Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He
Donington Park Report and the work that happened to get us there:
So following on from the track evening I did at Donington the other month where I got booted off for noise limits after one hot lap it was obvious that the car was in much better shape than in the past around Donington showing roughly 5 seconds a lap better than its previous laptimes. The lack of running though wasn’t good as it was the first time on the new tyres, running spacers and on the AST’s. It did however highlight an issue with one of the dampers so this was sent off to AST and sorted. The car was also viscously pulling to the left under braking.
There was around 5 days after Donington to decide whether or not to race and the brake problem was the biggest worry as I thought it was the ABS which had been playing up anyway causing the issues so the only option was to bin it off. It was a job planned for winter and without any pressure and the engine not in then I could of probably done it myself but with me going on holiday it only left a few days and it was unlikely I would sort it in time. Fred very kindly said to drop it off with him and he would sort it. I then asked him if he could also sort a few other things out. Ever since February when the CV joint failed and the driveshaft was replaced the hub nut has been winding itself loose. This turns out that the wrong driveshaft had been fitted causing the issues. So I asked Fred to replace both driveshafts and front wheel bearings. There was also a creaking noise coming from the PAS rack so this was going to be changed aswell, luckily I had a spare rack which was sold to me by a forum member as perfect condition but the tie rods were like maracas so they went in the bin and I replaced them with the ones that had been fitted to the knackered rack the other week.
The car on Thursday morning
Clutch going on
Engine back in
A great view from the top
There was a clunking noise from the gearbox when setting off and Fred thought it was worth checking the clutch and it was going to make the other work easier by having the engine out anyway so the engine came out. The clutch was inspected and lets just say it went in the bin and has been replaced with a genuine valeo jobbie so that should be okay for a long while. The master cylinder was swapped for a 172 cup item along with the load valve and then some sexy brake lines were made up by Zoltan. After a chat with Alcon I discovered that the wrong brake pads were fitted so a set of PF pads in the correct size were ordered.
The cooling system on the car has always been an issue so the alloy rad was removed and the cooling pipes sorted out as they had been put together with domestic copper pipes lol. We fitted a polo rad and once again a Zoltan fix welded a plate to the subframe to fit the rad to. Zoltan then fabricated some fan mounts which he did so carefully at 3am in the morning!
Now the ABS system had been removed we had the problem of the original chassis loom having too many wires and relays that weren’t required so Fred did some investigating and established that we could swap the bulkhead side of the chassis loom for a 172 cup item and all would be jolly. I found one of these and Fred had it fitted in no time. The engine went back in and then it was time for me to make the ECU loom as invisible as possible. The whole bay now is much neater and much more practical for future maintenance. The ECU loom took hours to remove the first time as it went through the bulkhead so this has been modified now and can be removed in less than a minute. The ECU has been damaged at some point in the past as it had cable tie’s holding the connector in and also the bolt hole bracket is cracked so over winter I will send it off to be re-cased and get a new plug for the ECU for when the car is re-wired fully.
The power steering pipe that was leaking was found to have a ruined O-ring and also had been bunged up with PTFE tape but this has now been fabricated by Fred to a different location which is much better as it doesn’t support its own weight anymore along with a new O-ring.
I fitted back the suspension and did a few other job’s that I have never done before such as fitting the driveshafts, filling the engine and gearbox oils and a few other things. This might not sound much but I am always learning and getting much better as I go along with things.
It really was so kind of Fred to sort the car out in so much detail at such last minute and I could hear the amount of work he was having to turn away that week to ensure my car got sorted in time.
Both he and Zoltan have such an eye for detail and they won’t let anything be bodged. At times when it was looking tight for time I suggested a bodge but they stuck with it and made sure it was okay.
Final little perfectionist details by Fred
Car ready for geo
Cracking service by Pro-Tyre
The car was then thankfully ready for Donington where I headed up on the Friday night ready for the race on Saturday. Normally after the amount of work that had been carried out it the car would have a shakedown test and also some setup days to get the information to make the new suspension and tyres work but we didn’t have time for any of that and it was down to Freds experience to put the settings on the car that he thought would be best.
I slept in the car at Donington and had a surprisingly good sleep and at 6.15am I woke up to bright skies. All week I had felt so positive about the whole car and had renewed optimism after all the crap that had happened in the previous months. It was then time for sign on and scrutinizing. I was running the car myself and sign on and scrutineering were both at 8.15. Engines aren’t allowed to be started until 9am so it meant me pushing the car all the way to scrutineering and then having to try and sign on while making sure the car wasn’t blocking anyone. Thankfully after a while I saw Jay who kindly put the car through scrutineering while I signed on.
Not long passed before it was time for practice. I went out and knew I had to go careful as the car was totally different to how I’ve ever had it before and with no ABS, different brake pads etc there was a chance something could go wrong (me spin) so I went out to do the 3 laps required to be allowed to race and was just trying to bed the pads in and get a little heat into the tyres. On the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] lap I went to put my change gear and suddenly the car bogged down, I changed page on the dash and the alternator was only showing 10 volts so I thought it had gone kaput. I knew I had to do my 3 laps so limped it round as quickly as I could but then going onto the straight I heard something fall off the car and thought it was best I stop. I still had 20 minutes left of the session and wanted to get the car back to the paddock repaired and then back out to get a quick time in. The safety car was already out so instead of pulling into the pits I went to the end of the main straight and pulled into the marshals post (It was much nearer for me to push the car back on my own than the pits) Once I had run back pushing the car it became evident that the bracket had broken and I couldn’t have fixed it in time so I went off and forgot about it. There was nothing that could be done and just a part failure so tough luck on my part. At least I had done my 3 laps to be allowed to race and knew I could have fun like at Brands starting from the back. I got on the phone to Fred who kindly stole all the associated parts from Dynacup and then brought them along with a new belt to Donington.
