Superstox NFR 6

Updated: 20 November 2007

Car

09/06/07 - The engine finally got to meet the Chassis today, so I guess we can now call it a car now? Dean and his Dad Colin kindly brought the engine over and stayed to help fit it in the car.  First job was to fit the clutch, starting motor and gearbox to the engine.  We dropped the engine into the car from the front with the front bumper removed, but this way proved a bit tricky at the final stage when we had to lower the engine down.  Once in the car the engine and gearbox mount were attached and it was in!

We then started looking at the wiring and this is where we lot quite a bit of time.  The reason being the Superstox is wired to run 2 batteries in line (parallel).  This was not permitted within the Rod rules so it was all new to me.  With the help of Dean and Colin we got there in the end but by now it was time to pack up for the day.  There were still more parts I needed before we could start it up, but Dean and Colin were very positive that once I had the parts 1 more day on car and we would have it running. The only issue from the day was the seat.  Now the gearbox was in place when selecting 2nd gear it hits the seat, so this will need changing.

16/06/07 - With only a few hours spare today, I used the time to assess what parts were still needed for the car in order to get it started up.  The oil pressure gauge in the car was a different fitting and was not the easiest to read, so I opted to buy a new Tim Mechanical oil pressure gauge.  I also needed some exhaust manifold studs and copper nuts and found these new on E-bay. Hampshire Bolt and Tools in Basingstoke provided the radiator screws (short UNF) and some inlet manifold studs and some other bits and pieces.  Obtaining the Radiator hoses proved tricky from the local factors so in the end I got them from Randall Motorsport and they arrived next day.

23/06/07 - With a whole day spare I was not going to let the forecasted heavy rain put me off.  The day started off dry and bright, but I was not going to get caught out, so up went the pop up Gazebo just in case.  First job was to spray the exhaust and manifold with a heat shield paint, to cover the rusty metal and make it look better.  One can soon run out but just about covered it all.  While that was drying I connected up the fuel pump and checked all the hoses.  With the exhaust now dry (it dried quickly) the manifold and exhaust were fitted onto the car.  Around on the other side of the engine the inlet manifold went on and the carburettor.  At the front of the engine the fan and radiator was fitted along with the hoses but we had a problem!  The top hose would not fit so I had to cut some old hoses and make up one for the time being.  As Forecasted the rain did fall quite heavily but thankfully me and the car stayed dry under the gazebo :-).

Dean suggested before I start the car that I got the oil pressure up first.  So the oil went into the engine and the rocker cover came off to ensure the oil was pumping around the engine when it was turned over.  The oil was flowing around the engine okay, so back on with the rocker cover.  The last job was to put the spark plugs in and connect up the HT leads.  All done and ready to fire it up!  On went the fuel tap but there was a problem.  Despite the fuel pump ticking away there was no fuel being pumped from the tank?  I traced all the pipes back to the tank and even put a hose in a petrol can, but the pump was just not pumping the fuel.  So the problem seemed to be a knackered fuel pump :-(

Not quite ready to pack up and go indoors, I poured some fuel directly into the carburettor (A trick I leant from my rod days).  At the push of the button the engine started up first time and ran for a few seconds before cutting out due to lack of fuel.  We done this several times just to hear the engine run, which was very rewarding.

So what's left to do on the car now before we can go testing?

Buy and fit new fuel pump 14/06/07
Fit the Prop shaft
Fit the Throttle Cable
Fit the Clutch Cable
Move the seat or shorten the gearbox
Bolt on the front bumper
Buy and fit air filter
Buy new jets and fit in the carburettor

Other jobs:

Paint the Aerofoil 14/06/07
Paint the wheels
Sign writing

Maybe the end is in sight?

14/06/07

Today seemed to be the best and most humid day of the weekend, so ideal to get a bit more painting done.  So a quick rub down of the aerofoil and the spare front bumper ready for painting.  While the first coat of paint was drying I fitted the new fuel pump that immediately started pumping the fuel to the carb (unlike the old pump), so that was one problem solved but then another developed.

The car would still not start and it sounded like fuel starvation?  The fuel was going into the carb but it would not start.  So it was given a helping hand again by pouring some fuel directly into the carburettor.  It would fire up and then cut out again.  So the carb appears to have an idle problem.  While I scratched my head, I gave the aerofoil and front bumper a second coat of paint before having a further play with the carb.  However with the Webber 32/36 carb being new to me I had to call it a day and seek some further advice on the problem.  With the aerofoil now dry, I couldn't help myself and quickly bolted it back onto the roof of the car for a few pictures.

July 07 (updated 15/09/07) 

Well Looking at the date above I can't believe where the time has gone, and I've not done an update since June!  Therefore I'll recap events since June by month.

