The weekend did not start as I would have liked, Lucky I had taken the car over to Dave & Linda's Wednesday evening so they could tow it up and pit it Thursday and give me a hand over the weekend.
I managed to finish early and we on my way by 5.30, but took me well over a hour just to get the 20 odd miles to Newport, then getting to Evesham to find one of the return pipes on the engine had split and dumped over 20 quids worth of fuel up the M5 and over the back of the van. (If the car was on the back that would have been as well.)
I had guest driver for the weekend, this was Blue (wizzkitt) from BSH magazine, but her weekend had also not started as it should, having taking over12 hours and not 4 hours to get to the track, so not wanting to risk anything going wrong with my car pulled out, Blue still plans to drive the car, but at a smaller event so it would be less busy and more relaxed.
Ian (Doc) (From the
http://www.mankymonkeymotors.co.uk/forum/index.php) site came up for the weekend to give me a hand and tow the car with his trike (Cheers Doc)
We had taken the body off for Blue so after a very busy Saturday I managed to get booted and suited right at the very end of the day, only to get right to the front and as they were already well over curfew were turned back. I had volunteered to do one of the fire burnouts, so has I hadn't had a run and did not know if the carb was sorted Ian towed me behind the wall so I could give it a couple of blips to try, as there were not problems we took the car back to the pits and fitted the body.
When it was nearly time we went back around the back of the wall to wait until I was called. I have for years (Long before it started again) wanted to do a fire burnout, I was thinking of doing it in the Mini, but knowing that it would all end up inside the body as it never had any tubs I thought it was too dangerous. I did not feel nervous at all and was looking forward to it, so I got myself strapped in and waited for the signal. I drove out from the wall (only to know the ignition switch off to the delight of the crowd as I could hear them) Dave guided me into the water, Kev did the deed of putting the petrol down with Bruno lighting it. I could see the flames on my left and it took a while for it to get right around to the right, I saw Dave signal but stayed a little longer until I could not see through the smoke. If anyone asks how it feels doing it, I cant explain but it put a big smile on my face for the rest of the night.
Sunday was a little quieter, so it was a little sooner when I got changed, I text Blue to see if she wanted to sit in and warm it up, she was over in a jiffy and after getting in, I showed her where every thing was and started it up. It was up and down the gears a few times and when the engine was hot it was shut down, I think by the smile on her face she enjoyed it.
Ian towed me down for my first run of the weekend. It was my turn and I pulled into the water and did a (Normal) burnout, the carb behaved itself and I could hold it in stage with the revs up, but it bogged as I took off, just after 3/4 track, the front of the car just started shaking and I had to back off a little. I knocked it out of gear just after the finish line and I noticed to oil light come on, I was not sure if the engine had cut out or not so I switched it off anyway.
We took it back to the pits and I was going to fit the 50cc accelerator pump but had forgot the longer screws were at home, so I adjusted the cam and got ready to go down again.
Ian was leaving at 3 so as I knew we would not get down until after that, I arranged another tow for the last run. Dave noticed that the front tyres seamed to be a little flat and thought that it could be a problem with the balance, to be honest, I was getting called to do other track jobs and forgot to even check.
On the last run I was againest Barnie with his very smart Cortina, half way down the track I managed to know off the ignition (I have to move that switch panel to somewhere out of the way), I saw Barnie on my right and managed to switch it back on again, again the front end shook and I had to back off again. The oil light came on again after I slowed down so again I switched it off.
(At the Open Sports when Paul checked mine on the noise meter he noticed the pressure dropped when the engine was hot, with 40 psi on start-up and under 10 when warm.)
Back it the pits, to save time, I had already moved the trailer so I could put the car straight back on, so after getting dropped off, I started it back up and drove it onto the trailer, (The light was flickering then) and Dave connected the winch strap and put it on the trailer.
That's me for a few meetings anyway as I don't have a spare weekend (The only time I would be able to use the garage) until the weekend before the Halloween Bombfire Burnout. I am going to order and new high volume pump (Which is not as much as I thought) and put the 50cc accelerator pump in, hopefully be there even if its just one run before the season ends.
During the afternoon, Alan from the NSRA came over to me and gave me a box, there had awarded me a Dirty Dozen trophy for the meeting, CHUFFED is a understatement, it put a even bigger smile on my face. Thank you for that, it made my weekend :-)
The Cunning Coupe
I few thanks. Dave & Linda, Ian & Brian, Steve & Lesley (He made me a extension for the chute, so all the lines are fitted into the pack (And thanks Norm for showing me how to stow the lines.) Most of all, Blue (& Scott,) don't forget, your booked for next year.
