I hadn't written much in the run up to the RBRR,time wouldn't really permit,so here is a bit of a catch up of what had to be done to get the Spitfire somewhere close to ready
It was a miracle the car completed the 10cr last year after its very hurried rebuild following a 13 year lay up in a lock up - I had defiantly used up all my luck on that run! so I gave myself plenty of time to get jobs done whilst not busy with "things I have to do in life outside the shed" -the list turned out a bit like this,
De-coked the head replaced rocker gear
Rebuilt carbs
Modified standard air box to incorporate stub stacks and remote air filters stuck out in the cold air flow
Refitted the manifolds taking great care to get a decent gas tight fit, and using the right bits -see previous posts to see what botches had been done before !
Re-pipe the oil cooler - mounting the thermostat on a better engineered bracket
Sourced and fitted second hand overdrive gear box
Replaced rear crank seal
Fitted engine back plate correctly - see using up luck on 10CR!
Replaced clutch- again see using up last bit of luck on 10CR!
Fitted new prop-after homemade CV boot experiment left me covered in CV grease very funny!
Fitted second had diff-supeflex bushes fitted
Replaced drive shaft U/Js
Made and fitted 2"single box exhaust system
Tided up the interior - painted the red oxide floor a nice shade of International white tractor paint-I have no intention of putting carpets in the car!
Mot test passed in August and road testing commenced ironed out a few issues -the rolling road showed up I was right on the limit of the standard needles so fitted some ATT items which worked a treat -the car just "felt better" all round ,next on the list for the engine would be an unleaded tweaked head and a slightly more racy cam but to be honest I've go so much other stuff on the go at the moment I am happy as it is- working! - I cant be arsed messing with it!
Back to the RBR I went through all the service and maintenance prep no faults found helped of course by the fact that most the parts were new or refurbished last year- I did treat it to new HT leads and electronic ignition that allowed a decent rotor arm to be used
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| Vital Stickers added |
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| Final tinkering -adding of padding, cushions etc to try and stop "arse numbing" |
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| Final head torque and tappet adjustments |
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No Monster Munch here, its not 1996 anymore and Team Shed have grown up.....sort of?
most importantly was the complete lack of cigarettes a first in 16 years of doing the event! |
Homer turned up at Shedtune HQ most surprised to find the car packed and ready to go all he had to do was give it a quick wash and slap the stickers on
I re- torqued the cylinder head and adjusted the tappets - I expected some valve seat recession on the run so set them at 11 thou -well I used the shedtune method of "tight 12thou slack 10thou" feeler gauge so I knew they were about 11 thou !
The only thing playing on my mind before we set off was the gear box it leaks a little and uses a scroll seal which I didn't replace (the later ones use a lip seal)
The run up to the plough went well -all though we were getting a few fumes into the car -we had the roof up -I checked all the exhaust joints in the car park but found nothing amiss we put it down to me not making the tail pipe long enough and fumes getting sucked back in at certain speeds/wind directions? anyway it wasn't a show stopper
In true tradition it lashed it down for the start and first 150 miles - flipper foot Homer managed to knock the battery box drain pipe off and couldn't understand why his feet were getting wet- I fixed it when he asked about 600 miles later if the pipe he had knocked of at the start was important-knob head
The car was running fine- happy to buzz along at around 3.5k rpm in O/D top along the A1 -it was returning around 45 mpg which we were pleased with.
A bottle of Lambrini was delivered to Mc Jim at Cater bar on route to Edinburgh Airport where Homer took over the driving .
I manged to get about an hour or so kip as Homer got the next 170 miles done- in patchy fog -I remember opening my eyes to see a big Stag of the hoofed type ambling in the verge glad it hadn't decided to try and cross the road in front of us, seconds later homer was off the throttle and on the brakes as the stags smaller cousin crossed- wake up call!