The problem with the carb was resolved in July.  local F2 racer Mike Spence lent me a carb to try on the car, so I bolted it on and the car fired up and idled okay.  So I knew now there was a problem with the original carb.  On further inspection we notices the air correction screws were missing, so maybe this was the problem? I managed to source another Carb from ex racer Colin Bradley #481 who only lives 25 minutes away near Winchester.  Colin told me on the phone its was an Anderson Carb so I thought it will be fine.  When I pick it up, it was actually brand new and on a mason manifold, so I was well pleased.  Colin also had a Shortened gearbox sat on the bench.  I thought this may come in handy if I need to move the seat further forward, so I bought that off him too.

I decided to leave the carb and manifold from Colin together, so took off the other manifold and bolted the new carb and manifold on all together.  The engine fired up nicely.  Job done!

Whilst working in this area it made sense to connect up the throttle and clutch cable and fit the air filter.

Toward the end of the month Colin Aylward kindly picked up my new Dizzy and Thermostat housing from Lyndale and brought it to Bovingdon for me.

August 

Most of August was spend on the transmission apart from fitting the new Dizzy and thermostat housing.  On the first attempt back in July the prop shaft did not want to slide fully into the shaft on the gearbox.  I was reluctant to hit it in with the hammer as I knew it would have to come back out again at some point.  So I examined it further in August and nothing was obvious, so after a bit of WD40 and a good wiggle it went in and came back out again okay.  I was now itching to jump in and drive the car so put the seat in lose and jumped in and fired her up.  I finally got to drive the car back and forward a few times and it felt great!

So now all was okay it was time to fit the seat properly and this is were we had a problem.  I hope Mark does not mind me saying,  he was a bit shorter than me so the seat needed to be moved forward in order to get the bottom of the seat lower down in the car.  The problem then was the seat was touching the gear stick.  We got the gear stick straighten/bent forward but the gear stick was still touching the seat when in 2nd gear.  It may have been okay but my way of thinking, was that its a contact formula and it could quite easily  jump out of gear.  I played about with seat several time but my head was too close to the roof plate.  A point to remember here is, when your crash helmet is on your head is about another 2 inched higher!

I had no choice but to change the gearbox and fit the shortened box acquired from Colin.  I really didn't want to take the engine out so opted to get it out via the cab.  So the prop had to come off again and the pedals had to be taken out, so the bell housing could get past them.  We could not get the angel to get it out of the cab but managed to pop it out of the gap behind the dials and the fire wall (see picture) with just mm's to spare.  oh and plenty of gearbox oil in the cab too.  The bell housing had to be swapped over too.  We then decided to check the new one was okay before putting it in the car.  It was a good job we checked as it did not want to go into gear, so further inspection was required.  Once the cover was of we discovered the slider was jammed and was due to a little metal sliders on one of the cogs (maybe when the gearbox was put back together?).  We pushed them back into place and all was now fine to be put back together with 1st and 2nd gear now working okay.

Getting the gearbox back in was just as hard as it was taking it out, especially getting it back onto the clutch and engine.  After allot of pushing and pulling it somehow went back into place but don't ask me how.  Everything was all put back but when the gear stick went back in it would not allow you to select reverse?  A job for another day.  The gearbox however does make a difference to space in the cab.  As you can see from the picture on the left, the smooth area to the left of the gear stick is where the gear stick would normally be housed and touching the seat. 

One of the last items needed for the car was the transponder.  James Griggs responded to my wanted adverted and offered his transponder that was no longer required as he is no longer racing at Spedeworth.  So arrangements were made and we picked it up on the way home from a day out!

September 

08/09/07 - With the car nearing completion arrangements were made with the sign writer to do the car on Friday 15th September.  With the date less than a week away the panels all needed to be fastened back onto the chassis.  Once this was done we added the stickers we wanted on the car so the sign writer could work around them.  Graphics by Dave made the big website sticker to size, so it would fit on the aerofoil and allow some room for the Demon Tweeks sticker too.  After several attempts of sticking the big website sticker on the car we then reverted back to looking at the problem with reverse gear.  Whilst speak to Stu Thompson the week before, he suggested checking a few things but these were okay, and we were almost ready to give up for the day.  Then my Dad suggested trying another gear stick. I didn't think it would make any difference but thought no harm in trying.  The gear stick in the car was a Standard Ford gear stick but modified to a quick shift.  The other gear stick I had was a standard Ford, and to our surprise it went into reverse no problem.  Another mystery solved, that all we can put down to something happened when it got bent forward?

14/09/07 - Today the car was being sign written and it was a day I was looking forward too.  I decided to stick with Sign Right who done an excellent job on my Ford Rod and many other cars.  Mike Spence kindly allowed me to use a corner of his busy powder coating workshop, so the rain never posed a risk.  I showed Simon the list of what I wanted on the car and agreed on what was best where (due to the length of some of the words).  Then I left the rest to Simon with him deciding on the colours.  It's like watching an artist at work and was even a distraction for Mike's staff at times.  In my mind the car really came to life once the race numbers were added, and after about 8 solid hours on the car, Simon was finished!

Here are some pictures taken whist the car was being sign written:

15/09/07 - It was back to Mike's workshop today, who kindly allowed me to use his tyre changer.  All of my Ford Wheel from the Superstox and Rods were gathered up and stripped of their tyres to make the painting of the wheels easier.

