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Mally's Stock Cars, Bikes,Life, and Yaris happenings.


Mally

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Right, diff went in Holland, bearing fail resulting in damaged gears.

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Bought new CWP. They cost £270, but tend to be cheaper than a second hand diff.

Fitted new bearings to the pinion shaft and Crown wheel to a centre I had spare.

Assembled it, didn't look or feel right. I should have fitted a washer before the pinion bearing!

Remove new bearing with angle grinder, fit washer, buy new bearing. It's Friday night by now, we leave Sat morning.

You have to run in new CWP for 100 miles, ah well! Run it in first race.

Mildenhall 4th May.

Heat 1,

Going well then slowed down, finished 9th, first 10 qualify so in final.

Ste comes off, "It's vibrating like hell, the whole cars shaking, had to slow down, feared of something breaking.

Only thing we have changed is the diff, I built the diff, I've built many diffs by feel, but my hands are 73 years old now, could be my fault?

So change the diff. Afterwards I go to watch the consolation.

Two minutes later hes there with a piece of fan blade in his hand. "Have we got a spare fan?" Yes in the van.

How did you find the broken blade?

Stuck through the bonnet when I checked the water"

Ah! that accounts for the vibration then, now't wrong with my diff.

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The eagle eyed among you will notice that the top hole is elongated. The reason for this is the expert* conversion from 3 holes in a Zetec water pump to 4 holes in a pinto fan.

A longer bolt is fitted to the elongation, which passes through an expensive adaptor pulley and secures the whole assembly to the water pump.

When I elongated the hole in the new fan, the metal bush fell out. But not to worry!

Have to take the rad out to fit the new fan. Fan on, rad in, water in, fire it up. Engine goes, fan stays still!

Took a while to realise that the bolt through the elongated hole, with no bush had compressed the plastic enough to touch the water pump body and prevent it turning, must have been a fraction clear previously.

Rad out again, shorten bolt, rad in water in.

Final, Went well, gave us 3rd then changed it to 4th. We thought 4th so all good.

Grand National, finished 5th.

21 points, good meeting, £110 in Travelodge, so I sleep in back of van with all the spares.

Northampton 5th May.

Breakfast at Beefeater on the way, expensive at £9 odd, but not if you have 2 kids eating free.

Change gearbox and diff on arrival.

Shortage of cars so running 2/3, we are heat1 and 2.

Heat1, steady race, finish 5th

Heat two, can't remember why, but well down.

Final finished 6th

G/N finished 3, so won £5

19 points so all good.

Home and bed, start again in morning.

 7-30am, change gearbox and diff, bit of welding, swop tyres, wash.

BelleVue 6th May, Not had much luck here this season, nothings changed.

Heat 1, Tangled with white top, lost 1- 1/2 laps, finish 12th. Damage to suspension.

Consolation, tangled with same white top, but got going quickly, finished 5th

Final, going well but got spun by a rival who owed us one. Finished 12th

G/N, Finished 6th,   9 points in total, not too good that.

Kids wanted to watch Caravan race, so stayed for that.  Caravan races are great.

Week off next week which is good because I'm knackered.

Mildenhall next, May 18th

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Mildenhall 18th May.

Not many cars at this one, 26? maybe. Many shale drivers are northern based and its a fair trip down.

We are ht2 and 3. All in final.

Good job it's an all in final, despite being well up in both heats, got spun and finished well down.

Final went well though, running 4th and a couple of front runners had tangles late on so we finished in second place.

White top won it, first time he'd won, did very well under pressure.

Grand National finished 8th, was a good race that one, 

So won £40 and a few points on the day.

The engine has started chucking oil out and been down on power for a while, so engine is out now and hoping to pick a new* one up in time for Kings Lynn on Saturday.

End of grading period now, we will be high Red, but not high enough for Super Star status.

Meeting over before 9pm so drove straight home and removed engine on Sunday morning.

I'm aware that these reports are  becoming sparse in content. Didn't used to be that way, we often had massive amounts of damage and repair work.

Am thinking I may only update when something actually happens rather than giving a boring rundown of results, which is the norm at present.

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Picked our replacement engine up Thursday night, fitted it Friday, raced Saturday. Thanks to Tommy power for sorting us fast and cheap.

Find fitting engine a bit of a pain, Its the same make chassis we had before, but we converted the other chassis from Pinto to Zetec.

The new chassis is Zetec as from the builder, and to us, unnecessarily complicated.

Kings Lynn 25 May.

Heat 1.

Started last on the grid, straight up to 4th place early on, passed another couple. but the leader had well gone so finished 2nd. Good start!

Final.

Going well, got up to 6th, then 3 laps from home it all went wrong, up and over a front wheel, landed ok but full bore into a stranded car, hooked up again, other driver used the fence to wipe us off, plodded round to finish 13th with suspension damage.

G National.

Going well, finished in 3rd place, but there were developments that at the time I was unaware of.

When he came off after the race, the clutch would not release. There was a yellow flag 3 laps from home and the car wouldn't stop driving.

So he pulled it out of gear, got a push start on the rolling lap and still finished 3rd as you do. "Oh and theres somethings banging at the back".

