It's been a long winter. Too long! Especially when there's an open-top car in the garage waiting to be driven!!
I did manage a few runs out over the winter, but whilst it was as exhilarating as ever to drive; it wasn't comfortable, warm or generally that pleasant.
But that's all about to change because the fine weather is on its way (we hope!)
So what have I managed to do over the winter? If you recall I had a list:
Fuel starvation, fuel breather pipe, rear wheel grumble, dash, cycle wings, M3 engine, Limited Slip Diff.
Haven't done all of that list (darn that real life) but made a good start:
Fuel Breather pipe - looped it around on itself and secured it to the rear tub with a cable tie "pinching" but not sealing the the end . No pics, just exactly as it sounds.Seems to work now.
Rear whine - turned out to be the nearside rear wheel bearing; which is the one I suspect I didn't fit correctly and mullered in the press. Hmm. Not surprising it failed prematurely. Oh well, live and learn etc. New one was only £20 and a morning's work to fit (correctly, this time)
Diff - Happy to report this was fitted last weekend:
Left old one (open) right, new one (LSD)
Slinging the old one out - was a pain in the backside job, lots of scraped knuckles and a real struggle to get it past the fuel pipe and rear wiring loom; but I did it without disconnecting either. With hindsight, would have been quicker to do that though!
Slight / major catastrophe when the new one slid off the bench, hit the floor and smashed one of the mounting lugs off...
then luckily I realised that both cases were identical so I could switch the back covers over... phew! Filled up with LSD fluid and chucked it back in
All finished. And the test drive was particularly impressive - what a difference it makes to the handling! More sure footed and great in a straight line (also turns you into a drifting god... who knew)
The next thing was to prepare for the upcoming track day - mostly just basic checks on fluids and that everything was still bolted together etc. But I got black flagged on the last trackday and haven't done anything to the exhaust since. I found an app which although perhaps not 100% accurate was good enough for a guide:
102 dBA - interesting if true.
If it is correct then that's fine, the track I'm going to (Llandow) is 105dBA static and no driveby limit. Just to be on the safe side I've ordered a bung to take with me - was enough to squeak by at Bedford. Longer term might need to think about a re-pack of the exhaust. Shame to muffle the sound because the noise is glorious!
I'll do a report when the trackday is done to let you know how I got on.
Other news in brief:
Met up with Mark Spicer from Mark's Improbability Drive blog (http://infinite-improbability-drive.com/ ) who was a thoroughly nice chap. He's also building a Legend 6 and I'm monitoring his progress keenly!
I've been asked to do a talk at a grammar school in Devon - as part of my work I'm a Professional Engineer and on the local council of the IET (theiet.org) and once they found out I built my own car they were tripping over themselves to get me to speak. More details once I've agreed a date!
Above all - still loving the car itself. It's the most fun ever. At the moment I'm torn between what was the most fun overall - building or driving. I have to say driving pips it (just) but I'd love to build another just to be sure :)
Thanks for reading,
Steve
