Grandad

Hi Gareth.J. and All When I ran both chargers to test them the large one would show the fully charged green light but then the smaller one on the same battery would continue charging, I heard recently that it's a fairly common fault and it is seven years old so I don't mind binning it. I think the flame's a good look Whittie said that was small compared to some when I was driving, don't know why the driver should make a difference, maybe I back off sooner so there's more un-burned fuel in the system when it ignites. After the RAC event we did a No Limits event at Wannas, the car was double entered for Tuss to have a drive but he was unable to attend at the last moment so rather than waste the entry I got a drive. After the RAC experience we decided to take two cars just incase a tow home was needed, we arrived about 5.00pm changed wheels and did the scrutiny thin then were good to go. The little bit of fluff you can see by the rear tow hook is Whittie's latest gadget for his gopro, yes it's a microphone just so you can hear the exhaust a bit better. The event today took in both the long and short tracks with the long first, there was a good mix of cars from stock road going ones to full blown race cars, entries are limited so you're guaranteed to get plenty of runs as people drop out like I did after looping it on the short track, first time in the Zed and first time for twelve years, clearly I've not been pushing hard enough. Here's a vid of Whittie on the long track in daylight. Here I loop it on the short track, I pinched a brake on the way into the hairpin and was a passenger from then on. The event went pretty much without incident but the car was idling rather roughly and we found the linkages slightly out with the front carby being fed more than the others so we adjusted that which made only a slight difference, I found the car to be good under load but Whittie complained about it breaking down at high revs and he said it has a new rattle, I figured that while it was still going those issues could wait for another day, this is a sign we've been having fun. A few days later I put it up on the jack stands and went straight to the rear gear box mount which has comprehensively failed so is touching the gear box housing again causing the rattle Whittie heard. I decided that given both the time of year the fact that Whittie is off again in a couple of weeks, a patch up would do for now. The idle hasn't improved and it's as if compression is down in one cylinder, I re adjusted the carby linkages properly to eliminate that as a cause and then considered doing a wet and dry compression test thinking that I had possibly set a valve clearance too close, when I removed the plugs they were their normal rich looking selves (we run Bosch Super4 plugs) so I gave them a clean and refitted them but that made no difference then it dawned on me that they're about eight years old and as good as they are they're not going to last forever so I fitted the original near new NGKs and that made all the difference, it's purring (sort off) once again, we do have another new set of the Bosch plugs but I'm going to leave the NGKs in for a while to see if there's a noticeable difference in performance. That brings me to our tyres, I'm really impressed with how evenly they've worn over the last two events so I'm thinking the suspension settings are just about right although I'd like to try a bit more neg camber on the rear, I doubt it will get any more caster on the front because it's quite heavy enough to steer as it is. We are currently running a set of aged Dunlops which probably passed their prime while they were still on the shelf but they were not expensive, we didn't want to waste money on a good set of tyres knowing that the car would spend much of it's time sitting idle awaiting Whitties return so they are what they are it just means we're not currently seeing the times we feel are in the car. Whitties goal time is 68sec on the long track and given that he did 70.45 first time out when he briefly held the lap record for the speed event series on a worn out set of Yokis that John Fowler removed from his 911 Porker, we're confident that with a bit more tweaking and plenty of seat time it's doable but talking about it is the easy part, we'll have to wait and see what happens when Whittie returns. Here are the front tyres as they came off after No Limits, when they're cold they're rock hard like taxi tyres, you can clearly see the aging in the tread grooves. Rears as they came off. So with the car good to go for the WhoopAss Wednesday drags all that's left to do is a little detailing. Cheers Dad

