treat. At real low speed Gerry and his steed made their way down the long drive to the unit, paint work glinting in the sun and the familiar 'tinging' of the components cooling down after the long drive from West Anglia to East Anglia.
I'll skip several finer points here but luckily I was offered the keys for an evaluation run
Normally I'm mega reluctant to drive anyone elses car, especially something like this ( highly tuned and scalpel sharp on a damp, damp day) but I couldn't resist. I know the roads very well around that area and was soon getting comfortable with the great seats. A quick reccy of the controls and I started the car up, shuffled the car around on its aggressive clutch and bimbled up the drive onto the road. The clutch reminded me of the old paddle in the GTR. I bloody hated that and I bloody hated this one too! As soon as the car was under way though, the clutch was forgiven. Surprisingly supple suspension, crisp steering and laugh out loud acceleration up to 4,500 revs were early test drive highlights. The crackle of the exhaust, balance in bends and true braking will only imbue the owner with confidence when he is fortunate enough to get used to it. I have no idea about the ultimate performance in terms of pace or grip; this was not the opportunity to test those but the quick run around the block ended up being about 6 miles of my favourite B roads.I have already made Gerry an offer on the car when he gets bored with it (I can only hope) I have driven these before but was very impressed with this example.
Once up on the ramps, we checked over the car and it was in really good shape. No rust, no lumps or bumps and no nasty surprises. Gerry has bought himself a cracker
Oh Dear! I was in the process of announcing this in a new thread when I thought I'd just check here and maybe do a continuation:
I have some serious issues when it comes to cars and really shouldn't be allowed out without a grown-up. This place doesn't help and has a rather bad influence on sane thoughts and actions. Last year saw me doing a few sprints and track days in the Dax. As much as I love that car, it's just too nice to spoil with a full cage, so it has to go and needs to be replaced with something less emotive. With this in mind, this latest episode began with Mr. R.S. suggesting a few possibilities and despite knowing full well my thoughts on Evos, one was included in his selection.
Knowing Rob has a 6th sense and knack when it comes to finding cars, I studied his list and went to view this one:
Went for a run and thought it seemed OK so bought it. Francis (again) came to the rescue and came with me to pick it up on Thursday. The drive home, in the dark along the M11, was quite boring as I didn't want to attract the wrong sort of attention plus I was really suffering with a terminal bad cold (sniff). Next day, Friday I wasn't feeling too much like messing with anything so limited myself to getting the road tax sorted and a very cursory glance at what I'd bought.
I couldn't see that the suspension was anything special other than it looks too low. It's supposed to have a 2.3L stroker but I don't have x-ray eyes, 700cc injectors, E6, mapped ecu. Other than that, nothing to suggest it's non-standard. So the rest of the day I'm becoming paranoid that it isn't what it's sold as and I've bought another camel. So, I thought I'd best investigate a little. Having sat up half the night searching the MLR, I had an idea of what Evo4 injectors looked like and had half a clue as to where the ecu lurked. Subarus are so much easier for me.
This morning was a do or die on the engine claim. I'd found that the standard piston stroke was 88mm and 2.3L stroke was 100mm. With the plugs out and an 8mm dia rod sat on top of the piston, I measured the height at BDC and again at TDC with a vernier caliper. With an enormous sigh of relief (as the vender was a big bloke), the difference was 100mm. Next thing, get a look underneath to see if there was any signs of full width welding, where the front and rear had been welded together.
A quick plea for help to Stu and I was on my way to the wilds of Norfolk to use his ramp. The traffic on the A428 was stop, start, crawl and the bloody clutch was driving me potty, still I now know how to drive off gently. The clutch really is a switch and although advertised as a twin plate, it has to be a paddle. I've driven paddle and twin plate but this thing is an on/off switch with no mid way, the bite is right at the top of the travel which must be the least controllable part of the ankle's articulations.
As I arrived at the unit all I could see was a big grin about 6' off the ground. That must be Stu I thought. The next bit you know and I was relieved to see he was still grinning when he got back. Up on the ramp and it was more relief as there was nothing to be too concerned about and the important thing, it doesn't need any money throwing at it just yet.