16/09/07 - With the wheels now back home again it was time for a quick clean, rub down and a couple of coats of paint.

One more job forgotten from the list is fitting the transponder.

21/09/07 - With an anticipated practice day only a week away, it was once again back to Mike's workshop today, to put the tyres back on the wheels.  Not an easy task for a novice tyre fitter like me but I managed about 8 out of 10 tyres on rims without pinching the tubes :-).

In the evening Dean kindly offered to come over and weld the seat support back in the car.  Before we started we done lots of measuring of the distance between the diff and the seat and my head and the roof of the car.  The seat has to have a gap between it and the diff to allow for suspension movement, also the rules state that you must have a 2 inch gap between your head and the roof of the cab.  We did not have allot of room to play with but decided to go with it and see what happens on the practice day.

23/09/07 - Today was the last free day to finish the car.  The seat support and a few other bits were painted and the seat was fitted back in the car.  The Wheels went back on, and wheel/spring guards.  The spare front bumper was fitted and all lose nuts and bolts were tightened up and finally the batteries went on charge.  with the dark nights drawing in it was even too dark for pictures.

Practice Day - 29/09/07

I had been eagerly awaiting for this day for some time!  Some friends that race independent Superstox had planned a practice day some weeks back at Ringwood on this day, so I thought it would be good to join them with my car, and give me a target date to get the car ready.  After speaking to a few drivers at Ipswich the week before I mentioned that I was hoping to test the car the following week. On the Monday Steve Hamilton called me and we discussed testing the car on the Saturday.  Steve then said he may bring his and Luke's car down too but both cars would need some work done on them during the week.  Steve rang again later in the week to ask if my car was ready, and confirmed he would join me at Ringwood along with John Saunders too. 

I loaded up in the rain the night before being assured by the BBC weather forecast the following day would be dry.  When I woke up in the morning it was still raining but I thought it will stop soon and headed off down the M3 to Ringwood.  On arrival at the track the rain had stopped and we were the first to arrive in the pits soon after 10am.  So I had time to dry the car off and take the first pictures on the completed car:

Dean Hummerstone agreed to come alone and help out and was next to arrive, followed by Steve with both cars and then to my surprise another Spedeworth car of Kevin Hardy #63.  John Saunders turned up a little while after so in the end there were 7 Superstox there.  While we made some last minutes changes to tyres pressures and the tracking the other guys were in their cars already and heading off to the track.  Me and Kevin were not far behind but with the gate already shut we had to sit and wait for a bit.

With the cars on the track being waved down the gate got opened and I was out on track.  I planned to take it easy for the first session but after a few laps I was being told from the pit wall to up the power, so I did (well in mind I did).  After a few laps of getting on the power earlier it was not long before I had my first spin coming out of turn 2.  In my hast to drop the clutch I knocked the pedal and the car cut out.  The car was stuck in gear and I knew that the it must be the clutch cable that had come adrift.

I got pushed back to the pits courtesy of Kevin, and on examination the problem was that the clutch cable had slipped off.  Dean's Dad Colin suggested we put a clip around the cable to stop it coming off again, so that's what we done.

I then went back out again for a second time and the on the third time It started raining.  This changed everything as these cars are hard enough to drive in the dry, in the wet they are 10 times harder to drive.  Several of the others spun out, then I recalled that there was more grip around the outside at Ringwood.  A few laps later we were all using the outside line but it still proved tricky to drive so it was time to come in and let Dean have a go to see what he thought.

When Dean got out on track it was now very wet and Dean made driving my car look easy, using the power to drift the car coming out of the bends (See below for Dean's thoughts on the car etc).

I went out again for a 4th time and the track was still wet.  After a few laps I tried the advice I'd received in the pits and it seemed to be going better.  Then disaster stuck! I went into the bend a little too quick, and was heading towards the wall.  Now I know I should not have hit the brakes but my brain said brake, so I ended up skidding straight into the wall and the car cut out.  I could not restart the car so just sat there for a bit.  I should have signalled I was okay, as I think the others thought I was hurt when they all came rushing over to see if I was okay.

The car was wedged against the wall an we could not get it out, but we then discovered where I pushed the brake pedal so hard it got stuck on and got wedged against the bell housing.  The damage was not too bad, just a snapped bumper and a bend clevis Joint.  We bent them both back, but the weather and hitting the wall put me off a bit so I offered Steve Hamilton a go in the car.

Steve asked if he could make some adjustments, which I welcomed and after a bit of a squeeze (not saying your fat Steve) he was in the car and soon out on track.  The track was now starting to dry and Steve appeared to be putting in some quick laps in the car, well quicker than me anyway.  He then pulled onto the infield for his picture :-), and I had one more go at hitting the wall yet again before we all called it a day.  I enjoyed the day and was pleased the car was reliable, but one thing for sure is I will need more practice before I'm ready to race.

The following pictures are courtesy of Jerry Fisher:

Practice Day - 29/09/07 by Dean Hummerstone