Wednesday, June 28, 2006


Gurston setup Posted by Picasa

Blimey over half the season and no blogging!

Ooops Sorry to those you visit I have been quite remiss in my lack of blogging about the season so far.

So here is an update I will try and keep it concise!
Rushmoor Arena..............A great event held just the other side of Farnborough Airport. It was a good shake down for the cars and drivers a like. Not particular successful for me or Katy but first time at this event so you know....

So with the drive home to Wales firmly in mind and how the B is becoming not a pleasant drive on the motorway at legal speeds I decided to buy a trailer. Sounds straight forward but I have a Golf TDI as the tow car so towing limit is 1500kgs all in. So it had to light and yet strong enough to take the B or Midget. I eventually found on within budget at a trailer shop near to home www.trailertrek.com which was great but the delivery was touch and go fro Wales trip.

Llys-y-Fran.
Deepest Darkest Wales.
Bloody amazing and well worth the long hard slog up to junction 213214234234255667677 of the M4. Stayed in a lovely B&B just the other side of the hill and really relaxed. Had a good time on the hill, quicker than last year by 3/4 of a second so not a bad improvement.
A long drive in the B but fortunately the last time I will have to drive her all the way there, the trailer arrived two days after we got home.......


Lydden.
First event towing to so was a little nervous as we ventured off to Dover with the B loaded and balanced nicely on board. Firstly I was amazed at how well the Golf coped with towing the ride was quite relaxed and effortless. Needless to say we hit stationary traffic on the M25 and this is when I was so glad for the trailer as the B would have melted in the heat. Kate snuck off the motorway to find an alternate route to Dover but I stayed on in the rolling stop start of the motorway. It took me 1 hour and 45 minutes to do 12 miles. Eventually I got free of the traffic and we were off again and I actually made some good time and arrived at the track before Kate in the midget. Left the cars and trailer at the track and went to find our hotel in Dover. Back the next morning and set up the paddock with ours and Richard Wither's EZup (pop up gazebo) and made some welcome shade for all of the MGCC competitors.
It was after my second run that I noticed the back of the car gaining in height and realised that I must have damaged the springs either here or in Wales. Anyway it gradually got worse and I retired after two timed runs and made for home as we had Gurston Down the next day.

Gurston Down.
I really love this hill and the location. Over the years we have managed to increase our presence here every year and this year we got 18 entries. This was by far the biggest single mark at the event. It looked really good.
The cars springs made the hill "interesting" but Kate had a much better day and set a new hill record for here car! Well done babe!

Pre-Silverstone.
I spent most of my time under the B changing the parabolic leaf springs. Deep Joy when that was done!

Onwards to Silverstone.
Always a mix of emotion with Silverstone as it is the premier event of the year for the MG Car Club but we in the sprint are not given any real support by the club. A lot of competitors this year didn’t do the event. I think that this years Silverstone Sprint was one of if not the best Silverstone we have had, in spite of the difficulties we had on the day of the sprint.

There was no timing gear.

I know a sprint without timing gear a joke! Well actually it went really really well. The time keeping was better than at Lydden earlier in the year. It was simple there was a radio link between start and finish and two stop watches.
I would like to thank all of those involved as with out them there would have been no sprint.

I did bugger up the car loading it on to the trailer as I forgot that with the new springs it sits lower and the door got stuck on the trailer mud guard and bent the door forward into the wing so now I have a lovely crease 10 inches long and 2 inches in. So time for a strategically placed sponsorship sticker!
Wow long old rant anyone still reading? Enjoy the photos.

Monday, April 03, 2006


Finish and now rained on! Posted by Picasa

Work on going Posted by Picasa

Fresh from the paintshop. Posted by Picasa

Bring on Rushmoor. Posted by Picasa

Great two shiny MG's on the drive. Posted by Picasa

Nearly there..... Posted by Picasa

How deep is that shine! Fantastic! Posted by Picasa

midget work.

So went and collected the Midget on friday evening from Ross down in the New Forest. Not too much rain on the way back fortunatley, no roof on the wee beastie!
We started work on putting it back together on saturday morning and were complete by about 7ish that evening. Kate concentrated on the fiddley bits inside the doors, Ian rewired the headlights and indicators and I look after the rear of the car. Then on to the front brakes and exhaust. A good job and THANKS again Ian.
Photo's to come.....
Onwards to Rushmoor.

