Delta's Earl Grey Break 2014

[Mike Bell]

Another possibility- How about taking top king pin to damper arm bolt out as well, assembling bottom end and then jacking up to re-connect top? Podger works well in there.... (What a great word- definition "Any item used in the pursuance of the act of podgering." )

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Another possibility- How about taking top king pin to damper arm bolt out as well, assembling bottom end and then jacking up to re-connect top? Podger works well in there.... (What a great word- definition "Any item used in the pursuance of the act of podgering." )

That's what I did on the first side in the end but I'll give Terry's way a go first as in theory it seems easier.
I've just noticed the feckin wheel bearing is noisy on one side so that'll need doing as well.
Did I mention that in attempting putting it back together last Sunday I forgot to put the hand brake on and as I was trying to lift the spring plate into position the car rolled backwards off the axle stands, went through the garage door and ended up flat on the garage floor.

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by Tim Falce

Did I mention that in attempting putting it back together last Sunday I forgot to put the hand brake on and as I was trying to lift the spring plate into position the car rolled backwards off the axle stands, went through the garage door and ended up flat on the garage floor.

A lesson learnt there then Tim, as I work on my own with no one within shouting distance I always chock wheels and use axle stands, also if I am doing anything with petrol I will turn off any nearby lead lamps/drills/grinders etc.
We can all get complacent and that's when things can happen sometimes with dire consequences.
I will never forget back in the 60s a bloke near the garage that I was working at was draining petrol out of a car into an open container in a pit and had pulled the car over the ladder end, he dropped a lead lamp into the fuel and you can imagine what happened !

[Mike Bell]

Blimey!!! Elf and safety will be round in the morning.......

Just had a text from Delta at Thruxton - apparently we have had a candidate for '1st Tenther in front of CofC for exceeding new track limits' award!

What is more surprising is that it isn't Iain......

[Tim Falce]

Well that was a pig of a job, the spring plate wouldn't line up doing it Terry's way, it may have been possible with an extra pair of hands but I'm Timmy no mates. In the end I did it as the first side by dropping the top trunnion bolt out but also had to take the track rod end off and managed to **** the thread up in the process. It was then a real pain to get the top to line up again when I put it back together.
So I've only got to run new brake pipes to both fronts and refit the new callipers, then take it all apart again to do the bearing as I don't have one to hand at the moment.
Thanks for the advice though Terry and Mike.

[Mike Bell]

Was having a chat with my neighbours at workshop (who major on HF1 etc) about production cars as race cars. The Gp1 Escort am putting together suffers all the road car awkwardness trying to get front ARB, struts and TCAs in place- everything trying to go in a different direction to the next bit. Found a ratchet strap and 6ft crowbar quite useful! The MGB front end is just as bad, but short front springs help, along with (on Gilbern) making the 'droop stop' rubbers easily removeable (not sure MGB has them?) so damper arm will drop lower when refitting everything. A proper race car, with everything rose jointed and no conflicting stresses, is a piece of **** in comparison!

Forgot to mention that McKay and Rowley are first E Type in Guards qually at Thruxton. Apologies, Guys, and well done so far!

[GORDON STREETER]

Personally I've never had a problem fitting an MGB front suspension back together leaving the spring plate in place, if you think a B is a problem then I don't know how you would go about a 230 Mercedes one !
Also rear springs on an ML would drive you round the bend, as I've fitted a few that's why I'm like it !!!!!

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Forgot to mention that McKay and Rowley are first E Type in Guards qually at Thruxton. Apologies, Guys, and well done so far!

And they won the class! Top ten finish too.

Bravo!

[midgetman]

Bravo!

[Peter Mallett]

Well done. Happy Easter!

[Eric Falce]

Poor old Timmy no friends to help, The BMC bug precludes him from using his mobile and asking.

[grantp]

Despite the rain dahn sarf Iain seems to have had a busy day on track at Thruxton. I think if we could find him a few more rides he could possibly compete with the Roger Wills record attempts for the number of races involved at a single meeting.

Looks like it was an especially challenging day for all weather wise.

Unfortunately it also seemed that results service updates to PDF (and from time Live Timing feed) had some problems too.

Interestingly it was the same at Donington for the BTCC where from time to time the timing data seemed to be out of sync.

The odd things about Donington is that it seemed to be so quiet. A mile away I hardly heard anything all weekend. Still, Titchmarch on the new FM Radio broadcast was reasonable. And the live timing with sector times was nice when it made sense.

Thankfully the rain here in the Midlands must have been much less intense than at Thruxton for most of the day.

Still, class wins, class fastest laps and so on must make it all a pretty good weekend for Iain..

