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Previous Build Diaries
October 2003
The picture in the logo was taken by Richard Crowe on a wet day at Nutts Corner on the 24th of Febuary 2004. |
25 Febuary 2004 OK some pics taken yesterday.    Looking well, if a little wet! In the 'speed' shot I'm actually spluttering along doing about 30!    Pictures of Brian's car and Sean's car and my own.  Chris and Gavin's Westfield Megabird (minus nosecone and bonnet) was running very well, although you could tell she was a real handful in the greasy conditions.  Chris, Gavin, Brian and Dad discuss my 'new' numberplate!  Finally, the poor soaked cameraman. Many thanks Richard for your efforts. Much appreciated! 24 Febuary 2004 A bad day at the office! First off was the weather - it did indeed rain, and while it only really chucked it down once it managed to do so while Ricky Crowe (cameraman supreme) was in the car with me with his video camera. The
other bad news is that my airbox mod (as featured on the 9th of January
- along with the prophetic words "this doesn't work") REALLY doesn't
work! Once the car gets above 30mph the engine won't go above
6000rpm! Not exactly what you want on a perforance car! I
tried with the bonnet off to see if the acoustic foam was strangling the
air supply but it was doing exactly the same thing. It looks like
I will have to get the engine re-jetted - that hopefully won't be too
big a deal - I already have the Pipercross socks and I know a guy who
think I can persuade to help me out! The
wet, rain-splattered video can be downloaded here - bad_airbox.wmv - 2.2Mb - things to watch out
for include me burying the throttle coming out of the top bend and
nothing happens except she nearly stalls! Very wet and somewhat
disappointing! Still, the other folks that were there (Brian -
Locost Blade, Sean - Locost CBR1000, Chris and Gavin - Westfield
Megabird) seemed to have a decent enough time, although the track was
very greasy and the action was very sideways! I'll put up some
still photos in the next day or two. The only good thing was that
the track cost 60 quid for 2 hours between 4 of us, a bit of a bragain
from what I've heard of prices across the water. Again,
many thanks to Ricky Crowe for risking electrocution in the name of
capturing all this for posterity! More progress! Today I booked my MOT date - 1pm 22nd March at Craigavon Test Centre, and got my SVA form sent off to Mallusk. I also asked clarification that amateur build vehicles do not have to do any emmisions check at MOT - this was confirmed. So it should be acceptable to fit the catalytic converter after the 22nd in time for the SVA. I will need, however, the silencer, but I've been promised that that shouldn't be a problem.... Took Lucy out for a
wee spin tonight around the yard - just to 'clear out' the engine you
understand. I've noticed there's a damp patch of concrete near the
garage, and if I *touch* the accelerator while the back wheels are on
this I can bring the tail of the car round nicely on the throttle.
Class crack! I feel a lot more confident throwing her around than
I did the last time at Nutts Corner - I think hunting down that brake
fluid leak has made a big difference. I must admit though
I'm really looking forward to the drive to the MOT centre and then later
to the SVA centre. Of course the big one is the first drive after
she's totally road legal.... 18 Febuary 2004 Some
progress made today. I have (at last) a chassis number - all 17
digits of it! Myself and my Dad got Lucy loaded onto the trailer
on one of the coldest mornings of the year - frost everywhere! We
made it across to Armagh in thick fog where a DVLNI bloke had a wee poke
around, made a note of the engine number and that was that! I made
up a wee aluminium plate and stamped the number onto it before riveting
it to the chassis. I can now get the SVA and
MOT forms sent off ASAP. I rang Mallusk to ask them the cost of
the SVA - it's a cool 200 quid, and the waiting list is back to April
apparently. I forgot to pick up an MOT form though - I'll get one
later and send the both of them off with a covering letter, hopefully
Bill will come through with the silencer in time. Well
I finally have a call to go to Armagh tomorrow so the folks from
Coleraine can satisfy themselves that Lucy isn't just a figment of my
imagination! This should enable them to give me a chassis number,
and should allow me to apply for my SVA test (and MOT) at Mallusk. Heard
some potentially bad news in that the positioning of the front cycle
wings is more important than I had realised. Apparently the SVA
requires the leading edge of the cycle wing to be ahead of the front of
the wheel rim - by this criteria mine might just fail, but I can't find
where abouts in the SVA manual this is mentioned! I'm awaiting
more info on this issue. If worst comes to worst it looks like 2
new cycle wings might be needed. Still, I do have Nutts Corner
next Tuesday to look forward to. I
did more ordering today as well, ordering an 11" Mountey Steering wheel
and Sierra boss from MAC1 motorsport. These are strictly for after
the SVA, but they should look a lot nicer than the current Sierra unit. Not
much to report (again) - I am still waiting for the chassis number from
Coleraine, so the SVA is STILL not booked. However I did order a set of
Team Dynamics Mirage alloy wheels - I intend to use these as my 'road'
wheels with the tyres from my current wheels on them, and I intend to
put slicks on the Ford alloys I currently have and use those for track
days.
Nice eh? It really is torture, having built the car I've been dreaming about for the last year or so and not being able to drive the car down the road - and there's nothing I can do to hurry it up. I
did do an MOT test during the week, testing the Primera as part of the
re-registering process. Interesting to see what Lucy will have to
go through in the future.
4 Febuary 2004
As
usual with a new month, I've saved the previous months diary in this page. You can get at it from
the menu on the left as well. |
|
Alister Jackson | No Rights Reserved |
