182T
If you're interested in going racing at some point hopefully this thread may be of some use to you. I've started posting here recently as I am converting a Williams 2 to a race car to compete in the Trackday Trophy next year and Team Trophy in subsequent years with a couple of races at the end of this year to use as preparation. I would have prefered to use a more recent model but I also have a Williams road car which I've owned for donkeys years and figured I know the car and can swap parts and have spares etc. Plus it would mean I would have to buy yet another car!
I've got a website going at www.racecarbuild.co.uk with a blog and will post updates here, PH and WC. In my first blog post on the site I give a list of all the things that someone needs to consider just to even start racing with a car you've built - this hobby is definitely only for the committed! I'm estimating costs for this year including the car, build, tools, garage, couple of track/test days, 2 races, parts and kit/equipment to be <£10k. If I can keep under that budget by Jan 1st 2014 I'll be happy - things just keep being added to the list! (I started off with a budget of £6k and its crept up to £9k/£10k so far.
I'm not a mechanic, I work in mental health - but have worked on my Williams 1 over the years and done plenty of reading/research, work on other cars etc. I attempted to build a Locost kit car a few years back from scratch but failed at the welding and didn't take a course. This time round I'm more committed and also have a double garage to use rather than an empty ground floor bedroom which I was using before
, I kid you not. You can see a cool magic video of the garage here.
I'm not sure how the pics are going to turn out on here as I've been having trouble uploading some but they are all in the blog post on my site if they don't work here along with a video or two.
Having always wanted to go racing but never had the chance, now is the time for me and I'm going to seize it! Any lessons I learn along the way I'll do my best to pass on and if you're in the area and want to be involved then give me a shout.
As I write more posts I'm hoping they become clearer and more informative so please bear with me for now.
And now the post:
Stripping The Car pt1
Posted on February 18, 2013
Space! If you’re going to be stripping a car with the intention of a bare shell rebuild for track purposes you definitely need lots of space. This weekend was the first of working on the actual car after emptying the garage, putting in a bench, shelves, extra lighting, cupboards, tools and all the parts I’ve collected so far. I’d say around a 3rd of the cost of this build will be on tools, garage rental, trailer transport and technical books!
Heres a short video showing what was accomplished on the car over about 8 hours on Saturday and Sunday.
The engine bay and interior are going to be sprayed red & white respectively, plus the cage needs to be fitted so absolutely everything has to come out. Chassis parts can stay whilst it goes off to have the cage welded in but other than that everything is coming off and the rest once it comes back.
I had the choice of either buying a race car already prepped or doing it myself with a team to work with. The first option would have been cheaper and a lot quicker but that way I’d never get to learn how everything works and know the car in every detail. This way, whilst it may be frustrating at times you really do understand everything.
There were a couple of tricky parts. Door pins: Undoing the pins and holding the doors at the same time then trying to pull out was a bit awkward. One was jammed in but a bit of WD-40 sorted it – the drivers door had dropped also so a new set will be bought on refitting. Interior trim: Where trim is concerned its always the same – if you don’t already know exactly how it comes off without breaking then you’re going to have trouble, and likely break something or snap a lug somewhere. In this case this was only an issue with the rear side panel trims, as I already knew how everything else came off. I suspect even someone trying to describe to you over the internet how to do it without breakage would be tricky too – best way is to see it done perhaps via a video.
The last tricky part is the dash which as you can see by the video above I am still working on. Screws, nuts and bolts everywhere. Its going to get worse before it gets better.
At this stage I’m hoping most of the dash is going back on with the original loom after the cage is fitted and interior painted. I haven’t built a race car before and I’m trying to keep things as simple as they can be (whilst not being simple at all for a virgin), it keeps the costs down too for now.
Tomorrow I am picking up an engine hoist and also a parts washer both from ebay. Got a great deal on the hoist. £125 for this including balance bar and chains.
What did I learn? Well, a good way of keeping track of all the fasteners for when you come to reuse them is to have a bunch of clear plastic zip bags. Each time you dismantle a piece of the car, collect all the fasteners together for that piece, the offside door for example, then just put a label in the bag with them. you’ll still have to work out which fastener goes where but it’ll be a whole lot easier that a big messy box of screws, nuts, clips and brackets etc.
Another thing is that even in my large double garage, once all the panels and interior came off/out, space got tight really quick. So, along with all the panels and interior from my road car restoration, my front room now has the same from this race car build!
It helps if you have a spare frontroom for this, alternatively you could hire some space for a couple of months in one of those big yellow buildings until some of it goes back on and you sell the rest. Garden shed maybe?
Finally a quick run down of some parts I have that will go on the car when its all back together.
Lightweight fibreglass bonnet
Gaz coilovers
Samco coolant hoses
Magnecor leads
Supersprint exhaust 4-2-1 manifold
Magnex cat back exhaust
Scorpion cat back exhaust
Custom cat back exhaust
JR induction kit
Unknown ECU chip (yet to identify)
Momo Race steering wheel
4 new standard calipers
4 new standard discs
New standard rear pads
Yellow Stuff front pads
Polyurethane arb bushes
Polyurethane wishbone bushes
New alloy radiator
New front wheel bearings
New clutch cable
New handbrake cable
4 new ball joints
Short shifter
Twin headlamp conversion (for air ducts)
Various stickers
I’ll also be using the following:
Full set of polycarbonate lightweight windows
Piper 285 cams, with uprated springs and new followers
Couple of sets of wheels/tyres
Manual steering rack & column conversion (possible)
6-point cage
Plumbedin extinguisher
Cut-out switch
etc.