Turns out a wheelguard bolt has sheared.

Then someone mentions they disqualified you for loose wheelguard, been announced a few times during the race.

We never heard it, I'm deaf anyway.

So Ste's wife goes to collect the winnings for Heat 1.

Conversation at pay out. "You were disqualified in the GN by the Steward for loose wheelguard,  Announcer gave it, but flag marshal omitted to give you the black flag.

Steward states that as you were unaware, and allowed to continue to race then the disqualification is null and void and he will mention this in his report".

So all good to us £5 and points for 3rd place.

4th place man did ask us for his fiver :)

Sunday morning, unload, wash car, check clutch operation.

Clutch fails to free when you press the pedal, tried over tightening the cable, but still no joy,

Everything works, full pedal travel, can feel the weight of the clutch, but can't push the car when it's in gear and the clutch is down.

You can get the gearbox off, but not the bell housing, most cars are built this way unless I've built them.

So, engine out again, we've only just put it in, used the same clutch, but Borg and Beck and looked all good so?

Removed clutch, something fell on the floor, small piece of drive plate, about 50mm long x 3mm square ish.

You could see where it had broken near the spring.

This piece attached itself through the pressure plate, through the driven plate and into the flywheel recess where the bolts are.

It somehow jammed the whole thing up, it's that small you would expect it to shear,

I'll stick a couple of photos in later, I'm not used to the new set up and I don't want to risk loosing what I've done.

Belle Vue 27th May.

Running 2/3rds, everyone does 2 heats, all in final.

Heat 2  Finished 4th

Heat 3 Finished 4th.

Spun on his own in one of them can't remember which, but came back well.

Final, half spun and was pushed sideways down the start straight for some distance, ended up 13 th.

G National, heavy rain before the start, finished in 5th, car full of mud but otherwise fine.

Good to see Junkman formally of this parish, and Squire Dawson, who came to spectate at the Vue.

Next meeting Northampton 1st June

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Northampton 1 June, as witnessed by the Bucketeer Delivery Service himself. Thanks Alex.

Beautiful day, so they watered it, Clay and water do not suit us.

Spun in pretty much every race, but came back well.  You can tell he's at the back in the first photo.

5th in heat, 8th in final, 6th Grand National. Could have done better, could have been a lot worse.

Now 10 th in the points list, highest ever been so somethings going right.

Edit, 6th fastest on the day. Have been no better than 12th recently. New engine must be better.

Mildenhall  tomorrow 2 day meeting. Tend to have a good day and a bad day. Track may be bad at first with recent rain around, but you never know.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Bit late with this, been busy, but hopefully shed won't leak now.

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Mildenhall 18/19 June.

Heats,12th and 9th. Compensated somewhat by 2nd in the final. G National 8th.

Things get hazy from now due to beer and lack of sleep.

There's a photo on F/B somewhere of him asleep in the car when queued up ready to race.

No results on Mylaps, so all I remember is we missed the G/N because didn't hear the call, and next bloke was still there. Turned out he wasn't going on..

 

29 June Northampton.

3rd in heat so qualified.

Final, had a ding dong battle with Courtney Finnigan, She got the best of it, but both lost a few places.

11th for us 10th her.

He's a bit miffed about this, so in the G/N half spun her, then eased off. Following car hit him full bore and shot him forward, kept going and finished 8th.

On the way home he  said, "her dad must be proud of her, only been doing it a few years, took me 10 to get that good".

30 June Belle Vue.

Home at 12-45 am, Up at 8, Change diff , bit of welding, set off noon.

He had a word with Courtney before the start, think they are still mates.....for now.

Its the English Championship today.

5 heats, everyone only races in 3. Add your points up. Lowest average starts at the front in the final.

Finished 2nd in first heat, 3rd in next heat, Broke steering rack in last heat so non finish.

On the line up for the final we are 3 from the back!

Hang on we failed to finish in one race.

It now strikes me that a low average means a considerable advantage in your grid position in the final.

Not that I'm saying some try harder than others in the heats of course.

Anyway we were rubbish. Finish 13th I think.

Theory is we are down on power, The next meeting is the Euros in 4 weeks. We are current Euro champ.

Funds are low, well minus, but one of our sponsors offered a donation towards an engine rebuild,, It's not the first time he's put his hand in his pocket either. 

So we intend to take what used to be our best engine and possibly have it refurbed.

It's on the cards that my granddaughter may start racing next year, Micro F2's.

Don't know much about them except not allowed to bump.

Main problem is the cars cost 3.5 K new, or 4 grand second hand, we haven't figured that one out yet!

So possibly sell dads car and buy little one a car.

But last year we put the car up for sale early, sold it, won the Euros, and cocked everything up.

So one step at a time.

Next meeting 27/28 July Northampton European Championship.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I may have to pay for new fingernails when she returns.

If you are a car racer, always marry a car racer. It's the only way it will last.

Minor is fine, use it every day, have a few bits of metal lying about that need welding on, but no rush.

Have built a spare engine just in case. 

My 75 goes for MOT tuesday...................

