Wheels Day 08

Great looking MK1 Escort

Robin Hood Super Spec

The brave soul from the TVH Area

Now will this fit????????????

Nash

Nice paint job

Who ya gonna call???????????

Four of us Thames Valley area members braved the weather to go to the Good Friday Wheels Day show at Rushmoor Arena near Aldershot. Later in the day we were joined by Becky & Tasha.

This was my first big event as the new area sec for the TVH area having taken over the role from John.

The weather forecast had said we were in for some rain showers and the prospect of a snow shower to add to the days fun (great!!!). In the end it turned out to be not a bad day at all, just a bit cold and windy.

As last year the turn out of cars for this show was huge, there seems to be more & more every year, the only down side this year was there was not the same amount of trade stand as in the last few years.

This show has every type you could wish to see, ranging from Street Rods, Custom Cars, Yanks, Kit cars, Bikes, Vans, British Classics, Historic Vehicles and Dragsters. the live bands were also very good. Something for everyone.

Cycle Computer

This is the last of the winter projects on the list to be fitted.
Some people have installed their bike computers in cars so as to take readings from the propshaft. I decided to do it the easy way, in as similar a manner as possible to its normal application, and stick the magnet on the wheel, mount the sensor nearby, and have the bracket somewhere in the cockpit.
The first job was to make up a bracket to mount the sensor near the wheel, once this was in place the next job was to extend the wire joining the sensor to the bracket as it is far too short for use in a Seven type car, for this I used Speaker wire as it is more or less the same size as the wire on the computer.
The magnet was stuck on to the wheel rim using epoxy resin.
After a test I used more epoxy resin to make sure that the magnet wouldn't fly off the wheel rim at speed.
As it was dark by the time I had finished fitting the computer in place I have not given it a proper test run plus I want to give the epoxy resin time to fully set.

Dip Stick Handle

Sometime back I some how managed to snap the handle off the dip stick, I have tried to weld it back together a few times but as it is so thin trying to get a good weld on it is almost impossible as I think the metal is impregnated with oil.

You can get a replacement billet stainless steel handle from some of the performance parts and accessories catalogues you can pick up but at what I think is a rip off price of £30 plus the VAT and then the package and postage on top of that too!

So when I was down at the local DIY store today I found a drawer handle which just happens to look about the same as the £30 job and at a fraction of the price at £2.99 lol.

All I had to do to get the handle to fit was drill a 4.5 mm hole in the side and then tap it out with an M5 tap fit a grub screw and fit it on.

AS you can see from the photos it looks just fine.

The £30 replacement dip stick handle.

My £2.99 dip stick handle

Autosport International 2008

Over the weekend I went up to the Autosport show held at the NEC Birmingham.
Loads to see, plenty of trade stands selling motorsport equipment and a live action show.
Here are just a few of the photos I took-

Lotus Seven Mk 1


Lotus Seven Mk2

F1 Pit Lane

A couple non standard optional extras !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bonnet Pin Kit

I have fitted a pin kit to the bonnet after I noticed on a run out last year that at speed the rear of the bonnet was trying to lift up and as I don't fancy the prospect of the thing flying off and hitting the vehicle following, this is something that had to be sorted.

The kit itself I got at the Exeter show from a company called Car Builder Solutions

www.carbuildersolutions.co.uk

Its simple to fit but involved some more drilling of the stainless steel bonnet ( not again!!!!!! lol)

The first thing you have to do is select an accessible area to mount the pins.
Next drill a hole for the threaded post to pass through, then attach the post with a nut each side of the support hole.

Adjust the height of the post so that the top is just in contact with the bonnet, put a small dab of grease on the tip so that it makes a mark on the underside of the bonnet.

Drill a hole through the bonnet so that the post protrudes and then test fit the bonnet in place.

Drop the contact plates over the posts on to the bonnet and adjust the height so it all fits nice,

using the plate as a marker drill and pop rivet in place.

Refit bonnet in the normal way and slide locking pins into place and its job done.

Bonnet Side Vent

Today I did one of the winter projects I had planed, fitting the side vent into the bonnet.
As this is a bit of a nail biting job I had to get it right first time no room what so ever for mistakes on this job!


The area where the vent is going to go is masked with masking tape and the vent marked out

With the bonnet removed from the car two pilot holes are drilled at each end of the marked area.

Then using a hole saw I cut the two end radius's-

before cutting the rest of the vent hole out with a pair of tin snips and then grinding the edges to shape, this was finished of with a hand file.

The vent trim and grill bolted in place.

The finished job. Should help get rid of some of the heat from the engine, specially in the summer time.

Thames Valley Mince Pie Run Out

Today we had the TVH mince pie run out which is becoming an annual event on the calendar for this area of the club.

Once again Alan had been busy sorting out a route for us and getting us into the country houses and the Police training college at Bramshill.

We all met up at a local car park in Hook before setting off. In all there were seven Robin Hoods and along for the run was Becky & Tasha, they came on the event as chief photographer and support car in the tin top.

Also along for the run making it a family day out for us was my sister, nephew & sister's partner in their Jago Jeep on its first run out since they had picked it up a month or so ago.

Our first stop off point was at Tynley Hall just outside of Hook where we all lined up for a photo shoot, then it was on to Warbrook House for more photos followed by a drive around the lanes to the Police training college.

After a look around the grounds it was was time for a spot of lunch at the Bluebeckers / The Leather Bottle at Mattingley.

All in all a fun day out. Many thanks to all involved in sorting it all out for us.

Shift Lights

The shift lights have been in the car for sometime but were fitted under the dashboard and out of line of sight.
So I made a pod for the shift light unit out of the back panel of an old alarm clock ( typical Hoody fashion lol) and covered it in the same vinyl material as the scuttle panel.
Extended the wiring loom for the unit from under the dash to the top and mounted the whole thing to the scuttle.
Here is a short video of it all working. Sorry its a bit out of focus as it was done on a mobile phone.

The Last Classic car day at the Bull inn Stanford Dingley

Having decided not to go up to the kit car show at Donington after a chat with Martin.

We made the most of the good weather and took our cars along to the classic car day that the Bull inn just outside of Reading.

This was the last time the landlord of the Bull would be holding this event due to the pub closing down. I wont go into the why & wherefores but it's sad to see this event end.

Around about 120 classic cars turn up on the day and put on a great display to say goodbye.

The only hope is who ever take the Bull inn on keeps the classic car Saturday going.