The Thread Of Doom

[Bigtimmy 1]

Well after reading the good vibes thread on Friday evening before going to my track day on Saturday I knew something would go wrong, but what and how serious?

 

As it happened two things went wrong one quite serious and one just annoying!

 

So its a sunny day and the track is working well and the car is going like a scalded cat, outpacing a couple of Clios nicely thank you very much.

 

Then after 65 miles of round and round something went "Clunk" and the steering wheel moved a couple of inches forward, then backwards. Using my spidey senses I reckoned something was up so pulled into the pits and found that the 4 rear bolts that hold the subframe on had gone awol, not just one or two, all feckin four of the things leaving the subframe dangling from the two upper mounts.

 

Fail

 

So a trip to bodge it and quick for some M10 bolts and some spring washers and some hope was made, however that wasn't without incident as I nearly lost 2 of the tyres from the tyre rack on the trailer, somehow both of the straps had come adrift but disaster was averted.

 

New Bolts

 

Back at the circuit and a burger and FREE chips later I managed to measure the bolts, cut them to length with the grinder and do them up to FT and hey presto I was back on track after only an hours downtime.

 

Result.

 

After a couple of ten laps I went back into the pits and folded myself out of the car and went to the truck for some juice and noticed a couple of oil spots leading towards the car, so I walked to the front drivers corner and feck me it was like a waterfall of oil coming from I think the cooler which I think has cracked but I can't be sure just yet!

 

Fail

 

So at that point I had the choice of either trying to fix it or just giving up and going home.

 

I went home and went to the pub and got involved with trying to break a fight up which involved me using the sleeper death grip to disable the little t*#t who was trying to beat seven shades of sh*t out of my mate who is old enough to know better (41). Eventually the guy passed out and my mate ended up with a broken nose so all was well.

 

And for breaking the fight up...free beer from the landlord..WIN!

 

Anyone else having doom issues with their 205 can someone top my shi**y day?

 

Answers on a postcard

[TT205 42]

which involved me using the sleeper death grip

 

 

Go on then - how do we do the sleeper death grip

[Bigtimmy 1]

Go on then - how do we do the sleeper death grip

 

It is much like the Vulcan Death Grip...I have some CCTV of the event which I'll try and capture an image from and post it up if I can!

[notamondayfan 44]

I think you are extremely lucky to be honest, a few more laps with oil pissing out and it would have been a load worse, and you are also lucky with the subframe too.

 

I blame your sig to be honest -

 

"2 track days with only the loss of a rear pad retaining pin"

 

Just had to tempt fate didn't you? :-P

[Baz 421]

I'm afraid i can probably beat that... (apologies, it's looong, a bit like my weekend has been!)

 

It was my birthday Friday just gone, good day until about 4pm when i felt a twinge in my neck, gradually got worse and sitting in a restaurant that evening was pretty difficult, or funny for anyone else!

 

Went home and tried to have a lay down, couldn't get comfortable, so took some big-ass painkillers (co-codamol) and went round some friend's house to generally chill out. I'd had a few drinks by this point, but not lots, so sitting in the living room, in increasing amounts of pain i just couldn't get comfortable, so got up to go outside for a walk round the garden, only i didn't make it that fair, fainted in the hallway hitting my head and cutting my hand as i fell down!

 

Came to, and realised this was getting slightly worrying, went for that walk around the garden but it didn't really help, had a sit down, smoked a couple of cigarettes then got in my friend's car where i tried to get comfy and fall asleep, which was clearly never going to happen! A little while later a couple of the girls came and found me, worried as i'd been missing for a while, said i looked like i was in a lot of pain and suggested i go to the hospital. I ignored the idea, because i'm not one to rush to the doctor's at the first sign of a cold etc, but it then did dawn on me that it could be something worse than i imagined, a further half hour or so and my friend came out of the house to the car and took me to hospital, where there was going to be a 3-4hr wait to be seen, and then a 45hr wait to be treated, Feck that.

 

So i went home, took some more painkillers and tried to get some sleep, which didn't go too well, i stuck a film on and tried to get comfortable, and basically fell in and out of light sleep all night, and most of saturday morning and early afternoon.

 

Saturday evening, i realised i was meant to be competing the next day, & my race car was in bits in the workshop, needing the front end putting back together after a couple of incidents a few weeks back, i started to wonder if i should call the race organiser's for Sunday's event and cancel my entry, but my dad said he'd go and re-fit the car back together, and i said to myself if i can drive my car to the workshop to pick up the race car, then we'll race tomorrow...

 

So we did just that, and at this point, my neck had eased off a little, a good sign i thought! So i spent a little while in the workshop prep'ing the car, then drove it home, where i organised stuff and myself, for the next day.

 

Woke up bright and early, feeling not too bad, again, on probably a few too many painkillers, and headed off to the Sprint, an hour and a half or so away.

 

Only we went to the wrong venue. There's 2 airfield's a few miles from each other, both of which were used for events that i do, so i went to the 'other' one, where the security on the gate let me in, and i drove around the airfield trying to find where i was supposed to be. Funnily enough, i couldn't find where that was though, and got round the whole airfield before arriving at a gate, where i was greeted by the security, obviously asking lots of question, and at first refusing to let me back out!

 

We eventually got going and went down the road to the other venue, only missing the turning because the arrows had turned round in the wind, pointing us the wrong way, and we arrived about 20mins too late, missed the briefing and past the signing-on cut-off time... Only they thankfully allowed us to sign on, and get the car scrutineered!

 

All sorted and the day got underway, still feeling some pain i was taking a few painkillers every couple of hours, but getting on with it!

 

Only the day wasn't going without issue, second practise i twatted a cone going through a chicane, luckily no damage, 1st timed run i ran out of petrol (yes, i felt like a right c0ck being towed back into the paddock...), 2nd timed run there was an issue before i could start, so sitting on the line the engine/carbs got a bit heat-soaked, so when i did go to launch off the line, the engine bogged right down and i stalled it... otherwise the run would've been pretty good!

 

So the whole day came down to the 3rd(last) timed run, got off the line well, got the braking and turning points right, and felt very smooth, and managed to get through the last section and over the finish line very well, which i'd been having trouble with, since it was a multi-apexed right hander coming out of a quick left hander, and ran a 87.9 second run, so almost 5 seconds quicker than my previous best run (2nd practise on road tyres) and enough to take the class win, and 20th overall, so not too bad after all!

 

 

Go home last night and was nackered, so packed up and pretty much went to sleep, in pain, and woke up again this morning in even more pain, kind of unsurprisingly after expecting a bit too much of it yesterday!

Edited May 17, 2010 by Baz

[Bigtimmy 1]

At least my doom only lasted a day, but yours was a whole weekend...and on your birthday weekend too.

 

Happy belated birthday!

 

So how is the neck now?

 

Those co codamol tabbies are awesome, I had serious toothache a couple of years back and had to power through our annual lifeboat station open day, which I did with the aid of 3 co codamols through the day.

 

Obviously the toothache had all but gone by 5pm when we all went for a "debrief" to the pub. Some time later our pagers went off so we all piled out of various windows and doors of the pub, swam accross the river to the station I jumped in the tractor and launched the boat so all was well.

 

However when I got back to the station after my 10 minutes in the tractor, the effects of both the co codamol and the 8 pints I had drunk took their toll and I managed to park the tractor and then pass out in the tractor whilst it was still running, someone did get a picture.....bast#*ds!!

[Bigtimmy 1]

I blame your sig to be honest -

 

"2 track days with only the loss of a rear pad retaining pin"

 

Just had to tempt fate didn't you? :-P

 

 

Hmm I must alter that!!