Dedicated Track Car Progress Thread

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And so we move on to the Javelin Sprint Series, round 2 at Blyton Park...

The car behaved perfectly at Brands, and the prep promised to be simple.
That dream didn`t last long...
I Threw a set of possibly the cheapest front pads I`ve ever fitted (QH brand at £20!) and lined up my old Dunlop wheels ready to have the Toyo Softs fitted.
I felt a little sick when I got up the following day to find they`d been nicked.
Bastards. I had 3 full sets of wheels and wanted tyre options on each. (Dunlops, Toyos and Michelins)
That`s that idea out of the window.
So I had to throw my softs on the Mitchelin wheels and settle for 2 rolling sets for now (though I want the road tyres for Monsoons and emergencies)
I may put them on a set of 9 spokes I have lying around. (undercover)

There was also the small matter of the seat.
The car gets scrutineered at a sprint (unlike a trackday) and I knew they were not keen on my seat to start with.
After the battering it took at Brands it really did look rough.


I have a pair of these seats and figured that a swap would sort that out.
I had noticed the seat getting less comfortable and found out why.
The bottom of the seat (proper old school tech this) was splitting.


Dangerous is an understatement.
Even in good condition, It is not the safest design I`ve ever seen...

Heres a screenshot from my Youtube homepage.
Just look how far I was sinking into the old seat at Brands (on the right)
Compared to an identical seat in good nick at the sprint a week later.


Safer with the better seat, but the lower driving position was really good.
I`ll be putting this, far more suitable seat in, before it goes out again.
It should position me low down, like in the Brands pic.


Anyway. The Sprint.

The day started lovely, but the weather man had wanrned us that it wouldn`t last...


And then it came down..


I still went out to hone those skills..

I really do need to think about how I set my own targets for these things.
My car is the most developed (fastest) it has ever been.
But thinking I could trim a specific amount from my times was a little naive.
I`d wanted to beat my pb (1:18..) and gain 15 places from last year.

I did of course win my modest class (by a couple of seconds too)
As far as the lap time is concerned, I was almost 3 seconds SLOWER than my pb
But, I finished in 52nd place overall, compared to last years 65th.
http://www.javelinsprintdays.co.uk/sprint/index.php?route=information/information&information_id=29

So I got the result I wanted, just not the time.
The reason. The track was damp and cold and we got only 2 timed runs before it rained.
Competition over by 11am!

Javelin very sportingly put up the times from those that carried on through the rain as a standalone set of unofficial results.
There were 76 cars competing overall. 52 carried on after lunch.

I did more than a bit better than in the dry...


12th out of 52. TWELFTH!!
I am praying to every deity I can think of for a monsoon at a sprint before the year is through.

Here`s a link to a vid of my fastest wet lap (last run)
It was great fun..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4fBdoSQWCs

Five weeks untill it rolls again,
I got a couple of little ideas too..

By the way. The pads were fine!
.
 
Well I tried to not mess with the car.
But I had a `gotta tidy that up` itch to scratch.

When I cut back the slam panel, I had to keep quite hefty chunks to hold the top of the radiator.
As all the weight is carried by the rad subframe.
With a stripped radiator (no ac, no fan) the hoses would hold it in place.
This would obviously be asking for trouble and I`m sure the hoses would split.

So I chopped out the rest of the slam panel and rad mounts.
Then, chopped up an alloy numberplate to knock up two simple brackets to stop the radiator vibrating too much or jumping out of the lower mountings.
Here`s a before and after pic.


I now want to get rid of the over-engineered lower mounting/subframe.
I`ll probably use 1.2mm alloy sheet and fabricate a cowling which is strong enough to actually hold the rad (and channel airflow too)

I can`t leave it alone, even when I try..
 
It`s been a short while since I updated my build thread, and there are a couple of chapters to tack onto the ongoing saga..
I`ll tackle them one at a time..

