BUILD IT WITH WILKO’S HELP!
May 25th
John Cowperthwaite has been in touch with news of his latest creation, a kiddies car (aimed at children between five and ten years old) called the EKO ‘Safety Racer’.
This one is a petrol-powered kid’s car inspired by a thirties ATCO children’s safety car, which was powered by one of their motor mower engines.
Power comes from a 50cc go-ped engine (with a throttle stop), disc brakes all-round, the EKO is a plans and patterns build, made from two Wilko compost bins and the mudguards cut from a Wilco water butt.
While still being simple to construct, this is a more sophisticated design than John’s Lightning More >
IT’S ALL ABOUT LEVERAGE
May 25th
When removing ball-joints, control arms and suspension struts it’s always a struggle to hold the lower suspension arm out of the way; even with a dedicated suspension arm lever, you’re wrestling against the anti-roll bar and it feels like you need a third hand.
Laser Tools to the rescue! With this new hands-free suspension arm lever (part number 6936), once it’s fitted, simply wind down the lower suspension arm and it is held there under tension as you release the lower ball-joint or the suspension strut. Once the suspension is dismantled, the lower arm stays in place until you are ready More >
XL – FOR A BIGGER BOOM
May 25th
Boom Mat XL is the latest addition to DEI’s range of damping material. It is 4mm thick and 166 per cent thicker than its original damping material providing extreme noise damping for the most extreme commercial and sound-off competition applications.
Interior panels vibrate and generate noise. Boom Mat stops that noise by trapping it between the thick, 4mm aluminium stiffening top-skin and the asphalt free, pure butyl, noise constraining layer. The peel and stick backing will adhere to any interior surface, vertical or overhead without sagging, even in the most demanding of temperature extremes.
Boom Mat outperforms the competition and is the More >
NO, NOT ‘FACE OFF’ THIS IS ‘WAX OFF’!
May 25th
When you want to give your car’s bodywork a thorough cleanse and wax, it’s important that you remove all traces of old wax and polish from its surface. Lots of IPAs and panel wipes claim to get rid of it, but don’t.
You can always ‘clay’ the surface and that will do the job nicely but can be a bit time consuming. Autobrite Direct’s Wax Off strips off all traces of old polish and wax and a little goes a long way as depending on the levels of crud you can dilute it 10:1.
A word of warning though it shouldn’t be More >
IT’S A LIGHTWEIGHT POWER PACK
May 25th
Replacing the existing heavy lead acid battery with a lithium-ion battery is the easiest and most effective method of reducing the overall weight and lowering the centre of gravity of a competition car.
The RPS-LB-B40 lightweight lithium-ion battery has been developed for use with racing car engines up to 4000cc fitted with an alternator and pit equipment.
A lithium-ion battery also enables the battery location to be changed to lower the centre of gravity. Since lithium-ion batteries are sealed they can be mounted in any orientation, even flat on their side.
The RPS-LB-B40 battery has a nominal voltage of 13.2v and a nominal More >
‘LS’ BE ‘AVING YOU!
May 25th
Mike Mavrigian of Birchwood Automotive has finished another cool engine build. This one is a 440ci LS engine based on Dart’s LS Next iron block. The 10.54:1 compression engine made 665bhp and 627lb.-ft. of torque on the dyno.
Short Block Combo
Inside the Dart LS Next block are a Scat forged crankshaft and forged H-beam connecting rods, JE forged pistons, and a COMP Cams LSR hydraulic roller cam sporting .624 inches of lift and 243° intake/251° exhaust duration at .050in lift. Other components include a Dart block hardware kit and cam bearings specific to the LS Next block, Clevite main and rod More >
STUCK. FAST …
May 25th
SiMPS Superlite is a cool new bonding agent that not only sticks fast, it helps reduce all-important weight. The product has all the benefits of a mainstream polymer and is free of nasties like isocyanate, solvents and silicones while it retains the same moisture curing mechanism with neutral polymerisation.
It’s also odourless and can be painted either after curing or while still wet. It’s the products low density of just 0.33 g/cm³, which means on average, is nearly quarter the weight of PU or MS Polymer.
It can be used on panel seams (inside and out), anti-vibration, noise reduction, bonding of insulation More >
‘MCLAREN’ THE DOCUMENTARY
May 24th
BRUCE MCLAREN DOCUMENTARY – A PROPER TRIBUTE
‘Motor racing’s greatest untold story’ is what this new documentary on the life and career of Bruce McLaren bills itself and having been lucky enough to see an advance copy I have to thoroughly recommend it.
The film is released on Monday, May 29 and it tells the Bruce McLaren story, how he achieved greatness with grit and determination thrown in with the man’s sheer ability behind the wheel. The highs and lows of his career are all covered from his birth in 1937 right through to his tragic death testing a McLaren Can-Am car More >
WHO WANTS A RELAY OR A JUMPER, ANYWAY? NEW HY BODY CONVERSION KIT
May 18th
Interesting press release received on Monday morning which got the week off to a joyous little start.
It was from an Italian company, Caselani FC based in Cremona and is news of their new body panel conversion kit that takes a Citroën Relay (or Jumper or a Peugeot Boxer or 2006-on Fiat Ducato) and turns it into a Citroën Hy van, which this year celebrates its seventieth anniversary.
Skilled laminator Fabrizio Caselani and designer, David Obendorfer are the people behind the tribute to Flaminio Bertolini’s 1947 corrugated van that has suddenly become the must-have accessory for street food vendors.
Initially, a limited run More >
CLEVER THIS
May 18th
Very impressed with the philosophy and outlook of designer and engineering consultant, Cal Trump, he of T89 Designs. Very much grasping the best traditions of the late Allan Staniforth and his plans-built single-seater, the Terrapin mixed up with a bit of Ron Champion’s Locost idea, comes the T89 SSL.
For those that really grasp such things, you can pay £594 inc VAT and receive an A3 folder with around 200 drawings (and your chassis plate) to help you produce the 245 separate components that go into the construction of an SSL. An extra £72 inc VAT also gets you Jig drawings More >
