Graham's summer 172 cup track car

[GrahamS]

Couple of updates to keep the thread alive as everyone goes into winter hibernation.
Drove the car briefly on Sunday which of course was huge fun. The seats at the moment are too far back and need moving forward for the sake of control and the new cage. I'll do that at cage fitting time though which hopefully is quite soon. Tom has been sending me regular update photos of the cage in his mock-up car which has been great to see. It's going to be a long trip to get it fitted but I can't wait. Believe it's paint this week if all the roof cross and welding is completed. Really isn't a rush though which is nice for a change.

In non-cage news last weekend I picked up a low mileage bottom end which is meant to have 21k on. The bores are in perfect condition with no scoring, a rare thing to find nowadays. I seem to be gathering blocks as ornaments! This one is going to be used in the build, something which will make slow progress over the next 12 months probably but I can't promise anything yet, house has to come first. For an unknown reason the block didn't have the oil drained before removal and then of course proceeded to fall over in the boot of the car 3 times on the way home. All cleaned up now though after a bit of degreaser and a lot of hot water pressure washing. Looked like new horizon when I first opened the boot.

Last purchase is a lifeline snap-off boss which will be a nice addition with the cage as it's already a bit of a pain to get in and out with these new seats.
I've self imposed an embargo on buying car parts now until January in an effort to save more money. Doesn't mean I can't do track days, just no changes after the cage is done. Going to be a test of willpower that's for sure! Hopefully I'll be doing Brands Hatch on the 12th December but need to wait and see where the car is at before booking.

This weekend coming I'm hoping to get the brake deflector plates fitted and a few other bits and pieces with @Martin.

Next update, cage in hopefully!!

 

[GrahamS]

Evening chappies
The cold weather has really hit now. We did a bit of final winter work on the cup yesterday before the next track day at Brands in december and it was freezing outside. Managed to get a couple of bits done to the car though.

Brake Ducts - these were actually very easy to fit, 1x14mm rivet and then I just drilled a few holes to fit cable ties in. These ducts are huge and the caliper hits them on full lock so when I'm next with the car I'll take the dremel to them. Ducting is 75mm. A few adjustments were made to the horn i.e bent the hell out of it until it wasn't in the way anymore and removed the higher tone one.

Lifeline - Simple fit and forget job. Thanks to @Martin. for the nuts and bolts.

Cage is penciled in the for the 19th.

 

[AdamCup]

What roll cage is that ? Looks like a Safety Device R016 ?

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[GrahamS]

What roll cage is that ? Looks like a Safety Device R016 ?

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Hi Adam
It's a custom cage being built by @Tom Johnson so it goes through the dash unlike the SD one.

 

[Akay]

@GrahamS good progress mate, im planning on getting a cage from @Tom Johnson end of this month/middle of Dec, been messaging him on Whatsapp.

Question on airbags - ive got buckets now so no need for any bags, can I literally follow the wires back to the ecu plug and remove, for underseat airbags, pretensioners, side impact sensors etc.? I read that you kept a number of wires going into the airbag ECU, presumably so the airbag light can be deactivated?

 

[GrahamS]

@Akay thanks matey. Maybe yours is after mine then! You understand correctly with the airbags. If you have a look at the photo on one of the previous slides those are the wires to leave in. I've kept the airbag ecu so the light turns on and off for MOT purposes. It's also used as part of the vin identification on CLIP. Of course you need to have it reprogrammed so the airbag lights stay off

 

[GrahamS]