Hi All Whittie's back in town and within six hours of arrival Dadson were on the race track but before I get into that I've found the source of our battery problems, it appears the maintenance charger I bought in Sydney in 2008 when we left the car parked up between Fosc events has failed and now charges constantly so it appears I killed the battery with kindness, needless to say the charger has been replaced. I've mentioned a couple of times that this car attracts attention, here's a comment I caught on vid in the pit lane at my last event. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/Tommo560/Vintage%20Stampede%202015/th_Staging%20Lane_zpsmp3b7ffg.mp4 Here's a couple of laps with rusty old Dad at the wheel. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/Tommo560/Vintage%20Stampede%202015/th_Laps_zpsyxq6rblt.mp4 Back to six hours after Whittie arrived back in town, Dadson were double entered at the RAC driver training center and it felt as though time had melted away since our last double entry and I must say it was a nice feeling. There were a number of Zeds there and one was the car I saw at my last event that has our old race wheels but interestingly parked alongside it was another Zed with a set of wheels we ran before Whittie settled on the current setup. Here are all the wheels we have had and the cars that currently use them. I'm reasonably happy with the current suspension set up and I'm sure when Whittie returns he will build up sufficient muscle condition to be able to deal easily with the caster induced heavy steering without relying on track induced Adrenalin, I'm also happy with Whittie's current brake bias setting, here's a couple of pics of a relatively quick and tight hair pin corner showing straight line acceleration followed by corner entry trail braking, cornering and exit acceleration. The event was an afternoon/evening event so included both day and night driving which of course is great fun so here's a couple of clips of day time running that will give you an idea of the track layout. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/Tommo560/TSOA%20RAC%20Sprint%202015/th_Day%20Run%201_zps49mwudpx.mp4 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/Tommo560/TSOA%20RAC%20Sprint%202015/th_Day%20Run%202_zpsqnslleue.mp4 All was good until Whittie limped back into the pits in almost total darkness without head lights which immediately raised thoughts of a failed battery or charging system but inspection under diesel powered lighting identified the problem as a blown fuse so with the help of Robin Falconer who was there supporting his kids in a similar way to how Dadson was borne some 12 years ago, with great thanks we were soon back in action. I came in after a night run and Whittie said I was emitting Turbo like exhaust flames on entry to the hairpin which I thought was a bit bizarre but then the car does pop and bang a lot and given that we work on the principal of (fuel in = power out) I guess it's quite possible so I took a few pics of Whittie's next runs and here's what I saw. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/Tommo560/TSOA%20RAC%20Sprint%202015/th_Exhaust%20Flames%202_zpshgvhvqmw.mp4 This night had a bit of everything for us including the enjoyment of being together competing once again and given our blind faith we were still able to drive home. In the light of day I was able to see that the sparkie had taken power for the thermo fans and head lights from the same source using a fuse which failed. I have now rewired the lights to incorporate a separate fuse so all now should be good. Whittie's next and probably last event before returning to the Land of Milk and Honey will be a Whoop Ass Wednesday at the Perth Motorplex on Dec 30 which apart from drag racing includes a Miss Motorvation final. http://www.motorplex.com.au/formula-tech-whoopass-wednesday-miss-motorvation-heat-two-december-30/ Oh Shit! How do we convince Mrs Whittie and his Mum that they really don't need to attend this event? Cheers Dad

Hi All With Whittie arriving on Saturday for four weeks and three events I really need to get the Zed going without a push start. It's only a few months ago that I replaced the battery and although secondhand it was stamped 04/14 which is not old by any means so when the starting issues began I checked the battery voltage which was fine so considered the battery not to be the cause. Considering that the starting issues only appeared when the car was hot I thought the problem lay with the starter motor even though it was fitted new with the rebuild so removed it and took it apart, as expected the brushes are good but interestingly I found score marks on the magnets which clearly shouldn't be there and also wear marks where the spindle is making contact with the housing I considered that with heat and close tolerances things could be binding causing the starter to fail so created some clearance, cleaned it up and refitted it. Sadly that made no difference at all so I removed it again and tested it outside the car using jumper leads to short out the positive and solenoid terminals, it worked as it should. With that done I refitted the starter once again, checked the voltage at the starter which was fine then decided to short the power and solenoid terminals as I did off the car to eliminate the ignition switch and circuit as a cause and what do you know!! nothing happened so that left only one possible cause, the recently replaced battery. I had tested the voltage a number of times but don't have the equipment to test current draw but had considered all was good as independently the lights worked as did the thermo fans and the air horns I decided to test them all together, I turned on the ignition so I could hear the fuel pump then turned on the lights which caused the pump to slow then when I pressed the horn button the pump slowed again so I fitted the battery out of the Falcon and bingo the Zed burst into life. I'm a bit annoyed with myself for not doing the battery swap first to eliminate it as the cause but there is now a new battery and all is good in the end. At barely a touch over 3,000ks I can't believe how much dust has found it's way behind the headlight covers, I guess this is going to be a regular clean. Only three sleeps till the Whitties arrive and the first event is Saturday night. Cheers Dad

