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Steve200TDi's New Racer!!


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Well it's all fixed now, with new bolts and some thick washers!

I hope not to do it again!

I'm all ready for kick down cable testing at slindon tomorrow, could be tricky with a 15mph speed limit though..... :glare:

And also got a new GoPro mount at the back between the seats, so I'll see what I can get!

Steve

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Snagger - I'm running standard 3.54 diffs and half shafts! I thought I would start with those and if I find I'm breaking them, then I'll sort out an upgrade!

Bowie - YES! After completing a whole day of racing, it was great fun! Every lap you familiarise yourself with the course and you can work out areas to speed up and areas to don't want to speed up in. There were some turns and sections that we found we didn't need to lift or that others weren't lifting and using a different line. There were areas where you didn't want to speed up because of large ruts or it was too tight. Over the course of the day my lap times did go down and the last two laps where almost identical time wise.

So basically it was great fun and can't wait for the next round in September!

Steve

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  • 1 month later...

Round 6 happened at the weekend over Ashford way again at Plurenden Farm with the Southern Counties Off Road club.

The weather was dry and the orange G4 Range Rover Sport was to hand as the tow vehicle and what a fine job it does too!

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The start line was in very bumpy ploughed field and they had even added some horse manure for full effect!

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The course was good with lots of open sections and the wooded sections weren't too tight either!

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On lap 10 I felt the steering get a little heavy. This hadn't happened on the last outing, so I was surprised that the fluid was getting hot! So I said we would stop after this lap and check the vehicle over!

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That'll be a pucture or more precisely the valve was pulled out as it was no where to be seen!

A quick tyre change saw us continue, we just had two more laps to do, it was achievable!

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I thought there was a lot of clanging and banging coming from the rear. I stopped mid lap and we limped home for the rest.

Looks like it could have been loose for a while as the two washers and bush underneath the spring seating holding the shock in where no where to be seen!

Anyway, we managed to complete 10 out of the 12 laps which was enough to qualify for points so we came 7th in class collecting 180 points!

I'll be assessing what needs to be done this week so we can hopefully enter the last round in Dover at the end of October!

Steve

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  • 3 weeks later...

Repairs are completed!

I had a spare shock that I fitted and I welded up the lower spring seat and also added a spring retainer too!

The steering box has been tightened up as it had a lot of play in it. I've also been round and made sure every nut and bot is tight and checked for rattles. The rear radiator was rattling as the top rubber mounts had split, so have replaced those and is nice and rattle free!

I noticed the kick down cable sticking out a bit further than usual at the throttle end, so I may have adjusted it a bit too much and have pulled it out too far?! I have ordered a new cable and will fit this after the last round and adjust it over the winter.

Also need to swap out the flat tyre as unfortunately it did suffer a small pin hole puncture to the side wall and an struggling to get it repaired. What are peoples thoughts on this, is safe to repair it or am I just better using one of my spares or a new tyre.

Steve

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks Dave, thought that might be the case! Need to sort another tube out from yesterdays round!

Round 7 from Tilmanstone in Dover held by the Southern Counties Off Road Club was one not to be missed!

It was a good round, we stayed running all day and got in the points again by completing 12 out of the 14 laps. We suffered a slow puncture, so that got swapped out and the replacement shock I fitted came detached from the lower mounting but didn't take the spring with it as I fitted a spring retainer.

Lap 9 was my fastest, here's a video of it!

 

Now I'm starting a list of improvements for next year!

The engine was a little unhappy, but not sure why.

I might upgrade the shocks as they were definitely getting hot! And it will made the ride smoother and more comfortable!

More cooling for the fuel tank as although it runs fine it is still getting very hot.

Maintenance wise: a wheel bearing, new kick down cable, new engine and gearbox oil.

I'm sure it will expand!

Steve

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On 17-10-2016 at 3:05 PM, steve200TDi said:

What are peoples thoughts on this, is safe to repair it or am I just better using one of my spares or a new tyre.

