LOH's mini (2013 JCW-GP) adventure
Discussion
Max M4X WW said:
terryb said:
Snap 
I think I passed you this morning, Aldermaston Road? I thought it could be LOH (having no idea where he/she is from) then I saw the 13 plate.
report to follow....LaurasOtherHalf said:
Max M4X WW said:
terryb said:
Snap
I think I passed you this morning, Aldermaston Road? I thought it could be LOH (having no idea where he/she is from) then I saw the 13 plate. report to follow....Sorry sandy just noticed your post there & ill answer all in the posts below.....
Right! I'm aware that this might be the PH equivalent of boring people to tears with your holiday snaps but I'm thinking if you've read this far you're still interested.
As I previously mentioned I'd booked some time away with the car for a good old euro-hoon, something we've done for quite a few years now & enjoy hugely. There isn't the opportunity to do as many as we used to but we still try & get over for a few a year & I tend to find out everything I need to knowing about my cars on them & if you've never ventured over into the continent then hopefully this might spur you on!
It's not difficult these days with the advent of sat nav which cranky takes the stress out of driving abroad if your other half isn't so hot with a map. We also use www.booking.com as it allows free cancelations on hotels up to 1pm on the day of arrival so if you have a problem with the car or you simply like the town you're in you can log onto the usually free hotel wifi & alter your plans to suit.
For this journey I was using co-pilot sat nav on my iPhone. It cost £35 for full European maps but most importantly works offline so you don't need an Internet connection (expensive abroad). It also allows you to download just the countries you're visiting so it still leaves plenty of memory for music so you don't get caught having to listen to the local (oompah) radio stations! I've got my phone mounted to the rev counter via a nifty set up sold by raven-speed. I wired the phone down to the iPod connector by the gear stick & hid the wire away inside the steering column, this means the sat nav instructions over-rule the music & come through the speaker system but only when you're listening to the iPhone music.
Seeing as we weren't meeting my other mate until Belgium the next day we took the overnight ferry from Hull to Rotterdam on a Saturday night which is great as it lets me work all day Saturday before setting off, though it isn't known as the party boat for nothing what with the usual crowd of stags & hens going over to Amsterdam for recreation! One tip is not to sink too much Stella as they have a habit of breathalising every car that comes off of a morning.
We packed up the day before (good Friday) so's all that was left to do was pull the car out of the garage & get a move on.
There was plenty of luggage space what with no rear seats (she doesn't travel light) & even considering a couple of crash helmets & extra warm jackets we still had plenty of space left over for the planned booze run on our particular favourite Belgian beer for the way home
Coming over the penines there was still a fair bit of snow around, something we were slightly concerned about with reports still coming in from the nurburgring that Kar Freitag had been cancelled due to another dumping of the white stuff on the track.
Not completely hassle free on the journey over as we managed to hit a suicidal grouse on the a66 (the plooms of feathers must have shot 30ft high-proof the diffuser works!) & my mate in the original mini managed to get a section 54 from the ever helpful humberside police for his cars exhaust. t
ts. His mini is a 1274 edition 35 & completely rebuilt with every mod declared but they still managed to be aholes whilst he was doing around 55mph on a dual carriageway, is it any wonder traffic police get a bad name when they pick on completely law abiding drivers? At least the grouse did no damage!
We managed to make the boat in time regardless & enjoyed a leisurely meal & a couple of beers & got our heads down for the inevitable early start the next day (clocks going back plus they don't want the punters sleeping in when there's duty free to be sold!).
Luckily this time there was no police when getting off the boat (although we hadn't drank much it doesn't half slow down the disembarkation!) so we could get on our way pretty sharpish-something we would need to do as there was a problem with the carb on the little old mini.
The car had been left with a local specialist to get some jobs done on it weeks ago as the trip had been booked since last year, the points were being changed to electronic ignition & the carb set up but the specialist turned out to be anything but & it was running way too lean, resulting in a top speed of around 60mph! We knew that we could get things sorted once we got to the ring but would it get that far? Could I be trusted to drive in convoy at such a slow place?!
More to follow........
Right! I'm aware that this might be the PH equivalent of boring people to tears with your holiday snaps but I'm thinking if you've read this far you're still interested.
As I previously mentioned I'd booked some time away with the car for a good old euro-hoon, something we've done for quite a few years now & enjoy hugely. There isn't the opportunity to do as many as we used to but we still try & get over for a few a year & I tend to find out everything I need to knowing about my cars on them & if you've never ventured over into the continent then hopefully this might spur you on!
