E5TUS - 2023: Some turbo tinkering & Hillclimbing
Turbo Mini Forums

Sorry, been very busy and slack on the updates. Have quite a bit to catch up on…

Wiscombe 22nd/23rd April: Weather was not looking favourable for the weekend, but appeared to be a dry Saturday and wet Sunday in the week leading up. We had a good morning and bagged a dry session before lunch, weather started to look dodgy early afternoon, we had a damp run and then the heavens opened. I was in the car, kitted up for my final run when it came in. Sat on slicks I didn’t fancy it. Had there been more warning, I’d have changed to the wets and taken it as a practice for the wet Sunday, but sat in 1st in class with the run before lunch it was a safe decision to bail to the bar early.

It was a 45.36, 9 tenths off my record, but tyres are end of life and not brilliantly warm conditions. I beat the rally car class, which we are usually very close but not normally ahead, so take that! Dad got third with a 46.91 and was just pipped into second by one of the R53’s on a 46.74.





Wet on the Sunday and as usual the paddock got chewed up badly. The team did very well to keep the event running into the afternoon, the format was changed into the morning to a single practice so we could get done early, it was finally ended early with another deluge predicted and lots of towing a support vehicle to get out of the paddocks.
I took first with a 47.44 in the morning session, dad was 7 tenths behind me and the next car a second off. The benefit of wet tyres!

Only issue to note of the weekend, dad had a miss on second practice, noticeable from where I was in the paddock. We pulled the plugs and they were showing lean, then I checked the fuel tank… Er, not much left, my fault, I’m still adjusting from solo running the car last year, hadn’t put enough in for both of us to do both practices. Of course it’s being considered sabotage…

Clay Pigeon 7th/8th May: Between the last hillclimb at Wiscombe and the two day sprint at Clay, I squeezed in a stint offshore. We had some glorious weather in the North Sea, but the weather was coming in when I was due to depart, if I missed my helicopter off the vessel, I would be stuck for another week and miss the sprint, luckily both weather and helicopter schedule held for me and I got back with half a day to spare!

Another event with changeable weather, broad competition in the class with the return of the R1 powered car and 2 other Mod Prod’s on slicks.

Sunday was good, close times all day between me, dad and the R1. Rob’s first outing in his Mod Prod, saw him shed 14 secs over the day, when the car is dialled in and he puts on some new tyres, he’ll be trouble!



Me and dad both managed to pip the R1, but he did some lawn mowing on one of the timed runs which bought us some space. I took 1st with 81.03, dad 2nd with 81.99.

Monday, the rain came. Our wets are cut super softs and wouldn’t last a four lap bashing of double drivers so we put on the road tyres we use fir transport. Avon ZZR, not bad, but nothing like the slicks. The R1 had rain tyres but we weren’t a million miles off as he couldn’t put his power down. I got down to a 98.43, dad to a 99.76, the R1 managed a 98.22. But we were all beat by an R53 road car, John drove really smooth and just consistently put in good times. Rain is a great leveller. He managed a 96.74, untouchable for us in the conditions!

Wiscombe 13th/14th May: New slicks, new tarmac and decent sunny weather… Oh boy.

Wasn’t sure what to expect from a new surface, we’d had so much rain since it was laid that the oils appeared to have already been washed. There’s talk of needing it to “rubber in”, but the grip from the get-go was phenomenal. Combined with new tyres, launches were the best we’ve ever had.

I did a 46 second run in practice, as fast as I ever managed to get the turbo up the hill. Did tip up onto two wheels around martini, so need to adjust my line for that. First timed run was a 45.68, with dad and a couple of others closing in, the wider line around martini worked. For some reason, the A driver was running after the main batch, so whereas I usually have the car first and hand over to dad, it was the opposite. Bit odd when I’m used to cold engine and have a routine, but no major issue. Dad put in his second timed run, handed over. Had a great launch, got round Wis, up to bunny’s and had a miss. Straight away thinking fuel like last time, but I knew I’d filled up plenty. Missed again through the esses and up castle straight. I was a second down at the split, not pushing very hard, cam round martini and shit got sideways, or rather, upside down…

Rounding Martini, the camera man says he doesn’t bother following the cars across the line, as it’s not very photogenic. But he says he heard a strange noise as I turned out of the corner and followed me round…



I’d gone right suddenly into the bank and then newtons laws took over.



