The crunchy 197

Cadwell Park - April bank holiday......... Snow
(Disclaimer, photo was taken in Mexico by passenger)

Wouldn’t be a trackday without my car flashing up low battery... tis getting a little annoying now, but I’m too tight to buy a new alternator

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Weather soon brightened up though.

Definitely a big fan of the new briefing/check in procedure for trackdays too. Nothing more boring than sitting in a packed drivers briefing imo.

Had a bit of a mare to start with. Fitted my Team Dynamics (which came loose at the ring if you remember). Drove out the pits first in the line for sighting laps, only to be greeted with a horrendous wheel wobble.
Slowly trawled back into the pits and the issue has become apparent. Turns out the bore of the Team Dynamics isn’t deep enough to accommodate the flange on the hub.
Major grump from me. Fortunately one of my mates let me use a set of his MRF’s, as he was out on his new to him slicks.

I can’t begin to describe how good they are. Me and the lads have a habit of driving like absolute numpties, and after a full morning of abuse the tyres looked barely touched....
They’re that good I’m getting rid of my 3rd set of wheels (after I’ve had them machined) and buying a fresh set.

My afternoon was cut short with a brake issue. I come through the Gooseneck and my brakes locked on. I hadn’t a clue what was going on, but I managed to get back to the pits..... barely.
Turns out the steering lock module had fallen out of the column and in behind the brake pedal.

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Finally got around to reading this start to fini.. Err... Current day and I'm massively jealous that you've got the 2 and 4 post ramps at your disposal. Hopefully see you out on track one day! I'll be the one you keep passing every other lap :tearsofjoy:
 
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Finally got around to reading this start to fini.. Err... Current day and I'm massively jealous that you've got the 2 and 4 post ramps at your disposal. Hopefully see you out on track one day! I'll be the one you keep passing every other lap :tearsofjoy:
Oiii that’s my job
 
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I definitely take the facilities to granted. Though my old man has got a chassis he’s been ‘working on’ currently sat on the 2 poster.
I’m hoping he starts to bore of it soon so I can make use of the space
 
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I shall print a cap which I can put in the back of the old pump so that it doesn’t end up filling full of crap.

Is this delightful little A/C 'delete' working well? I ask as mine is just dead weight as it hasn't worked for over 2 years. Did you just cut the pump housing? I'm guessing the bearing is decent enough to stay together without the pump internals? I'm planning on removing mine this weekend weather permitting, so it'd be handy to know without buying a relocation kit or a different belt. Cheers!
 
Is this delightful little A/C 'delete' working well? I ask as mine is just dead weight as it hasn't worked for over 2 years. Did you just cut the pump housing? I'm guessing the bearing is decent enough to stay together without the pump internals? I'm planning on removing mine this weekend weather permitting, so it'd be handy to know without buying a relocation kit or a different belt. Cheers!
Guide
 
It hasn’t fallen apart yet. I have only done one trackday since doing it though.

The longevity shouldn’t be affected, as the pulley isn’t supported by anything other than the bearing in normal operation. Having it like this also means it’s pretty simple to switch the bearing out if it starts to wear.

The guide above is pretty good. Just make sure you’ve got plenty of space to make a mess..... mine was full of UV dye even though I’d drained the system properly with an AC machine. It went everywhere.
 
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Just showing off the ramp again. Bought another 197 for reeeeeal cheap.
Needs a few bits and bobs. The rack inners are the worst I’ve ever seen.

It’s got 25mm spacers on aswell, but the bolts are shorter than my spare set from when I used 20mm ones.
There must of been about 3 threads holding the wheels on - scary!!
 
The original plan was to fix and flip.

Had quite a lot of interest amongst my group of mates, plus a lad at one of the Baguettes work seems pretty keen on buying it as is.

Either way, me and my mate will end up doing the work on it :tearsofjoy:
 
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