It's not difficult these days with the advent of sat nav which cranky takes the stress out of driving abroad if your other half isn't so hot with a map. We also use www.booking.com as it allows free cancelations on hotels up to 1pm on the day of arrival so if you have a problem with the car or you simply like the town you're in you can log onto the usually free hotel wifi & alter your plans to suit.
For this journey I was using co-pilot sat nav on my iPhone. It cost £35 for full European maps but most importantly works offline so you don't need an Internet connection (expensive abroad). It also allows you to download just the countries you're visiting so it still leaves plenty of memory for music so you don't get caught having to listen to the local (oompah) radio stations! I've got my phone mounted to the rev counter via a nifty set up sold by raven-speed. I wired the phone down to the iPod connector by the gear stick & hid the wire away inside the steering column, this means the sat nav instructions over-rule the music & come through the speaker system but only when you're listening to the iPhone music.
Seeing as we weren't meeting my other mate until Belgium the next day we took the overnight ferry from Hull to Rotterdam on a Saturday night which is great as it lets me work all day Saturday before setting off, though it isn't known as the party boat for nothing what with the usual crowd of stags & hens going over to Amsterdam for recreation! One tip is not to sink too much Stella as they have a habit of breathalising every car that comes off of a morning.
We packed up the day before (good Friday) so's all that was left to do was pull the car out of the garage & get a move on.
There was plenty of luggage space what with no rear seats (she doesn't travel light) & even considering a couple of crash helmets & extra warm jackets we still had plenty of space left over for the planned booze run on our particular favourite Belgian beer for the way home
Coming over the penines there was still a fair bit of snow around, something we were slightly concerned about with reports still coming in from the nurburgring that Kar Freitag had been cancelled due to another dumping of the white stuff on the track.
Not completely hassle free on the journey over as we managed to hit a suicidal grouse on the a66 (the plooms of feathers must have shot 30ft high-proof the diffuser works!) & my mate in the original mini managed to get a section 54 from the ever helpful humberside police for his cars exhaust. t
ts. His mini is a 1274 edition 35 & completely rebuilt with every mod declared but they still managed to be aholes whilst he was doing around 55mph on a dual carriageway, is it any wonder traffic police get a bad name when they pick on completely law abiding drivers? At least the grouse did no damage!We managed to make the boat in time regardless & enjoyed a leisurely meal & a couple of beers & got our heads down for the inevitable early start the next day (clocks going back plus they don't want the punters sleeping in when there's duty free to be sold!).
Luckily this time there was no police when getting off the boat (although we hadn't drank much it doesn't half slow down the disembarkation!) so we could get on our way pretty sharpish-something we would need to do as there was a problem with the carb on the little old mini.
The car had been left with a local specialist to get some jobs done on it weeks ago as the trip had been booked since last year, the points were being changed to electronic ignition & the carb set up but the specialist turned out to be anything but & it was running way too lean, resulting in a top speed of around 60mph! We knew that we could get things sorted once we got to the ring but would it get that far? Could I be trusted to drive in convoy at such a slow place?!
More to follow........
So, where were we?
Ah yes, a mis-firing old mini! As I said this car has been completely rebuilt but one of the last things to do was to move onto electronic ignition & reset the carb as its never been right. Ross has owned this car since he was 16 & he'll never sell it but I think on the trip he may have come close! It's a lovely thing though that deserves its own thread, if there's enough interest I might even persuade him to sign up as there's very little of the original car left. The mate who painted the stunning metal flake blue body work sadly passed away last year & it's a fitting tribute to him.
But I digress, as I mentioned above a local bloke was supposed to get all this done weeks ago but to no avail. The biggest problem was the lean running carb which would backfire at high revs & not pull clean at low. The useless git pointed out the mixture control screw to Ross & claimed it stuck solid & left him to it (remember this bit for later). The car was driving though just not very well, we figured get it to spa & we would have a potter about with it.
To be fair on the flat it could sit at just about 60mph which I was ok with, spa isn't very far from Rotterdam & if it took us 2 hours instead of an hour & a half then fair enough-we weren't in any rush. We had walkie-talkies & I'd made him get Adac cover in case the worst happened so off we went quite happily. In fact after playing around with the on board computer I was very happy as I found this;
Yes you read that right, 50.5mpg! & no that wasn't me just coasting either-who needs a friggin' diesel?! Note the iPhone cradle, it actually bolts onto two of the screws that hold on the back of the rev counter & then can be adjusted for angle & height etc. also note the complete lack of speedo needle on comedy sized speed dial thus proving slow speed!
