Replaced rear wiper motor because the case has been cracked ever since the respray. After months of trying to obtain a replacement somebody gave me two of them. Fitted one, but it didn't work. Fitted the other and it did work.

Yesterday, on the way into work, after stopping at the barrier I pulled into the car park. The brakes felt loads better. A slight pressure and they were biting. I was pretty pleased. Until I realised that the handbrake was half on. On the way home I experimented with this. Truth be told is that the handbrake needs adjusting. It has to be pulled all the way up to stop the car, and any sort of handbrake turn manoeuvre is out of the question since all it does is gradually slow the car. I found that having the handbrake lever pulled half way up seemed to make no difference to the coasting speed.

Just makes me wonder: if I fix the handbrake cable tension will the brakes feel better? I guess that when I push on the pedal then the rear drums are having to expand that bit more and that's what's wasting the travel. So the handbrake cable tension is more important than I used to think.

We bought the steel for future additions to the cage. Due to lack of time was had to do some MOT remedial welding. A small plate in the sill in the driver's footwell. The driver's side rear turret was then tackled. This had some rust breaking through. After cutting the top layer off the turret the underlying Steel was found to be sound. So we made up a new plate for the top and welded that in. Rob then seam welded the turrets on the inside and outsides.

After that we cleaned all the welds up and primered the internal welds and undersealed the exterior welds. It was about 8pm by this stage.

Finally I had to sort the rear drums out. After removing the driver's side drum I found that the auto adjuster was jammed on the minimum setting. The mechanism was cleaned out and greased and then adjusted. The passenger side drum was found to be self adjusting. The whole lot was reassembled, the shocks refitted and the car finally lowered.

We finished everything by 11pm.

Two hours later I phoned up for the bad news. Nothing serious: headlamp loose, one side repeater not working, indicator stalks loose. Luckily I had some spare headlamps in the garage. With the indicator problem I went to the scrappy again and obtained another assembly. But that was just as loose. So I wrapped tape around the bungs that hold it together and that solved the problem. The side repeater problem appeared to be a bulb failure. But it wasn't. As I set to with the multi meter it was dark, cold and starting to rain. Oh well, on the final straight now. After half an hour I found that the problem was a dodgy contact on the multi plugs in the passenger footwell.

Back round the garage and finally I had myself another year's MOT.

Back at base I drew the required outline on the panel and then cut it out with an angle grinder. By being careful I got most of it right first time. I cleaned it up with a file. Then the real problem was tackled: there was a massive tar patch stuck to the underside of the roof. Removing this was alright, but it left a large amount of glue which I couldn't shift. In the end I loosened it with solvents and scrubbed it with Scotchbrite. Then I used a wire brush on a drill to spread it around and finally more solvents. It took ages. The panel looked pretty good on the car. Then I noticed some dents where the screwdriver I'd used to remove the tar had made dimples in the metal. I ground most of these down and then sprayed the panel with primer. I decided to get the body shop to paint the panel properly.

The brakes are massively improved now that I sorted the rear drum tensioner out. The car does not pull off line at all when I brake from high speeds.

The last three times I've been there I've managed low 15s at around 92mph. Since then I've changed the bottom end and added some weight. I did two runs. A 16.9 and a 17.1 both at around 88mph. That's about 4mph down on previous results. Both times I span the wheels to buggery. I changed into 2nd at 3000rpm in an attempt to overcome the problem somewhat.

I've run the results through the acceleration calculator and they tally up if I limit grip to 0.35g, rather than the 0.7g my car is capable off. So that means the wheels were slipping in 1st and 2nd gears.

On the way home I was wondering whether I might have lost power, but I don't think so. The car feels as fast as ever (Book of excuses, chapter 1 "it's a goodun"). Allowing for the cage and maybe a few missing hp due to cam timing (chapter 2, section 2, "little things that all of a sudden make a huge difference") then I reckon it should be capable of the mid 15s. The extra 1.5s were made up with a 0.9s delay getting to 60ft (3.2s compared to a more typical 2.3s) and a few more tenths in getting to the 1/8th point.