And I also bought myself a new trolley jack – lovely bit of kit, almost too shiny to use.
I've got a website going at www.racecarbuild.co.uk with a blog and will post updates here, PH and WC. In my first blog post on the site I give a list of all the things that someone needs to consider just to even start racing with a car you've built - this hobby is definitely only for the committed! I'm estimating costs for this year including the car, build, tools, garage, couple of track/test days, 2 races, parts and kit/equipment to be <£10k. If I can keep under that budget by Jan 1st 2014 I'll be happy - things just keep being added to the list! (I started off with a budget of £6k and its crept up to £9k/£10k so far.
I'm not a mechanic, I work in mental health - but have worked on my Williams 1 over the years and done plenty of reading/research, work on other cars etc. I attempted to build a Locost kit car a few years back from scratch but failed at the welding and didn't take a course. This time round I'm more committed and also have a double garage to use rather than an empty ground floor bedroom which I was using before
I'm not sure how the pics are going to turn out on here as I've been having trouble uploading some but they are all in the blog post on my site if they don't work here along with a video or two.
Having always wanted to go racing but never had the chance, now is the time for me and I'm going to seize it! Any lessons I learn along the way I'll do my best to pass on and if you're in the area and want to be involved then give me a shout.
As I write more posts I'm hoping they become clearer and more informative so please bear with me for now.
And now the post:
Stripping The Car pt1
Posted on February 18, 2013
Space! If you’re going to be stripping a car with the intention of a bare shell rebuild for track purposes you definitely need lots of space. This weekend was the first of working on the actual car after emptying the garage, putting in a bench, shelves, extra lighting, cupboards, tools and all the parts I’ve collected so far. I’d say around a 3rd of the cost of this build will be on tools, garage rental, trailer transport and technical books!
Heres a short video showing what was accomplished on the car over about 8 hours on Saturday and Sunday.
The engine bay and interior are going to be sprayed red & white respectively, plus the cage needs to be fitted so absolutely everything has to come out. Chassis parts can stay whilst it goes off to have the cage welded in but other than that everything is coming off and the rest once it comes back.
I had the choice of either buying a race car already prepped or doing it myself with a team to work with. The first option would have been cheaper and a lot quicker but that way I’d never get to learn how everything works and know the car in every detail. This way, whilst it may be frustrating at times you really do understand everything.
There were a couple of tricky parts. Door pins: Undoing the pins and holding the doors at the same time then trying to pull out was a bit awkward. One was jammed in but a bit of WD-40 sorted it – the drivers door had dropped also so a new set will be bought on refitting. Interior trim: Where trim is concerned its always the same – if you don’t already know exactly how it comes off without breaking then you’re going to have trouble, and likely break something or snap a lug somewhere. In this case this was only an issue with the rear side panel trims, as I already knew how everything else came off. I suspect even someone trying to describe to you over the internet how to do it without breakage would be tricky too – best way is to see it done perhaps via a video.
The last tricky part is the dash which as you can see by the video above I am still working on. Screws, nuts and bolts everywhere. Its going to get worse before it gets better.
At this stage I’m hoping most of the dash is going back on with the original loom after the cage is fitted and interior painted. I haven’t built a race car before and I’m trying to keep things as simple as they can be (whilst not being simple at all for a virgin), it keeps the costs down too for now.
Tomorrow I am picking up an engine hoist and also a parts washer both from ebay. Got a great deal on the hoist. £125 for this including balance bar and chains.
What did I learn? Well, a good way of keeping track of all the fasteners for when you come to reuse them is to have a bunch of clear plastic zip bags. Each time you dismantle a piece of the car, collect all the fasteners together for that piece, the offside door for example, then just put a label in the bag with them. you’ll still have to work out which fastener goes where but it’ll be a whole lot easier that a big messy box of screws, nuts, clips and brackets etc.
Another thing is that even in my large double garage, once all the panels and interior came off/out, space got tight really quick. So, along with all the panels and interior from my road car restoration, my front room now has the same from this race car build!
It helps if you have a spare frontroom for this, alternatively you could hire some space for a couple of months in one of those big yellow buildings until some of it goes back on and you sell the rest. Garden shed maybe?
Finally a quick run down of some parts I have that will go on the car when its all back together.
Lightweight fibreglass bonnet
Gaz coilovers
Samco coolant hoses
Magnecor leads
Supersprint exhaust 4-2-1 manifold
Magnex cat back exhaust
Scorpion cat back exhaust
Custom cat back exhaust
JR induction kit
Unknown ECU chip (yet to identify)
Momo Race steering wheel
4 new standard calipers
4 new standard discs
New standard rear pads
Yellow Stuff front pads
Polyurethane arb bushes
Polyurethane wishbone bushes
New alloy radiator
New front wheel bearings
New clutch cable
New handbrake cable
4 new ball joints
Short shifter
Twin headlamp conversion (for air ducts)
Various stickers
I’ll also be using the following:
Full set of polycarbonate lightweight windows
Piper 285 cams, with uprated springs and new followers
Couple of sets of wheels/tyres
Manual steering rack & column conversion (possible)
6-point cage
Plumbedin extinguisher
Cut-out switch
etc.
And I also bought myself a new trolley jack – lovely bit of kit, almost too shiny to use.
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