richyb66

Give me a call when you've got a minute.

OK, this has had a week to air and there seems to be enough interest in having a run out somewhere, subject of course to getting some reasonable weather. In view of locations of those that have expressed an interest in coming being somewhat spread out, I'm going to propose everyone meeting up somewhere roughly in the middle. This being the Halfords store near the junction of the A52 and the A515 just outside of Ashbourne DE6 1DU at 1100 hrs which is here: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=DE6+1DU&hl=en&sll=53.01042,-1.743059&sspn=0.018668,0.049438&hnear=Ashbourne+DE6+1DU,+United+Kingdom&t=m&z=16 This is late enough to allow a bit of a lie-in but is still over an hours drive for most people so from here I’m suggesting we do a circular route up to Buxton then down to Bakewell, Matlock with a stop-off somewhere for some food. I’ve no detailed knowledge of this area so if anyone wants to pitch in with more detailed information or suggestions then please do. If anyone has any other comments, wants to join in, needs to drop out then shout up. We’ll have a better idea of the weather towards the end of the week and everyone can make their own call nearer (or on) the day. Ta.

He was downwind, but he didn't inhale.

V112 for the guaranteed win, fix stalk problem later.

That's what I was inferring, if you think noise is going to be a problem, why take the chance? Get something additional in there from the start - no car ever failed for being too quiet!!

A pretty damning statement - did they care to elaborate?

People have passed there apparently: http://www.rhocar.org/index.php?showtopic=32004 If a well prepared car the complies with the manual is presented to them then they'll have to pass it. The old issues will probably be the grey areas that have been discussed previously - most of which can be addressed before the test.

IVA noise measurements are taken at 75% of the maximum power engine rpm regardless of wheher it's quoted in bhp or KW so that's still 3900rpm if you declare 77KW @ 5200 rpm. Unless you've got an accurate, calibrated dB meter to do a test of your own system, then you might be well advised to give your silencer some additional 'assistance' to get it through the test.

I feel an evening visit coming on.

Forget the MOT for now and do what I did as described here: http://www.rhocar.org/index.php?showtopic=32201&&do=findComment&comment=252544 Used this method twice already and not had any problems whatsoever.

I can do a week night this week - Wednesday is best for me. Unfortunately not available next weekend.

Now summer is finally with us (well BST at least), I thought I'd arrange a run out for 2 weeks today, 13th April 2014 as I'm in the Midlands that weekend. I'd like to gauge some interest and get some ideas of a possible destination for a ride out for the day - set off sometime mid morning and return later in the afternoon. Possibilities could be the Ponderosa cafe, Horseshoe Pass, LLangollen, somewhere in Peak District, RAF Museum at Cosford, with a stop off for some lunch. If anyone from ajoining areas (Leics, Staffs, Notts Derby etc) want's to come along and can suggest other possible destinations then post them up. Ideally I'd like the destination, route and meeting points confirmed by the end of this week. Thanks.

Bruce, you win the 2014 prize for the oldest topic ressurected as a first post. Well done.

Is this going to be your next project?

No, he gets one of the peasants from the local village to cut the grass for him.

I'm thinking about organising a run-out in a couple of weeks time - possibly Sunday 13th April, maybe you can make it along to that instead? I'll post more details when I've gauged a bit more interest.

What sun, forecast for this evening doesn't look good.

I'm pretty sure that shouldn't be there unless you've got the RH panel on the LH side in which case it might have been for the steering column (in which case the cut-out looks too high). Blank it off with a plate self tapped on and if you need to run wiring through there later, you can remove the plate and drill it easily.

While I’d got a bit of time to kill I couldn’t resist having a look at the first of the detail parts I bought to improve the kit. These were Cosworth DFV engine intake funnels and fuel distributor. The Tamiya plastic parts for these are OK but the detail parts take things to a new level with cast white metal, turned aluminium and photo etched metal parts. Below you can see, from the left. The fuel ECU (folded stainless steel and die cast parts), the ignition and fuel distribution units (die cast part epoxied together) and the throttle bodies and intake funnels (die cast parts, turned aluminium, photo etched metal and small springs just visible at the bottom right hand end). What isn’t shown fitted are the fuel injectors and fuel pipes that will be added later as they’re a bit delicate and to be honest, after cutting down the small springs (to around 3mm long) and re-bending their ends, I’d had enough of small parts for a while.

Progress has been non-existent for the last few weeks but I’ve finally managed to get a bit more done. The main hold up was sorting out a compressor and airbrush that I’d be using instead of brushes which would hopefully allow me to paint parts more quickly and with a better finish. On the Ducati, I’d used enamel paint but I’ve decided to switch to acrylic paint for the Mclaren due to it’s faster drying time, low odour, easy of use and easier cleanup. Acrylic is suitable for airbrush application as well as brushing but needs to be thinned slightly to allow it to spray. Three of the colours would still be model aerosol paint – gold for the wheels (left over from the Ducati) together with the white and orange of the main body. Aerosols made more sense for the main body areas as I’d get a quality finish and a nice high gloss. First up were the main engine cooling radiators. Nothing too complicated here, the two plastic halves of the rads are glued together then a photo etched metal mesh is super glued to each side. A small amount of plastic filler was used around the joins and sanded smooth to neaten things up before the rads were primed and then painted matt black. The next area to be assembled was the front bulkhead. The majority of this would be painted aluminium with the exception of the fluid reservoirs that would be white. With this in mind, the bulkhead was built up without the reservoirs and painted afterwards. The bulkhead also had a photo etched metal panel in it so was given a quick coat of fine primer first to ensure that the acrylic paint stuck to the metal part. The main chassis moulding was spray primed and painted the gloss white and orange livery of Yardley. The main tub assembly front and rear bulkheads and radiators fit to the main floor as shown below. They’re only mocked in place here because I want to allow the paint to fully harden so I can polish it before I glue the parts together.

Next Wedneday, 7pm onwards, Malt Shovel Pub, Coventry Road, Nr Stonebridge, Coventry, CV7 7HL https://maps.google....ingdom&t=m&z=15 Entrance to pub car park is off the A452 Chester Road heading North 50 yards from the island

It could be the alternator, I had them fail so that the battery drains back thought them when the car is left standing. Unplug the alternator, charge the battery and see if it holds the charge. Has the ignition light stay on or glow when the car's running which might indicate it's not charing either?

The mini U clamps are also available at B&Q - probably not as cheap as Ebay but at least you can see what you're getting before you buy. I shortened my inner cable by cutting the nipple off the end and crimping and welding a new one on the end. It looks neater but it's a bit more hit and miss determining the cable length compare to using 2 U clamps around the quadrant.

If it's a tubular a manifold and the flanges are distorted they you could try doubling up the gaskets so you've got more compressability (not a proper word) to take up any gaps. Other than that, you could use a smear of exhaust assembly paste on either side of the gasket. It's messy and bit cowboy but it should do the job.

2WD Cosworth - the 4WD cable is different.