Prep for final race

TBC

Trackday at Brands

TBC

Brands Hatch DTM

Another race meeting, another major failure. The TTRS series was invited to race as part of the DTM meeting at Brands in early Septmber.

I was confident. The car's engine had been rebuilt, mapped, run in on the dyno and pronounced healthy. I arrived at the circuit and had the car scrutineered and went out for qualifying. The car felt good and handled well but lacked power at the top end. Within a few laps the car overheated with the needle right up in the red. I pulled in.

The car hadn't lost any water but was spitting drips out of the exhaust. With the lack of power at the top end and the overheating problem we diagnosed a cracked block or cracked head. I decided not to race.

Oulton Park

TBC

Brands Hatch GP

As an extra event in the TTRS calendar there was a single race at Brands Hatch on the GP circuit.

Arriving in the paddock I discovered that the car is very hard to start with its new map. Heading for the 15 minute qualifying session the car was running very badly and I headed out onto the circuit with very limited power and an engine that seemed like it would only run on three cylinders. Suddenly after three laps it burst into life and decided to perform flawlessly.

In qualifying I spent a few laps getting used to the new part of the circuit and scored a time of 1.51.2 for a grid position of 14th. During qualifying I noticed that the brake bias means that the back likes to come loose during heavy braking and when the tyres get hot the back gets very ragged making it difficult to get on the power in the exit of corners.

I called Luke from Enhanced Performance who set the car up about the poor running and he came with his laptop at short notice to adjust the cold fuelling map. This had the effect of making the car run better at lower temperatures.

Joe my racing partner and I softended the rear damping to try to cure the power on oversteer and we elected to ignore the rear brake bias for now.

The race itself was great. The first and second laps I spent trying to pull away from better handling lower power cars and eventually got free on the third lap to spend the next four laps chasing Brian Jordan in his big BMW 635. I followed him getting closer and closer and took an opportunity at the sharp Surtees bend where he ran wide. I pulled through on the inside, controlled a small powerslide and pulled away to the chequered flag half a lap later.

A great image of the Cosworth following Brian Jordan's BMW 635:



And the Cosworth in qualifying and trying to escape from Matt Knight's Corsa:

Having started 14th I was pleased to finish 11th. Best lap 1.51.4. All timings from the TSL Timing site.

Here's a video of the race from a BMW E30 further down the field:

And some action in qualifying showing my car at the start of the vid:


And another view of the race, just behind me at the start:

Turbo failure

Following a big end failure in the engine, swarf carried by the oil passed through the turbo. Luke took the somewhat optimistic view that the turbo would be alright and put the car back together in readiness for a race at Brands Hatch GP circuit. I went to collect the car where it was on the rolling road in the final stages of its set-up.

Luke fired up the car and ran it up to 70mph on the rolling road at which point the turbo exploded into a cloud of smoke - clearly the damage of tiny pieces of engine passing through the turbo had been substantial. A temporary turbo of unknown origin was strapped to the car and I left with the car to race at Brands Hatch.

My turbo has been sent to CR turbos (again) for its second rebuild and will be back this week to be re-fitted.

Engine rebuild

As the car was being set up round the new ECU and engine loom the engine suffered a big end failure and Luke, being the dedicated and technical wiz that he is, took the view that it needed sorting, and got on and did it. A major engine rebuild started with a strip down and diagnosis. There was a lot of debris in the oilways in the engine and even from a brief inspection it was clear that there had been oil starvation in the past which has caused the big end failure.

Luke guessed that the crank would also be bent and proceeded to quickly strip and assess the engine before re-assembling it. The block was cleaned and painted and the original pistons were re-used with new rings. A new crank was specced and new Cosworth big ends and main heavy duty bearings were used. New conrods were installed with ARP2000 con rod bolts and new Ford gaskets were used throughout.

The head was warped so it was sent to be skimmed and reinstalled with an ARP stud and nut kit to hold it in place. The valve seats were re-cut and the valves ground to match. A new alloy drive pulley was installed as well as a 36 tooth motorsport pulley which the ECU uses for timing. As the distributor is now redundant the hole has been plugged. Luke also painted the cam pulleys and installed a bling cam cover in blue.

The end result of the engine work is a reliable and solid race engine designed to produce a sensible amount of power. Reliability is the key here and the engine should work well for sometime.

Spark plugs are NGK BCR 8ES. Oil is Valvoline 20W 50 black racing.

Some shots of block, head and engine in car:

New ECU and loom

Well it's been a crap season so far because of a high end misfire. I'd like to say I traced it and eliminated it but I never managed to find it. Luke at Enhanced Performance's original diagnosis was fuel starvation. That diagnosis resulted in the fuel system being rebuilt. A pointless trip to Snetterton proved Luke's diagnosis wrong. So back it went to Enhanced Performance for more diagnosis.

Luke, to his credit, does not like to be beaten by a misfire on a Cosworth. And probably felt a bit embarrassed about failing to find the problem the first time. With room for a bit of negotiation on price we talked about the need to run a proper ECU and new wiring loom. The original Weber ECU and Ford engine loom were pretty ragged and as they are renown for causing problems on the Cosworth we decided to get rid of it all.

Luke is a big fan of the Gotech ECUs so recommended a Pro X. The Pro X comes with a loom which was covered in a protective braid and installed.

The Pro X has a lot of features that we're not using on the Cosworth. It offers easy control of all the parameters and allows a tuner to map the car with ease. It will allow data logging but mostly it is simple, reliable, easy to control and should prove to be a good solution to the original Weber ECU. My only issue with the Gotech ECU is that its connectors are cheap plastic PC power supply multi-plugs. It doesn't look too robust. Luke has good experiences with Gotech whose customer service is apparently very good.

Luke spent time with the car on the rolling road using a laptop to do the set-up. And just when he had the car running well and seemed happy with the performance the engine gave out a massive rattle, it was switched off and a failed big end was diagnosed. More on that in the next post.

Here's the ECU and a screenshot showing the Windows front end:

New fuel system

Following diagnosis at Enhanced Performance it was clear that the fuel delivery system wasn't really up to the job of providing a race car with a reliable level of fuel flow on track. The lines were old and fixed with crappy clips, the tank had debris in it, the fuel filter was old, one pump was disconnected and a standard fuel pump was delivering all the fuel to the engine.

Luke at Enhanced Performance flushed the original tank, added a new pump and re-connected the fuel system using Aeroquip fittings and new braided lines that run through the interior of the car. The fuel system now uses two pumps and a swirl pot with fuel filter in line. The return fills the swirl pot. This should be much more reliable and I'm confident that the lines, fixings and pumps are up to scratch.

New braided fuel lines in the engine bay and the interior:








And the panel on the boot floor which covers the standard tank, swirl pot, pump, filter and secondary pump:

Enhanced Performance review

I wanted to say a big thank you to Luke at Enhanced Performance. Luke's been around Cosworths for a long time and is clearly knowledgeable and experienced. He's also very enthusiastic and willing to take the time to explain stuff to a novice like me.

He diagnosed my car on a rolling road, then rebuilt my fuel system around the standard (but flushed) tank, swirlpot, new fuel pump, secondary pump, Aeroquip fittings and new braided fuel lines. The standard of work is very high and the bill was reasonable but most importantly I am confident that the work has been carried out to a high standard and that it will suit the spec of my car.

Enhanced Performance workshop:


Luke's suggestions for my car fitted my budget, and he didn't get carried away with pushing the highest spec kit. He also called me when he said he'd call me and told me what work he planned to do it before he did any work.

It's great to deal with a Cossie tuner who knows his onions and loves the cars. Luke at Enhanced Performance is on 01293 560 291 and at www.enhanced-performance.co.uk.

Cam cover gasket change

My engine has been seeping oil from the front of the cam cover for ages so I got a new Ford gasket and half moons and replaced them. The cam caps at the front of each cam had a lot of oil under them and I suspect that this is where the oil has been leaking out. I added a dash of liquid gasket under each of these and put it all back together. It seems to be holding oil better now.

Cam cover off


Looked a bit dirty so I gave it a clean


New gasket on, cam cover back on and hopefully less oil seeping out all over the engine. However it is a Cosworth so it has to ooze somewhere.