I have got around to fitting the new(ish) bucket seat.
After the driving experience at brands Hatch, when the split seat base dropped me about three inches in the car, I decided i wanted to get my seating position `just right` with the new seat.
After a bit of rough measuring I decided to use the Cobra seat basess that the current seats are mounted on.
problem is the base isn`t constucted symetrically, and to get the side mounts on, The seat would be a couple of inches off center (of the steering wheel)
I fitted the base and plonked the aseat on to see how it worked.
It didn`t, being that far off line was uncomfortable.
So a bit more measuring up and I worked out how to make the mount wider and more central.
So the sidemounts would be flush, and solid too!


I purposefully made the extension plates a bit long, thinking i can set the seat up before cutting and save myself a lot of swearing..
Then I test fitted the seat and drilled the base and cut it to size so my seat was just so.


The seat is better place than ever before.
My knees are no longer fighting with the steering column...

I am not sure how I will get on with the steering wheel position.
It feels a bit far away.. I`ll sort this with a spacer or deeper dished wheel if it bothers me.

Next stop Round 3 of the sprint series...
 
And so onto the Javelin Sprint, round 3 at kendrew barracks. (Just off the A1 near Stamford)
This was a leap into the unknown as it was the first event Javelin had ever run there.
One of the other competitors posted this telemetry map showing us what we`d been up to


It`s a pity we didnt have this beforehand!
The place is a working airbase and there were extra forms to fill in and men with automatic weapons at the gate we used to get in!

We had almost perfect weather and some buildings with a briefing room, canteen and loos.
Which was a pleasant surprise. Some airbases have nothing but a butty van and `pod` toilets...


The surface was, as I had expected, a bit on the awful side.
tarmac, but really old tarmac (except the runway part)
So, I had fitted my Dunlops to use for most of the day, With the soft Toyo`s hidden in my boot until the last couple of runs.
My sneaky plan worked a dream, and swapping onto proper sprint tyres shaved 3 seconds off my times.
And a second class win :grin:


So with three rounds done I am winning the class overall.


Now the rocket propelled Fiesta has been bumped up a class, making it a straight fight between myself and a pair of mx5`s
I`m skipping the next round (best 6 results from 8 sprints) As it`s at Croft, which is a power circuit and I`ll score very modest points in the overall championship.
Plus I have a Club trackday weekend coming up quickly and don`t want to overstretch myself or the car.

Very happy with the car, which needs just the steering wheel looking at.
It`s further away than on my road car!
 
So onto the Trackheads Blyton weekender.

Our trackday group found an event run by Mazda on track, aimed at clubs just like ours.
They were running three different layouts (Outer, Eastern and Inner)
I went for a session (AM/PM) of each, Giving the car and myself a breather over the GP of a trackday..
The Trackheads group brought 2 Pumas, 2 Clios, 1 Escort & 1 Saxo
Only two worth picturing though..


With the organisers being Mazda biased, I find their days are full of mx5`s. Which is a good match for the Puma
I had a couple of epic batles with a few. Made mincemeat of a good number of `em too..
One or two supercharged beast were a class above I must admit ;p

Saturdays outing was the morning session on the usual Outer circuit layout.
It`s the track I`ve driven the most (this was my 8th visit)
The conditions were absolutely perfect and I had the longest scrap of the weekend with a nice mx5, half a dozen laps on my bumper then half a dozen on his.
We were obviously going for it, but sticking with trackday etiquette regarding all other cars, and not one blue or black flag was waved at any time!
Excellent fun..

I was just messing around on Saturday
Sunday was what the weekend was all about...

The Eastern Layout at Blyton is a totally different animal to the Outer.
Whereas, on the Outer after the first bend you just blast off past a concete blob, round a long bend towards the chicane at 90mph.
Much more giddy on the Eastern. There are 4 differing corners in quick succession leading to a never ending right hander before rejoining the Outer layout at the chicane.
It`s ace!!
And suits the puma down to the ground.
Not one car there was faster through the technical stuff than mine.
In a few weeks time I`ll be competing on this layout in the Javelin ASprints. I`m hoping to embarrass a good number of `faster` cars...

The Inner is a very seldom used layout.
And has a a different start point (at the end of the first straight)
It follows the outer till the end of a regular lap where it carries on and runs the opposite way through the technical section of the Eastern.
Hooning time..
I ended up running out of brakes at 4:20 while having a showdown race with my mat to see who took the `fun cup` home with them.
I was in front too..

