SOLD - 1600 TURBO + oval + downunder

[madmike]

Luv that Rack Pete ,I've been looking for a while now for one , Sure would be nice to take the bug to some swap meets, and haul home some goodies ,Instead of driving the bus all the time..

[petew]

Ok, so some news to report, some good, some bad, some so so.

Engineering inspection and brake test.
Last Friday morning, my engineering signatory came and inspected the car. He's a great guy. If you're in NSW in Australia PM me and I'll give you his contact details. The overall news was good. He went all over the car and by and large he was super happy with everything he saw. Then we went out and did extensive brake testing. A series of spike tests at 30mph, then another series of hard stops from 50mph to a full stop. I'm talking, pushing the brakes as hard as you can, but trying not to lock them up. From memory, he was looking for 50n/m of force on the brake pedal. The problem being, it just stopped too well, around the 43n/m mark. Still, that's a pass as far as he's concerned. He then drove the car. Aside of shifting back into 1st instead of 3rd, he really liked it. Said it drove nice. Was really impressed with it.

I think he could have passed it there on the spot except for some details he needed to know on the brakes and a query on the seatbelts.

This is the bad news. Basically, new legislation in our state means we HAVE to comply with a modification document regardless of whether the car is pre-emissions/pre-ADRs or not. So, even though the car has FIVE static seatbelts, including THREE baby harness mounting points. That's just not good enough. The four corner seats all have to have retractable belts. He was just as frustrated as me. He got back to me the other day and confirmed it. We were both trying to find a way around it, but it's not good. So there it is. The back seat is the real challenge. It's not impossible, but it's another thousand dollars and some fab work and a lot of measuring.

Still I need to get a wriggle on before they tighten up the regulations again. It's an out of control nanny state over here and he totally agrees. The weird thing is, if the car was seven years old (pre-48), it would qualify as a hotrod and providing it had the original chassis, it would be open slather. I could do pretty much whatever I want. Crazy, crazy stuff. Everyone is angry about it and I haven't even told you about kit cars like Cobras and Lotus 7s.

Anyhow. Then I got side tracked writing a book. A whole book. In a week. That's a truly weird experience. But moving on.

Steel deliveries and tiny roof racks.
I've been trying to put a shadesail over our driveway for some time now, but needed to dig a 5' hole to put the pole in. I got the first half done before CHristmas by hand. Wow, hard work. This morning I got a post hole digger and did the other half in 30mins. Seriously. Then I picked up the post...

IMG20180208102509.jpg

As per usual, a couple of guys were hanging off the car. Drooling over it and taking pics. Hilarious stuff. I'm Hilter's handyman.

[buguy]

You have to have 4 corner retractable seat belts, but that missile strapped to the top is ok??!!! Looks like your ready for car jousting!

[woodsbuggy1]

Who needs a truck?
Any way you can use seatbelts from a junkyard vehicle?
So glad we don't have to deal with the crazy laws in Indiana, I got pulled over once for speeding in my street buggy, and the officer let me go after looking at registration and asking me 20 questions about buggy, I didn't even have my drivers license on me, forgot wallet at home.
Kenric

[buguy]

For real! I don't even have seat belts in my car. I got pulled over once and they asked about them. I told them VW didn't come with seat belts in 65! He wasn't a big fan of the blue dot tail lights I have either.

[petew]

Unfortunately, if I increased the CCs by more than 15%, the power by more than 25% or change the brakes from factory at all. I'd barely have to lift a spanner to change any of those things, right? Then I have to do all these other upgrades to be legal. A turbo of course makes it worse... now if I had my time again, I'd have found a 1300 and supercharged it like I first planned to in the first place(coz it came with the Judson)... with 1600 barrels. I could do that now I guess, but I've done my cash and I'm soooo close.

[madmike]

Is all I can think of,,,

[petew]

New South Wales, the state where I live has really gotten out of control with this stuff. Basically it goes back to an incident over 10 years back where an Irish backpacker got drunk and dived into the surf at Bondi beach. He broke his back and ended up in a wheelchair. Then he sued the local council and won. That precedent set up a situation where public liability went crazy and insurance premiums sky rocketed. Overnight, everyone with anysort of risk had governments and authorities breathing down their necks trying to minimize accidents. The modified car scene was already under pressure even then, but that stupid Irishman made everything worse for everyone. Now almost every mod requires legal certification or... people just drive around with illegal cars. It's worse than the SMOG rules because you have your car inspected every year before the registration is renewed.

[Udo Airbus]

Very cool ride Petew! I like the style a lot!

[petew]

Came across this vid about 911s and weight transfer. I guess it applies to us too.

[BBvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG9g8TkMCF8[/BBvideo]

[petew]

...and that's when I realized I was leaking brake fluid all over the place. Grrr...

[buguy]

That will make for some good drifting!

[Piledriver]

That will make for some good drifting!

Did the brake warning system work?
(seriously, it should tell you when there is a huge pressure imbalance)
Drums sometimes need 10lb residual pressure valves or the wheel cylinders can pee even if nothing is really wrong.
Discs can be helped with 2 psi valves, firms up the pedal.

[petew]

Actually the warning light did come on. I thought it was just going round left hand corners and a dodgy float, but it had lost about half the fluid. Basically the rubber bungs on the bottom are weeping because the lines are at too hard an angle. I had to work out how to fix that. Not terrible, but just fiddly and annoying.

[petew]

Who else is using stock rocker covers here? Coz I'm getting the feeling my are lifting under revs. Also, I think my scavenge pump is adding to my crankcase pressure. Thoughts?