I had suspected at Brands that the car was down on power, and at Cadwell i was convinced as i could only hit about 117 down park straight and the car really wasnt pulling well up the hill. Nearly everybody i asked was hitting 125mph+ up there, even the MNR boys in there mobile bricks. I checked the compression and valve clearances while in the paddock at Cadwell, and although maybe very slightly low and a couple of tight valve clearances it didnt seem to tie up with the loss of power, especially up the top end. But i decided to swap out the engine with my spare, which by all accounts stands a chance of being a better engine if what the guy i bought it off was telling the truth. So tonight we were just about to start removing it, but while i was just making a start, dad rolled underneath to have a listen to the noisy bearing in the diff that John had picked up on at Cadwell to discover a huge amount of backlash in the diff. When dad had rebuilt the diff at the start of the season he said the crownwheel and pinion where pretty worn and looked as if the case hardening had just about worn through. He said we should change as soon as possible when one popped up for decent money, but up until now it had been put to the back of the list. So after stripping it down we were greeted by the sight of a hugely fubared gear set:-
I think i was lucky to even finish the last race at cadwell as there isnt much left on those teeth!! At least this means no need to swap the engine and i still hopefully a have a decent spare. But was it does mean is a hurried hunt for a replacement 3.54 crown wheel and pinion.
Dad also brought up with him the modified lightweight bonnet, now sporting a rather huge growth
As the bonnet doesnt have a the central bulge like the old heavy bonnet, so a modification was required to the new light nose cone fitted for cadwell, the part removed has left space for a new air intake scoop, again made by dad from GRP. Its a bit like a Rolf Harris drawing at the moment, but you will all see how it works in the next instalment
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