Hi All There's been a bit happening both here and in the land of milk and honey since my last post, firstly Whittie's got rid of his water baby (he'll post pics when he's ready) and is now onto his third car in the US and wouldn't you know it he probably should have bought this one in the first place and saved all the heart ache!!! Yep it's a current model 2+2 Zed. As you'd expect he's straight into motorsport with a somewhat familiar number. Initial report is it lacks power has soft suspension and plastic tyres but somehow I don't think it's going to get the MX5 treatment any time soon. Any way back at home I dropped the race tyres off to John Fowler for rotation in preparation for an up coming event I had entered then joined my brother in law and seven others to celebrate a milestone birthday with him sailing the Whitsundays for a week, we had been advised that Gin is helpful in preventing Scurvy at sea and Tonic Water helps ward off Malaria in the tropics so had sufficient supply to ensure all remained healthy ish. Back home with a day to spare, healthy and almost sober, I collected the wheels from John and packed the car. With that done it was time for some shut eye before being greeted by a familiar motor sport sight. At the track I found a park and fitted the race wheels before heading off to scrutiny. The rebuild started in 2010 so we've been away from this group for a long time but with nine Zeds entered and a lot of familiar faces that time melted away and it was like old times. Our old race wheels were even there and on a very tidy blue (almost silver) Zed. The day was good, the latest alignment settings are a definite improvement but the front tyre wear suggests a little more neg camber won't go astray, we ran both the short and long circuit, I was happy with my short circuit times but my lack of seat time over the last five years and desire to preserve the car for Whitties holiday return next week was clearly evident in my long circuit times but I feel there is a lot more to come out of this car. Interestingly by mid morning the starter motor wouldn't crank so embarrassingly the car had to be push started for the rest of the day much to many peoples amusement with plenty of light hearted comments such as (this isn't the first Datsun we've had to push) being bandied around but I did all my runs and drove home. Interestingly when I tested the battery at home it read a touch under 14 volts but the starter wouldn't crank, next morning the battery again read high 13 volts and the car started with out a problem but once up to temp after a short trip the starter again refused to crank and the car required a push. When parking the car at home after the final embarrassing push start I heard a previously unnoticed rattle that sounded as though it was coming from the exhaust area so I put the car up on jack stands and left it to cool down over night in preparation to deal with the starter issue, today I coerced my unwilling body to get under the car and tapped the exhaust which produced the rattle I'd heard in the cabin but a check of the exhaust indicated plenty of clearance with no body contact points however when I tapped the gearbox I got the same sound and eventually found the cause to be the modified rear mount touching the gear box. Sadly when the new exhaust was fitted no consideration was give to removing the gear box cross member with the exhaust in place so it's just as well I was the only one at home when I challenged the exhaust to move to allow the cross member mounting bolt to come out. This cross member has not given trouble previously however close inspection revealed I had fitted the gear box mount back to front but changing it made almost no difference so I'm thinking that the cross member is designed to support a vertical and torque load with the standard Zed box but since the modification to accommodate a Sylvia box it is now subject to lateral forces that it's not designed for and subsequently the rubber bushing is beginning to fail causing the cross member to tilt and come into intermittent contact with the gear box creating a rattle, I've taken some metal off the cross member to allow clearance but I will now consider using urethane bushing in an attempt to solve the problem but if that doesn't work we'll have to have the body mounts relocated. Pics of the days events. Cheers Dad

Hi All Things are moving on in the US, Whittie still has a few lives left and his next car is not far off, meanwhile back at the ranch it's Zed wheel alignment time. I recently took pics of the wheels showing how much rubber is in contact with the road when driving straight, today I took pics showing tyre wear from competition driving, both pics are of the left side because all bar one corner on our home track are right handed, I intended to show these to John Fowler in an effort to convince him we need more neg camber but at the end of the day he's the expert not me so I'll be guided by him. Front Rear So it's off to the wheel aligners, when the car went up on the ramps John Fowler and I were discussing the settings and going from memory I was sure we had about -2 deg at the front plus a bit of caster but clearly as I age I'm becoming very very good at forgetting things, I'm confident that the alignment machine doesn't lie but we were both a little surprised when it showed a touch under -4 deg with which John said that's enough lets look at the back and so it was that the rear was given an extra -1 deg. Look what an extra -1deg does to the bottom of the tyre. Here it is following the adjustment and at rest after the drive home. Wanting to achieve more even tyre wear at the front I asked John if another +1deg of caster would help, he said it would but it would also make the steering even heavier than it already is he went on to say that we won't notice it on the track because of everything else going on and being full of Adrenalin but we would notice it on the road...So be it! Here are the current settings, note the off set to allow for our home track. Front Rear Just in case you're wondering, this is what +4deg of caster looks like, the wheel would have been a long way further back when the car left the factory. Recently I purchased two solar panels for my caravan project so decided to pick them up while I was out in the Datto, I check measured the rear compartment before setting out and going on the dimensions I was given decided they would fit but as always Murphy came along for the ride and the measurements I was given referred to the collector size not the external frame and then because they're brand new they were still boxed, anyway they fitted in between the towers but I couldn't close the hatch but no problem at least they were in. When we first purchased the car it had a huge issue with exhaust fumes entering the cabin which made long commutes in particular extremely uncomfortable so tail light fitment and rear panel seals were given particular attention during the rebuild, anyway I was resigned to a fumy trip home with the hatch partly open but to my surprise I only noticed fumes when I was stationary and wind blew them in so I'm guessing the turbo style dump pipe we have at the back really works because although I could hear every pop, crackle and roar from the exhaust I hardly smelt it at all. Cheers Dad

