4 Weeks to go

Well, we're 4 weeks from the start of the season and time is running away. We were on Jon Lee's rolling road (LynxAE) last week and managed to prove that the new exhaust has changed the fuelling requirements and the power delivery fairly substantially. We've lost 2-3 bhp at the lower end (4000 to 5000) and gained 10 bhp at the upper end..... hurrah! This has also had the benefit of moving the peak torque up the rev range which is also a useful change.

On inpection, after the trip to the rollers, I found that the sump plug was about to fall out and that the front diff bearing had been leaking. So, replaced the diff and tightened up the sump plug. Otherwise the car seems to be getting close. I've plumbed in the airbox and fitted the rear wing. Next step is a test day either at Mallory Park or Silverstone - and then onto the first race... can't wait!

February 2012

Making progress! The engine is running, most of the mods are complete, the new exhaust has been fitted and looks awsome and I'm working on a cold air box. It is almost ready for testing on the rolling road so I'm off to see Jon Lee at LynxAE on Wednesday to play with the cold air box and see whether we can gain anything from a ram air effect.

Once the rolling road testing is complete, I'll need to incorporate the air inlet into the bodywork in some way that doesn't look hideous. I'll also have to move the master switch and the fire extinguisher cable which both currently sit where the air inlet will be.

Once all that is done, I'll be looking for a track test, probably at SIlverstone or Mallory, some new tyres and then I should be ready for the first race of the season at Silverstone..... or at least that's the plan!

Winter isn't reallly that long........

Well, here we are, a long list of work to be completed and not that long before the start of the season. This year we kick off on 1 April with a race on the National circuit at Silverstone. Last year was fairly disasterous, the worst I can remember...... unreliability mixed with poor performance meant that I didn't win a race and slipped out of the top 10. Having rebuilt the car over the winter to improve reliability it wasn't a great result..... and, worse still, the car was slow on the rare occasions that it was reliable.

I finally worked out what (I think) was responsible for the poor performance - naturally, it was one of the mods I'd made to improve performance..... ho hum. I didn't work that out until it was too late and then didn't have time to address the situation. So, that is now sorted out (I hope) as are the gearbox selection issues I had for most of the year - well, gear selection, jumping out of gear, you name it, my gearbox managed it - apart from behaving itself, it didn't manage that.

So, coming into the winter I had a maintenance and improvement list as long as a very long thing and I'm gradually working my way through it. I've already abandoned many of the performance jobs such as weight reduction in order to get done in time for the first race. We have a well spaced calendar this season, so I'm hoping to get some of those jobs done during the season.

So, the engine has been out, had the sump off to try and fix the oil leaks and it is now back on and the engine refitted. The gearbox has been rebuilt and we should have addressed the gearchange problems. The new rear wing support has been fitted and a new rear wing will be attached before too long and finally, the engine bay floor is back on and I've fitted a diffuser for the first time. We've got a new exhaust being prepared and that should go on some time early in February and then we will be ready to prepare for a test at Silverstone some time in March... well, that's the plan assuming that work/life/my dad's health don't intervene.

Keep your fingers crossed!