Cage
What an eventful weekend! Friday night, just gone half six, I popped my earplugs in, threw my bags in the car and left Greenwich for the 200 mile drive up to Hull having been mega excited for what lay ahead the next day. Earlier in the week I had spoken to the receptionist at the hotel to ask about how secure their car park was and remembered her saying to turn down the road in between the hotel and the Jet garage. 199.9 miles past with the car performing perfectly, I was starting to get tired still being on the road at quarter to midnight. I spotted the hotel, then the garage and went to turn left down the road to be greeted by a horn and a bus in a bus lane I hadn't even clocked was there. Sods law I'd totally stoved in the quarter in my first ever bump. Thoughts were racing through my head about having to re-shell the car, not being able to get the cage until I took a few minutes to gather my sanity back and realise it wasn't the end of the world and I'd be able to sort it out. Finally I checked into the hotel, went to sleep after the crash had played on my mind for a while and still looking forward to the morning. 1 hour later I was woken by rampant banging, squeaking and a screaming bint upstairs. Nearly lost my rag but refrained by calling the hotel and asking them to sort it. To cut the story getting any longer, I'm only TPFT on the car having renewed the cover from when I was a student I didn't think of changing it to fully comp. I'm going to be footing the bill for my repairs unfortunately. Luckily I have a few good friends who work in bodyshops so am hoping between our brains we'll be able to sort it out.

Next morning I got to Tom's at about 8 in the absolutely freezing weather but excited to get the cage in. The unit is absolutely awesome, something to dream about having one day. First job to remove the seats and weld the cage feet in the front, at the bottom of the rear seat box and on the rear arches. Considering I do all the work on my car it was a strangely nice feeling having someone else you totally trust doing the real work! I tried to help here and there but really wasn't much use at all and didn't even have to put on my overalls.

After the feet were in they got a quick coat of Hammerite and we headed for lunch. Next job was putting the cage in which sounds simple but it takes a while to package such a lot into such a small space. We finally finished after it got dark and the result was a million times better than I could have ever expected, the welds are brilliants, the craftsmanship is second to none and it's the exact specification I wanted. Anyone looking for a cage I would highly recommend @Tom Johnson. Tom really knows his stuff about the blue book specifications and considers issues I wouldn't have even thought of. A lot of skills jealously from me!

Finally got home last night at midnight after driving through some of the most horrific conditions on the motorway, having a triple shot coffee, red bull and lucozade to keep me going. Today I'm shattered! Next task, trying to get some magic performed on the rear quarter potentially before the trackday on the 10th. There is a slightly lack of pictures but I took videos for most of the day to start up a youtube channel soon, I'll get the video up shortly once I've had time to properly go through all the footage.

Thanks for reading as always

 

[Mash.]

Bad luck with the bus!

Good too see Toms name is getting out there now, his work is great!

Cage looks good, exactly the same as my safety devices one, but through dash - proper job!

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[Tom Johnson]

Thanks for the compliment and recommendation mate!!
Hope you're happy with it :up:
Really looks good even if I do say so myself!

 

[AdamCup]

Awesome work with the cage [emoji106]

Where did you get your sun strip from ?

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[Iain C]

No way mate. That's a fair whack! Hope you get it sorted

 

[debussetti]

Sucks to hear about the crash, but you must be thrilled with that cage, looks ace!

 

[GrahamS]

Bad luck with the bus!

Good too see Toms name is getting out there now, his work is great!

Cage looks good, exactly the same as my safety devices one, but through dash - proper job!

Certainly is matey. Yep that's exactly what I was after. Got bored of waiting for it to be produced.

Thanks for the compliment and recommendation mate!!
Hope you're happy with it :up:
Really looks good even if I do say so myself!

Had a lot of positive comments on it this week! Very very pleased with it, even my mum liked it.

Awesome work with the cage [emoji106]

Where did you get your sun strip from ?

Cheers mate, the sunstrip is an ebay job 8" http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-8-I...527503?hash=item43a73bde8f:g:YvkAAMXQfvlSg3MQ

No way mate. That's a fair whack! Hope you get it sorted

Gutted matey, in the process of sorting it at the moment though so should have it done in the next couple of months. Got a track day to do first. Couldn't have been at a more expensive time of year!

Sucks to hear about the crash, but you must be thrilled with that cage, looks ace!