Therefore I primarily blame traction. I don't think the uprated clutch helps, since I could slip the old one a bit better (Chapter 3, "I was having a bad day").

Anyway, I intend to return when it's warmer and I can get more runs in. I've done some shockingly bad times before.

I'm spending most of my time helping Rob Fairbrother with his Astra GSi turbo project. It's totally stripped out, caged, tuned turbo engine. The shell is finally finished now and the bits are being fitted to it.

Removed the bump steer mod. It didn't seem to improve the steering. In fact it made things worse. I'm not sure why. I think it was to do with the loads acting to twist the rack internals.

New rotor arm and distributor cap as the engine has been a bit jerky at low rpm.

Full story.
 

On Sunday I had the pleasure of following a Boxster S down some twisty roads and was keeping up without having to work too hard. This includes corners and straight lines. Now, bearing in mind that a Boxster S is capable of a 14.2 1/4 mile this seems just about plausible. The RWD set up gives it a 0.5 or 0.6s advantage on the launch, so we're only talking 0.4s difference on a 1/4 mile which is not going to be noticed when tackling a load of bends and short straights. All the same, I was chuffed.

An Elise was getting away on the straights. I was pondering the power to weight balances of the two cars and concluded that the Elise must be a sport 160 or similar. At a stop I found out it was a 190BHP new model. Talk about feeling pleased, the driver confessed that he was surprised I was keeping up. It did involve a bit of fear though.

So there you go, recent performance comparisons on twisty roads have shown that a 145BHP 8v engine is enough to keep up with some expensive machinery and still have a great time.

Once I made it the Combe I went to buy track passes and could only get 4.15 and 4.45. So that gave me a few hours spare. Enough time to get the tracking done, so I went down to Chippenham to find a Crapfit or similar. After driving around for a while I found Halfrauds and went to see what they could do. Nothing, but they did tell me where Crapfit was. Sort of, the instructions sort of made sense, so after a bit of randomness I stumbled across Crapfit. They were very friendly there, but told me to come back an hour later. So I went to sample the wonders of Chippenham. After a long Coffee and some newspaper reading I made it back to Crapfit for 2.30. They were very interested in the car so I spent a good while chatting to them whilst they sorted the tracking. The angle is supposed to be -1.5 or something. So +12 was probably a bit out then. I knew the tracking was out. It wore my previous tyres severly on the inner edge.

By the time I got back to the Combe I only had 30 minutes before going out on track. I had a few passengers lined up, but couldn't find them. I guess my late track time and me not being there most of the afternoon had confused them.

On track things were OK. My first session was used remembering how to drive on the track. I got stuck behind a Golf that wasn't any faster or slower than me, and it was a tad dull because there was little overtaking. The brakes were working really well which was nice. The oil temperature was +4 bars all the way round. It normally peaks at +3 bars, so the oil cooler was probably useful, I might refit it.

My second track session was loads better. I reeled a few things in and had some sort of proper Porsche following that I seemed to leave behind on the bends. I couldn't gain on a 106 Ralleye though. The kit cars were really fast, apart from one that I overtook, wonder what engine it had. The Z3 M was being driven slowly on this session. I was pretty annoyed by stupid behaviour on the track. I overtook someone on a straight, then had to slow down to follow the car in front round the corner and the car I'd overtake came up on the inside of me. WTF? I did have a far better time on the second session, I was starting to flow, taking better lines, not being pressurised by other people, and my initial fear at the increased levels of oversteer was turning into pleasure at how the oversteer could be balanced on the throttle and used. I stil don't think that I was comitting myself enough, especially on the big corner by the pit lane.

We then had a scenic drive home. Pete and myself did some good A and B roads. On the hill out of Nailsworth into Horsely my battery warning light started to flash. Then the ECU light came on and off a few times. Then the engine started to misfire. I kept on driving. Then I had no choice because the engine was dying on me. So I pulled over.

I got out to have a look and there was smoke coming from under the bonnet! I gesticulated to Pete. We opened the bonnet and a massive flame shot up in the air. It was coming from the gearbox end of the engine, near the fuel lines.

