08-06-2015, 03:20 PM
So havent updated this since last week so here is how the last three days have been....
Sam Bates came over at 9.30. We refitted the subframe and front calipers, topped up the gearbox oil, refitted the rear cooling pipes and fitted the heater matrix pipes. We came back to mine for lunch and got some insurance. JJ sorted this out and Flux managed it for £480 TPFT and DAC FC for a bit extra. Pizza eaten we returned to the car to fit the exhaust which wouldnt fit as it kept collapsing around the cat. Drove to the exhaust centre without an exhaust and they werent impressed with the noise and smoke pluming from the engine bay as the heat wrap burnt off. Anyway 20 minutes later they had it fitted and only charged £15 and wished us the best of luck getting to FCS. Also got a tyre fitted and balananced.
We went back to grans to park the saab, tidy up and pack the tools we had been using. By this time it was about 5 so we drove back to mine and packed camping gear. Sam got back in his 6 and we convoyed to his so he could pack. We were on the road by 7. Only a few stops on the way to combe and we arrived at 11.30. A drunk pebbles, Niall, Grant and Steve "Helped" to setup the tent. Unfortunately the elastic had snapped in the poles so we had to piece them together. Tent setup and time for bed.
The first night was terrible. Didnt get to sleep until 2am. Some we presume welsh guys in the tent behind us kept snoring. I woke sam up and told him to shut up... only for the snoring to continue. So we both sat awake most of the night. Come 6am it was obviously time to start warming saxos and 106s up on the red line. It was super cold so we jumped out of bed and ran to the shower. Super warm shower.... until it went cold... and then on and off... and then just off.... obviously with a break in proceedings I put shower gel all over me... only for the shower to never come back on. So i had to rub all the gel off with my towel... which only lathered it up... before eventually getting it off. Back at the tent we stripped the car out.
![[Image: 11407013_481528765331079_640106782326210...9hijwi.jpg]](http://i1184.photobucket.com/albums/z327/srowell3/11407013_481528765331079_6401067823262104641_n_zpsi89hijwi.jpg)
Cars on stand. Interior screwed back in. Took the car for sound check which it passed. Hold the revs at 4.5k... man laughed when the rev counter didnt work. Parked over at the side and did a full bolt check of the car. Other interior bits went into Bashs estate for safe keeping. Snuck in the essential pre-track poo too.
Queued up for track. First out was Fooby. Second out was Bash, Third out was Ginge, Fourth out was Tom. Car went super well on track and was eating up some 106s and 205s which made a change from being the slowest thing. Obviously got no confirmation as to whether the gti6 manifold has helped but it sounds amazing and car feels a lot more responsive. Everyone enjoyed their passenger rides as far as Im aware and send pretty much the same thing; terrible back end and tyres but heroic lines. Only had the Rainsport 2s on as there wasnt enough time to get the fondmetals and ps2s ready before leaving. Unfortunately I did get rovertaken by Steve but it wasnt far off. Definitely battling it out and holding its own against Bates, Cully and Piggy. Tyres were let down from 35 to 27. Probably could have gone lower. The back end was stupidly floppy but it was strangely predictable. Brakes were alright but making a strange grinding noise now. Ned to investigate that.
![[Image: 11427170_481527765331179_215875929051523...vgwfc4.jpg]](http://i1184.photobucket.com/albums/z327/srowell3/11427170_481527765331179_2158759290515234383_n_zpsrgvgwfc4.jpg)
![[Image: 11393092_481527958664493_635676768807004...qaqzh4.jpg]](http://i1184.photobucket.com/albums/z327/srowell3/11393092_481527958664493_635676768807004301_n_zpsrhqaqzh4.jpg)
![[Image: 1480782_481527968664492_1447732602519803...lsqzjz.jpg]](http://i1184.photobucket.com/albums/z327/srowell3/1480782_481527968664492_1447732602519803176_n_zpstglsqzjz.jpg)
![[Image: 11415448_481527998664489_547819198831373...6bjhh5.jpg]](http://i1184.photobucket.com/albums/z327/srowell3/11415448_481527998664489_547819198831373160_n_zpsnw6bjhh5.jpg)
Back off track I was able to walk around quickly for a bit of gopro footage gathering which should hopefully go into the club video. We also had 306oc dodgems and teacups which was great fun and ive got some great footage. Went to sit up at quarry with bash sam and piggy however it was stupidly windy and track time was over. Didnt see any drifting all day as we were so busy. Came back to the stand and the prizes were dished out. Somehow I won one of the three prizes so thankyou to everyone who voted for the 1.8. Im sure it was more the story and the effort behind it rather than the car itself! No excuse not to clean it now.
![[Image: 11334037_1621593968086308_74805313358709...ikursk.jpg]](http://i1184.photobucket.com/albums/z327/srowell3/11334037_1621593968086308_7480531335870999320_o_zpsneikursk.jpg)
People headed off or went for the hog roast which left several of us going to a pub a few miles away. It was a good crowd of 12 of us and the food was well needed. Obviously after surviving the 200 mile drive and 2 hours of track time the 1.8 decided to drop its coolant all over the car park. After food we fixed this so thanks to piggy for the water and cully for the jubilee clip... and to everyone else for the not-so-stealth bumming.
Camping for the second night was full of banter and we went on the rock city ride which was good fun. Came off and just queued up again which was great. People went to sleep a lot earlier and got up a lot earlier. It was a lot less rowdy but still bloody freezing.
Second day was standard parking on stand, waiting for food, parade laps. Matt decided to let sians mate drive his megane after once we were coming into the pitlane. I was directly behind and she bunny hopped it 3 times. I started off some beeping which everyone else joined in with. Hella-embarassing for her! Think even the track staff were having a little giggle!
