2006 Deep Black Track Shed BudgetBoltOnBuild

[Helpimonfire]

Where are you based? I’ve got CLIP and I’m based in the West Midlands

Many miles away in Norfolk

 

[Helpimonfire]

So BTT Motorsport absolutely smashed it with the calipers! Just waiting on them arriving now

 

[Helpimonfire]

AC delete? Completed it mate.

 

[Helpimonfire]

So I got the calipers back from Tom at BTT Motorsport and he did a great job. Sadly the courier thought otherwise and I ended up with paint damage and a bleed nipples had been knocked hard and damaged the thread. Luckily I have access to an M10 fine thread tap so I was able to save the caliper and got the bleed nipple sitting correctly.

I fitted the calipers last night and filled the system with RBF660, checked for leaks and ran it through using my pressure bleeder. Sadly I've managed to get air in the ABS pump which is less than ideal. The brakes still work fine but the initial pedal feel is a bit vague. The car is back on axle stands ready for a few more attempts, I read on here that it can be done if you bleed the brakes with the engine running so that's going to happen tomorrow, I'll try my luck with the pressure bleeder and my glamorous assistant putting her foot to good use.

For now... A photo. I'm glad I went yellow as it looks great behind black wheels!

 

[Helpimonfire]

No pictures because I didn't take any but a quick run down of the last 36 hours.

Friday 6pm - finished work and raced home to get on with the Clio, checked the brakes again and still had a vague pedal. Got the pressure bleeder out again and ran the engine while doing it. Pedal was a little better but still not confidence inspiring. Swore. A lot.
Friday 7.30pm - My better half got home. Chucked her into the car to bleed the brakes the old fashioned way. No better. Swore. A lot more.
Friday 8pm - Threw toys out of pram.
Friday 8.30pm - Collected said toys and got my shit together after having some food.
Friday 9.30pm - A combination of pressure bleeder, ignition on and old school pedal pumping we finally got a half decent pedal. Got rid of the pressure bleeder and manually topped the reservoir up after doing each corner, after much sweating, swearing and more sighing than I could count, I finally had a brake pedal I was happy with.
Friday 10pm - Clio was finally back on all 4 wheels, took it for a run and proceeded to abuse the brake pedal.
Friday 11.15pm - finally crawled into bed after loading up for...

Saturday 4.30am - Up and ready to head the Curborough Sprint Course for another RSUK day. 148 road miles there, 20+ miles on track (equates to around 40 runs) and 148 miles home. The car was absolutely flawless all day long. I'm finally happy with the brakes on the car, they'd never been right from day 1 and now they're spot on!
Saturday 9.15pm - Finally home.

Knocked another chunk of time off too, previous best was a 1.36.6, today's best was a 1.34.9. Nice.

Bed now. 5 hours of sleep, 16 hours of driving and being out in the sun. Tired doesn't even come close!

 

[Helpimonfire]

Snetterton happened today. All my hard work finally paid off!

Sat in the paddock waiting to go out, lots of bugs about today!


Had loads of fun with this Cayman, he had the legs on me but I was all over him like a rash in the corners!

Well matched with this RX8 too, got stuck behind him for a few laps until his brakes and tyres were too hot and I got him.

Found another 197 to play with too. Chopped him.

3 way battle with the RX8 and the other 197. I got past both because I could just carry the speed way better and brake much later.

All in all a phenomenal day at Snetterton, first session I lapped at 2.54.6, 2nd session came down to 2.47.5, 3rd session was a 2.33.9 and the fourth session was mildly quicker at 2.33.2
What a machine! I desperately need to get buckets, harnesses and a cage in though, I was being thrown around like mad all day, it was a proper workout that's for sure! Few little bits to do over the next few weeks but the Clio can have a rest now, it's certainly earned it!

 

[Helpimonfire]

Here's my fastest lap. Standard quality for now, YouTube does that thing where it limits to 360p to start. Should be up in 1080p shortly!

 

[Beany]

Loving it mate

 

[LiamP]

Here's my fastest lap. Standard quality for now, YouTube does that thing where it limits to 360p to start. Should be up in 1080p shortly!

Getting some practice in for August then

Looking really smooth!

 

[Helpimonfire]

Getting some practice in for August then

Looking really smooth!

Haha yeah it's a super fun track, the last 2 corners are actually pretty easy if you're wearing your big boy pants. It's strange as my laps at Curborough felt super choppy and didn't feel smooth at all, whereas these laps flowed nicely. As you can see here...