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MOT on Rover  75 successful. Advisory on T R End, one tyre, rust on rear arms TADTS. 

So I'll do TRE and tyre.  He said I'll know the rear arms have gone when the wheels at a funny angle.

 

Stock Car, so as above, he won the Euros again. First time it's been done two years together.

Was wet, but not too wet, well clear for most of the race. I may find a photo eventually, but I wasn't there,

Has qualified well up for the World Semi finals at St Day, almost as far South West as you can get. It's tarmac, we have a Shale Car so not going.

But I'm European Champ, only fair to show my face, he said!

So cancel Belle Vue next Tuesday, change car as far as possible to run on tarmac.

Shale Cars are heavy and have no O/S/F brake. Tyres need to be new as possible. 

Tar cars are light and have no I/S/R brake, I'll come back to this. Tyres are bald in the dry, new in the wet. 

So re-arange  the calipers, change tyres, take protective gators off, take shale guards off, lose any weight that's possible.

Have some green stuff pads coming FOC from Shaw Tyre and Exhaust, can't fault that guy, always got his hand in his pocket.

Very little hope of qualifying, but you get a second chance at Buxton before the final.

Buxton is just up the road and we will get in free. Some consolation for driving 6 hours for a pasty when Gregs have them.

I'm not going St Day unless I have to.

Now then, back to the brakes. Cars race anti clockwise. No OSF brake on shale. Inside grabs, turns the car left, power on, broadside round the bend.

I understand that.

On tar 2 front brakes, but they now remove the inside rear caliper. The rear axle has a LSD.

This supposedly makes the car turn left better under braking, or be more stable, or something?

I don't get it. We had brakes on all 4 corners when we raced tar, although there was a rumor some put grease on the inside disc.

Can anyone explain how removing the inside rear brake helps when turning left?

I'll just take it off anyway.  Less weight innit.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Brief report from St Day.

I didn't go. Too far, and  had an idea of the result, we've had it before.

375 Miles each way, 8 hours driving, Ste's father in law (a lot younger than me), and a mate went with him.

Semi final,  World Championship, outside second row.  Not the place to be with 40 cars tight packed.

As I suspected, massive pile up early on, front suspension damage, brks ripped off axle casing, diff oil running out, Flat rear tyre.

No time to repair, only 1 race in between. So load up and 375 miles home.

Have been repairing the damage and putting car back to shale requirements 2 full days now. Be ready for weighing by Friday!

On the bright side he is now in the Consolation Semi Final at Buxton. Buxton is just up the hill(s).

First 6 qualify for the World Final held later at the same meeting.

 

Out of the blue we have been offered a tarmac car on loan FOC, with chance of a practice at Swaffham and a meeting at Buxton, Thursday before the WF.

This sort of thing happens at times.  No mates on the track. but respect for many off it.

The guy offering his spare car is next to us in the Consolation race, so a fair chance he may regret the loan later.

Can't believe it really, not someone we know closely either!

In other news, as European Champ Ste is seeded into the Nationals, last year we declined, but it seems we may accept this time.

Nationals Champ at the end gets a Silver roof

11 rounds at different tracks, enhanced prize and appearance money, and ***FLASHING LIGHTS***. Super Star recognition.

Have had flashing  lights before in Rebels for quite a while, but these are,  Brisca F2  ***FLASHING LIGHTS***. Never had those.

Anyone with flashing light experience please see my question in 'Ask a Shiter'

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  • 3 weeks later...

Had a couple of nondescript meetings at Belle Vue and Stoke by our standards, can't remember the placings and can't be bothered to check mylaps.

Remember being in the lead in B Vue final and 4 went past us. That's unusual!

Anyway our engine is not as fast as theirs, and that's obvious to all.

So, Kings Lynn 31  August. We weren't doing this one, cash shortage.

But with the offer of a free tarmac car to borrow just down the road from Lynn, and a practise at Swaffham, might as well do the whole shebang.

Set off Sat morning 7am, drive to Sleaford, meet up with DiL's dad who has empty trailer, we have shale car on our trailer.

Drive to Wisbech, collect tar car, which is all ready to go.

Drive to Swaffham, practise in tar car. Seems ok but breathing a bit and chucks oil on your right foot.

Send tarmac car to our house with FiL, and go to Kings Lynn to race shale car, arrive 3pm.

Change coil pack and leads, only thing we haven't tried.

Heat 1,  Lots of cars, few crashes including us, few yellow flags, finish second. Seems all good.

Final, 35? cars. Lots going on but all falls our way, finish in 3rd place, trophy and cash  for that.

Grand National, Leading with 8 laps to go, still leading at the end, despite the best efforts of Dave Polley to catch ours.  Another trophy and cash.

Best results for a long time.

Old coil pack and leads in the bin. Engine builder back in the good books.

Home at 2-30am. Long day but worth it.

Busy now sorting borrowed car. Racing it Thurs night at Buxton, followed by Saturday World Final.

We are in Consolation event, first 6 go to World Final, worth a try.

 

In the midst of this had a FTP on the 75. Starter motor has missed the odd time so I bought a solenoid kit, but never got round to doing it.

Was a bit overdue by the looks of it.

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