Baffurst

My favourite youtuber doing my favourite track...
1:48 is the unofficial lap record set by Button, this is matey trying to beat that...

30 Mins Later...

This morning I decided to tackle the Herculean task of sorting the front of the MX5 - specifically the dicey fill points from the previous license plate location point.

Yesterday afternoon I spent a fruitless hour trolling around Bunnings (Big DIY store) looking for some sort of spacer.

I knew I could get that sort of thing off eBay, but given I'd already removed the plate and holder I wanted it sorted this weekend - yes I am impatient!

A reminder, it looked like this:

Well, having bought a couple of screws that turned out to be "I'll be entering the radiator if I use that" sort of length, I was left with only the objects in my garage...


So this

And a bit of this

Left me with this

Which I'm so very happy about really. It's a million miles away from where I started, and I can't wait to see it out on the street to compare it with what it used to look like.

Pro-tip (not from a pro) - keep everything that's been unbolted, if I decide to sell the car I can in fact put it exactly back to how I bought it, minus the leaks...

Rainy Day

A little known fact is that the Sunshine Coast in Queensland has more annual rainfall than the Cotswolds in the UK. Look it up... (I'll save you, 1,400mm vs 850mm. "Sunshine")
An even stranger fact is that this year I believe that happened in it's entirety in the second week of October (this fact may in fact not be a fact, as a matter of fact).

Anyway, it's beyond mildly damp out, and as I've discovered the MX5 has the handling characteristics of one of those super size shopping carts with the fixed front wheels, when it's wet.

That and I don't like sitting in a tent when it's raining so I'm not about to experiment with 100Kph in one either.

So what to do, I need to do something... and then it struck me, I'd put the heaters down in the garage this last week - queue tropical sauna in the garage music???

And so I bought this:

The reason? This picture doesn't do it justice to how yellowed they were:

Considering I've been working my way through a heap of minor fixes, getting the lights sorted was certainly on the list.

Here's a halfway pic - you can see the difference is night and day, pardon the pun...

And the finished look?

Overall, I'm very happy with the outcome.
And whilst I'm not about to do a product review, I'll do some pointers...

• For $36 it's a bargain - $48 if you go to Repco instead of Super-Cheap (same product)
• RainX was the one that had a UV stabaliser - this is something that a few have said is important. As the car lives in a dark(ish) garage most of the time I think we'll be alright.
• They're not perfect, but given a single factory replacement light is ten times the price, good enough till I have the funds to get after market (and swap out/back on choice).

Application was easy enough, about an hour all up, but have extra cloths ready, you'll need one to clean the lights in between applications and one to put on the final coat.

Also, what is "generous" - I do think to quantify against a universal known would be better. Something like "three pea sized blobs" or similar would work. 

Overall, am I happy? I'm $36 and an hour happy. But if I were buying some lights second hand I'd probably not buy these. A major buff though, and they might come good. Certainly there's enough gubins to do at least another two sets till I get through it all (If I'm "generous").

Edit: The eagle eyed will notice the sort of snake bite mark above the number plate. This is where the standard plate went, this car I think had a car bra (haha, never!) as the plate is held on from underneath and there's velcro stick on pads in the bonnet. This is the next job...

Lesson time

There are many videos of Nurburgring, and probably many that have voice overs of "aarrrrrrgghhhh sheeeeet" and similar.

But this one is an unpretentious car (an Up) and generally a good lap, and by good lap I mean faster by a minute than Clarkson in a Jaaaag...

Edit: So, I saw a 9:06 on that stopwatch. I had a go in Assetto with the NA MX5 (a car close to my heart), it has to be around similar weight and power. And I wasn't even close.

In fact, it takes a pretty fancy car, and a fancy bit of driving to get somwhere in the ballpark for that time... Wow

Good Times

Cleaning out old folders on the PC the other day and I came across my GT5 back catalogue of pictures.

We've moved on for sure - last night I raced the X-Bow at Zandvoort and it has to be one of the best races I've ever had, the handling, the track, the multiple attempts following spinning out...

But in some ways it's not GT5, and certainly (thankfully) not GT Sport.

Back then you could buy a banger and probably get it somewhere near race ready. I give you:

Just popping to the shops

Temperamental but best FWD 

Artistic if not fastest

Loved the modifications for this car

Original brat pack..

George, Baloo and me

Subtle modding

Even rally was fun (mostly)

What did I do?