Hi dat24z and All Whittie's fine and it sounds like the tow truck did more body damage than Whittie's swan dive, fortunately he went in straight on because if he'd been side on and flipped it would have well and truly tested his helicopter evacuation training from when he was working off shore on oil rigs. Don't really want to think about it too much but I can't wait to see him when he's home for Xmas and give him a huge hug. Cheers Dad

Hi All Whittie's been doing some upgrades to the Mazda, it now has more precise sports suspension and open exhaust so now performs better and handles like a proper sports car and as predicted it now has new sticky tyres, they're Bridgestones RE-71R Extreme Performance Summer tyre that are not available here, they're not R spec but very close. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza+RE-71R Well with the upgrades complete it's time put this little car through it's paces and explore the limits of adhesion of the new Bridgies. I'm thinking Whittie's glad it's not a blue Datson. With the exception of a somewhat bruised ego, Whittie's fine. Cheers Dad

First in line sounds good. The stud issue I had was caused by a combination of non standard rotors and the spacer. I bought long studs from Repco but they are available in eBay as are spacers, I had them cut down to the length required for my situation. If you can change a wheel then you can change studs, they are a splined press fit and can be removed and replaced easily with a hammer and large centre punch.

One step forwards, two steps backwards!!! I know the feeling so well but fortunately I can fix it for you just pm your bank details I'll do a transfer arrange transport to collect the wheels and your problem will be solved. In the unlikely event that happens I still may be able to help, while I'm not familliar with Willwoods I had a similar issue when I upgraded front brakes, I found the outer edge of the calipers (where fortunately there was plenty of metal) fouling wheels when fitted with new pads so I ground off 3-5mm from the extreme edges to allow clearence (stick on wheel weight placement is critical here) as the pads wear so the clearence increases. In the absence of pics I don't know where your clearence issue is but if it's at either end of the calliper you may be able to remove some metal to allow fitment of wheels (as I did) but if it's all the way across the top I would be a bit more concerned and would seek professional advice but you might be able to take a bit from the calliper and machine a bit off the inside of the wheel but this is where you may need to take advice from the wheel manufacturer because the last thing you need is for front wheels to fail. When I bought the Zed it came with after market wheels and 5mm spacers on the front to allow caliper clearence but with stock studs there was barely two threads of cover which was really inviting trouble and quickly remidied, if your seriously considering using spacers don't lose sight of the fact that for very 1mm of clearance you create on the inside there is 1mm less clearence on the outside and from experience in running 16x8 wheels on a Zed I know guard clearence is critical.

Hi Gareth and All At roughly 3300ks it really is still new although it picked up some stone chips at Northam last year on areas I'm yet to apply the protective film so I'll need to do a bit of touching up first. I agree fully with you suggestion for the diff and if the car were a daily or regular drive I would definately do it but for now we'll just stick with Molybond. Cheers Dad

