Tom's UVA fugitive, Tom runs a 14s quarter mile :)

We aren’t finished yet though, still got a few years work yet!! There’s mudguards, sort the body panels, strip it and paint it, bigger engine blah blah etc
And the garage is half full of scrap again

I won’t be able to mention any of this to Tom.... Since he was papped at the Weekender he’s a complete diva anyway... my people have to talk to his people before we can even start work

What, like this?


RX-8 plus Tom by Nick Liassides, on Flickr

I got a present from the family...

A grinding mask!



Not sure if they are trying to tell me something

We did a bit of fweeming about, took some parents out in it, which made me feel better about my entry/exit ability

Couple of bits to look at;
Little bit of play in NSF wheel bearing, will just need to tighten the taper a little

The rear seems to be a bit low, and one side is lower than the other, this side is higher



Than this



So we’ll have to reset the torsion bars and spring plates I think


Up to about 50 miles now, going to try and give it a longer run next week, once we’ve got it into 3 figures we’ll check tappets and change oil etc

So after struggling to get the engine details changed on the fugitive,

I wrote to them with information from manufacturer, invoice for the engine, information from a book explaining the engine numbers and some other information....

About 3 weeks passed, nothing had come back, I got crashed into so couldn’t be bothered to deal with 2 lots of bureaucracy so taxed it as a 1600 (which is about £10 more a month) but thought when they’d sorted themselves out I could cancel the tax and then retax as a 1300.

Today I received this letter



Which I can’t make any sense of, it seems to me to say I need to tax it on the new tax rate and send them proof before they will change the v5.... but I thought the tax rate was set by the capacity recorded on the v5

Or do they mean I have to tax it first, then retax it (but I’ve done that)

Or I can’t change the v5 if there is tax running (?)

I cannot make sense of the letter at all, and typically I tried the phone number when I got home and was constantly engaged

Anyone able to explain it to me, please

P.s you are having us on with the ‘Mr Circuit’ aren’t you !🤪

I had the same sort of letter sent to me about 6 years ago when my Escort became tax free. I sent a letter to change the tax rate and get a letter back saying we can't do it because it will change the tax rate. That's what I want!! I took it to the post office, the little old lady informed me the DVLA don't have a clue and she sorted it for me sending off the logbook herself.

Yeah, everything is copper greased, or the 3-in-1 spray stuff, that can be.... we’ll have to take it apart for painting yet (bug think we’ll drive it for another season yet, before then)

Made a start



Welded a couple of brackets in for the raptor receiver



Also, there were a couple of holes in the tubes, we think for upper seatbelt mounts. So welded some 7/16 threaded inserts in, mainly to stop water getting in the holes and add the strength back (but does mean we could swap to 3 point seatbelts at a later date)



Went to put some primer on and the tin had set solid, not sure if lid had been loose or just from the heat, it’s fairly thick stuff anyway... but it got a coat of something for now and I’ll get some more rustoleum in the week

We’ve fitted the raptor box and started wiring



And cut a new dash panel



Which will have the speedo, battery and fog warning lights, and the ignition key (and the 2 doomsday switches on the passenger side)

So will be a lot cleaner than before

But Lucy has gone for a kip before work, so we have downed tools for a bit

Finished wiring everything up (going to solder the joints and tidy up the wiring properly, but that’s a tedious task that only I will enjoy)



And we had a look at adjusting the play in the steering, as I thought it was a bit excessive. Went to adjust it, the lock but was loose and the screw on the end of the worm would move with the lock nut, so we took the top cap off and it had stripped the thread in the cap



Luckily we have a spare steering box, so fitted the top cap from that



Not as clean as the old one... but we can clean it up another day
I thought the play in the steering was increasing, then decided I was imagining it... so I suspect as we started using it the thread stripped and the worm could move about and the play increased

Took it out for a drive and it is so much better, steering is over and with the raptor steering wheel controls it’s easier to use too



Stopped for a quick photo, and then home



Next up really has to be the mudguards
And we. An get the tracking done (and the wheel centralised)

Think I may finally have sorted the logbook with the engine to 1300cc
And had a weigh in, got £250 but that’ll probably be spent on the corsa.