Everything was all well & good until we started the more interesting part of the journey. If you're doing a euro tour the Low Countries ain't the most picturesque of routes, the little towns & cities are gorgeous but the motorways mostly consist of industrial areas punctuated by huge canals & the odd farm house. Go off the beaten track & it's like going back in time to some WW2 occupation film, things haven't changed that much but the motorways are pretty boring & poorly surfaced-not ideal on a car with track biased rubber & suspension.
But get to liege & onto spa & suddenly you're into the mountains which are much more interesting, the motorways suddenly have huge gradients & you really climb to some impressive heights though your wonder may be tempered by the fact that you're going there for track days & it's started snowing or the fact that your mate in his ill running mini can no longer travel such gradients at more than 30mph!
This is a rare shot of us following a caravan, yes we did overtake it but it may have taken some time & it does get quite interesting judging a gap in traffic in which you can move out into a such a slow speed without creating a tailback! Also not the large GB badge (it matches our speedo), I normally don't bother with them abroad as who wants to give the speed cameras a helping hand but seeing as we were expecting police coming off the boat we though we better put one off & this was the only magnetic one they had-must have been for a truck or something.
Progress was made but having artic lorries having to move out of the crawler lane to pass him was enough for me to radio him to move onto the hard shoulder & put his hazards on. Fair play to the mini though it made it though we weren't filled with confidence of the weather such was the blizzard as we arrived.
We pulled into the Raddison Palace on the main square in the town & unpacked, there was to be no tinkering with carbs in this weather! We settled into a much deserved lunch & watched the weather greatly improve, in fact it looked so much better we left the other halts to the hotels health club & travelled the few miles up to the circuit at francorchamps.
The morning session had been called off due to the snow but fair play to the staff there they'd gotten the track opened & with copious amounts of salt (yes I winced for the unprotected race cars) people were out there enjoying themselves. If you've never been to Spa I can't recommend it enough, the track is just epic & the whole place exudes Motorsport history, from the historic la source, old pits & eau rouge through to the super technical new circuit. I usually combine it with a trip to the ring but I sometimes don't give it the respect it deserves. If we do it after the nurburgring even the mighty spa seams micky in comparison but in isolation it's something else & a world away from the more modern sanitised circuits.
What makes it even better is that not only is the circuit superb but you can also drive the historic old track as its all public roads, this takes in the lovely town of stavelot & really gives you a feel for what those guys used to do for a living in F1. As well as this you also have the stunning town of Spa with which to placate your ever suffering significant other. Fantastic restaurants, brilliant shopping & best of all thermal spa resorts so you can leave the girls to enjoy a day of pampering & retail therapy whilst you play out your race car fantasies.
After saying our hellos to old friends we headed back down to the hotel to meet up with steve who'd now arrived in his megane r26.r with his wife for a nice evening meal & relax before the hitting the track the next day.
Hopefully the snow would hold off.......
Ah yes, a mis-firing old mini! As I said this car has been completely rebuilt but one of the last things to do was to move onto electronic ignition & reset the carb as its never been right. Ross has owned this car since he was 16 & he'll never sell it but I think on the trip he may have come close! It's a lovely thing though that deserves its own thread, if there's enough interest I might even persuade him to sign up as there's very little of the original car left. The mate who painted the stunning metal flake blue body work sadly passed away last year & it's a fitting tribute to him.
But I digress, as I mentioned above a local bloke was supposed to get all this done weeks ago but to no avail. The biggest problem was the lean running carb which would backfire at high revs & not pull clean at low. The useless git pointed out the mixture control screw to Ross & claimed it stuck solid & left him to it (remember this bit for later). The car was driving though just not very well, we figured get it to spa & we would have a potter about with it.
To be fair on the flat it could sit at just about 60mph which I was ok with, spa isn't very far from Rotterdam & if it took us 2 hours instead of an hour & a half then fair enough-we weren't in any rush. We had walkie-talkies & I'd made him get Adac cover in case the worst happened so off we went quite happily. In fact after playing around with the on board computer I was very happy as I found this;
Yes you read that right, 50.5mpg! & no that wasn't me just coasting either-who needs a friggin' diesel?! Note the iPhone cradle, it actually bolts onto two of the screws that hold on the back of the rev counter & then can be adjusted for angle & height etc. also note the complete lack of speedo needle on comedy sized speed dial thus proving slow speed!
