Bandit2 - Page 14

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22 September 2013

And then it was race day! Up early and up the hills. I stopped just before the freeway to check the straps. Should have done that earlier cause one had come off and dragged on the road and completely wrecked itself. Better get Trev a new one of those. Other than that, the day was a complete success! I'm the happiest man alive today. The car ran awesome all through the day. The only problems were the oil filler cap popping out in the first session (fixed with the spare mk2 one I grabbed that morning before leaving), the driver sun visor falling down (fixed with a tighten of a screw), and the car conking out at the pit entry (fixed by putting more fuel in it!). The exhaust was also bonking the compression strut bracket when I got a bit agressive turning right.

I'd cranked the rear shocks up the night before, thinking I'd overcome the saggy old springs with a stiffer shock, but the first couple of runs the back end was pretty bouncy on the turns. So we backed them half way off again, and the car was so much better. It handled fantasticly, and the FF tyres were just excellent. They were a bit slippy till they warmed up though. But once it was all warmed up you could throw the car around and it would just stick, no understeer, and only oversteer when you got a bit rough with it. The brakes were brilliant too. There were a couple of lock-ups while they were still not warm (cold tyres didn't help there either), but otherwise no fade at all, and I could brake really late and hard.

Nick came along for a look and took a heap of photos for me, and a couple of short videos that he stuck on youtube. Steve also came up from Goulburn for a look. And dad dropped in for a bit in the morning. Was good to have some people to share the first run with. Thanks for coming out guys. But the guy I owe the biggest thanks to is Matt. The car would never have made it to the track let alone out of the shed without his help, skills, and butt kicking to keep at it. Thanks Matt, I owe you big time. Awesome day, and I'm still smiling like a loon whenever I think about bombing about the track in the car. I can't believe the old orange mk1 that we found under long grass in a paddock at Captains Flat is now my awesome mk1 track car. Like I said, I'm a bloody happy guy today!

Here's a couple more pics that Steve took on the day too.

And here's some links to Nick's little videos on youtube.

11-Feb-2014: And lastly, here's some pics from Neale Bayliss Photo & Graphic.

15 October 2013

So after the rushing around trying to get the car ready for its first outing, things have been very quiet in the last month. I swapped the wheels over to the road ones, and...well that's about it. But Scott the SFCC Registrar checked the car out at the track day and reckoned we'd be all good to stick some club rego on it. So I emailed him the details and then he sent me back the forms. I finally got around to getting down to the RMS, and they gave me some plates for the old girl, so we're good to go for club rego. Awesome stuff! I need to get a couple of jobs done on it now, the rear view mirror (which only lasted the morning before falling off on a right hander) needs to go back on, I have high beams, but no low beams, gotta check the brake lights, and also need to see if I can calibrate the Smiths fuel gauge so it reads right. Then hook up the speedo and try building a wire for the back of the tacho so it works. I was going to see if I could mount the Scheel seats that Rex gave me a while ago. They might be a bit more comfortable than the race seat and harness.

23 October 2013

I grabbed a 2L oil catch tank off Grp4 Fabrications in Ireland. They make some awesome stuff, and the cost to buy it and ship it was still very reasonable. So it got bolted to the side of the engine bay. Then I ran a hose from the filler cap to one outlet, and after reading a bit on the internet I decided to run the other one from the PCV outlet to the other nozzle on the tank. I got the guts out of the PCV, but the hose is 1/2" ID and the outlet of the PCV is way smaller than that. The hose is a tight fit into the grommet that is left on the oil separator, so I need to see if just pushing it in there is an option. Time to ask the forum experts again. Then as I was leaving the shed last night I just snapped a couple of pics of the 2 mk1's.

30 October 2013

The forum reckoned I'd be ok just stuffing the hose through the grommet, so I figured that would do the job for now. So I put it all back together the other night. Today I had to borrow the ute, so took the car for a drive up the road to Trev's place. Roared up the road ok, I really should get it tuned up at some stage though. And there was a big clunk coming from the front left corner on every bump. I checked the front end and all looks tight, so I'm guessing it must be the damper insert moving inside the strut body. Bugger. I don't really want to have to pull the strut apart again. The other problem is that when I arrived up at Trev's there was oil dripping badly under the car. On popping the bonnet there was oil splashed all over the side of the engine and bay. Looks like its coming out around the oil separator can. Damn. Not sure what the fix is for that. Might need a breather in the lines somewhere to stop the pressure getting up too much and forcing oil out the path of least resistance.