LIES DAMN LIES AND STATISTICS When I was living in Sydney and playing with MGBs, a good friend explained his thoery of the 40 year car rule, that rule states that young (mostly male) impressional addolessants lust after the cult cars of the day that they can't afford they then become immersed in carreer, business and raising a family before years later findng themselves in a position to indulge their childhood fantacy by which time the target car is in it's 40s, my lust car was an MGTC because I first drove one at age 14 and yes I did eventually own a 40 year old one but it was a dismantled basket case that I didn't bother to restore. The 40 year rule clearly applies to the Falcon GT, they have had spectacular price appreciation but as they are a domestic Australian car with limited exports I believe their future appreciation is limited as the target buyer group now age and die off leaving behind a basic sedan car, albeit with a racing history, that was initially designed as a police persuit car before finding it's way into a Fairmont body. The 40 year rule also applies to the Zed but it has not had anything like the same price appreciation to date but being a global car my guess is Zeds will leave Falcon GTs behind over time. So much for the LIES now here come some interesting STATISTICS. If you were in the market for a go fast car in the 70s, here's the price comparison between Falcon GT and Datsun Z according to Redbook. 1970 Falcon XW GT Man $4625.00 Falcon XW GTHO Man $4830.00 Datsun 240Z Man $4567.00 1971 Falcon XY GT Man $4625.00 Falcon XY GTHO Man $5302.00 Datsun 240Z Man $4666.00 1978 Falcon Cobra Special XC 2+2 Man $10100.00 Datsun 260Z Man Coup $11525.00 Datsun 260Z Man 2+2 $12500.00 I'm not sure that it's fair to compare a family sedan with a sports coupe but it's interesting to see not only how the government of the day protected local manufacturing but also if the Zed is to regain price parity, it has a bright future.

Hi All Mixed news, with 24 hours to go we were sitting at the top of the reserve list so I was reasonably confident we'd get a spot and sure enough I received an email late Wednesday evening advising that a place had become available so I called Tuss Thursday morning to let him know however over night an elderly extended family member died so motorsport was the last thing on his mind, I guess it just wasn't destined to happen this time round but at least it took a bit of pressure off me in preparing the car, I spoke to Whittie this morning because he wanted to know how it went and he has decided to double enter the car for the December date so they will both drive. With my next event not until late November I decided to remove the race wheels and fit the stock commute mags, the place where we are currently storing the Zed has a fine gravel driveway and when I removed the wheels I could clearly see the contact patch we have in a straight line so have decided to have more neg camber wound in particularly on the rear so I can test it before Whittie returns, if it's an improvement we'll leave it and if not we can go back to where it is currently. Front Rear We are currently running a 4.11 diff and it's fine on acceleration and overrun but has a noise on cruise, of course in competition we're either accelerating or on overrun plus you can't hear it over all the other noises and then there's the sound insulating effect of the helmet but on the highway it's quite annoying so I decided that as Tuss will be changing the engine oil today I'd have the diff oil changed as well and a tube of Molybond added, I've had success with this product since my teens and this time is no different, after a 40k run the noise is 80% reduced. So now with oil changed and lock wire in place we're good to go and test it again on the track hopefully without a repeat of last time, interestingly on the way home I caught the beginning of peak traffic and found myself stuck in a line at lights with a big truck disconcertingly close to rear bumper when out of the corner of my eye I spotted a fluro vest supporting a beaming bearded face at my window "Hey Man this looks shmic and sounds awesome".....Why do I love driving this car? Cheers Dad

Hi All The WA Sporting Car Club open the Barbagallo track to the public once a month for an event they call Your Car - Our Track, it's a great initiative because it gives non motorsport people who want to test themselves and explore the limits of their car the opportunity to do it with a degree of safety and no cops also because it's open to the public it saves the $150.00 to $250.00 Club Membership fee, we have run the Zed in this event several times so I called the Club the other day to reserve a place for Tuss only to be told that the Committee in their ultimate wisdom have restricted the event to stock non modified cars only...WTF...That's absolutely stupid they've just alienated the very group the event should attract, the little girl on the phone who told me that the change is not popular did offer $250.00 club membership with one free tuning day, no thanks but what's the alternative, throw Tuss the keys and tell him to go for a blast on the freeway? I'm old enough that that's not going to happen but if I was still in my teens I probably would and that's exactly what I did at that age before discovering race tracks. There is currently a cloud over the WASCC, a recent report noted that it's controlled largely by self interest groups not acting in the best interest of the sport and is not the best entity to control and administer a revamped Wanneroo Motorsport Complex. I haven't been a member there for many years and have no interest in rejoining but do keep an interested eye on what's happening, I'm sure there is sound reason for this change and I suspect insurance will take the blame for it but my position now is I hope the State Government remove the WASCC as track manager and replace them with a professional not for profit NGO. End of rant! Anyway all is not lost just yet, No LimitsCar Club run a series of night events and there is one this week the sad thing is with a maximum of 45 entries, it's fully booked but we are first reserve so hopefully Tuss will get a run and if not this week then next year. This event will actually be better for Tuss than the Your Car - Our Track event because not only is it timed but all drivers go out with an instructor in the car untill the instructor is satisfied that the driver is compitent to drive unacompanied and that alone has raised my comfort level. Last Sunday was the local Zed register display day and with thunder storms forcast for the afternoon I was reluctant to attend but an early morning call from Huston put it beyond doubt so I removed the road wheels and fitted the race ones gave it a once over with a chamois and the vac then set off, it was already underway when I arrived and although not a huge turn out the quality was good, it was good to catch up with the local Zed crowd again and one guy asked if I'd brought the car because he was looking for a silver one. The car attraced plenty of attention and positive comment which was nice to see and hear after all the work that's gone into it, by mid afternoon the sky was starting to darken so I checked the weather radar which was bleak so decided to try and beat the storm home I excused myself and left early, of course with Murphy in the passenger seat I shouldn't have bothered because not only did I drive straight into the heaviest of the rain, I discovered there's a leak directly over the right foot. Cheers Dad

