HomeBuiltByJeff

I would repair that wheel well definitely. The bulk of it is good, just that strip that is not. Just cut out the rust strip and make a cardboard template of the patch panel you need. Get an off cut of .8mm steel from your local steel place (or cut a bit out of an old panel if you have any laying around). Trim it until it fits just nicely and weld it in. You can see me do it countless times in some of my videos, and it is really not that hard. Probably less headache than unpicking all the spot welds and trying to fit a new one. If a monkey like me can teach himself to do it anyone can.

I think you are spot on with the 10 second difference. The big difference as mentioned before is that you can push right to the edge and over with the sim as there are no consequences. When you are behind the wheel of a real car you have your mortality to think of, so there is always that little bit of margin for error. You also have to consider a level of mechanical sympathy, particularly if you are paying the bills. That all adds up to slower lap times than you can get on a sim.

I only use the paddle shifters as I don't have an H pattern shifter. I have a clutch pedal, but I only use it on initial take off (in races). Then it is just auto clutch the rest of the way.

This week I have chosen to have a big swing at getting the bodywork on the Z finished.

Haha, I forgot to add that bit

I am not sure who that is, but having a look at his profile and he is number 1 in multiple cars on multiple tracks around the world. He can obviously drive, and has A LOT of time to spend doing it.

I was shown to do it with bearing blue around the edge of the valve and then drop it in. If it leaves a even contact patch all around you know you have a good seal, but I like the sound of that way. If I get a chance I will give it a try.

This week I have got myself some extra valves to replace the dodgy ones I had previously, so I get them lapped to fit and then move on to more body work.

Absolutely. It is easy to push when there are no consequences. I would have died at least 100 times around Bathurst now if I was in a real car.

I am using Xbox and when I first started driving it I found it near on undriveable as well. The bias was at something like 55/45 from memory and any braking at anything other than absolutely straight would end in a spin. As for times I have got down to a predicted 1:27, but I haven’t been able to string it all together in one good lap yet. I did find in the past coming down from the top of the hill I was just cruising trying not to spin under braking. After a lot of trial and error I found a bit of throttle between corners balanced the car out and made it so much easier to drive. It also knocked about 5 secs off my time. A lot more practice is necessary but i am gettting there.

Nice work. When you say that is the default set up, surely you have at least changed the brake bias, as out of the box it is near on undriveable?

Great work. I can see a couple of places where I could make up some time there, but also a couple of places where you could pick up some time. Great to see. I am away for the next couple of weeks, but when I get back I will have another crack.

I could set up a camera over my shoulder. I don't have a way to record directly from the screen.

What do the symbols stand for? I am down to an official 2:29.2, but I just need to pull it all together into one lap, but that is what it is all about I suppose

I should sign up to Xbox live so I can get onto that public score board, but I hate the fact that I have to pay the subscription.

I just had an epiphany with driving through the top section of the track and it has made a huge difference. I also previously was driving with the braking suggestions on and I found it is really distracting to getting the right line and the right braking zones. Good for a rough idea on a track you don’t know, but then it needs to be refined a lot. This 2:28.923 time doesn’t count as I came off at the bottom of the straight the lap before which sucks, but I can see there is a heap more in it.

This week I learned a lot more about engine rebuilding and I lapped the valves. I then needed to work out my engines compression which meant CC'ing the combustion chambers.

This week I get stuck in to do the final alignment of all the panels and start the body filler. It is a slow process, but if I want it done right I need to take my time and keep plugging away at it.

My head had apparently warped previously and someone had shaved it flat again so that the face of the head was flat, but the cam side was warped. The welder straightened it back out again with the welding and then I had 3 faces machined.

It sounds to me like it is sucking in air, so you need to make sure everything is tight and sealing properly.

No mine sits pretty central as far as panel gaps are concerned, it is more the curve that is the issue, and when I fit the torsion bars I think I will have to modify the hinges or something to get it to sit lower as there is no more adjustment.

I suppose I see the point of it being on the off road side, and I didn't know about the torsion bars. It still doesn't make it less annoying at the moment walking around the car each time

I finally threw in the towel and I bought a new repro bonnet for my Z. It took a lot of time, but I finally have it all fitting up the way I wanted.

Well I know my car is all over the place, so this is probably going to be the straightest thing on the car. Rob did say that if you are after a concours finish, then it needs a little playing with, but I will see this week (and so will everyone else in the video ).

I finally bit the bullet and went down to see Rob at Muscle Car Parts and picked up one of these bonnets, really nice guy. So later this week I will see how it goes. Anything is better than my old one (which is now available if anyone wants it).