February 2024

29Feb

3D printed parts delivered

The three parts that I designed have been delivered, and I've placed them on the car, and they all fit perfectly. I'm putting a video together showing the process and their fitment.





28Feb

AAT sensor replaced

I'd had some issues with the temperatures reported by the Ambient Air Temperature sensor during the year, they have no bearing at all on the engine tune, its just a sensor that can be monitored and logged; so at Anglesey, when I had the misfire on the Sunday after repairing the core plug leak, I just turned it off and unplugged it. So I'd been meaning to replace the sensor since then. I had a spare one in my box of bits, so I've made an extension loom, to allow it to reach the turbo, where it will be fitted to monitor the true air temperature of the air as it enters the turbo.

I had to reassign the sensor in the IO, which is very easy to do. In LifeCAL in the IO Pin Assignments, you just tell the ECU which pin to use, which in my case is AN#23 on pin C1-84, and once thats done, and the ECU is re-programmed, the temperature reported by AAT is the temperature seen by the sensor. So now that's done, I can do some tidying up of the cables with some fresh cable ties, and we're good to go.


27Feb

Exhaust pipe returns

The exhaust pipe has returned from Zircotec and it looks amazing, finished in their black ThermoHold® plasma-applied ceramic exhaust coating.
Cant wait to fit it back on the car again.

26Feb

Diffuser mods

I've fitted the first of the pair of turning vanes/fences to the underside of the diffuser, to direct air out through the slotted louvres. The second element is prepared, and has been painted black, and I'll fit it on Monday. I've refitted the absent titanium skid to the nearside of the diffuser, it parted company at Castle Combe, and I've used another spare piece of titanium bar. Several cars were testing at Blyton on Sunday. Apparently the entrance road has been completely resurfaced, as has part of the circuit. I'm looking forward to seeing the circuit for myself.

As soon as the floor upgrades are finished, I'll turn to the electronics. The ECU needs the latest firmware flashing to enable a few new features since the last system update last year, and I have some modifications to make to the CAN Data sent to the dashboard, plus the dashboard layout needs altering. That'll hopefully be worthy of a new youtube video.

I am booked in for testing at Mallory Park in March, so I've still got plenty of time to get the car ready :D
There are still only 75 entries for the Mallory Park sprint, which leaves 35 short of the minimum 110 entries required to run the event. Only three weeks to go before the entries close....

20Feb

Floor complete

Well, almost, I'm just waiting on the printed parts to come back from 3D People. They contacted me today to say the pair of leading edge aero profiles were distorting during printing, and wanted to change to SLS, so I said yes. The parts are expected next Monday. I will skin the pair of leading edge parts, with carbon, to make them stronger.

The uhmwpe strips are now all stuck to the carbon angle sections, and all four carbon sections are re-attached to the floor. The ground clearance is bang on 40mm, but the floor height is adjustable, so as the strips wear, I can alter the height to maintain the 40mm gap. I replaced one of the small rubber hoses on the radiator, the one that leads from the top of the radiator to the header tank, and I've started checking all the jubilee clips to make sure they're all secure. Once tightened they're marked with yellow paint. Considering I put the engine back in rapidly in October, I've only found a couple of clips that needed a bit of adjustment to make sure they wont leak any coolant.


18Feb

MOT passed

The Van flew through its MOT again. I did have to replace the Bosch starter battery, as it had totally died since I parked it up in October. The battery is just within its four year warranty, so I will send it back for a warranty claim.

The double sided tape is now stuck to the uhmwpe strips, and is ready to be stuck to the underside of the carbon angle skirts. I will remove the skirts again to do that.

There are now approx 60 entries for the Mallory Park sprint on March 24th; can they get another 50 in the next four weeks, to reach the minimum 110 required to run the meeting?

16Feb

CAD Model - bodywork

I've had a go at modelling the bodywork, which isnt easy at all in Fusion 360. Its definitely looking more like a Mygale now though.

14Feb

CAD Model

I'm building up a new CAD model of the car, so I can have another play with Ansys to do some very basic CFD. I've a long way to go yet, I need to draw the nose cone, bonnet, and engine cover, which is going to take some doing.


The uhmwpe floor protections strips have arrived, thank you to Direct Plastics for providing them. I've ordered some adhesive tape to attach the strips to the carbon side skirts. I might still use a fastener to attach the leading edges of the strips to the floor, and use the adhesive to keep them from detaching along their lengths.