It definitely was a moment that made my heart sink, happened now though so just got to laugh about it being at 5mph! Really pleased with the cage

 

[20vKarlos]

Cage looks good, quote a lot of bolts, how did you find the access to the bolts when fitting?

Also, does the cage rattle? Like metal on metal as it moves around?

 

[GrahamS]

Cage looks good, quote a lot of bolts, how did you find the access to the bolts when fitting?

Also, does the cage rattle? Like metal on metal as it moves around?

It's a book spec cage so I'd expect a fair few bolts! Access wasn't a problem at all. Nothing a spanner and a socket set couldn't get to.

No not at all, no noise from it whatsoever. The rest of the car however is horrificly loud.

 

[Tom Johnson]

Cage looks good, quote a lot of bolts, how did you find the access to the bolts when fitting?


Also, does the cage rattle? Like metal on metal as it moves around?

Moves around?? :laughing::laughing:

Why would it move around? It's bolted together solid pal that's the whole point of a cage.

 

[Martin.]

Moves around?? :laughing::laughing:

Why would it move around? It's bolted together solid pal that's the whole point of a cage.

What....it's secured in place?? Are you sure?

I assumed it would be hitting the roof and the sides of the car.... 😂😂😂😂😂😂

 

[Martin.]

Poor cup, but it'll get fixed!!

G man, I forgot to ask, what happened with the bus? Will your insurance be paying for any damage to that?

 

[Akay]

Ah man Saw this on FB, shame!

Cage looks awesome though, mines next!

Do you think it would be easy to remove the rear section (only getting a half for the time being), so I can paint the interior?

 

[GrahamS]

Poor cup, but it'll get fixed!!

G man, I forgot to ask, what happened with the bus? Will your insurance be paying for any damage to that?

Assume they're going to pay! I'll try and get the video from them if possible as I assume it has CCTV! Would be fun to see. Bus was barely damaged but because it's a yield generator they'll charge for loss of earnings while it's off the road.

 

[20vKarlos]

Moves around?? :laughing::laughing:

Why would it move around? It's bolted together solid pal that's the whole point of a cage.

What....it's secured in place?? Are you sure?

I assumed it would be hitting the roof and the sides of the car.... 😂😂😂😂😂😂

It's bolted together, so it'll have movement between the sections that are butted together, perfectly reasonable question...

It doesn't matter how many bolts or how tight they are for that matter, if the male section is a lot smaller that the female connection, then it'll move.

 

[AdamCup]

It's bolted together, so it'll have movement between the sections that are butted together, perfectly reasonable question...

It doesn't matter how many bolts or how tight they are for that matter, if the male section is a lot smaller that the female connection, then it'll move.

My old RS Turbo with a bolt in cage used to do this.

 

[GrahamS]

Evening chaps
@Martin. came down with me today and we got a few bits done to the Cup before hitting Bedford GT in a couple of weeks. Whilst not a particularly exciting list of bits done it's all those small bits which finish it off nicely.

Got the GoPro mounted on the front cross, giving a better recording view compared to the location on the old cage. Re-ran the power cable up the cage to constantly give juice to the camera when driving. Had a wonderful time cable tying it in place. If anyone knows where those socks are from, I found them in my draw once and love them. Would really like to bulk buy some! Thanks to Mart for capturing that terrible job.

Old view couldn't see very far ahead making track videos a bit boring.

New view you can see much further ahead.

Moved the crotch strap mounting points back to ensure the correct rearward 20 degree angle between the opening in the seat and the mounting points. In the photo you can see how off the old fixings were. Unfortunately the channel/rail which runs under the car had to be chopped a little to allow fitment of the spreader plate. Also took some time to get the shoulder strap lengths right and fit the passengers harness.

As it was starting to get dark we took the car out for a quick spin to see if anything else came to mind on the test drive. The most obvious thing was the arch which needs rolling a bit after the ding.