Slid across the line on the roof. Did actually set a time, 48.63, though the “all four wheels” rule is debatable!





Not an ideal run. I was very confused, mainly because I wasn’t pushing it, the car was missing and I was down on speed and time. Until I saw these pictures, I was convinced I’d gone end over end, it happened so quick I couldn’t really comprehend the circumstances. Obviously disappointed, very much so for my dad too, as he was storming, only 2 tenths behind me.

Got checked out by the medics, with great help from the rescue team we recovered the car to the top paddock. I don’t get signal at Wiscombe, so don’t carry my phone on me, realising I should probably get a message to my dad but no real option but to run down the spectators route to the bottom of the hill.

Dad and the others were a bit confused to say the least, as the red flag went out, but I had a time, so they assumed it was just a bank clipping and needed some sweeping. When they did open the hill, the next driver span his single seater before the gate, totalling the car and causing another lengthy stoppage.





I had to wait until the end of the day to get my van and trailer from the bottom paddock, actually collecting 1st in class for my first run, which felt like an empty victory if I'm honest.



We got the car onto the trailer and I headed back, despite wanting to go to the bar and drown my sorrows, I was pretty sure I was going to hurt in the morning and could get a decent start on assessment and repair plan with a whole day and a clear head.

Initial talk in the paddock, which a couple of scrutineers got involved in, was adamant the shell was a total loss. If we ignore the roof for now, the front did look pretty bad, but once that was removed, it wasn’t too bad. One of the front end supports was pancaked, the rack was wrecked and steering arm. Along with two outer rims and an engine mount, that seemed to be the end of the mechanical damage.





Offside CV was in kit form, assumed from the impact with the embankment. But mechanically it looked salvageable. We’d got a tip from another competitor of a roof in Portsmouth that was available, Dad went down and got that on the Sunday whilst I took the car apart.

We took a load of measurements, the tub, subframe and bits between were all good. We took the roof skin off, and over the next week transplanted the straight steel.

All the bits turned up, I got it together mechanically, was underneath just wire-locking the gear selector rod when I noticed the nearside pot joint wasn’t seated all the way home. Wasn’t having any of it and we realised the output didn’t seem to have drive. Pulled the driveshaft and finally found a likely cause…





Our thinking is the combination of new surface and new slicks were a bit too much, broke the diff output shaft coming out of the corner. Turned into one wheel drive and pulled me into bank. I wasn’t looking for excuses, but finding a cause is always good.



Happened to pick up a front end a while ago, plan was to replace the tired front at some point, maybe not mid-season, but it was in stock for this purpose. Before trimming it was already lighter than the current front. After trimming and with arches its 4.5kg lighter, needs a grille, but a substantial saving which is a silver lining. Whilst I was looking at potential savings, I found another kilo at the rear…



So it’s mechanically together, materially in one piece. Got alignment booked for tomorrow, paint lined up for Friday afternoon, Sunday set aside to get interior and windows in. I’m out of the country next week for work, then back in time to load it up and back to Gurston next weekend. No pressure then..

Whilst we were there with the MIG out...



Thought it was a good opportunity to add a little more into it

Blimey, wasn’t expecting that. Glad everyone is ok and looks like you are on the way to getting it fixed already. Nice work.

In the 13's at last!.. Just

great recovery , and hopefully some stronger cv"s ?

Medusa + injection = too much torque for the dyno ..https://youtu.be/qg5o0_tJxYM

Massive shame about the failure, resulting incident and repair, but that photo over the line is priceless. And good enough for first in class!

Just thinking in the wind here,,, but before you get back in the car is there any possibility of the LSD contributing to the failure????Having said that... I am fairly certain your explanation is correct

Got the car painted on the Friday, spent Saturday flatting and polishing, came out just fine considering it was an open air job. Quite a few flies to polish out of the roof, little bastards! Looks a little odd at the moment, but a wrap for the front that's incoming will tie it all together.





Spent the Sunday throwing it all back together and it was ready for Gurston the following weekend.