[delta]

Kind words Grant but Sunday brought me down to earth after a great Day Saturday sharing Colin's E type.P5 in the Oliroy in the pooring rain but that was only because two cars in front sensibly pulled into the pits.I got lapped as well. Jumped out of the F3 car into Delta and did have a valid excuse as the wets must be ten years old if not older. Had a great battle again in the pooring rain and finished 12th.
You always know when you have let the Delta crew down as when you return to the Truck after a race and the boys are busy taking the awning down.
Still had a brilliant weekend, as we had 8 cars we had prepped and all drivers did well,so many thanks to Vector Pat for a Great job getting the track sorted.

[GORDON STREETER]

I decided to go for the "fat free" diet today !

[delta]

Where are all the easter eggs Gordon. BTW Mrs Delta not impressed I did not get her an egg. Mrs Mc Kay gave me one to give to her but it dissapeared somewhere on the way back from Thruxton.

[GORDON STREETER]

We don't have Easter eggs in Spain but here is a picture of Mrs S in an advert for Terry's taken many moons ago !

[Colin McKay]

Originally Posted by delta

Where are all the easter eggs Gordon. BTW Mrs Delta not impressed I did not get her an egg. Mrs Mc Kay gave me one to give to her but it dissapeared somewhere on the way back from Thruxton.

If you thought you were in trouble before......

[GORDON STREETER]

Colin, carrying on regarding Spanish roads and EEC money,at least they are built and used unlike the High speed AVE rail link that has been being built near me down here for the last few years.
After the European regional development fund (ERDF) has spent 350 million euros on the Murcia to Almeria 185km link and has now admitted it cost at least 500 million it has now been mothballed leaving a huge stretch of tarmac and several new tunnels to probably fall into disrepair for years.
I have noticed that they are bricking the tunnels up to stop people walking through them and the picture shows the one at Sorbas that is 7.5km long.
The tarmac stretches would make good drag strips !!

[Mike Harte]

Gordon, why do you sound surprised? It's Spain that you are talking about after all. Money disapeears faster there than a rat down a drain-pipe.

Probably also funded by Europe are at least three international airports that serve no passengers. One was built outside Madrid, opened and had a few planes in and out before the operating company went bust because of a lack of footfall, and was then closed not to re-open.

Then you have the one outside Castellon that was fully built, had all it's licences in place but nobody who could afford to run it. Apart from a couple of dozen test flights to set up the ILS, no commercial airplane has landed. I think that this was the airport that Clarkson and co used to run drag races for one of the Top Gear programmes.

Last but certainly not least is the new airport built at Corvera, about 20 mins drive from the airport at St Javier/Murcia. This is an even worse waste of public money, in my opinion, because it was built before the developer/proposed operator had the necessary licences in place, and even though it is now, theoretically, ready to accept passenger planes, it can't because the Central government and the military will not grant them the permits to fly into and out of the area. There happens to be 3 military airports in very close proximity, and they don't want commercial airplanes flying in their restricted airspace.

All that, and the fact that the national airport authority has just spent around 90 million Euros on a second runway, a new control tower and an improved departure area all at St Javier, it really makes no sense.

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by Mike Hart e

Last but certainly not least is the new airport built at Corvera, about 20 mins drive from the airport at St Javier/Murcia. This is an even worse waste of public money, in my opinion, because it was built before the developer/proposed operator had the necessary licences in place

Illegal building in Spain! come off it Mike next you're be telling me that Father Christmas doesn't exist !!!
The Mayor of Murcia said that it should open this year, but I think he is resigning or going on to greater things !

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

Illegal building in Spain! come off it Mike next you're be telling me that Father Christmas doesn't exist !!!
The Mayor of Murcia said that it should open this year, that was before he got put in clink for bribery ! (Allegedly)

Gordon, you won't get me falling into that trap - of course Father Christmas is real. Otherwise, how would I always find my Xmas presents in a huge stocking at the end of the bed every year.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Gordon, why do you sound surprised? It's Spain that you are talking about after all. Money disapeears faster there than a rat down a drain-pipe.

Probably also funded by Europe are at least three international airports that serve no passengers. One was built outside Madrid, opened and had a few planes in and out before the operating company went bust because of a lack of footfall, and was then closed not to re-open.

Then you have the one outside Castellon that was fully built, had all it's licences in place but nobody who could afford to run it. Apart from a couple of dozen test flights to set up the ILS, no commercial airplane has landed. I think that this was the airport that Clarkson and co used to run drag races for one of the Top Gear programmes.

