Prawn and BigAls A3 Track Car

Another now and then shot.

Top pic by Stacey October 2011, bottom pic by Welly October 2015 :)

 
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what happened to the car at ADI? i saw you stop in pit lane with wheel clunking or something
 
A rather enjoyable CV joint failure. I'm guessing the horrific Boise was quote audible from outside too then :laugh:

Full report and explaination on the previous page :)
 
oh sorry I did wonder if youd already posted it earlier :) it wasnt too bad but could tell it was from the front somewhere lol.
 
The car on the whole is far too soft now. This is something that has become apparent on the last few outings.

Whilst the roll isn't too bad during cornering, what's become really apparent is the dive under braking, allowing the splitter to bottom out frequently. Bill said that when he followed me the dive was really very obvious.

New Spring rates are being considered with advice sought from quite a few different people to work out exactly what I want :)
 
You have v3's on right prawn? They've revised them now apparently.. Not sure what they've done but some people I spoke to about them seem to think they're better to set up now
 
You saw it here first folks :laugh:



I'd like to request a heavy dose of peer pressure prior to our next track outing please :racer:
 
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Gops said:
You have v3's on right prawn? They've revised them now apparently.. Not sure what they've done but some people I spoke to about them seem to think they're better to set up now
Click to expand...

I do yes mate. Oldish V3's. They're been great this far, although I feel they could do with a rebuild and new springs this winter.
 
I can see you going into hibernation in that garage of yours from December to March with all the work you have planned.
If we get the weeks and weeks of snow forecast you can just work from home. Can you get Wi-Fi in the garage ?.
 
audi upgrades
After all the nice things I said about you :sob:

Next year - less weight. Better geo. better power delivery.
 
Oh, here's something i havnt posted yet, headcam footage from a Eddies son Jerome at Curborough from back in September:



Very cool view point. Terrible driving sadly as I was more worried about Jerrys head flying around all over the place!

Still fun :racer:

Looking forward to Curby next year now ive found the huge loss in power :)
 
Yea, it's an owl catcher!

Poor thing :( it swooped across the road at very low level, and unfortunately met me at just the wrong time.

Doesn't appear to be too much damage after taking it to the jetwash and blasting it off:



Stripped it down this evening, bent the one bent tab back into shape, and there doesn't appear to be any further damage thankfully.



I've already made the replacement panels for a new air dam, just not drilled the holes yet to mount them, that's this evenings job.

In other news, I have found my new favourite jetwash though! Eastleigh is pretty bare in terms of Jetwashes, and I don't currently have a hose long enough to reach beyond the garage to wash the car out the back.

I hate the jetwashes that have a set programme of times, it's much better when you can select which function you want, and for how long you want it, so this was an enjoyable discovery :)

it also happens to be at one end of a lovely little road I often go for a drive on, so perfect for blasting off the water after a wash :)



 
desertstorm said:
I can see you going into hibernation in that garage of yours from December to March with all the work you have planned.
If we get the weeks and weeks of snow forecast you can just work from home. Can you get Wi-Fi in the garage ?.
Click to expand...
naw naw naw , I am still waiting on my picture in the snow from last year lol:smiley simmons:
 
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Keep waiting, I live closer to the coast again now, I doubt we'll see any snow :laugh:

I have to say I'm really liking having some sort of garage already. Even though there's no door, and no power or proper lighting in there yet, it's already proving REALLY useful!

Last night I came home, after dark, and rigged up a light, so i could sort out the owl damage.



It's lovely having a large warm indoor space to work in, even if it's only make-shift at the moment



First job, and only a very brief one, was to replace the awful looking number plate holder and zip tie arrangement I've had for too long!

I bought some heavy duty velcro in Halfords, and used that on the existing plates. I'll also attach velcro to our PRAWN and BIGAL plates so they're easily swapped at a trackday



With that done, I moved onto the air dam.