• Heat shields need attaching properly
• Steering boot isn't seated properly
• Clean the out side and windows inside
• Set rev lights over a longer rev range
• Roll arch
• Tracking
• Tie down battery again. I'll sort the terrible battery box eventually
• Fix in radio blank
• Relocate door handles and window switches
• Seal roof scoop to stop the car leaking

In other news, today we found the GoPro memory card from Bedford which I'd deemed totally lost. Here's a quick bit of track time and tuition from the day.


I've got a friend looking at the quarter panel after the track day with the hope we'll be repairing it without replacing the 1/4. As much as it's a track car I can't bare it looking that bad.

Last but not least I'm really pleased with how the car has come along this year. Interior is almost exactly how I want it. Next project is the engine which I can't wait to get started on. Thanks for reading as always.

 

[dann2707]

This looks unbelievable mate. Really love it

 

[GrahamS]

This looks unbelievable mate. Really love it

Cheers Dan. I think I can see some real track use on the horizon which will be nice!
Can't want to see your car done! Will have a read through your updates this evening

 

[mattf4r]

The most obvious thing was the arch which needs rolling a bit after the ding

Optimism folks! I'd say more than a ding if it was me! Real shame, looking forward to updates, cage looks a great bit of kit too.

 

[GrahamS]

Optimism folks! I'd say more than a ding if it was me! Real shame, looking forward to updates, cage looks a great bit of kit too.

I used to look at write off cars all day so that's a ding compared to the things I used to see 😂 Hopefully getting it repaired in the next couple of months but no rush really. Lots in the pipeline so update to come!

 

[masekwm]

When you doing Bedford? Will try and bring the Cup along for a last trackday before it's broken

 

[STEVE.M]

[QUOTE="GrahamS, post: 11263980, member: 75244" If anyone knows where those socks are from, I found them in my draw once and love them. Would really like to bulk buy some! .

The odd sock shop?

 

[GrahamS]

When you doing Bedford? Will try and bring the Cup along for a last trackday before it's broken

Doing it next weekend matey. Would be good to see you there.

[QUOTE="GrahamS, post: 11263980, member: 75244" If anyone knows where those socks are from, I found them in my draw once and love them. Would really like to bulk buy some! .

The odd sock shop?

They aren't even odd! Seriously though, I really want some more.

 

[masekwm]

Balls, I'm going for afternoon tea with the wife

 

[GrahamS]

Had a mixed weekend with the cup. Good news though, I'm finally ready for next weekend.
It was freezing yesterday but I got all the jobs done I wanted to and was done by about 2. The local autocentre has a Hunter alignment which is great for accuracy so I always take it there. To cut a long story short the monkey working there didn't know how to put the steering wheel on, didn't ask me for help, forced it, damaged the lifeline and set the tracking out of line. I then couldn't get the wheel on, had to borrow a file from them to right the damage he caused and they didn't apologise. Then had to go back this morning as last night going home was more important than sorting out their screw up. I'll be looking for a new place unfortunately, as they always say, you can only tell how good the service is when you have a problem.

Car is all done though, gave it a quick wash this morning and it's looking quite good for a shed.

Relocated the door handles. Got a bit trigger happy with the Dremel on the passengers side although it doesn't matter as I'll be getting new cards in the future anyway. Chucked a couple of screws in the radio blank to stop it falling out, rotated the anti-sub strap on the drivers seat, fitted the steering boot properly and rolled the arch which had been scraping on the tyre.

Can't wait for Bedford next weekend and am praying for good weather. Then it's time for the body repair and for it to be tucked away until season opener in February.

 

[GrahamS]

Bedford



Hmm, where to start, I jest, a little. I'd been watching the forecast all week and was prepared for a rather damp track day, blooming African weather fronts making it lash down. We stayed in Bedford on Friday night so were pretty refreshed for the day, got to the circuit at about quarter to 7, signed on and nabbed a garage as quick as possible. The day had a few different themes at different points; spinning, 12v and credit cards.

