Category: IPRA AE86

One nice thing about having two cars to work on is that there is never a dull moment when you have nothing to do. So before setting about dismantling my 2JZ i welded up the caliper brackets, and after disassembly i drilled and tapped them. As such i now have a complete brake setup as so:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29842-2/IMG_1072_s.jpg[/img]

You can see here that it still uses the stock caliper bracket, with 5mm welded to the back side for spacing, and 3mm to the front for extra tapping depth:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29845-2/IMG_1073_s.jpg[/img]

Big thanks goes to Joel (TurboRA28) for his idea of using the stock bracket redrilled to suit.

And finally here it is all together with the RCA as i was still a little concerned that it might foul.

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29854-2/IMG_1076_s.jpg[/img]

I also welded and gussetted the traction brackets, so they just need to be ground back and they are ready to go too.
Tonight or tomorrow will be on the lathe setting up a bunch of spacer rings for the brake conversions.

After some consideration I think probably the Mazda MPV rotors will be a better option. For one it doesnt mean that i have a monstrosity of a bracket, instead i have something much flatter, as so:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29685-1/IMG_1015_s.jpg[/img]

Note that the big chunk of 12mm steel is only there so i can gauge where that flat plate is sitting. Its acting as an impromptu flat plane as i didnt have enough hands to hold the ruler and camera and a flat plane.

Secondly, it allows me to use the other set of Simmons V4s that i have had around the garage for a while, as they are +20s, and with a 15mm bolton spacer it brings them back to ideal offset and therefore scrub radius (stock/ideal is 0ish offset).
As so:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29691-1/IMG_1017_s.jpg[/img]

Thirdly i wont be cooking the balljoint as much as i have been previously with the disc so close to the ball joint. 4 ball joints in 3 years is probably too much.

Therefore i needed to redrill the MPV discs to 4×114.3, which could be a pain, but here is a simple way to do it.
Firstly machine down a chunk of metal (2011 in my case) to the outside diameter of the new disc, and then the old disc, in my case 72 and 60mm respectively:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29697-1/IMG_1019_s.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29700-1/IMG_1020_s.jpg[/IMG]
Should look something like that

Then stack the discs ontop with each one being a tight fit with the location ring as so:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29703-1/IMG_1021_s.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29706-1/IMG_1022_s.jpg[/IMG]

Finally, after lining up two of the holes (and using something to dowel them, not pictured here) use a transfer punch of the correct size to mark the disc below:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29709-1/IMG_1023_s.jpg[/IMG]

Then all you have to do is drill at the markings. Truely a piece of piss.

In addition i picked up some brackets yesterday to allow me to run slightly larger discs at the rear, some S13 discs infact:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29712-1/IMG_1024_s.jpg[/IMG]

Going to try and get around to fitting the diff gears tonight. Only problem is finding marking paste.

So tonight and over the weekend i did a bit of work on the MPV conversion.

First however, i did some work for BigPerm on his Cressida stuff:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29815-1/IMG_1063_s.jpg[/img]

Machining out tophats, oil seal rings into coilover sleeves, making little alu spacers and soon to machine his hubs down. Lots of fiddly things.

Inspired by that however i swiss cheesed the traction brackets:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29818-1/IMG_1064_s.jpg[/img]

So they are ready to weld on and then be trimmed to size.

And then setup the brake upgrade with the MPV discs:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29821-1/IMG_1065_s.jpg[/img]

Uses the stock RA28/40 brake caliper adaptor:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29824-1/IMG_1066_s.jpg[/img]

Which ill have to weld a 5mm plate to the inside of to drill and tap (along with a 3mm plate on the outside for extra tapping)

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29827-1/IMG_1067_s.jpg[/img]

Coming together nicely, i would have welded it tonight, but i had shorts and a tshirt on and didnt want to make noise for the neighbours any more than i already had.

Little update, i had a chance to work on the caliper adaptors tonight, and got some good work done on them.

Firstly i machined a recess for the hub to sit into the adaptor plate which bmak cut out for me:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29646-1/IMG_1001_s.jpg[/IMG]

Then i tapped two M12x1.25 holes in a pice of 12x50mm bar stock and bolted it to the back of the caliper, and then reassembled it all and jammed the caliper back onto the disc like so:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29643-1/IMG_1000_s.jpg[/IMG]

Now i was able to measure the distance between the strut adaptor plate and the bar stock which is bolted to the caliper. I was praying for a nice size that i could easily get stock in, so i wouldnt have to machine it up much….. and well the calipers came back saying 25mm gap… i couldnt believe my luck.