I've always struggled in the past to get the holes marked up accurately to secure it, so this time, I tried a new method, using a screw pushed through the back of the mounting lug, which was just large enough to semi hold it's position within the rivnut:



I then offered the corresponding section of airdam into position, and pressed it hard against the lug:



Which left a perfect impression on the back of where to drill:



I offered all the parts up and loosely fixed them to test the fitment:



I was pleased with how they fitted, but the corrugated plastic I'm now using shows up signs of stress by going white, so it was never a viable finished appearance, and I also wanted to reinforce the mounting points with a penny washer to spread some load and not just pull through the thin plastic sheet

Next up in Prawns massively exciting movie star life-style, I glued some washers to some plastic, and added tabs to the back of the airdam to locate the ends behind the brake duct inlets:




And that's the completed set of parts for the airdam:



All that was left was to wrap them, as usual, in the finest quality Duck Tape:



And it's done, or at least, it'll do, for now!



Long term, I plan to make an air-dam from a thin aluminium sheet, and have it prepped and painted body colour, but that's a job for the distant future!

and thus concludes another thoroughly exciting update!



I've finally made inquiries about the door today, and got a self survey form to fill out, so I'll take that home and get the tape measure out this evening :)
 
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Gosh it's getting cold and dark you must be so glad with the garage progress.

So it was an owl? I thought it was a pheasant! Hahaha
No wonder I didn't get your twit twoo joke lol

At least it happened on a public road where you must have been driving at sensible speed due to limits
Cough cough
 
yea, it was a poor little owl :( made me quite sad.

Ordered the main garage door today :)

Very excited about that!
 
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Nice.
Electric roller door I hope !!!
You should be sad you ended it's life.
No going back from that!!! Lol
 
Guess an old barn door would suit a bumpkin like you :whistle2:
 
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Thanks Daz :laugh:

Is anyone else on here using the Auber Instruments EGT displays with a K-type thermocouple?

I seem to keep eating them somehow, my 3rd sensor has just died in 2 years, and it's getting a little tiresome!

Anyone else had this issue?
 
Too much heat , you can get cheap k type thermocouples off ebay that are probably the same quality ad the Auber item is it 1/8 NPT, most are.
 
I'm using McGill Motorsports K-types, which are supposedly rated from 0-1200 degrees. about £12 a time.
The cost isn't an issue at all, it's just annoying that they're failling, and I can't seem to find a higher quality alternative without going for a complete specific gauge/ sensor package type affair.

They never see over 900 in use EVER, with typical peaks in the mid 800's on a trackday, so hardly bonkers temps given what it's rated to!

I've also been looking at heater options for when I go down the weight saving route this winter.

This caught my eye as particularly suitable:

http://www.t7design.co.uk/index.php/heating/heaters/3-5kw-lightweight-heater-side-vents-12v.html

Mounted on top of the tunnel, with a single outlet on the top feeding the screen demist, and a closable side vent for when my feet get cold!
 
Just caught up again on this :).
Cars looking great as always!
Unlucky with the driveshaft at adi! I love the whole team effort though! It's how it should be
I bet you can't wait to get the garage door on!m now it's getting colder! Haha
You on a have some sort of Heater?
Used engine oil burner maybe?

As for the heater above. It's it just electric or does it use the coolant aswell? Look like it has coolant connections?
 
That's a water heater one mate, with a small matrix inside.

I had always said id never lose the heating system before, but the blowers blow nothing but hot air on a hot day, so there's no cooling benefit to having the system in there, all it'll be for is demisting the screen and taking the edge off the chill on those early starts.

I believe @jasongtr said the heater / blower assembly comes in at around 10kg, and the mini heater will be 1.5kg Max, so a pretty easy way to drop 8.5kg which is a fair chunk!

I'm also planning to remake my centre panel in a single sheet of ali that runs full height from the dash top down to the tunnel once the radio and stock heater controls are gone. The current lower panel housing the cut offs and fire ext pull is made of 3mm steel and weighs a ton!
 
If you dressed more appropiately for the occasion you would never need a heater ever.....

88375F14-70AB-4BD2-BB70-CB1BBB9B9AEE_zpskqtgzuir.jpg
 
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