Big Bens non Clio

Donington 7/11/21
Cold but dry thankfully Slapped AR1’s on the Clio and drove up on them. I prefer to arrive and drive where possible for obvious reasons.
First session was disappointing as there was plenty of opposite lock and little by the way of traction as track was too cold. Came in and adjusted tyre temps and proceeded to watch loads of red flags. Next session found a better groove but was hampered by lots of slow cars and ignorant line hoggers. Was the theme for the whole day sadly, along with poor marshalling and the abundance of red flags it certainly was one of the most disjointed days I’ve been on.
Mid morning my pal @Beany popped his head in which was cool. Brought a brew with him as well the little tiger! Look forward to seeing him out in his car again once his family life settled.
Few more stints in the afternoon. Car was faultless and temps were great so gave it the treatment where poss. I’d say the engine is greater than the chassis now which is no mean feat. Actually adds to the driver experience imo as there’s no more planting the throttle out of every corner knowing there’s not enough grunt to cause tyre slip. You have to feel the grip which I’m getting better at and will only continue to do so. All in all I’m really happy how the car is as the track season ends. No immediate plans other than to enjoy owning.
Service and MOT Friday then put away in the garage.
Couple of obligatory pics
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New MOT today. Advisory for a noisy exhaust:thumb:
Service and once over as well.

Diffuser needed refixing to stop an annoying vibration. Handbrake cable seen better days but ok for now. Worst news was slight squeaking noise (like belt noise) from engine bay. disappears when pressing clutch pedal so most likely cause is a gearbox bearing possibly the spigot bearing.
Nothing to stop me continuing driving but maybe that gearbox refresh and gripper diff is not as far in the future as it was this morning!
 
Decided to freshen a few things up this month getting ready for some more track days and summer. New powder coated rear beam as mine is minging. Was going to go with spherical bushes but been talked out of it by pretty much most people as I’d still like to drive it to and from track and the consensus would be it’d be too harsh!
New brake lines and new handbrake cables being fitted along with some shimming of the rear. Got my mind set on -2° and parallel toe on the rear just for a small change. Front will stay at -2.5°
Finally I found this random pic of Croft last year May 7th. Anniversary renewal almost to the day has been booked and to say I’m looking forward to it and hopefully seeing my pal @Beany back on track would be an understatement :grinning:
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Happy New Year to you all. Let’s hope it’s a Good un
 
Go Spherical Ben, you'll outgrow the polybushes and be annoyed you never went Spherical!

PS I clicked the first page by accident, I forgot how it started! So cool how far it's come!
 
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Go Spherical Ben, you'll outgrow the polybushes and be annoyed you never went Spherical!

PS I clicked the first page by accident, I forgot how it started! So cool how far it's come!
I can’t be annoyed if I don’t know the difference:grinning: ignorance can be bliss!

Yeah car has morphed some what the last 6yrs. Not finished yet:thumb:
 
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I can’t be annoyed if I don’t know the difference:grinning: ignorance can be bliss!

Yeah car has morphed some what the last 6yrs. Not finished yet:thumb:

Yeah I get it, but it's just double labour, but then again you could live with polybushes for years I guess.

Yep as it should be, glad you never sold it a while back!
 
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Decided to freshen a few things up this month getting ready for some more track days and summer. New powder coated rear beam as mine is minging. Was going to go with spherical bushes but been talked out of it by pretty much most people as I’d still like to drive it to and from track and the consensus would be it’d be too harsh!
New brake lines and new handbrake cables being fitted along with some shimming of the rear. Got my mind set on -2° and parallel toe on the rear just for a small change. Front will stay at -2.5°
Finally I found this random pic of Croft last year May 7th. Anniversary renewal almost to the day has been booked and to say I’m looking forward to it and hopefully seeing my pal @Beany back on track would be an understatement :grinning:
View attachment 148596
Happy New Year to you all. Let’s hope it’s a Good un

Fingers crossed…. Looking forward and scared at the same time
 
Very early start for a trip across the border to see my pal Matt at Supreme Motorsport. He’d had a new rear beam fitted up with the Pure strengthening kit and powder coated black for me as mine was corroded.B6170609-A92A-49F0-9FDC-C4BC9B0514E9.jpeg
Took full use of his lovely new facilities and strapped it onto his posh alignment thingy. Geo needed a slight tweak on the front and obviously the rear beam was quite a ways out. Shimmed it around a bit but didn’t quite have the right shims so I’ll order the necessary and fit it locally now I know the correct size needed.
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Fitted new Supreme brake lines and genuine handbrake cables and fluid. Brakes feel sharp and the handling precise. Interested to see the difference on track. Not an overly aggressive geo set up as it’s still used on the road but it’s been good to me so far so I’ll stick with it

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