Sunday 24 February 2008

Coping with the Caper



Well, as some of you may have heard, the Midget's first attempt at motorsport happened on the 22nd February (last Friday night!)
It all started swimmingly, with no problems whatsoever. By the end of the night, we'd damaged the front wing and nearly lost one of the back wheels due to wheelnuts slackening off! That was rather worrying, to say the least!


The lip of the front wheelarch has been bent due to the suspension compressing too much, and the wheel hitting the wing, causing it to lose paint and bend the metal... Nothing a bit of money won't sort - sadly, that's in short supply at the moment! I shouldn't have bought that Mota-Lita! However, the damage could have been a LOT worse...
Oh well, looks like I'll be putting the Rostyles back on until I've made the suspension a bit firmer... The tyres are just a bit too wide to fit under the arches at full compression!

With MOT time looming, the parts still haven't arrived from Moss, so it's beginning to get a bit desperate!

Wednesday 13 February 2008

Lots more done since the last blog.
After a lot of 'Holts Gun Gum', the exhaust manifold blow is sorted, and the carbs are tuned properly. The proper sound of the Midget has now returned, and the exhaust note is truly fantastic!

However, Sod's Law says that whenever you fix something, another problem arises to balance out. True to form, the radiator developed a small leak... Afer 2 eggs, and a bottle of RadWeld, the leak has minimised, however it is still there! It's a new rad I'm afraid. While I'm there I may aswell replace all the hoses as some have begun to bulge and perish. That'll be another £100, then.

Talking of money, just ordered a load of stuff for the car this evening. Among other junk, I've ordered some sump seals, hardtop brackets, a handbrake cable (tried to tighten that up again at the weekend but it's at max tightness and still it isn't enough!), and a new back brake adjusting screw as the one that's in at the moment is knackered. With the MOT looming in the next few weeks, this isn't good!


Also found a cheap Mota-Lita steering wheel on eBay, bought that and fitted it - I think it looks OK but what do you think? It gives me that extra bit of arm-room as it isn't dished like my old Astrali one, and the boss is slightly smaller.

Mmmm... Wood-rimmed wheel...

The car is entered for its first 'proper' 12 Car rally next week. The bracket for the Retrotrip has been given to me, so that needs fitting. Bought some clip-on maplights to mount to the hood frame so I can actually see what I'm doing next week!