So with the 'Staples Seal of Approval' I set off for home feeling quite pleased and began to enjoy the quite brisk performance. The yaw thing is quite amazing and I'm looking forward to some serious usage. This evening, I applied to renew the competition licence, signed up for the AEMC and encouraged a mate to come and do the Bedford and Cadwell track days.
Class A4 I think it is for this year guys
Thanks go (in order of appearance) to Rob S (for finding the thing in the first place), Mike B (for continuous, behind the scenes advice and suggestions), ScoobieWRX (for dropping things at a moment's notice), Stu (for understanding what it's like to have only limited brain power where cars are concerned)
Now just don't break it too soon.
I have some serious issues when it comes to cars and really shouldn't be allowed out without a grown-up. This place doesn't help and has a rather bad influence on sane thoughts and actions. Last year saw me doing a few sprints and track days in the Dax. As much as I love that car, it's just too nice to spoil with a full cage, so it has to go and needs to be replaced with something less emotive. With this in mind, this latest episode began with Mr. R.S. suggesting a few possibilities and despite knowing full well my thoughts on Evos, one was included in his selection.
Knowing Rob has a 6th sense and knack when it comes to finding cars, I studied his list and went to view this one:
Went for a run and thought it seemed OK so bought it. Francis (again) came to the rescue and came with me to pick it up on Thursday. The drive home, in the dark along the M11, was quite boring as I didn't want to attract the wrong sort of attention plus I was really suffering with a terminal bad cold (sniff). Next day, Friday I wasn't feeling too much like messing with anything so limited myself to getting the road tax sorted and a very cursory glance at what I'd bought.
I couldn't see that the suspension was anything special other than it looks too low. It's supposed to have a 2.3L stroker but I don't have x-ray eyes, 700cc injectors, E6, mapped ecu. Other than that, nothing to suggest it's non-standard. So the rest of the day I'm becoming paranoid that it isn't what it's sold as and I've bought another camel. So, I thought I'd best investigate a little. Having sat up half the night searching the MLR, I had an idea of what Evo4 injectors looked like and had half a clue as to where the ecu lurked. Subarus are so much easier for me.
This morning was a do or die on the engine claim. I'd found that the standard piston stroke was 88mm and 2.3L stroke was 100mm. With the plugs out and an 8mm dia rod sat on top of the piston, I measured the height at BDC and again at TDC with a vernier caliper. With an enormous sigh of relief (as the vender was a big bloke), the difference was 100mm. Next thing, get a look underneath to see if there was any signs of full width welding, where the front and rear had been welded together.
A quick plea for help to Stu and I was on my way to the wilds of Norfolk to use his ramp. The traffic on the A428 was stop, start, crawl and the bloody clutch was driving me potty, still I now know how to drive off gently. The clutch really is a switch and although advertised as a twin plate, it has to be a paddle. I've driven paddle and twin plate but this thing is an on/off switch with no mid way, the bite is right at the top of the travel which must be the least controllable part of the ankle's articulations.
As I arrived at the unit all I could see was a big grin about 6' off the ground. That must be Stu I thought. The next bit you know and I was relieved to see he was still grinning when he got back. Up on the ramp and it was more relief as there was nothing to be too concerned about and the important thing, it doesn't need any money throwing at it just yet.
So with the 'Staples Seal of Approval' I set off for home feeling quite pleased and began to enjoy the quite brisk performance. The yaw thing is quite amazing and I'm looking forward to some serious usage. This evening, I applied to renew the competition licence, signed up for the AEMC and encouraged a mate to come and do the Bedford and Cadwell track days.
Class A4 I think it is for this year guys
Thanks go (in order of appearance) to Rob S (for finding the thing in the first place), Mike B (for continuous, behind the scenes advice and suggestions), ScoobieWRX (for dropping things at a moment's notice), Stu (for understanding what it's like to have only limited brain power where cars are concerned)
Now just don't break it too soon.
-
ScoobieWRX
- Posts: 2136
- Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:42 am
- Location: Northants
- Contact:
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Mr Fletcher
- Posts: 2649
- Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2007 1:34 pm
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Nice one Gerry does this mean that Logan , Trev and your good self will all be in the same class .
[SIGPIC] [/SIGPIC]
http://www.cuttersmachinerysales.co.uk
http://www.cuttersmachinerysales.co.uk