July 1999
31.07.99
The Mondeo spent the day in the garage on Friday, in an attempt to resolve the 'pinking' (nocking) that happens when you try to accelerate. Its nothing to do with the recent engine mods. She's pinked for the three years that we've owned her. Its just that I want to chip her, and I'd like to make sure that everythings in full working order first. The garage gave her a clean bill of health. They've never seen a Zetec engine pink before. The timing is supposedly spot on. The only thing we can think of is that the heads been skimmed in the past, and the compression ratio is higher than standard, but theres nothing in the cars logbook to suggest that the heads ever been off. I'll continue to run Super Unleaded for the time being. Superchips are going to blow me a PROM with retarded ignition curve which will fix the pinking for good.
29.07.99
Travelled 360 miles in the Impreza today. Its alright. It goes well, but the interior is really bland, and the seats remind me of a 950 Fiesta Popular ie no support, and definitely not comfortable. The fuel cut off on the overrun is a pain, as when you change gear the engine cuts out. But the acceleration in first is phenomenal. Its just doesn't want to let go on the corners either. Oh for a 22B or a WRX... The new site is live today!!!
28.07.99
Spoke to Ray at the Fiesta Center. He said the suspension bits would be machined next week. I've got a 2.0 4WD Subaru Impreza for the next couple of days. Initial impressions are, its fast, handles very neutral, could do with a turbo...
25.07.99
Sent off the domain transfer template to internic.net. I'm now waiting to see how long it'll take for the domain name to be transferred to the new web host.
Changed the oil in the Mondeo. Used Duckhams QXR, which is a loverly green color. Hope she appreciates it. The engine is pinking really bad at the moment. I need to get her booked in asap for some TLC. Maybe I'll superchip it at the same time.
Phoned the Fiesta Center. Ray wasn't there, but they said to ring back on Wednesday. The bloke I spoke to said they'd decided it wasn't possible after all, to make a tie-bar bracket for the off-side. This is not what Ray said, so I need to speak to him on Wed's to get this resolved.
23.07.99
Bought some new web space yesterday. 60 MB for almost $12 per month. A bargain compared with what I was previously getting with Virgin, and its got 200 MB of bandwidth per day! I've transferred the files over, but have some setting up to do for things like page counters, guestbooks and other CGI scripts. It'll be on line in a week or two.
18.07.99
I took part in a 10 hour Go-Kart endurance race today. My team finished in 5th place overall, which was a travesty. With 1� hours to go, we were lying 2nd overall, but a brush with the tyre-wall by one of the drivers, lead to a steering breakage, and during the repairs we lost 15 laps, relegating us from 2nd to 5th place.
I drove three 20 minute sessions, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The twin engined karts are capable of 65 MPH at one part of the circuit, quite an experience. The six teams competing raised £12,000 for the British Heart Foundation. Bought a new crash helmet on Saturday. Its a Dainese Casco Ergon, in Rosso Red, and actually fits, unlike my old helmet.
12.07.99
The Grand Prix was great on Sunday. Got there at 06:10, avoiding all the queues by using an OS map. Sat at Becketts, and kept entertained by the thousands of helicopters that were landing and taking off all day. The race was very exciting, and on the way through the paddock, we bumped in to Eddie Irvine. We finally left the circuit at 18:15, and using the OS map again, drove across to Milton Keynes, joined the M1, and we were back home in no time, without any queues.
This months CCC magazine has a Mk1 Fiesta with a 2.0 Zetec engine in it! Good and bad news. OK, so someone's beaten me to it, but the bottom line from CCC is "With a little development, this one is surely going to be a winner". which is very encouraging. The cars owner has squeezed 195 BHP from the engine, and bags of torque, which is what I need.
09.07.99
Good news. The Fiesta Center are able to manufacture me a tie bar and bracket for the drivers side front suspension, but I do need to wait two weeks. Plenty to be getting on with in the mean time. Engine comes out next week, and I'll make the alternator bracket etc.
07.07.99
Been offered some 'cheap' tickets for the F1 GP on Sunday at Silverstone, which I snapped up. Hope it doesn't rain...
05.07.99
Spoke to Ray at the Fiesta Center re:making a tie bar and bracket for the offside front suspension. He's going to see what they can come up with.
04.07.99
I've succeeded in fitting the alternator. It sits next to the sump, under the alternator mounting bracket at the front of the engine. Its only held in with two bolts at the moment, and when the engine is removed, I'll make a proper tensioner arm and bracket. Installation is very tight, but because the alternator is so small, it fits really well. In the morning, I spent half an hour cutting the original spare Mondeo alternator bracket, to remove excess metal from it, with the intention of fitting the alternator to the back of the engine. However, I've found that I'd have to make some really big holes in the chassis to clear the pulley and drive belt, and there'd be no strength left in the chassis, which although box-sectioned, would be very narrow by the time I finished making holes in it.
The only problem now, is that the tie-bar that goes from the front chassis rail to the track control arm, actually hits the alternator. Its always been a tight fit between the tie bar and the corner of the alloy sump, so I new that eventually I'd have to find an alternative method of locating the tie bar mounting bracket. Now I dont have any choice. Time to do some sketching. The Fiesta-Center five speed fitting kit would be perfect, but I need an exact mirror image of their modified tie-bar, and mounting bracket. I'll call them on Monday to see if they can help.
03.07.99
Finished the website revamp. Now I can spend the weekend on Beccy. I'm going to get the alternator fitted this weekend. Looks like its going on the back of the engine, underneath the inlet manifold. I'll keep you posted how I'm getting on.
01.07.99
Finished the engine stabiliser bar off. Welded its bracket to the front bulkhead.
