Nearly there

Yes, I know I've been somewhat remiss in blogging here but honestly it's been really busy. Suffice to say, read the below and catch the photos on my Facebook stream:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1862262355904.110569.1221312844&type=3

Woohoo! We're nearly there!

PRESS RELEASE

Budget eBay Bargain hits the Track!

Wiltshire racer Max Tyler is tackling one of the toughest motor races in the UK – at the wheel of a bargain Porsche he bought for £160 on eBay!

Max, who runs Racewear Ltd selling racing drivers’ clothing worldwide from offices in the Wiltshire village, originally bought the 1980 Porsche 924 as spares but then decided to have a go at building it into a racing car. It is now entered into the 360 Motor Racing Club’s demanding 6 hour race at Snetterton in Norfolk on 6^th May, racing against a variety of historic racing saloons and sports cars from Mini to Aston Martin.

“When the car arrived it had a smashed windscreen, mismatched doors, wouldn’t run properly and smelt like an old Labrador inside” he says. “But I could see there was potential, and perversely I wanted to prove that you can take part in quality motor racing for much less money than people think.”

The rebuild has taken eighteen months, and now the car is raring to go next weekend. Max has two co-drivers sharing race costs and has financed the build of the car personally.

“From the very beginning I set out to prove that a racing car is in the reach of everyone so I was determined to build it with money I had generated outside of the ‘day job’. By the end of the first month, I was in profit over the original cost by selling parts from the car on eBay and it’s continued like that! The fact that I can say ‘I’ve got a Porsche’ is an added bonus, and I do forget to mention it only cost £160!”

Max is not expecting overall honours but is looking for a good class position in the race. “It’s not a terribly quick car in absolute terms, but it’s a big, comfy old beast and if the famous German reliability sees us driving round and round for six hours we’ll be in with a shout at the end!” he comments.

“Project 160 for the 360” as it has been dubbed will make its race debut next weekend.

ENDS – 25^th April 2012

Notes for editors:

1.       Further information from Max Tyler, 08452 604104 (day) or 07775 834341 (eve)

2.       Photographs available

3.       The 360 MRC Snetterton 6 Hour race is for saloon and sports cars over 21 years of age and takes place annually at the famous race circuit in Norfolk, attracting entries from all over the UK

Max Tyler

Racewear Ltd t/as racewear.co.uk

Britain'sonline racewear specialist - from your desktop to your doorstep

08452 604104 max@racewear.co.uk

Co No 6901214 Clackerbrook Farm, 46 The Common, Bromham SN15 2JJ

Slow progress..

Conscious of the fact I haven't blogged for ages, here's an update:

1. Car has now progressed from a wreck to a scruffy 924! It starts on the button, runs, I've had the brakes apart and they work, and driven it regularly round the Crescent. We are now ready to test!

2. Got some drivers champing at the bit to pay some money to are in the 360 next year, which means I'm pretty much committed

3. Then...turn the car into a racer before the beginning of May!

I'm quite proud of the progress to dat, now we need to spend some money. Whoops, that's a problem! Fingers crossed for the Lottery over the Winter...

At Last - A Porsche Driver!

All together now:

Oi am a Porsch-e Droiver
Oi droives it round the Crescent
Oi am a Porsch-e Droiver
It is jolly pleasant
Oo-arr oo-arr ay
Oo-arr oo-arr ay

With apologies to the Wurzels and even more apologies to whoever it was that wrote "Una Paloma Blanca"

Whatever, progress of sorts made this weekend with the fitting of the racing seat and trial fit of the belts.

Thanks to a bit of wheeler dealing, I've ended up with a reasonable Cobra steel-framed seat and a slider to accomodate short ar-----erm, slightly less tall drivers than me with ease! I've also acquired a couple of brand new Cobra mounting frames which came from a Corsa and drop into the 924 to take the seat, which is far too narrow to fit on the standard seat mounts.