A bystander was watching and gave the encouraging words "that's gone mate, I'd get back if I was you". Me and Pete rapidly closed the bonnet. WTF to do? In a mild panic I had a look around. Across the road was a coach yard and there was a tap and hose pipe. We both had the same idea at the same time and ran across the road. The hose had some silly brush on the end, but it was better than nothing. I opened the tap and ran back to the car . We opened the bonnet and again there were loads of flames. It looked like more. I had a feeling of fear laced with dread. The car was going to burn. I'd be left with nothing but a shell. The water coming from the brush was not enough to stem the flames. We shut the bonnet on it and ran back.

We watched from the other side of the road. Nothing much was happening. I went to the tap and opened it all the way, it was only about half way due to the rush. A bit of smoke still, but not no more than before. Feeling a bit more confident I got a screw driver out and removed the jubilee clip holding the pipe to the brush. Water gushed out. I opened the bonnet and doused the flames in torrents of water. It was working. Shortly there were no flames. I continued to spray the engine area for five minutes.

By this time the fire service had arrived and looked a bit sad at the lack of fire. The police turned up too and were friendly enough. They saw that I'd been to Combe Castle and were joking about thrashing it. As they talked to me I assesed the damage. A load of wiring loom had melted. But once I pulled the molten tape off it, most of the wires were OK. I reckoned we could start the car.

The lady whose hose it was turned up. She was OK about the drama and packed her hose away. The fire service and the police went. It was just Pete and me. I seperated all the molten wires and cut some of them out. I tried to start the car and Pete connected some loose wires to the live. The engine started. The fuel lines were leaking though, leaking like a shot gun riddled Mickey Mouse cartoon character.

We had various suspicions as to the cause of the fire and what had happened. The most likely was that the braided fuel hose had been chafing on the wiring loom and had finally cut into a permanet live wire from the starter motor. The heat had built up and ignited the insultation (aka insulation) tape and cable ties. Once this lot got going then the fuel pipe was heated up until finally the inner of the pipe melted and there was free fuel to fund the fire.

The thing is, we had installed the pipes late at night and I was left with the job of tying it all down and making it safe. I wasn't too much a fan of cable ties, so I left it pretty much how it was. So, today was an education as to what can happen when an earthed hose crosses a wiring loom.

It was time to call back up. When you've got a job and need help you call the Vaux MD rapid reaction vehicle. Aka Philastrasport. Whilst waiting for him we rolled the car back into a covered busport on the other side of the road. The lady and her fit ish daughter brought us Coffee. Once Phil had arrived then we set to replacing the fuel pipes. After getting them on the right way round and having Phil do some wire and tape work then the car started. Only I had a permanently operating fuel pump. It was enough to get me home though. I though I might as well carry on driving as I had before.

Anyway, the overall damage is a slightly molten scuttle panel, some melted wire insulation, some paint burnt off the inside of the bonnet and a pain blister on the top of the bonnet. My pants survived, though I really did think the car was going to be burnt out at one point. How lucky was I in stopping right by a hose pipe? I'm ordering a large fire exstingisher on Monday morning.

Back at the garage I had a good look at the mystery wires that had been cut off and sorted out what had to be connected where. Only it didn't work. I suspect that the fuel pump relay is knackered because it's getting 12v but only putting out 0.3v. As Pete said, though, there's not many people who drive a car away from the site of an engine fire.

At the workshop I sorted the fuel pump relay and battery. Everything worked fine. Then I sorted the wiper motor.

Suspension inspected. Found an extra washer on one wishbone bolt. Then realised that it was a driveshaft washer, which I'd put in the wrong place last week. Remember, tiredness causes mistakes.

I cleaned up and painted several areas under the car.

I found that the fuel filler pipe had indeed cracked where I'd been hammering. The metal around the filler neck was also a bit rusted and manky. Even though it was late at night I was up for some creative plate cutting. I cut some Aluminium  plate to fit in the recess on the wind, with suitable holes for the filler neck and screws. After some QRust treatment, I bonded the plate on with Glass Fibre filler.

