Mallala practice day

[michael_1]

good vids

[jpayne]

I knew I shouldnt have pushed Roger to get his car finished again. He managed to go some many seconds quicker than ever before, further pushing the lap time to match lower.
But he was on slicks which has to be good for 2-3 seconds a lap, even if he was on the limiter halfway down the back straight?
My day was a little slower however.
Firstly, nothing came undone, loose or vibrated off
I did rip the gearstick apart, as it was badly modified by a prevoius owner of the part.
The track felt slow in the morning, greasy and dusty, Car was squirming through the back straight kink at 160-170, understeer, oversteer, understeer again, getting sea sick here, however it cam good after lunch with a more consistant grip around the circuit.
3 cars made it out from our group including a GTI swift, Rger and myself, there was also two other escorts, an Improved production 1.6l MK1 and a 2L arched Mk1. Mk1 heaven really.
The first session was uneventfull, slow about 2-3 seconds off my previous best but steady.
The second run is where the fun began. Passing a HSV maloo ute on the dirty side of the track I found the car didn't pull up very well at all. Probably to the ammusement of the ute driver I speared off the end of the track in front of him. This somehow knocked the lead of number 2 plug, So I pulled into the pits sounding like a VW beetle. Dean my mechanic forgot where the bonnet stay was and tried to put the lead back on one handed above the roasting extractors. It was sort of funny to watch from the drivers seat but It wa also quicker to get out and help. By the time I got back in I was able to do one more lap all good.
Once back in the garage I checked the rest of the leads an all felt loose, so I pushed them all back on, checked oil and water etc and helped the now overheating Suzuki.
During the next session I pulled third gear going down the back straight and tore the gear stick off. This made stopping at the hairpin a bit of fun as I was a little distracted. Nedless to say I pitted and we re-screwed the bloody thing back on. The previous owner of the gearstick used grub screws to clamp it onto the stub??, the thread finally gave up on the strain and dropped two of three screws off during the next half of the session.
On my return We found the grub screws and attempted a propper fix. all felt nice ant tight.
At this stage Roger was discovering the balances on his slick shod wheels were being ripped off by the caliper and pitted with a massive vibration. Somehow he managed to find where they came from and stuck them back on suitably to fix the vibration.
Also the suzuki seems to have done a head gasket and was time to retire with a third radiator of fluids emptied somewhere. Been there done that!!!
The next session proved to be my most consistant, despite the problems in the cabin.
The second right hander on the second lap onto the back straight was ended with a large thud somwewhere on the left hand side of the car. As I i accelarated I went to grab third gear, to my ammazement the gearstick had departed conmpany completely this time, landing with the thud on the otherside of the car, despite my best Luke skywalker reach and "use the force luke" impressions the damn thing stayed gainst the inner sill as cars went left and right around the back of me expecting me to continue accelerating. I had to negotiate 2 more right hander until the next left hander where inertia flung the gearstick back my way. Then holding the gearstick in place and steering with one hand I put in 7 good quick laps.
So once back in the garage I got the drill out and put two bolts all the way through the gearstick. (which worked a treat)
The rest of the sessions were intermitantly interupted with number 2 plug lead falling off. It would appear the heat from the extractors has degraded the rubber sheath and metal lead end to a point where it doesn't fit properly, even after reshaping with pliers etc. Time to replace these.
So on my second last timed lap for the day I managed to at least match my previous quickest time. Typical? It would appear from thinking about it all that It just wasn't a good day, toomany other things on my mind, I "just wasn't on it". The best string of laps occurred when I had to concentrate hard to hold the gearstick in place.
I was worried about the new lightweight flywheel and new ARP bolts. The new squeeling Clutch thrust bearing, catching and passing the suzuki, work and Roger going so fast. Too many things other than pushing hard on the brake pedal and following the right line.
I reakon twice I backed off at the 150 Meter mark, waited until 125 Meters and lazily applied the brakes, only to find I had to apply them harder in the last stage of braking to slow down and speared off the track.

In Short I drove badly.

But the car kept going, with only minor problems. By next month I hope to have the new lowere control arms for more camber as I continue to rip the outside edge of the front tyres apart, and If cash permits new front struts with more travel as it still rides the bump stops.
And the one thing that puzzles me, Even with the lsd the engine hits redline while accelerating out of tight corners then once the steering is straight ahead-ish the revs drop (im guessing the lsd is slipping and still spinning the inside wheel, then once the inside rear gets traction it slows the engine) So Im guessing a rebuilt LSD too.

So Im no closer to my target time before I spend money on more power but I did have a lot of fun.
Thanks to Dean for his help and Roger for his ongoing advice and torment for again running out of fuel on the last lap

[michael_1]

good read

[Neville Bertwistle]

Justin,

Sounds like you're having fun which is the main thing. As for Roger, adjust up his handbrake a bit

Re your LSD, what type is it? Quaife, Ford, other ?

[jpayne]

[Mark Cogan]

Is anyone going there this weekend? (9th)

I should be there with my MK2 pending a quick test blast tomorrow evening to make sure all is well

[2lt_Scort]

[Roger Miller]

[Mark Cogan]

[michael_1]

[Roger Miller]

[Mark Cogan]

Had a great day, it took a while to get back to grips with my car, as well as learning a new circuit, I missed apexes on every corner at some point
Had a few small problems with the car, for some reason it baulks badly upshifting into 4th at high revs and was taking me 4 or more pulls on the lever each time,
I managed to select 2nd on 3 occassions by mistake fortunately it doesnt seem to have caused any problems
I have also decided my new rear brake pads are a crap compound after turning the discs blue and running out of brakes into the hairpin a few times, better try some different ones next time

But other than that the car ran great, it went well and had loads of speed and accelreation, didnt have a lot of grip though but that makes it good fun to drive

Big thanks to Roger for his assistance and advice all day, and for everyone else who was there it was good to meet you all,
gonna make some changes for next time and see what thats like

[2lt_Scort]

[2lt_Scort]

http://media.putfile.com/Ford-Escort--- ... -Sept-2006

Short vid of having a bit of fun.

Rhys