November 2019
The Area 6 engine is back. I collected it, and the box of broken parts, from Lincoln yesterday. The melted piston is very impressive. It would make a great paperweight. I'll take them out with me next year to show the other teams what can go wrong.
I've now found a competent engine tuner that I'll be working with over the next couple of months to maximise the package. It was about time I broke free from the original tuner. I feel a tremendous weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
I ordered the bigger turbo from Turbo Technics yesterday, taking advantage of their Black Friday 10% discount deal. I'm now waiting for it to be built and it should be with me in December.
The replacement aluminium floor has been collected, so that will need to be drilled and refitted, after the fuel cell has been installed.
The engine is ready, and is awaiting collection. I just need to clear some space in the garage so I can work on fitting the dry sump pan back on the engine, and then I can get it installed back in the chassis. I'm now waiting for the fuel tank, and the floor, and I'm no closer to getting the ECU security removed. One option is to go for a full Syvecs S8 ECU, which I'm now leaning towards. Turbo Technics has a black friday sale this Friday, with 10% off the S280 turbo. But, Pumaspeed has just exceeded 500bhp on an Area Six developed 1600 EcoBoost, and that uses the Garrett G25-550, running at 2.0bar. I'll have another chat with Ian at Area Six and see what he thinks is better for my engine.
Whilst waiting for the engine to return, I've made some replacement hoses for the dry sump. The original hoses were stainless braided, and were quite scruffy. I had to place gaffa tape around a few areas to prevent painful stab wounds from the braid that was sticking out. I've bought a couple of AN12 fittings from Manson Motorsport, and the lines are now cut and assembled.
I've decided which turbo to go for. I found this
link to an interesting thread on a Golf turbo, whilst researching options. That must be a lot of fun with over 400 bhp.
With the £50 increase in competition license costs for 2020, the MUK organisation has dealt another blow to grass roots motorsports. My costs to sit in the car at the first event in March, comes to around £500 including entry fee, championship registration fees for the HSA, the Sprint Leaders, and the British Sprint. Thats ridiculous. Thats not trying to get more people in to motorsport. Its just moving the sport further and further away from reaches of the people we want to get involved in the sport.
There is a petition to ask MUK to review the price hikes, which I urge you to sign. If we dont make our voices heard, then whats to stop the costs going up next year, and the year after.
Please sign the petition here:
https://www.change.org/p/motorsport-uk-force-motorsport-uk-to-lower-license-fees
It was the BSC awards last Saturday, held again at the Lea Marston hotel, and after last years dreadful food I opted to skip the dinner and turn up at 8:30 to collect my award. I couldnt even find where the 40 or so guests were seated, the hotel put them in a very small room, without a bar, but there was a big wedding on, so it was probably all they had left. I pulled up a chair and sat at the end of one of the three tables, whilst they finished their meals and we waited for the awards to start. Several of the trophies hadn't been returned by drivers, so the winners had to make do with a glass award. The outgoing champion wasn't in attendance, with Heather Calder finishing in 11th and Colin Calder in 9th, so I stepped up to collect my 8th place award. There were no silver awards for the top 3 drivers either, something to do with MSUK not supplying them in time. And the Sprint Leaders trophy hasn't been seen since it was shown at the HSA awards at Prescott the year before, so Justin Andrews had to make do with another small glass trophy.
Next years calendar see's the loss of Croft, Pembrey, MIRA and Aintree. So effectively we are going to Combe, Anglesey twice, Lydden, Snetterton, Blyton, Kirkistown, and Knochkill and thats it! Only 7 circuits.
21 March Castle Combe
4/5 April Anglesey
16/17 May Blyton
4/5 July Snetterton
11 July Lydden Hill
1/2 August Kirkistown
22/23 August Knockhill
3/4 October Anglesey
So September is free, which we could fit in a visit to Aintree. And June is also free.
Engine news - the engine is almost ready. We are waiting for a few last minute parts to arrive, which should be available next week, and then it can all be assembled and I can go and collect it. The turbo still hasnt been ordered. I've spoken to a few different firms, and I've still not made a decision. No hurry, I need to get the selection right. The fuel tank is going to have a fuel level sender fitted, so I can see how much fuel is present rather than drain the tank to empty the contents in to a fuel jug, which introduces dirt and of course a risk of fire.
My Revo S242 turbo is for sale, I'm looking for £750. Having just paid TT £240 to have it serviced, its a bargain. Get in touch if you want to know more.
I've still not decided which turbo to is going to replace it. The Revo RT330 looks pretty good, as does the Revo S280, but the S290 isnt yet released as TT are still testing it. I'll make a decision in the next fews days.
On Friday I fitted the new floor panels to the car, and the overall width is within the max 140cm width target. The combined weight saves 1Kg over the old boards.
I've bought a radium fuel surge tank. I'm going to plumb it in-line with the main fuel tank, and the idea is that it will feed the GDI rail at 5 bar, and itself is fed from the pump in the main fuel tank. It has a Bosch 044 fuel pump inside, and should maintain the constant fuel supply that the engine so desperately needed in 2019. The replacement main tank is designed to be 250mm wide instead of 400mm, and this gives me room to stand the radium pump alongside. Since the floor that the tanks sit on, is removable, I can mount both tanks and filters on the board, and thoroughly test it before it goes on to the car. I've made a drawing of the floor panel that I need to replace, and I can now send that off to get the floor cut to the right shape. I might go for a carbon floor, to replace the aluminium, to save a little weight. Area Six now has the head and block back, and the block looks very impressive. Ian can now concentrate on the build, as he has all the components he needs.
