BRISK ROVER - The second coming!

[niceyellow vrs]

Been busy helping run a rally this weekend so haven't had mush time to work on the car but I have managed to install the upgraded clutch hydraulics. It's a really nice bit of kit, fitted easily and perfectly and gives a much nicer pedal feel over the standard setup which I can only describe as shoddy at best.

 

 

 

 

Next jobs on the list is upgrade the brakes to the larger ZR160/ZS180 set up. I'm away with work this week but I've penciled in the whole of the bank holiday weekend next week for working on the car so hopefully it'll get very close to being ready for use soon.

[niceyellow vrs]

Been a while so I'd better do an update. Been a bit busy with this that and the other.

 

Since last time, I'd been having a bit of a mare with the brakes. I put all the larger 160 stuff on, bled the system a lot but just couldn't get a decent pedal feel. They worked, but the pedal was so long and never felt as hard as it should. I narrowed it down to the front calipers by clamping the brake hoses. Upon stripping the calipers, I found the pistons to be heavily corroded so a rebuild was in order.

 

 

New seals and pistons solved the soft pedal problem but the pedal was still longer than I would like. I eventually found that there is an adjuster between the brake pedal and the servo so it was a case of turn that until the brakes were just starting to apply themselves and then back it off slightly. Yay, working brakes!

 

With the car operational, I had a handy event at which to do a bit of testing last weekend. I was involved in giving passenger rides around an autosolo course so I trailered the car there and used the day not only to showcase the sport I do, but learn the car and give it a shakedown. It performed brilliantly. Handles better than expected, surprisingly so and has real potential to be a class winning car. The amount of grip it has is unbelievable. Also, nothing broke so that was a big bonus

 

Today was a big day. MOT test.

All good apart from the emissions. CO content was rediculous and wouldn't come down to within the required limit. Bugger. My MOT guy and I scratched our heads and decided it was probably a knackered cat so being as I still had the 120 downpipe and pre and post cats in he garage I suggested I take it home, swap them over and bring it back for another go. 2 hours later, 120 cats on and it was now only emitting fresh air.

 

Upon closer inspection of the 160 cat, there's nothing inside it. Either it's all broken up and blown out the back or somebody has intentionally made it into a decat. Couldn't see any obvious cuts and re-welds though so probably the first theory. Either way, now it's passed the test, I've put it back on as the 120 stuff is a smaller bore and noticably restrictive. I'll just have to swap it around again for the next MOT.

 

So with a fresh MOT, and the tax and insurance in place, it's on the road

 

 

The holes in the bonnet you can see there are on purpose for heat management. I learnt from my last VVC engine that engine bay temps can get very high so if it can escape it stops and problems like fuel vapourisation.

 

Been out for a drive about this evening and reminded myself just how much I love a nice revvy K Series. I can only describe the car as awesome. It handles like it's on rails, goes like stink and sounds mental when giving it the beans.

 

Still jobs to do like fit the bucket seats, harnesses and spot lights etc but it's ready to use. First competive event is Oxford Motor Club's Autosolo at Finmere Airfield on October 7th. Entry is in and I can't wait

 

 

[niceyellow vrs]

So today was the little MG's competitive debut at Oxford Motor Club's Autosolo held at Finmere airfield.

It proved a rather handy bit of kit and I won my class and came 10th o/a out of 47.  The woman seemed to get to grips with it pretty quickly too and bagged her best result of 29th o/a.

 

I've decided I want to change the steering rack as whilst the one it comes with is only 2.5 turns lock to lock, it gives crap lock. An 11 metre turning circle whereas a rack from a Rover 400/45 has more turns but brings the turning circle down to 10m. A nice easy direct bolt in so it's on the list of jobs.

 

A couple of in car vids from today, including the woman catching a nice slide

 

 

 

 

[sharkrider]

love the sound effects as always

[mac11irl]

That is a fantastic car 

 

[niceyellow vrs]

So about 800 miles on the car since getting it on the road and nothing has fallen off, literally hasn't missed a beat and it's properly addictive to drive 

 

It got it's first proper blast down the lanes on Friday night running course closing car on a navigational road rally and it was great. Loads of grunt and the handling still amazes me. So stable and predictable.

