BEC Donington
Author
Discussion

macgtech

Original Poster:

997 posts

182 months

Friday 20th April 2012
quotequote all
So, despite not having a functioning gearbox yesterday due to a broken clutch release fork mounting, one of our suppliers has come to the rescue and designed and made a repair kit which has now been fitted and we are on our way to Donington for round 2 of the British Endurance Championship. Be good to see some of the PH crew there, so please come down and see us if you are in the area!


UltimaCH

3,181 posts

212 months

Friday 20th April 2012
quotequote all
Good news and thanks to your "angels". Hope everything works out well. Keep us posted...

spatz

1,783 posts

209 months

Friday 20th April 2012
quotequote all
so according to some professional advice you did not install it correctly..........sorry could not resist. in my opinion this is a not a good desin and unique to porkers.....

Storer

5,024 posts

238 months

Friday 20th April 2012
quotequote all
Good luck at Donnington Jonny.

My car is nearly finished and hopefully I will be at Snetterton on the 12th May.



Paul

GTRCLIVE

4,193 posts

306 months

Friday 20th April 2012
quotequote all
Just throw it all in the bin and fit a ap Hyd release cylinder round the input shaft... Job done and no silly string or elastic bands to hold the release fork in place which installing that stupid shaft !!!!!

GTRCLIVE

4,193 posts

306 months

Friday 20th April 2012
quotequote all
Sorry forgot and a nice light PUSH stile clutch unit

Ult-Jim

624 posts

213 months

Friday 20th April 2012
quotequote all
I will be at Snetterton on the 12th May to support you. Looking forward to seeing you in action. Good luck At Donnington. Ult-jim

macgtech

Original Poster:

997 posts

182 months

Friday 20th April 2012
quotequote all
Cheers guys. All sorted, when to fire her up at the circuit and the starter motor has just launched itself. Good start, hopefully get a new one sorted ready for qual at 10:40. It never ends...

deadscoob

2,265 posts

283 months

Saturday 21st April 2012
quotequote all
Good luck to you guys smile

spatz

1,783 posts

209 months

Saturday 21st April 2012
quotequote all
good luck !

MarkWebb

983 posts

240 months

Saturday 21st April 2012
quotequote all
Clive
I have just read on the internet that to go hydraulic you needed a completely different clutch design with push instead of pull to release?
Any info great fully received as I am currently uprating my clutch.

Edited by MarkWebb on Saturday 21st April 08:11

GTRCLIVE

4,193 posts

306 months

Sunday 22nd April 2012
quotequote all
Speak to either Gardner Douglas or California Motor Sport they both do Multi Plate Push Stile Clutches systems to fit Porker / Chevy. I'm going Carbon but that's expensive on initial outlay, all be it should out last any other Clutch on the market, and seeing as I bought 2 Std turbo clutches in 10K with only 400bhp then I'm maybe biased to a Clutch that has more than one advantage over the std Heavy Turbo Porker unit.

MarkWebb

983 posts

240 months

Sunday 22nd April 2012
quotequote all
Not sure how much the CMS/tilton carbon kit costs Clive but it looks interesting. However I am mating it to an old SBC which will produce plenty of power and torque!
They say it is only for LS engines. Not sure if it will work using KEP abc adapter plate or whether I would need a special adapter?
Can you give me an idea of cost before i get too exited?

macgtech

Original Poster:

997 posts

182 months

Sunday 22nd April 2012
quotequote all
Thanks very much for all the support guys.

We fitted the new starter motor but it didn't seem to build up enough speed to crank the engine, which meant that the injectors were not firing. This gave us 20 minutes left of qualifying so we struggled to get the car started, but eventually did and I went out for a qualifying lap. On my out lap I had to take some evasive action to avoid a car on a flying lap, which forced me into a spin, and I was unable to restart the car, so back of the grid it was for us.



We prepared the car for the race, and fitted new slicks, the weather looked a bit indecisive, but it was still dry. Jamie headed out to start the race and set off down the pit lane on the warm-up lap. We waited on the grid, but he didn't show. It eventually emerges that he had gone through the old hairpin, accelerated up the hill and suffered a puncture as he had turned left through Starkeys Bridge, spinning the car and hitting the wall first with the back right corner then with the front right corner.



Needless to say that was the end of our race. Thankfully Jamie wasn't injured at all, however the car suffered damage to the upper and lower wishbones, damper, driveshaft, wing, both clams, windscreen, sidepod, lights, splitter and floor, not to mention all the suspension mounts were broken off the chassis and the chassis was bent too.



Needless to say that was the end of our race, and wasn't the best start to the season we could have had. Plenty of repair work to do now, we have our new sequential gearbox coming imminently which required a little bit of work to fit.Anyone know a good welder?!

I think we will struggle to make the Snetterton round, purely because of the number of composite parts that need to be repaired, however we will do our best. Our gelcoating is never overly effective, so on the plus side it will give us the opportunity to hone that technique.

Jonny


deadscoob

2,265 posts

283 months

Sunday 22nd April 2012
quotequote all
Sorry to hear that Jonny. My partner was there and mentioned you'd gone out, she said it went past and she saw it kind of wobbled, she thought the wheel had collapsed.

Really bad luck and a heck of a lot of damage, glad everyones ok, sorry for your wallet. Not what you need starting off. Can only get better though eh? smile

bluesatin

3,115 posts

295 months

Sunday 22nd April 2012
quotequote all
Sorry that you did not make the race. Good luck with the repairs.


Edited by bluesatin on Sunday 22 April 17:22

Storer

5,024 posts

238 months

Sunday 22nd April 2012
quotequote all
You do seem to have some cr*p luck Jonny. I think doing the lottery would be a waste of money for you.

I do hope you can get it fixed for Snetterton and I am sure you will try.


Paul

macgtech

Original Poster:

997 posts

182 months

Sunday 22nd April 2012
quotequote all
Storer said:
You do seem to have some cr*p luck Jonny. I think doing the lottery would be a waste of money for you.

I do hope you can get it fixed for Snetterton and I am sure you will try.


Paul
We will do our very best, it looks unlikely at this point in time as we only have 2 weekends to sort things out, but we shall see...

macgtech

Original Poster:

997 posts

182 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
We can confirm that the car was doing 70mph when it hit the wall, and the driver is absolutely fine, which is a testament to the safety of the car's design. At this point it seems the damage is as follows (so far!):

5 chassis tubes
Both RR wishbone assys
RR toe link
RR upright assy
RR Wheel
Right driveshaft
Front clam
Rear clam
Right manifold
RR damper
Sidepod
Windscreen
Floor
Front splitter
RR headlights + cover
Rear wing

It was unfortunate that the car hit the wall right between two concrete sections, and 'dug' into the gap, rather than sliding along the wall, which made the damage significantly worse than it might have been.

The design of the fuel system worked well to limit any damage or dangerous situations occurring which was a 'success'. We are removing the engine, gearbox and fuel system and have a specialist coming in for a week to complete the repairs to the chassis and bodywork, as well as modify the chassis to mount the new transmission. We can then reassemble the car and add all the 'bolt on' parts required.

There is still a chance we will get to Snetterton, which is the good news, so we will keep everyone on here posted. Pics to follow.


UltimaCH

3,181 posts

212 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
Oh dear, sorry to hear abaot the incident... Looks like you are going to be busy again befor the next meeting.