March 2020

Spraying

Keeping myself busy doing little jobs on the car, I've sprayed the pushrods and driveshafts, and started tidying the garage. I've also put this walkaround video together, to explain a little more about the car and the systems used on it.

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Finally here is the power plot from the day I spent at SRD Tuning. Not bad for a little 1600. I wish my crossflow in the XR2 had that much power. Now that would have been a lot of fun through the front wheels.

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Events postponed

No motorsport until July 2020! All permits have been suspended by MUK until that date. #sadface
I doubt it will have passed by then though. I think we may as well scratch 2020.

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Permits withdrawn

Well that escalated rather quickly. All Motorsport UK permits withdrawn until April 30th, and the advice today, just a few days later, all social contact is to be avoided, including the closure of all pubs and restaurants from this evening in the UK. God knows where this is now heading. No racing this year, is likely to be the result. All the effort to get the car ready, pales in to insignficance compared to people dying from a pandemic. Stay safe people.

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Damn you C-19

I didnt want to raise C-Virus, but its looking like majority of events will be cancelled over the next few months. I've entered Anglesey (April), Blyton (May) and Snetterton in July, but with the recent announcement to ban mass gatherings, it looks like we'll be losing meetings until some time in April. I'm not even convinced that the Great Western Sprint next Saturday will happen. And this announcement has just come from MUK, adopting the Javelin style of self declaration inplace of scrutineering.

It is judged that the current methods of close inspection of Competitors’ vehicles and Personal Protective Equipment may encourage the spread of virus contamination between Officials, Competitors, and other staff. In order to reduce the potential risk, the following temporary changes are to be made to at all Motorsport UK events:

At scrutineering, all Entrants/Drivers are required to make verbal self-declarations that their Vehicle and Personal Protective Equipment complies with Motorsport UK Regulations/Event Regulations. Personal Protective Equipment will not be closely examined by Event Officials unless the equipment is visibly defective. The Scrutineer may ask the Competitors/Entrant/Team members to display the full extent of equipment, and as a result, wherever possible no physical contact with the item or the wearer should be made by the Scrutineer. Any items identified to be causing an issue should not be confiscated, but rather should be retained by the Competitor/Entrant/Team.

No vehicle safety examinations will take place where contact with the vehicle is required, except where a safety defect is observed. Where any defect requires urgent inspection, any Event Official making contact with the vehicle should ensure that suitable protective clothing and gloves are worn. Cross contamination with other vehicles or persons is to be avoided. Where possible Competitors/Entrant/Team members should carry out any work required on the vehicle under the instructions of the Scrutineer.

These arrangements are introduced in order to restrict the amount of contact between people who may, even unknowingly, be carrying the virus.

Where there are reasonable grounds for any eligibility examination, this may take place after consideration of any risks involved, but in any event, cross contamination to other secondary vehicles or persons must be avoided. Any person found to be contravening these self-declarations will of course be subject to current Motorsport UK sanctions.

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Testing at Mallory Park

Testing at Mallory went as planned, with no issues with the car. The extra power is very noticeable, and it took more than a couple of laps for me to get used to it. I ran the wider 250mm fronts and 300mm rears, and the car is transformed now. The mechanical grip should mean I can reduce the aero, and therefore the drag, though it will take a few events to find the balance. Thoroughly good fun, and the data I've collected will keep me busy for a while as I pour through the channels I can now see. I've sent a log file off to the tuner to give a quick health check.

So yes, getting the ECU unlocked was the right decision, and worth every penny so far. I ran on full power with the traction control off and there was zero fuel surge, even when the tank went below 30% (3 litres) full.

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Engine removed

I took the plunge and pulled the engine and gearbox out of the car, and removed the sump. I've cleaned it, applied V-Tech RTV, and resealed the sump, and the engine is now ready to be reinstalled again. I'll need to bleed the clutch and brakes before I can drive it, but I'm hoping to get it all done this weekend ready for the test session at Mallory park this Thursday.

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Rolling Road

The trip down to Devil Developments in Littlehampton on Monday to get the car tuned, proved too much for their rolling road. The car couldnt be safely tied down. So we moved over to SRD Tuning at Haywards Heath, where their rolling road, had a single roller which the car was much happier sitting on, and we continued the tuning. Eventually, after a lot of power runs, we ended up with 375bhp and 405ftlb of torque, with no issues with the car. The oil leak under the rear of the sump doesn't appear to have improved, so before the test at Mallory Park on the 12th, I will remove the engine and reseal the sump.

The EGT sensors all worked, recording around 785C in the exhaust manifold at 6900rpm. We didnt enable the exhaust camshaft VVT since I hadnt managed to fit the cam position sensor in time, but the power was still very impressive and the engine felt very strong on the dyno.

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