Not that “Good-a-Friday”!

It’s definitely true that there’s never a dull moment when you race National Hot Rods.   There’s always something to do and even when you say the car is ready you always find just one thing to check or change, the list is literally endless.     I think you could spend all day, everyday working on the car and still find a job to do!    Unfortunately I’m not in that situation and like the rest of us have a job to go to during the day.   This means Hot Rod time is solely confined to the hours between dinner and bed, the latter varying greatly depending on how much needs to be done! 

After a good meeting at Aldershot it left us without much to do, just the usual ‘in between meeting’ things, and seeing as it was straight off to another small track we didn’t even need to change a diff.    Dad still wasn’t convinced that the engine was sorted so he arranged with Phil Spinks to run it on his dyno.   Once again, me not being able to tow the trailer proved to be a pain - with Dad getting up at 4am and heading down to Watford with the car, and leaving me to open up at work.   We both headed down after work to collect it again.   Phil had got a bit more power out of it, and having driven it since, you could really feel the difference it made.   It’s a pretty amazing set-up he’s got, with the dyno bolting straight onto the rear hubs of the car rather than having to drop the wheels down onto a rolling road.

I don’t want to tempt fate by saying this but the engine in my car really is a cracker.   It’s pretty old now and apart from it acting up the other day it’s given me very little trouble.   It smokes a bit when you put your foot down but I can’t see that from the driver’s seat so I’m not going to worry about it.

In amongst all my other ambitious - probably never get done – plans, is a 2.8 Capri.   I bought it at a good price, did 80% of the work on it then sat it back in my garage and promptly forgot about it.  But my “good” friend Jason Kew obviously has too much free time on his hands, and as well as running a National, enjoys going out and destroying good cars in the Bangers.   He had a pretty tidy Capri Special with some nice bits around it, so it seemed only right that I should relieve him of them and put them onto mine!  What started out as just a few bits soon turned into pretty much a complete strip, leaving me with a sprinter van load of bits to find a home for.    I think Jason quietly hoped a night down there with him would convert me into a Banger fan - but I’m afraid he has a long way to go yet!

With the car all set and the weather really nice, once again we set off to Northampton for the annual Good Friday meeting.    We left early to get to the front of the queue but when we arrived it seemed that everybody else had the same idea and the queue of transporters went nearly back to the road. We got in and parked next to Gavin, so it was already a foregone conclusion that there would be some sort of prank thrown my way, but everyone was well behaved and I got off lightly.   No doubt they’re saving it all up to get me with something big next time I see them!   We always have a good joke and it’s always meant in the best humour.   Makes life exciting and keeps me on my toes!

(Trevor Hill photo)

I can’t really work the meeting out if I’m honest; the car has been brilliant all year and for some reason completely unbeknown to any of us it didn’t feel as good.   Nothing had been altered or adjusted but it just didn’t feel right.    Luckily, Sonny was on hand and made the car better for every race.    The first race I came home just out of the points.  The second I had a tenth and the final was somewhere around fifteenth, so although not the points I had hoped for, it was still points nonetheless!   It could be those few points that make the difference between qualifying or not come July.

I don’t want it to come across as a ‘moaner’ or a ‘sore loser’ - I’m just a bit confused as to why the car was so different.   I still enjoyed every lap I drove - the weather was great, the atmosphere was good, and after all, I was still racing a National Hot Rod!    I’ve said it before . . . . as much as I would love to be on the grid in July and I’m going to give it 100% to make sure I am , I’m not going to let it ruin my life in the process - racing is meant to be enjoyed at the end of the day.

With the car looking a bit tatty, but still straight after the final it was loaded back in the trailer ready for the work to begin again.   We’re going to check everything is working as it should be, strip the brakes down and check them all over and spend some time with the paintbrush making it look somewhere near presentable again.   With only a week to go I’m sure the next meeting will be here in a flash!   Hednesford has never really been my favourite track but it has grown on me in recent months.   I’m looking forward to getting back out on what is definitely the fastest track we go to.   I’ll see you all there!