Never mind, next time ;-)

So enough about my fun.

The car...

Well it didn`t skip a beat. I only popped the bonnet to prove to someone it was basically what Ford had put in there.. (and make sure nothing was boiling up(it wasn`t))
I have to say, The car really held it`s own at weekend.
I was hunting an Evo all day Sunday, but he kept coming in..

This is on the final straight on the Eastern. GPS speedo read 101mph


The splitter looks a bit wonky. need to look at that.

I have definitely learnt something along the way to where the car is today.
That is, that tuning for big power on a trackday is a waste of money and energy. Plus, it`s going to give big expensive problems.
Driveshafts, gearboxes, bank balances. All breaking around me..

Instead of spending big bucks on engine mods I`ve put most money and time into handling and weight.
The only car in our group that had me was a clio 172 with standard engine and thousands spent on the suspension.
And we both rag our cars all day without headaches..
Here`s a shot of a (different) Clio 172 (track prepped) chasing me into a corner and needing the 40 bhp I give him, to catch up again.


There were loads to choose from of him behind me.
He couldn`t get past for about 8 laps.
When I did let him through.... he came off! lol..

I did just short of 225 miles, each session was 75 miles
and upon inspection afterward i found I have finished off ALL my pads.
I`m a little surprised that I used so much of the rears, but I recon running cheap pads on the front and half decent on the back may have unbalanced the brakes.

Plus I finished off a set of tyres..
The overbraking on the rear was causing a lot of lockups on my N/S rear. (L-H circuit)


It has half a dozen flatspots and is down to the wire in one place.
I need to service those brakes and fit more suitable friction material

and find some more tyres...
 
:cool: great write up :grin:

It does sound like lots of fun and your Puma certainly pulls it's weight.
 
I have a question.Tell me why you spend a lot of time and a fair amount of money on prepping your car and then skimp on brake pads?First thing I always did prepping any competition car was decent fluid and pads then locating the engine and gearbox to stop it moving around too much(does look like you are having fun though)
 
Hi dave.
As a rule I dont.
But after a trackday early this year, with a sprint the following week, I needed front pads asap!
I had been running Brembo pads all round, but all I could get over the counter were generic `QH` brand. (at £20!)
I found them okay (I`m not into haring into corners stamping on the stoppers, more of a controlled in, hard out style.)

It`s all a big old learning curve, running on the economy pads was as much an experiment as all my other mods.
I actually found them okay on track (not as sharp as Yvonnes` Puma which is running 1144`s, just `okay`)
The balance thing is no good at all though. and they wear fast.
There are some Mintex 1144`s on the way (1155`s have a huge waiting time and my next sprint is just a fortnight away)

So it`ll be super grippy fronts and generic rears.
Also, I will need to check the restrictor valves are working correctly.
If none of that works, It`ll be time to dig deep and buy a bias valve.
 
Fantastic write up Stewart. it was a fun weekend, hopefully the practice and getting the curve grande a lot faster will pay off on the next round of the sprint. :pinkeye:
 
Thanks Yvonne.
If Brands GP was the circuit of the year so far, this was the trackay.
I had a great time, the two day thing worked well, with both Pumas coming home in one piece..

The sneaky practice run was good too.
The fifth round of the sprint is round the corner and with other cars in both of the Puma classes there`s trophies to go for...

On the subject of the sprint series, i should mention that the fourth round was last week.
I skipped this particular round as it was close to the weekender, also as it was at Croft.
I knew only modest championship points would be up for grabs. (Long, power track where bhp wins every time) and as it`s 6 from 8 results. we`ll be discounting two rounds.
This is one of mine, I will be doing the remaining sprints and dropping my worst. (probably the Snetterton 300, another power track)
So now the MX5`s and I have all done 3 rounds and were at the mid point in the season.
And I`m class leader :)


I`m hoping to stretch that lead on the Eastern. four cars in B4 this time.
Including another Puma :)
 
I`ve not updated the thread for a few weeks,
and what an eventful time I`ve had...

