OK so time has passed and in fact its running out too quick, we are halfway through February and the season starts for real next month, I have a lot planned one way or another this year and so money is going to be a wee bit tight so I am still not sure how many races I can get to this season, but! we need the car ready anyway ot we wont be going to any races, so time to get some work done on the car, the most difficult thing with getting anything done on the car is getting everyone together it is a nightmare but over the last couple of days we have managed to steam ahead and get a lot of work done. So first things first it is time to get all the back end back together, Steve bought the new bolts for the torque converter with him so the gearbox and axle can all be put to bed.
Not a lot of room inside the truck for Steve to work on the engine!
While it was all in bits it gave us time to inspect the SFI dates on all the relevant parts, the two shields that go over the gearbox have run out, as I think the SFI stamp lasts for three years...
But the one on the flex plate is still in date...
But that does mean I will have to take the two gearbox shields to Andy Robinson or John Webster and pay to have them re-certified, thankfully that doesn't cost too much. The reason for all this certification is of course safety, which is why I have to buy a new set of restraints, seat belts, again not too big an expense.
All the work being done on the car this week is to button up what we already have and din't get time to finish last year, Valve timing and making the front timing cover fit properly, and of course plumbing the new fuel pipe in for the new injection system that Steve and Dave fitted last year.
And along with this we have had to fit a new fuel pump and shut off valve which we got with a flow/pressure gauge attached, which we hope will help us tune the car a little better as we don't want a year like last year.
Things still to do are get some "P" clips for the fuel pipe and fuel filter, a little bit of wiring for the new distributor and starter motor, we need a throttle bracket and a couple of 90 degree pipe fittings and the tank needs to be taken home with Steve so his mate can weld the new fittings to it, and I seal on the rear wheel needs replacing. So still a bit to do but the list is getting shorter and shorter.
How ever there is one "Big" thing I would like to get done if I can afford it and that is to raise the roll cage a couple of inches so that I can sit in the car more comfortably without having to squat down all the time this will mean of course that we will be able to put the cage padding back on so that the car will then pass scrutineering.
It is a bit tight for headroom
So I have had a word with Steve Field of Fieldcraft Fabrication to see if we can afford to get them to put a new roll cage on the car and get the car re-tagged (Safety Test)..If we can we will tie it in with getting the truck MOT'd in Swindon at the same time.
Click on image for link to web page
The whole point of doing al this is to get the car MSA legal so we can run at sanctioned events and not just RWYB events, this will be important for next year a it looks like Shakespeare County Raceway will close so if we don't get the car legal we wont have much opportunity to run her, Which reminds me I must remember to send off for my competition licence in the morning. The upside to getting her all legal is that if needed, it will be easier to sell her. Why would we want to sell her? well I am not retiring just yet???
The biggest disappointment will be having to miss a couple of meetings this year, Steve can't make it to the Festival of Power but to be honest I am not sure we would be ready for that anyway and I will be away for the first meeting that we (The Wild Bunch) try the new format with reaction time being part of the dial in..never mind, so we are pushing along with the hope that we may get some testing done at the end of March and then....we will see.