I'd never driven Bedford GT before so was really looking forward to getting on it after being a passenger on the circuit back in Feb but had also never done a wet track day. Did the sighting laps at pretty slow pace but even at that pace it was sketchy so swapped over the front tyres from some rather bald r888 to a fresh set. Unfortunately differing wheel colours don't make for great photos. Me and my dad then went out for the first proper session, not pushing hard at all, the car felt really squirmy. We approached the right hander going into the start finish straight at about 50mph and felt the rear end starting to go, tried to counter steer but it was totally gone, took my foot off the brakes so the tyres didn't flat spot and we did a nice little pirouette. The GoPro wasn't on but Ren was in the wings capturing it all. Apparently we got a cheer! Carried on round the lap, back end went again on another corner but managed to save it that time we came in to have a look at the tyres to see if there was anything wrong. I went out again thinking this is just what a wet track day was like but the car was all over the place still. After checking over the tyres properly I got to the pressures and noticed the rear tyres were 20psi, pumped them up, transformed the car and was able to take a bit of pace into the corners for the rest of the morning. I would have never expected tyres pressures to make such a HUGE difference but lesson learnt!

Lunch came so I headed to fill up and upon trying the restart the car was totally dead. @AlexW and @Martin. will remember I had a problem with the car having no juice to start last time we did a track day. This time it was dead as a dodo. Thankfully @Ben NBR Cup and his Dad were on hand and very kindly gave me a push so get started. On the drive back it started misfiring and as I pulled back into the circuit it was almost dead. I eventually broke down on the access road to the circuit and Ben's Dad gave me a lift back to the main complex in his lovely z4m which sounded amazing. Luckily I borrowed a spare alternator from Mart last week in case this happened so I put that on. Had a few problems along the way, snapped the wiring terminal on the cars loom and had to hollow a hole on the genuine alternator as it was weirdly too small to accept the tensioner bolt. Back up and running though we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon.

The rain had really set in by 2pm and the track was getting pretty bad at this point. There were rivers going across the circuit and in places the puddles so big there were huge waves of water coming from both sides of the car. Got a few good sessions in though and took Ren and my Dad out once each before the day was chequered flagged at about half 3.

On the way home the nightmare started. Just as we pulled onto the M25 the car started with the same symptoms of no power I had earlier in the day. We pulled over on the hard shoulder twice and carried on. Then the lights weren't working and only brightened when I revved the car. I pulled over at an SOS area and called Alex for advice and hotwired the alternator signal wire directly from the post on the alternator so it was permanently charging. This worked when idling but same problem came back when driving. Eventually the cup broke down on the roundabout of the south mimms services, 60 miles from home and without breakdown cover. After being relieved of a lot of money I joined the RAC and waited 20 minutes for the guy to turn up and say the car was too low to tow and I'd have to be recovered on a flat bed. It wasn't too low but he clearly just didn't want to tow us the distance back to home. Soaked, cold and running low on energy we sat in the services and waited for the flatbed to come. We eventually got home at half 11 last night with the journey home costing substantially more than the rest of the track day!

Anyway, onwards and upwards, got to fix the car for Bedford in February! Shame there wasn't much time to go and speak to people, those who I did see and spotted me I'm sure I'll be at Bedford again and hopefully won't be spannering as much next time!

PS. Sorry for the long post

 

[K_McDermott]

Poor luck mate but hopefully it's something easily sorted! I should really upgrade my breakdown cover with my bank now I'm back in a clio [emoji848]


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[Ben NBR Cup]

More than happy to help mate sorry things didn't go to plan on the day but the car was going well when it was out on track. Car looked lovely as well
Go team green haha
The video looked great mate need to get mine sorted (great save on the back straight)

 

[GrahamS]

Not many updates on the car over the Christmas period other than it's now back up and running. Unfortunately the alternator belt snapped on the BM on our way back from visiting family so we had a slightly unexpected second breakdown and recovery session to finish of 2016 with not a bang but the bong of the warning light on the dash.