 

Just a small job on it today. With a track day coming up at Snetterton in a couple of weeks I thought it best to throw in a set a decent pads. I usually like to use Tarox Corsa. 401 but they're very expensive for my application and will take about a month to get them made and then shipped in from Italy so I've opted for some Mintex racing pads. Still not cheap, but available off the shelf.

 

They're feeling pretty good, biting nicely straight away so should be pretty good when they're fully up to temperature.

 

Rolling road day next weekend so we'll see if it has the powers 

 

[niceyellow vrs]

Haven't posted for a while so probably due an update.

 

Track day at Snetterton went well, car performed perfectly all day and was great fun to drive. Not the fastest car out on track but it was out handling lots of things through the corners so was more than capable of keeping pace.

 

A bit of in car footage. Big moment just after 10m35s when someone had dropped oil at turn 1 which is a very very fast corner if you're committed.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73Tf-N0-LH0&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1G52_L0aYiszvGwfRhq4i5wl3JgazTg8G8kZR-woOEvQaLDhvA4su7foE

 

Some footage from someone else. From 12m20s I was getting a bit annoyed with the orange Caterham that didn't want to let me by

 

 

 

An excellent day and nothing broke so that was a bonus. I didn't even wear the tyres out.

 

Since the track day, I've been flat out with work so the car has just spent most of the time parked on the drive with just the occasional trip to the shops.

Finished work for Christmas now so I found a bit of time today to do a couple of jobs on my list. Whilst I was rummaging down the scrap yard last weekend I stumbled across a ZR 160 so I liberated the ECU and alarm box and also a spare 160 exhaust manifold. Got all that for a bargain £40 and I've got a couple of extra key fobs coded up so I've now got a spare key fob and a complete spare set of ecu, alarm box and key fob in case this new set stops working at any point.

 

With that sorted, I turned my attention to a necessary upgrade for lighting up the lanes on night events

 

 

There's not a great deal behind the bumper to attach to apart from a plastic crash bar. It is quite thick though so I've managed to drill right through and affix the brackets with some long M12 bolts and big spreader washers. They seem surprisingly sturdy so I may even get away without needing steady bars but I'll make that decision once I get a chance to test them. I'll even be able to get the number plate back in place between the two light brackets, I'll just need to cut it down slightly and lose the GB badge off it.

 

Currently part way through the wiring but had to down tools for the night as it was dark, cold and it took a lot longer than expected to get the wires through into the cabin for the switch. Ended up having to remove the glove box and then unbolt all the heater gubbins to move it just enough to get a hand in and grab my poking rod and then pull the wires in.

 

I'll continue in the morning once the sun returns and I can see what I'm doing properly.

[niceyellow vrs]

Since the last update I've done two track days at Blyton Park, put the bucket seats and harnesses in and finally got the brakes sorted.

 

The first Blyton track day was at the end of December and I took my brother with me as he'd never done a track day before and by the end of the day he was really getting to grips with the car and was overtaking the stuff that was overtaking him in the morning. Car behaved itself all day apart from a slightly inconsistant brake pedal. The brakes always worked, just sometimes you had to push a bit harder. We both had a proper enjoyable day and did my usual of being one of the quickest cars out there despite it being one of the lowered powered

 

 

Got stuck behind a ****ting Peugeot for a bit who really didn't want to let us past.

 

 

After that track day, I found some time and turned my attention to fitting the bucket seats and harnesses that have been taking up space in my half built dining room. Frames fabricated and all bolted together and in it all went. Drivers side is on a sliding mount so my munchkin of a girlfriend can still reach the pedals when she drives it and the passenger side fixed in one position.

 

 

Much nicer being held in the car so you can focus more on the driving rather than not falling out of the standard seats.

