BIGASH/FF-Racing X85 Clio Cup Racer Project

[sprintcup]

Good to see it's coming along nicely James, just the last part to go now and you'll be there, had my car at 3 sisters for a little test yesterday you'll love the Gripper couple of issues found ! doing 6 quick laps and the PAS fluid is getting hot & coming out of the neck around the filler cap, and need to get rid if the arch liners still scrubbing, but love the ADO8's.
You love working late keep the photos coming.

Regards Russ..

 

[BIGASH]

Good to see it's coming along nicely James, just the last part to go now and you'll be there, had my car at 3 sisters for a little test yesterday you'll love the Gripper couple of issues found ! doing 6 quick laps and the PAS fluid is getting hot & coming out of the neck around the filler cap, and need to get rid if the arch liners still scrubbing, but love the ADO8's.
You love working late keep the photos coming.

Regards Russ..

Thanks Russ yeah not going too bad thanks just having a 10 minute break for a sarnie now and then carrying on!

Ahhh great stuff I can't wait to try the gripper. Mmm yeah seems to be an increasingly common issue these days with the PAS. Could swap to EPAS, manual, or try and change the fluid and run it at a lower level/ bigger tank.

Thanks hopefully have a proper write up early next week

 

[Jaff.]

James, just FYI I was stripping an auto ford mondeo the other day and that had a PAS cooler on the front. It wasn't very heavy or big at all. in fact if you can imagine a solid pipe covered in fins like a radiator that's 400mm long and about 30mm deep and 30mm tall that's all it was. Could be ideal to just cool the fluid enough without compromising on weight and size.

ill see if I can find a pic of one for you now

edit: like this one...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-MONDEO-MK3-POWER-STEERING-OIL-COOLER-00-07-/320959899442

 

[Cub.]

Good progress old boy, good progress. The Gripper is epic, I love it in mine and I don't even drive it anywhere as well as you'll drive yours . It does make quite a noise, clunky clunk clunk.

Be great to see this run competitively after so long and such misfortune due to a 'wrister'. Hope it runs well bud. What flavour sandwich by the way, priorities and all that

 

[ian-speedy]

Your calipers are done , problem is no couriers today or monday , so can't send them out until tuesday , unless you want to pick them up to speed things up so you can put it back together
Cheers Ian

 

[nath&alex]

Your calipers are done , problem is no couriers today or monday , so can't send them out until tuesday , unless you want to pick them up to speed things up so you can put it back together
Cheers Ian

Topman!!

 

[BIGASH]

James, just FYI I was stripping an auto ford mondeo the other day and that had a PAS cooler on the front. It wasn't very heavy or big at all. in fact if you can imagine a solid pipe covered in fins like a radiator that's 400mm long and about 30mm deep and 30mm tall that's all it was. Could be ideal to just cool the fluid enough without compromising on weight and size.

ill see if I can find a pic of one for you now

edit: like this one...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-MONDEO-MK3-POWER-STEERING-OIL-COOLER-00-07-/320959899442

Thanks mate, yeah I looked at a kit last year on driftworks but swapped for EPAS this year in the hope of better reliability but who knows weather it will be lol

Good progress old boy, good progress. The Gripper is epic, I love it in mine and I don't even drive it anywhere as well as you'll drive yours . It does make quite a noise, clunky clunk clunk.

Be great to see this run competitively after so long and such misfortune due to a 'wrister'. Hope it runs well bud. What flavour sandwich by the way, priorities and all that

Haha thanks Oli made great progress yesterday and today with the wiring Yeah really looking forward to trying the gripper!

Yes fingers crossed and thanks for the kind words mate. Cheese paninni FTW

Your calipers are done , problem is no couriers today or monday , so can't send them out until tuesday , unless you want to pick them up to speed things up so you can put it back together
Cheers Ian

Thanks Ian :star: LEGEND!

 

[Chip-mk1]

Nice one Ian

 

[BIGASH]

Massive thanks to Ian at Godspeed brakes he sent the fixed calipers back to me earlier this week which was very good of him so thanks for fixing them. I am still waiting on Demon tweeks delivering the double locking bleed valves just so that I don't put any future wear on the seat of the hole but these are due for another week.

On other area's Jay very kindly came up to help me with the wiring last week and we had two full days on it and made really good progress. Not only did he do alot of the work but also showed me how to do it and also how to fault find so I have a much better understanding of electronics now Unfortunately since he left I haven't got much done as i've been too busy but I made another order of bits the other night so Monday I will have all the remaining bits I need to finish it and then will try and get it finished. Then it is just a matter of me fit the calipers back on, Get the bulkhead and steering wheel autosport connectors fitted for me and then ready for mapping at RS-Tuning and shakedown. Plan is to do the race at Brands on the 6th May so I better get a move on as the entries close in 10 days!

