Prawny Baby

Hey guys! Extremely long time no see, but it appears Rainbird has provided you with a couple of clips of my face more recently than I realised! So, as I'm sure a few of you have gathered, with the help of the aforementioned R'bird, I'm having a go at a few vlogs of my adventures with the wrong wheel drive shopping car! Most recently Dad and I went to Bedford and broke it! So, as its Saturday morning and it's raining everywhere, stick the kettle on, grab a cup of tea, and find out what happened when Big Bad Dad and I went to Bedford and broke the A3! https://youtu.be/l4p14JvVi7Y If that was even remotely interesting then I'd love if it people checked out the channel and subscribed if you'd like to see more! http://Www.youtube.com/teamprawnracing

Top work R'Bird! It's a shame Lewis's seats came up a week too late, but it seems you've got this one covered anyway! Picking up an engine for the A3 on sunday. It's been TOOOOOOOO long.

I'd say I'm interested but I'd only upset you talking about cage feet and safety xxx

Perhaps not abuse in a personal way, but as someone with ~5x more experience than yourself on these things, I don't particularly appreciate being accused of "classic internet scaremongering" when you're clearly in the wrong. I was only trying to help. Safety is somethings to take seriously. Anyway, I've said my bit. I'll probably log in again in about 3 months.

Meh. Gives safety advise. Gets abuse. Not impressed.

When you roll and end up on the roof, the cage doesn't try to pull out of the floor, it tries to push through. Those tiny little feet arn't going to stop it punching through the floorpan, especially not with holes drilled under them which can only aid the ripping process. That's why you fully weld large spreader plates into the shell. Bolt in cages are usually anything but 'bolt in', they all require welding and spreader plates adding to be worth while. This is of course just my opinion

Why no spreader plates under the cage legs Dan? needs sorting mate!

The haldex 2 in the 8P S3 seems pretty damn solid. Even the early haldex 1 in the 8L seems to be happy at 600bhp Drove the barge in again this morning, loving it so far Parked in the road last night behind a 'note'. It's amazing how proportions of cars have changed over the years, even a huge barge like the 5 appears slender behind a modern eurobox! I also discovered it's not impossible to get it sideways this morning, so a little more investigation required there next time it rains

420 from a 2.0, whilst it sounds huge, isn't actually a huge amount these days! it's the same ~210bhp / litre that my 1.8 was making, before it blew up hahaha. So, yea. This happened: Because of this: So I pushed it into the garage and forgot about it for a while. In other news, after a year with a van and a track car, I decided I needed a proper daily. I've always had fairly small cars, so decided to go for something totally different. A big comfy Luxobarge! 3.0D, auto, cruise etc. It's a lovely comfy place to be.193bhp and 300lbft, and did 48mpg on the cruise home yesterday at 80mph. Hoping it continues to be a success!

plus I've been too busy searching MX5 forum classifieds

haha, didn't know you read it Danny I keep meaning to, but I struggle to find the enthusiasm when nobody really replies any more.

oooooooooooh, a forum about bikes, with a car thread. I'm sure I used to spend a lot of time somewhere similar Hey folks. Long time no see. Hope all is well with everyone. As you've seen above, I went munting on Saturday with Tarty Adam and AP. Many funs were had! Then later on we got a bit bored, so went to the beach

That's pretty unreal! Of all the things you've had, I'm most curious / jealous of this one. There's something about it I find fascinating!

Cheers Mark Oh, I almost forgot, one of my favourite pics of the day. 4 1/2 years ago, on I believe April 9th 2011, this pic was taken at the first Spring Action day I did in the car as a track car: On Saturday, 1617 days later, Sam took this pic which really reminded me how far it's come from those early days: Cheers Mark Oh, I almost forgot, one of my favourite pics of the day. 4 1/2 years ago, on I believe April 9th 2011, this pic was taken at the first Spring Action day I did in the car as a track car: On Saturday, 1617 days later, Sam took this pic which really reminded me how far it's come from those early days:

