Stockcar Build (Read 45,421 times)

[mrdamage]

Drivebelt setup, Heavily modified tensioner from EA falcon, suzuki alternator..


Fast Blast Supplied Heat Sheild (Made in a turret punch)


Steering arm setup

[mrdamage]

Time for a bit of a update;

Welded the head plate, fish plates for chassis rails. Got green sheeted, had to tweak & alter a few things, lengthened the driveshaft.
Took it out to a local black track for a run in, stopped, turned and seemed to go well, so rather than pull in and check I just went for it, went really rather well indeed. Made a few alterations after the test day..
Changed the diff head, radiator hose setup & fuel hoses.

Near complete chassis


Carby, Breather Setup
1

Roof plate welded, hot work welding 10mm plate!



Went to Woodford Glen for my first meeting in the car, had a fantastic bunch of people helping with the car which made for a stress free night, didnt have to worry about a thing.
Proud to display RO Jones on the car, fantastic Job Scott & the team did painting the body, bonnet & dash! Stands out supremely well!!









33 cars fronted for the the night, I started all of them off the rear of the grid as I wanted to stay out of the way, whilst I get to grips with the car without pin balling around.
First race went well in the fact I finished the race, 21st (22 finished), but the gearing was all wrong.

Race 2 we put the RR onto the LR and the largest tyre I had onto the RR (225/75r15), instantly shaving 1.5 second off my best lap time from the race prior. Finishing 13th

Race 3 we made no changes however the track was very slick and lots of people were spinning up. No faster this race, but managed 10th from the rear.

Have a few changes to make again, and will try something with the rear end, but overall it handled well. Driver just needs to get up to scratch a little - more consistent.

Big thank you to all involved who have helped along the way, advice, parts, time or materials. Thanks to the crew that came and gave a helping hand; Tim, Caitlyn, Crystal & Matt. - All made for a stress free first night.

A few tweaks to be done, but overall very happy with the car finishing 3 from 3 races. Started them all off the back and went forward so that's a bonus! Especially big thanks to the Read & Blyth family's for their generous support throughout building the car.

RO Jones for the painting of the Body, bonnet, Dash.
Fast Blast - sandblasting wheels, components, advice, help in time & materials also

Mag & Turbo of course for being on board right from the start, wheels, tyres

[The Observer]

Mr damage the car looks great, and is q credit to you and the team who made t happen over the last two years.

Looks like the investment and quality parts has made for quite a weapon.

Looked on the over and in the mix at the Glen on Boxing night.

look forward to hearing future racing updates.keep up the good work.

[mrdamage]

Thanks Obby,

I made some small adjustments in between meetings, but I'll be honest I was a little slack in the garage - as nice to just have a break for a bit.
Shimmed the selectors up a little to remove some play - definitely helped but I could do with spending some more time tweaking. Loosing crucial time on restarts fumbling for gears.

Oddly my hard wired transponder stopped working for no apparent reason - earthed properly and power was getting to it, fuse was fine as well. Cut into the loom and checked but no deal! Unfortunately that meant I wasn't able to get any data of lap times/placings. However I definitely feel the second race was my best yet until I looped it after the chequered (threw it in too hard) - certainly I was getting braver chucking the car in the corners - still want to try a slightly larger tyre combo again in a 2nd or 3rd race to try bring revs down a little - in theory more speed and lower running temp - but it may be that slight step too far in which it hurts the acceleration esp on turn 4.

Got collected by another car as I sat there, heard glass breaking - took me awhile to realize it was one of the mirrors!

Had a problem with the brakes jamming on after the race, came to the conclusion that the brake line runs too close to the exhaust and the fluid may need to be higher rating (originally I had 5.1 Dot rated in, but I feel thats been somewhat diluted during the many bleeds and re-bleeds I had when sorting the brakes with 4.1) Driving back into the pits I lost all drive from the car combined with the brakes jammed on put a end to my night.

Have since discovered that I should've checked the shimming for the howe throwout bearing after the practice/first meeting as the clutch plate beds in and effectively wears of the high spots - thus bringing the pressure plate fingers closer to the release bearing which then in turn caused the clutch to be riding without my knowledge. About to remove the clutch n pressure plate to see what sort've damage has been done..

[mrdamage]

So, time for an update.

Canterbury Champs has been and gone, managed a respectable 8th equal from 29 cars. Reliability was the key there, although I wasn't without my own dramas. Have chewed through a clutch, broken a input shaft flange off the gearbox - snapped the dowel holding the throwout bearing, then the braided line and made one hell of a mess.

Missed one meeting due to parts availability but managed some extra racing last weekend. Good to get some laps in - however I was battling a miss-fire all night which meant the car speed was down. - To be fair the car still had the same spark plugs, leads and coil pack from when I pulled it from the road car 3 years ago!