Hi All I've had a bit on over the last couple of months which has not left me with much time for play but I have managed to put a few Ks on the Zed recently and I must say it's highly addictive, from the moment I shoe horn myself into the driver's seat and grip the suede MoMo steering wheel my pulse starts to rise then when I turn on the ignition I'm greeted with the hum of the Bosch electric fuel pump behind me then I turn the key further with a couple of stabs of the accelerator pedal the engine bursts into life and I hear the unmistakable sound of Weber induction followed by the equally un mistalable growl of the L series exhaust, this is where I'm in heaven but sadly it doesn't last long because I then select a gear and am greeted by Whitties tricky button clutch which usually means either the engine dies or the tyres burn, I must say I'm getting to like the burn option. I love the reaction I get driving this on the road, one time a guy in a 350Z sat beside me on the freeway forever and that was cool but mostly it's the waves and thumbs up that create the feel good moment but yesterday a Red P plater in a XR6 hung out the window with the thumbs up. Zeds must be comming of age. Tuss of Osborne Park Service Centre has supported us for many years, he has driven the car in anger a couple of times before the rebuild and handled it well so in appreciation of his significant support we're twrowing him the keys for a tuning day at Wanneroo next week, I now need to put a few more Ks on it then Tuss will do an oil change before we hit the track with hopefully no head gasket issues. More to come. Dad

Hi All With an International Dadson Challenge in mind I got going on the Zed again the other day I gently rinsed all the residual coolant off the radiator fins and bottom tank. I gave the engine bay a good once over and armed with more paint from Will touched up the odd marks that are almost inevitable when the engine and ancillaries is removed and replaced. When I put the battery back in and tried to start it I realized that despite my best efforts the battery has finally given up the ghost, on ignition it barely powered the fuel pump so clearly it's not holding charge, I know Whittie wants to go with a light weight gell battery when he returns but I decided that with the car essentially in storage until then it's not a priority so I looked around for a second hand battery and Bingo in an instant I found one on Dumbtree, it was barely a year old with the correct cranking power and terminal location for not much money so off I went to collect it, of course I didn't realise until I got home and did a trial fit that my old mate Murphy had come along for the ride, the terminals were in the right location but will the cables be long enough to connect. Fortunately there was some excess capacity inside the cab leading to the kill switch so while it's not pretty it works and the CAMS scrutineers will be happy to finally see a positive terminal cover but I really have to do something about the extra weight of those four nuts on the battery brackets . So here it is battle ready with the strut brace and battery fitted just this time the maintenance charger will always be on. Cheers Dad

Hi All If you haven't been to Houston I'd suggest you don't bother unless you have a very good reason (as Mum & I did), it's situated on a semi tropical delta flood plane so the closest things they have to hills are the gentle gradients of freeway overpasses like the Light Horse Interchange in Western Sydney, as far as motorsport goes they have no concept of hill climbs outside youtube clips of Peaks Pike so it's all flat stuff but they do take there club level motorsport very seriously and have a highly competitive auto test series which is run not far from Whittie's home in all but the worst weather and it attracts large competitive fields. Whittie entered his newly acquired and slightly upgraded MX5 in this event last weekend, there were a total of 166 entries ranging from full on race cars right down to every day shopping trollies, Whittie was in the newbie class of 40 and from the protest sounds coming from his tyres I think that will be his next upgrade. Here's a clip of Whittie's run and comments. I think CAMS would have let him get away with the open helmet visor but not the drink bottle in the passenger side door pocket but after all he is in the US. It's taken a while but I'm once again feeling motivated to finish off the Zed but this time I'll get behind the wheel and lets see if we can get a bit of an international Dadson Challenge happening. Cheers Dad