Wrapping the new panels complete

New catch tank mount

Bracket made to hold the switch panel for all critical functions

Switch panel

Steering wheel housing all the auxiliary switches

False floor to mount the electric components to the floor to keep them out of the puddle that normally fills up

The wiring so far

Thanks
​James

 

[Naith]

james james james james... hi.

Text me back AND the switches, i'll need some sort of setup to retain my cruise control on't meg...

 

[msa197]

Think he's gone to rockingham with tony!

 

[sonny172cup]

James that is one god dam sexy looking car! Well done.

 

[NorthloopCup]

Someone's stuck a load of smarties on your steering wheel! Lol

 

[Adam G]

Someone's stuck a load of smarties on your steering wheel! Lol

Can't see them lasting long in the race.

 

[mark123]

Looks good James.

I still a bit of wiring to do lol

​Where do you buy your wire from, I have some wiring to do myself and have never needed more than a metre to two before so have just been to halfords!!!

 

[Jay Payne]

Think he got all his stuff from a company called Pole Volt, really nice stuff. We used a company called Simtek for ours

 

[BIGASH]

james james james james... hi.

Text me back AND the switches, i'll need some sort of setup to retain my cruise control on't meg...

I did buddy but they keep sending as text rather than i message so not sure if you getting them lol! I've got some spares from the old switch panel yours if you want them mate

Think he's gone to rockingham with tony!

I wish Had to work instead last minute so change of plans

James that is one god dam sexy looking car! Well done.

Hehe thanks mate

Someone's stuck a load of smarties on your steering wheel! Lol

I wish they were smarties as Adam says they wouldn't last long though flol

Looks good James.

I still a bit of wiring to do lol

​Where do you buy your wire from, I have some wiring to do myself and have never needed more than a metre to two before so have just been to halfords!!!

Thanks Mark, As Jay says I buy most of my stuff from Neil at Polevolt and they are really good. Seem to be the cheapest around too

 

[aucky]

I have unprecidented levels of want for the car!

 

[2Damnsly Andy]

Its coming along nicely James.

 

[Sam@NP]

Starting to look proper now, cannot wait to see it in action.

When is your first test?

 

[len_beach]

I'm going to dribble over this when I collect my doors if you don't mind.

​What do you do for a living out of interest to give you the free time?

 

[BIGASH]

Thanks chaps

Sam first testing at this rate will be a couple of days before and then just a full spanner check and then race it!

Unfortunately Len I had been out of work for the last 9 months so had plenty of time to work on the car lol!

 

[Sam@NP]

Thanks chaps

Sam first testing at this rate will be a couple of days before and then just a full spanner check and then race it!

Unfortunately Len I had been out of work for the last 9 months so had plenty of time to work on the car lol!

Its all about last minute testing.

We are testing on the 1st, having calibration work done on the 2nd, then testing again on the 3rd. The first race is the 4th. fun times.

 

[Nafoff]

great work james, good to see this is coming along nicely,
out of curiosity how did you mount the carbon floor plates?

 

[BIGASH]

Its all about last minute testing.

We are testing on the 1st, having calibration work done on the 2nd, then testing again on the 3rd. The first race is the 4th. fun times.

Haha yep certainly is Sam Best of luck to you guys. Where's your first race?

great work james, good to see this is coming along nicely,
out of curiosity how did you mount the carbon floor plates?

Thanks Neil, I haven't actually mounted them yet but will be rivnuting the floors and then making standoff's and then bolting through.

 

[Sam@NP]

Haha yep certainly is Sam Best of luck to you guys. Where's your first race?

Cheers buddy you too.

Dads is the 4th (Production Porsche) and mine is the 11/12th (GT Cup)

 

[Nafoff]

Thanks Neil, I haven't actually mounted them yet but will be rivnuting the floors and then making standoff's and then bolting through.

interested to see how you do this as i was doing the same.

 

[Tony Hunter]

I just used washers and metal taped them together, like little spacers.

 

[BIGASH]

Plan for this season:

Now lots of people have been asking what i'm doing this season and i've been pretty vague as everything has been up in the air for the last few months. Just recently i've gone from having plenty of time with the car always making fairly good progress to now I only have a few hours a week to try getting the car finished. My target was to do the first CSCC race at Brands Hatch on the 6th of May and the closing date for entries is this coming week. Unfortunately i've taken the decision to not do this race! I might have the car finished but it would not even have time for a shakedown test and with Brands being a good 5 hours from home it's not a great idea. I am required to work weekends in general now so taking time off for racing is difficult and has to be calculated so I have to plan a bit more in advance than normal.

In order to avoid having to take long weekends off I have decided to try and do more local races this year when deciding which races i'm doing. So my planned races are:

30th June Cadwell Park CSCC
3rd August Mallory Park French Trophy
24th August Donington CSCC
21st September Oulton CSCC

I am also thinking of doing the Cadwell, Oulton and Donington Winter race with French trophy as would like to of done 6 race weekends this year but I will see what I think to the French Trophy after Mallory Park and then make my decision.