Next up i grabbed a bit of 25mm box section that i had lying around and jammed it in between the strut plate and the caliper plate, and voila:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29640-1/IMG_0999_s.jpg[/IMG]

Fits an absolute treat, so all i need to do now is to get some 25mm square solid and go to town with shaping up a plate to weld inbetween.
In some parts of that strut adaptor plate there is almost 20mm to the outer edge, so im thinking of drilling an 8mm hole and putting a couple of 8mm bolts in to add compression force to the welds, and so i have something nice and solid holding it all together. What do people think? Should i bolt the 3 pieces together as well, or just trust the welds?

Got stuck into finishing off the caliper adaptor on Sunday. Ground up a piece of 25mm plate to fit nicely in the little gap:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29652-1/IMG_1003_s.jpg[/img]

[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29649-1/IMG_1002_s.jpg[/IMG]

Its only tacked together for now (and badly so since i couldnt get the head of the MIG into the gap and so i was welding with about 2″ of wire hanging out the front.
With it tacked together ill drill and tap some M8 holes to add clamping force and then grind it apart, bolt it back together and MIG it all up.

Rolling along nicely 🙂

So after a whole bunch of mucking around, i finally got around to doing some stuff on the car.

Firstly i got the seat back in:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29559-1/IMG_0972_s.jpg[/IMG]
And the height is much improved from the old rails. I wont be hitting my head as much now 🙂

Next up was diff out:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29562-1/IMG_0973_s.jpg[/IMG]
Ready to put the 4.77 in rather than the 4.3 thats there now.

Then i set to work making up some traction brackets to be welded on. Just formed them out of a sheet of 3x100mm and hammer formed it around a 50×4 square tube. Came out pretty reasonably:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29565-1/IMG_0974_s.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29571-1/IMG_0976_s.jpg[/IMG]

Of course the only 12.5mm bit i have is absoultely rooted, so ill have to get a new one before i drill the holes in them.

Finally today i received a little package from Brad (bmak) which contained some RA40 caliper backing plates amongst other things:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29574-1/IMG_0977_s.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29583-1/IMG_0982_s.jpg[/IMG]
They have been nicely cut out of 8mm plate, and tons easier than it would have been with a drill press. All the bolt holes are spot on. Pretty cool.

Thats about it for now. Hoping to drop the diff off to a shop in the new year to get the CWP changed over. Plus now that i have the backing plates i can start to prototype the rest of the brake caliper. Things are looking up.

Ok, here are some horrible audio vids:
Phone video in the garage

[youtube]77gaFnN3rg4[/youtube]

Qualifying :

[youtube]hN2PvrJMBNw[/youtube]

Race1:

[youtube]tj29pda8KCs[/youtube]

Race2 (with bonus insightful comments from Gav)

[youtube]ML4F_pPe6I0[/youtube]

Video is so bad in the last ones because i killed the small lipstick camera by shoving 14v down its guts and instead im using a $10 Gawler DSE bargain bin home security camera in B&W

Just a quick update, i got around to machining out my discs the other day, which was all nice and easy, and then bolted them up to the hub and mocked it all up on the bench on Saturday.

Firstly, the caliper with spacers:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29251-1/IMG_0867_s.jpg[/IMG]

Then all mocked up on the strut:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29233-1/IMG_0861_s.jpg[/IMG]

I love compressed air for many things. Including operating rattleguns to lock up hub bearings so the wheel doesnt spin, and pushing pistons out of calipers so that they the pads clamp on a disc 🙂

Not going to be an easy caliper adaptor to make though:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29242-1/IMG_0864_s.jpg[/IMG]

Back there near the disc is the caliper adaptor mount, and almost 35mm away is the caliper mounting face:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29248-1/IMG_0866_s.jpg[/IMG]

Ohwell, should be a good challenge.

In other news i popped a wheel apart too while i was sick, should be easy enough to clean up and reassemble without disturbing the wheel halves seal:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29230-1/IMG_0851_s.jpg[/IMG]

Thats about it, as i said, not looking forward to making that caliper bracket.

Arrrgh, this new caliper adaptor setup is going to be a sweet pain.

This is a stock AE86 strut and hub with FC caliper with an S13 disc, which according to DBA has a 49mm overall height.
[IMG]http://img64.echo.cx/img64/887/brakerearstep8ts.jpg[/IMG]

This is a RA40 strut and hub, with FD caliper and S15 disc, which according to DBA has a 54mm overall height.
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29236-1/IMG_0862_s.jpg[/IMG]

Now that sits a hell of a lot more than 5mm closer to the strut, and im not sure why. Looks like a whole bunch of measuring with verniers is in order.