Technical diagnosis at Enhanced Performance

I went down to see Luke at Enhanced Performance near Gatwick. Luke's an experienced Cosworth tuner. He put my car on his rolling road and we tried to find the hi-rpm misfire that has plagued the car. Fuel starvation seems to be the issue and Luke looked closely at the fuel lines which run under the car, pump, swirl pot, filter and tank and recommended I change them all.

Luke's going to run braided fuel lines through the interior and will replace the tank. I considered going for an ally tank in the boot but this would require a panel to prevent fuel escaping into the driver cabin in an accident. For simplicity I'm going for a replacement Ford fuel tank which keeps the weight down low.

I'll collect the car next week. Here are some pics:
Enhanced Performance workshop on a sunny spring morning:


In good company:



On the rolling road:

Silverstone

Had a thoroughly annoying day at Silverstone. Arrived in the morning in a confident mood but had my high end mis-fire come back in qualifying. It was nice to be in a tiled garage for the day but I decided to retire early, lick my wounds and seek professional help for my car.

Here's a couple of pics of my car in the garage at Silverstone behind Stacy Vickers' orange RX7 alongside a couple of M3s.





And a brief moment on track:

New calipers and discs

The rear discs and calipers that I have been using get very hot on track so I took the decision to upgrade to wider calipers and vented discs from a 4WD Cosworth. This should keep the rear braking cooler and reduce the excessive wear on the pads that I have experienced. I fitted new discs and calipers to the rear and changed the disc type from drilled and grooved to solid grooved. I also changed the front discs at the same time.

New 4WD caliper on the right, old 2WD on the left:



New vented discs next to the non-vented 2WD item:



New calipers and new grooved discs in place on the rear:



Front discs on:

Brands Hatch

Had an annoying first race of the season at Brands Hatch in March. The car handled well and felt well balanced but had developed a misfire at 4,500rpm and it would not rev any higher. Through qualiying and two races we failed to diagnose the problem and I finished both races well down the field. We changed the plugs and checked the electrics and sensors.

After getting the car home I got some advice and checked the phase sensor and the crank position sensor which turned out to be out of adjustment. I adjusted this to 0.8mm and the car seems to be working well now. Next race is at Silverstone National on April 19th.

First race finished 22nd, second race finished 19th. Best lap time was 1.00.5. All timings from the TSL Timing site.

Spraying wheels

Take one can of Ford dark metallic silver spray paint and four Cossie lattice alloys.
Step 1 - get dirty old wheel



Step 2 - put wheel in dishwasher



Step 3 - Spray wheel



Step 4 - Mount tyre

Small jobs

I replaced the cone style air filter intake with the standard Ford airbox with a K&N panel filter. I also rigged up a cold air feed from in front of the intercooler using a flexible alloy ribbed pipe and gaffer tape. This should ensure that the engine is fed with cooler air. Here's the aftermarket air filter, now removed. The second shot shows the engine bay with the Ford airbox in place. Note the cheap and cheerful adjustable strut brace:




I have also decided to go back to original size wheels. For now this means using the Sapphire Lattice alloys that I have. Maybe when I have some spare cash I'll buy a set of Pro Race 1 wheels in the same diameter and offset. These are not in great condition so job one was to put them in the dishwasher. I'm planning on painting these dark grey before I fit them.

Cleaning the car

Cleaned the car inside and out. First race is in 10 days. We all know that clean cars go quicker!

Testing at Brands

Had a day at Brands and had a few problems with the car but we got the front suspension adjusted OK and did a few laps. I discovered that one of the front hubs I fitted has a bent plate which causes one of the front wheels to wobble so I need to sort this out before the first race.

Here's a pic in the paddock showing the dream team - Charlie left, Joe right.



Some technical stuff: We set the front tracking to 1.5mm toe out measured at the tyre wall. I drove with the dampers set at full stiffness and the car kangarooed down the straight at Brands. Then we went for half stiffness with an improvement - the car felt less inclined to power slide on exit from corners. We finished the day with the car set at 25% stiffness - halfway between fully soft and the mid point. The dampers have 18 clicks of adjustment on the front and around 44 clicks of adjustment at the back. For the front we wound 14 clicks back from the stiffest setting. On the back we wound back to full softness and added 10 clicks.

We set the front and rear ride heights roughly but need to take a measure from a point on the ground to a point on the car to make sure this is accurate. Currently I feel the rear suspension is too low, we'll test this with the thermometer which should tell us if we have too much camber.

Thanks again to Joe for taking notes.

Looking forward to testing

Now that I have invested in lots of bits and pieces to make the car's handling better the next stage is testing. A day at the track will be crucial for making adjustments and seeing the effect of these changes on the car's handling. Since last season I have made the following changes:

• Replaced the springs and dampers with coilovers
• Changed the Sapphire hubs for 3 door hubs with different steering geometry
• Changed the track control arms for 3 door items
• Replaced the rubber engine mounts with alloy
• Replaced the original steel and rubber diff mount for alloy/poly
• Replaced all the original rubber bushes with poly
• Added eccentric top mounts for a little extra camber and caster adjustment
• Raised the ride height
• Adjusted the toe in
• Moved from rubbish EBC brake pads to serious Ferodo DS3000

Coilovers and diff mount and brake pads

Today I fitted the Gaz Gold rear coilovers on the car. The rears seem to rub on the inside of the turrets. I'm not sure if this will happen when the car is at the correct ride height. The fronts are fine. The Gaz Gold coilovers should allow for quick ride height adjustment and simple spring replacement.

I also replaced the original Ford differential mount for an alloy unit with a poly centre mount. I hope this, combined with the polyurethane beam mounts should make for a stiffer rear beam with less flex.

For the 2009 season I am giving up crap brake pads. Redstuff fall to pieces, Yellowstuff turn to rock and the cheap OMP pads I have used have been pretty good. But this season I'll be using DS3000 pads by Ferodo - these from the nice people at Burton Power.

Here's the original diff mount and the alloy unit in place ready to be fitted:





Front coilovers:



And the rear suspension with springs and dampers removed, and new coilovers in place:





You can see the eccentric top mounts on the tops of the front coilovers sitting in the turrets in this pic, and the second pic shows the location inside the turret top:





Yellow stuff pads off the front and DS3000 pads on.

Sump re-fit

I bought a cheap gasket off Ebay, fitted the new baffle from Burton power into the sump then refitted it. Then I didn't like the fit so I bought a Cometic sump gasket which comes with the original Ford seals. And re-fitted it. I hate doing a job twice but I'm satisfied that the new gasket is good. It doesn't seem to leak - we'll see what it's like in use.

Here's the sump with the new baffle in place:



I also fitted stiffer metal engine mounts:

Suspension upgrades

Instead of stressing about ride height, spring rates, damper settings and suspension issues I bit the bullet and spent some cash today. Many thanks to Mark at Gaz Shocks who made me up a set of coilovers (I won't worry too much about the spring rates being wrong on the back). The Gaz Gold coilovers are height adjustable and the springs are easy to change. The dampers can be adjusted for stiffness but the ratio between bump and rebound is fixed. This should give me less camber, proper ride height and less roll. I'll fit them tomorrow and they'll be on the car when I do some testing.

I also need to thank Tony at Compbrake for the fast postage on these eccentric top mounts which look really well made and I hope will go straight into the turrets without any fuss. I'll fit these tomorrow as well. Compbrake supply race spec brake calipers, discs and other ancillaries and seem like a very professional outfit.

Spring rates are 550 front, 250 rear. I ordered 275 but I'll see how I get on with the 250 for now.

Here's a front leg, back leg and eccentric top mount:



Contacts:
Tony @ Compbrake www.compbrake.com 077702 10881

Mark @ Gaz Shocks www.gaz-shocks.co.uk 01268 724585

The 2009 TTRS Season

Well the season looks simple but I'm very impressed at the low cost, high value year ahead. Six events with two races at each event and £100 per race means the season will cost £1200 in race fees. The dates and locations are:

• Brands Hatch 15/03/09
• Donington National 18/04/09
• Snetterton 13/06/09
• Cadwell 28/06/09
• Oulton Park 08/08/09
• Silverstone 02/10/09

So I have five weeks from time of writing til the first race. And only six race dates with qualifying and two races on each of these days.

