Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Glad to hear you're both ok after the incident. Sounds like a big one, and goes to show that safety is not something to be skimped on so well done to all involved for ensuring the car was so safe and well built.

Jesus mate, sounds like you are one lucky guy to essentially walk away from a big off like that. Unlike the white whale, you'll live to race another day and that is the main thing.

Home now, short one beast of a tarmac rally R34 :( I feel the need to apologise to Snowy for the time, effort and dollars put into building what up until yesterday was simply an amazing machine to drive around those roads. It all makes sense out there - it just ran so bloody well.

Day one we started off slowly and only really found our feet after lunch. Were pretty organised with fuel loads which, not that we realised, had translated to some good times. Were surprised to see us settle at 5th EM once we finished our run up Buller. Didn't look at times all day really which was my downfall for day two.

Day two we weren't as organised with fuel loads, had it full to start the day off. We were pretty slow through Jamieson and Big River after which we filled up again from our Jerry's just to make life easy against what I originally planned. Skyline 1 we were pretty slow as well as expected. We should have run lighter and used race fuels a bit more to get us through. We cut 10 seconds off for Skyline 2 and I burned off a lot more in transport so we could go quick through Eildon and back to the finish.

Unfortunately against all quality advice from Capt. Fathom I was getting a little obsessed with results, and was seeing red. We were smashing Eildon up to the point where Kat called a 5R > 3 (1-6 notes) and I was just overheated, I didn't really register the > 3 and thought I was still in the 5 bit until it was too late.

Don't have the video yet but around the 3 I *think* we dropped the nose into the ditch and hit the embankment, did at least a 180 (could have been 540) and rolled a few times, I hit my head and blacked out and came to drivers side down. Adrenaline kicked in, managed to shove the passenger door open and push Kat up and out then climb out. Some other very nice people arrived and helped to slow traffic and with fire extinguishers.

Had a seat as the FIV's arrived, felt alright for a while but once the Ambos got there I started blacking out again. Have a pretty decent lump on my head and badly bruised ribs - Kat was feeling fine bar some whip lash.

Kat was dropped at Alexandra hospital and I got airlifted to Royal Melbourne for CT, x-ray and ultra sounds. They had me on bloody spinal precautions so I spent the last 18 odd hours on my back waiting for them to sign off that I was ok. No broken bones between either off us just a bit sore, the safety setup worked wonders - the Doctors were all gobsmacked.

So need to work out what to do with the wreck, we are both keen to track down another shell and build it up to the same setup. Just need to find somewhere we can strip it. Sad times indeed.

Octagon Targa events are now run under CAMS. Had you missed that bit? So now you nede CAMS national rally license I guess. Easy to get. A little more exxy though I would guess unless they are still including them in the entry like they did for AASA? Basically not much different to the basic L2S but you have to do an online tutorial thingo and they cost about $200 annually not around $90. (sorry, cant be arsed checking exact cost) I guess hand in hand with that you need a CAMS logbooked car? Havent actually chacked that bit. Octagon do run them under THEIR supp regs and not the CAMS manual national rally regs, so not sure the logbooked car is actually a requirement.

So not much change really.

Paul,

If you have any photo's of the car, the guys at Meridian Motorsport would appreciate it if they could see them so that they can evaluate what worked/didn't work with the cage.

Certainly is - after the first stage on day one we both looked at each other and went "THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!". Found our calling if I can keep a lid on it!

Kat is well and truly hooked - little weapon on the notes too.

Congrats to everyone else that competed. Met so many great people on the way that make it such a great thing to be involved in.

Hmmm, I can't complain in life. I mean I do, endlessly. But when I sit back and consider that what i toss and turn at night considering is do I pony up the money for Near Life Experience 2012 or a Tarmac Spec DR30. Sadly there is only so much money in this world. I suppose I could flog off the Sierra before I get too emotionally attached to it. LOL, I go through this before/during/after each major rally :)

Hmmm, I can't complain in life. I mean I do, endlessly. But when I sit back and consider that what i toss and turn at night considering is do I pony up the money for Near Life Experience 2012 or a Tarmac Spec DR30. Sadly there is only so much money in this world. I suppose I could flog off the Sierra before I get too emotionally attached to it. LOL, I go through this before/during/after each major rally :)

LOL - I have to say I have been fully focused on Euro 2012 right up til last weekend when for the first time since deciding to take a season off Tarmac Rally I really wished I was up at Buller playing cars. Checking my phone for results every 5 mins just wasn't making the time away any easier either. But really it was not getting to catch up with all the crew that was the hardest part.

I need to fire up GT5 and do some more Spa laps in the Caterham and I will be cured again I'm sure :)

Anyways - I guess the other BIG Targa news is the extension of the course by another 70kms for 2012.