Saturday, March 25, 2006


Engine in bits and DTI in action! Posted by Picasa

Update

So a busy week off work started with finishing to strip down the Midget ready for its respray at Ross's paint shop. www.ross-packard.co.uk
With that done I attempted my first tow and with someone else's trailer and my wife's car on it!! Thanks Tim for the loan, really must get my own one now. An uneventful trip to the New Forest was had thankfully and then home to start on the B.
Wheeled the B out of the hanger where she has been parked up since the last weekend in October last year, and did the usual oil checks and turned her over with the coil disconnected just to get some fluid moving then re-attached the coil and fired straight away with just as much bangin and popin as when parked up (must work on that self fixing attachment).
Drove her down to the garage and started stripping the head off to get to the problem (the Cam timing)
So after much faffing about and telephone calls to Ian McDougall-Bell,http://macsport.blogspot.com/, I finally managed to get my head around how to work out where the cam should be. Set at 107 degrees ATDC on the number 1 inlet valve. See sounds easy now!! But thanks to all for there assistance with the daftness that was flowing at an alarming rate.
Finally got it all finished last night at around 6pm and this morning took her for a blast arund the farm and had a HUGE grin on my face whe I came home eventually!! Just need to get an MOT now. Well and a trailer........

Monday, January 16, 2006


Parked up and awaiting the new season! Posted by Picasa

New Year Blog.

So first post of the new year.
Started working on the Midget and have managed to fit a new electic fuel pump instead of the crappy mechanical one that kept getting air locks! Put it on a swich on the dashboard with a nice red led on the end of the switch. Very handy in the dark. Also fitted a replacement passenger seat so they are both Cobra roadster seats. Comfortable, low and now with harnesses.

So whats left to be done...the brakes and rear suspension. As Kate is going back to standard class this year I will have to remove the drilled discs and fit standard smotth ones. So also going to redo the rear shoes and drums because these were oval when I changed the diff at Silverstone.

Then its on to the B. Remove the head redo the timing, reseat the valves and put it all back together again.
Also must register for the championship....http://www.mgcars.org.uk/mgccsc/2006/entry06.pdf

Monday, August 22, 2005


Oh for a supercharger!! Posted by Picasa

Mike Cole working on his B Posted by Picasa

Richard planning his lines. Posted by Picasa

CastleHill paddock Posted by Picasa

Fixing the Diff at Silverstone Posted by Picasa

Long time no blogging

Blimey I cant believe that I haven't posted anything since June and its now August.
So what's been happening well Broken engine/Silverstone/fixing the B/Castlehill.

Broken Engine.
So I had a slight problem with the B. I broke the timing chain. Fortunately it happened when I was starting the car rather than at 6000rpms. The immediate damage appeared to be the chain and the lovely aluminum timing cover. At this point I then had to travel to Turin on business for two weeks leaving the car in a non working state was not pleasant. Off I went to Turin which was hot. I did manage to find a couple of bits that had been used in the Italian Job which was fun.
Also on that fateful weekend Tom Withers was over in his midget and we went for a spin in it and then Tom decided he was going to demonstrate some of the driving skills needed for Autotest. And promptly broke the diff! The midget was duly raised up on axle stands and left on the drive. Body count was 2 dead mg's 1 alive and I was going no where near kate's midget!!

Silverstone.
When I came back from Turin(no work comments on this blog) Silverstone was the following weekend and the car was still in bits. Tom had managed to clear his midget off the drive by changing the diff for a recon one from Summit. Richard Withers, Tom's father had very kindly agreed to let me double drive his car at Silverstone and I was set to drive Kates midget in the autotest on the Saturday. Tom drove over to our house on the Friday morning to pack up the cars and load anything extra into the Golf which I was driving up. Off we went. Nice drive and found a good camping pitch in the competitors camping area. We managed to create quite an enclave with Iain McDougall-Bell as well and also Ian Tapner . Weather at this point was good.
Friday we spent wandering around the stands and drinking a few beers, watching a bit of racing. Very nice time. It was after the BBQ that Tom and I decided to take Kates midget out to "practice" for the Autotest in the morning. We drove over to the nice empty carpark at the gates of Silverstone and I decided what I need to try was a doughnut in the midget as the B does them very nicely. 1 doughnut later and I had blown the diff. Got on the radio and asked Kate to come and rescue us in the golf. The response on the radio was controlled!!
Saturday morning I spent with Ian under the midget changing the diff for a 4.2 that we found on one of the stands(£35). Got the car ready for the sprint and calmed Kate down enough for her to compete the following day.
Sunday was WET WET WET. Actually it was really wet, so wet it felt like you were being hosed down from a firehose. The sprint was really a waste of time as it was almost too wet to drive in. But needless to say Richard and I both did one timed run in his B and called it quits. We went back to the campsite and packed everything up and got wetter. Then headed home.

Fixing the B.
I managed to get all the parts needed to fix the B and Tom came over and we dialed in the cam shaft without taking the head off the engine.Which with hindsight probably wasn't the right thing to do. As the car isn'tt quite perfect. It is still quick but not A1. We did it correctly and took our time over it and didn't rush and checked and rechecked everything before we moved onto the next step. A good day and lovely to have the car drivable again.

Castlehill.

Long drive down to Cornwall for this hill climb but a hill worth traveling to. Kate and I had decided to compete on both days of the weekend and this was great fun.
Saturday was a bit wet but good practice. And then a few beers in the evening with friends, which is always good.
Sunday and it was close between Richard, Mike and myself however Mike beat Richard by 5/100thss of a second. Well done Mike and never mind Richard.Ii was off the time buy about a second and a bit. (cam not quite perfect, should have taken the head off)
Nice drive home on the Monday which only took about three hours compared to the five and a half it took to get down there.

