81. Getting short on time

The transition from having a bit of fun to serious competition can be and was/is a challenge at times, now everyone that knows me understands how much I love this sport but bloody hell it can be frustrating at time. I had a 3 year plan in mind when I started,1st year get used to the car and get Steve used to tuning it, 2nd year New chassis with old running gear 3rd year new power plant run 7's....simples!!!

But as we know life doesn't always run to plan, now I have been criticised in the past for writing some of the negative stuff on this blog but! I did promise when I started this blog that it would be warts and all. so lets have a look at what's happened in the last few weeks or so and please remember that some of what has happened, in fact a lot of what has happened is out of our control.

We didn't attend the Hot Rod Drags last year as we had damaged our engine, we knew that the injection system was not up to the demands of the new engine and was proving just too difficult to tune, we had a torque converter which was not man enough for the new engine, so we sat down and drew up plans for the following season..new injection system, new converter, get the car re-tagged, apply for licence and lets go racing.

So over the last couple of months we have stripped the car had a new roll cage fitted the car has been tagged the new fuel system fitted, we had ordered a new set of harness's a new chute, new front tyres and a new gearbox shield so we would be legal for MSA events.

So while waiting for some of the new parts to arrive we took the car up tot he fast show to fire her up and maybe get her down the track, 

Even though at this point we still had a lot to do there had already been an almighty amount of work done on the car,and I have to admit at this point I was really liking the look of the car and the stance, the new slightly taller roll cage didn't seem to impact on the look at all 3 inches is a bit taller but Steve Fields had blended it in great.

My son looks like a small child sitting in her now LOL anyway we got everything ready and fired her up..well tried to fire her  up she wouldn't stay lit so there was obviously a problem with the fuel supply Steve went through everything over and over and couldn't find the problem, sometimes a problem is right there under your nose and you just don't see it which is what happened in this case but we also managed to strip some teeth off the flex late and sheer a bolt on the starter so that was it for the day pack up go home and h ave a rethink.

Within 24 hours we had sussed out the problem with the fuel and had a new flex plate on order, now time is getting short went to ARRC to pick up the bits we were waiting for but the chute still hasn't arrived nor did the new gearbox shield both of these are out of ARRC control and Kate has done her utmost to help us out, We can make do with our old chute for now, we can fit the new harness and padding we do have the new flex plate so just praying the shied part that I have managed to track down turns up in  time for the Springspeed Nationals, talking of which we don't seem to have appeared in the entry list even though I sent of my application and the money in February..hmm Oh well another problem  to sort out on Monday.

So tomorrow at some unearthly hour I am off to pick the truck and car up and drive them down to Swindon where all the work will be done and...fingers crossed she will firs up and run and hopefully we will get the rings run in while we are at it then I will be testing and licencing at the same time at Shaky, that should be interesting if the parts turn up in time and if I sort my entry out...wouldn't want it any other way if it was all easy everyone would do it LOL, roll on next weekend!!!!

80. Getting excited now....!

Over the last couple of days my number one son and crew chief has had to put the jigsaw puzzle that is my race car "Tight Fit" back together again, while contending with a crappy cold and hay fever and working 9-5:30 every day and what a job he has done. First off the injector hat and rocker box was sent to John O'Sullivan.....

We had to have some work done to make the throttle cable fit the new injector system which meant having a bracket made up and we needed an oil filler welding onto the rocker box  for obvious reasons.

The usual great job by Mr. O'Sullivan when Steve got the bits back he did have a go at polishing the new throttle bracket, not a bad job at all.....

Then it was a case of putting all the bits back together, plumbing in all the new fuel lines which was a bit of a nightmare and then re-fitting the tank after it had the new fittings welded to it.

So this evening after a lot more hard work and with a little help from number two son Phil, Steve fitted the last few bits and pieces like the throttle cable, parachute release cable and all the body panels.

As you can see Phil seemed to be enjoying himself in the drivers seat and I hope you can notice the three inches taller roll cage that makes Phil look like a little person...! On a more serious note I have to admit that I love the look and stance of the car now that bug catcher really looks the biz.

It is still however not the easiest of cars to get out of, here ably demonstrated by Phil, I am hoping that I will now have enough room once the padding has been fitted to get in the car and have a wee bit of headroom and maybe even get something softer to sit on as opposed tot he sheet of ali I have at the moment.

We do still have some work to do on her, there is a leaking half shaft seal which we will sort at the track we still need to fit the new harness when it arrives along with the new chute and gearbox shields and the roll cage padding, and I will have to use some elbow grease on her and clean and polish her up a bit, none of which will stop us starting her up for the first time this Sunday  and ....fingers crossed we might even get her down the track once we sorted the running out, then it's all hands on deck to finish all the little bits and bobs up ready for the Springspeed nationals where I hope to get my licence signed off...proper race driver then.

So picking the truck up later this week to take the car back to her secure parking facility then back to pick her up on Sunday to take her to the Pod ready to test...oooh time to get excited...!