Thanks as ever for reading

Mikey

A Sunday down south

Aldershot is probably the closest track for us, and it was nice not to have to get up really early to make sure we got there on time.   It was a glorious day and already pretty hot by the time we left home.   We spent 8 years racing all over the south of England when we had the Minis and the Saxo, so it seems a little strange only heading that way once a year these days.   I even raced my Mini at the old Fleet Motor Club track a few times, that track having gone to be replaced by the Spedeworth track we race on now.    Having said all that we still managed to get lost and ended up heading down some Aldershot one way back streets with the truck and trailer.   Luckily we eventually ended up back on the main road and were able to figure out the way we needed to go.  Cheers sat-nav!

It was one of those meetings that just seemed to fly by really fast.   It felt like we’d barely unloaded the car before driver’s briefing was called and then we went almost straight out to practice.   We got everything sorted and lined up to go out on track.   As the green flag dropped for practice and I floored the car I just saw the edge of the bonnet lift.   The next second it had flown right up into the air like a kite, and despite the best efforts of the officials to stop the practice and save it the inevitable happened and it had been run over . . . several times.    I’m not moaning though and we should have checked it was on properly before I headed onto the track.    Dad and I can’t decide whose fault it was, so have agreed to share the blame equally!

To say it’s knackered would be a bit of an understatement  - it’s in four bits and one corner is missing completely.   Luckily we weren’t in the first race so it gave us a bit of time to try and work a miracle. After begging some aluminium from Wully Hardie we set at it with the drill, some rivets and the world’s bluntest pair of snips, doing what can only be described as a quality bodge.   It wasn’t pretty but it worked and Dad even made a ‘T’ out of some tape so as not to mess up the signwriting too much!   It was a different colour to the rest of the letters and was stuck onto some yellow tape but never mind. . . . . . . . .

With it all finished and ready to go again we went out for our first race.    I was on the outside on the 3rd row of the grid.   I lost a couple of places on the line with cars zipping back up the inside of me but I managed to get back across onto the all important inside line without being “hung out to dry” completely.    The race was going quite well for the first few laps until we came round into the pit bend where a car had spun and as I went through we just caught each other.  Unfortunately, it caught  my wheel giving me what I thought was just a puncture, but after I pulled off it revealed a puncture, a bent wheel and a very bent axle casing!

With such little time between races it was always going to be a struggle but with the help of my Dad, a mildly hung over Ross, Jason Kew and his mechanic David, we got it done.   It was a bit of a panic but we sorted it, thanks chaps for all your help!   The axle was really bent, and with a bent half shaft to go with it, it was turning into an expensive day!

I was on the inside for the second race and got off to a good start from lap one.   It was just one of those races where it all seemed to fall into place and I found myself moving up a few places into second.   I never had any chance to breathe though as Dave Brooks was right on me every lap and even the smallest slip up would have seen him past me.    I managed to just about hold into it and cross the line in second, definitely made the panic changing the axle worth it.

The final saw me back on the outside and once again I was lucky and able to get back into the inside line before the first bend.     Thankfully everything seemed to fall into place and flow nicely and I found myself in second place once again.   Somehow I managed to make a bit of breathing space around me and was able to just drive the car as hard as I could for the next few laps.   It’s amazing how much of a rhythm you get into and I didn’t look in the mirrors and kept looking forward.    When the yellow flags came out for an incident and I did look back I was amazed at just how much of a gap there was.   I hate restarts, mainly because I’m usually pretty bad at them but luck really was with me and I managed to keep hold of my second.   Everything was much closer now though and Mark Paffey was making progress pretty quickly and as the laps counted down he got closer and closer until he was in a position to get past me.   There were only a couple of laps left to run when ‘it all happened’ down in the bottom bend with Chris’s oil pipe coming off and cars spinning everywhere so they yellow flagged it again and then went red.   This gave Ralph his third win of the day, and second final on the trot - with me in second, and Paff with third.

It just goes to show how a day can go from ‘bad to good’ very quickly and I really am grateful to everyone who helped us get back out on track.   It’s great that even though the competition on the track is so fierce, people will still help you in the pits.   Another added bonus is that the prize money paid for the new bonnet!

With the Good Friday meeting at Northampton now only a week away and another good entry of cars I’ll look forward to seeing you all there.

Thanks as ever for reading                               

Mikey.

Diffs in the dark!