That will make getting a set of A050's through 6 days if it stays dry really really difficult!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Next on the to-do list was an oil and filter change. Nothing exciting to add here except the oil filter is in a really stupid place (facing the engine mount/subframe/steering rack). GReddy do a relocation kit which puts it towards the gearbox, I would have preferred towards the front but there's obviously a lot more stuff there. Something I'll have to look at for the next service perhaps. First time using Valvoline oil, although I can't see it being any different to most other brands Nice... The oil filter location... At least the subframe wont rust any time soon I picked up a genuine fuel filter, this is part of the fuel pump assembly inside the fuel tank. Access can be found underneath the rear seat, you'll see this triangular cover Remove the 3x plastic 10mm nuts and lift the cover up, pushing the rubber grommet through The yellow fuel line clips push out in opposite directions, remove these completely. The two moulded fuel lines can now pull upwards to disconnect, along with the wire electrical plug. There's 8x 8mm bolts that secure the black retaining ring. The fuel pump assembly is now ready to lift out. Be mindful of the fuel hose on the side, the hose clamp on mine was catching the hose preventing it from lifting up The fuel pump/filter has an upper and lower section held on by 4 pressure clips. These did take a little bit of force, it sounded like the plastic tabs were going to break but they didn't (don't worry!) The lower section helps mount the fuel pump, there's a circular rubber gasket/grommet/seal thing on the bottom where the sock is. Undo the hose clip on the short fuel hose on the side to disconnect it from the 3 way distribution pipe to be able to lift the upper half away. Don't forget to unplug the fuel pump too! There's a few rubber O rings that will need transferring to the new filter housing, I show these in the video at the bottom of this write up. Reassembly is the reverse Here's a photo of the new filter installed, you'll be able to see where the tabs are more clearing against the yellow OEM plastic Once the assembly is re-installed, I turned the engine over a few times to help build up fuel pressure. I did panic when the car stopped turning over but I could hear the fuel pump making a noise. It eventually started and has been fine since. Found my 'lucky' coin underneath the rear seat too The Youtube video can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLJ65pmQt44&t=6s
    • It was picked up on the MOT/Inspection that the offside front wheel bearing had excessive play along with the ball joint. It made sense to do both sides so I sourced a pair of spare IS200 hubs to do the swap. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the strip down but here's a quick run down. On the back of the hub is a large circular dust cover, using a flat head screw driver and a mallet I prised it off. Underneath will reveal a 32mm hub nut (impact gun recommended). With the hub nut removed the ABS ring can be removed (I ended up using a magnetic pick up tool to help). Next up is to remove the stub axle, this was a little trickier due to limited tools. I tried a 3 leg puller but the gap between the hub and stub axle wasn't enough for the legs to get in and under. Next option was a lump hammer and someone pulling the stub axle at the same time. After a few heavy hits it released. The lower bearing race had seized itself onto the stub axle, which was fine because I was replacing them anyway. With the upper bearing race removed and the grease cleaned off they looked like this The left one looked pristine inside but gave us the most trouble. The right one had some surface rust but came apart in a single hit, figure that out?! I got a local garage to press the new wheel bearings in, reassemble was the opposite and didn't take long at all. Removing the hub itself was simple. Starting with removing the brake caliper, 2x 14mm bolts for the caliper slider and 2x 19mm? for the carrier > hub bolts. I used a cable tie to secure the caliper to the upper arm so it was out of the way, there's a 10mm bolt securing the ABS sensor on. With the brake disc removed from the hub next are the three castle nuts for the upper and lower ball joints and track rod end. Two of these had their own R clip and one split pin. A few hits with the hammer and they're released (I left the castle nuts on by a couple of turns), the track rod ends gave me the most grief and I may have nipped the boots (oops). Fitting is the reversal and is very quick and easy to do. The lower ball joints are held onto the hub by 2x 17mm bolts. The castle nut did increase in socket size to 22mm from memory (this may vary from supplier) The two front tyres weren't in great condition, so I had those replaced with some budget tyres for the time being. I'll be replacing the wheels and tyres in the future, this was to get me on the road without the worry of the police hassling me.
    • Yep, the closest base tune available was for the GTT, I went with that and made all the logical changes I could find to convert it to Naturally Aspirated. It will rev fine in Neutral to redline but it will be cutting nearly 50% fuel the whole way.  If I let it tune the fuel map to start with that much less fuel it wont run right and has a hard time applying corrections.  These 50% cuts are with a fuel map already about half of what the GTT tune had.  I was having a whole lot of bogging when applying any throttle but seem to have fixed that for no load situations with very aggressive transient throttle settings. I made the corrections to my injectors with data I found for them online, FBCJC100 flowing 306cc.  I'll have to look to see if I can find the Cam section. I have the Bosch 4.9 from Haltech. My manifold pressure when watching it live is always in -5.9 psi/inHg
    • Hi My Tokico BM50 Brake master cylinder has a leak from the hole between the two outlets (M10x1) for brake pipes, I have attached a photo. Can anyone tell me what that hole is and what has failed to allow brake fluid to escape from it, I have looked on line and asked questions on UK forums but can not find the answer, if anyone can enlighten me I would be most grateful.
    • It will be a software setting. I don't believe many on here ever used AEM. And they're now a discontinued product,that's really hard to find any easy answers on. If it were Link or Haltech, someone would be able to just send you a ECU file though.
×
×
  • Create New...