Here I’ll try and put photos now and again of the various jobs we do over the winter, from checking clutches to re-vinyling the new F3 Cup car… Essentially this is just a gallery, but I’ll try and explain in a few words what’s going on via each images title… Will add more as I go, so check back periodically.
Images after Continue Reading link…
MoreI haven’t written much recently, have I. Well, hopefully this will change all that… Since Oulton Park, where I crashed and the cheating Formula Renault was disqualified, we’ve been busy repairing the cars and getting the F304 out to Brands Indy for an MSV F3 Cup round there in the middle of July. There were various problems with the car, ranging from the configuration of the dashboard and datalogger, to suspension settings that weren’t ideal for Tony’s driving style. Whilst Tony was learning the car, we weren’t too worried when he qualified at the back of the grid, and both races were wet which meant he took the safe option of keeping it on the track rather than trying to go as fast as he could. Sadly, there was a technical problem with the car that caused Tony to retire from the race.
Since then, we’ve been through the car, fixed the various issues and softened the suspension. We won’t really know how it goes until Tony drives the car at Silverstone (on the Grand Prix Arena circuit in preparation for the non-championship race there at the end of September) and races at Anglesey on the 10th September.
Meanwhile, my car needed some serious repair work after I hit the wall at over 60mph and decelerated at over 12g. Some new wishbones were made for us by MyRaceSpares.com and we raided our small selection of spares too to get remaining wishbones, pushrods, trackrods and driveshafts. A new front wing was ordered, and new rear wing endplates were made to my specification locally. There was also some bodywork damage that was dealt with by our local carbon expert, and some repainting required which was done in-house. But would the car be any good? Would I have lost my nerve? Would Malcolm Scott be able to capitalise on my misfortune and his resultant victory? Who could tell…
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No CommentsApologies to those that actually visit this site in the vain hope that I’ll write something. I’ve been meaning to for months, but never actually finished writing a post. I have several drafts, but by the time I get anywhere near finishing it it’s out of date. So the quietness has continued. Hopefully until now (if I finish this!).
The last time I wrote about the cars we were just reassembling the new car for Tony Bishop. Well, that car is now complete, and has been raced at the last two meetings of the 2011 championship.
Once the car was finished, and seats were made, and engines were dyno’d and mapped etcetera, Tony had a test day at Snetterton on the 2nd March. Most things seemed to work quite well, despite old tyres and being new to H-pattern gear changes, and 
Tony was getting more and more comfortable in the car. A few things that weren’t good enough we’re noted to be fixed, one of which was the gear change that Tony was finding very awkward. Alas, during the penultimate session of the day, Tony accidentally shifted from 4th to 3rd rather than 5th; the revs jumped to 8500rpm, the valves touch the pistons, and an overhaul was needed.
In the two weeks between that test and the first race the engine was fixed, and more stuff was done to the car, partly to improve stuff that was discovered in the test, and partly to implement stuff that we didn’t have time to do properly during the proper rebuild. But we finished the car, and arrived at Snetterton for the first meeting of the year.
More Comments OffBusy is my middle name. Our own car, the F398, is back together and has been running regularly whilst revised warm up and idle control routines have been added to the ECU, along with some analysis on the viability of fitting larger injectors to the throttle bodies – it is possible that the misfire we suffered from throughout 2010 was caused by the 
current injectors being unable to supply the additional fuel required during high rev throttle applications due to a lack of flow rate. The car now starts easily from very cold and from hot, and idles smoothly with good fuelling as the ambient and coolant temperatures increase. Until we get on the track in February (hopefully) we won’t be able to make much progress on the fuelling elsewhere, but by the end of 2010 it was pretty good. Since writing the first part of this paragraph, I have fitted larger injectors, which will give plenty of head-room with regards to injector opening times. I’ll also be lowering the fuel pressure to give the fuel pump an easier time, which will also give the battery an easier time. And I’ve fitted a fuel pressure sensor to the car, so that we can see how constant fuel pressure remains, particularly at high revs when fuel demand is high. And finally, I hope to have a ‘box of tricks’ on the car so that the ECU data (injector pulse widths, acceleration enrichment, spark advance, air temperature etc.) can be fed to the datalogger for post-race analysis. I WILL cure the misfire!!!!
Comments OffAfter the last race of the season, it was a fairly hectic rush to get the engine out of the car and ready to be stripped down in front of the hawk-like eyes of John Atkinson, the Eligability Scrutineer for the Monoposto Racing Club. All was found legal, and the results of 2010 declared final. Hurrah.
But that meant that we were suddenly way ahead of where we normally would be during the winter. Instead of looking at the car and discussing what we’d do to it whilst drinking tea, we were at the stage of rebuilding (new bearings, gaskets, and a slightly modified front cover so that the oil pump belt isn’t quite as tight) the engine. That is now done, and over the last two evenings it’s been refitted into the car, and the gearbox reattached as well. The clutch was fine, and we’ve fitted new seals into the clutch release cylinder just in case…
MoreTo continue from my last ‘technical update‘, Martin and I put the car back together last night and had it running. And the good news – indeed, the only news – is that the oil pressure is back to normal, and doesn’t fall too low at idle or go too high when revving faster. Hurrah! Now to get the car ready for the racing – gear ratio change, set it up properly (which should mostly be checking it hasn’t altered much), and a bit of a clean.
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