I've also been struggling with the linkages on the shifter. Finally managed to track down a used Ford Prefect 100e shifter already modified to suit (this involves turning the gearbox on its side - which the Walford bellhousing has the capacity for this anyway. Instantly worked better, but I have had some problems with the throwout bearing from the prior disaster.. (O rings were destroyed, fittings were damaged)

Missed one meeting due to parts availability but managed some extra racing last weekend. Good to get some laps in - however I was battling a miss-fire all night which meant the car speed was down. - To be fair the car still had the same spark plugs, leads and coil pack from when I pulled it from the road car 3 years ago!

Anyway ; I had bought quite some time ago a MSD lead kit from Craig @ Pro Parts - so set to making them up - took me maybe 1.5 hours to do, however they're certainly a much nicer finish and fit!







- As seen, I've modified the position of the lever so it sits forward and well to the left of the steering wheel. V-d out the join where I welded it, then also sleeved it. I've since drilled the base so it picks up more points on the gearbox, and welded some gaps that were causing gear oil leaks..

Thanks to Tim, Blaine, Matt & Troy helping on the car when they can - all hands make it easier getting the car on the track each race and far less stressful!

[mrdamage]

Long time no post!

Unfortunately haven't raced my car this season at all - was about 6 months behind the offseason rebuild due to having to focus on finishing my old house, selling & shifting to a new one.

Kindly however I was offered a drive a couple of times, then basically the whole of the season of 81c - Higgins Chassis with Hartley Holden V6. Owned by Trevor Lineham from Nelson (Prepped by Blaine Blythe, & Gary of Baldman mechanical)

The car had a update at the start of the season, and really run flawlessly for the season - only 1 gearbox and a flat battery, minor steel work. Had my best results to date in the car with a second and some thirds. Definitely well on the pace and handles very well indeed! Considering I still wouldn't call myself a experienced racer - managing .3 of a second off the leaders quickest laps in my best placed results Im quite happy with that result indeed.

Anyway;

End of last season I took the car up to Blenheim for the Eve of Destruction meeting, Syncro's in the gearbox were on the way out going into the meeting, come meetings end I had blown the input shaft, and sustained some chassis damage - this was in part due to the design alterations made to fit the Falcon - oversights/lack of experience left some weak spots. Steering pump failed mid corner , locked up and spun round, then collected by another car head on and tweaked the chassis in two places (Top & bottom angled rails on the RH side only)

Unfortunately I've since lost the damage photo's. However basically I decided to chop the whole lot off at the radiator and start again with laminate top, bottom and both sides





A little heat was required here to straighten the bottom rail;



Because I feel jewish throwing away all that steel I saved some;





Laminated the steel in preparation;



Tacked in place, squared it up;





Added the braces, shock mounts;





Fish plated rail joins top & bottom, laminated the LH top rail to give more strength for the manifold scallop;



Gusseted the rear end (due to my chassis's width I decided its a good idea for the lack of weight it adds), plated on the chassis side, but not the bumper side



Bought a new body, bonnet , Colin Summerton folded a wing up for me.. I put the skills I learnt to use reglassing the body, bonnet lower (its all about the fit!), moved the scoop up, back and over to suit the new carb



Bonnet is waiting the final signwriting, but the car is otherwise now complete again, waiting to be primed, fired up for next season. Gary spent half a day teaching me the ins and outs of putting together the HQ gearbox's (I have several spares now)

The new Colour scheme photo's will have to wait till next season now!

[The Observer]

Nice update keep up the good work. Nice ride that 81c how have you found it compared too old car? You would enjoy the power? And might be a CHS v6

[mrdamage]

Handles very well, first time I could actually hear when the car is too loose and needed tightening - could hear it unloading the inside wheel and wheel spinning as it put all the drive on the opposite side.

Very responsive car and It felt easy to drive, nicely balanced - the power was certainly nice under the right foot! Nice to be able to pull away when being chased down - get out of trouble or catch someone. Reliable too and after receiving a solid smack in the canterbury champs I was mighty impressed with the Teams spec wheel gates on the rear - the whack I received would've been enough on my car to fold the wheel gate and most likely ruin at least a wheel and maybe axle/diff - on 81c it bent it but nothing that stopped my racing for the night!

Certainly gave me a taste and want for more power. Be nice to get back into my car next year, see how much faster I can go (and not have to worry about fixing someone else's car!)

[mrdamage]

Small Bump,

Sold the car couple of at the end of the 2018/19 season, Zaneo bought the car running out of Dunedin, modified it to make it his own - stepped up from Streetstocks. Entered both the NZ Champs & GP last season, unfortunately got rolled at the coast but came to grips with the car pretty quickly

Now sporting the Nude look Panels. - Which suited me fine, got to chop up the sides and donate them to sponsors and hang in my shed!

He's done a heap more to the car this offseason;



At the tail end of the 2017/18 Season I sold a project car, and had a hankering for a Tank, and came to a deal for Dave Evan's Tank #4. Which was languishing in paddock. It then sat in my shed until the the of the 2018/19 season before I commenced a massive rebuild with the help of KP himself..

www.facebook.com/TankIIII

[Deleted]

No problem only been waiting 2 0r 3 years for the next update. lmao