Everything was all well & good until we started the more interesting part of the journey. If you're doing a euro tour the Low Countries ain't the most picturesque of routes, the little towns & cities are gorgeous but the motorways mostly consist of industrial areas punctuated by huge canals & the odd farm house. Go off the beaten track & it's like going back in time to some WW2 occupation film, things haven't changed that much but the motorways are pretty boring & poorly surfaced-not ideal on a car with track biased rubber & suspension.
But get to liege & onto spa & suddenly you're into the mountains which are much more interesting, the motorways suddenly have huge gradients & you really climb to some impressive heights though your wonder may be tempered by the fact that you're going there for track days & it's started snowing or the fact that your mate in his ill running mini can no longer travel such gradients at more than 30mph!
This is a rare shot of us following a caravan, yes we did overtake it but it may have taken some time & it does get quite interesting judging a gap in traffic in which you can move out into a such a slow speed without creating a tailback! Also not the large GB badge (it matches our speedo), I normally don't bother with them abroad as who wants to give the speed cameras a helping hand but seeing as we were expecting police coming off the boat we though we better put one off & this was the only magnetic one they had-must have been for a truck or something.
Progress was made but having artic lorries having to move out of the crawler lane to pass him was enough for me to radio him to move onto the hard shoulder & put his hazards on. Fair play to the mini though it made it though we weren't filled with confidence of the weather such was the blizzard as we arrived.
We pulled into the Raddison Palace on the main square in the town & unpacked, there was to be no tinkering with carbs in this weather! We settled into a much deserved lunch & watched the weather greatly improve, in fact it looked so much better we left the other halts to the hotels health club & travelled the few miles up to the circuit at francorchamps.
The morning session had been called off due to the snow but fair play to the staff there they'd gotten the track opened & with copious amounts of salt (yes I winced for the unprotected race cars) people were out there enjoying themselves. If you've never been to Spa I can't recommend it enough, the track is just epic & the whole place exudes Motorsport history, from the historic la source, old pits & eau rouge through to the super technical new circuit. I usually combine it with a trip to the ring but I sometimes don't give it the respect it deserves. If we do it after the nurburgring even the mighty spa seams micky in comparison but in isolation it's something else & a world away from the more modern sanitised circuits.
What makes it even better is that not only is the circuit superb but you can also drive the historic old track as its all public roads, this takes in the lovely town of stavelot & really gives you a feel for what those guys used to do for a living in F1. As well as this you also have the stunning town of Spa with which to placate your ever suffering significant other. Fantastic restaurants, brilliant shopping & best of all thermal spa resorts so you can leave the girls to enjoy a day of pampering & retail therapy whilst you play out your race car fantasies.
After saying our hellos to old friends we headed back down to the hotel to meet up with steve who'd now arrived in his megane r26.r with his wife for a nice evening meal & relax before the hitting the track the next day.
Hopefully the snow would hold off.......
Edited by LaurasOtherHalf on Wednesday 10th April 11:26
did the snow hold off then?
great stuff
we headed over to francorchamps to the circuit & luckily although there had been some snow in the night it must have been light & was just left at the side of the road. the briefing was taken in the usual spirit & the cars were out on track with little time lost, it's great being in a car where you know you're not going to trouble the noise nazi's!
we were using the old pits for the trackday which i'd never done before, gives the day a bit of extra historical reference i suppose but to be honest the new pits do work better & mean you don't fluff anyone's line through la source going into the old pit complex.
getting out on track it became immediately apparent that salt makes a race track very slippy! most folks were running track tyres too which obviously weren't going to be reaching optimum temperature straight away but with the rough nature of the surface at spa i didn't think it would take too long.
how was the car? absolutely fantastic. again me & steve had a hell of a laugh between the mini & the megane due to how close in performance the two are-though after all the laps he'd done here it was the first time he realised just how steep the kemmel straight is after coming here previously in his GTR !
we weren't too seriously outgunned on the track but the 911gt3 boys could definately destroy us on the straights, the power & traction out of corners really showing the limitations of a 217bhp hot hatch. it's been almost exactly a year since i was at spa & although i didn't need to re-learn it as such it definately takes some time to build your speed back up on some of the ballsier corners.
