The holy season is upon us. I'm getting Peyote back together. Mr. Yarwood
reports that I had a little crack in the head between the exhaust valve and
the spark pug hole. Getting that fixed. The crank looks great, the pistons
are fine, the rods are lovely, the bearings weren't bad but are getting
replaced of course, the transmission parts still aren't here. I'm having Bob
add a coaxial clutch actuator. I think he's using a part from a Saab with an
adaptor he has machined locally. We're doing six bolts and two dowels on the
flywheel--turned out to be the best way. That ought to hold the bugger.
I hear there's a really lovely aluminum head available now. Has anyone seen
this? It's not crossflow, but it's supposed to flow really well and have
nice beam strength. Looks like the original part but has ports that were
actually designed to flow and better water distribution. Might be worth
considering. These cast iron boat anchors are quite a challenge.
I cleaned up the rest of the car this weekend and started doing all the
fiddly stuff. I got the new aluminum hubs installed--had to turn down the
outer edge to get clearance for the caliper. Came out nice if I do say so
myself. The original edge has a wide radius and probably clears stock
calipers well, but I have big aluminum AP/Girlings. I didn't want to tweak
them--they were very spendy. I also have the new axles and spacers. I really
like being able to torque the nut onto the axle. I don't expect much pad
motion at all.
First race is about April 15. I can't wait. Naturally there's a conflict
between SCCA for my Radical and Vintage--and it's a double regional. I guess
I can kiss my chance for a repeat DSR regional chanpionship goodbye. My
serious competition is unlikely to miss a race. I always race Vintage over
SCCA. Mo' fun.
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