The noise is quite extreme with the TAS mounts. The whole shell, being totally stripped, vibrates like a big drum, especially on the over run. Brought a big smile to my face. It's bloody ace. I'm really impressed.

I've been helping a friend fit a tuned up 2.0 8v engine to a Scirocco. Big valves, big cam and twin 40s. I'm interested in how it runs and how many mpg it manages. I could be tempted.

We were down at a really good rolling road tuner (Car Improvements near Yate) today. He was very interested in my car and had some good ideas for improving the engine quite cheaply. A manual distributor would allow him to adjust the ignition timing and he though that could allow better output from the engine. He also said that rising rate fuel regulators (like the FSE Power Boast (sic) valve) did work on some engines. I was quite tempted by the idea of fitting a fast road cam, manual ignition, a vernier pulley and adjustable fuel pressure regulator and then getting him to optimise it.

Spent this weekend transplanting a 2.0 16v engine out of an Astra GTE into a Cavalier Calibre (not a Calibra). We took two engines out, swapped a load of bits over and fitted the engine into the Calibre in one late night and one full day. The extras like wiring and welding the exhaust systems up took some of the time. It all ran though after some fiddling around with the electrics.

I've acquired a distributer, Hall sensor and ignition module from a 1.8 8v Cavalier. This will fit in place of my current distributer which is controlled by the ECU. My local tuner reckons he can obtain more power by having control over the ignition timing. So the ECU will be ignored.

I've had a bit of worry with the oil pressure this week. It sometimes drops the first bar on the digi display. I've got a few theories, one being the thinner synthetic oil I've tried out.

Annoying rattle and wobbly engine was traced to a rear engine mount bolt that was tight in the hole but not actually tight against the mount. That was sorted.

Oil pressure problem was tackled. Pressure relief valve was cleaned out. Pressure sender also cleaned and rewired.

Finally, the 1.8 distributer with Hall sensor was fitted in place of the ECU controlled distributer and coil. Only three wiring connections were needed. Live feed from the original coil live. The ECU coil earth was cut and the ignition module switched earth used in it's place. Finally, the new circuit required an earth wire. After sorting that, the engine was started and it fired into life first time.

Which was nice. We then divved about with the timing a bit.

First test drive has shown that it works fine, you wouldn't notice any difference between that and the ECU driven coil.

The Kent cam kit should be arriving soon. I've got a set of new lifters ready to go in too.

So, all I need now is some carbuncles.

Read all about it.

I've acquired a massive 4-1 tubular exhaust manifold, courtesy of a Vauxhall fan in Brazil.

I've discovered the source of the burning smell at high rpm. The oil filler cap is leaking oil when the revs are high. This drips down onto exhaust manifold.

Car is going so well. Total hoot to drive. I need a rev limiter though. I've been over 7K quite a few times and I've no idea how many rpm I'm doing.

Had a bit of a trip to Wales this weekend. Car is going so well.

• New side repeater to replaced cracked one
• Front wing bolts
• Fit old crank sensor to liberate decent one that's in there
• Sort water pipes that still have spark plugs in them as bungs
• Reattach mesh in front grille
• Tighten rocker cover bolts
• Fit new distributer O ring
• Fit new lower arm bushes
• Inspect rack and linkages for play
• Inspect filler cap for leaks
• Clean and paint a few patches on the front triangulation where paint has come off
• Finish wiring in car
• Replace screen wash pump
• Fit new 4:1 exhaust manifold, with welding
• Maybe maybe fit brake bias peddle box

I called round the tuner's this afternoon. He really liked the look of the manifold. He offered to put it on the rollers right there. So we did. No major fuelling issues. He noted a dip in the torque output at around 5K. We didn't know whether this was a dip or either side was a peak.

With the engine on the rolling road I got to see how much vapour was coming out of the catch tank. Loads of it. Not healthy stuff either.

Now I was confident of the fuelling then I gave the car a proper high rpm work out. I wouldn't say that the manifold has made a significant difference in acceleration. The engine does seem to pull a bit better at from idle, and also seems to pull a bit better above 7K.

On to January 2005