ferny

3 hours ago, Steve P said:

My Vitesse failed in 2012 when the shaft snapped at the woodruff key in the hub and the wheel departed with the brake drum still attached,was that avoidable?.

S

Why didn't you carry the back end of a car, complete with entire running gear? You'd only need to weld two bits of metal together to get you going again. 

If you don't know how to weld by connecting jumper cables to a lamp post, then you shouldn't be allowed to enter.

Here you're allowed 4 tyres per year at the tip. I doubt anyone is writing your details down and following you though...

Luckily, I get mine done at work if my friend is able to do it in his lunch. In fact, he saved my RBRR by sticking the fronts on the balance machine one evening as a favour. 

It used to be £13 a wheel locally, 10 years ago...

1 hour ago, Martins Stag said:

Andy I would suggest just using the word "recommend having some one that is vaguely technical". I am not sure I would put myself in the category of competent amateur mechanic.... I'll  have a go, but how do you measure it too...  Don't forget changing a water pump on a Stag can be a whole can of worms too... I get you point though....

 

Martin M 

Good point. How about asking crew how long a temporary fix is expected to last. Don't let the crew enter unless the answer is along the lines of - long enough for me to forget about it until it breaks again, resulting in another temporary fix.

I don't think driving out there would be an issue as long as you get your international permit? You'd get stopped no doubt, but there shouldn't be any legal issues. Sorting insurance could be fun though! Shipping looks around £750ish each way? It depends where you want to start and finish.

I'm looking for stuff to do in 2023. 2022 is full from all the stuff postponed this year and I normally get a six week block of holiday in the summer. It'd be a good RBRR shakedown! 

May as well use this as post RBRR fixes report thread!

Gearbox oil - checked and poured out everywhere. Must have been over-full somehow. It always seems to gain extra oil on an RBRR! I'll be doing a fluid swap on it soon as it's a bit dark despite only being a year or two old. Didn't really lose any other fluids and engine oil (fully synthetic 10/60w) is still the colour of golden syrup.

Radio fixed (broke a day after the event) by unplugging it for a few days.

Interior boot llight has fixed itself as has the auxiliary engine/bonnet fan sensor.

Boost gauge died on the way back to Knebworth so I've replaced it. Could have just been the sensor but the replacement is a lot nicer.

Drivers interior door handle which snapped before Scotland has been replaced.

Heated seat button light still doesn't work, but the switch and seat do, so that can wait!

Exhaust will get attended to when I can be bothered. Its scrapping more than a snake's tinkle right now. 

Oh, and unpacking will happen at some point. And the brakes need adjusting again, but that seems to be a 1k mile service task anyway on this car.

Perhaps it's the RBRR prep talking, which mostly consisted of watching Top Grear and Grand Tour specials, but has anyone looked into or considered shipping their car to America and going for a drive?

I'd also say half shafts UJ. If they're not brand new, I'd say be prepared to replace. A passenger may help identify the offending side during a drive as it can be impossible to identify play when jacked up in the air.

"Heavy duty" Freelander ones are what you want. Saying that, mine only lasted a year. I now use cheap ones with the grease nipple in the bearing cap (eBay) and they've lasted two years and counting.

1 hour ago, TRTOM2498 said:

Hi Martin,

The car puts the power down very well actually, certainly in the dry. However, in any other condition it is quite 'loose'. It is essentially a handful when pressing on, so you do need to be razor focused when in the armchair.

Cheers.

 

Too much power is an under-appreciated tool to extending the life of components. I'm sure making smoke has saved my diff a few times. If I could maintain grip I'd be fitting a new one every few months....

Your pin engages with the castle nut? Show off! The one on my replacements are nowhere near.

I've tried loads over the years and anything near the engine cracks on the outside for me. Eventually it starts to smell...  I had to change some at the start of the 2018 RBRR when I noticed some was cracking. It was fine days before.

I'm going hard nylon now. 

7 minutes ago, Alex said:

Wow that’s a bit precise!
 

Easy bits first…..

car already has a motolita,poly bushed throughout,

1144 pads, aluminium rack mounts.

Im not entirely sure which springs it has…. Some old guy gave em to me? They’re red………

 

Like the sound of the 13 row cooler…..will it make it faster?

Adjustable radius arms are they really worthwhile?

I'm happy with 1155 on my herald. They're much better than 1144 in all conditions as far as I'm concerned. 

This is my cooler by the way. Yeah, I'm just showing off that I got lucky and got mine for £25 🤣

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304052200892

Trunnion removal is only good fir piece of mind. So worth it.

