Winter 2010/11 Overhaul
After a successful first season its time to give PInky a light overhaul in preparation for the new Classic Hatch Championship in 2011. Updates on the progress will be regularly posted here.
So what's the plan?
Now that i've done a few races and feel i can get myself to the finish line I think it is time to make Pinky look a bit smarter. I've never sprayed a car and its something that I fancy doing so the first plan is to give her a full spray. As the front RH wing is dented the plan is to replace this along with both doors as they are also dented and corroded. Not only will this give me a chance to learn how to weld and spray it will also give me a chance to learn more about the car as I'll need to remove the windows and body kit etc. The interior could also do with a bit of smartening up so i plan to give the inside a paint too and perhaps tidy the switches up.
With the start of Classic hatch (separate races for Class B cars and a new scoring system) next year I want to make sure the car is 100% legal. Although I am confident the existing carb was legal it is not totally clear and as I have 3 DFT carbs in various states the plan is to refurbish one and fit that so there is no question about the cars legality. There was also some hesitation towards the end of the Silverstone Classic race which as mentioned in the season review I believe is down to the lack of breather in the fuel tank so one of those will be fitted too.
Lots to do! Would like to be finished and ready for testing in early March! Best get a move on.
20 November 2010 - Bodykit removal
Now that I have decided to spray the car I figured the first thing to do was take of the body kit and check the extent of any corrosion. The fact that some of the body kit was still attached with its original fittings was positive in that part of the car had not suffered any serious previous damage but they weren't half difficult to remove. This job took a little longer than expected but the good news is the car seems pretty solid on the whole. In order to stop the seat and seat belt getting damaged during this overhaul they were also removed as well. Next job remove the wing...
22 November 2010 - Breather fitted!!
After all the engine problems that were experienced I decided not to cut any corners and bought a Mocal in tank breather with anti-spill valve incase of rollover/ accident. Just to add one final cost to the adventure, it needed a 16mm hole saw to fit. Did I have one, no of course not! Hopefully now this will ensure a reliable engine though for 2011. I just wish i'd done it before this season started!!
24 November 2010 - O/S Wing removal - no going back now!
Well i've never removed a front wing before and unlike some of the newer stock hatch cars Pinky's are spot welded on, well they were originally. In order to remove them i was told to try and drill out the spot welds and that should allow the wing to come off easily. Hmm..
Good old corrosion had all but eaten the top of the wing where it formed the water channel under the bonnet so that was quite easy to get to. For the front section though it wasn't possible to get a drill to the welds so out came the grinder! That made quick work of the front and underside leaving just the edge closest to the drivers door. Unfortunately the door covered the welds and as i couldn't open the door far enough in the garage to remove it the grinder was back in action. After some manipulation though the Wing was off.
New wings and inner wingers have been ordered and should be delivered soon. The next challenge is to learn welding proficiently enough to fix the inner wings. Its yet to be decided if the new wing will be welded or riveted into place for easy replacement in the future.
27 November 2010 - DFT fitted
The DFT is now fitted to ensure no ambiguity with the regulations over the DATR. Thanks to Alex Hall the jetting should be pretty close but a spin on the rollers will definitely be in order in the new year before hitting the track. Decided to fit a new fuel pump at the same time along with hoses picked up from Alan Duly's old XR2 parts package!
The Carb was a 2nd hand one that I decided to strip down and rebuild to ensure none of the passage ways and channels were blocked and all the linkages ran smoothly. Once fitted the car seemed to run ok and there was no fuel squirting out anywhere so with abit of luck. A job well done!!
17 December 2010 - New doors and Fuel filter
Things are progressing nicely. Have fitted new doors in preparation for the respray! The drivers door needed replacing following the damage sustained at Pembrey. The passenger door although not damaged this season was showing the signs of the original stock hatch action along with a bit of corrosion and as i had a spare I decided to change that as well. As soon as the new wing is welded on, hopefully within the next few weeks preparations can start for the respray. Picked up a compressor this week and hoping santa is feeling generous for a spray gun! All that's needed then is a bit of practice!
In order to help ensure reliability next year i decided to fit a fuel filter and have the opportunity to have the carb ultrasonically cleaned so will be doing that as well to ensure maximum performance from the engine!
The opportunity to have the carb clean in an Ultrasonic bath has also presented itself so that's now back off and should be sorted early in the new year.
3 January 2011 - Preparing for Paint!
The original plan for welding the new wing on has been revised and as soon as work starts again in the new year a new welder should be winging its way to Bradford. I decided there is a good chance that other parts of the car may need welding in the future so learning to weld myself is better in the long term.
Now that the doors are on, other than the wing the car is ready for paint preparation. Partly to gain the experience and also make it easier to paint I have pretty much stripped the whole car inside and out. All the glass is now out (unfortunately cracking the windscreen in the process but it was pretty battered so a new one is not such a bad thing.).
To help take the windscreen out i took out the dash and to do that I thought I may as well remove the cage so I did! Although its not the best conditions for painting I got carried away and decided to paint the interior of the car. Definitely an improvement on before but still needs a second coat and the roof and door pillars finishing off. They need preparing first so that's a job for the next few weeks.
Along with the welder, a new orbital sander and die grinder will be arriving so that work can really get started on preparing for paint. Although my original plan was to paint the whole car myself with the restriction of space in the garage I might just stick to prepping the car and then try and find a reasonably priced body shop to paint the car and get a proper understanding of the process so that I can do spot repairs as and when required! Just need to find a reasonably priced body shop!
11 February 2011 - Preparing for Paint, Still!
Apologies for not updating sooner. Pinky is fully stripped and down, has been welded and is now in the final stages of being sanded ready for paint. She is off to the paint shop on the 17th so while she's there I will get the opportunity to upload the photos. Pre-season test is booked for 13th March at Donnington so lots to do before then.
28 February 2011 - Back from paint - the rebuild has begun!
Pinky was back from the body shop a few days ago now and is looking very radiant!! The rebuild has begun. Decided the easiest thing to do was upload the pics from the refurb on the site. You can now see these here
Later this week she will be off to the rolling road so i hope the carb rebuild is done correctly! Will add more pictures as the interior and new dash are installed. Should be ready for Donnington shake down on the 13 march.
3 March 2011 - Pinky hits the rollers!
The rebuild is almost completed. Just a few small jobs like refitting the wipers, fire extinguisher and door bar and then she'll be ready to race.
Took her over to Bogg Brothers today for a set up on the rolling road with the new carb. Not too much to tweak. idle was really rich so put a smaller jet in for that which meant the idle adjust screw actually worked!! Was a little lean on the main jets so bumped them up a touch and all is looking good. Took the opportunity to accurately set the timing and marked the dizzy too to make sure it can be put back to the correct position. Playing a little safe with 32deg (when advanced) but the power looked good.
Rolling roads can be notoriously varied, but as a comparison to the last engine i tested here the new(er) one looks good and should be strong. For what its worth the BHP reading was in the high 90's at the wheels. Next job is to apply some stickers and get ready for the shakedown test at Donnington on the 13th!