News April 2002

27th April 2002

The preparation work before the next event is coming along now, she should be ready for some testing by the end of next week.  My dad managed to find an adjustable Strut Brace in a scrap yard, it only cost £7 as well, bargain.  Unfortunately its off a Vauxhall Nova but its now been modified to fit.  We couldn't find a Mk1 fiesta Strut brace for love nor Money and this will hopefully help in the handling department.

We also had a look at the rear coil over conversion and it needs a bit of thinking about before we do it.  There isn't enough space between our rear dampers and the body shell to fit the springs so we have put the old springs off the front of the car on the rear and its now a lot harder.  We are going to convert them but it has to be right and we don't have enough time to do it at the moment. 

21st April 2002

4 weeks and counting until our next event at Longcross!

The new springs have arrived from Springcoil, thanks Clive! The front struts and hubs have been rebuilt using new bearings and look nice and shiny.  They have been fitted back onto the car, the brakes seem to work now as well which is a relief.

The next plan is to convert the rear suspension into 2.25 coilover's so we can do away with the springs on the rear beam and be able to easily adjust the height of the rear of the car.  

13th April 2002

Last Wednesday I sold my Peugeot 405TD and bought a new road car, a White XR4i 1990 its great!! It needs a bit of work done to it but nothing major.

The new sub frame for the co drivers seat has been built and is ready to go back onto the car.  Im still waiting for the springs to arrive to re build the front suspension and then I can test the brakes.

8th April 2002

We have sent our entry off for the Brook Motorsport Longcross stages on the 19th May 2002.

Its a venue that I haven't seen before and I have heard of the 1in4 gradient slopes there! it should be fun to get a bit of air under the car, I just hope that the car can take it! The venue is only 20 minutes away so it will be nice to not have to travel hundreds of miles.

6th April 2002

Well its been over 2 weeks since the last update, and what a 2 weeks its been.  My niece was born on the 22nd March, Gemma Leigh Toogood weighing in at a tad over 8lbs.  

On the car we have removed the front suspension so we can overhaul it and fit new springs.  I've ordered 225lb springs from a company called Springcoil in Sheffield and they said that they should be ready in about 10 days.  Both the seats have been removed so a new sub frame can be made for the co driver and I can get access to the bias pedal box to work out what is wrong.  Its got the correct master cylinders on it and is adjusting ok.  I made a few adjustments on the master cylinder to the front brakes so we hope it will have sorted our rear brakes locking up.

A new radiator will be ordered on Monday to our specifications to aid the cooling during the hot summer months.