I previously noted the front end was 4.5kg lighter, with grille and paint and all hardware, it was 3.43kg savings. Managed to reuse the grille from before, despite the initial state of it, it’ll do and better than putting another valuable one on there!





You’ll also notice that the new front only had holes in the front panel for airflow, the previous version (modified for intercooler) had a significant cut-out. We ran the practice sessions on Saturday and noticed the temp was rising quicker than before and wasn’t dropping on the run or return. When you consider the equivalent area, it was a massive reduction so at lunchtime the powertools came out.



With the area opened up, no more issue. So some final trimming to be done soon and a bit of tidying up. Also had some more trimming on the front wings under the arches and adjustments to the rear arches across the first day, but to be expected.

Practice was ok, needed to get the first run under my belt just to clear my head. Dad was obviously unaffected by the incident or rebuild, heading straight to the front of the pack. Stu was there in his Lynx R1 mini, so were expecting to be pushed down the order. Another Mod Prod that’s becoming a regular at the venue in class too, so some tight competition with the classics, and a couple of quick R53’s to contend with aswell.

Second practice was better, car felt good and consistent, I was back to my April mentality of braking for Hollow, which should only be a lift, but progress was in the right direction. By the end of the day I was down to a 39.78 from the 43.08 at the start of the day, managed to score me third place. We were being scored against 41.27 so still good points, but not quite the 39.07 I managed in April. Dad pipped me to second with 39.50, a new PB for him. At one point in the day between me, dad and two R53’s we were only separated by 4 tenths.

Came out the blocks on Sunday, first practice was 39.66 I was very happy to be below where I finished the day before. It was slightly cooler on Sunday and we were creeping back up to the speed trap speeds of April. Second practice was a 39.39, with dad closing the gap with a 39.78. We weren’t running too far ahead of schedule, and with rain forecast we were surprised to be offered a third practice run, we didn’t take it as we were running in the last two batches and would be at the mercy of the storms if they came in at 4pm as predicted.

First timed run produced a 39.18, within sniffing distance of a new PB and class record, dad set another PB with a 39.42. Weather was closing in, few spots of rain before we were called up, had rain on the screen for my run, didn’t feel the start was ideal and never seemed to recover, but the launch was practically identical to the rest of the day, should have stuck with it! 39.67 so my first timed run was the one to beat. Dad put in a phenomenally close run with a 39.21 to my 39.18, with a speed of 80mph across the line, that’s about a meter difference! We had 6 competitors break into the sub 40’s on the Sunday, very close competition again (except the R1, 1.5secs clear!!)

So, a good return for the car, 2nd and 3rd in class both days, my confidence has returned too which is great, I was worried coming back from the incident. We are back here next month, so look to continue pushing.

Well done for quickly getting back to your former self - not always easy or quick to do. I reckon i was timid in one corner for about 4 events ( a year) until the time splits showed my mojo returning. I quite like the white front - from different angles it looks like 2 different cars.

Great to see you bounce back and the turn around on the car is commendable.
Shane

Morning all, not much of an update, I was at a wedding the other weekend and Dad headed out to Llandow for the Bristol Sprint. I was gutted to miss a dry day in Wales, it’s rained on each and every one of my visits there and I’ve never really got to grips with the track.

He made a bit of a faux pas, took only two slicks and accidentally took two wets rather than the harder front slicks. So had to run on the old Avon ZZR transport tyres.

Didn’t stop him from keeping close to the pack, but in the afternoon the others on slicks found greater improvements and pushed him down to third.



Couple of weeks before next event, then three in a row, with Gurston, Wiscombe National and Harewood. Quite a beating on the car in a short period, tight turnaround if I'm away with work to sort tyres, fuel and a once over between events, but I'm tentatively looking forward to my return to Wiscombe follow last visit, very much looking forward to returning to Harewood.

Great job fixing the car in this short time and getting behind the wheel again.

Dazed and Confused....

Had a good weekend at Gurston, weather on the Saturday started fine, but soon turned into a very wet day. I love the car on wet tyres, it’s a very responsive setup and our delta between dry and wet isn’t nearly as bad as the rest of the field so we tend to do very well.