14 November 2013

I'm slowly getting the car ready for Sundays run at the Huntley Hillclimb. Hopefully it'll be ok to go, I'm not sure how I'm getting there yet. I've put a breather into the catch tank, so need to take it for a burl up the road to see if that stops the oil blowing out everywhere. I also pulled the strut outthe other night and found that the insert was flapping about in the strut tube. So I made up a bigger spacer and then cranked the top nut down as tight as I could. Hopefully that'll sort it, it was a bit of a pain getting the strut out. Should have taken some pics of that too, but I was too busy getting it done. I have wasted a bit of time here and there over the last few weeks making a little panel for my battery cutoff switch. Its done and I just need a couple more cable lugs and I can put it in. And finally I've been trying to work out how to hook up the tacho. I made a loop wire fitting, hopefully that'll work. Now I just need to work out where and what to plug into the other blade terminal on the back. Maybe 6V, but where does that come from? Dunno. I also found a new set of FF tyres on ebay. In Melbourne of course. But I got them shipped up and they're in town getting fitted up now. They've got way more tread than the old ones.

18 November 2013

I managed to get the car done and ready for Sunday. Friday afternoon I took it for a couple of test runs up Browns Mtn. Man that is a steep gnarly road. Would be awesome for a super technical long hillclimb. But one thing it did show is that I don't have much power. Thought I might be ok though. So Saturday I pack things up and loaded the car. It rained on and off so out the front of the shed was a mud pit again. So I brought the car up to the garage and kicked the wagon out. Gave it a quick wash to get the dust off it, and did the final packing.

Sunday morning it was still raining on the way up (I'd decided to drive the car there, easier than a trailer). Got to the hillclimb and changed the tyres. Signed on, got the car checked and we were good to go. It was still showering on and off so things were damp. We did out recon drive up the hill. Man it was steep, and going from a standing start was going to be tricky. I was in the 2nd group of 25 cars and the first run was still damp, but it was drying a bit. The old girl got off the line ok, but hit the steep bit and it was a bit of a struggle. Was into 3rd on the first straight and I backed off before the fork thinking it might be slippery. It wasn't and cause I'd lost momentum I had to get back to 2nd before the esses. Roar out 2nd and into 3rd just before the line. A 43.15. Not real flash. So my aim was to just keep it flat everywhere and get the gear change point right. The 2nd run came and it started bucketing down rain before the start. Again I backed off before the kink thinking it might be slippery in the wet, and then kicked myself cause the car didn't even look like sliding. 43.58. By the 3rd run things were drying again and I managed to keep it flat the whole way. 41.52. Much better! Then the 4th run things felt great till just after the esses, then it started cutting out again. Did another 43, but could have been much better I reckon. And then she died on the way back down the hill. Turns out it was out of fuel again. I really need to sort out the fuel gauge. After that I got 2 more runs on a pretty dry track. 40.36, and then a 40.28. Cool, into the 40's. Still not real fast though, 5th in class and 48th out of 50. But at least the car was still going great and was all good for the drive back home. Cause of the wet weather and mud on the dirt road at the top of the course the car got filthy, but it did a great job. Just need a bit more go and it'll be a whole lot of fun.

I found some pics of the old banger in action. Thanks to Chequered Flag Photography the pics.

19 November 2013

While I'm still a bit motivated on the car I thought I'd better get this LSD rear axle moving. The casing has been sitting there for a bit and waiting for a cleanup and some paint. So at lunchtime today I got the angle grinder and wire wheel out and got all the grub off it. Then stuck some chassis black on it. Its a bit rough in spots, but for a back axle it'll do. Now I just need to work out what bits to use on it. I was thinking of using the rear brakes that are on the car, but that means pulling the axle out of it so I can get them off. And that probably means the car is out of action for a while with the speed that I get things done. And one other thing is nearing completion that will hopefully spot taking up my shed time. The coffee table for the family room is just about done. Just need some more of the beeswax rubbed into the top of it.

17 February 2014

Wow, that couple of months went past quick. Same story every year, I get big plans over the Christmas break to go and get heaps done, but then end up doing absolutely nothing. I finally got back down to the shed on the weekend. Pulled the dash out and had a fiddle with the tacho. The Capri one wasn't working so I pulled it out and worked out how to stick the VDO one in. Took a bit of modifying, but its in there now. Had to make a spacer for the tacho, then take the glass out of the front, sand down the surround, and then it all fitted back together. I'd found some wiring suggestions on the internets so gave that a go. Plugged it all back into the car, and hey presto, it works! Doesn't look as neat as the Capri one, but at least it works. I need to check how accurate it is now. I also pulled out the fuel gauge to see if I can recalibrate it so it reads somewhere closer to right.

Its about time I got my rear axle sorted too. So I started getting my bit together to see if I have everything. I'm not sure if I'll need to get new bearings, but it might be a good idea while its all apart. And I need the brake drum backing plates off the axle on the car, so it needs to come out too. I hate pulling the car apart again now that its going and working. But it might just have to be done. And starting more jobs before finishing others, I started pulling bits off the spare engine so I can get it up on the stand and attempt a rebuild on it. I want to get to a few more track days soon too, which is another reason I don't want to pull the car apart again. I should go do one at least, then get the back end out and sorted.

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