Next?
Next is Wiscomb hill climb which I am not competing in as I think the B is also losing compression so I am not going to push it and I will save the engine for Castle Coomb at the end of the season instead. But I will be spannering for Kate as she attempts the hill for her first time.
Photos to follow and thanks for getting this far!

Sunday, June 26, 2005

Lydden...Gurston.... Festival of Speed.

Blimey been really busy so sorry for the lack of up date.
So last weekend was Lydden Sprint and Gurston Down hill climb. Both scorchingly hot days strangley the aircon in the B doesnt seem to work must be because it isnt fitted!
Anyway what happened was a brilliant couple of days eventing with good friends. Did my fastest time ever at both venues as did Kate in the midget, which is going like the clappers!

Lydden I really figured it was in the bag but Mike Cole beat me by 4 tenths of a second in the final run, Drat but well done Mike. A really great days competition and I still got an award for fourth in class.
Gurston was another scorcher. And another fab day. Went really well but couldnt catch Richard Withers on the last run he edged past me by 2 tenths of a second, which was what he was beating me by after the 64ft time. I really must practice my starts. Because on the first timed run we did an identical time.

So this brings me to this weekend and yesterday. Got a phone call from a mate asking if Kate and I would like to go the Festival of speed at Goodwood house. Do bears sh%t in the woods? Of course we would love to go.
So off we went yesterday and there were some amazing cars which I will publish some photos of. And another great day of motorsport.
Next weekend... we are sprinting at Goodwood race circuit. It'd free entry so why not come down and watch I am car number 55.

Ian's car cooling down after a quick run. Posted by Hello

Hot day at Gurston Down Posted by Hello

Sir Stirling Moss in his winning Mercedes...at speed! Posted by Hello

1964 Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato. Posted by Hello

Friday, June 17, 2005

Preparation...........the weekend awaits.

So i have done quite a few modifications to both the B and midget over the past couple of weeks. hopefully these will prove effective on the track this weekend as we have lydden in dover on saturday and Gurston down in Salisbury on sunday.

B changes.
So I had a bit of a disaster last week with the B when i found at the rolling road that she was only running on three cyclinders. Had a panic drive home fearing the worst and dreading what i might find when i stripped the head off. Thankfully i found that it was only the exhaust valve not seating correctly on number 2 cyclinder so a quick trip up to SummitMG on saturday morning to relap the valve in. (Thanks Ian and Gary). Then whizz home to rebuild the engine. Had her up and running by the afternoon. Now it really flys!

Midget mods.

Decided to try the HIF44 carbs that were on the B prior to the weber installation. Teehee!! totally daft now goes like stink and Kate has got hold of a new exhaust which will be fitted before the weekend to allow it to breathe smoother.
Again fingers crossed for a dry warm successful weekend.
I will let you know what happens.

Monday, May 30, 2005


This is the release bearing looking like a lunar landscape. Posted by Hello

All parts of the clutch badly abused. Posted by Hello

Clutch USED! I think Tim got his moneys worth out of this. Posted by Hello

Split, clutch cover looks a bit worn. Posted by Hello

Engine and gearbox out now to split them and see what the problem is. Posted by Hello

Attacking Tim's car with the Manitou. Posted by Hello

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Off my rocker!

Ok so having now had the car finished and put back together I felt i should take it up to show my sponsors www.summitmg.co.uk what has been done to the car. So I got up early this morning and washed and polished the car to a beautiful shine. Also managed to wash the midget before Kate left in it for work. Told you it was early!
Anyway so I figured let the traffic die down and have a fun drive upto maidenhead after the rush, so with that in mind I left around ten and headed up the M3 not at too silly a speed just going with the flow!! I got to Basingstoke and realised that I didnt have enough fuel to get me to the services so decided to get some in B'stoke. Pulled off the motorway and stopped at the roundabout and there was the most alarming noise coming from the engine bay and the car was only running on three cylinders. Oh I was soo happy! Pulled up in a side road and with some hesitation took the bonnet off. What damage awaited me? Well to start with it looked like nothing too major, all the bits that attach to the engine were fine ..... uhoh this means its internal oh God what have I done.
I then removed the rocker cover to check the valves were all in place(Jim this is the shiny bit on top of the engine!) So they looked OK but on closer inspection the end exhaust valve rocker was broken. Bugger! This explained why the car was only running on three.
Quick call on the mobile to Kate at her office and I was heading home in her car to get a spare rocker shaft that I had in the garage. (Ok so for those of you who dont know what a rocker shaft is its the bit that opens and closes the valves of the engine to allow it to run correctly it is controlled by another bit in the engine...)
Got home, got rocker, back to car and remove broken shaft and refit new one all at the side of the road..what fun I was having! Then back home to set the clearances correctly. car now working correctly!
Never did get upto madenhead maybe tomorrow............