Firstly, the seat and steering wheel position got attention.
I have the seat perfect for my long legs, but the steering wheel is miles away!
I thought a deeper dish steering wheel would be an easy answer. But how deep?
I could spend £50-£100 plus on a wheel, only to find it`s not quite right. Which would be a sickener.
So I picked up an universal adjustable spacer for less than twenty quid to find out first.


I removed it almost straight away. The wheel is noticeably higher, and with the seat being lower driving was awful...
The seat position itself, is miles better though


Slightly lower but an inch or two further back.
I`m going to look at altering the angle of the steering column to drop the wheel before fitting a deeper wheel.

Also, my car came with a home made `FRP modded` airbox.
It had seen much better days.
I decided to replace this with a `Mk 2 ` version
Taking a decent airbox I broke out the saw and cut down the bottom of the airbox. patching it with some more numberplate.
The cold air feed I directed directly into the front of the airbox raher than at 45` like the FRP.
I then made (tried to) an angled trumpet for the headlight.
This should give me a `ram air` feed at speed.
That`s the idea, here`s the photo`s,,,


And so to the next sprint round at the Blyton Eastern.
As usual for Blyton, It rained in the afternoon..
Still, I managed to punch well above my weight, winning my class again and finishing 58th overall.
I beat all my group too, but with the sprinkling of Evo`s that showed up, I knew points would be hard to come by.
I managed to catch my splitter on the trailer while loading up. So a quick repair was needed to compete, with a more durable job done back at base.


Next stop Fordfair.
Now that`s another (equally long) post...
 
So, to bring things up to date...

Firstly, I broke out the Autoglym, fitted some suitable tyres and headed to Fordfair.
Thanks to the huge queues and sneaky campsite entrance i actually found myself on the stand quite early so got time to actually take in some of the show. Good to meet and re-meet a few of the pp members.


The makeshift bonnet strut got some comments!
I`d booked a couple of afternoon tracktime sessions and had a great hoon.
Being an experienced track driver, on decent tyres in a set up car, It`s easy to look like a driving god at Fordfair.
A few cars gave me a scrap, This guy gave me the race of the day (I came out on top)


It`s ashame I had no dashcam I passed the entire field in my second session. (I went out second last because I was carried away chatting and realised I was less than five minutes till my session... and mid ice cream!)
This vid is from a pro modified Focus 225 that went out behind the pace car..
and I pass him on 19 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S4v0UPjqIA

Bang on cue for my third engine to explode.. :teary:
Right in front of the camera!
As I passed him I felt a knock (you see the car kick) then another, and so on, until.. it turned into a box of nuts and bolts.
As he starts to pull up on me, the car is visibly shaking!
I limped it home and looked forward to having an engine to swap in two weeks before my Angelsey Sprint!

Great :roll:

I had originally had an epic week of sprinting and trackdaying planned, taking in Curborough and Angelsey.
That obviously, went out of the window!
But I did still have a week off work.
..And a well maintained donor engine.
....And the weather gods smiled :grin:
......And... Just to make my bank managers` blood boil, a chap popped up on facebook selling a lightened flywheel
So I reached deep into my overdraft and shelled out on this.


Like everyone, Iv`e heard horror stories regarding these machined flywheels exploding!
But as it has been used (hard) in a rally car, I`ll take my chances that it`s a good `un.
So..
day 1. Identify problems and acilliaries off
day 2. Engine out and stripped
Day 3. `New` engine cleaned built up and `breathed on` (flywheel arrives)
Day 4. Engine in and start, second turn of the key (forgot the engine earths)
day 5. Eat, bathe and sleep...
day 6. Take car to Angelsey for my rebuilds baptism of fire..

As I have done this several times over, I didn`t bother with a photo story.
One thing I did do differently, was be utterly fastidious in my work.
Check, check and check again. Everything..
And boy is it clean inside that engine bay now!

So, onto day 7...