Taking the car off the trailer I noticed the brake pedal was low, looks like the brakes took a beating at Llandow and rears needed adjusting. Nearside adjusted was rounded off, and we couldn’t get suitable adjustment, so ran with it.

Had opened up the front end further to aid air flow, which caused a new issue, the bonnet was lifting at the front, the other car and previous bonnet had the pins further forward which seemed to help. The old bonnet had two holes at the rear, which may have let air escape. Something to sort before Harewood as that has a long straight.

Took class win and dad second, only two tenths behind.



Dad went home via the workshop and stripped a pair of adjusters from another set of rear arms. We replaced them first thing Sunday morning and happy to have the pedal back to normal position.

Sunday was dry, back to slicks. Cooler than July and we certainly had more power, finally getting the illusive 80mph in both speed traps. Good practices and took half a second off PB and class record in the afternoon with a 38.54. Very happy, only for the old man to wake up and find nearly a second on his PB and beat me by 3 hundreths.

With another two weekends of racing to go, I opted to accept 2nd and not run a final timed run. I’ve been down this route before, and last run heroics lead to mistakes. I was in control all day, very happy with my run, it was clean and two areas left to push and gain with, flat round hollow and later braking into Carousel. Both areas I was not confident to force this weekend. A great result, 1st and 2nd in class both days. Happy for dad to take class win and his first class record in this car. Here’s his run:

https://youtu.be/gFg-oPJB3Rw

Wiscombe national was looking dodgy for the weather in the build-up. I went away with the family between Gurston and Wiscombe, took the car with me so I could head straight there. My wife is pretty used to this kind of shenanigans, I’m lucky to have her put up with it! Saturday was dry, which was great for the hill, but with it being my first return to the hill since the roll, I would have preferred it wet to keep the pace down whilst I reset.



Car felt great, hill was slippery first thing, but nice to get a clean run banked to clear my head. Very slow morning with lots of offs and crashes. Hill dried quick and we got back into the swing after lunch. Pushed a bit more in the afternoon, but was very cautious about the hairpins. A return to competition for the Maguire cooper, so we were battling for second place, I wasn’t far off the pace, but a second off where I was last year.

I wasn’t 100% comfortable on the Saturday, but happy with 3rd. Dad took second with 45.47, I managed 45.47. We seem to be a lot tighter now he’s getting to grips with the car. Hill was on top form in the afternoon, Wallace Menzies set a new outright hill record of 32.93 just beating Alex Summers time from last year of 32.94.

Also, an absolute pleasure to finally meet the car builder in person, Wil was competing in his OMS 28.



Great to talk to him about the car and a few of the adjustments they ran to stop a couple of the issues we still find. They got over the tipping on two wheels with front anti-roll bar, which the previous owner removed. So I’ll look to install one end of the season.



Sunday was wet, not wet enough first practice to shift from the slicks, but then the rain came in and stayed for the morning. Day ran to schedule and we got first timed run in before lunch, we were once again very close, separated by 14 hundredths with 48.24 for dad and 48.38 for me.

Second run in the afternoon didn’t go as planned. Through the gate and had a loss of power and definite change of exhaust note. Crawled to paddock and loaded up, quick strip when home found the culprit.



Slight damage to the head, so had to quickly find a slot at machinists for a turnaround within the week.



Got it back together yesterday, run up, retorqued and ready to head to Leeds on Friday.



Interestingly, whilst the Specialist Components site states “Weighs just 5.7kg fully assembled vs the iron head at 13.8kg!” since I had it to hand, I weighed it.



The paint must be lead based…

I never had any success with the copper gaskets.

Always OE or BK450 ( at a time where both were readily available )

Surprised at so much head damage, would make you think it had been running like that for some time ?

edit...ahhhh, it's aluminium. Doesn't take much to erode them

Edited by stevieturbo on 4th Aug, 2023.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

Trekked through the summer holiday traffic to Harewood, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the hill is so good it’s worth sitting in traffic for 7.5hours. Weather, as has been the case recently, looked to be fairly grim, but it was dry and calm to setup.

