I made it there.....and back!!
Discussion
Hi there, newbie alert emerging from the shadows!
It was August last year that I bought my very first wedge, a 400SE at that! And before i knew it, I'd dived into an unexpected full restoration...
Having completed the restoration at the end of March, insured, taxed and MOTed, I begun my test drive...to Cornwall! All things considered, I think it did pretty well, with very little testing, I made it there and while on holiday, had to be recovered home due to a water pump bearing failing, which was one of the only items not replaced; silly me
. New water pump ordered and fitted, back in business.
It was then onto the last few bits and pieces and tinkering before the main trip, 500 miles to the Nurburgring! How brave of me...
With bets placed on me not making it, we set off on our holiday in the early hours of Thursday morning (sorry neighbours!).
After a long drive and many fuel stops (not trusting the gauge and no working speedo to guess mileage) we finally made it to Lindner Ferienpark just outside of town. What a place the park is, would definitely recommend it! And did I win my bets? Of course! A free meal and a tank of fuel for the way home were mine!
We stayed out near the 'Ring for 5 nights, decided to limit myself to two laps of the circuit to be safe. Only issues I discovered were cooking brakes! Changed the fluid to DOT 5.1 and seemed to cure it. Next time I'll have to rig up some cooling ducts...
Brilliant weather throughout our stay typically turned to torrential rain for our journey home; not fun in a TVR where I discovered very little grip and leaky window seals lead to a fairly unpleasant experience, however we made it back unscathed with a lower fuel bill from slower cruising speed!
Overall, a brilliant trip in a very different car, I think I've definitely been thrown into wedging at the deep end! Now I really must sort out the handling before the next trip...
It was August last year that I bought my very first wedge, a 400SE at that! And before i knew it, I'd dived into an unexpected full restoration...
Having completed the restoration at the end of March, insured, taxed and MOTed, I begun my test drive...to Cornwall! All things considered, I think it did pretty well, with very little testing, I made it there and while on holiday, had to be recovered home due to a water pump bearing failing, which was one of the only items not replaced; silly me
. New water pump ordered and fitted, back in business.It was then onto the last few bits and pieces and tinkering before the main trip, 500 miles to the Nurburgring! How brave of me...
With bets placed on me not making it, we set off on our holiday in the early hours of Thursday morning (sorry neighbours!).
After a long drive and many fuel stops (not trusting the gauge and no working speedo to guess mileage) we finally made it to Lindner Ferienpark just outside of town. What a place the park is, would definitely recommend it! And did I win my bets? Of course! A free meal and a tank of fuel for the way home were mine!
We stayed out near the 'Ring for 5 nights, decided to limit myself to two laps of the circuit to be safe. Only issues I discovered were cooking brakes! Changed the fluid to DOT 5.1 and seemed to cure it. Next time I'll have to rig up some cooling ducts...
Brilliant weather throughout our stay typically turned to torrential rain for our journey home; not fun in a TVR where I discovered very little grip and leaky window seals lead to a fairly unpleasant experience, however we made it back unscathed with a lower fuel bill from slower cruising speed!
Overall, a brilliant trip in a very different car, I think I've definitely been thrown into wedging at the deep end! Now I really must sort out the handling before the next trip...
Ian. Give me a call and I can run through what you need to do to make 400SE brakes work properly without changing them. The challenge is that once you have sorted the fronts you will set fire to the rear pads because they are inboard with next to no Cooling. It took me 2 years of trial and error to get mine perfect for track days. Based on how quick you drive I can save you the learning curve. Cheers jes
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