The race fees work out to around £5 a minute of racing.

Costs

It's been a while since I posted an update of costs. Most people I know who race have warned me that looking at the total, or even making a total, is bad. And they're right. Here are some key items that I have bought for the car since the end of the 2008 season. Nothing here is exotic but you can see how the costs mount up:

• Polybushes £165
• Braided brake lines £70
• Oil £40
• 3 door front hubs £75
• Brake fluid £12
• Oil filter £5
• 3 door TCAs £60
• DS3000 brake pads £123
• Sump baffle £134
• Oil £40
• Brake fluid £12
• 2009 club registration £100
• 8 long wheel studs £17
• ARDS licence renewal £51
• Wheel nuts £20
• Engine mounts £90
• Diff mount £90
• Cometic sump gasket £35
• Alloy strut brace £30

Total is £1,169, and that's just on a few bits and pieces. Total spend on car, trailer, maintenance, bits and pieces, clothing, fluids, etc. is £17,353. So you can see how easily the money gets spent. Remember that I am at the budget end of racing, and most of my bits come from Ebay.

Front suspension continues

Today I squeezed the polybushed front track control arms into the crossmember and fixed the Koni front legs into the new 3 door hubs. I put new extended wheel studs into the front hubs. Next job for the suspension is to get new springs for front and back to raise the car by half an inch, and make the suspension stiffer. I also need to refit the crossmember and ARB and then refit the front brakes. All this after I have refitted the sump with new gasket and new baffle.

Here's the crossmember with the polybushed track control arms fitted, and the Koni legs now attached to the 3 door hubs with long wheel studs fitted.

New sump baffle and sump removal

While the front suspension is off I decided to replace the original Ford sump baffle with an improved gated baffle from Burton. The new baffle has four gates that should ensure that oil is always available to the oil pickup. I have had the oil pressure warning light come on a few times, at Snetterton and Brands and I think the new baffle is a necessity to prevent damage from oil starvation.

Getting the sump off in situ is a pain. Lots of time under the front of the car. Here's some pics of the engine supported by the garage roof, the bottom of the engine exposed having removed the sump, and the sump and new baffle that will go in next time I work on the car.

Front suspension dismantle

I have a complete set of Powerflex polybushes for the front suspension and a pair of hubs from a 3 door Cosworth that offer a slightly revised front end geometry that is better suited to lower cars. In order to fit these I stripped the front suspension in preparation to fit.

Dampers, springs, hubs, ARB and track control arms off:



Old TCAs, old ARB bushes, old Sapphire hubs, Koni dampers and springs:









3 door hubs to go on and front ARB with new polybushes as well as TCAs with new Powerflex polybushes. Bottom pic shows the crossmember:









I'll refit new TCAs with polybushes, fit the new hubs, check the springs in the Koni front legs and refit, refit the ARB and that will be the front end done. While the front suspension is off I plan to add a new baffle from Burton Power to the sump.

Proper garage clearout

Today my mate Richard and I had a serious garage clearout. Thanks Rich. This Thursday is front suspension rebuild day. And maybe sump baffle day.

Here's the garage before:













And after:

Brands Hatch footage

Obligatory YouTube footage from a BMW 325 (I think) showing some of the racing at Brands. I make a brief appearance following a large Jaguar.

Photographers

I wanted to say a big thanks to the many photographers that line up at the side of UK circuits and take pictures. For me they are invaluable as they provide the images that I use on this blog. I can't shoot pictures and drive at the same time so I shamelessly steal the best of their work and use their pictures.

Here are the best sites for photography of UK club racing events:

Snappy Racers is a great site featuring top quality shots of loads of UK races shot at a variety of circuits. One of the most prolifc, and featuring very high quality work. www.snappyracers.com

BTCC Racing focuses on touring cars but sometimes turns his camera wielding hand to other series. Great photography! www.btcc-racing.com

Trackside is another quality cataloguer of race images from around the UK. Check out the gallery for some great shots.

The Victor Meldrew

It's end of season in TTRS and what do we do? Prioritise age and infirmity over youth and good health. The Victor Meldrew race today at Brands Hatch had the most random handicapping system but I had the best race of the season today.

I qualified 4th in my group with a 58.3 - same as last week. Race 1 I was put on the front row of the grid next to a crazy Jaguar XJRS and we had a great battle for the first five laps. I couldn't get past and then we got stuck in crazy traffic and I had to avoid a couple of exuberant drivers. Finished 16th - very frantic. Best lap 58.9.

Race 2 and I was alongside the crazy Jaguar again. We proceeded to have the same battle with me trying to pass in a car that cornered better but was slower on the straights. I got him in traffic about halfway through and held off to the end. Best race I have ever had, and just right at 15 minutes. Best lap 58.8

All in all it was an excellent end to the season. All timings from the TSL timing site.

Here's the battle with the meaty Jag XJRS:







And a couple of general pics of the day:

Pictures from Brands Hatch 9 November

Tyre pressures and temperatures

Set pressures at 26psi cold. Took measures immediately after each event:

Qual:
Pressure: FL 34 / FR 34 / BL 34 / BR 33
Temps FL i52 m44 o45 / FR i55 m41 o44 / BL i48 m42 o34 / BR i46 m40 o31

Race 1:
Pressure: FL 30 / FR 30 / BL 30 / BR 30
Temps FL i25 m21 o23 / FR i18 m15 o15 / BL i25 m18 o16 / BR i18 m17 o16

Qualifying was dry. Race 1 wet. Tyre temperatures are consistently hotter on the inside edge on a dry track. This indicates too much negative camber. Tyre pressures are good but rears may do with slightly more pressure as the middle is colder than the outsides.

Fronts are 205 and rear 225 series tyres.

FL - Front left
FR - Front right
BL - Back left
BR - Back right
i - inside edge temperature
m - middle temperature
o - outside edge temperature

Thanks Joe for taking measurements and making good notes.

Power steering gone

Following a qualifying session with it disconnected, Joe and I removed the power steering pump, bottle and all the pipes and I raced without it. For simplicity it is much better but it takes a bit more effort to drive. A bigger wheel may make it easier but for now it's great. The steering feels very direct and there's less to go wrong, less weight and more power.

Tin Tops winter race at Brands

I entered the Barc SE Saloons race at Brands Hatch on 9th November. It was a cold and blustery day and I drove my first race in the rain. Since the last event I have a polybushed rear beam and braided brake lines at the back. I used a tyre temperature gauge and checked the pressures regularly to understand what happens to the tyres.

Qualifying was dry and I went out with a massive variety of cars, found a clear lap and recorded a 58.3, which is 1.6 seconds faster than I have ever gone before at Brands.

Race 1 was in serious rain and I started 15th on the grid. Not only was it my first race in the rain but it was the first time I have raced with a rolling start. The first three laps were behind the safety car after a crash on the first corner. Then I followed an Anglia for a few laps with a steamed up windscreen, then it was all over. I finished 11th.

Race 2 started well but I spun at Druids, did a 180 and slid backwards down the grass, came to a rest and eventually rejoined after a lap and a half. Luckily the car isn't damaged. Finished last but enjoyed myself.

Qualifying: Best lap 58.3

Race 1: Started 15th finished 11th. Best lap 1.02.5 (in the wet with misted screen)

Race 2: Started 11th finished last. Best lap 1.01.9 (in the wet - no misted screen)

Many thanks to Joe for the support. Timings from TSL timing site.

Rear suspension investigations

After a long day under the car I have replaced the rear beam mounts with Powerflex poly bushes and removed and checked the springs and dampers. I also replaced the rubber brake pipes with braided steel units.
Rear springs are black 242mm long and the bar is 14.326mm thick. On the top of the spring is written Prod Saloon 9.75.
The shocks are Leda adjustable and seem to operate OK. The adjustment changes the resistance of the damper. Both units work the same and therefore I think they are OK.
I need to consider changing the springs for stiffer units, and I am thinking about anti-roll bar changes. All this to follow.