Saturday morning it was raining, not much, but enough to damp the track. I fitted the slicks, but it carried on raining, getting heavier. Walked the paddock 20 mins before we started and realised I was the only one left on slicks, so relented to the locals experience and first practice was on wets. Stayed damp for second practice session, but not really wet enough for the cut slicks, we kept on them which did cause some wear to the fronts. Moved onto the slicks as a line dried out for the timed runs.



Dad’s first time driving the hill and after first practice he moved ahead of me on times. I thought I’d put my mind to rest last year on the Sunday about Quarry corner, but apparently not. I was 5-6 tenths ahead on each run up to split 5, then dropped over half a second through the last corner. Hadn’t really considered the course in months, but apparently there’s been some subconscious dwelling on the crash last year!

Struggled to get into the 67 second bracket, dad got the hang of the hill quickly and sat on a 67.65 going into final run. I managed to squeeze a 67.95 from final run, but it was uncomfortable to have to force myself back onto throttle after lifting early. Got it done, but certainly not the same confidence in the car as last year. Our other competitor was milking the system somewhat, in protest I must add, as his previous record has been deleted due to a class merge in the championship, so he was taking it easy to score a “new record” to be beaten the next day to maximise points. So, dad took the Downton entry win with me second, but only by default as the R1 powered libre would spank me on the Sunday!

Forecast was for a pretty wet Sunday, but we woke up to a glorious day, with weather due to close in later.



I’m impressed with some of the championships that operate midlands and above, some seriously large entries, with 21 Lotus 7’s in their various classes



I don’t want to sound petulant, but hear it comes... I was disappointed and frustrated with Saturday. I’ve done a 66.44 in the car, the car is on absolute form, with newer tyres than last year, with fine conditions, there is only one thing that was different, the driver. I walked the track with dad on Friday, talked through the run and gears, braking etc, which he did, to a tee, but I was unable to follow my own advice.

Had a few beers on Saturday, a good social with the group that had travelled up. Sunday came with a slight hangover, and a decisive approach that I would get over the last sector losses. I was third car up the hill, first practice was a bit slippy but straight into a sub 70 time. By the time the other went in a later batch it was drying out fast and the times started coming down. Second run I matched dad’s Saturday time of 67.65 with dad a tenth behind. As expected, the R1 had woken up on the Saturday and was already producing low 66 runs.

The conditions were perfect, warm surface and decent breeze to keep temps spot on. Realised I’d have to pull something special out to match last year’s level. I busied myself with fuel levels, tyre pressures and a quick clean then geared up fairly early and sat in the car to give myself a talking to. It seemed to work, I dug out a new PB and class 5 record for Downton. Against my fastest practice I was 3 tenths up by split 2, 6 tenths at split 3, 8 tenths at split 4 and 1.1 secs at the speed trap on the straight. Kept the last sector steady but clean, setting a 66.30.

This was more like it, but I’ll be completely honest, it wasn’t the normal way to drive for me, it felt a bit forced and wasn’t that enjoyable. Still, I’ll take it. Dad had a tip onto two wheels throwing into the blind 90 left at country corner, so slowed a bit for farmhouse bend but still set a new PB with 67.21. The R1 pulled a 65.88 (with a later last run of 65.77 – obviously taking the downton class win!)

I didn’t have another run in me, despite only being lunchtime, dad also agreed, with any further runs likely to end in silliness, so we packed down and began the six hour drive home early. Got home at nine and must admit, I was bollocksed, physically and mentally, three events in three weeks along with an impromptu head gasket in-between was too much.

I’ve actually now withdrawn from the remaining events I had booked in, August is a busy month anyway, and would be more relaxing to do a couple of events in September as a marshal or spectator. I’ve secured the inaugural Gurston Challenge, there’s enough scores from me to qualify for Wiscombe Cup and the main championship, so I’ll leave it up to others to affect the results there, it’s been a successful season despite the incident at Wiscombe, with the arrival of my daughter I expected to only compete a handful of times, so very lucky overall.

Time to build back up the turbo… it’s been patiently sat in the wings. That's what we're all here for really!

I have never done any hill climbs, racing or track days, it's fun to read your adventures.
Sounds like the choice of experienced person to step away from another go.

Dazed and Confused....

Great effort this season, a formidable outfit!

my aim is to get to the Combe sprint in October to prove the car ahead of a full season next


Also