The car felt quite different.
The power delivery felt smoother. but stronger.
Possibly down to cam timing being absolutely spot on.
I found when building the engine that it took a couple of attenpts to get it precisely right.
Last time I was pushed for time and I doubt it was a close as this.
A 33% lighter flywheel no doubt helps too!
Most cars were setting similar times to last year (all slightly quicker, a few standing still)
I utterly smashed my time from last year. :D
Setting a 1:49.49 Down three & 1/4 seconds from last years 1:52.75
My careful rebuild, flywheel, FRP LSD box, LMS plenum and proper sprint tyres probably cost the best part of £1275 but have given improvements in results on par with guys with 10k engine builds.

Feeling Smug

A stiff gearchange meant dropping to second for the slower corners meant it was more trouble than it was worth.
The video below is my last and fastest run. Hitting my target (sub 1.50) with the last run of the day. 1.49.49
I take two corners in third when really i needed second.
Oh boy the engine tone changes when you drop of the power!
I really need to look at that..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl9-sz-ERic


I am really pleased that the engine didn`t skip a beat. not a spot of oil or loose bolt.
Needless to say, I am smashing the championship class too ;-)


I`m not sure whether I heard a wheel bearing squeaking while creeping forward in the queue.
But that is ongoing maintainence.
Though I might just make some changes here, I`ll think about it..
 
So....

I should pull my finger out and update things.
So I`ll bring us up too date..

All has been rosy with the car, The post outing checkdown revealed nothing requiring attention, So I rubbed my hands together and readied myself for the final sprint of the season well in the lead in my class.
Not quite out of reach, but It`d take a disaster to not clinch the class win..

The week before Cadwell, the Trackheads group organised a rolling road day.
Now when I`d reassembled the engine, I had been relly tight with all my tolerances and settings.
With the new flywheel I hoped for a couple of extra ponies.
And I got them :grin:


Very happy with 140.3 bph at the flywheel.
That`s 4.5 brake more.
Just for being precise in my work (I was rushed with an untested engine last time)
The car had felt stronger at Angelsey. :)

So he car stayed on the trailer and rolled off at Cadwelll Park a week later.


a real treat was that there were 3 other trackday Puma`s there too.
Some competition!!
Under leaden skies on a rather cold late October morning I really focussed on not binning it, as I teetered my way round the very treacherous circuit.
Very, very slowly a sort of line as appearing through the drizzle and leaves.
I was having to scrap for the gong this time..

Then at about half three an EVO managed to self destruct on the final straight (bottom end exploded) stopping proceedings.
There was about 40 minutes waiting while they cleaned up and cement dusted the oil slick.
The gods of motorsport chose to smile in that 40 minutes,
the clouds parted a little and the wind almost finished off the track drying and we had one final run,
on an pretty much dry track.

Driving like it was the last lap of a grand prix I set my best time of the day, winning the class by 2 clear seconds.
Championship win and 5 wins out of 6 along the way.


I also made utter mincemeat of the othe Pumas, although I have been sprinting for a couple of years and these guys were new to it.
Big happiness and absolute faith that the car works exactly as it should.

I`ve been very modest about my win, which is why I`ve not told the tale for 2 1/2 months
I`m not a self promting type and didn`t want to turn the thread into the Stu Show!

And that was that for 2017.. or so I thought...


I have wondered just why my fastidious build with FRP spec throughout is 15bhp down on a standard FRP!
I was talking to Erroll and he asked about my cars loom (It`s a twin lambda loom)
It turns out that a without a small modification the car runs assuming it`s on 91 ron fuel!
So Erroll very kindly sent me a replacement ecu and I booked onto a trackday at Oulton Park in December to actually swap the ecu and `Pepsi challenge` the modification.
I had a video on board and the modded ecu made one hell of a difference.
Here`s a couple of short vids from late in the day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpQwIp3TfKs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eryR8jbjhOI

My mate with the Clio said that after the ecu swap he was having to work hard to catch me....
Timing clear laps off the dashcam told me I was two seconds quicker.
I`ll take the car back to Tuning Developments for a dyno run to see whether I`ve `found` the `missing` 15bhp...

One last pic for the year, Nailing the apex at Lodge.
More plans for 2018..

 

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