 

The end of last month saw a last minute decision to go back to Blyton again. A combination of seeing a cheap track day advertised for the weekend I had the company car trailer on my drive and me being at a loose end as the woman had buggered off to her mate's house in Dorset, meant it would have been rude to pass up the opportunity for a bit of playtime. Went along on my own this time and had a great time, despite not getting of track until 12.30 due to thick fog not lifting in the morning.

 

Being as we lost the morning, I decided to utilise the afternoon as best I could so I only had a few short breaks and for the last stint I stayed out on track for over 40 minutes straight. I figured that I would either see the chequered flag, run out of fuel or run out of brakes. Obviously, it was the latter

 

 

I was pushing hard though.

 

 

Once again, the car lapped it all up but I still wasn't fully happy with the brakes. Again, they worked, but the pedal was still longer than I liked and the bite was very inconsistant. I've been doing some research and finally solved the problem. By putting the larger brakes on from the ZR160, longer pedal travel is a side effect due to the larger caliper pistons requiring more fluid movement to operate. The solution has come from fitting a larger 1 inch master cylinder and appropriate servo from a Honda Prelude. You can also fit servos and master cylinders from EK9 Civics but they come at twice the price for the same thing due to the Civic tax. Anyway, direct bolt in upgrade and the brakes are now spot on. Nice short, consistent bite from the pedal

 

 

First round of the Autosolo Championship starts next weekend and the car is where I want it to be hopefully on for a decent result.

Edited 10 March, 2019 by niceyellow vrs

[KenONeill]

On 10/03/2019 at 00:03, niceyellow vrs said:

Got stuck behind a ****ting Peugeot for a bit who really didn't want to let us past.

I really don't get that sort of thing on a track day; all you're doing is spoiling someone else's fun.

 

OT(ish), but your SWMBO is cute.

[niceyellow vrs]

Picked up an Autosolo class win at the weekend, despite a slight off

 

Car running really well and providing plenty of enjoyment.

 

[shyVRS245]

Thanks for the session 4 Snetterton video, first time I've seen my Black Octavia on track. The orange Caterham took a strange line as we were about to pass. Don't think they liked a big 5 seater hatchback passing them so quickly.

[niceyellow vrs]

So amongst all the other jobs I've been doing on my week off this week, I found time to sort a couple of bits on the MG.

 

First up was fit my new steering rack to get rid of the comedy turning circle. Got a refurbished rack from a Rover 45, which whilst it adds a turn going from lock to lock, it gives more lock, taking a metre off the turning circle which is ultimately more important to me.

 

Whilst putting it all back together, it turned out that the squib ring behind the wheel wasn't centred so the extra turn broke it. No matter, quick trip to the scrap yard the next morning for a replacement. Whilst I was there,  I managed to pick up a tidy leather wheel as an upgrade for the plastic one the car came with.

 

 

 

Feels much nicer and not having to do 3 point turns to getting into parking spaces is a massive improvement. 

Also, whilst I was just about to leave the scrap yard, I found a TT strut brace for my Octavia. Win.

 

Another little job this week was fit my bigger spot lights. Managed to pick up a cheap set of Hella 1000 lamps off eBay and I'd forgotten how much better than the smaller Comet 500s they are. I've just got to try not to break them.

 

[niceyellow vrs]

Two Autosolos in two weeks and two class wins for the MG. That new steering rack has absolutely transformed the car, it turns in so well and I'm getting properly competitive again. Even Helen has dramatically improved as the better turning ability has giving her a much better confidence in the car.

 

The first autosolo got off to a bad start when being in the first group out on the first test meant damp runs with limited grip and then the throttle cable snapped at the end of the second run. A quick bodge with an electrical crimp connector and some cable ties saw us still in the game but an overshoot on the third run left me 9 seconds off the class lead.

 

 

It was dry for the second test so I was able to pull back all that lost time and I was just 0.7 seconds off the class lead. Test 3 then put me 2 seconds clear and I held that through the final test to take the class win.

