News
COOL HEAT
Jul 9th
I guess we’ve all been there. Cold winter days and chilly evenings in the garage/workshop that leave you feeling chilled to the bones. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve had no feeling in my fingers and toes. Quite frankly, it’s pretty un-pleasant and not conducive to enjoying working on your car.
There is always an electric convector heater but these can eat electricity and only really give heat in one spot, while those little waste oil heaters, you know the ones that look like little aircraft engines, are noisy and fill the garage with un-pleasant fumes.
An alternative form of heating More >
NEW LOTUS TRACK WEAPON
Jul 9th
It impressed at the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed – now Lotus’ fastest-ever production car has hot-footed it straight to north London to make a starring appearance at the capital’s newest Lotus dealer, Hexagon.
The 3-Eleven is the company’s quickest and most expensive series production car ever, packing a 450bhp supercharged V6 engine, a 0-60mph time of less than three seconds and a price tag starting at £82,000.
Sharing limelight with ex-Senna 1987 Lotus 99T F1 car and VIPs from the world of motorsport at Hexagon’s charity evening, The Life of Ayrton Senna, the 3-Eleven joined a host of stars, including ex-F1 More >
NEW HOME FOR FROG RESTO
Jul 9th
The superb range of Frogeye Sprite bodyshells, formerly offered by Bryan Wheeler of Wheeler & Davies, are now available from marque specialists, Frogeye Spares Co of Worsley, Lancashire.
The company caters for all things Frogeye and Midget and offer the Wheeler & Davies Frogeye ‘package in three variants – Stage 1 is the basic monocoque, which costs £3990 inc VAT.
Then comes Stage 2, which adds rear wings and rear shroud to Stage 1 and as such requires no welding, as a result. This option is priced at £6456 inc VAT. Final option is Stage 3, which adds doors and bonnet meaking More >
WAX IS GOOD FOR YOU
Jul 2nd
The days of using any old polish on your car have gone. Nasty chemical-laden jollop that smelt horrible and took all your skin’s natural oils away, while leaving white dust on your bodywork. Of course, that was if you could actually get the product off the paint’s surface and if it was a sunny day, then forget about it.
One of the reasons we’re big fans of the products of Kent-based Cödeclean is that they are easy to use and work supremely well. Unlike some companies who offer far too many products, Cödeclean’s line-up is quite short by comparison.
Last weekend I More >
DEEP SEA FISHING
Jul 2nd
I’m quite taken with this new arrival on the North American scene.
It’s called the Catfish and is based on Mazda MX-5 and hails from Bauer Ltd, located in San Diego, California.
Underpinned by a spaceframe chassis, the company uses a lot of parts from the donor including engine and gearbox. It seems to causing quite a stir in the USA and I can’t help wondering how it would fare in the UK.
With a modern, stylish GRP body and an ultra-fashionable donor it could do well. In its homeland, the kit is priced at a reasonable sounding $13,900…
More information from www.bauerltd.com ENDS.
More >
PROTECT STUFF
Jul 2nd
A really useful and very effective product we’ve been using in the workshop lately is Tectane PS697.
It’s very good at protecting chrome from tarnishing, especially in winter and it’s as easy as just spraying a light coating onto the surface and offers long-lasting protection from corrosion, oxidation and dirt.
After the wax has dried it leaves a sticky, water repellent film, which is all-but colourless and resists road-salt and is heat resistant to 100-degrees C.
Tectane products are available from a variety of outlets including Toolstation and Idealsealants.com with more information from www.siroflex.co.uk ENDS.
COVER YOUR TRUMPETS
Jul 2nd
Webcon has just launched their new Domed Screens for 45 DCOE / 44/48IDF and 48 DCO/SP /48 IDA carburettors.
These are simple mesh domes that are an ideal alternative to running with open trumpets, and offer a basic level of debris ingress protection. Domes supplied in pairs and are a push-fit into the air horns, and are able to be adjusted slightly with pliers to suit slight variations in air horn diameter.
For 45 DCOE/44/48IDF carburettors order as 9900804500 or for 48IDA/48DCO/SP carburettors order as 9900804800 with both variants priced at £41.39 inc VAT per set.
For further details contact Webcon UK on More >
MINI SPARES NEVER IDLE
Jul 2nd
Mini Spares can now supply an idler gear and roller bearing kit for the pre-A-plus 1275 engine.
This is a great way of repairing worn idler gear casings or converting to a quiet set of drop-gears for tuned road cars and kitcars running this engine.
The teeth are cut to pre-A-plus gear design, as per Cooper S and cost £199.42 inc VAT per set and wear order number C-22G943 with more details from www.minispares.com or 01707 607 700 ENDS.
EXTENDED LASER
Jul 2nd
This new extension bar set from Laser Tools (part number 6081) supplies ten essential tools for driving sockets, especially useful for the modern engine bay where space is at a premium and accessibility can be difficult.
As well as the four usefully sized, 3/8in drive extension bars (75mm, 150mm, 250mm and 460mm), are a sliding T-bar, universal joint, 5/16in and ¼in bit adaptors and a 3/8in drive to ¼in drive reducer. All manufactured from chrome vanadium for strength and a long, robust life. Also included is the innovative and functional aluminium quick swivel handle — the extension bar goes straight through More >
TURBO NUTTER
Jun 25th
Our mate Duncan Cowper is well-known for his on-track driving exploits over the years, most recently in a rather mad, yet beautifully built, Rush, now looking resplendent in its new colourscheme.
The car, with expert engine expertise from ex-F1, Mountune and Janspeed spannerman, Geoff ‘of the jumper’ Page, has recently undergone a bit of a rebuild. Some of this has revolved around the turbocharger.
Dunc enlisted the help of Turbo Dynamics, experts in their field with an enviable list of credits. The Christchurch, Dorset-based company uprated the compressor wheel for one of their far more efficient 76mm billet compressor wheel, with a More >