This is the full session from start to finish, only 15 minutes but you can see just how much quicker I was than others on track, I purposefully went out last to see how many people I could pass. Come August there's gunna be a line of Baguettes making the big boys feel very small and inadequate!
(Edit: Video will be in 1080p eventually when YouTube finishes 'processing')

 

[Big Ben]

Haha yeah it's a super fun track, the last 2 corners are actually pretty easy if you're wearing your big boy pants. It's strange as my laps at Curborough felt super choppy and didn't feel smooth at all, whereas these laps flowed nicely. As you can see here...

This is the full session from start to finish, only 15 minutes but you can see just how much quicker I was than others on track, I purposefully went out last to see how many people I could pass. Come August there's gunna be a line of Baguettes making the big boys feel very small and inadequate!
(Edit: Video will be in 1080p eventually when YouTube finishes 'processing')

There’s a lot of cars piddling about in that video mate! August will be an eye opener in comparison

 

[Beany]

There’s a lot of cars piddling about in that video mate! August will be an eye opener in comparison

Mobile chicanes everywhere

 

[Helpimonfire]

Soooooo this happened...

 

[Helpimonfire]

A little sneaky peak...

More to come over the next week when my seats arrive and it all goes together.

Manhandling the cage in on my own was fun...

 

[Helpimonfire]

Seats finally arrived after waiting 4 weeks.

Still got some bits to do, harnesses need tweaking, I've got a long boot mat coming plus some external bits too. Also a ZPO shift extender should be arriving tomorrow.

Had to disconnect the battery to play around with the airbags and when I connected it up again, my fuel gauge stopped working so I need to investigate that tomorrow morning but otherwise she's pretty much ready to hit the track on the 21st!

 

[Helpimonfire]

Bootmat arrived today. Decent quality and much cheaper than the KTEC equivalent. Really finishes the rear off.

Door cards for the rear have been fettled and I've now got most of the rear plastic back in too, just waiting on the rear panels from track car door cards, then I'll be done in the rear for now. More stuff coming though!

(Don't worry, the harnesses have been rolled up and tidied now, the missus was adjusting them while I was buckled up as the adjusters were a bit high)

 

[burrellbloke]

(Don't worry, the harnesses have been rolled up and tidied now, the missus was adjusting them while I was buckled up as the adjusters were a bit high)

My missus shows no interest in my Clio. To be fair to her she does not complain about booking track days and buggering off for a day.

 

[Helpimonfire]

My missus shows no interest in my Clio. To be fair to her she does not complain about booking track days and buggering off for a day.

Claire's been super supportive of my newest mega expensive hobby, she kinda knew this was coming when I came back from a sprint day grinning like an absolute idiot She was even ok with me spending nearly £2k on the seats, cage and harnesses and other bits because I told her it was for our safety on track. Next thing to get past her will be selling the Focus ST and buying a tow rig...

Update on the fuel gauge issue...
Fuel level is now showing as ¾ of a tank when it was a full tank and I've since done about 60 miles. So I'll use it for the commute for a few days then fill up again to see if the sender needs resetting.

Other than that, everything seems fine, I've ordered some pads for the harnesses as they rub on my neck a little as I opted for the 3" rather than 2". I've just got the get the car in the air and cut the excess from the rollcage fixings as they're long bolts, the the diffuser has to come off and I need to rivet the heat shield down as it's rattling like mad.

Evening session at Snetterton coming up in a fortnight so I'm mega excited for that now!

 

[Helpimonfire]

First of the external bits arrived today. Maxton Design boot lip. Didn't fancy anything big but I decided the boot was a bit boring. It's subtle but I like it.

Splitter is sat in the shed for now but that'll be fitted this weekend. I've got an AC blank to fit courtesy of @RSRowe and his 3D printer so the front bumper will be off, ideal time to fit I guess!

 

[Helpimonfire]

More bits done tonight.

I've had an annoying rattle from under the car for a while now and I assumed it was the heat shield in the diffuser. So I whipped it off and there's a lot of loose stuff there! I bought some heat shield repair washers too so the boot floor got a few thrown it's way
Then as expected I had to repair the mounting brackets as they'd snapped!

I riveted a few places where the heat shield was rattling the most but it's not enough. The rattle is still there but I'm thinking it's the centre section of the exhaust on that bizarre mount.

Onto more exciting parts though. I picked up a ZPO shift extender which makes a difference to the gear change as you'd expect!


That's it for now. More things happening this weekend ready for a sprint event at Bedford next weekend!