 

Helen was also flying despite a slight off involving a bit of signage

 

 

Anyway, the cable bodge held for the rest of the day and got us home.

 

Today was another Autosolo at Cheltenham Racecourse and we were absolutely on it. Car was perfect and I was seriously impressed with how quick Helen was going. She's actually pushing so hard now that from the passenger seat, I'm not sure we're always going to make it, but then we always did.

 

Some videos from today:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KenONeill]

Did you mean to wear a shirt that close to Sabelt blue?

[edbostan]

They were good in thought but poor in execution. Remember the Brabham model with the orange front trim? The former Metro, Montego and Maestro turbos which snatched the steering wheel out of your hand after the lag. The Dolomite Sprint which the accountants specified rather than the engineers. The Rover 200 ZR which one year was the number 1 hot hatch. Memories!!!

[KenONeill]

3 hours ago, edbostan said:

Remember the Brabham model with the orange front trim?

Yes. I remember because I was followed by one along a road I'd never been along before, and pulled away every time we were in NSL, but got caught back up to every time I hit a 30 or 40 of any length.

[niceyellow vrs]

On 07/05/2019 at 09:46, KenONeill said:

Did you mean to wear a shirt that close to Sabelt blue?

 

Colour co-ordination is very important, even my Sparco race boots are blue

[niceyellow vrs]

A little bit more zoom added this week.

 

I was going to send my ECU off to Kmaps at some point for a remap but one popped up on Facebook marketplace already done so I was able to save myself a fair few pennies. As it's already unlocked, so no need to get it coded to my alarm/immobiliser, a simple plug and play.

 

Supposedly a few more bhp but I'll have to wait until the next time it goes on the rollers to confirm that. There's definitely a very noticable increase in low down torque and the raised rev limit from 7250 to 7500rpm should come in handy on Autosolos where I'm finding quite a lot of the time I have to decide whether it's worth going into second or just bounce it off the limiter in first for a bit. This map also has the added "pops and crackles" option so it makes cool noises when you lift off over about 3500rpm 😎

 

[KenONeill]

I'd think low end extra torque is more useful than top end power for auto solo anyway?

[niceyellow vrs]

3 hours ago, KenONeill said:

I'd think low end extra torque is more useful than top end power for auto solo anyway?

 

Very much so.

[niceyellow vrs]

Not much to report recently, the car is proving to be far too reliable 🤣

 

Couple of good results however. Entered Oxford Motor Club's grass Autotest last month and managed a 1st overall win. I'm not usually that great on grass but I took some advice reguarding tyre pressures from a friend and it seemed to work rather well.

 

I entered Witney Motor Club's grass Autotest today, implemented the same setup and managed another 1st Overall. Perhaps grass is my forte afterall.

 

Some footage from today

 

 

 

Edited 26 August, 2019 by niceyellow vrs

[KenONeill]

17 hours ago, niceyellow vrs said:

Oxford Motor Club's grass Autotest

Wasn't that more an "autostraw"?

[Guest BigJase88]

those autosolo's always boggle my mind, how on earth do you know which way to go, especially the carparks with the cones, it looks impossible from the onboard?

[niceyellow vrs]

6 hours ago, BigJase88 said:

those autosolo's always boggle my mind, how on earth do you know which way to go, especially the carparks with the cones, it looks impossible from the onboard?

 

Autosolos are pretty easy to follow as generally the cones will be numbered and there is a smaller yellow cone on it's side at the base of the larger cone which acts as an arrow telling you which side of the cone to go past. Everyone also has to walk the course before driving so you get an idea of where to go. Autotests are a bit harder, no numbers or directional cones so they're a test of memory as well as driving skill. The grass autotest I did last week was a simple one which is just as well because I'm not too good at short term memory stuff.

 

I've seen diagrams for the more serious autotests and there's very good reasons why I won't entertain such events.

[niceyellow vrs]

Ordered a print of this one to go on the wall 🙂