So I have got a fair while until my first race but i'm looking forward to it and also the time will finally allow me to get out in the car doing plenty of test/track days and get some enjoyment from all the hard work that has gone into the car over the last 18 months. I had so little time in the car last year that it's always good fun to drive the car even if not racing so i'm more than happy to do lots of testing. First test will be a shakedown at Teeside, then will do a trackday at Donington to do some comparison from last seasons data before moving onto a test day at Mallory followed by Cadwell (Never driven either so need to learn)

Just thought I would give a quick update as to my plans now I have made my mind up

Thanks
James

 

[Sam@NP]

Plan for this season:

Now lots of people have been asking what i'm doing this season and i've been pretty vague as everything has been up in the air for the last few months. Just recently i've gone from having plenty of time with the car always making fairly good progress to now I only have a few hours a week to try getting the car finished. My target was to do the first CSCC race at Brands Hatch on the 6th of May and the closing date for entries is this coming week. Unfortunately i've taken the decision to not do this race! I might have the car finished but it would not even have time for a shakedown test and with Brands being a good 5 hours from home it's not a great idea. I am required to work weekends in general now so taking time off for racing is difficult and has to be calculated so I have to plan a bit more in advance than normal.

In order to avoid having to take long weekends off I have decided to try and do more local races this year when deciding which races i'm doing. So my planned races are:

30th June Cadwell Park CSCC
3rd August Mallory Park French Trophy
24th August Donington CSCC
21st September Oulton CSCC

I am also thinking of doing the Cadwell, Oulton and Donington Winter race with French trophy as would like to of done 6 race weekends this year but I will see what I think to the French Trophy after Mallory Park and then make my decision.

So I have got a fair while until my first race but i'm looking forward to it and also the time will finally allow me to get out in the car doing plenty of test/track days and get some enjoyment from all the hard work that has gone into the car over the last 18 months. I had so little time in the car last year that it's always good fun to drive the car even if not racing so i'm more than happy to do lots of testing. First test will be a shakedown at Teeside, then will do a trackday at Donington to do some comparison from last seasons data before moving onto a test day at Mallory followed by Cadwell (Never driven either so need to learn)

Just thought I would give a quick update as to my plans now I have made my mind up

Thanks
James

Shame you're not going to Brands we are racing there on the 4th and 5th. Cherry picking rounds sounds like a good plan especially if you're on a budget. I know that's what we're doing.

 

[2Damnsly Andy]

Cadwell is an awsome track James, so fast and suited to Clio's

 

[Tony Hunter]

Against my better judgement, I might do Cadwell with French Trophy. Don't want to miss too many, as going for overall honors.

Still can't see why as a single driver,you still want to do so many CSCC events.

 

[Toastfrenzy]

Why don't you do Brands, 27th June, with French Trophy, as a first event with a new car on a track that you know well? Bin the TT's IMO.

 

[2Damnsly Andy]

Against my better judgement, I might do Cadwell with French Trophy. Don't want to miss too many, as going for overall honors.

Still can't see why as a single driver,you still want to do so many CSCC events.

What date is Cadwell? I might come along to that.

 

[Tony Hunter]

What date is Cadwell? I might come along to that.

​31st August I think.

 

[msa197]

http://www.trackattackraceclub.com/pages/season-calendar.php?season_id=19

 

[Tony Hunter]

http://www.trackattackraceclub.com/pages/season-calendar.php?season_id=19

​Well found Mike, first time I've seen that.

 

[BIGASH]

Shame you're not going to Brands we are racing there on the 4th and 5th. Cherry picking rounds sounds like a good plan especially if you're on a budget. I know that's what we're doing.

Yeah just picking to suit location and dates really

Cadwell is an awsome track James, so fast and suited to Clio's

Yes i'm looking forward to trying it Andy

Still can't see why as a single driver,you still want to do so many CSCC events.

It's only 3 races and its just a matter of what fit's in best with dates and location really, I'd really like the sprint style layout of the french trophy but unfortunately I can't move the dates and locations around to suit me Also £ per minute in the TT's is cheaper and gives me flexibility to split the costs with a second driver. Doesn't mean i'm not looking forward to trying the French trophy race at Mallory

Why don't you do Brands, 27th June, with French Trophy, as a first event with a new car on a track that you know well? Bin the TT's IMO.

I did look at it yesterday but its only a couple of days before Cadwell so unrealistic and also just the travelling really want to try and keep things a bit more local. If Cadwell wasn't on then I would of probably gone to Brands but its a no brainer for me with Cadwell being much more local.

 

[Cup_Phil]

I'm doing cadwell on an evening session 15th May - I'm pretty excited as lots of people say it's very suited to Clios

The French Trophy looks very tempting - I think I'm going to have a summer playing around with mine on track days to get the geometry and everything setup but also swap my seats out for some approved ones, get an extuingisher and power cut off etc... get my race license and enter in the French Trophy next year

 

[BIGASH]

Sounds good Phil best of luck!