So i was really worried about the LCA not clearing the disc, and being forced to rejig it all. In the end i neednt have worried… too much:

[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29278-1/IMG_0877_s.jpg[/IMG]

LCA clears the disc, just. It actually sits within the disc for some of the distance, which isnt really an issue at all. But it does make building the caliper adaptor harder.

I also testfitted the V4s over the top, and breathed a massive sigh of relief when they cleared:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29272-1/IMG_0875_s.jpg[/IMG]

But only by just again:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29269-1/IMG_0874_s.jpg[/IMG]
That gives you an idea of how much the center clears, or more precisely how close it is. Remember that the rim bolts onto the center around those points.
And it doesnt clear by much:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29275-1/IMG_0876_s.jpg[/IMG]

That pic also gives you an idea of how hard the caliper adaptor will be to make. Should be loads and loads of fun. I remember seeing a caliper adaptor which Linden at RoadRunner Fab did for BigPerm and so i might see if i can borrow that to model mine off.

Also as RESON8 correctly predicted, the caliper pins are too short:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29284-1/IMG_0879_s.jpg[/IMG]
Marcus is being a champ and sending the longer version over though.

So i rearranged my day and came home a bit early this afternoon and got stuck into the rails.
Here is what i have come up with sofar:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27833-1/IMG_2690.JPG[/IMG]
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27842-1/IMG_2693.JPG[/IMG]
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27845-1/IMG_2694.JPG[/IMG]
Not bad for about an hours work if i say so myself.

Pretty much level:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27854-1/IMG_2697.JPG[/IMG]
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27857-1/IMG_2698.JPG[/IMG]
And that little unevenness can be adjusted out with the slotting on the sides of the rails.

And for GTSBoy, this is why im not going to bother cutting out the original crossbeam:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27848-1/IMG_2695.JPG[/IMG]
There is buggerall clearance under the floorpan anyway, and i need to have the seat raked back slightly to keep my knees up otherwise i have a hell of a time using the clutch as my knee locks up.

I havnt welded it in yet, as i need to remove all the fuel lines from the trans tunnel (not taking that risk) and remove anything which might be damaged by the welding sparks, cover windows etc etc.
Im not sure whether ill relieve all the sides by 3mm to fit some plate in there, im sorely tempted to, but the front will be reinforced to the crossbeam, and the outboard side of the rear is 4mm thick anyway.

While i was mucking around the other night in the garage i mocked up where the brake bias adjuster will sit:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27839-1/IMG_2692.JPG[/IMG]

Ill mount it after i have finished welding in the rails.

I think i have a bit more room than you there, im a pretty small guy.

Just finished welding it all up:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27869-1/IMG_2718.JPG[/IMG]

I was a touch worried about penetration, but a quick check revealed that i need not be worried:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27872-1/IMG_2725.JPG[/IMG]

I plated the front outer weld, but didnt bother plating the rest. Reason being that i was welding to the existing seatbelt mount points, which are already heavily plated as so:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27875-1/IMG_2724.JPG[/IMG]
(from the underside).

I initially tacked it in and then bolted in the seat to measure. I now have about 2-3″ of room between my head and the rollcage with my helmet on.

Ok, as i said before, too many Edo spec photos in this thread. Hence here are some clear ones to even out the ratio.

Fully assembled engine:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27794-1/IMG_2662.JPG[/IMG]
With gratuitious toyota flag:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27797-1/IMG_2663.JPG[/IMG]

Remounted kill switch:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27803-1/IMG_2665.JPG[/img]

Where the brake bias valve will go:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27802-2/IMG_2664.JPG[/IMG]

And finally some of the floorpan around the seat area:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27806-1/IMG_2666.JPG[/IMG]
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27809-1/IMG_2667.JPG[/IMG]
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27812-1/IMG_2668.JPG[/IMG]
Including the cutoff bracketry.
Now looking at it again, rationally, i think ill end up mounting the sidemounts on the left side (tunnel side) straight to the floor, with some reinforcement, but also see if i can get the “nose” of the seat up over the crossbar in the floor, because that keeps my knees in the best location. I think ill end up welding SHS to the floor on the right (outboard) side though, so im not sure how that will go.

