Perspective…

I’m sorry that I haven’t posted on here in nearly two months. A few days after my last instalment a close colleague and friend tragically died after a terrible accident at work. I just haven’t felt like reporting on the car’s progress since. My mate Gav mainly got his kicks on two wheels – he was an outstanding bike-trials rider in particular. He really liked his cars too and had helped me with one or two little bits relating to the new build. Hence every time I hold my Moto-Lita wheel (which he drilled much more confidently than I’d have managed) or pick-up my repaired C-spanner my thoughts will no doubt turn to Gav. You’re very much missed Mate!

Rather in the spirit in which Gav lived his life (Carpe diem) it seems right to get this blog and life in general moving forward again.

The chassis and other parts are now in South Wales. A plan was hatched for me to take a van up to Lancashire and for Steve, Joe and I to finish the fabrication that day before I brought it all home. These things always take longer than anticipated and I came home with a few jobs still outstanding. These include:

• Fabrication of the upper front wishbones
• Steering rack mounts
• The addition of anti-roll bar tabs on the front and rear wishbones
• Some tidying of the chassis

Not so long ago I’d have got quite upset about the chassis not being finished. While “right-first-time-on-time” is still a bit of a mantra, if one accepts that problems are part of ‘life’s rich tapestry’ then such problems should, almost by definition, be viewed as precious. This is very much a new perspective for me! I’m off to see my friendly local fabricators to chat about the outstanding jobs shortly.

I had intended to take a raft of photos yesterday. Unfortunately Sunday’s wedding (congrats Mr & Mrs Breakwell) had taken its toll on the camera batteries so I only managed a few shots.  The first shot was taken after I’d roughly positioned the steering rack to check that the steering column would pass unhindered through the chassis bars – I needn’t have worried.

The other photos show some of the thought that has gone into making the subsequent build up and use of the car as easy as possible. Where body parts will be removable, these special tabs have been added to facilitate the use of Dzus fasteners. These are to be used all over the car including on removable sections of the flat floor, the nosecone, bonnet, scuttle and rear ‘boot’ cover(s).

Next are these tabs, made from folded washers. These will carry the cables (electric and control), and fuel and brake lines and largely remove the need to drill the chassis tubes, except for when attaching fixed sections of bodywork.

This final picture shows the result of my decision to rose joint each of the linkages to the front upright. Douglas at Westgarage again did the machining work which should both remove any slop and allow fine tuning, by moving the stub axle in or out using the adjustment in the rose joints, or indeed up or down (by using different tapered inserts.)

More photos should follow over the next few days.

I really should update on the position relating to the RGB regulations. The committee has been busy drafting a revised set of regulations that basically centre around 1 litre engines. The regulations freely permit one-off cars and hence the ‘Paradign Locost’ fits into the new structure quite nicely. This has left me positively enthused about competing in the championship. I’ve just seen that a draft version of the new regulations can be found at http://www.hoverd.org/Tim/2011_draft_Regulations.pdf.