Track day at Brands Hatch

Did a track evening at Brands Hatch which was fun but I had a bit of understeer. I lent my car to one of the most experienced racing drivers competing in the TTRS series and after a few laps he offered up major criticism of my car's brakes, suspension and steering. Oh dear. I have a challenge ahead regarding suspension choices. I also have some reading material to get through to help me make decisions with. Thanks Stacy for the books.

Polybushes and brake pipes

Next week I will fit a set of polybushes to the Sierra's suspension. I'll re-do all the front bushes and the rear beam and ARB mounts with Powerflex bushes. I also have a set of braided Goodridge brake hoses to replace the old rubber ones on my car. I hope that this may take some of the sponginess out of the brake pedal. Pic:

More pics from Snetterton

More pictures from Snetterton courtesy of the very comprehensive Track Side website. Thanks.














Footage from the TTRS race from Adrian Eddy's BMW:


Footage from the TTRS race from Mike Dugdale's BMW showing my slow start from the grid:


And a great video from Colin Stubbs:

Snetterton TTRS pics

Early in the race trying to catch Ian (Capri) and Will (Golf):



And later just after I'd got past and had to fend off both cars:



Thanks to Neil of BTCC-Racing for the image.

A great day at Snetteron

Had a successful day at Snetterton with very able assistant Joe (thanks again Joe) who came with me for a TTRS qualifying session, race and a second race in the Last Chance Saloons - an extra race for TTRS competitors.

Before qualifying I was a little nervous and even though I had walked the track the night before I was concerned about the fact that I hadn't driven here before and wouldn't know the circuit. Snetterton is very fast and has two big straights with the potential for high speed accidents. All was well though and I did seven laps in almost no traffic. The car felt good and was reliable. I qualified 12th on the grid with a best time of 1.28.5.

Race 1 and although I was nervous again I started well and had a running battle with Ian Clark in his 1970s Capri who I passed and then had to fend off for several laps as he made repeated attempts to get passed through the slower corners where his experience showed. I also managed to pass Will McAteer in his golf purely because of the power of the Cosworth. He was clearly faster through the twisty bits but couldn't match the straight line speed. I finished 7th with a best lap time of 1.25.9.

Race 2 and I managed to pass Craig Short's BMW and Colin Stubbs' Rover 216 but couldn't catch the front runners. I settled into a rhythm and drove gently to finish a comfortable 7th again. Fastest lap was 1.26.3.

The car needed nothing all day, the brakes and tyres felt very good and it was very very fast on the straights. All in all a good day.

All timing from the TTRS results sheet at the TSL Timing site.

Here's a video of the first lap of the first TTRS race from Rob Sadler's BMW 325 of the front runners showing how close the racing was at the front:


And the same car blowing its engine:

Snetterton this weekend

This weekend is a double header at Snetterton. It's a very fast circuit and I'm nervous. It'll probably rain just for some extra challenge. We have 43 cars on the grid for the first race and 35 for the second.

Here's a YouTube vid of the circuit allowing you to see the 125mph straights and 80mph corner:

Brake master cylinder + water pump gasket

After a lot of pissing about buying parts from sellers that sent the wrong parts, I finally tracked down a replacement master cylinder in Erith which I collected from a serious Cossie enthusiast (thanks Dan).

At Cadwell I had a leaking water pump which almost caused an engine failure. I hope that I turned the engine off as soon as I saw the temperature gauge at the top and before I did any major damage.

Earlier this week I removed the water pump and used a lot of liquid gasket and the original gasket and I hope that I have sealed the water pump.

Tonight I fitted the master cylinder, connected the brake pipes, bled all four brakes again and tested the brakes by driving back and forth in the garage. Finally it appears that I have strong working brakes. I'll confirm this at Snetterton this weekend but I am reasonably confident that I have a good car.

Since the last race at Cadwell I have done the following: Replaced leaking power steering pipe, replaced rear calipers, replaced rear pads, changed the wheels to 16" Compomotives, put new tyres on the car, checked the seat mountings, repaired the heat shield, added oil, put in 15 litres of unleaded. Lets hope it works this weekend.

Here's the water pump:



And the master cylinder off the car:



I also repaired the turbo heatshield that prevents the heat from the turbo cooking the brake fluid. Here's the repair using a mesh aluminium panel:



Latest costs:

• Brake master cylinder £30 (and the rest for the 4X4 ones that arrived in error).

Brake trouble at Brands

Had an extremely frustrating day at Brands Hatch. What I consider to be my home circuit - local and I know the track quite well. So it was a major pain in the arse to turn up and discover that the brake master cylinder had failed.

I have to say a massive public thank you to John Legg who had brought a set of Toyo tyres from Luton to Brands for me and then spent the morning underneath my car helping me to diagnose my brake problem. At first it looked like the rear calipers had failed. It took some time to trace the problem to the master cylinder. The MC has three pipe outlets - one for each front and one for the rear brakes. No fluid was pumping from the middle (rear) output. I tried my hardest to get a replacement but could not get one in time and missed out on the day's racing.

Thanks again to Leggy.

Back to the Compomotives and new tyres

After discovering that the Team Dynamics wheels are made of cheese with a black wax coating I have gone back to the Compomotive 16" wheels and new Toyo tyres (225 and 205) to go with them. It sits nicely on the wheels and tyres. I hope they don't rub - there is not a lot of clearance.

Power steering trouble

As a result of the accident at Cadwell when a BMW hit me and bent my steering (my fault) I spotted a leaking power steering pipe just before Rockingham and took the view that I wouldn't get though scrutineering with it leaking fluid. A quick search on Passionford and I sourced a replacement which I fitted, topped up with new fluid and checked for leaks. It looks good.

Here's the pipe and its location on the car running from pump to rack.





Latest costs:

• Power steering pipe £25

Cadwell oops

What can I say? I drove well for two laps then started to get a bit lary, then spun it and collected a BMW that hit my front wheel and put me out of the race with wonky steering. Here's the evidence:

Diff investigations

After going on and on about the car being under-geared I propped the car up on axle stands and got underneath for my patented method for working out the diff ratio. I turned a back wheel while looking at the prop-shaft turning. One turn of the wheel = 3.6 turns of the prop-shaft. So my car has the standard gearing of 3.64 to 1. It is a viscous LSD with extra strong coupling.

New rear brake calipers and pads

I spent an evening replacing the rear brake calipers and pads, and bleeding the back brakes. At Cadwell I could hear metal on metal so I knew that the pads had worn down to nothing. Grove Garage reckoned the original calipers were sticking and so rather than a time consuming caliper rebuild I bought a pair of reconditioned calipers and red stuff pads and fitted them. Pictures below. You can see the original pads (Ferodo I think) have worn away to metal.

Pics: Old pads, old calipers, replacement and old calipers side by side, new calipers and pads fitted:









Latest costs:

• Redstuff rear pads £50
• Replacement calipers £120

The weigh-in

After the second race at Cadwell Park a number of cars got weighed. My car should be a minimum of 1,188kgs to comply with the TTRS regs. This is the original curb weight of the road car minus 5%, however the weight allows the driver to be included.

With me on the scales and around 5 litres of fuel the car weighed 1,218kgs. I weigh 100kgs so the car weighs around 1,110kgs. In theory this means that it could still shed 40kgs and be within the weight limit. Mostly it means that it is pretty light. In power/weight terms it is very nimble.

Cadwell Park - a day of minor dramas

A lovely day in the sun. And some minor incidents. A typical race day really. I arrived with Joe early, signed on and got the car through scrutineering. The scrutineer was concerned about my roll cage and got the Blue Book out to find a picture of it. It apparently is an old touring car cage. I was worried. But it was passed when an old scrutineer came out and identified it.

Qualifying was a blast. The car was going really well and I managed a 1.50.9 to start 9th on the grid for the first of two races.




The first race started badly. I lost a couple of places before the first corner but then drove well for a couple of laps and felt confident. On lap 4 my confidence became over confidence and I spun the car on a 90 degree bend. The BMW just behind me caught my front wheel. I tried to rejoin the race but my steering felt very suspect.