I guess with the pictures done, it's time to wrap it up for this evening so I can go to bed. The more observant of you will have noticed in a few pics there has also been considerable garage progress too in the last week, but that will have to wait until another day! A thoroughly enjoyable day was had, lapping most of the day with loads of different passengers. It was quite cool to share the car with new people, and an amazing feeling knowing that it was all for such a great cause and raising money whilst having fun. At the end of the day, we swapped wheels back: I took the chance to check brake pad wear. It's looking very promising with considerably less wear than I'd expect after this mileage: Outside: Inside: Huge thanks must to go everyone involved on the day: Sam - exceptional organiser of people, checker of tyre pressures, and adjuster of harnesses. Shelley - arranging things, getting us all together, manning the Stand and incomming public. Dave - For being a top laugh, and a bloody inspiration to all of us showing what can be done when you want it enough. Phil - THE technology man, seemed to have everything on the day, from cameras, to laptops, to chargers and jump packs for just about everything, as well as a knowing eye helping check over all the cars between runs too. Gurds and Ram + family - awesome fun lapping together as always, and thanks for feeding me Thomas - driving over from the Island for the day, coming out of your way to take those wheels for me, even though I never used them! Right. Enough rambling. I'm off to Wales for work tomorrow, and it's past my bed time :racer:

or pop up to Guildford to see Dan (BBT) one evening and ask nicely if he will de-immob it?

Just as we were about to head out to do a warm up, the heavens opened, and the track was once again soaked! This wasn't ideal, at all! Soon after, a track closure followed, as some poor sodd lost it in a big way in the opening session of the day and ended up in the barrier. Not a great start for someone! We waited around for a while, and by the time we got out, it was actually drying up slightly. We were still on the Khumos to start with, and whilst I've found them to be brilliant on the road. Once loaded up on track, they just didn't give me the confidence I was used to. Fairly grippy, but the softer sidewall which makes them so compliant on the road left them feeling a little wooley on track, and the tyre squeal I got from them was fairly horrible too, so after a few laps, we headed back in, and swapped to slicks. You can also see the Mission Motorsport stickers we had for the day too I'd rather stupidly forgotten my camera, having plugged it all in to charge the night before. Thankfully, Phil had a GoPro spare and offered me the use of it for the day. Really glad he did as hopefully i'll have some decent footage! He even had a cool little GoPro remote that I strapped to the steering wheel:] I also took the opportunity to throw a few more stickers on the car for the day, made by Jonny at UberSticky - https://www.facebook.com/UBERSticky We started taking members of the public out. This was great fun. £20 for 3 laps, plus an out / in lap, and everyone seemed to be really enjoying it. There were several people who'd known or seen the car previously, which was pretty cool, and loads of people wanted to talk about the car, and about Mission Motorsport and what they do. It all just felt like something really cool to be a part of. Enough rambling from me for a minute, time for some pictures, I must admit these are a mix of shots, from Sam, Thomas, a few friends on facebook, and some random facebook groups I've found. Huge thanks to all who took pics on the day to help capture the feel of the event These 2 shots by Thomas are brilliant: And these are a few found on facebook:

