Well, my bargain A$6,000 spridget racecar now owes me a total of approx
A$12,000.
6,000 Purchase
600 set of Superlite 13x7 wheels
680 set of Dunlop Formula R D98J (175/60R13)
2,600 engine rebuild
650 "unbreakable" half shafts
300 gearbox rebuild
300 second hand 3.9 diff
150 Clutch/Pressure plate repair/replacement
60 Clutch thrust bearing
150 second hand rear axle housing
100 Front end bushes in nylathene (sp?)
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A$11,590 (about US$8,750)
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and that is not including consumables like brake pads etc, nor bits
and pieces I have had to buy to work on the car. I have done most of
the work myself, with the exception of the motor and gearbox. The car
has been stripped down and re-assembled. I have fixed or replaced lots
of worn or bodgy things. These probably add up to another few hundred
dollars.
The engine was a combination of bodges and just plain worn out. The
main problem was that big bore pistons (73.5 mm or about 125 thou
oversize) were used but the bores were not staggered. This means that
there is only about 2mm b/n the inner two cylinders, causing sealing
and overheating probs. This was made worse by the PO who believed in
building race motors with really loose clearances. The block is
salvagable (sleeves), but I have opted for a replacement block on
original bores. I'm just taking it out to 20 thou oversize.
Cam, lifters, rocker shaft, valves and guides etc etc all needed
replacing.
Simon Gardiner builds strong racing motors that are very reliable, so
I hope that I'll get good life out of this top to bottom engine
rebuild.
Remember Scott Fisher #1's rule of purchase price? Before now, I read
the rule and murmured approval of its wisdom, but know I *KNOW* and
*UNDERSTAND* the rule in a way that I didn't appreciate before! :-)
I now have a pretty thoroughly overhauled race car which gets its next
outing at the 6 Hr relay race at Eastern Creek on the 29/30 October.
The entry list for the 6Hr is stunning, with 40 teams including lots
of LBCs and other historics, as well as our teams mix of big and
little healeys (1x AH 3000, 5 x spridgets). But more about that later!
Mike
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