Back in the paddock we jacked up the car to find a bent steering arm. Dextrous use of the trolley jack and it was straightened, the tracking was measured and the car was good to go for the second race.

In asssembly for Race 2 I noticed that one of the rear brakes had pads that were down to the metal and the other side didn't look good. I started last but one, took it easy, and enjoyed the race without pressure. The brakes held up and the steering felt fine.

Here's lap one of the first race from the BMW that was a couple of positions in front of me:


There's a few jobs to do for the next race: Rear pads, bleed the rear brakes, check the steering thoroughly, and generally go over the car inch by inch.

Quickest lap was a 1.50.25. Timings from the 750MC club timing site.

Here are some great action shots from Cadwell:

Cadwell Park testing

What an amazing circuit. Half of Cadwell Park is like a roller coaster through a forest. The other half is a high speed frolick through gently rolling hills. Got there at lunchtime and prepared for a straightforward day but I can't do a day without drama.

Three sessions saw me get used to the track but midway through the third session I glanced down to see the temperature gauge sky high. I shut off the engine and coasted off the circuit. When I opened the bonnet there was steam, hissing, oil and water spray. I assumed head gasket failure and got a tow back to the paddock.

Once it had cooled down I found that the coolant had gone, filled it up and found water pouring out from around the water pump. Tightened the nuts and refitted the hoses and pulleys that we had to remove and the car should be good for tomorrow.

Many thanks to Joe, my new partner - motorsports engineering student and all round friendly and enthusiastic help. Racing a car is always easier when there's someone to share the burden and help to put things right. Thanks Joe.

Cadwell Park is a tough circuit. The car is fast, the gearing is just right and if I could get every corner right then I'd be lapping quickly. If I can race without the nerves and panic of Brands then I should be OK.

Here's Cadwell last year as the front runners battle it out. Check out the forest section vs hills section and the difference between the roller coaster and the long circuit.




Also I have to say a big thanks to Colin Stubbs - local to Cadwell and kind enough to bring me tools, liquid gasket and help. Thanks!

Latest costs:

• Cadwell testing £130

Cadwell Park this weekend.

Tomorrow I am testing at Cadwell Park. Saturday is qualifying then two races in the afternoon. Then I drive back to London.

Had a small issue with my BMW tow car when the lights on the trailer stopped working. I hope I have sorted this now following a visit to Erens Electricals in Catford.

More tomorrow and Saturday.

Latest costs:

• 5 litres of Mobil 1 15W 50 Motorsport oil £47
  
• BMW electrics repair £30

Times and positions from Brands

Qualifying: 25th position. Best lap 1.02.3. First lap 1.08. Last three laps 1.02.3 / 1.02.8 / 1.02.4

Race 1: Started 25th. Finished 19th. Best lap 1.00.8.

Race 2: Started 19th. Finished 16th. Best lap 59.9.

I saw a definite improvement during the weekend. I lost a lot of places with a weak start in the second race. But I did beat the one minute lap time. And I beat Tom in a similar colour car.

Timings for the Brands Hatch races are from the TSL timing site.

Second race at Brands Hatch

After a wet afternoon I was very nervous about racing in the rain but the track dried out just in time for the second of two fifteen minute races this weekend at Brands Hatch. I was nervous and alseep at the start and let a lot of cars past into the first corner. I was also very keen to not hit anyone or get hit so careful driving prevailed for the first lap.


Once that was over I started to move up the field. My car has a good heart but it's a little unsteady on its feet. In short it goes like the clappers on the straight but it's pretty raggedy round the corners. At some points I was driving well, controlled into the corners and passing the odd car or two at the right moment. At other times I was over-confident, hammering into corners, nearly losing the back end and driving like a fool. There was a lot of traffic that was difficult to pass. I had set my sights on beating Tom in his Vauxhall Astra, mostly because his car is also yellow and green. He was caught behind a battle for position between two BMWs for a few laps. I bided my time and squeezed past him eventually then finally passed the BMWs on the straight just before the chequered flag. A great race for me as I finished 16th.

Here are the last few laps shot by Tom Ibrahim (thanks!). I make an appearance after a couple of laps, driving poorly:


The car is making a strange knocking noise from the back corner so I'll need to investigate that.
I also met Craig, fellow Cosworth owner, who nearly bought my car but ended up buying a 3 door that I also bid on early last year. Hope to see you out soon Craig.

A good day at Brands

Arrived at Brands Hatch early, signed on, did a new driver briefing, got the car through scrutineering and then suddenly it was time for qualifying. Before the qualifying session was cut short when a BMW spun into the gravel at the end of the straight I did some good laps. The car was feeling good but I wasn't pushing hard, mostly due to nerves. A couple of laps of traffic followed by a couple of clear laps got the car warmed up and the tyres hot. Grip wasn't great but the car is nicely balanced and I found the controlled slides worked well.

32 cars started the race. I was on the right hand side of the circuit and stayed there into the first corner. I lost a couple of places but got back a few places during the next couple of laps. By lap 5 I had moved up around five places then made a few mistakes and in one lap lost three places. Towards the end I was hammering the brakes diving into corners and almost spun it. Final position 19th. Tomorrow is another race at Brands. And I hope to do better.

Here's a pic from Brands:

Preparation for Brands Hatch

Tomorrow is a weekend at Brands Hatch with a qualifying session and race tomorrow and a race on Sunday. I spent the day doing tidying including removing some surface rust from the floor, applying Hammerite, fitting a glove box panel and generally getting the car set for scrutineering tomorrow morning. Pics:







I'll report on the race weekend on Monday. I've driven Brands before and the car goes well there. I am confident and nervous in equal measure. Wish me luck!

New turbo and set-up

This week I picked the car up from Grove Garage. It has a rebuilt standard turbo and it has been live mapped for the new set up. I sourced a new radiator and a slightly larger intercooler which have also been fitted. The car has a little more power now. Because of the restrictor on the turbo the boost has been set based on the behaviour of the pressure in the restrictor rather than the desired boost pressure. I could go into the technicalities but it's late. New turbo:



Latest costs: turbo - too painful to mention for now.

• Intercooler £40
• Radiator £66

The workshop

Here's a couple of pics that show the workshop space. Car, bench, trailer. Not a lot else. Some tools and old cans of paint. The bare essentials really. Mostly it's dry and spacious enough.

Costs so far

Everyone tells me that I shouldn't ever keep records of the cost of going racing. But I have. My little Excel spreadsheet at work is where I tot up the costs of everything. I originally planned to post the breakdown of my spending so far but it's a long list including the major costs: car, trailer, work on the car, the cost of safety equipment, trackdays, etc etc.

I'm not going to list all my costs but I'll include some key figures to give you an idea of the cost of competing at club level. Remember that these figures are all before the first race. Here goes:

• My total spend before the first race is £11,000
• Total race fees for 2008 will be £1,500
• Of the £11,000 the car cost £4,500 and trailer £1,900
• Clothing cost £550
• Trackdays and ARDS cost £750
• Major work on the car cost £850
• Safety equipment including seat, harness, extinguisher cost £500
  

As you can see, it all mounts up. I'll re-do the totals at the end of the season.

Dropped off the car at Grove Garage

Saturday morning and I took a trip round the M25 to drop off my car at Grove Garage, Cosworth specialist and general haven of good sense when it comes to my car. I noticed that as well as oil leaking into the turbo my turbo restrictor has also come loose so there is a bit of work to do. Mark at Grove will strip the turbo off and send it away for repair and then refit it and set the car up. I hope this will be done this week as I have a bit of prep for Brands Hatch in three weeks time.

My first race - turbo explosion and failure

Crap weather, nerves, and severe mechanical failure. What else could go wrong with my first race. I arrived at 8.00am and parked the trailer, got the car off and said hello to my neighbours - two guys sharing a BMW E30 in the TTRS and Production BMW races. Two races, two drivers - a great idea and their first race too.