This only took them about 5 minutes to fit and then the car was ready for the race. Due to the qualifying I was starting up in I think 36[SUP]th[/SUP] position but I knew from the one lap of the test day that the car had decent pace. I lined up in my position and on the green flag lap tried to warm my tyres as much as possible. On the start I didn’t use launch control as I hadn’t tested it worked so held the rev’s at where I thought they needed to be and I think you could say I overcooked it! I just sat there as though I was showing off to the boy racers in mccyd’s. I have uploaded the video for you all to laugh at!
[video=youtube_share;lRo_DQ2SZO8]http://youtu.be/lRo_DQ2SZO8[/video]
Once I actually started moving I started to try and make my way forwards but then the race was red flagged and it was then back to grid order for the restart.
My restart still wasn’t great as I went the opposite way with rev’s but was much better than the first one. I was making decent progress up the field but on my 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] lap coming into coppice my coolant temp alarm went off which is set to 105 it climbed rapidly but knowing the pitlane wasn’t open for stops I would have lost a lot of time and would have had to re-pit anyway. As the pitlane opened the safety car came out which meant the engine cooled back down to 103. Less than one lap after the safety car came in is was back upto silly temperatures. I decided to pit where Fred and Jay quickly checked the coolant level which was fine and then sent me on my way as by now if the engine was going to be damaged then it would of already happened.
During the Donington trackday we had removed the tailpipes from the exhaust to try and modify to make the exhaust quieter. I hadn’t refitted any for the race and it came back to haunt me. The two large holes in the boot area where letting all the exhaust gases into the cabin and I was slowly but surely beginning to struggle. My eyes were streaming and my race looking rather purple, I knew I hadn’t been overtaken or lapped by anyone so must have been doing okay so I stuck with it. I then caught upto the grey clio driven at this point by Stuart but it wasn’t another simple overtake like all the others of the day and on a few occasions when I was past I kept making silly mistake like missing gears etc. We had a few bumps and nudges but luckily lived to fight another day. I had messed up the gearchange into the chicane which had let the proton back past and he and the K-tec car came together in the craners unfortunately with a fairly big hit. I lifted off quite a lot as I wasn’t sure where Stuart was going to rejoin the circuit and also if he would be out of control or not. While we had been racing we had been overtaken by the integra, the 306 and the focus. All for position which I certainly didn’t realise. Then for me it was just a simple few laps to the end. I thought I had caught the other two clio’s up for position and with my dash telling me it was the last lap I had 3 corners left to pass both of them which I managed luckily only to come in the pits at the end and realise I had finished 5[SUP]th[/SUP]. I was over the moon while also feeling very sick.
[video=youtube_share;zDDFviORNrY]http://youtu.be/zDDFviORNrY[/video]
The car after the race
The result is just what I needed and I had so much fun racing as I’m sure is evident from the video. There is no way I would have been at the race if it weren’t for Fred and Zoltan at BTM who I really do owe a massive thank you to! I really need to listen to what Fred says as everything he has said so far that I have doubted on occasion has been spot on!
Thank you to everyone who came along on the day it was great to see so many familiar faces. Also thank you to everyone who wished me good luck and congratulations by the many pm’s, message on here, texts, calls.
As with the other two races I have learnt a lot and for the next race I just need to stay more chilled instead of getting worked up.
The car is looking a little worse for wear but fundamentally it is all okay. The aerocatch for the bumper is shattered and that has bent the part of the shell that it mounts to along with ripping off the way the bumper clips on but I can sort that. The side strips are slightly grazed and it’s bent the rear ¾ panel but it’s not noticeable and the rear bumper had been detached and rubbed along the ground and has got the corner missing. This is where the wrap is handy as I can just put more on and cover the damage
The car was really good to drive on the whole, Fred warned me to swap the rear pads but unfortunately I didn't and the rears were too powerful as a result. The car needs corner weighting (didn't have a spare minute to do it) and also with a test day to work on ride height, tyre pressures and damper adjustment I think the car can really then push on as low speed turn in isn't great and it's washing out. The camber seems good though and when I was racing I was thinking to myself the tyres will be ruined but they look like new!
My data logger having a paddy and thinking I had gone to visit the Donington estate
I have done my entry for Oulton and its been accepted so I will be racing again on the 6[SUP]th[/SUP] October. The main issue to sort is the cooling to stop the engine getting so hot again. I was going to get a custom rad as space is an issue with the PAS where it is but that would leave no money for the race entry so I have got to work with what I have got. The chaps who will be doing the rad over winter have suggested a few things so I will do those this weekend along with fitting some normal rears pads and then I’m testing it on Monday to check the brakes and also check the cooling issues. I need to sort the exhaust out so I don’t get poisoned again. The engine is still leaking oil from the sump gasket even though it was re-done after Anglesey by TDF so not sure how to sort that.
The car went off to Paul at RS-tuning the other day for an engine check to make sure it wasn’t damaged and all the compression test results were thankfully fine along with a check of the oil and coolant so it has survived the high heat and is ready to go again round Oulton!
Thanks for reading and thank you also to Andrew for letting me use some of his photos