As you know I have a project car, I even posted about it below. Anyway, looking through my collection of stuff I realised I have a heap of 'progress' pics. So I thought I'd share the journey, I've enjoyed it!

Where did project car begin? Here, it's where you saw it a few weeks ago:

And it was as standard as it could be, inside and out...

Seats are a bit worn, but they'll do for now.
Pro Tip: Those two cup holder flaps are easy to fix. Fix them before they break. It's a simple case of pulling off the centre console and putting in a tiny screw and a washer so the spring doesn't fall off.
One was broken on this car, the other on it's way out.

Engine bay is fine. Bonus was the factory strut brace - I wasn't expecting that, but in the end it saved me a few dollars. Mind you, it was lost in the engine bay, not very 'Because: Racecar" really...

And, because I'm not the idiot I used to be (search on Project Beemer) I actually made sure I had some upgrade funds. I reckon a fair proportion of the enjoyment of buying this car was searching for the bits I wanted.

This gave me an early Christmas...

I also ordered a new stereo (no usb on the one that's factory) and double din cage.

I will say the fitting of just about everything was super easy, partly as I only bought bolt on stuff, but also I think it's a very simple car to work on.

Soon had the interior done:

I wasn't sure of handbrake fitting, but it's been secure.

Double sided tape works it seems!

Ended up really appreciating the centre console cubby, shades go in there, followed by phone, and there's a lip so it doesn't slide out.

A comment on the stereo - the speakers in the car are fine for sure. What's more with the loom converters it's a relatively simple fit. And as a bonus the whole thing dims with lights on at dusk. I do recommend this Pioneer too, or at least one you can change the fascia colours on - matching orange/red looks awesome at night.

So that sorted the car, but it's not "Because: Racecar" in any way other than being great fun. Enter a peruse of eBay. On there you can pick up some bargains, and a K&N Pod filter was one of them. Less than half the price of one from the site, if you're careful you can get one that's a further 20% off the ebay price. Which I did...

Worth the discounted price I paid.

An easy half hour to fit. And, cheeky, an oil breather filter - note that this isn't replacing EGR stuff, that's still there, this is a crank breather that used to feed to/from the air filter. 

I also took off the strut brace, and sprayed it ceramic red.

Turns out I really don't like spraying, or rather the time it takes to spray. An agonising few hours...

The results were worth it though...

Probably not to everyone's taste, but not overdone I think, and I like it, it's enough "Because: Racecar" without setting me up for re-tunes and the likes. And frankly as my current tally of speeding fines tell me, cars are fast enough mmmkay.

Note to others, the stainless radiator shield is good, and is in fact a good price, but if you're being pedantic it doesn't cover the final bulkhead/radiator gap, just the bulkhead gaps. I'm pretty much fine with this, but I do keep an eye out for a discount on a full cover that's stainless or indeed carbon.

And the external bits?

I like it. And that's what matters!

The fuel cap I'd do again for sure, it really should have been stainless from the factory (was it an option?). The clear lights? Sure they make it look good, but the pricing was a bit brutal.

Next on the list?

Radiator - Funny story. Took the car in for a service and they found several leaks in various seals and gaskets. Those, the brake grinding and an oil change took me to $1k and wiped me out. On the way through the mechanics recommended a radiator upgrade. I'll do that with the help of ebay for a full aluminium one. Next project once funds are free...

Headlights - I can polish them, but I think I'll go with some after market ones and start afresh. I can then polish/sell the factory ones to cover costs - possibly all of the costs as they're expensive compared to non OEM.

Race headers & Exhaust back box - I like the sound basically. CX Racing does them but you're losing various sensors on the way through apparently. Research time, and expensive, so we'll see how we do.

Brakes - Had mine faced off so they're good for now, but I like the idea of a lot more feel. There are various suppliers of kits - I like the Wilwood set, they bolt right on there. Maybe need some new wheels and tyres at that point too.

Roll bar - As they say, don't have it unless you plan to use it. But I do like the idea of a track day, hillclimb or motorkhana or two with this car. But I don't like the idea of being folded up inside it...

For now though, and probably for  year or more, it'll be my weekend sports car, dressed up as it is. It's perfectly fine like that!

Senna

GT Sport has a use!

Controversial I know - but I just don't like GT Sport.