ARB links you can knock yourself. I can try to find my parts list ifvyou want. They offer no real benefit to everyday cars though.

Oil coolers? Mines off a cessna...

My sanity?

I adjusted mine at the first control point. I wasn't getting flashed and against moderns their rear numberplates weren't even being illuminated, but could see that against low Triumphs they weren't great.

It's less than two minutes to make an adjustment.

I might skip the idea of a beam tester and just take a toffee hammer.

Up to £333 in fuel now. I think Scotland and Wales finally found mobile signal....

Still less than was paid out for the last event, and fuel was cheaper then and we didn't finish!

3 hours ago, Jason said:

I'm interested - the proviso is that it has to be minimal extra effort for the organisers who's primary purpose is to get the real life event completed.  think there's lots of activity that goes on in little corners of the digital world that could, with a little redirection of effort, be seen by a wider audience.

What do you have in mind?

QR codes. One on the road book (can be a sticker printed and applied by the entrant) and one at the control point. 

Knock up a simple app with two levels - marshal and entrant. When one is scanned, it logs that the entrant was there. Set up teams and multiple people can scan from different phones to log the team. Put the onus on the team to scan to allow family to monitor them. The marshal can scan at their/clubs discretion. 

This can feed into a live (but randomly delayed) page for the public to show where (but not when) logged in. 

I'm always interested in how friends ate doing, but don't always get the see them and don't want to disturb them over the weekend. This would provide that info.

I'd echo the comments on handing out road books in order as well.

I know it's not a race, but from experience, I like to be as early as possible to reduce stress, allow time to attend to issues and avoid weather if we've spotted it's going to turn grim. In other words, we've planned our run.

To have to stand in the rain and get caught in a queue to join a fast A road at 40 mph, presumably because a new driver was getting used to the car and the team was still in the process of getting reading to drive... not pleasant. 

Same goes for cars following so close they looked like tow vehicles at 40mph in straight 60mph zones. Leave space so others can make progress. We aren't racing you, we've planned our event just like you have and so please be courteous and let us all do what we need. 

Similar thoughts on cars driving like wallies. Not having stickers on your car doesn't mean you can cut in dangerously at junctions when people are slowing down. It also doesn't mean you're faster than the van you pulled out in front of right at the start of the event. That could have ended nastily but pretty much set a precedent. 

I said to Tim that lands end wasn't an improvement this year. Instead it was excellent in it's own right.

Best event yet and WhatsApp really help feel connected to what was going on.

5 hours ago, thescrapman said:

Pete, if you used £272 then that is 40 gallons, so 50mpg. 

 

I know, it just doesn't make sense. I've been getting 25mpg before the event so plugged the laptop in on the A1 and near Jedburgh to have a tinker.

However, the maths, receipts and only being able to get 7lt in the tank at Bude after filling up at Tesco Penzance suggests otherwise.

Does anyone mind posting their costs? I don't know how many miles we did exactly (speedo well out...) and I'm missing some receipts.

Looks like we used £272 in fuel according to the credit card. Far better than what I think was over £400 last time. I wasn't hanging about at times either. 

It's useful, but not infallible. 

I only say this as I've spoken to rescuers who have been sent to wrong locations trying to get the people who relied on it as an excuse to be ill prepared. Of course, if you need mountain rescue this weekend and you're entered in the event, you've gone very wrong!

Last night the queues around here were awful. I filled the Herald up this morning readyvfor the weekend - ten minute queue and standard price of 132.9p.

17 minutes ago, Bradison said:

Eric needs a wash and the boot needs packing with relevant tools and spares, after which the headlights require a small amount of adjustment so as to not blind everyone. Stickers need to be put on the old motorway grade magnetic sheet and applied to the car. 

Went for a test run a few days ago and found a vibration in the steering wheel, so checked and nipped up the front wheel bearings. 

All in all Eric has had…

• Rebuilt half shafts (new uj’s)
• Rebuilt prop shaft
• Replacement coolant hoses and actual coolant… as the system was filled with mainly water. 
• New speakers… you never know
• LED flood/spot lights
• Uprated standard headlight and main beam bulbs
• New go faster stickers
• And new period correct numberplates

 

 

Your wing mirror glass hasn't been replaced? Ooooo, that's risky!

12 minutes ago, Matt306 said:

Need to put engine in car still

Isn't that going to reduce your mpg? 

If you can find a long enough hose I know someone who could get your fuel here. Only trouble is that weekends are her busiest shifts.