Race Prep

By the time the car was home it was the middle of July. I had booked my ARDS Test at Castle Combe and I seemed to be on track (as it were) to make my debut at the 10th Anniversary of the Locost series at Silverstone on the 22nd of August. So what was there to do? Working from front to back:

• The front arches were from two sets and, as the rest of the bodywork was changing from green to black, the green one had to go.
• The scuttle area under the bonnet was just a bit of a mess and difficult to work on. The header tank was from an unknown production car and was precariously balanced/mounted in such a way that it obscured the fuse box and throttle-pedal pivot. The battery was also mounted upright in the general area and could have done with being moved away from the tank overflow.
• The GRP scuttle itself had so many holes in it (from old mirrors and pull-cables) that it looked perfect for draining boiled veg.
• The extinguisher was out of compliance and needed to be serviced and refilled.
• The seat was a GRP item which sat far too far back for me and was mounted using timber! It also wasn’t very comfortable.
• The passenger compartment contained lead ballast and some aluminium framework to support a passenger seat. Being a stone-plus heavier than Tony this wasn’t needed.
• The rear arches were in a terrible state; broken and full of filler.
• The back panel was aluminium and caved-in. It also looked like it had been welded back together.

 

So, it was a quite a long list but in essence should have been straightforward.

I started by removing everything that I didn’t need or was replacing. Ballast, bodywork, seats, battery etc were all soon removed. I should have guessed that things were not going to go terribly smoothly when the terminal snapped off the expensive ‘Red Top 20’ battery as I tried to disconnect the cable. Thankfully a mate was able to sell me a spare and with the help of a posh aluminium tray bought from eBay, the new battery was moved to its new location.

Next-up was to dry fit the bodywork. This is where the real problems started. The GRP back panel that came with the car had ‘radiused’ corners. The corners at the bottom-back of the chassis were square. Result: new part wouldn’t fit. Next, it became apparent that the new scuttle (from White Racing) was taller than the Stuart Taylor original. This meant that it would not fit below the roll-cage. Finally, the nose-cone was a completely different shape so would not fit the original mounting points. This was not good.

First thing to do was to have the back of the chassis cut away and a nice smooth curve welded in. Step forward Derek. Derek is my best mate’s Dad and I tend to think of him as a grumpy legend. He’s a ‘mobile mechanic’ and works on everything from large agricultural machinery to vintage cars. Where he generally excels is in problem solving. For example, if you snap a bolt off and need to remove it he’s your man. If your bike-engined MK Indy won’t charge and two auto-electricians can’t find the fault, Derek will. Or at least that’s my experience. On the down-side he’s grumpy. Rather like my mate.

Anyway, I trailered (my Striker came with a good home-built single axle transporter which I kept) the car to Derek and with the help of a template which I made, he did the job in a day. Having got the car home I used Hammerite to paint the fresh metal and the area around any holes where rivets had held on the old aluminium back panel. I also sprayed down the holes with Waxoil to help protect the tubes. I then used black polyurethane sealant from Car Builder Solutions to fill the rivet holes and then bond the back panel in place. I taped the body in place for 24 hours while the sealer went off. Job jobbed!

I’d been driving myself crazy trying to decide what to do with the scuttle. I considered replacing it, cutting it, even smashing it up. It did have some advantages however. Firstly, it was ‘free’. Secondly it had both an integral dashboard and bulkhead. I really do like to use as few separate components as possible so I liked the idea of using it. I cut, away the old bulkhead leaving a couple of inches for the scuttle to butt-up against. After much effort, I decided that if I could lubricate the part I might just be able to force it beneath the roll-cage for a touching fit. Nervously I pushed (shoulder-charged) it into place. It fitted – just. I marked some bolt holes, removed the scuttle, drilled the holes in the chassis and cut the holes for the dials and switch-gear. Finally it was fixed in place having slammed my body into it for the final time. At least it seemed to be well made and robust!