I took over driving about 10 miles off Skiach as Homer was knackered -he had had no sleep and was finding it very hard to get any in the Spitfire
The last 100 miles to J.O.G is always one of my favourite sections and we were blessed with good conditions - a rainbow over the hotel pin pointing the breakfast location
We wimped out of taking the roof down for the next section and were glad as 2 or 3 really heavy showers chased us along the loch - I got hacked off as my sunglasses had become scratched and I had forgotten my back up pair- I suffer really bad migraines often brought on by sharp light contrasts-just as the sort we were having bright sunshine with dark clouds and rain- I pulled over in a strop and popped a couple of preemptive migraine relief tablets, Homer looked for his sunglasses which were lost some where in the car in a sleep deprived state he gave up and crashed out twitching and snoring like a border collie chasing sheep in his sleep - I chilled out realising the migraine wasn't coming and enjoyed the drive - not pushing the car too hard as there was still over a 1,000 miles to go,we ended up in a gaggle of triumphs heading towards Conon bridge, we pulled off at Skiach services for a second time and filled up. I bought a new pair of sunglasses £14 bloody quid never mind didn't want a migraine
I rested at the control and had about a 20 min power kip Homer got coffee and snacked up -I stuck to the bananas and nuts
The roof came down and the sun came out - and wow did it wake us up! What a great feeling the only snag being that on the last 20 miles or so into Sterling the car was "being held back" a sort of fuel starvation feeling and very slight misfire at just over 4k rpm - I was going to swap in new fuel filters but Homer wanted to get cracking on his stint to Tebay services -fair enough I thought- make hay whilst the sun shines -anyway it ran fine with a tank full of 97 octane from Stirling services
I checked the mixture at Tebay- I had time to have a decent hot shower and a cracking Gluten free chicken curry before the route book could be signed - it was a little weak (the mixture not the curry which produced some perfect "payback flatulence" ) so gave it one flat on each carb and nailed it to Gledrid services chasing Dale - ran great revving out no problem so not really sure what the problem was,dodgy fuel? goo in the filter or lines that cleared its self? or just a little too weak a mixture?
We set off into the welsh wilderness knowing that this was the ball breaker section -again in a large gaggle of Triumphs, by the end of the wilderness it ended up, us Andy and Sarah Johnson in their Stag and Alex in his Spitfire - our sat nav didn't want to find the old bridge and the human navigator just wanted to pass out so I followed the electronic one to the new Severn crossing- not before having a major brain fart when it told me to take the the third exit off a round about that only had two- anyway we rolled into Gordano ,I didn't bother getting out the car just closed my eyes for a while declaring to Homer "I am hanging out of my arse" -about 10 mins power kip later I ventured into the bleak services to witness the now famous 1000 yard "gordano" stare displayed by so many crews
Homer took over driving once the route book was signed and the next thing I knew I was waking up somewhere south of Exeter as we pulled into a lay by- Homer now declaring
he was hanging out of his arse - I took a couple of glucose and caffeine pills and jumped into the drivers seat -we were only 10 miles of the next control and I was happy to see Alex was still with us
I felt revitalised after a coffee and decent scoff at the the Whitehouse Services control the next 90 miles or so to Lands End flew in -Alex staying close with us - and a police car- which gave me a flash as he pulled in front of me so I followed him up a slip road only to watch him shoot off somewhere else? Both Alex and I were confused by that one, maybe he was just cheering us on!
Lands End went very well a great breakfast and a good hours kip for both of us so back on the road hood down and a great drive to Bude where more coffee and great hospitality greeted us
The drive from there to dart moor was the normal gaggle of Sunday drivers - must admit Homer and I switched off a bit so I was glad when great friend and petrol head "Uncle Slimey" (Peking Paris 2cv fame) met us with a flask of stonking strong very nice coffee and one of soup -really cheered me up and spurred me on for the final sections to the finish
It was during the next section we had our only technical glitch -we lost the overdrive around Honiton - bollocks I thought gearbox fluid loss causing it to drop out - but I had wired in a tell tail l.e.d so Homer would remember about overdrive this indicated no power getting to the solenoid - so we decided to stay on the 303 rather than take the A35 - I knew there was decent picnic area with cafe toilets and car park not far away - if we kept a good pace on the 303 I could buy 10 mins time to investigate the fault -I didn't fancy ragging the car with no O/D for the rest of the event and all the way home from the finish.
The fault turned out to be the gear lever switch great I gaffer taped on a generic switch to the gear lever -we heard the clunk of the solenoid as we tested it then it stopped working again! -bugger looped out the gearbox inhibitor switch and it then worked every time- reminding each other "check its switched off before putting it in reverse" we hot footed it to Sixpenny Handley letting the sat nav take us the quickest route,we made the control one of the last 30 cars or so.
Next was an easy run up the A34 to Didcot TR register - then a very stress free run down the M40-well stress free as it can be but there will always be traffic delays around London this time of day on a Sunday and we were expecting far far worse - the M25 was clear (40mph at the busiest bit) thus we got into the Plough at around 19.10
Team Shed 8th RBRR completed - really really pleased to have completed it in a Spitfire - but think it might well be in a saloon for the next one!
There is still plenty of time to donate
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=SHEDTUNE&isTeam=true
For a taste of the RBRR have a look at Team Sheds video of the 2012 event
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoXf5D4a8eE&feature=plcp