all in all we had a thoroughly enjoyable morning session & broke for lunch then headed over to stavelot for some lunch & a quick photo opp
(you can still see the feathers in the grill from the grouse i hit!)
in the afternoon we attacked the track with a bit more vigor & a little more pizza & frittes on board. the beauty of these little hatches is that you really can get towards pushing the cars limits without feeling like you are on the verge of a huge accident. i had a wonderful few laps with a stunning guards red caymanR. he had the legs on us on the tsraights but could only just draw level before the little mini grabbed another good few cars lengths on him in the corners. he was being a bit aggressive in trying to get past but although i moved over he just couldn't manage it, the mini inspired such confidence through the bends that i could easily make up any lost time by keeping my car right on the limit whilst he obviously felt the need to back off. we did the same with a mk1 silver GT3 as he blew past us on the old pit straight, we were a good ten car lengths behind him on the approach to eau rouge only to exit the corner glued to his exhaust pipes. we didn't see which way he went on the following straight though!
interestingly we discovered that the mini definately has the legs on the megane in a straight line, getting some 10mph faster down the kemmel straight. the megane counters this by still being slightly easier to drive through transitions & feeling much softer sprung. the mini on the other hand fidgets, bucks, bounces & slides all the time. great fun
another good point on the mini is 6 true forward gears as in the megane as soon as you reach the top of 5th the car bogs down & doesn't really want to pull anymore whereas in the much shorter geared mini the car just goes & goes to an indicated 150mph up the kemmel.
we were having so much fun that unfortunately we didn't realise the other problem of driving on a salty track, massive tyre wear. i managed to catch mine in time & swap the fronts to the rears but steve scrubbed off so much of his 888's that a new pair were needed.
by the time all that was done it was nearly the end of the day so filled with excitement we decided now would be the time to take an ill running 18 year old mini out on track....
great stuff
we headed over to francorchamps to the circuit & luckily although there had been some snow in the night it must have been light & was just left at the side of the road. the briefing was taken in the usual spirit & the cars were out on track with little time lost, it's great being in a car where you know you're not going to trouble the noise nazi's!
we were using the old pits for the trackday which i'd never done before, gives the day a bit of extra historical reference i suppose but to be honest the new pits do work better & mean you don't fluff anyone's line through la source going into the old pit complex.
getting out on track it became immediately apparent that salt makes a race track very slippy! most folks were running track tyres too which obviously weren't going to be reaching optimum temperature straight away but with the rough nature of the surface at spa i didn't think it would take too long.
how was the car? absolutely fantastic. again me & steve had a hell of a laugh between the mini & the megane due to how close in performance the two are-though after all the laps he'd done here it was the first time he realised just how steep the kemmel straight is after coming here previously in his GTR !
we weren't too seriously outgunned on the track but the 911gt3 boys could definately destroy us on the straights, the power & traction out of corners really showing the limitations of a 217bhp hot hatch. it's been almost exactly a year since i was at spa & although i didn't need to re-learn it as such it definately takes some time to build your speed back up on some of the ballsier corners.
all in all we had a thoroughly enjoyable morning session & broke for lunch then headed over to stavelot for some lunch & a quick photo opp
(you can still see the feathers in the grill from the grouse i hit!)
in the afternoon we attacked the track with a bit more vigor & a little more pizza & frittes on board. the beauty of these little hatches is that you really can get towards pushing the cars limits without feeling like you are on the verge of a huge accident. i had a wonderful few laps with a stunning guards red caymanR. he had the legs on us on the tsraights but could only just draw level before the little mini grabbed another good few cars lengths on him in the corners. he was being a bit aggressive in trying to get past but although i moved over he just couldn't manage it, the mini inspired such confidence through the bends that i could easily make up any lost time by keeping my car right on the limit whilst he obviously felt the need to back off. we did the same with a mk1 silver GT3 as he blew past us on the old pit straight, we were a good ten car lengths behind him on the approach to eau rouge only to exit the corner glued to his exhaust pipes. we didn't see which way he went on the following straight though!
interestingly we discovered that the mini definately has the legs on the megane in a straight line, getting some 10mph faster down the kemmel straight. the megane counters this by still being slightly easier to drive through transitions & feeling much softer sprung. the mini on the other hand fidgets, bucks, bounces & slides all the time. great fun
another good point on the mini is 6 true forward gears as in the megane as soon as you reach the top of 5th the car bogs down & doesn't really want to pull anymore whereas in the much shorter geared mini the car just goes & goes to an indicated 150mph up the kemmel.
we were having so much fun that unfortunately we didn't realise the other problem of driving on a salty track, massive tyre wear. i managed to catch mine in time & swap the fronts to the rears but steve scrubbed off so much of his 888's that a new pair were needed.
by the time all that was done it was nearly the end of the day so filled with excitement we decided now would be the time to take an ill running 18 year old mini out on track....