All of this and my ARDS test had taken three weekends. I only had one left and the job list wasn’t really getting shorter. The knock-on of the taller scuttle was that the bonnet no longer fitted. I had planned to change this at some point as it was a bit untidy but not now! I really didn’t think I had the skills to get this done quickly. I also needed a new cover for the boot area. I turned to the Yellow Pages and lucked-out. I found a superb father and son team of sheet metal fabricators in Andy and Ross Metcalfe of ADM Services in Brynmawr. They were interested enough that they came to look at the car on the way home. We agreed that they would have the car the following Friday/early Saturday to do the work.

I still had a lot to do – the arches needed putting-on, I needed a headrest and had to make a foam seat to sit on. I still had to re-install all of the dash components inclusive of running and reconnecting the wiring. The new header tank (from Chris Eva – as always) needed fitting, filling and the system bleeding. Oh, and the car needed an oil change and a full nut-and-bolt check. I was actually considering calling 750MC HQ and withdrawing as I didn’t think I’d make it. I needed help, but fortunately knew just the person to ask.

Steve Hignett and I hadn’t spoken much since the MNR build. In hindsight, I think we both had such an unhappy experience with that car and its foibles that we just didn’t need reminding of it. There was no bad feeling between us; we’d just been doing other stuff. I more-or-less begged Steve to travel down on the weekend and give me a hand. After consulting the lovely Mrs H he agreed. Suddenly I felt like I had half a chance of making race-day. Since I hadn’t driven the car at all and hadn’t been or the circuit in 10 years, I had also booked the Friday test day so the pressure was really on.

Steve travelled down on Friday night. I’d just spoken to Andy at ADM who’d told me that they had a bit to finish on the car in the morning. He said that we were welcome to start work on the car at his premises while he finished off the jobs. In the end, he and Ross were kind enough to let us stay all day and make use of his facilities (and materials.) Total stars! The bonnet was complete and looked smart but the boot cover was something else: perfectly formed return lips and a sliding door with ‘pinch’ stops for refuelling would later result in several positive comments by fellow competitors.

Steve was quickly into his stride. Finding that the guys at ADM had a tube bender, he hatched a plan for the headrest, tacking it in place and allowing the talented Ross to finish the upside-down welding. Another job done. Next he had the rear arches mounted. Meanwhile I fitted and wires new rear lights to replace the crappy looking originals. Steve then fitted the front arch before we embarked on the foam seat. I’d attempted to make a seat for the Striker with minimal success but the experience was useful. I’d purchased the two-part foam a few weeks before along with a survival sack, essentially a big, sturdy plastic bag ideal for filling with foam and sitting on. The seat making went very well with the exception that I hadn’t taken steps to prevent the foam from expanding into the space between the chassis tubes on the edge of the cockpit. The result was that I could only get it out in two parts. I was able to later repair it but it wasn’t as tidy as I’d hoped.

The following morning Steve and I checked nuts, bolts and fluids before agreeing that he had done all he could and that he really should get back to Milenah. We’d made huge strides and all that remained was to cover the seat, finish the wiring, re-route the extinguisher cables, change the oil and apply some stickers. I was set for a reasonably busy start to the week so I booked the Thursday off ahead of Friday’s test – in theory this would give me enough time to finish the jobs before Kate and I made the journey to Silverstone that evening.

I really should know by now that these things never go to plan. Problems with the wiring and in particular rusty extinguisher cables meant that the car wasn’t completed on Thursday. Fortunately, Austen, one of the RGB guys that I’ve got to know was testing and he managed to sell my test sessions to one of his colleagues. Kate was an absolute star on the Friday – I’d have never have got the car back together without her help. I’m so lucky – beautiful and handy with a spanner! Finally we got the trailer and van loaded and set off for the circuit, arriving at midnight. Was I worried that I was racing for the first time in a car I’d never driven? Errr……..

TC