First outing brands Saturday 3rd December

[GarethGTR]

Hi all

I am booked into brands this Saturday for a track day and can't wait!

The car has only moved about 15 yards under it's own steam, so could be short lived.....wish me luck,,,



Gareth

[TangoGTR]

One way to do a shakedown of car

Have fun.

Dave.

[Storer]

I admire an optimist. My rebuild shakedowns will be much more gentle. At least do a brake check before you go!!!!

Remember to take torque wrench and plenty of tools, oils, antifreeze, etc and get a garage as I think the weather is cr*p for Saturday.

Oh, and trailer it there just in case.



Having done all that you will have no problems.

Have a great day.
Paul

[UltimaCH]

I would love to be there... As suggested by Paul, take tools and fluids without forgetting a trailer. Drive sensibly a couple of laps to make sure everything is moving and turning right b4 giving your cherished possession any beans

[macgtech]

Best of luck - the main thing to do will be to double check all your coolant hoses and that you have no leaks - the last thing you want to do is drop your fluid and cook the engine first time out. (I have seen that done a few times!)

Get the car up to temp, take it out for a few laps then come back in and check everything thoroughly.

And remember to enjoy it! Good luck.

[GTRCLIVE]

Hope it all goes ok bud. Has the engine already been mapped ?

[LuckyP]

Good luck mate. Enjoy.

Needless to say, just take it steady in the morning with lots of short sessions.

Of course.....you WILL ignore this and go at it like a bull in a china shop!!

Either way - go for it!!!

I might pop along.

Pete

Edited by LuckyP on Thursday 1st December 22:32

[GarethGTR]

Hi

I've checked and checked. The engine has not been mapped but is running closed loop so should be somewhere near until you can work your magic Clive ...

I have to trailer it there as I've not iva'd it yet ( next milestone )

Thanks for all the pointers

Gareth

[GarethGTR]

Hi All

WOW! What an eventful day at wet and slippery Brands Hatch.

LuckyP came down, great to meet you :-)

Went out in first session, strong small of petrol and came in. Can't find any leaks so went out again, still very strong petrol smell so I must have a leak, It is the first time that the tanks have been full, maybe this had something to do with it. I will find it.

Otherwise the car was perfect, surprise surprise! However I was on Cooper straight and in straight line when my impatience got the better of me, and I gave it a bit of a bootful, only at low rpm, and only about half throttle, but before I could react I was going backwards ...... Oh Crap! I just gritted my teeth waiting for the heart breaking crunch which never came - although it was close, very close - look at the pics.

I also suffered a fair amount of understeer, but it was in the slippery wet....






Gareth

[deadscoob]

Holy s**t, that was close!! What tyres are on it?

Glad it all went well, be interested to see what the smell turns out to be.

[LuckyP]

Hey Gareth,

Great to meet you too, and your family. (Hi Luke - Hi Ruben )

I had to come see, coz I couldn't believe that someone would put their car on track after just running the engine for a few minutes!!!

Arrived when you were in the briefing and was greeted by your two 'junior mechanics!!'

"Hey Mister, do you know what this car is?" said Ruben (the shorter cheekier looking one!),



"Err, yes, young man, I have a fairly good idea." said LuckyP.....by the way Luke, what the hell has happend to your trousers???!!



"It's an Ultima GTR - the fastest car in the World!" returned Luke "and I dropped my hot chocolate all over 'em on the way here,"



"Oh, yeah?" smirked LuckyP



"It's got Zonda tailpipes" added Ruben



"And if I may say, a rather functionally cool interior" piped LP.



"fun-ca-tony what?" offered Ruban - eyes screwed up and waiting for an answer.

And then the briefing was over, met Gareth and Sara

and took these:













Hats off squire, very brave of you and your Mrs out there in the very slippery conditions.

You car looked great, really dig the style of interior and I'm a stickler for fit and finish and you obviously have laveshed the same level of finish on your car as you have of your bike prep (as I found out from a mutual aquaintance who's brother's bike you built?!!!)