Sandy59 said:
Great read, sounds like a hoot of a trip !!
I didn't notice anything about suspension settings, I presume they are just the standard factory ones ??
Also did the brakes hold up pretty well on track ??
sorry sandy i intended to answer once i'd finished the write up but yes we're still on standard for the time being-i'll explain after i've finished & yes the brakes are truly, truly epic! seeing that caymanR pull up alongside on the kemmel straight at spa & then totally out-braking him for the chicane convinced me the brakes have more to give than i'll ever need.I didn't notice anything about suspension settings, I presume they are just the standard factory ones ??
Also did the brakes hold up pretty well on track ??
somchie said:
LOH, lovely pictures and stories!
I got my GP two days ago and enjoying it immensely, only 5 were delivered to my country (Sweden).
May I ask what phone holder you have installed?
search google for ravenspeed, not cheap but the best solution i've seen so far although to be honest once you've seen how its made you could quite easily fabricate one yourself. once you find the item you can download the fitting instructions to get an idea of how it worksI got my GP two days ago and enjoying it immensely, only 5 were delivered to my country (Sweden).
May I ask what phone holder you have installed?
Chr1sch said:
Great write up and it sounds like a whole heap of fun to drive! We had an 08 Cooper S and I can relate to the fidgety nature but god it's addictive!
Was also surprised to see it put in a faster time around the track in Evo mag recently, clearly a very handy little car!
they're great little cars, i always thought they were style over substance but i'm really getting why folks love them so much now. the evo (& other publications) lap times really surprised me too but after doing a bit of track work i'm starting to see why it can beat the megane. i'll update further but it might not all just be down to the shorter gearing Was also surprised to see it put in a faster time around the track in Evo mag recently, clearly a very handy little car!
so back to the story & back to the little mini, or origianl mini, or mini mini or whatever you want to call it. if you can't remember my last comment on it that i high lighted in bold above go & have another look.
so it wasn't running to well as we knew but ross had brought another airbox with him that might just cure the problem so he fitted that in the paddock whilst we were out playing webber/alonso through eau rouge & managed to unstick the mixture screw & give it an adjustment.
circuit-days being the good lads they are took a few euros off ross for the last hour & let him go take the car on track so he could get some pictures going through eau rouge. brilliant!
so we get it out & bloody hell it hardly makes it out of the pit lane (eau rouge really is steep!) but a quick change back down & away we go
ross had never done a track day before & was a little nervous but soon got the hang of it. 60mph top speed on spa isn't exactly flying but the little mini didn't have to break much-how many people do you know that have taken eau rouge flat in top gear on their first lap!
in fact we were having so much fun that i decided we better give the car a rest & told him to pull in after 4 or 5 laps for it to cool down. our enthusiasm was pretty short lived though when as we slowed we smelled the unmistakable stench of a serious fuel leak.
so, back to the pits to investigate & oh there's fuel pissing out of the mixture control screw, the one ross loosened. the reason it was pissing out was because the screw had actually fallen out somewhere along the track. bugger (we called the last so-called specialist worse).
so, trace one of the pipes off the carb as a vacuum control for the points & it had a screw blanking it off-that'll do (or it hopefully will as old BS sized screws aren't in such ready supply over hear i'd imagined). tightened up but still leaking
find some ptfe tape to bodge it up but alas still to no avail, now it's litterally pouring out from under the car.
trace that & find its the fuel overflow for the carb
by this time it's now getting late & the girls are statring to ask what we are up to as they've finished lounging in thermal pools for the day. do we call adac & admit defeat? not a chance! well not yet anyway.
after asking we found out that the circuit was open the next day as a practice day for the some bmw championship so we left the little car at the track & journied back to spa to go over some solex diagrams before an evening meal with the other halfs.
if you're a fan of chris rea you'll know the song auberge, well aparently it's written about the fantastic seafood restaurant in spa & we go there every time now as the food is great & they sell wine by the magnum.
