MOTOR CHAT

[Dr S]

A little update on the Alfa. I'm waiting on the trimmer finishing the head liner before I can fit the glass. Apart from a few other small jobs its just about there. I'm hoping to have it running in the next 10 days.

 

[The Ken]

Si, once it is finished send it up to dundee and I'll make sure it drives ok for you

Stunning work Si, Lovely car.

Are you going to do a Le Mans aftermath thread - I'm sure more than a few of us would like to know how it was. (pics would be good too)

 

[Dr S]

Are you going to do a Le Mans aftermath thread - I'm sure more than a few of us would like to know how it was. (pics would be good too)

I don't think I could find the words to do it justice. It has to be one of the greatest, most unpredictable races in its 76 year history. I have never seen anything like it. I'm afraid I'd get too emotional and start crying again if I tried. Absolutely epic.

This pic just about sums up the weekend

 

[jimihendrix]

The Alfa is looking superb Si , cant wait to see it done, love that big wood rim wheel and the deep set guages, would be great if my Escort build would turn out the same standard but i doubt it, going to play on the old retired rally car look

finaly got some primer on the o/s/r 1/4, started going
round the welds with seam sealer, rally and race cars dont seem
to have this done, i think this is because the quality of any welding repairs and fabrication must be visable

There are many reasons, let me explain..

Firstly, we have to get rid of it to be able to seam weld the panels together. Seam welding increases the strength of the joints and makes the shell last longer.

2, it cuts down on weight- around a 3kg saving on an average size shell

3, it allows us to check for cracks, this is why most racers are white or silver inside too- its much easier to spot a problem before it develops.

and finally, it makes quick repairs easier- if you have to weld up a shell during an event its much easier to do without removing a load of sealer (which burns quite nicely!)

Looking good mate. I thought you would have gone for a 3 litre axle with the LSD and bigger bearings rather than the 20lt axle??

Si

Ah, right, cheers for that , the cars competition days are over though and i intend to use it rain or shine so seam sealer it is

Would have loved an LSD but Capri LSD's go for good money, no 3.0 was fitted with one as standard, the only production Capri to get one (excluding X-packs etc) was the 2.8i Special, the guy i got my axle from had a 2.8i LSD but wanted £400, for a 25 year old axle, god knows how many miles, no guarantee etc, just hard to justify, TranX do new LSD units for the Atlas for £600, will get the car on the road, see how it goes and may go for a TranX eventually

 

[Dr S]

Today I made a start on getting my Interceptor sorted out now the Alfa is finished. It's been off the road over a year since the gearbox went bang so needs lots of attention. Sadly 2 months sat under a blanket of snow has done the paint no favours- it has microblistered all over the upper surfaces. So first job is a full strip down and bare metal repaint.

Mechanically it needs a gearbox (obviously), and the poor starting needs sorting. It still has it's original Rochester carb which is now in the skip.

Plans are......

Either a multipoint injection set up with mapped fuel and ignition, or a new Edlebrock 750cfm four barrel on a performer inlet. Imgoingvto ditch the standard fuel pump and fit some modern 60 gallon per hour electric pumps to aid starting too.

Cooling- still marginal and if I'm going to take it to France next year it will need sorting. It's currently fitted with a Volvo truck radiator which will be re- cored and I'll make an alloy swirl pot and header tank to help it along. 2 large Kenlow fans with finish off the job.

Exhausts- it had new stainless pipes a few years ago but I'm going to fit proper tubular headers. The STD cast items are toss and robs the engine of power.

The heads and cam are none standard and the whole engine was rebuilt around 900 miles ago. With improvements to fueling, exhaust and cooling it should crack the magic 400bhp barrier.

Transmission... I'm going for a later 518 4 speed auto instead of the 727 3 speed. Big job to fit this box as it wasn't designed for that kind of power. Internals will be upgraded with 2 stage kickdown and 1800rpm stall speed. Also will include a lock up facility. Chassis will need to be cut to fit this lot in but it's been done before.

Brakes..... Terrible at the moment. Going for big 6 pot calipers with bigger discs up front and updated discs and calipers at the back.

Suspension..... Not bad but needs a few bushes and ball joints. Rear damping is shit even with new Konis so will be calling my chums at EVO to get some custom valved dampers.

Interior.... That's not bad but leather is dry and needs softening and re colouring. Looking into fitting it with air con and need to get the electric windows to go up and down without assistance. Various other bits of trim are tatty and need re- making but it's not complicated, just time consuming.

So, should keep me busy over the winter. Hope to have it all fettled in time for Le Mans in June. I'd better start saving up for fuel to get there and back. It only does around 10mpg at the moment but that should improve with a health carb and gearbox. Some guys get a whopping 18mpg out of similar cars.

Si

 

[Tazio]

Nice, what colour is it?

 

[Dr S]

I can't remember the proper name but it's that greyish blue that Ferrari used on the Daytonas in 69-70.

I might change the colour when it's in the booth. I can either go 70's loud- lime green, or tangerine; or go for a classy sober metalic, blue, grey or burgundy.

I don't know really. I'm selling it next summer anyway so i dont really care tbh.

 

[The Ken]

Prussian Blue? Like the Saint's

I was offered the Saint's p1800 years back - 3K running but no MOT, roger moore on the log book as he actually owned it.

 

[Tazio]

That's a lovely colour, people forget how many Ferraris look so much better not being red.

To me the classic Interceptor colours are bronze and petrol blue. Or maybe it's just that all the ones I saw BITD were those colours.

I like them as pieces of history but never been cars I've wanted to own, I think it's the combo of the big lazy V8 and the slushbox. That and the fact that I used to compare them to the Aston V8's when I was a kid, which to this day I covet.

 

[The Ken]

Just found this...

The Saint's car as driven by Simon Dutton was a 1976 Jensen Interceptor Series 3 Saloon in Briazs Blue.

Briazs Blue?