I went out and jigged everything up and made a hell of a lot of measurements tonight.
First i got the seat in the right place:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27815-1/IMG_2669.JPG[/IMG]
Right there its comfortable, i can reach the pedals, it fits (snug between cage and trans tunnel) and i dont think ill have issues with my knee being dicky at that angle (i had serious issues in our FormulaSAE car where my knee was at about 10* bent).

Then i got out my little friend/new toy:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27818-1/IMG_2679.JPG[/img]

Basically a digital inclinometer, or spirit level. But it does bucket loads of stuff and you can set it to a base reference other than horizontal (gravity) etc.

Checked on the block of wood ontop of the seat:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27821-1/IMG_2682.JPG[/IMG]
0.1deg, good enough, if that tiny angle is much of an issue i can adjust it out with the seat in place.

Got out the trusty paint pen, and made stacks of markings:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27824-1/IMG_2671.JPG[/img]

And now im left with this:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27827-1/IMG_2688.JPG[/IMG]
The horizontal mark at the top is the angle of the seat rails (as they arnt perfectly square, almost but not quite), the vertical tick marks are where the holes in the rails are. In this configuration the rails are butting up hard against the cross brace, so i cant really go any further forward, and i cant go further back due to the cage. Just perfect.
The front mark with the F above it is the frontmost of the front 3 holes, 25mm from the brace. Each of the holes in the rail is 20mm apart.
At the back i have the 2 rearward most holes marked out of which im thinking ill use the rearmost as the front one will be VERY tight on the stock mount. Plus im considering keeping the stock mounts so i can mount a stock seat in for tuners to use (the seat is custom for me, and quite narrow).

Now the real thing i have to decide is whether to mount rails across the car or down the length of the car. I could do a combination of the two, but its not going to be pretty. At the front i could do just tabs off the brace, but im not convinced of the strength of that, so it will be either all the way across or all the way down.
Ideas?

Well between Vista dying on my work machine, and a supplier calling to say that the swaybar for the Cressy was in i packed up early today and came home.
After i put the swaybar on the Cressy i had a bit under an hour before dinner to get some work on the Spoonter done.

So ive made a start on shifting the battery and isolator switch, and started thinking about making new rails for the seat. Thinking about it anyway.

On with the Edo spec pics:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27762-1/Image219.jpg[/IMG]
Relocated isolator switch. Used to be behind the handbrake hole on the trans tunnel, but it really wasnt a very intuitive spot to reach for, so its going in plain sight.

[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27765-1/Image220.jpg[/IMG]
Started installing battery box, and then realised that i dont have any plate/bar steel to put into it for a base, and so its just tek screwed in. Relocated the main fuses near there now and cleaned up some of the wiring.

[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27768-1/Image221.jpg[/IMG]
Bling bling waterpump underdrive pulley arrived the other day from the US. Cheaper than sourcing one locally, and relatively blingy. Hopefully it will help with the cavitation problem i was having going through the kink at 8900rpm.

Thats about it for now, hoping to get some more work done this weekend.

I got some more work done on the car this weekend. Firstly rebuilding 4As is like riding a bike, you never really forget how to do it. So i popped the head on, and started tensioning up everything, but to put the timing belt back on i had to take off the alternator belt:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27773-1/Image222.jpg[/IMG]
And then the alternator basically fell off.

Found that at some point in the past the bolt holding the custom alternator bracket had sheared off the block leaving the alternator held on by only 1 bolt at the bottom.

So in the vein of Babs’ hako thread, and Edos camerawork, i put together a little howto on removing a sheared bolt.

Firstly, find a bolt that has sheared off, like this alternator bolt, soak it with penetrene/rp7/wd40.
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27776-1/Image224.jpg[/IMG]
And pop a nice little punch mark into the center of it.

Then take your drilling tool of choice, in my case a re-cased Bluepoint air drill:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27779-1/Image226.jpg[/IMG]
Internals by bluepoint, casing by supercrap.

Drill a hole down the center of the bolt, carefully. I chose a 3mm bit for this task:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27782-1/Image225.jpg[/img]

I blame edo for the crap photo.

Then source an appropriate torx bit (i buy them up when they are going cheap at bunnings) and hammer it into the bolt.
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27785-1/Image227.jpg[/IMG]

Take one shifter with a 1/4″ socket on the end and slowly and gently wind it out:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27788-1/Image228.jpg[/img]

Voila, one removed bolt:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/27791-1/Image230.jpg[/img]

So other than that, i went and picked up my 4.77 ratio diff, and new door cards for the rear. I did end up redoing the timing belt and finishing off assembly but no pics of that for now. I need to go see a bolt store to buy a whole stack of stainless capscrews to replace the mild ones which are rusting up.