Here's the car in the cold wet paddock:


It was nice to say hello to fellow racers that I have only spoken to by email or via forums. Hi John, Stacy and Rob. Rob was kind enough to come with me to scrutineering where my car met with very little attention from the judge. The seat, steering column, harness and race suit all got checked and the rest of the car got a look over.

Then into the line for qualifying and I was quite nervous. I'd never been on the track before and everybody else had. With 42 cars starting there were a lot of very experienced people in a range of cars. We filed out and powered round for 8 laps.

Car in mid corner and cornering with a fellow competitor in a BMW:



Very quickly I discovered that my car is severely under-geared for a long circuit. Castle Combe is a big circuit with a very long straight. And my car has a low diff ratio. This meant that one third of the way down the straight my car was at top speed, and everybody else was going past me. I need to find a taller diff, maybe 3.6 or 3.9, and I need to work out what ratio my car is running. As it was a hillclimber in the past I think it has a very low ratio - 4.4 or less.

My lap times started at 1.47 and my fastest was 1.38. Not good compared to the fastest time of 1.22. The Castle Combe lap times come from the TSL timing site. A change of gearing and more laps at the circuit will improve the car's top speed at longer tracks.

The real disaster of the day was a sudden explosion of smoke from the back of the car as the turbo gave up and oil spewed into the turbo and exhaust on lap 7. It was very dramatic but not good for my prospects of racing. I drove back through the paddock with a car full of smoke.

The turbo has spewed oil. Probably blown seals:


The next event is at Brands Hatch on April 26 and 27th with a race each day. That's five weeks away. I have booked the car in at Grove Garage for turbo rebuild, set-up and a check over next week. I'm sure that won't be cheap but it needs to be done. I also need to replace the Araldyted radiator before the next race.

I finally got the wheels sorted and the car is now complete and working well. Brands Hatch is a very short circuit and I have driven there before so I'm looking forward to it. I'm pleased to still be excited even though I'm facing more expense.

The final shot. The race I should have been part of:


Many many thanks to Steve for the great pics and the moral support. Check out his site.

And a video of the first lap:

A damaged radiator

Sunday afternoon the day before my first event I managed to drop the front of the car off the trailer knocking the radiator and cracking it around the mount. A stupid mistake and one that I am not proud of. Coolant spewed all over the road and I thought that was the end of my competitive weekend.

I spent some time hunting for a radiator (on an Easter Sunday) and had a couple of offers but they were some distance away. Luckily the crack in the case of the radiator was around the mount in the plastic side so out came the Araldyte, the hairdryer and some files. I filed away the loose plastic and cleaned it before drying it and heating it. Then we applied the very strong glue and left it for an hour.

Once the radiator was leak tested I reinstalled it, pressurised it and got the engine hot an to my immense surprise it held tight. One stupid mistake mostly rectified. I still have to find a replacement soon though.

Many thanks to brother in law Daryl for the Araldyte and the support.

The cars and drivers at Castle Combe

A quick scan of the entry list for the event at Castle Combe reveals that I am one of only three drivers racing in Class A - for cars over 2989cc. My 1998CC engine is multiplied by a factor of 1.7 because of the turbo.

The Racing Saloons series is split into five classes: Over 2989; Over 2500cc; Over 2001cc; Over 1600cc; Up to 1600cc; Production BMW for E30 318 and 320s.

The competition is Kevin Guinness of Markey Motorsport racing a BMW E36 M3 and Brian Jordan racing a BMW M6. The M3 is 3000cc and the M6 is 3500. Kevin Guiness has previously campaigned a smaller engined E30 BMW. Brian Jordan previously finished 8th in class and races with the BMW Racing Drivers Club. He is an instructor at Brands Hatch.

So it'll be me in the Ford against a couple of heavyweight, experienced and competent BMWs. Of the 42 starters, 21 are Production BMWs.

Brian's 6 series BMW:

Nearly there

It's three days before my first ever race. I've owned the car for a year and in that year I have learnt a lot. Even though I haven't yet raced I understand the car, I'm confident that it works on track and given that I don't think it's been used in anger since the mid-90s I am confident that it is solid and dependable.

Let's hope that it performs well on Monday 24 March at Castle Combe - venue of my first race. Racing Saloons has 42 cars on the grid. I need to remember that my aim is to finish without incident. Sunday I walk the track. Monday morning is 15 minute qualifying. Monday afternoon is the 10 lap race.

Today I finished the entinguisher install, mounted the transponder, checked the car over and then spent four hours cleaning the car. Because it has been stored for a long time there was a lot of dust and grime on the interior. And now it's gone and I smell of Mr Muscle.

My current concern is scrutineering as I have no idea what the judges will be concerned about. My car is solid, safe and secure. Some wiring is loose, the seat mounting could be better, the oil breather system has an open hole and my oil breather has a pipe that ought to run into a catch can but is actually capped and hanging free near the headlight. There's no roll cage padding, my electric cut-off and extinguisher pulls could be brighter, my tow loops are not as bright as they could be.

Anyway, some pics from today:
View through the front screen:

Corbeau Revolution XL and SRS harness:

A view of the nice clean(ish) interior:

And a view through the rear screen:

Even the engine bay is looking cleaner:

Here's the extinguisher install and the four bolts behind are fixing the transponder to the underside:

Latest costs are pretty resonable. I'll try to post the total spend to share a sense of the cost of preparation for the first race. Three days until the first race and I'm pretty calm. I'll post a race report once it's all over.

Turbo re-fit and wheel frustrations.

First, the turbo. It arrived back from CR Turbos today looking very nice. They have shot blasted and repaired the bent wastegate shaft. Vince at CR Turbos is a thoroughly nice bloke and the company's service was very quick. The shot blasting and cleaning was a bonus. Here's the housing and short exhaust manifold returned and looking like new:

It took me some time but this evening I refitted the turbo. It was a bitch to get some of the nuts free when I removed it but relatively straightforward to refit. Now it's back on I assume that all will work but I won't know now until the first race which is at Castle Combe in three weeks.

As I'm on holiday for the next two weeks the first race date is looming. I have Easter weekend to work on the car. Tonight I semi-fitted the fire extinguisher using the original lines and fittings. I still need to cover up raggedy wires, clean the interior and sort of the weird wheel problem.

The Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 wheels I bought looked like a bargain - four wheels the right offset for the Cosworth, in 17" so in future I can put bigger brakes underneath if need be and with the correct Toyo Proxes R888 tyres mounted. However! I have discovered that one wheel is a different offset - and it's taken me at least a couple of hours of wasted time figuring out the problem.

The markings on the wheel are almost non-extistent but with a lightbulb pressed up against the metal I can just make out the the rogue wheel is 45mm offset where the other wheels are 38mm offset. But inside the wheel on the hub mounting face somebody has written in black marker 38 4 108 (offset, number of studs and PCD). I'm surprised the previous owner didn't notice - he must have been a bit simple.

So now I have a wheel sitting 7mm in from where it should be. Tomorrow I'll speak to Team Dynamics and try to get a deal on a single wheel to replace the odd one - but that still means I have to find a friendly local garage to swap the tyre over - hassle, and hassle I did not need.

Latest costs:

• Turbo refurb and wastegate shaft repair £110
  

Licence, new wheels and fire extinguisher

My National B licence has arrived in the post from the Motor Sports Association (MSA). I am now licensed to race in national events.

The fire Extinguisher has arrived from the super efficient Peter Lloyd Rallying - a supplier of race and rally parts that sounds like a family enterprise when I speak to them on the phone. They are always very quick on delivery, friendly and their goods are cheap. My seat and seat mounts came from there. Highly recommended.

The fire extinguisher is a 2.25 litre unit and I hope it'll replace my existing item with a similar mount. My car already has plumbed in lines with discharge nozzles in the dashboard and behind the fuel rail in the engine bay. The cables and pulls are routed in the car so that driver can activate the extinguisher or the marshall can activate it from a handle by the windscreen.

I need to run Toyo R888 tyres in the Racing Saloons series. Tyres cost around £80 each so I thought I'd got a bargain when I found a set of Racing Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 wheels in Cosworth fitment with the correct tyres mounted for £280. They were hardly used. Here they are mounted on the car.