I had a fairly large gash in the sidewall repaired on one of Mouse's Boggers a few years back. Lots of disclaimers from the tyre shop that it would be for off road use only - but it was good as new. And only €50. They vulcanised in a patch from the inside.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Had a check over the engine last week to see if I can determine my running issue.

I had just sorted out the running issue on my Dad's pick up, so before I pulled all the spark plugs out I thought I'd check all the injector plugs........

Guess what I found:

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So that would explain it, the terminal had rusted through and finally given up. This was one of the rear injectors and so gets all the water running off the windcscreen. The one on the other side was starting to show signs of rusting away too.

I have now replaced most of the boots and some of the terminals and will add electrical grease on reassembly.

I had removed the plenum to get to the injectors and while I'm at it I replaced the rocker cover gaskets I had already purchased as one was leaking a bit causing a bit of smoke from oil dripping on the exhaust.

When I removed the rockers I was pleasantly surprised with how good it looked inside!

You'll have to wait for the picture in my next post!

 

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So yes, it was good:

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I cleaned up the rocker covers so at least they were a dull silvery colour instead of a dirty brown colour!

I've renewed all the injector plugs where needed, so tomorrow I can get it all back together with two good second hand injectors and hopefully it'll be back to normal!

Steve

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  • 2 months later...

To briefly update this, I went off roading over Christmas and a noisy annoying rattle was with us all day!

The next weekend I narrowed it down to the back box rattling. I found a replacement of a slightly larger size and have roughly fitted it for now, but will weld it up once the new upgrades are underway.

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Now the upgrades can be planned for this season!

I've been looking into new shocks as the existing pin/pin shocks do overheat and by mid afternoon you can feel every bump around the course!

So after a few phone calls to Milners and Prolinx I have narrowed it down to a set of 2.5 Fox remote reservoir shocks.

I've started stripping the vehicle down so that i can start the repairs and mods and also start measuring up for the new shock hoops.

Arches

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No arches!

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I also need to work out what length shocks I need, so I'll have a look at that once all the old stuff is chopped off.

Hopefully more progress next weekend!

Steve

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Good spot Jon! Yes they were a mixture of truck arch and rubber matting.

But don't worry I already have a set of truck arches (which are massive and probably can use one for all four corners) in stock which I previously procured!

I'm ring round Milners, Prolinx and Tomcat motorsport this week to get the best deals!

Steve

 

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Good progress has been made over the last couple of days!

All 8 shocks have been reomved.

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The fuel system has been removed ready for chopping out the upper shock mounts in the rear and doing a a small chassis repair too.

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And in the front the steering system has been removed to gain access to remove the front upper shock mounts.

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I also had to remove the brake pedal and steering column as a crack has formed and needs repair.

So with a bit of tidying up and a bit of welding it will be ready to offer up the new shock mounts when they arrive :)

It's going to be really light now the amount of stuff I've chopped off!

Steve

 

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Great progress Steve, aww the joys of owning an old Racecar, finding cracks everywhere :D I once had a KTM 640 Rallye that had done 2 Dakars.. The amount of cracks and botched fixes on that thing was hard to fathom :D 

How do you find the Panhard on the back when jumping/going fast? A nice simple and robust setup, but some people complain about the bumpsteering of the rear. I suppose a Watts link would solve that, but that's adding more moving parts..

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46 minutes ago, Soren Frimodt said:

Great progress Steve, aww the joys of owning an old Racecar, finding cracks everywhere :D I once had a KTM 640 Rallye that had done 2 Dakars.. The amount of cracks and botched fixes on that thing was hard to fathom :D 

How do you find the Panhard on the back when jumping/going fast? A nice simple and robust setup, but some people complain about the bumpsteering of the rear. I suppose a Watts link would solve that, but that's adding more moving parts..

Haha, yes, only a few cracks!

So far the panhard rod set up is working well, but it's the only set up I've ever had, so I don't know any different. All I know is it is smoother driving over flat muddy ground compared to my defender 90!

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