Lee's Garage

[MikeITB]

hey every little helps, i curse myself everyday for still possessing my spleen and appendix, even my gall bladder annoys melmao

Yup, don't forget tonsils as well, all of no use just taking up weight...

[lee303]

had mine out when i was younger, tonsillitis for the weight loss win!!

[MikeITB]

lmao Now that's dedication for you.

[Brian_S]

manifold looks great, what bore are the headers. They look so much more substantial than the std manifolds.

The tube is 1 5/8" which seemed about right for this engine. More tuning and You'd probably want to be up around 1 3/4" primaries.

I'm really enjoying making the manifolds at the moment, it's been good fun and they've come along pretty quickly compared to how long I thought they'd take.

I think V6 god is perhaps a little bit too far! But I'll take it! lmao

[lee303]

righty, a lovely sunny day at the garage yesterday, that turned out to be very productive too!

Willay turned up in the astra so we could finally get round to tagging the cage in, and do a few other final bits and bobs, but tagging first, made these…

then welded them here…


then made some for the b pillars too, but awkward to do as the cage is so far from the pillar due to its 5 door design and three door cage :lol: but i figured this will add some strength in the plane its most useful..


willay then tried to ruin my good work with primer…

luckily i saved it with some paint, which i think was even the right colour this time!!

also sorted the harness eyelets out for the lap belts on the pillar sides of the car as where it wasn't didn't inspire confidence, a hole and some welding later, and its much nicer, welds came out nice too!!


more paint, my inner JR was clearly trying to escape…


then we messed with the camber and a few other things, car is looking top notch now, so some photos were taken, purely for internet based display purposes…




and after that i went and gave brian a hand removing his engine/subframe, as this will be the easiest way to get it all built up and refitted with the proper engine, which should happen soon as the manifolds are nearly there now, his welds are getting better and better!!





getting the engine and frame out was hilariously easy, especially using this trolley we have, which appears to be made for the job!!!





its all coming together now, might even get some nova time next weekend before coombe

[Benn]

Cage is looking good, are you glad you painted it first? Now your ground it off..lol

Welding is sweet on the manifold too.

[lee303]

thing is benn, if i hadn't painted almost all of it first, i would have had to paint the whole thing in the car, and getting at some of the tubes would have been impossible, so a little sanding and repainting is a better option

[tinxy]

when are you at combe mate ill pop down and have a butch wanna see this rocket on the track

james

[spanishfly]

yeah I painted my cage before and ground back, it's the better way!

Astra looks as though it is ready for a low 9 min lap

[lee303]

when are you at combe mate ill pop down and have a butch wanna see this rocket on the track

james

24th of this month mate, on the weekend racer stand

yeah I painted my cage before and ground back, it's the better way!

Astra looks as though it is ready for a low 9 min lap

fingers crossed!

[sbd16vastra]

do you have any sessions booked lee ?

[flatout]

yeah I painted my cage before and ground back, it's the better way!

Astra looks as though it is ready for a low 9 min lap

who painted the cage???

[lee303]

do you have any sessions booked lee ?

yeah, i'm out in the weekend racer session, might grab another on the day if there's any spare, but its only a shakedown before germany really, make sure the floor doesn't fall off etc lmao

[MikeITB]

yeah, i'm out in the weekend racer session, might grab another on the day if there's any spare, but its only a shakedown before germany really, make sure the floor doesn't fall off etc lmao

Fancy the Top Gear test track? It works out a little costly but it's a childish ambition of mine to drive round it. May 9th. Let me know if you're interested

[spanishfly]

who painted the cage???

My slave

[lee303]

Fancy the Top Gear test track? It works out a little costly but it's a childish ambition of mine to drive round it. May 9th. Let me know if you're interested

would do but its an airfield so would finish my tyres off before germany, and i'd like to make them last for that if possible, cheers though

[Benn]

Fancy the Top Gear test track? It works out a little costly but it's a childish ambition of mine to drive round it. May 9th. Let me know if you're interested

Wow i'd love to do that..lol

[sbd16vastra]

Fancy the Top Gear test track? It works out a little costly but it's a childish ambition of mine to drive round it. May 9th. Let me know if you're interested

do you get to drive the exact track ??

[MikeITB]

would do but its an airfield so would finish my tyres off before germany, and i'd like to make them last for that if possible, cheers though

Ahh I see. Yeah I'm definitely borrowing the TDs from the Lancia to destroy the tyres on those

Wow i'd love to do that..lol

Do it!

MODBALL (TOP GEAR) TRACK & STICKER DAY

do you get to drive the exact track ??

I would certainly hope so. If anyone thought "I know what would be a great idea, let's rent the Top Gear air field and make up our own circuit" they would need a swift kick in the jacobs.

[lee303]

what a lovely day to be arsing about with cars huh?

today was mainly a nova day, but also squeezed in some manta stuff too!

firstly i made some insurance for my diffuser strakes, i trust my welds, but i also don't want a strake coming loose if it takes a knock round the carousel or similar, so made these

and put them here,


looks ok i think, but form is never in the forefront of my mind as you know…
then i moved the pedal box a little bit so i can actually get full throttle in the new seat position..

also finally fixed my steering column, the bottom bush has been knackered for ages, so now the lathe is working properly i turned one up
column out

said problem bush(or lack of!!)

new bush spun from ally

only problem being the diameter in the middle means it wont go over the end of the column, so it has to be cut in half, fits pretty good though!!

i also remounted the fire extinguisher handle, couldn't decide on how to make a bracket, so did this, lmao

it'll be fine!! i then did some odds and sods for brian, made his remaining willwood bracket and fitted it

and tapped his oil blank for a pressure take off

and a few other bits, he's wiring the engine as we speak, now he has all the ancillaries he needs


so tomorrow is more manta and drive the nova, once i've put some oil in it that is, and then she's ready for coombe

[lee303]

well whadda you know, a day that went to plan at the garage!!
got up and watched the gp, brekkie then cracked on, first job was to swap the oil filter, fill it up with oil then prime the dry sump, then away for a blat!!
car felt really good today, it much prefers warmer weather, bit like its owner, and the little improvements like the seat position work well, did take a vid, will get it up on here once i chop it about a bit, gave a the car a good clean after that…and took some photos ofcourse





then put it away for coombe, must get a new car cover!!!


which enabled me to help brian some more, fitted his boot while he wired up his engine


pins were fairly easy, although the manta is not flat anywhere handy for them so they had to be bent, but i did use the patented Shonky alloy-plate-slip-joint ™ for the rear edge, came out well luckily lmao


then we had to help the farmer trying to feed a new lamb, cute but stupid apparently, doesn't want to feed…awww

all good fun though, brian has now finished his engine wiring, and he's done it really nicely as you'd expect, making this rather flash panel so the engine can be unplugged like a complete unit if necessary, which makes building the whole lot up easier, top work imo


and no he wont be heat shrinking them up, he's an electronics engineer and detests the stuff lmao
so, more manta now till its done i guess, which suits me fine as i really want to see it done!! lets hope the weather stays nice for coombe!!

[corsakid]

nova is looking good, do you notice a big difference with the "aero" bits added?

i'll be looking out for this at combe

[lee303]

it feels a bit more 'pointy' than the last time i drove it but that may just be the temps getting the tyres working better, and the fact i haven't driven it in a while, but it does feel more stable at high speed, but its not a massive difference, might be able to tell more on track i guess..

[Jack]

it feels a bit more 'pointy' than the last time i drove it

More things should be described like this.

[Benn]

Nova looks awesome dude, engines comming on fast.