What a day… It started off very wet indeed, but Anglesey is famous for its ‘funny’ changeable weather. The car was very quick on standard road tyres even in the slippery conditions and I felt comfortable the the driveshaft issues experienced at Cadwell Park were well behind me. Sure enough Metcheck was right on the money and the sun shone all afternoon. I popped in the video camera and got some great footage. 

The first video shows a number of clips throughout the afternoon, how much fun? (including a surprise just after the start/finish). I had my bravery boots well and truly on and was giving it beans (in my book anyway). Not much came past me all day and you can really see in a few clips how good Honda powered Elise’s really are compared to Lotus’ standard fare.

The second video shows me following a friend Ian in his Link-Up Honda conversion. There really wasn’t much to pick between ours cars. Same engine, suspension and tyres. Only differences worthy of note are that Ian has a sports exhaust fitted, his engine produces around 230BHP - a whole 13 more than mine and I was carrying a passenger. See for yourself - we had a great time - both of us faster than a Lotus 211 on this occasion

Next track day is at RAF Valley, again on Anglesey.

The trip across to Lincolnshire was uneventful and I arrived at the pub / B&B ready for the bar to open at 7pm. Far too many pints of Guinness led to a poor night’s sleep and a thick head.

In the morning we were greeted by beautiful sunshine at Cadwell Park - happy days!! The Car was running great until just before lunch, ‘clunk’ over the ‘Goose neck’, ‘no drive’ and I coasted down the hill and around ‘Mansfield’ to a stop and wait for the pickup truck - receiving my second red flag in 4 yrs! I was towed in thinking that I’d broken the gearbox and sat there recalling the week I’d spent putting the car together and the thought of changing the gearbox left me feeling a bit peed off. 180 miles from home with a broken car isn’t a great feeling.

I took off the race suit and gave the car a quick inspection. This revealed that the driveshaft had popped out of the out board CV joint - I was quite chuffed! Not a major drama and I was back on track within 2.5 hrs (after stripping down the offside suspension and hub assembly, much to the dismay of many other track users). I wasn’t alone either, a fellow track driver broke the driveshaft in his VW golf clean in-half.The driving tutor said it was quite common at Cadwell. News to me but I can understand why it would happen a lot on this track as the ‘Mountain’ section has to be hard on your transmission.

I’ve not had chance to rebuild the shaft yet but I’m guessing that it wasn’t put together too well in the first place? I suppose one major advantage with a DIY job is that you’re just not phased by problems and can fix them without having to re-mortgage the house.

Here is the video (I know, I know… I’m a bit of a girl’s blouse at the end of the straight). 

I’m at the great ‘Anglesey Coastal’ track on the 11th July, so I need to get cracking and rebuild my driveshaft and fit some new suspension bushes to the front of the car.

Hope to see some Lotus fans there… p.s. I’ve bought and fitted a tow bar to my diesel Mondeo - no more driving my track car to track days for me! Mmmm comfy seats! 

…great day at the Coastal circuit, which is proving to be the most popular layout at Anglesey.

Also met a bloke with a Tony Stansfield kit fitted, the second I’ve seen. Looks like a nice install. I now know 3 owners of the Stansfield kit so its looks like a popular choice for the non-DIYer. Still waiting to see a Link-up…

 I’ll be at Cadwell on the 16th of June and Anglesey again on the 11th of July. Hope to see some more flavours of Honda install.

“…you have what I believe to be the best available ECU for your K series engine.” - Dan Turner, AME.

(more…)

First track day of this year at Oulton Park last Friday (the 25th Jan). What a day out!!

Firstly, lets discuss the issues I had (well issue)

• I lost the nipple off the end of my throttle cable. Easy fix as I had a spare with me.

That was it… no other problems, car ran like clockwork and I’m very very relieved that it did. Obviously I’ll be taking the under trays off v.soon to make sure everything is done up properly.

(more…)