Interesting point on the wishbones is that the ARB 'bulge' catches the inner wheel rim on full lock when compressed, like a 90 left for example will catch the right hand wheel inner rim. Easy fix is cut off the front half of the 'bulge', fit a threaded receiver and bolt a rose joint into the crescent that's left - seen that on proper circuit MK3's....or a version of....but rose joints are banned in my class. Have angled the lower half, which helps, but it makes you think when you are throwing the car left and right! Need to have a think about that when I get 5 mins and feel like taking it all off lol. Plenty to do at the moment though, just have to take it easy on corners on the hill climbs, give everyone a chance
Yeah, something like that......quick cars down West, not just their 'Cider', you don't win easily down there.
Ok, so some footage from Epynt Hill climb. Few issues, only had 10 year old Avon Turbospeed CR28 tyres available due to rule changes, which was ok in the heavy rain, but as it dried they struggled. Also lost 3rd gear on down shifts before the event, so 4th to 2nd required, which was not a big issue performance wise just made me dither as I thought about the options or tried to go for 3rd on the odd occasion. The lack of traction is a mix of tyres and the diff not working properly I think. lots of comments about clutch slip but aside from it being a new Sachs twin plate paddle job, it felt more like traction issues from behind the wheel.....but just one wheel, hence the thoughts about the diff.
Love how that thing revs! Is the "back to 2nd gear" change a little awkward? Or is it just the camera angle?
Wauw that thing goes. Love the steering under wheel spin Is there a reason you move your hands on the steering, also in corners where the steering wheel has angles where it's not a necesity? My 24h-racing friends tought me to avoid this "dish-washing" as it helps to keep some rest in the steering - and the car. I try to do it as less as possible but cought myself doing it quite a lot at Zolder - but the corners there are very tight. Those chicanes also look quite hard to get through with some speed.
Turning the wheel to the left as FWD cars pull to the right off the line, and out of bends, so as the wheels are spinning you steer to the left to keep it pointing straight, not such and issue when its moving. 24hr racing and hillclimb/sprinting are very different disciplines. Once its moving you don't need to move the wheel much, it would be off the road if you didn't correct at low speeds, although I'm probably using a bit more correction that I need...to make sure lol. She revs alright, the green light is 8k, the red 8.5k but the tell tale doesn't lie though ...opps!
The wet day at Epynt, same thing as above... but less traction . I think I only managed full throttle about twice, tickling it everywhere else.
Wow, I had to watch that video multiple times, to see everything that is going on First of all, that car goes fast! And the track is so narrow, you can hardly drive any lines, just keep it on the tarmac Those chicanes really look like a B* to me. Why do you rev it up nicely into the max in the beginning but later on (uphill) you start to shift earlier? Or no reason, focussing on track not on the lights? What are the 3 dials in the console for? And where is that holder from, I can't get three dials in without having to modify the parts around it...
Yeah, Epynt is a Military Range so they have ditches and mounds each side of the road, where they can, so you don't want to go off....you would be airborne or upside down! There are lines there, but in the wet you are just trying to drive up then middle and keep smooth and clean and stay on the tarmac! The chicanes are a bit of a pain, but the same for everyone, but do favour the rear wheel drive cars more. However you get a sighting run at Epynt before first practice, so you are looking where the sheep are, where the rocks and gravel are and how deep the cuts in to the chicanes and how wide you can go (there are a few big rocks in the grass) lol. They get deeper during the day as the rally boys love them and hollow them out....lot of rally cars at Epynt as Brecon Motor Club who organised it are a Rally club primarily. Its a steep hill which doesn't show up on the video that well, so off the line its hard to get the revs right to get the car moving. I'm only using a tiny bit of throttle after the initial stab. Its that initial stab on the throttle that tells you what grip there is, you then adjust until the wheels stop spinning and the grip comes up. Tricky to get right. Interesting watching the cars with traction control come off the line, that seem to crawl away, but keep moving.If you lift too much off the line you loose speed, and you want the tyres spinning a bit to get some heat into them, so its a balancing act. As the track conditions change you have to adjust the amount of throttle as the grip changes. Actually in the first few runs I was quicker than a Mod Prod Class Golf 310R with 420 bhp complete with launch and traction control etc. so not too bad even through there was so little grip...which surprised me really. In the dry the next day he eventually went quicker by about 2 seconds, but if the diff had been working I think we could have beaten it reasonably easily as I'm sure there are 4 or 5 seconds in the car with some better traction. I was short shifting further on as it was letting go in 2nd and 3rd in the top end of the rev range, so trying to stop wheel spin. In the dry the next day, there was less wheel spin and could use the throttle/revs more, but in the wet its was very slippy. Only really used full throttle after the 1st corner and on the top straight over the line once in 3rd/4th.
So with a damaged box I decided to fit a different box and clutch setup to Fishy, as the SQS box is destined for my proper Hillclimb car, my MK1....known as Tatty Golf. So I shipped a spare race box I have, from my MK3 circuit racer, to Mart at Gas'n'gears to have the 3.66 FD swapped for a 4.25 FD that is more in keeping with a Sprint and Hillclimb car. I also wanted to see what was in the box as I've never had it stripped. As expected it was in decent condition, with a std 16v gear set and a Quaife diff, all as I was told. Will also use the Sachs paddle clutch and light weight fly wheel, as the current set up is ultra lightweight and bespoke, so destined for the MK1.
Ok, so time to swap boxes before its too wet and cold (workshops full of other projets!). So while at it i cut off the old rear engine mount off, as its easier to get the box in and out. I originally kept it so I had options in the future, but its alwasy going to be a race car, so pointless really. Bit tight in there, but got it removed and gave it a quick spray. Swapped the modified 02J shift tower over from the broken box to the 02A box, and fitted it. Easy enough, just rolled it under the car and jacked it in to position, with a bit of wiggling and a deep breath to lay under it and lift it off the jack in to place (its not an 020 box that you can just drop on your chest and roll out lol)...did get my son to help for 5 mins, just in case it fell on my head . An unforeseen issue was that the 02A doesn't have the bottom wishbone mounting point that the 02J has, so the bottom brace is floating in mid air. Not a big issue, just need to fabricate a mount that has two handily situated bolts to pickup in line with the torque arm. For neatness I'll make a longer torque arm up to sit closer to the mount point. I'm weighing up how long to make it, as I feel having if right under the engine it would make the distance from the two side mounts pivot point ( that they create on their own) would multiply the torque on the bottom mount, so a balance between the length of the bottom bracket and the bending risk, and the length of the torque arm to minimise the force on it. I've got it all planned in my head, so just need to make the time now.....and make a spacer for the high torque Wosp starter, that I've modified to suit the Touring Car flywheel, that I've now swapped out for a lightweight std one. One step forward.