Whilst loaning my jack and stands out to multiple people and then to the scottish gti6, Niall and Grant changed some ECU settings and bled the car up again. We said goodbye, packed up and left for home. Epic road convoy with Niall with a bit of filming along the way. Split with Niall and Grant at the M25 and had some bwarps through the tunnels with bates before stopping at services to swap the tent into my car and give my arse a break from bucket seats. Split with Sam and got home.
All in all I am extremely happy and proud of what we have achieved. A massive thanks to Bash, Tom and Sam who all helped build the car two weeks before FCS. I was worried about making it there so was very happy that I did my track time and got home! Its a great car, rough and rugged that needs to be tidied up but I think its now time to grow up and make the upgrade to the Rallye. Hopefully this will be around for the rest of the year and maybe make another appearance on track.
Sam Bates came over at 9.30. We refitted the subframe and front calipers, topped up the gearbox oil, refitted the rear cooling pipes and fitted the heater matrix pipes. We came back to mine for lunch and got some insurance. JJ sorted this out and Flux managed it for £480 TPFT and DAC FC for a bit extra. Pizza eaten we returned to the car to fit the exhaust which wouldnt fit as it kept collapsing around the cat. Drove to the exhaust centre without an exhaust and they werent impressed with the noise and smoke pluming from the engine bay as the heat wrap burnt off. Anyway 20 minutes later they had it fitted and only charged £15 and wished us the best of luck getting to FCS. Also got a tyre fitted and balananced.
We went back to grans to park the saab, tidy up and pack the tools we had been using. By this time it was about 5 so we drove back to mine and packed camping gear. Sam got back in his 6 and we convoyed to his so he could pack. We were on the road by 7. Only a few stops on the way to combe and we arrived at 11.30. A drunk pebbles, Niall, Grant and Steve "Helped" to setup the tent. Unfortunately the elastic had snapped in the poles so we had to piece them together. Tent setup and time for bed.
The first night was terrible. Didnt get to sleep until 2am. Some we presume welsh guys in the tent behind us kept snoring. I woke sam up and told him to shut up... only for the snoring to continue. So we both sat awake most of the night. Come 6am it was obviously time to start warming saxos and 106s up on the red line. It was super cold so we jumped out of bed and ran to the shower. Super warm shower.... until it went cold... and then on and off... and then just off.... obviously with a break in proceedings I put shower gel all over me... only for the shower to never come back on. So i had to rub all the gel off with my towel... which only lathered it up... before eventually getting it off. Back at the tent we stripped the car out.
Cars on stand. Interior screwed back in. Took the car for sound check which it passed. Hold the revs at 4.5k... man laughed when the rev counter didnt work. Parked over at the side and did a full bolt check of the car. Other interior bits went into Bashs estate for safe keeping. Snuck in the essential pre-track poo too.
Queued up for track. First out was Fooby. Second out was Bash, Third out was Ginge, Fourth out was Tom. Car went super well on track and was eating up some 106s and 205s which made a change from being the slowest thing. Obviously got no confirmation as to whether the gti6 manifold has helped but it sounds amazing and car feels a lot more responsive. Everyone enjoyed their passenger rides as far as Im aware and send pretty much the same thing; terrible back end and tyres but heroic lines. Only had the Rainsport 2s on as there wasnt enough time to get the fondmetals and ps2s ready before leaving. Unfortunately I did get rovertaken by Steve but it wasnt far off. Definitely battling it out and holding its own against Bates, Cully and Piggy. Tyres were let down from 35 to 27. Probably could have gone lower. The back end was stupidly floppy but it was strangely predictable. Brakes were alright but making a strange grinding noise now. Ned to investigate that.
Back off track I was able to walk around quickly for a bit of gopro footage gathering which should hopefully go into the club video. We also had 306oc dodgems and teacups which was great fun and ive got some great footage. Went to sit up at quarry with bash sam and piggy however it was stupidly windy and track time was over. Didnt see any drifting all day as we were so busy. Came back to the stand and the prizes were dished out. Somehow I won one of the three prizes so thankyou to everyone who voted for the 1.8. Im sure it was more the story and the effort behind it rather than the car itself! No excuse not to clean it now.
People headed off or went for the hog roast which left several of us going to a pub a few miles away. It was a good crowd of 12 of us and the food was well needed. Obviously after surviving the 200 mile drive and 2 hours of track time the 1.8 decided to drop its coolant all over the car park. After food we fixed this so thanks to piggy for the water and cully for the jubilee clip... and to everyone else for the not-so-stealth bumming.
Camping for the second night was full of banter and we went on the rock city ride which was good fun. Came off and just queued up again which was great. People went to sleep a lot earlier and got up a lot earlier. It was a lot less rowdy but still bloody freezing.
Second day was standard parking on stand, waiting for food, parade laps. Matt decided to let sians mate drive his megane after once we were coming into the pitlane. I was directly behind and she bunny hopped it 3 times. I started off some beeping which everyone else joined in with. Hella-embarassing for her! Think even the track staff were having a little giggle!
Whilst loaning my jack and stands out to multiple people and then to the scottish gti6, Niall and Grant changed some ECU settings and bled the car up again. We said goodbye, packed up and left for home. Epic road convoy with Niall with a bit of filming along the way. Split with Niall and Grant at the M25 and had some bwarps through the tunnels with bates before stopping at services to swap the tent into my car and give my arse a break from bucket seats. Split with Sam and got home.
All in all I am extremely happy and proud of what we have achieved. A massive thanks to Bash, Tom and Sam who all helped build the car two weeks before FCS. I was worried about making it there so was very happy that I did my track time and got home! Its a great car, rough and rugged that needs to be tidied up but I think its now time to grow up and make the upgrade to the Rallye. Hopefully this will be around for the rest of the year and maybe make another appearance on track.