Latest costs:

• Licence payment £49
• Wheels and tyres £280
• Fire Extinguisher £90
  

Wastegate shaft seizure

Last time I used the car at Brands Hatch the turbo got so hot that the wastegate shaft bent and stuck open. I lost all boost from the turbo. Thanks to Mark at Grove Garage who skillfully diagnosed the problem. I need to send the turbo housing to a specialist who will modify the shaft to take the heat generated during racing.

Of course, removing the turbo was a nightmare. Now I know how to do it I'll be quicker next time. This time took a breaker bar, lots of time under the car, destruction of some very expensive looking 12pt bolts (oops), a near broken finger, loosening the engine mount and jacking the engine so that I could get a socket on the bolt, and lots of swearing and shouting.

Here's the turbo. First picture is the wastegate. The lever on the left connects to the actuator spring and the little round disc opens as pressure builds in the turbo. You can see from the white coating that the inside of the turbo gets seriously hot. Picture 2 and 3 show the turbo and exhaust manifold from front and back. Tomorrow I send it away to be modified.

Passed the ARDS

I spent the afternoon at Brands Hatch with five other hopefuls taking the ARDS test. This consists of a driving assessment in a Renault Megane Sport, and a multiple choice and written test. At £250 it's not cheap but as it's mandatory for the National B race licence application it had to be done.

The driving component was conducted with an instructor who explained the correct racing line through a number of corners and then encouraged me to brake later, hit the apexes correctly and generally drive in a smooth and more confident manner. Score: 75% (the minimum score required to pass).

The written and multiple choice test is primarily to test your knowledge of the flags and safety. The questions are very easy and straightforward, helped by the instuctor talking us through the answers. Score: 100%

Of the six who took the test two failed the driving assessment and I would guess that if they had been on the circuit before they may have done better. With other cars on track it was hard to listen to the instructor, watch for other cars and take the correct line on each corner. Previous experience of the circuit definitely helped.

A big hello to Nick, Nick, Alan, Trevor and the other bloke - I forgot your name. Good luck for this year in Caterhams, Metros and the Escort.

Now I send the form to the Motor Sports Association and wait for my licence to arrive before the first race in March.

Latest costs:

• ARDS £250
• Medical (mandatory for a race licence application) £50
• Race licence application £49

TTRS Racing Saloons - Calendar

Well after some deliberating and persuasion from the relevant parties I have decided to compete with the Sierra in the Toyo Tyres Racing Saloons (TTRS) race series. It is similar to the pre-1993 series offered by the Classic Touring Cars club but with a few differences that make it a better prospect.

Ignoring the politics of a series born from another series (easy for me as I'm a newcomer) the TTRS series looks great: 11 races at eight events between March and November. Three of these events are over two days at Brands, Cadwell and Silverstone. Grids are full and the entry fees are lower. It'll still be expensive at around £110 per race but not as expensive as the £170 that the CTCRC charges.

My first race is at Castle Combe on bank holiday Monday 24th March. Between now and then I need to do and pass my ARDS test, buy a race suit, fire extinguisher, transponder (a device fitted to the underside of the car to allow timing at the track) and roll cage padding.

I also need to fix the turbo issue I have. My wastegate sticks open when it gets very hot because the wastegate shaft bends with the heat. I need to remove the turbo housing and send this away to be modified.

So there are a few things still to do, and money to be spent but I have a plan for the year and the frequency and locations of the races look good. Here's the calendar:

• 24th March - Castle Combe
• 26th-27th April - Brands Hatch Indy
  
• 10th-11th May - Cadwell Park
• 7th June - Rockingham
• 14th June - Brands Hatch Indy
• 19th July - Snetterton
• 19th-20th September - Silverstone GP
• 1st November - Donington

Charlie

Some links and recommendations

There are plenty of great places round the net covering cars, but if you're planning on maintaining, modifying and racing your own car there are a few key places that you can go to for info. Here are some of my faves:

Retro Rides is a great site for classic car modifying, full of bright people doing DIY modifications to non-exotic motors. A great place for some advice and a great community of people with enough imagination and experience to inspire and encourage each other. A regular haunt for thousands of car nuts.

Classic Touring Cars is a quiet spot with a lesser populated forum. However it is a forum blessed with experienced users (some with beards!) that have been racing saloon cars for years and know their onions. It is also home to a number of racing championships including pre-1993 Touring Cars where I intend to race.

PassionFord is the spot for knowledgable (and sometimes clueless) Ford people, Ford parts suppliers and Ford enthusiasts. The best place for good advice on Cosworths and Cosworth parts. When I need advice and encouragement, that's where I head.

Ten Tenths is the motor-racing forum primarily aimed at spectators and enthusiasts but with a knowledgable crowd in the racers forum and racing technology forum that offer good advice.

Grove Garage is the no so often updated website of the legendary Ford specialist and partial home of Ahmed Bayjoo, tuning legend. Don't worry about the website being dull. It has the phone-number of the garage. If you can't get through, be patient, they're busy. Best place for work on your Cosworth!

The Turbo Restrictor

My car came with a turbo restictor. The regulations for pre-1993 Classic Touring Cars require a 36mm turbo restrictor to be fitted to restrict the air flow into the turbo. This keeps the car from outperforming the competition. It also means that a change in restrictor requires a change in engine management and set-up.

While my car was a Grove Garage they checked the size of the restrictor and discovered it was too big, at 38mm. This prompted a search for the correct restrictor which I located at a company called ATM Sport. I spoke to Andy (the AT of ATM) who immediately wrote me off as a novice and treated me with unecessary contempt.

He had a 36mm restrictor which I ordered and collected by courier. When it arrived at Grove Garage they called me to say it didn't fit and it must be the wrong part. I called Andy again who treated me like an idiot for not realising that the restrictor must be fitted into a turbo housing that has to be machined to suit. I pointed out that he could have explained this and then returned the restrictor (more courier costs) and he swapped my housing for a battered replacement and machined the new restrictor into place.

Turbo restrictor in green machined into turbo housing

I am a novice, and I find it refreshing when I deal with knowledgable people who take the time to patiently explain things. And when I deal with impatient unhelpful rude and difficult people it is very frustrating. A lesson to be learnt there: Don't bother dealing with ATM Sport unless you are as clued up as they are! Or unless you need a turbo restrictor.

Latest costs:

• 36mm turbo restrictor £70
• Machining and courier costs £100

Brands Hatch track day

I needed to prove the car and check that it wasn't going to explode or fail in some way during a race so I took it to Brands Hatch for a track day. I needed to get some laps in to get used to the car and the circuit as I take my ARDS test (to get a racing licence) in mid-february. I also had to check that my brake discs, pads and new wheel studs worked OK.

I arrived at 8.30am for a safety briefing and took the car out for a few sessions during the day. As the day went on my driving became smoother and more controlled and the laps got better and better. At a track day you need to be sensitive to traffic on track. In the morning I went out with a passenger and later on my own but for mo more than seven laps at a time.

After lunch I did 10 laps flat out, getting into the flow of the corners and getting used to the car. The car was noticably lighter without my passenger. All was going well until I suddenly lost all boost from the turbo. I assumed a hose had come off or split, so I pulled into the pits and investigated.

I opened the bonnet and checked all the hoses but couldn't see the problem. I decided to let the car cool down so that I could at least touch the actuator without burning my hands. The actuator and all hoses seemed OK. I received some trackside opinions and advice from various Cosworth "experts" who turned out not to be experts and eventually made a call to Mark at Grove Garage.

Mark diagnosed the problem. The wastegate that sits between the exhaust and turbo is mounted on a shaft that had bent slightly from the heat and seized open. Afternoon track time was running short by this time so I quickly reassembled the turbo/exhaust connection by 3.40 and tried the car again.

For the last 20 minutes of the day the car ran flawlessly and I got some very fast laps in. Now that the car is tuned and performing well it is a real joy to drive. It's stable, and predictable and on the Pirelli wets that I was running it was easy to let the car slide sideways on fast corners.

I need to modify the wastegate shaft so that it doesn't stick open during a race. Other than that I am comfortable that the car is near race ready. Small jobs include cleaning, painting and tidying various items that will bother the scrutineers.