The dust has settled, reality has unfortunately gone and 'happened' again as it has such bad habit of doing, and I must accept that I'm not on track today, or tomorrow, or for a while after that either. So to keep the. Buzz going that little bit longer, I'll write about it instead Friday came, and I was supposed to have the afternoon off, to allow me to get everything ready for Combe the next day. That didn't exactly work to plan, and I left the office just before 5pm, with a trip to Basingstoke first on the cards to collect some wheels. The forecast looked BAD: I wasn't going to take any chances, so decided I'd take a bit of everything. Khumos to drive up on and use of it was midway wet-dry. Wets invade the heavens opened, and ever the optimist, the all important slicks too! Back at home I shared unpacking the car from Curborough the weekend before: The Rotas had a quick clean before going on the car: After my driveshaft issue last weekend, and Bills terrible misfortune the weekend before, I really thoroughly checked over everything on the front end whilst it was all off. All looked very healthy still The Rotas went on and i finished packing, slightly earlier than last time thankfully! Not wanting to take any chances, I also took a spare shaft, cv, and a clip/grease kit and crimps should I need to change any of it at Combe Saturday morning arrived, and I woke up to some pretty awful weather! Thomas arrived just before 7am, to very kindly take the wets up for me as he had room in his passat. Sam arrived soon after, and we set off, feeling reasonably hopefull for a good day: We made great time to Combe, getting there just before half past 8, and wasted no time in heading straight to the sound testing: The car produced it's now regular 93dB, and we headed down the pitlane to meet Phil and Shelley who had just arrived towing the Mission Motorsport works MX5 Race car. Dave who drives the MX5 hadn't arrived yet, so I whipped it off the trailler, and Sam took it for sound testing whilst I got the A3 unpacked. All unpacked and parked up in the pitlane, Dave arrived to drive the MX5, and we were ready to go soon after 9am, with the weather looking fairly decent and drying up fast. I don't know the details, but I believe Dave lost both his legs in an explosion, and now drives with 2 prosthetic legs. The car has completely conventional controls, and to see Dave drive it, you would not have a clue he is minus both his legs! It's absolutely incredible how he pedals the MX5 around the track far far better than 99% of fully able bodied people ever could. Truly inspiring to watch, and a testament to the amazing work that Mission Motorsport do to help guys like Dave. Soon after Thomas arrived in the mk2, then followed by Gurds and Ram in the mk1. and finally Chris Hignel in his CCSC Fiat Punto, and that completed the mission motorsport line up for the day!

Eagle rods. they'll be fine Ash. Nice and strong, will take anything you can throw at it, apart from another melted plug If your tensioner is OK then swap VVT onto the new head. Easy job for your garage. Don't do away with it. you'll get an incorrect correlation error that'll need mapping out, and you won't gain the spool benefits George mentioned. That said, it's not essential and I don't have it (my car never had it), but it's not something I'd choose to do away with unless forced. Went to Combe on Saturday, spent the whole day taking random people around in the A3 for a charitible fee to a good cause. Much fun was had!

So folks, this saturdsy, September 12th, is the now famous Forge Motorsport Action day at Castle Combe: http://www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk/events/action_display_event.asp?BookingEventID=818 Every year, a charity is chosen, and many proceeds from the day go towards the charity and to a good cause. This year, the chosen charity is Mission Motorsport Mission Motorsports aim: The Aim of Mission Motorsport is to aid in the recovery and rehabilitation of those affected by military operations, by providing opportunities through Motorsport. More info can be found on the website: http://www.missionmotorsport.org An awesome cause I'm sure you will all agree. Having known one of the founders Jim through another forum a frequent I've been following the charity for a long time, and the things they do, and the hurdles these ex servicemen overcome to compete in Motorsport at a high level are nothing short of incredible. This Saturday at Castle Combe I will be driving the A3 (if you're reading this you know the one) all day, giving passenger rides to the public in exchange for a donation to Mission Motorsport. For a small fee (I must admit I do not know the suggested amount) you can jump on board for a few laps around the Castle Combe circuit and see what the fuss surrounding track days is all about. All proceeds will go to Mission Motorsport, and I intend to have a thoroughly good day. I have slicks if the sun shines, and wets if it rains, so come what may, I will be there and having fun! Fun like this can be expected: http://youtu.be/RPrZBNN3dn0 It would be great to see some of you there, and even better if you can contribute towards a great cause and join me for a few hot laps

To my way of thinking, all of the above is a total waste of time if you overlook the basics - shells and rings. All the fancy rebuilt heads and oil tight gaskets in the world won't make up for rings that are worn out and not sealing on a tired bottom end! At least you're doing it right now!

I must ask how it really constitutes a rebuild if you weren't going to be changing the rings or big ends? Haha. Surely that's just a strip down and reassemble of old parts Good work on finding the rare rings though!

Went to Combe today with Ticcy, met Pierre and Toby there, had a great time in questionable weather! It's done nothing for my insanely strong desire to go racing though, I feel its drawing inevitably closer, I just haven't figured out how to fund the idea just yet!

If 02M is on the cards, why not just go the whole hog and 20vt it?

Rob is Rob Broadie, part of the original TF massive He is building a genuine Dann220711!!??1110000666kthxbye replica Allen: what else have you done to it? Stock suspension? Any geo adjustable as standard?