Stoneleigh National Kit Car Show

Hello All

Quick update from the Stoneleigh show

In the end all the preparations came together and we set off; although the 400 mile (round trip) journey wasn't without its perils:

 

At the first service stop one of the trailer wheel bearings was getting quite warm - slightly worrying. Although by the 3rd stop it had miraculously cured itself - hopefully just a sticky brake that unstuck itself part way through.

Then it was the Disco's turn to act up - almost there and a myriad of warning lights appeared on the dashboard relating to the 4WD system, ABS and Hill Descent Control. Fortunately I spoke to a friend who is a Disco TD5 expert and between us we managed to diagnose a an intermittantly faulty ABS wheel sensor; not very serious and which on return home and with full diagnostic scan proved 100% correct.

 Just time for a quick polish upon unloading the car and then setting up on the GKD stand.

Next - setup camp with the fellow GKD  campers - Peter in his Bongo, us in the roof tent, and Paul in his pop up tent - fair play to him because he drove there in his M3 Legend with all his camping gear on-board!!

 After a really enjoyable BBQ evening the next day was the show itself. It was the first time I'd been to Stoneleigh and the sheer size and scale of the place was astonishing - I see now why it's dubbed the biggest Kit car show in the world!! First job was to go GKD spotting and this is what I found:

Peter brought along another customer car, the 1.9 4cyl supercharged version - very nicely done as well

And of course Paul's M3 which was a very tidy version - all credit to him

Whilst on the stand I got the opportunity to finally meet some of the people who read my rambling blog! And it was absolutely great to talk to you; thoroughly enjoyed meeting you in "real" life! First up Dave Rodgling, complete with latté

 Then Dave Browning... (Paul and Emma in the Background)

And Peter's lovely lads who were very intelligent and superbly behaved all weekend - good to get them interested early on!!

 The car got loads of attention and admiration all weekend - I was absolutely delighted and felt that it was a superb recognition of a job well done :)

 Then after the show it was time to pack up and go home - Poor little Emma all on her own once the stand was packed away...






Although she was really just excited to try out her new purchase of a crash helmet - 

 We had a few hot laps of the spare tarmac around the site, and both Emma and myself were giddy with excitement now the car is finally all finished and performing really well! It was absolutely flying around, incredibly lively and everything seems to be working so well!!

Packed up and ready to head home - again, journey was interesting thanks to torrential rain

The next day I finished a few last jobs based on feedback people had been giving throughout the show - mostly from Peter, and from those who'd already built Legends and put them through IVA

The boots on the track rod end were covered with self-amalgamating tape - not really IVA approved, so put on the boots from car builders:

The rest were things like trim pieces, sharp edges, nut covers and the like. Handbrake needed adjusting again (cable stretch I assume) and the wishbones were swapped over to cure the self centering problem - hopefully it has although it can't be tested in my yard it will have to wait until the day of the test.

So there we go - IVA is on Friday, wish me luck!!