I need to keep an eye on the oil consumption. I think I got through one litre in 40 laps. And I used half a tank of unleaded.

Here's the car in the pit lane:

Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth Group N touring car

Costs:

• Track Day £119
  

Charlie

Brake discs, pads, long wheel studs

When I bought the car it came with a set of 16" Compomotive wheels shod with Pirelli P6 wet tyres. I mounted the wheels on the car and they looked great but the original wheel studs only just held the wheels on. I think I got 2 or 3 turns on each wheel nut. This would not be strong enough for track use so I invested in a set of long wheel studs.

When I collected the car from Grove Garage I had a discussion about the brakes. The car came with its original brake discs and calipers. The solid Ford discs are good for road use but for track use they don't dissipate heat well and were already warped. I weighed up the options for changing the brakes and as usual, budget won. I bought four replacement discs the same size as the original discs but grooved and drilled and decided to use the original calipers, with new pads.

The discs should dissipate heat better and be better suited to the track. The pads are suitable for the track and the original calipers work well. This set-up is nowhere near the serious competition braking systems from Brembo or AP but should be OK for now. In future I will consider an upgrade.

It took me the best part of Sunday to bang out the old studs, fit new longer studs, fit the discs and install the pads. Here are the pics.

original brake disc, caliper and studs

Long studs in place

New discs and Yellowstuff pads

New wheels mounted over new brakes and new wheels studs

Job done.

Costs:

• Brake discs £130
• Long studs £20
• Pads £110

Collecting the car from Grove Garage

A New Year call from Mark at Grove Garage meant it was ready to be collected. It has a new Ahmed Bayjoo chip in it and has been live mapped (on the road) for good performance. I took the trailer to pick it up and had a chat about it. My engine and turbo were described as "tired" which I think is a fair description. With the turbo restrictor, green injectors, original T3 turbo and otherwise standard engine the car is producing enough boost and horsepower to be competitive but not so much that the engine will die an early death.

Mark clearly knows his Cosworths and is a very enthusiastic and positive character. He had to strip off the steering rack and have it reconditioned, replaced some front suspension components, re-did the fuel pump wiring, and checked over the car. His assesment is that to be really competitive the car needs a lot of work on brakes, suspension and engine. I agree. But this can wait until the end of the first season, and until I can increase my budget. Something for the future.

A quick recommendation for Grove Garage by the way. The enthusiasm and experience of Mark and Ahmed (a legend in Ford tuning circles) is second to none but what I really appreciated was Mark's ability to explain things to me without getting impatient about my obvious lack of knowledge. He is very willing to answer my stupid questions, is interested in the car, has a lot of good technical knowledge and I find him very trustworthy.

I asked Grove Garage to replace my cam belt but they checked it, found it was new and let me know it didn't need replacing. Luckily the tensioner bolt broke off when they checked it (rather than when it was being driven) and this was helicoiled and replaced. Thanks again to Grove Garage.

Latest costs:
Live map and chip: £350ish
Steering, electrics, fix cam belt tensioner, etc. £250
Remove steering rack, fit new steering rack £250

Track day disaster + bits and pieces

Having bought the car I decided the best thing to do was go straight to the track to see what it could do. Ignoring the fact that I knew it had a misfire and hadn't really been checked, serviced or set-up properly I booked a track day at Brands Hatch and began preparing the car.

Preparation for racing is about safety and reliability as well as speed so I set about making a list of things that needed doing and equipment that needed fitting. This is not an exhaustive list but here are some of things I did:

• Bought a trailer. I was feeling flush so bought a brand new Brian James Clubman
• Got a trailer hitch fitted to the BMW estate.
• Insured the race car (it's covered in situ and on the trailer but not on track).
• Bought a new seat. I'm 6'3"and 105 kilos so I need a big seat. On a recommendation I chose a Corbeau Revolution XL. It grips me in the hips and fits me well. I had to buy new seat mounts and fit the seat to the car to suit my driving position.
• Bought a new harness. To comply with the regulations the seat and harness must be dated and the old ones were out of date. This is a six strap affair with under seat, lap and shoulder belts. It fit in the same mounting eyes as the previous harness.
• Bought a new helmet and gloves.
• Bought brake fluid, oil, leads, rotor arm, distributor cap, filters.
• Changed the brake fluid, bled the brakes, changed the oil, replaced the oil filter, changed the leads, rotor arm and cap.

At this point I wasn't feeling flush anymore but the car was looking like it was ready for an outing so I loaded it up and went to Brands Hatch where it coughed and spluttered its way round a few laps before dying right in front of the pit lane. I was towed in and me and the car went home with our collective tail between our legs.

At this point I knew the car needed some specialist work including a set-up and some expertise. After some research I settled on Grove Garage in Hornchurch, Essex. A quick chat on the phone to Mark and we agreed that they would do the work. I loaded the car up again and dropped the car off in Essex.

Total costs so far:

• Car £4,500
• Trailer £1,900
• Tow bracket £250
• Insurance £250
• Seat £320
• Harness £180
• Helmet and gloves £290
• Oil filters, leads, oils, brake fluid, rotor arm, etc £200
• Track day at Brands £119

Total £8,000

As you can see it's getting expensive and the car hasn't yet been used in anger.

Charlie

First small steps

When I decided that I would like to own and race a saloon car I didn't really spend much time considering the reasons why I shouldn't. People could have warned me about the cost, the difficulty, the frustrations, the time. I wouldn't have listened. This blog is about my experiences. Apologies for the sporadic updates. I intend to add an entry after every race or major event.

To go racing I needed to: 1. Find a racing series that is affordable, and technically not too challenging. 2. Find a car that is affordable and technically not too challenging. This sounded pretty straightforward. A racing season runs from around April to October in the UK. There are loads of classes and events on dirt, tarmac, ovals, twisty circuits, in stadiums, down country lanes, up hills, through bollards, against the clock and against other cars. People race everything from old bangers to million pound Ferraris.

I had a budget of a few grand for a car and a few grand for ancilliaries. So some decisions had to be made. I had to find a car that I could maintain and that was not exotic. I wanted something that I could crash without needing a bank loan to repair. And I wanted something that would be fast enough and thrilling enough to get the adrenalin flowing. Rear wheel drive was important too.

So by now I was getting a fix on a car: fast, reliable, easy to get parts for, no worries if I crash it, and I had decided that it must already be a race car. A lot of people buy road cars and make them race ready. If you keep reading this blog I think you'll get a sense of the time, effort, cost, time, cost and more effort that prepping and maintaining a racing cars takes. I wasn't willing to add the time and effort of finding the car I wanted then stripped the extra weight out of it, adding a roll cage, seat, safety equipment, etc. I'm sure that the people who do this all the time will tell you it's easy, and to some it is. But it would be my first time and I wanted a car that was already set up.

So at this point I had decided to find a reliable RWD turbo saloon car and started looked into a possible series to run it in. A google search found the Classic Touring Car Club (CTCC) at http://www.classictouringcars.com/ which runs a number of racing series that look reasonably accessible. The club's racing categories include:

• Classic Saloons and Historic Touring Cars (pre 1966 saloon cars)
• Post Historic Touring Cars (pre 1974 saloon cars)
• Classic Group One Touring Cars (pre 1983 saloon cars)
• Pre 93 Touring Car Series (like it says. Cars made before 1993
• Classic Modified Saloons (anything goes with modifications)
• Production BMW Championship (E30 series 318 and 320)
  

I'm a big fan of touring cars generally so this looked like a good club. A natural fit between my search for a cheapish turbo car and a racing series that would be accessible seemed to be the pre-93 touring car class and I decided to look for a Ford Sierra Cosworth.

I got outbid on a white 3 door that was on Ebay and eventually bought a yellow Saphhire RWD touring car from Tony Ryan at Touring Car Spares. Tony sells ex-race cars for a living. I don't think my car was typical for him as he seems to deal with much more expensive cars. He's a great guy though, knowledgable and patient and after some negotiating the car was mine for £4,500. I rented a trailer to collect it and it sat in my garage while I thought about the next steps.

The engine bay

The car