Personally, I think you need a bit of time behind the wheel and a dry track to get your front grip back. Been there, thought that.

Well done mate!!!

LuckyP

[GarethGTR]

Hey LuckyP

Top photos and brilliant commentary! Had us all in stitches, thank you!

Gareth

[GarethGTR]

deadscoob said:

Holy s**t, that was close!! What tyres are on it?

Glad it all went well, be interested to see what the smell turns out to be.

Hi

P Zero's

smell - defo fuel, over powering strong - I've made so many AN hose's and was pleasantly surprised that none leaked - must be something simple - I will trick the fuel pumps to stay on while I have it n the ramp and have a good look and poke about.....

Gareth

[LuckyP]

When did you get that fuel smell Gareth? When in the car or whe you lifted the clip?

I didn't notice anything when I was mooching around.

[GarethGTR]

LuckyP said:

When did you get that fuel smell Gareth? When in the car or whe you lifted the clip?

I didn't notice anything when I was mooching around.

In the car....

[LuckyP]

you 100% it wasn't just the exhaust box paint curing?

[Storer]

Are the fuel tank breather pipes connected and if so do they exit the sidepods or is the vapour entering the cabin via the luggage containers/sidepods.

I hope you enjoyed yourself. I see the boys have been well versed.

They are awesome in the dry. Remember to turn in while still on the brakes as it loads the front tyres to give them more grip. You have probably learned to be wary of the throttle.

Paul

[LuckyP]

Storer said:

...Remember to turn in while still on the brakes as it loads the front tyres to give them more grip. You have probably learned to be wary of the throttle....

As already offered...+1

[GarethGTR]

LuckyP said:

you 100% it wasn't just the exhaust box paint curing?

Hi

Hmmmn! Well there was smoke pouring off the painted silencer section (not painted by me) so maybe.....

Although I am pretty sure it was a petrol smell....

Gareth

[GarethGTR]

Storer said:

Are the fuel tank breather pipes connected and if so do they exit the sidepods or is the vapour entering the cabin via the luggage containers/sidepods.

I hope you enjoyed yourself. I see the boys have been well versed.

They are awesome in the dry. Remember to turn in while still on the brakes as it loads the front tyres to give them more grip. You have probably learned to be wary of the throttle.

Paul

Hi Paul


Each tank has its own roll-over vent pipe that is bought up to where the roll cage stays / braces enter the cabin .... I am thinking that maybe if the tanks were full ( which they were, for the first time ) the fuel return could have been causing an air block in the fuel tank and causing fuel to be pumped out of the breathers..... I did 'loose' a 1/4 of a tank in only a few laps of gentle driving.

Turn in was ok ( on the brakes ) but from apex to corner exit the front was pushing yards (on the gas) .... I must say that it was not just wet, it was slimey, and when it dried out it seemed much better.

I have not driven a mid engined car with an LSD before ( or a mid engined car, or a car with an LSD lol ) so perhaps it is just my brain that needs recalibrating.

Learned to be wary ? Holy Moly - you are spot on there! I have raced bikes at a reasonable level for years, raced FWD cars decades ago and think I'm pretty handy with respect to feel ( you gotta be super sensitive on a bike at a decent pace ) - but this just shocked me. I can honestly say that I did not even turn into the slide, the first I knew I was sliding is when I was going backwards, it was THAT fast - I have a whole new HUGE respect that I never had before and am super excited about exploring that in the dry ... Perhaps my purist theme in the car was misguided (no Traction control) - luckily I built in all of the sensors for TC in the loom ... it may be worth adding ....


The exhaust system is just 90db now with the removable baffles in (ready for IVA) but so many people came up to me and said how awesome the car sounded chuffed to bits


So, I'm down in Kent, does anyone know where I can go for a drive to check out my fix for the smell? of a friendly dyno shop that can also do initial GM ECU setup?


Gareth