The mounting frames were too tall, so I had them shortened and the seat base is about the height of the standard seat, we can just reach the adjuster over the cross member. Still to do is have the floor strengthened - it flexes where the seat frame is bolted to it! MSA rules call for 3mm plates to be added above and below the floor, so by the time it's been done I'm confident that problem wil go away.

You can see the cage in place in the photos - it's not fitted but I've nowhere else to store it! I switched to a 924 because a Midget was too small for me to be comfortable, it's amazing how little room there is in this...seat goes too far back even for my lanky frame to reach the pedals and steering wheel, but the roof is still pretty close :-)

Also difficultly close is the handbrake, which is on the right hand side. Under the doorbar. Ah, good job I've got small hands, but I don't think it'll be used in a hurry if the brakes fail at speed!

Belts are only temporarily fitted, have experimented with using the standard rear belt mounting points. It's OK on the outside edge, but I think the inside is too far off a central pull. Shame. I'll have to re-set the mounts into the vertical panel where the rear seat should be. Would like to put them on the horizontal boot floor, but I can't get in there to fit the re-inforcing plates. 

The seat goes so far back that not only can I not reach the pedals, but I'm also behind the line of the front seat belt mountings, so we need to make sure I'm far enough forwards that they pull me back properly into the seat.

Takes me back to my old days sharing the Rover SD1 with my dad in Thundersaloons. He was - how shall we say it kindly? - somewhat stouter than me and sat further back with the belts set long to go round his corpulent frame. When I got in, the mechanics slid the seat forwards until I squealed, at which point the belts were tight enough! Happy days..... 

And back to my somewhat corny rendition of "I am a cider drinker"...after I got the seat fixed in place I fired the car up and drove it round The Crescent. Rear brakes still binding, but they need a rebuild anyway, car feels really soggy but it could be that soft rear tyre, and it's heavy on the steering, can't put a tiny wheel on...BUT I'M A PORSCHE DRIVER!

Running on 4 - check!

Overheating - no!

Just one question...do all 924s have a long, clunky throw on the gear lever? Answers please to max-at-midgetmax-dot-com

The 360 gets closer, and there are a couple of drivers on the horizon to share with me. Fingers crossed!

Progress?

Made some real progress last weekend, with the final removal of all the sound deadening in the driver and passenger area. This was too well stuck down for cold chipping, so used the blowtorch...only a couple of little fires, and it only took a couple of days for the toxic fumes to clear from my lungs! Still, a definite move forwards, and makes the car look better.

This week I have sourced the replacement screen, possibly even a fitter, and arranged for the cage to be fitted. The seat has arrived, I'm waiting for the slider to turn up, and then will be looking at fitting the belts and then .... I think we'll be going testing! Just to check it runs properly and nothing falls off, before back to the drive and prepare for spraying. Also lined up some Challenge spec suspension, but that may wait until after the 360.

If it happens that is! I've no doubt the car will be ready but there's no drivers yet, they've all fallen by the wayside. Frustrating, it is a pretty cheap event with a load of track time for about the cost of two standard events, but it falls awkwardly between Easter and May Day. At this rate I'll be all dressed up with no place to go. May even be reduced to mechanic work on the MGDavid 924 which will be frustrating.

So if anyone reading this has a National B licence or higher, fancies a drive in a six hour race, and has some money (£600 - £800 is the budgeted cost) please contact me max-at-midgetmax-dot-com!

Slowed to a crawl?

After the excitement of the Christmas break, work has slowed to a crawl as the combination of dark evenings and weekend working have eroded time available to work on the car.

Successes are limited to:

- chipped off the sound deadening from the driver's and passenger's footwells. Still got the seat spaces to do plus the rear deck
- temporary build of the roll cage (easier to store!) awaiting someone to weld the mounting plates into the shell
- finished stripping out the interior and repaired the "924 pox" in the battery tray - car now (mostly!) watertight
- gradually sourcing bits, but now need to find the cash to buy them and the time to fit them! Managed to get hold of a full 924 Challenge suspension kit secondhand :-)
- looking for co-drivers to share the entry costs! Castle Combe Saloon Car Championship racer Nick Clark has signed up, and fellow racer Wayne "Waz Pablo" Osborne is taking a break from his pest control business to engineer the attempt, so we're pretty committed now! Still two drives available, check out the driver/sponsor proposal here.