Hi All Once again I'm motivated to finally finish the Zed and put some Ks onto it so it's ready for Whittie to enjoy when he's back home temporarily next Xmas, my next job requires some minor paint touch up prior to installation of the front strut brace but my touch up paint has dried up in the bottle so I'm off to visit Will for a top up. It's always interesting to see Will's projects and his current one is yet another Torri but the difference here is this one is not destined for the race track, it a one owner column shift auto four door six it's straight and in amazingly good original condition with basically only three areas of concern, the first being rust around the rear screen which to be repaired properly required removal of the damaged section then hand fashioning of a replacement section, Will had a grumble about how difficult it was but I know him well enough now to know it's challenges like this that keep him going, the other areas were a rear strut and rails that had impacted by most probably a speed hump. Will's been doing what he does long enough to know that when competition cars leave his workshop there is a high probability they will return if only to repair gravel rash so with that in mind he is sitting on some of Whittie's original mix of vodoo blue for a perfect colour match and I now have a little bit of it, interestingly as I was leaving Will said to keep the paint in the fridge which is something I hadn't previously considered but now it resides with my Loctite 401 and other liquids I don't want to evaporate quickly. Cheers Dad

Hi Whittie and All This is a shock, I thought you had been thoroughly seduced by the brute tyre burning V8 power of the Bad Boy Dodge, did the soft cruiser spec handling and Chrysler's legendary after thought brakes finally wear you down? Open top driving is always fun, do I see sticky tyres and a crash helmet on your shopping list??? I hope so. Cheers Dad

Hi All With Whittie in the US there's no pressure to finish off the last little bits on the Zed and a caravan project I'm working on is keeping me fairly occupied but one of the last things to be upgraded was the exhaust the muffler and hot dog were already stainless but the pipe was machine bent mild steel so we replaced it with 2.5" mandrel bend stainless. This has served us well but it's time for it to go. Replaced by this. Salvage the bits we're going to reuse and discard the rest. The process was surprisingly simple the pipes and bends were tacked into position on the car then removed and welded then refitted, all too easy really. Cheers Dad

Hi Agno I wish I'd known you were here we could have caught up, if you're still in WA end of next month the Albany Classic Round The Houses is on 30 & 31 May, it's the largest and generally best attended round the houses events we have here, sadly I'm in the starters box again instead of on the track but I'm sure it will be fun. I've found a couple of clips of the event to give an idea of what it's about, interestingly there's a white 911 Porker in the first clip that delayed our rebuild six months by pushing in to Will's shop ahead of us but that's history and we're all friends, the second clip is in car Zed brigade. Cheers Dad

Hi All I tried to start the Zed today and wouldn't you know it I'd forgotten to connect the maintenance charger and the battery was dead, I connected the charger but the voltage in the battery was so low the charger wouldn't engage simply switching on and off and going no where. Last time this happened I was shown the trick of connecting a second battery in parallel as if to jump start the engine, that tricks the charger into working because it can see the required minimum voltage, I have a couple of 120hr deep cycle batteries for my caravan solar set up they are great for powering lights and small appliances etc but have no cranking ability so I connected one and the charger to the car battery and turned the charger on, after about half an hour I removed the deep cycle battery and the charger is happily continuing to charge the car battery. This is a whole lot easier than trouping off to the battery shop as I did last time, from now on I'll make sure the maintenance charger is connected. Cheers Dad

Hi All Once again I'm up before dawn and driving into a rising sun, must be some Motor Sport happening. Northam Round the Houses is on, last year Whittie and I entered the Zed but this year I decided if I'm not on the track at least I'll be at it so put my hand up to help and landed the job of assistant starter, I think flaggies have some of the best views in motorsport because they're so close to the action and that's how it was for me. Competitor numbers were down a little this year due to some unexpected clashing of events but the show was as good as ever with many of the usual suspects in attendance plus a few surprises. There's a new Father & Son combo on the track which is great to see but Father is being rather conservative in introducing Son to motorsport which clearly has son asking why. I really enjoy seeing the old open wheelers and specials (some brand new replicas) being driven spiritedly, as one original went past the driver happily showed off his half a turn of play in the steering which reminded me of my first car, an Austin A40 with a mere quarter of a turn of play in the steering but it all seemed quite normal at the time. There was a surprise visit by the Curtin Uni car, Whittie studied at Curtin and was briefly involved with the car project at the time, this one appears to have a little more wind resistance than it really needs. That car was followed by a parade of go carts, miniature hot rods and Falcon Super Bird Coups, they got to do three slow parade laps at nothing remotely close to competition speed but the expressions on their faces was priceless when on the final lap they were greeted by a vigorously waved checkered flag. Cheers Dad