There are 38 days until the first event, and the Mallory Park meeting the first weekend only has around 50 entries, with a minimum of 110 required for the meeting to run. Fingers crossed we get some more drivers with cars to enter.

12Feb

Floor finished

Another 2.5 hrs on Saturday afternoon, and the carbon angle sections are now held on with M5 fasteners. I spent an age on ensuring that the ride height is maintained. The uhmwpe strips are on order.

On Sunday I spent a bit of time on Fusion 360, and drew up three new parts. The first part is an aero profile to fit over the blunt 10mm edge at the front of the floor sections. This will help air decide which direction to take, and should scoop more air underneath the floor than previous, as well as reducing drag by removing the blunt edge. The second part is a pair of aero sections to sit on the diffuser floor, fore and aft of the aluminium brackts that now connect the threaded rod from the floor to the chassis. These will further reduce drag. And the final part is a pair of rear tyre deflectors, which will attach to the carbon angle sections, sitting ahead of the rear tyres, and will delfect air across the front of the rotating rear wheels, to further reduce drag. All three parts are now off for printing, I should have them back next week. I am considering skinning the aero profiles for the floor, with carbon. The parts are hollow, and could do with some protection from stones etc.


Aero deflectors

Bracket deflectors

Floor aero

CAD model of the floor

Entries also opened for Cadwell (£180) and Mallory Park (£189), its now starting to get expensive.

8Feb

Floor mods

The modifications to the floor are going to plan. The 50x25mm 3mm angle sections arrived, and I've marked up where to drill them to attach both sides to the floor sections. I've just had some more 25mm 2mm sections arrive, and some smaller 10mm sections, so its time to get outside and mix the epoxy up :D

6Feb

Floor supports upgraded

Determined to prevent the floor from deflecting, I made a pair of floor support brackets which are firmly bolted to the diffuser floor ahead of the rear suspension. The brackets cant twist as they have two M5 fasteners holding them down. I can almost put my weight on the floor now, and its not moving at all. I will consider swapping to 3mm angled carbon, if I end up with any offcuts....

I've redesigned the front wing drop plates. The ones on the car were made by Playskool, and I've no spares. So I set about copying all the mounting holes, then adding scallops and reducing weight by 160grammes. These are now away being manufactured, and I should have them back in a week. Once fitted the new lightweight nose cone can be fitted.

5Feb

Floor mods begin

I've fitted a pair of carbon 25x25mm 90° angle sections to the edges of the diffuser floor, where it joins the two floor sections ahead, and they are both bonded on with epoxy. They replace the aluminium angle sections which sat above the diffuser, and had to be sealed with gorilla tape. The new sections are bonded below the diffuser and provide a smooth vertical surface for the side skirts to attach to.

I've also made new top brackets for the pair of threaded stays that support the floor, from aluminium, which wont flex anymore (they were carbon before). And both threaded stays are now covered in black heatshrink. The next job is to reinforce the diffuser where the stays attach, to eliminate any more downward movement of the floor, which is what was causing the nylon skirts to contact the ground and wear out so badly. If there is any movement, then rather than the car being pulled downwards by the low pressure under the floor, the floor itself moves downwards, and you loose the valuable downforce being generated. Everything has to be totally rigid.

I've got more 90° angle carbon on order. Four 1.2m lengths in 25x50mm. These will be attached to the vertical surfaces on the edge of the floor, to provide the L shape seal to the ground. I am toying with fitting uhmwpe strips to the bottom of the angled sections, to prevent the carbon from touching the ground. Attaching uhmwpe is quite difficult, double sided tape is meant to work, but not much else will stick to it. PTFE would a great material to use, but again, bonding it to carbon is the challenge. Unless a 10mm thick strip can be machined, with recessed screws inside. That would be ideal. I dont want any friction when the side skirt meets the ground. I'll explore the options. There are 47 days to go, before Cadwell, so plenty of time to come up with a solution.

I'm also making some more vertical sections (fences?) to sit inside the diffuser. I need to force air towards the pair of louvres that sit behind the rear wheels, to further reduce drag as the air exits the diffuser.

1Feb

Trigger disk video

I've put another short ten minute video together explaining the development and testing of the printed Nylon trigger disks, one of which is now installed on the car ready for testing. Dont forget to like and subscribe.