Stoneleigh 2017

I drove up with my wife yesterday and stayed overnight just north of Coventry, meaning a quick run down to arrive at the Stoneleigh show-ground around 9.30.

Good weather this year, the threat of rain reducing to a little overcast, and in the end perfect weather for wandering, looking at cars and meeting up with fellow drivers I've met from various run outs and events:

Castle Combe 2015: Bob and his wife - stalwarts of almost all RhoCar gatherings with his unique 'Florin Metal Works' seven.

Scotland 2014/2015: Rob, Terry recovering from a severe crash in his Cobra replica, Simon perusing the GBS Stand, Stewart and Jon (missed Andy) driven down from Scotland and Dan who just upgraded his car with a super charger. Sadly Ian, from the first Scotland run, recently passed away (unrelated to driving).

Bucket and Spade 2016: Al Milton, and another driving colleague who's name escapes me.

I also bumped into Zach who drove up in his upgraded V6 Zero and still working through some teething issues with oil leaks and stable cylinder firing. Zach's Orange car just visible behind mine in this picture, with the bonnet off and vertical air intakes.

Looked like a good turnout on the RhoCar stand,

Within 10 minutes of my arrival the outer line of club cars had stretched around the perimeter of the club area, when we came back just before lunch the whole of this area was covered with cars 3-4 rows deep.

No idea what this is - but the car itself, its grile and trailer are eye catchers!

A particularly photogenic Beetle based beech buggy caught my eye,

Camping options - looks like these guys were expecting to need protection against wild animals?

All sorts on display and I did pick up a few parts for the motor, I think we were there from around 9.30 to14.30 ish, very nice gammon roll for lunch, and made it home to Kent for around 18:30.

Gear lever gaiter / boot

Minor tidy up and upgrade - the gear lever gaiter, or boot, and tunnel top area was very minimal - but also getting a little tatty. The hole in the tunnel top was originally round - but adjusted to ensure it would not knock the lever in 5th.

I found an MGB part for the surround, available in chrome or matt black, found by trawling eBay and google images. The centre hole is over the minimum 80mm inside radius required. The only gotcha was the side bolt positions are right over the tunnel chassis tubes, so are cut short to be flush on the underside and hot-glued in place. The other two hold everything in place with rivnuts.

The old gaiter was removed and used as a pattern for the new one. I went for a single piece and no drawstring to simplify it - knock on effect is its not possible to double stitch the front seam, so my seam is positioned towards the front of the car - out of sight.

The new gaiter made from an off-cut of the original tunnel/aux panel vinyl cover material, time will tell if it is robust enough for this purpose. I didn't modify the tunnel panel hole - the gaiter and surround just sits over it. Looks the part.

I'm also slowly replacing the on-show original BZP M8 button head bolts: tunnel top, dashboard etc, with stainless flanged button versions to clean up the look a little.

Stoneleigh Kit Car Show plans

The Kit car show of the year is fast approaching, running Sunday 30th April through Monday 1st May. Seems to have arrived so quickly this year.

I'm planning to take the Zero up on Sunday 30th at some point - usually get there mid morning, park up on the RhoCar stand and stay for lunch and a few hours mooching about before heading home. 

Shopping list:

    T moulding - need a longer bit under the windscreen

    P moulding - might replace the bonnet chrome trim
    Wide rear view mirror for the top of the screen

    .... ? - who knows - ?

An excuse for a run out as well as the show itself.

Replace number plate lights

My original 5 LED unit only had one left working, so replacing it.

Bolt LEDs units for under £5 from China, I made some simple brackets from PETG offcuts left over from the Wind Deflectors, these will stick behind the plate rather than bolt through it to avoid any issues of making the plate less readable.

They wire into the original number plate lamp on the rear panel, which is still in place.

I still may re-visit the wiring route...

I should be all set for MOT now, perhaps after Stoneleigh.

Update - both of these failed by April 2019 - 2 years life, possibly because they were mounted facing up any water sitting in the LED.

Gear selector saddle upgrade

5 minute upgrade - the gear lever saddle clip which isolates/cushions the lever from the gearbox linkage.

I was watching discussions on Rhocar replacing these clips with brass parts to tighten the gear selection. Any wear on the plastic saddle I also understand can affect ability to engage some gears - so seemed like a nice straightforward upgrade.

I really dont want to feel pure metal on metal 'zing' feedback from the gears through the gear lever. Opted for middle ground, a heavy duty glass re-enforced nylon version (red) to replace the original (black) one.

Straightforward pull out and push the new one in - making sure to maintain correct orientation. There is no particularly obvious wear on the original, time will tell if this new one makes a noticable difference.

Re-install seats

New plate washers and bolts arrived so quick job to bolt everything back in.

Slightly new arrangement which saves me 5mm seat height! (12.5mm down to 7mm) this is secondary to spreading the seat load on the floorpan a little more.