Well it’s been another hectic few days here with work still busy and lots happening in the garage.   As I said last week, the car felt a bit down on power in the final so our major priority was finding out why this was.   The fuel system was the obvious place to start so Dad set about stripping it down and looking for any problems; dirt, blockages, that kind of thing.   When he lifted the top off one of the carburettors it revealed a small stone in the chamber.   The cause of our problem!   This was quickly removed and all the filters cleaned and put back together and it seemed to be running fine in the workshop.

The dirt after a wet meeting seems to get everywhere, and even after it’s been washed you still keep finding more hidden away in the awkward places, so Ross and I spent an evening with cloths just wiping it all down and cleaning everything.   As well as the mess it leaves, there’s the weight of dirt to be taken into consideration.   It’s amazing how much it does actually weigh - and with weight being so important, you can’t afford to have too much extra.

A friend of mine, Daryl Harris who races a V8 Stock Car, put me in touch with a chap called Roy Scorer who designs and creates technical illustrations of racing cars.   He did the artwork of Jason’s Hot Rod and Daryl’s Stock Car that were on display at the NEC a couple of years ago, and can be seen on the wall in the diner at Ipswich.   He also does a lot of work with the BriSCA F1’s.   I think his work is amazing, and you have to really look twice to see that it’s not a photo.   The details and colours are so accurate - right down to the reflections on the signwriting.   He agreed to come and take some photos of my Tigra and see what he could do with it.

Considering it had been a pretty rough meeting at Ipswich and the car was looking a bit tatty I thought I’d best do something to tidy it up a bit . . . . so out came my little paintbrush and the blue paint.   An hour later it looked a bit more presentable, then another hour spent making the door fit again and it was ready for the cameras!    Roy had arranged to come at 3.30 and seeing as I don’t usually finish work until after 6.30, three hours off seemed to be a bit of a result and meant I could spend some time on the car after he had gone, rather than stay out in the garage half the night doing it!    He spent a good half an hour going round the car taking photos with some high-tech looking camera equipment.   All the work is done in his spare time, and each car takes about 30 hours from start to finish.   He told me it would take about a month and I’m really looking forward to seeing the end result.    For anyone that’s interested in his existing work check out his website www.racecartshirts.co.uk   and see for yourself how good it is.

When Roy had gone I thought I’d get on and change the diff.    I’d got the car up on the ramp and while the oil was draining I headed off to get some tools.    Just as I was going underneath to start work the electric in the workshop went off!    I checked the trip and everything seemed fine but it turned out to be a power cut as there was no electric in the house or any of the houses round about.    I never have chance to work on the car during the day and it was an opportunity I didn’t really want to waste so after finding some torches and lead lamps I set about changing the diff anyway.   It’s no different to doing it on a dark Saturday night at a meeting after all!    Annoyingly, after I had removed it and got back out from underneath the car all the electric came back on - typical!

In the pub the other night, Jason Kew told me he was testing at Northampton on Wednesday, and asked if I wanted to go along.    Seeing as we had the problem with the engine it seemed like a good idea.    There were a couple of things we wanted to try out, so we set about getting the car all sorted and ready to go.   This meant finding a spare set of wheels to take - and as you know wheels are not my strong point - and after much searching followed by much swearing we found a set and got the tyres fitted and not leaking!

We got to the track and it was the hottest day of the year so far, and one of the rare times when the track was dry - I’m sure the place is jinxed as it always seems to rain when a National Hot Rod goes anywhere near.

Jason and myself had a blast around together for a few laps before he set off to do a feature with Paul Hines for Oval Racing News magazine.    I’ll leave that for him to tell you about but I’m sure you will be able to read it in his column soon.   Martin Kingston from http://www.mkpics.net/ was also there and you can see his photos in the nationalhotrod.com gallery.  The car seemed to be flying, and the lack of power was well and truly cured.   I spent the rest of the morning trying a few things we have been talking about for ages before loading it back into the trailer satisfied with the day’s achievements.

The car is back in the workshop now, and after a few checks it will be ready to race on Sunday.   I think there’s a leak coming from the gearbox that needs looking at and some new stickers to fit and of course, the usual set-up stuff.   The tyres are sorted already so it saves us that nightmare.

With things still being so close in the points it looks as if it’s going to be another exciting meeting!   I’ll see you all there.

Thanks as ever for reading

Mikey