I'll even say it's a good game, but it's a good game when you use racing rubber (not sport), it's a good game when you choose a particular track/car combination, it's a good game when you're online and it's a good game when you've played it non-stop for months - unlocking a $20mil car (or stump up real cash for it).

And for me, PCars2 is a good game with all the tracks and cars and tyres. It's a better racing game and I never thought I'd say that.

So why do I fire up GT Sport a fair bit? To do art and to look at other people's art - a shout out to Ace here, he's prolific!

And so without further ado, here's a virtual gallery of stuff from me and from Ace...

This is a local town from where I grew up!

Homage to the greatest car I've driven

Ace's most excellent Moffat rendition

Lovely retro

There are more, many more, and in some ways that's a bad thing - there's so much content locked up in that game, and it's all social stuff. Shudder.

New Toy!

I'm a great believer in putting my money where my mouth is, which is odd as on that score I should never talk much as I don't have any money.

But mid-life crisis is a thing it seems, and I've hit mine - or rather it hit me and in fairness and I've had to stump up to get it off my ageing back.

What did I do - the stuff I can talk about on here would include buying a replacement for Project Beemer, or as it should be rightfully called Project Rolling Artistic Scrap.

And the list of requirements was many and varied:

• Have a roadworthy
• Not need a clutch, gearbox, diff, suspension, sub-frame bushing, every gasket, tappet replacement...
• Manual gearbox (that doesn't need new shift bushings) 
• Rear wheel drive
• And because mid-life crisis, no roof

Not that I'm bitter or anything of course - but a car I could enjoy was primo.

And what did I get? Behold:

Best. Purchase. Ever.

And there we have it, a car that I thoroughly enjoy, has only netted me 4 points in it's first three weeks of ownership and generally is something I'm looking forward to owning for years to come!

Book review - Allan Moffat Climbing the Mountain

I grew up on a diet of late 70's and 80's Australian touring cars where names like Peter Brock, Dick Johnson & Allan Moffat did battle in more road going style of cars all-but with a truckload more power.  None of this modern parity racing in V8 Supercars, just drive it like you stole it from the dealer(or were given the car from the dealer in many cases) with different cars obviously suited to different tracks and many classes run in the same race.  Not to say cars weren't prepared professionally, they certainly were with custom engine builds and cars given thorough going over.  In Moffat's book he talks about having a 'magic surface plate' allowing millimetre-fine accuracy and helping to build stronger straighter cars than anyone else, leagues ahead of the times in 1979.

My first and only time I've seen Moffat on track in real life was watching a practice session at Bathurst in 1988 as a 10 year old.  My family took a vacation to Port Macquarie and Canberra.  My dad who's always been a Motorsport enthusiast racing go karts and competing in Sprints and Hill Climbs himself organised a brief stopover in Bathurst on the way through to watch a practice session in the lead-up to the Bathurst 1000. 2 things stick out in my mind, 1 being Brock getting it all crossed up at the final corner, gathering it up and standing on the loud pedal taking off down the start finish straight.  The other was Allan Moffat in a Eggenberger Motorsport built ANZ RS500 Sierra leaving the pits and laying down 2 liquorice strips.  Eggenberger being the leadding Sierra development house in Europe at the time.  Sadly Ruedi Eggenberger passed away a couple of days ago aged 79.

The autobiography is written by Allan Moffat and John Smailes who might be better known for his distinctive voice commentating for the Australian Rally Championship.

As a motoring enthusiast I found the book a light enjoyable read.  I was a bit disappointed with what I felt was a cheap shot at Bowden's who now look after his iconic Coke Cola Trans Am mustang.  Something to do with the car being 'fettered with' and not being the same as when he drove it back in the day.  I also thought Dick Johnson was omitted with only a couple of passing comments with the focus largely on Moffat vs Brock battles who Moffat has obvious great respect for.

Moffat also addresses 'that crash' at 200kph at Skyline in practice for the 1986 Bathurst 1000 when he joined Brock's team.

I knew Moffat was Canadian but I wasn't aware of how extensive his racing overseas was.  His focus was always Australia but had many races in the USA, Europe and Macau.

All in all I'd say it's a good read that adds another perspective to motorsport in the 70's, 80's and 90's from both a driver and team owner perspective.  Moffat doesn't mince his words and calls is as he sees things, admitting that possibly he could have gotten further my taking a more amicable approach, on the other hand maybe that's just part of what helps top performing drivers.