I also did some work on relocating the brake bias valve incabin just infront of the handbrake hole in the trans tunnel.

Plus i got around to drilling off the brackets for the seat rails, so i can build up some custom ones, to hopefully mount this new seat a bit lower than the old one.

Which brings me to two questions (which ill probably repost in General or somewhere).
Firstly, for the distance between the trans tunnel and the valve would people use braided lines, or just run hardlines all the way?
Secondly, what gauge steel would people use for the seat rails? Im thinking 4 or 5mm thick bar. Anyone else?

From when i got it in there it was on like donkey kong.

Built a new plenum, after it looked like the old one wasnt going to fit:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/4983-1/IMG_0071_001.jpg[/IMG]

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/5494-1/IMG_0014_002.JPG[/img]

[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/5485-1/IMG_0011_002.JPG[/IMG]

New fueling system:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/5033-1/DSC00181.jpg[/img]

Shimless bucket setup:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/5125-1/DSC00245.JPG[/img]

Put the interior back together and finished off the wiring (yes, all the red wires are fused +B feeds)
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/5103-1/IMG_0067_002.jpg[/IMG]

Got it all back together and sent it off to be caged:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/5457-2/IMG_0001_004.JPG[/img]

Cage:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/5461-1/IMG_0003_006.JPG[/IMG]

Came back and got an exhaust:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/6087-2/DSC00280.jpg[/IMG]

Went off to be tuned, blew up an ignitor:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/6135-2/IMG_0002_006.JPG[/img]

Plus the coil over plug setup was excessively hard to get readings for timing, so i cracked it and redid the ignition system:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/6157-1/IMG_0015_003.JPG[/IMG]

From there on it was back to my house to finish off the little things for scrutineering:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/6168-2/IMG_0019_003.JPG[/IMG]
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/6177-2/IMG_0021_003.JPG[/IMG]

Tailshaft loops:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/6189-2/IMG_0025_002.JPG[/IMG]

Killswitch:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/6183-2/IMG_0023_003.JPG[/IMG]

Fuel firewall:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/6180-2/IMG_0022_004.JPG[/IMG]

Scrutineering happened, and then it was off to my first meet:
Night before:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/6214-1/IMG_0033.JPG[/IMG]

Out there:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/6220-1/IMG_0035.JPG[/IMG]
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/6226-1/IMG_0037.JPG[/IMG]

Thats not supposed to happen:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/6243-2/IMG_0042.JPG[/IMG]

Turns out that the booster diaphragm had busted during the fire, so i had buggerall front brakes and all rears. Lead to spinning a hell of a lot. So i only just qualified, and had race 1 then packed up and went home. Good learning experience.

Out came the booster and boosted MC, and in went of all things an unboosted 240K master:
Mounting plate:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/6345-2/IMG_0003_007.JPG[/IMG]
Mocked up:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/6368-2/IMG_0003_008.JPG[/IMG]
Setting pushrod throw:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/6392-2/IMG_0014_004.JPG[/img]

All back together:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/6405-2/IMG_0023_004.JPG[/img]

The season that year had a bit of a break between August and November, so i took it out to a couple of practice days. At one of them my one of my bonnet pins snapped and the other came loose and the bonnet popped up at 140km/h into Turn1. Cracked the windscreen, and smashed the sunroof. Sunroof wasnt the end of the world, as i wanted to replace it anyway:

All done.
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/7086-2/IMG_0186.JPG[/IMG]

I then did the last two events of the year, including the twilight meet. At the twilight meet i was unlucky enough to be pulling in at the end of Qualifying only to have the car in front run out of fuel in the pit lane entrance. I couldnt go anywhere, and couldnt go back out onto track, the marshalls wouldnt let me turn off the car (probably for fear of it not staritng again) so i had to sit there idling with no thermofan. Hit 110* before i got moving again, and so i had to do a few laps of the pits at <20km/h to try and get the temps down before parking it.
Surely enough, i had blown the head gasket. I managed to do R1 and R2 before putting it back on the trailer and calling it a day. Best times out there to date in that car too, 1:27.2 with a BHG.

When i got it home i parked the car, and ended up buying a house under a week after that event. From there on until now its been pretty busy getting the house sorted, and getting married. However, now im ready to get back into it. Parts are coming together, and work is beginning….

Stay tuned…