Dialogue

To catch up with those points that I didn't really make last week:

I looked at aluminium hubs for a while.  I couldn't find any where nobody hadn't had some sort of issue.  It didn't matter if it was CompBrake, Rally Design or HiSpec - the web is awash with comments where things haven't been quite right.  I was actually contemplating sticking with the steel originals when a friend mentioned that he had a set of unknown origin that he'd bought some years earlier with the wrong bearings as an accompaniment.  Thankfully, said friend was an engineer and had carefully measured the dimensions and ordered the correct bearings.  He'd just never got around to fitting them.  I said I'd take them.  On collecting them I was pretty sure that they were HiSpec.  This has more or less been confirmed since as I ordered their dust caps and they fit a treat.  The same cant be said for the discs however, or more correctly the hubs don't fit standard discs as they should.  The PCD of the mounting hole seems to be just out.  I've managed to solve this by drilling out the the holes on the disc to 7/16".  Not a major problem but rather confirms what I've heard about HiSpec.  To give them credit where due, the dust caps arrived very quickly.

Talking of good service, I just have to mention EBC, specifically Bob Sketchly, Head of Technical Support. Bob is motorsport-mad and a very committed Marshall.  He also seems to be in charge of the MSA license holders discount scheme.  I had a ludicrously good deal on Turbogroove discs and Yellowstuff pads.  Top kit at a fantastic price.

What next?  Oh yes, we weighed the chassis and bodywork.  There's a lot still to go on but I'm pretty sure we'll be close to the weight limit.  Particularly if I can reverse my own personal fitness trend.

The bodywork went on pretty well considering - I'm going to have to be pretty mercenary when it comes to trimming the arch-lip returns.  In essence I'll be removing the returns altogether.  There's a number of internal sections of the bodywork - they enclose the engine bay and boot area mostly.  The rear has all-but-gone already and I've resolved to give the front the same treatment; it's not doing anything useful on a race car.

Also not of any use is my right rear wheel which is leaking.  I need to chuck it in a bath and check that it's not just the valve seating before I pull the rim apart again and have another go at building it up.  The other three have rock-solid pressures.

So, that was last week's news.  What about this week?  My focus has been on getting some more of the electrical components in place and working towards having the engine-side of the loom completed and tested in the next couple of weeks.

Above is the starter solenoid.  When I used one of these on my MNR people couldn't understand why I didn't use the bike part.  The reasons are twofold: (i) the bike relay is 'bundled' in with loads of stuff that I don't need; (ii) The Lucas unit is well-proven and very easy to check that it's operating.  The master switch is just a few inches above the solenoid so the cable runs are as short as possible.  The red cable seen is the main feed to the wiring module.

This is the regulator-rectifier.  While the Yamaha units have a much better reputation than some, they still need a nice panel to help soak-away heat and ideally a flow of air. Hence, this is the bottom of the transmission tunnel.  

This bus-bar will collate the six(!) earths from the slimmed-down bike loom and ECU. Apparently this is the most reliable way to do this.  Below is the wiring for the bike pump which will be housed in the swirl pot. The  live cable for this was a bit of a mess thanks to the spliced-in aftermarket immobiliser.  Hence it now contains a join which is very reliant on the solder which isn't ideal but the multi-meter tells me that all is well and I've protected the integrity of the join pretty well.

While I've been on-sparks, Dave has been charged with modifying the only carbon fibre piece on the car. The throttle bodies need their velocity-stacks/trumpets to work.  In an effort to achieve this and keep any bonnet bulge as small as possible (I sit LOW in the car) I've bought an ITG Trumpet Tray -catchy title eh?- which is actually made by carbon-meisters Reverie.

Unfortunately, this lovely piece of kit fouls the fly-by-wire throttle actuator and also isn't quite wide enough to meet two of the six trumpet mounting holes.

Thankfully Track Developments have constructed carbon parts a lot more complex than that which I need, so Dave is already up-and-running making a couple of moulds which will form new sections of the tray. Sounds easy but I'm glad he's doing it!

TC