My mk2 Rally car - Duratec power

[mike77cos]

Brilliant video

[south west restorations]

hi

hi mate checked ur pics of ur build very good what u have done.a build mk2 and mk1 myself etc but not tackey the 5 link part yet .doing a mk1 van the now its away for paint hope to get it back in jan. then going to buy a mk2 and build a gp4 .sold ma last mk2 in jan there it was a track car but not linked but had alot of goddies in it .hope u do well wae ur car mate.

[Jon Segger]

Cheers all... I'll keep you posted with updates.

[docscars]

briliant read great build car looking really well

[badnews]

all i can says is wow what a job, i have just done all ten pages and what a read it was, the car is a credit to all your hard work and effort. i admire what you have done and i'm sure your car will be an inspiration to all who read this cracking thred. hats off to you pal and i wish you all the best for your future events

[Jon Segger]

Thanks again all for the nice comments.

So, I got the engine back from Paul just before Christmas and we spent a couple of very cold January weekends at the farm getting it back in and running again in time for the Bent-waters stages rally yesterday.

This was the first rally to be held at Bent-waters so we didn't really know what to expect.

It was fantastic. The stages were very good. Some real nice flowing fast bends and some extremely slippery muddy sections.

Other than one of the master cylinder resevoirs developing a leak and my co-driver Mark feeling sick, we had a fairly drama free day.

The car held together perfectly and we finished 12th overall and 6th in class - which we were happy with after the troubles we had last time. (I'll post some pics if I receive any.)

So a quick spanner check is needed now and then on to Goodwood in a fortnight.

[grum]

see you there Jon - be a few of us there hopefully - you supplying the corporate hospitality

[Jon Segger]

see you there Jon - be a few of us there hopefully - you supplying the corporate hospitality

Hmm... I've got no motorhome or corporate hospitality unit, but if its cold you're welcome to sit in my Ranger.

[grum]

Hmm... I've got no motorhome or corporate hospitality unit, but if its cold you're welcome to sit in my Ranger.

its ok mush, i got my own



cameras are charged and ready

[Jon Segger]

So... loooong overdue an update.

After Goodwood we had a fairly busy rest of 2010.

In May the Middlewick stages at Woodbridge were very wet. We struggled with a lack of talent, the wrong tyres, too much power and a throttle that's pretty much on or off. We were 15th overall and 7th in class.

Then in August we competed on the Richard Burns Memorial Rally 2010. Mark, my regular navigator wasn't able to make this event, and the friend of a friend that was meant to be sitting next to me never showed up on the morning of the rally! Luckily, a RAF chap called Dan was available and had a licence. He'd done one single venue event before and a couple of multi venues. We signed on at about 9.40am and were due at MTC 1 just after 10am.

Once we got going it went fairly well. Dan did a great job. He'd previously sat in a Nova and a grp N Imprezza - so my tail happy driving style was a bit new to him. He seemed to enjoy it though.

We had a few problems with oil pressure and brakes, but generally all was good. We had one notable 'moment' on the Sunday where there was a long fast right into a fast left that tightened a bit. I was drifting a bit on the right hander and went a little too fast into the left. The back was sliding a bit but it was all sort of under control until it went a fraction too wide and just touched the grass with the right rear. We had a proper tank slapper, going left, right, left, etc. but luckily didn't spin as there were concrete posts holding a fence up on one side and a sign post and trees the other side. I don't mind admitting that my brown warning light came on. We lost enough speed to regain control in time for the chicane that followed and I was a bit tidier after that. For the rest of the day Dan called the corner as 'left into tank slapper'.

We were very happy with our result: 12th o/a and 3rd in class. Dan was chuffed with his trophy - it was only his second. Video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmOTxf0AhZk&feature=player_embedded

Then in September I failed scrutineering at the Woodbridge Stages Rally because I didn't have a roll cage certificate. That was rather annoying as it had never been mentioned before. Luckily I don't live far from Woodbridge so it wasn't like I travelled across the country for the event. A phone call later that week and Ł18 sent to the MSA and a certificate was obtained.

Having armed myself with a roll cage certificate, our next event in November was the Lynn Charity Stages at Sculthorpe.

We arrived at a cold and wet Sculthorpe and after a bit of trouble getting the car started, we sailed through scrutineering without any issues. We were warned that the stages would be slippery as there was a lot of standing water in places and a decent covering of mud and slime in others. Tyre choice was going to be crucial, but we didn't have any wets and didn't have full enough pockets to buy a set, so we opted for part-worn soft slicks on the front and rear.

Stage 1 went OK. It was very slippery as expected, but good fun. A powerful rear wheel drive Escort is definitely not an advantage in such conditions.

Stage 2 wasn't so good though. We really struggled for grip and in the wet sections it felt like we were driving on sheet ice. We also had a big spin after the jump but luckily didn't hit anything. The class B 106 that was running behind us caught and overtook us. They actually took nearly a minute out of us on this stage, front wheel drive and wet tyres working well for them.

In service after stage 2 we looked at our tyres and it was obvious why we had no grip. There was nothing left of the rears (see pic below). Although it was very slippery, there were still some abrasive sections and that was just killing the tyres. So, we moved the front tyres to the back and then splashed out on some new soft slicks for the front.

The day went better from here on. Apart from clipping a barrel on the exit of a chicane and putting a big dent in the rear quarter, stages 3 to 8 pretty much went to plan. The car held together well and we finished 11th overall and took a trophy home for being 2nd in class C.

Some pics - cos we all love pics:

The tyres we took off after stage 2:

It was pretty wet:

The dent:





And now the car is off the road for a while for a winter check over, to fix a leaky gearbox, patch up the dent, and fit these bad boys:

To start 2011, we're booked in for the Brands Hatch stages on 30th January http://brandshatchstages.co.uk/ and the South Downs Stages at Goodwood on 12th February http://www.southdownsstages.co.uk/. Hopefully we'll get the car back together in time!

[south west restorations]

hi

a sore ding there m8.
love those goodies u have there .keep up the good work m8......

[alancdavis]

I DO like this car

[Jon Segger]

So.. final preparation ahead of Brands Hatch this weekend.

Its all back together and ready. The new brakes are on:


And we made some new, bigger mudflaps to meet the new regulations.

Took these off:


And replaced with these:




I hope it holds together for Sunday!

[Jon Segger]

Well..... it was all going OK until the 4th stage - when the gearbox started playing up. It wouldn't go into 4th gear - and then when it did, it jumped out again. So - we retired before we wrecked the gearbox any further.

We got it home and took the box out to look inside. We found nothing obviously wrong, so it's going to go to someone that knows what they're looking at.

It means I've had to pull our entry for Goodwood though, as there's no way I'm going to get it sorted in time.

[jimmer]

Thanks for posting the video, it was enjoyable. Bad luck with the gearbox. I hope you get it sorted out soon. All the best.