Inside: A half height nut, who's job is only to stop the bolt falling out when putting the seats back in, and a 3mm thick 50mmx50mm plate washer.
Outside: No change - penny washer and new full size nyloc. 

This still gives just enough clearance to lift the seat position adjuster bar.

Changed to hex heat bolts rather than cap head, the hex locks into the rail and along with the half height nut on the other side its never going to turn.

Plate washers showing the size in context.

...and all shiny and new on the underside until the next run out which will hone the bolt length.

Replace front indicators

This one was on the cards for a while, a breakage on the Ireland trip just forced the issue. No idea where the lens went, didn't even notice it was gone until one of the campsite owners told me.

So looked for some options, this one only £3 from china - nice shape - but a little too extreme on size - perhaps more suited to being a repeater.

After browsing Ebay for 'motorcycle fairing indicator' settled on this. It would be no good for IVA - no 45º visibility from the front let alone minimum distance to the side, but MOT just checks number and functionality on indicator lights so I should be fine.

The car is on stands so no way to stand back and double check I got them exactly level - all functional though, nice new clean look.

Couple of longer shots in the drive - looks fine to me, they are even reasonably level!

Replace steering column bush

I had a little, 2mm, play in the steering wheel, traced to the nylon lower bush.

Didn't feel right, apart from being an MOT issue, so swapped out the whole thing.

The parts are cheap, new on the left, old worn one on the right.

The bush had ridden back up the column. I'd seen plenty of pictures before the build of jubilee clips to back up the standard sliding clip, ignored them and now learned the hard way - its worth adding!

Interesting job replacing the bush and its mounting with the car built - last time I did this there was nothing in the engine bay and the scuttle was not installed. New installation shows the inner bush pushed fully through.

And the steering column moutnings - replaced with new nyloc nuts towards the driver this time - much easier to install & remove when the scuttle is on due to limited room behind to weald a spanner.

I did contemplate upgrading the bushing to a full metal bearing, decided not to because:

1. This arrangement has been fine for 4 years and 18.4k miles

2. Its a relatively straightforward like for like parts swap
3. I need to focus on the MOT and not make maintenance jobs larger than they need to be

Remove seat bolts

I already knew, checked, the lowest point on the car which scrapes cambers or speed bumps are the seat bolts. i.e. no real harm done, they can be sacrificial and replaced as and when.

These were getting up to the line though - worst on the drivers side where the inside rear nut was down to two threads and 4mm of its former 11mm self. Lasted 18.4k miles though so no complaints.

I'll replace the lot, probably use slightly larger washers on the inside too - some 50mm plate washers to help spread the seat load.

Interesting dent/notch in the leading edge of the passenger side footwell - that must have been a rock/other immovable object. Thank you for steel floors GBS!

I gave it another coat of under-seal while I was there.

 No issues inside - just a collection of road detritus.

Update - seats re-installed

Wet feet, Pedal box mod

Whenever it rains I get a leak over my right foot.

I've never definitively worked out the water route, I don't think it is puddling or coming in via the scuttle since I had rubber moulding in both locations, it also leaks when the car is just standing in the rain or being washed.

Strongly suspect the hole in the pedal box lid combined with my rear edge bonnet vents is the culprit.

So, while checking and re-adjusting the clutch cable, designed and made a simple waterproof flap which should stop any direct downward ingress while still providing access. The front edge is weighted to stop it lifting.

Afterthought - the cover may benefit from a couple of simple pleats in the front corners so it moulds more closely to the shape of the break fluid reservoir beneath. Need some rain to test it.

16v Zetec plastic badges

While I was away some ordered badges arrived, these ones are embossed plastic by a firm called Signomatic based on my original cam cover images. Similar tech to that used on shopstaff name badges and various colour combinations available.

Relatively expensive in small runs but the quality is above anything I can produce on the 3d printer, not sure yet if/when they will be applied to the car.

They also produce aluminium nameplates but too expensive for me.

The ideal would be some enamel on metal.

Ireland - Teaser

The Ireland road trip was from 24th March returning 7th April, with a week's break in the middle. 

Overview

Returned safely around teatime on the 7th April - 18.5k on the clock now so I must have driven getting on for 1,900 miles on this one.

One day across Wales, 5 days Ireland west coast, a break in the middle for a family holiday then two days back across to Dublin and through Snowdonia - mostly in the Sun - was awesome driving!

The route detailed on this previous post.

Teasers...

Running repairs,

Duncannon sunset,

Mizzen Head,

Healy Pass - snaking roads and the view for miles,

 

Slea Head,

so-called Craggy Island via some inland Burren driving,

 Doolough Valley - the most incredible driving,

Old Head quay near Louisburgh,

Rosmoney,

Snowdonia,

Home!

Slightly cooked from sitting in motorway traffic, car with its new Wesport GAA colours chequered finish flag.

Video

Uploading videos here, not much editing - just as it happened hi-lights.