Last but certainly not least is the new airport built at Corvera, about 20 mins drive from the airport at St Javier/Murcia. This is an even worse waste of public money, in my opinion, because it was built before the developer/proposed operator had the necessary licences in place, and even though it is now, theoretically, ready to accept passenger planes, it can't because the Central government and the military will not grant them the permits to fly into and out of the area. There happens to be 3 military airports in very close proximity, and they don't want commercial airplanes flying in their restricted airspace.

All that, and the fact that the national airport authority has just spent around 90 million Euros on a second runway, a new control tower and an improved departure area all at St Javier, it really makes no sense.

Someone should tell Boris that there are some new runways going cheap a little south of London. Perhaps he could buy one?

Come to think of it since there is already a deep Spanish interest in UK based aviation I'm expecting a plan for re-location of an airport (or two) to appear any time now. Or maybe leave them where they are and re-brand them? Heathrow (South)? Half the local population in Murcia probably thought they had escaped the "Boris Island Airport" development when they headed for Spain. It would be amusing if the airport sort of followed them south.

Where are Ferrovial in all of this? And BA?

[GORDON STREETER]

While I'm on my soapbox it looks like the blot on the lanscape huge hotel that was illegally built between Mojacar and Carboneras several years ago may at last be knocked down, but we've heard it all before !
Not only was it illegally built but it was also built on a conservation area, you couldn't make it up !

[grantp]

Talking if conservations areas ... well, sort of.

As we all know there is, around the country, a lot of old property stock that seems to have survived for a century or more yet still proves somewhat serviceable for the modern era, albeit with considerable renovation effort from time to time.

On the other hand many constructions from the 50s, 60s and 70s, even the 80s, are already being dismantled as unfit for modern purpose or simply too costly to refurbish. Even relatively utilitarian stuff like Northampton bus station, built in the 70s. is deemed to be unserviceable today. I suspect that many town centres have gone and will continue to go the same way. It all seems rather wasteful although, of course, 'construction' boosts the economy. Or so we are told.

There are exceptions of course. In Dorset there is a nasty 60s built glass walled, flat roofed school building that has a preservation order on it. Grade 2 listed iirc. It's in a tiny village in the countryside and is (or was aome years back) part of a school that was originally based in an old semi-moated building (albeit a Victorian barn conversion from what had been a more complete Monastry). As the entire site, including a couple of huge and rather dangerously old Cedar trees, had managed to get itself listed the dreadful 60s building became part of the package.

In a decade or so it may be one of the few 60s structures left.

I sometimes wonder how long residential property built since WW2, especially post 50s, will survive without major restorative costs. For example, modern bricks are guaranteed (whatever that might really mean) for 60 years. Will it be "good for the economy" to rebuild everything every generation or two? Who could afford to pay to do that?

Is there a Motor Sport equivalent.

The current Historic scene seems able to find cars, parts, people to maintain them and people willing to put their hard earned into the pot on which the economics of racing operates. Asking prices seem to be at th very least keeping up with inflation and quite possibly beating it.

Will that eventually prove to be true for a broad range of 90s and 00s cars? Or will that era (and the current one and those still to come) turn into ghost decades for future Historic Motor Sport (assuming the sport itself has somewhere to survive.)

We have had such discussion before of course but it seems to me that whereas until recently there might have been people who would support even the worst and ugliest of "iconic" landmarks from 'good old days', now they seem to either not exist or to keep quiet. Perhaps too few people care about the 'heritage' of their youth and childhood?

Might such an attitude from those whose formative years coincided with the construction of the building we now seek to replace, also shed some light on how the fortunes of Historic motors may develop in the coming years?

I could, perhaps, suggest a parallel whereby the current 'historic' motor sport world represents the equivalent of the older refurbishable "real estate" but most of the carbonfibre era equates to the mass market short life constructions of the 70s and onwards in terms of whether people will see enough in it to make them want to preserve what there is. (Assuming it can be economically preserved.)

Prices still seem to be bouyant.

It may be safe to assume that things will continue for a few years yet. But is that a reasonable assumption?

[Peter Mallett]

On the subject of buildings, the one I'm looking forward to seeing demolished is Centre Point in Tottenham Court Road. Not because it's an eyesore, although that is a moot point, but because it was/is one of the largest post tensioned structures built in the UK. The method requires strong end walls with large diameter steel bars threaded through the floors. These bars are then tensioned by means of turning down a nut on each end. Similar to the brick trick where you get a number of blocks and squeeze them together so that they stay together when lifted off the deck.

The point is that as far as I know, nobody knows how to demolish this or similar buildings because as the weight comes off the top, the fear is that the tensioned floors below will simply pop.

https://www.google.ae/url?sa=t&rct=j...65397613,d.ZWU