Hi PGZ302 That overflow bottle fits where the regulator and fuse able links are normally located and as we have replaced ours with fuses and a self regulating alternator the space is available and I found one on line for not much money so will consider the mod further but for now will stay with the generic bottle mounted beside the radiator. Hi All I didn't do the video thing on start up this time but I finally got the old girl making her sweet noise again yesterday and I think the neighbors must have actually enjoyed hearing it once more because it has been a while and I haven't had any complaints, I let it idle for a while looking for cooling fluid leaks and found a few. I know that Glycol coolant is extremely slippery stuff and prone to leaks (I can't help thinking many of our politicians either consume this stuff or or swim in it) so I first added some Wynn's Stop leak, I have over time found this product effective on plugging leaks and thereby extending the life of old or worn components on old vehicles so that was more or less insurance, following that I added some Bars Leaks minus the pellets, this I've found seals joints so that the slippery Glycol can't escape. On starting the engine there was initially quite a lot of blow by emitting from the catch can filter but by the time I thought to take a pic it had passed and hasn't returned, I'm not sure what caused it and will raise it with Tuss but I'm sure it's not critical, after running the motor for about half an hour the oil pressure and coolant temperature were where they should be and all initial leaks appeared to have sealed so I shut it down for the day leaving bowls under the car to catch any over night leaks. This morning there was no evidence of fluid loss in the bowls so I fired it up with the intention of going for a blast but wouldn't you know it, the leaks reappeared so I let it run for a while to get up to temperature and they appeared to slow a bit so I decided to go for a run with all necessary emergency equipment on board. I'm ready to go but there is a tel tale coolant patch on the drivers side. I climbed into the car, checked the gauges and found this, it doesn't really mean anything but that's when Whittie pulled off the track. So with an emergency pack on board I decided to set off on a shake down run but wouldn't you know it... flat battery!!! WTF??? I couldn't believe it so I thought this is too hard I'll just push it back into the garage connect the overnight charger and try again tomorrow then I thought if I get out and give the car a bit of a shove to get it moving and if I can get back in over the roll cage before the moderate down hill gradient and can get it into gear I might just get it going and if I can't get back in quickly enough and the car hits something then at least Will will have a bit more work. Anyway it worked, at almost the bottom of the gradient in second gear the old girl fired up oh so sweetly, so I now set off on a 50k battery recharge. At the end of the trip the gauges were all normal and there were no leaks but evidence of where they once where. Cheers Dad

Hi All Thanks PZG302 that's a good tip, I googled it today and found some pics I think I'll go that way and will let you know how I go with it but in the meantime I've located the generic bottle beside the radiator just need to secure it with cable ties. Cheers Dad

Hi All I've had a few distractions in getting the Zed going but I'm back on track and focused once more, I decided to fit the radiator today but after being shuffled around the garage since its last rejuvenation it was looking a bit off color so I thought a visit from autosol was in order. I very carefully and gently fitted the radiator making sure I neither removed body paint or redesigned radiator cooling fins then secured it in position only to find I had totally forgotten to fit the thermostatic fan temp switch but that was an easy fix. Here you can clearly see with the top hose in place it clears the distributor power lead connector but experience has taught us that when the car is driven aggressively in competition the engine moves sufficiently that the radiator hose and the power lead connector come into contact in such a way that eventually the lead comes off the terminal with clearly obvious consequences, hence the cable tie. When we purchased the car it had a generic radiator over flow bottle cable tied to the front panel beside the radiator behind the grill, we always thought it was a bit dodgy but it worked well we saw no reason to alter it but with Whittie's spectacular head gasket blowing lap at Wanneroo, the top of the bottle blew off never to be seen again so is now a sacrifice to the gods of speed. Oops, I have a little admission here, I often say that I don't have an original thought in my head but I'm very good at plagiarism and that line proves it because it comes from a film that's based on a true story about a NZ bike enthusiast. (The Worlds Fastest Indian) If you haven't seen it , I recon it's worth a look if you can find it. Fortunately those generic overflow bottles are made in commercial quantities and we have been ably to acquire another one and it comes with a metal mounting bracket, I now just need to work out where it will fit. Cheer Dad