[URL=http://s1079.photobucket.com/user/cragswinter/media/Facebook/Easter%20Trip%20to%20Spa%20Ring%20%20Bruges/524783_10151423347809475_1957415971_n.jpg.html]
the service stinks mind you but you get that in this part of belgium-a very french attitude but what the hell when the foods this good.
so, an evening going over things & steve with the megane reckons he has a plan for the carb. before he sold his soul to the insurance industry steve used to own various car related businesses & knows his way around an engine bay, that plus the free hotel wifi supplying as much info as we could find he had an idea.
hopefully it'd work because if we could get it running we knew of a man who can near the nurburgring & hopefully repatriation by adac wouldn't be needed
so it wasn't running to well as we knew but ross had brought another airbox with him that might just cure the problem so he fitted that in the paddock whilst we were out playing webber/alonso through eau rouge & managed to unstick the mixture screw & give it an adjustment.
circuit-days being the good lads they are took a few euros off ross for the last hour & let him go take the car on track so he could get some pictures going through eau rouge. brilliant!
so we get it out & bloody hell it hardly makes it out of the pit lane (eau rouge really is steep!) but a quick change back down & away we go
ross had never done a track day before & was a little nervous but soon got the hang of it. 60mph top speed on spa isn't exactly flying but the little mini didn't have to break much-how many people do you know that have taken eau rouge flat in top gear on their first lap!
in fact we were having so much fun that i decided we better give the car a rest & told him to pull in after 4 or 5 laps for it to cool down. our enthusiasm was pretty short lived though when as we slowed we smelled the unmistakable stench of a serious fuel leak.
so, back to the pits to investigate & oh there's fuel pissing out of the mixture control screw, the one ross loosened. the reason it was pissing out was because the screw had actually fallen out somewhere along the track. bugger (we called the last so-called specialist worse).
so, trace one of the pipes off the carb as a vacuum control for the points & it had a screw blanking it off-that'll do (or it hopefully will as old BS sized screws aren't in such ready supply over hear i'd imagined). tightened up but still leaking
find some ptfe tape to bodge it up but alas still to no avail, now it's litterally pouring out from under the car.trace that & find its the fuel overflow for the carb
by this time it's now getting late & the girls are statring to ask what we are up to as they've finished lounging in thermal pools for the day. do we call adac & admit defeat? not a chance! well not yet anyway.after asking we found out that the circuit was open the next day as a practice day for the some bmw championship so we left the little car at the track & journied back to spa to go over some solex diagrams before an evening meal with the other halfs.
if you're a fan of chris rea you'll know the song auberge, well aparently it's written about the fantastic seafood restaurant in spa & we go there every time now as the food is great & they sell wine by the magnum.
[URL=http://s1079.photobucket.com/user/cragswinter/media/Facebook/Easter%20Trip%20to%20Spa%20Ring%20%20Bruges/524783_10151423347809475_1957415971_n.jpg.html]
the service stinks mind you but you get that in this part of belgium-a very french attitude but what the hell when the foods this good.
so, an evening going over things & steve with the megane reckons he has a plan for the carb. before he sold his soul to the insurance industry steve used to own various car related businesses & knows his way around an engine bay, that plus the free hotel wifi supplying as much info as we could find he had an idea.
hopefully it'd work because if we could get it running we knew of a man who can near the nurburgring & hopefully repatriation by adac wouldn't be needed
Jamesf288 said:
I am really enjoying your reviews of the GP, LOH; absolutely cracking car!
I particularly like this shot, with the R26.R and 2006 JCW GP. I will be starting my own search for the latter in the next few months
I particularly like this shot, with the R26.R and 2006 JCW GP. I will be starting my own search for the latter in the next few months
Edited by Jamesf288 on Saturday 13th April 20:19
my favourite shot too, those were a great couple of laps. I got to speaking to the owner of the mk1 GP as he was staying at the same hotel & he pointed me in the direction of the GP UK forum, it's mostly mk1 owners but you should get signed up as there's a wealth of information & they seem like good guys there.He was surprised at just how much quicker the mk2 was in a straight line seeing as they're both "supposed" to be the same brake horsepower (more on this later.....).
I'll tell you something though, it could still put in some good laps & I reckon it'll have sounded even better with the supercharger whine!
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