Well, can't test the rad yet as I've got to plumb in the oil cooler first. Raceparts are practically on the doorstep of the workshop, which is well useful. They sorted me out with a cooler, piping, connections, oilstat (decided to keep it seperate from the sandwich plate as the oil filter will foul the chassis lower rail if the plate is too deep) and sandwich plate (not shown as they had to order it in). Pretty easy job to plumb this in. You have to watch for pipeline kinking though and I found the best route to be to face the sandwich plate backwards and loop the oil lines over the engine mounts and into the oilstat, then to the cooler. The cooler is mounted behind the rad to benefit from the airflow sent through by the new fan (which will be mounted to the front of the rad again as rear space is too restricted by the upper chassis rail). I was a bit put off by a fan that 'blows' like the original, but I'm going for a new Pacet Towfan which should be way more efficient both in terms of design and size - we shall see!
Those niggling little jobs are finally getting done now in readiness for the first race. After my experience at the Bentwaters track day (points burnt out within 200 yards!) I bought the Lumenition Optronic kit to replace the contact-breaker points. There are two versions of the Lumenition kit which are legal for the series (no electronic ignition remember), the Magnetronic which uses a magenetic disk and pick-up in the dizzy and the Optronic which uses a 'fan' instead of a disk and breaks an optical beam to trigger the spark. The Optronic uses a small amplifier aswell and I was advised that it would be work the extra dosh (120 quid instead of about 70 for the Magnetronic). Fitting is a doddle providing you follow the instructions, in fact, it's even more of a doddle when someone else does it for you which is what Martin kindly did for me :) Next up was the rocker cover breather. There was two reasons for this, firstly, a tuner recommended it as it apparently improves top end power and secondly, one of the scrutineers insists that the wire wadding inside the filler cap is bunged up. Why? Who knows. Anyway, I killed two birds with one stone by removing the wadding and tapping a thread into the cap into which a 5/16ths brass take off nipple was fitted. I them simply tee'd off some silicon hose to the catch tank. Simple, neat and does the job! I'd bought a new fire extinguisher that complies with all the latest MSA regs so that went in aswell replacing the dodgy carbon lookalike Halfords job (cheers Daz). Finally for today, I taped up the battery earths in yellow PVC tape - another scrutineering requirement. Unfortunately I've had to cancel my testing at Mallory on Tuesday due to work commitments but at least this gives me some more time to sort out the radiator fan and get it on a rolling road. No long now (he says - again!).
Oh, and someone sent me a stark reminder of why we need all the safety kit!
I finally gave in after trying to source a cheap fan that would fit the limited space behind the rad and had to bite the bullet and order a Pacet from Tweeks. Not cheap, but there was little option. I've gone for an 8" Towfan which comes in at about 85 quid :( Still, it's peace of mind I hope. The 8" will only cover the bottom 2/3rds of the rad. but having looked at loads on road cars, most only cover half the core area anyway. I finally received my new lid today too, an OMP Formule Intregrale. It's fantastic value at a little over 200 quid (depending on where you buy) and is Snell approved and Nomex lined. The helmet is made by AGV and I've got two bike lids by them. The AGV 'fit' suits my noggin so I felt comfortable when mail ordering it. Helmet sizing varies quite a bit from maker to maker. For example, my biking Arai is a large whereas all my AGV's are mediums. Anyway, I ordered a dark tint visor at the same time for the OMP which is essential IMHO. Hopefully this marks the last of my spending spree. I bloody hope so 'cos I've just bought a new Yamaha R1! Still, if I bend the bike I can always use the engine in the Locost for the 750MC bike engined series!! ;)
Well, not a lot got done today which is more to do with the fact that there's very little left to do! The oil cooler had sprung a leak and so has to be replaced :( This meant that yet again I've had to cancel my rolling road session. Getting a little concerned now as there's only two weeks to the first race and I've yet to even SEE Mallory circuit. Anyways, got the Pacet Towfan from Tweeks. I went for an 8 inch 'sucker' which fills the space below the chassis rail and the bottom of the rad. I could have used a 13 inch 'blower' but discounted it as they're less efficient (IMHO) and the original blower casued it to overheat. Fitment was a doddle with the quick ties which come with the fan. They act like cable ties but go straight through the rad core. Make sure you get it positioned correctly though, as they're use once. Well, only a fly-screen to fabricate now and it's onto the rolling road and testing.
