Air-con? PAS? What kind of modern namby-pamby cars do you think we drive?
Speakers went with the dash (The pics donāt show the full extent of how much interior Iād removed by the end of the day). Still need to have a poke around the back of the car generally to see what weight I can get rid of there. Annoyingly thereās loads of things I can do to lose weight at the front but the bias is already a little too much towards the rear so I need to attack that end first. Will probably lose the reinforcing bar from inside the back bumper at some point, thatās a good 10-15kgs from the very back of the car. If I go backwards through anything solid thereāll still be an engine and 3 bulkheads between me and the outside world. Sunroof glass weighs a ton too, might try and get a bit of ally sheet I can bolt in in itās place, got lots of ideas itās just a matter of how much time Iāll get to implement them before the first round. I think the weight loss will be a season long continuous development process.
Numbers wonāt be on the car when itās on the road, plan is to have white vinyl squares on the doors then magnetic numbers we can stick on when we need them. (As weāll be sharing the car, numbers will have to be changed between runs anyway).
Just booked next week of work so hopefully I should get plenty of tinkering time.
The glass sunroof has to go for certain types of motorsport anyway so might as well crack on with it.
This chap Has swapped his for a sheet of perspex as part or preparation for a few laps of the Nurburgring.
He has also binned a lot of the interior and fitted lotus elise seats.
However the MSA guides say the replacement plate can only be aluminium if the car has an aluminium shell otherwise steel plate has to be used.
Luckily we donāt have to stick to MSA rules although where possible Iām trying to as they run a couple of MSA sprints on the track at work every year which I might be entering. In the past when Iāve competed there I ran with the standard sunroof (well actually it was bloody hot so I took the glass out altogether as itās easily removable). As long as any modification I make is easily reversable so I can go back to the stock roof if possible I should be fine. For the MR2 race series most people replace the sunroof with a fibreglass panel which Iām keeping an eye out for.
Phil has taken next week off work to get the last few bits sorted. We have had a bit of a setback with Phils car failing the MOT last week and Sakura failing this week! This weekend has mainly been spent getting Phil car ready for the retest which he passed on Saturday, and having a look at what we are going to do with Sakura.
The only work done on Humphrey were an oil change, top up the gear box oil and then grind off the front towing eyes. That might sound like a bit of a silly idea, but the towing eyes at the front were really only there for tying the car down, and are connected to such rust prone area that itās a gamble trying to tow from them. Itās better just getting rid of them and pointing to the tow points further under the car! (Hopefully we wont have to be towed anyway but itās a requirement to have marked tow points!)
So there might be some updates in the week but if not, the next report will be the Sprint report!!
Dammit somethingās come up and I canāt make it. Really sorry nto mess you about, will send cash for ticket, hope to make another race if I can. Best of luck
The seat is in and the tyres are on!!! Unfortunately itās been peeing it down since the tyres went on so we havenāt had a chance to really try them out yet!!!
At the moment we still have a standard seatbelt in, although we have managed to get some proper harnesses for a 2 seater car, which will be in before the end of the Season!
The steering wheel is a pink suede Momo job, which I had in my last classic Mini! Itās been kicking around here ever since I sold my lovely Mini as it was my sole reminder of her. Iām really glad itās being put to a great use now!
Today, Phil is mainly pottering and just doing little jobs. He has removed the back trim from the numberplate:
You can also see the TOW stickers on this pic!
He has taken the heater out and made a very neat job or re-routing the pipes in the frunk:
A few other weight saving things happened in the frunk, plastic trim has been removed and also the clips for the sunroof storage.
Here is Humphrey from the front, along with TOW stickers!
Iām also publishing this diary and reports from events in a magazine called MR2 Only, which is quite exciting!!!
I thought Iād best try on the gear again and get in the car. Iāve never driven with a helmet on before so itās going to take a bit of getting used to I think!
Have the final times been posted up yet? I was half expecting Phil to be presented with a little cup, else I may not have stood around in the freezing cold :p.
It was a nice but somewhat windy n wet weekend, but the change of scene was very refreshing for me - Thanks TK & Kaio. Car went very well too!
sorry you canāt make it - hope you can make one later on!