On the last couple of days of the break I got round to changing the alternator I found a couple of issues. The wiring insulation had become brittle and cracked in a number of places so needed replacing back to a good section. Luckily when I broke my 182 in the summer I'd taken off all the wiring plugs from the engine loom and kept quite a bit of wire so was able to patch together an OK repair. The alternator was found on ebay using a valeo classic part number I found on their website. The terminals were in a slightly different place but no bother, it all fitted easily. A 16mm2 battery terminal was used to repair the 12v power cable. As the car hadn't run since the breakdown in the rain it was starting to corrode quite badly in the bay.

Next up was the leak which had been plaguing the car for ages. Every time I went back to it at the weekend there was a puddle in the passengers footwell. Rewinding a touch, on the way home from Bedford there was quite a bit of water coming in through the roof scoop and the car had been a little damp ever since. Of course I'd just assumed this was water coming from various places in the car. After properly drying out the car and sealing up the roof with some out of date sikaflex 291i it still had a new puddle the next week! Finally after pouring a watering can over the car I found a huge stream coming from a hole under the skuttle where the rear washer hose used to go through. 1 x 12.3mm grommet later and it's a leak free car now! yippee.

Now to look forward to Bedford on the 25th February. I'm not anticipating any big changes to the car this year as we're saving for a house and the Clio needs to take a back seat. That doesn't mean I wont be trying to get out on the track every 6 weeks or so over the season and hopefully by the end of the summer I'll have a home to keep the Clio. Hope to see some of you during the year.
G

 

[GrahamS]

Had the cup 2 years today, happy valentines.

 

[GrahamS]

Bedford SEN 25th Feb



Yesterday, me, @Martin., @masekwm, @Sir_Dave and @AlexW did the season opener at Bedford SEN with pit crew appearances from @Ant_Smiggy and @Jamie86. Prep for the day started last weekend but typically I couldn't really be bothered to get grimy so just gave the cup a clean inside and out before the day which made it a much nicer place to be.

I traveled up on Friday night with earplugs in and stayed at the Travelodge a few miles away but was so excited I had a pretty on and off night. Alarm set for 6AM it turned out to be an early start with the idea of getting a garage as the SEN circuit only has 8. It was due to rain in the afternoon however some people at the circuit decided they'd use it, a cause of some annoyance! The cup did very well though apart from the brakes feeling a bit dead. I've never changed the fluid since buying the car as I was waiting to run a full braided system but in reality it could do with changing. Ant kindly measured the temp of the brake fluid and it wasn't too hot so boiling fluid didn't seem to be the problem. Jamie said he didn't want to break my nipples off so we decided not to replace the fluid and potentially end the day early.

All in all the day was really good, a few bell ends on track driving beyond their limits but they were entertaining to watch at least! There were two future improvements yesterday really highlighted, a diff and some decent suspension. Suspension will likely come first. The car is rolling a lot and coming out of corners I'm always waiting to put the power down and not spin the wheels. Not sure when I'll next get out on track, as I've said before, the Clio is taking a back seat until we get a place. Will try and do something in a couple of months hopefully, maybe Brands as it's nice and close to home.

Not many pics sorry! I have made a little video montage though.

 

[barnesautos]

I was there also @GrahamS .
Hopefully I wasn't one of the bell ends lol . Car [emoji102] really good out on track .
I remember seeing a blue Clio I undertook at the left hander at the bottom of the back straight after the chicane , not sure if it was yourself or the other blue Clio , but understeer was in motion and quite a lot of it lol .
I'll try and sort through the video , but my GoPro s**t itself and recorded up side down which was a bummer .
Took @Ant_Smiggy out in mine also and he enjoyed the ride so to speak.

 

[masekwm]

@barnesautos In GoPro Studio you can click a button and flip the video, all mine are videoed upside down.

Good to see you yesterday Graham, I enjoyed the day although I really didn't like the circuit layout and annoyingly left behind my tyre pump