Chipping off the sound deadening has been a hard job. Wood chisel, large hammer and plenty of elbow grease....these Germans know how to build a solid car! If it had been a 70s MG I would be through the floor by now......

Hoping to spend some more time on it soon, but work, road car problems and Alex's kart mean time is at a premium. Wish me luck!

Two steps forwards, one step back...

Well, it's not been that bad I suppose but sometimes it does feel like two steps forwards and one step back!

What with Alex's karting, work and general "stuff" about the house, I didn't get out to work on Project 160 until mid-November. And then the early snow and desperately low temperatures meant that Driveway Motors didn't get much done! But looking at it now in mid December, the car is stripped out, the roll cage is due to arrive tomorrow and the cut out/ignition system has been rewired to comply with MSA rules.

I' looking forward to the cage arriving, even though to finance it I had to wave goodbye to my trusty trailer. Bit of a sad moment, we've done a lot of miles together, but the trailer didn't take the Porker that well anyway, so it had to go -and I couldn't afford the cage without selling it!

So that's several steps forward, but what about the steps back?

Step 1 - in the extreme cold I snapped off the driver's door handle. Quick cri de couer on the porsche924.co.uk forum and one was found for a really good price. Fitted it in the extreme cold last week, really difficult to adjust with numb fingers and now the door opens easier than ever. Re-sult! Out of desperation comes...well I dunno really but something good I suppose.

Step 2 - stripping out excess wiring, it was meant to be just the remote micro switches, but all of a sudden it won't start. You idiot! Got a bit careless with the wire clippers did you? Out comes the Haynes, a bit of testing tracks it down to a failed fuel relay and not anything I'd done. Phew. Wow! Aren't they expensive? Hit the 924 forum again and within a couple of hours I've found a guaranteed one for less than half price. Thanks Chancenellie!

So as we approach Christmas and a few days off work, where are we? Will try to get the cage in over the break. Have disabled the steering lock as per MSA rules, remote switch panel and starter button fitted (it looks s-o-o cool), isolator switch in place, just waiting for some big cables for the battery earth strap and it'll be fully race legal. Once cage is fitted I need seat and FIA extinguisher and we're ready to test! Looking for FIA spec kit so I can race in Europe, so it's a bit more expensive.

Speaking of the finances, where are we? Well, everything has been paid for so far by a bit of horse trading and eBay which mean Project 160 has still only cost - well £160 which can't be bad. Spares from the car, swapsies, and flogging the trailer have even raised enough money to start building up a modest spares package. Major purchases now are seat and extinguisher (on Santa's list), windscreen and respray. The decision has been made to save money by not modifying the car at all, even down to pop up headlights and electric windows...should garner some interest anyway.

Once we've got it running and a basic test, I'll think about stuff for the 360 like fuelling kit and possibly a few mods to the car, although I'm planning to make places through famed German reliability rather than speed. There are a couple of people in the frame for sharing the drive and costs it actually looks like we'll make it in some form or other :-)

This is the 360!

Quick post to show what it is I'm trying to build the car for. If you're quick you can see me standing in the pit lane, but there's loads of pics of the racewear.co.uk racing with Team Mont Blanc MG Montego :-)



Progress at the moment? Slow, gradually stripping the interior. BUT - the door opens and shuts properly now! Amazing what a difference that makes to it being a viable car. Had a few thoughts on re-fuelling system, need to run them past a scrutineer before going too far.

It's been slow, been spending time working on Alex's kart as well. Hoping he can test that next week, preparatory to first race meeting in early December. Fingers crossed!