Ti Motorsport

Day 3

 

 

Day 3 - Tangier to Fes

 

Heaven scent

 

An action packed schedule had been set for the first full day in Morocco. We were to take in a test, an Atlas time control section and a regularity on the way down to Fes.

 

The first action came within 18km of leaving the hotel, the Wind Farm test also known as the Route des Eoliennes. This was a fantastic gravel hill climb set among the massive steel pylons and the whirling blades of the generating sets.

 

As well as a great view we were treated to the delicious scent of acres of wild herbs, mint, thyme and sage, it was at times like walking through a kitchen garden.

 

This was a section well suited to the Porsches and both Gavin and Diana Henderson and Edmund Peel and Sarah McDonald seemed to be flying up the slope although in the final reckoning it was the Mighty Mini of Turner and Vestey who took the laurels once again. The Vintageants were led home by Bill Cleyndert and Jacqui Norman in the silver Model A who really seem to have got the bit between their teeth now.

 

From here the Rally turned south, through the Rif mountains to another agreeable coffee halt in Chefchaouen whereafter the route rolled over the bridge at Pont de Loukkos which historically separated the two parts of Morocco. The French side and the Spanish side.

 

Soon after taking in this little piece of history, it was back into hills for the first Atlas time control section and on the way there we passed through more stunning scenery, sleepy villages and donkeys carrying water to remote farmhouses up seemingly impossible slopes, a crowd of cheering schoolchildren had even turned out in one town to wave the Rally through.

 

Once through the mountains and the Atlas section we passed through the town of Ouazzane where turkeys and guinea fowl shared the road with us.

 

Shortly afterwards we came upon Richard and Catherine Phillipson who'd lost a mounting bolt for one of the rear brake calipers of their Opel Kadett. As Catherine pointed out, "There are worse places to be stuck. There's coffee toilets and clean flat concrete to set the jack on". They didn't have a bolt to fit in their spares kit and despite the efforts of one time sweep Jim Allen they had to wait until Andy Inskip arrived with his big bag of nuts and bolts before they could get back in the road.

 

One of the cultural highlights of the day was a visit to Volubilis and the Roman ruins. Crews were allowed some time away from the wheel to take in the sights of this ancient monument now in ruins but still well worth a visit.

 

Morocco takes road safety very seriously and has invested a considerable amount of time money and effort in policing the highways and byways of this fine country. Today we saw this in action and the Rally encountered more radar activity than Heathrow airport on an August Bank Holiday.

 

It's been a day of mixed fortune for some of our crews. Michael Strasser and Arno Schenk have retired their Rolls Royce due to another issue with the fan. Jan Pettersson and Katre Helena Ibrus are looking for brake pads for their Ford. Peter Thornton and Robert Maxted have retired after their Ford Coupe had a slight altercation with an earth bank while avoiding a local bus that was on the wrong side of the road and Nicholas and Barbara Philips were slightly delayed when one of the wheels on their Ford Model A collapsed.

 

Charles and Nicola Stuart Menteth arrived at the night halt on the end of a tow rope due to clutch failure. Andy Inskip and Tony Jones were in attendance and there is hope that they'll be able to restart later in the morning.

 

The Classic category leader board now stands with Owen Turner and Rachel Vestey still leading by eleven seconds from the evergreen Gianmaria Aghem and Rossella Conti in their bright red Lancia Italia. Ludovic Bois and Julia Coleman now hold third place in their Volvo Amazon. Jean and Anne Steinhauser lead from Bill Cleyndert and Jacqui Norman in the Vintageants with Jo Robillard and Matt Peckham still in third.

 

The Hotel Palais Medina served up another Moroccan feast this evening and after dinner many crews were seen departing for bright lights of downtown Fes.

 

There's a later start tomorrow so they might just get away with it.

 

Syd Stelvio

 

 

 

And it looks like our crew have hit a problem. Lots of penalties and not seem control.

 

Day 3 - Tanger to Fes

The overall classification at the end of Day 3 - Wednesday - Oct 07, 2015

Click link to the Penalty Details (pdf)

Num	Crew Car	Day Total	Overall Total	Overall Pos'n	Cls pos /Cls
	Vintageant - pre 1941 type cars
14	Jean Steinhauser / Anne Steinhauser-Collard Bentley Derby Open Tourer	0:03:09	0:04:26	1	1/c2
7	Bill Cleyndert / Jacqui Norman Ford Model A	0:03:04	0:04:36	2	1/c1
17	Joe Robillard / Matt Peckham Chevrolet Coupe	0:03:23	0:05:19	3	2/c2
3	Keith Ashworth / Norah Ashworth Bentley 4½ Le Mans	0:03:55	0:08:30	4	2/c1
19	Richard Thomson / Paul Dilley Studebaker Coupe	0:04:30	0:09:29	5	3/c2
1	Charlie Bishop / Nellie Bishop Vauxhall 30/98	1:13:57	1:31:27	6	3/c1
9	Nicholas Phillips / Barbara Phillips Ford Model A	1:25:10	1:31:48	7	4/c1
15	Tim Eades / Jeff Urbina Chevrolet Fangio Coupe	0:06:22	1:38:19	8	4/c2
16	Peter Thornton / Robert Maxted Ford Coupe	1:53:15	2:02:25	9	5/c2
2	Charles Stuart-Menteth / Nicola Stuart-Menteth Vauxhall 30/98	1:53:33	2:52:47	10	5/c1
6	Willem Voorvaart / Susanne Levy Ford Model A	1:50:11	4:07:08	11	6/c1
12	Nigel Gambier / Hugo Upton Lagonda T7	3:07:00	5:06:26	12	6/c2
18	Jan Pettersson / Katre-Helena Ibrus Ford Deluxe Coupe	12:00:00	12:21:12	13	7/c2
10	Michael Strasser / Arno Schenk Rolls Royce Phantom I	12:00:00	14:09:25	14	7/c1
11	Paul Hartfield / Chris Hartfield Packard Super 8 Sedan 120	12:00:00	36:00:00	15	8/c2
	Classic - pre 1975 type cars
44	Owen Turner / Rachel Vestey Austin Mini	0:02:31	0:03:26	1	1/c3
39	Gianmaria Aghem / Rossella Conti Lancia Fulvia Coupe	0:02:39	0:03:43	2	2/c3
32	Ludovic Bois / Julia Colman Volvo Amazon	0:02:38	0:03:46	3	3/c3
42	Mike Velasco / Peter St George Mercedes 280S	0:02:50	0:03:52	4	1/c4
37	Nigel Farmer / Stephen Lovell Ford Escort Mexico Mk1	0:02:46	0:03:59	5	4/c3
38	Gavin Henderson / Diana Henderson Porsche 911	0:02:42	0:04:00	6	5/c3
24	Richard Martin / Travis Cole Jaguar XK150	0:02:41	0:04:01	7	2/c4
31	David Roberts / Jo Roberts Triumph TR250	0:02:59	0:04:03	8	3/c4
28	Tim Wheatley / Matthew Wheatley Volvo 122S	0:02:55	0:04:21	9	6/c3
22	Adrian Hodgson / Richard Mills Morris 1800 S	0:03:05	0:04:26	10	4/c4
30	Jose Romao de Sousa / Maria Romao De Sousa Volvo 142S	0:02:53	0:04:31	11	7/c3
45	Edmund Peel / Sara MacDonald Porsche 911	0:02:40	0:04:41	12	5/c4
26	Jan Hradecky / Dana Hradecka Mercedes Benz 230SL	0:03:08	0:05:03	13	6/c4
5	Hok Kiang Sia / Eric Kuan Rong Sia Mercedes Benz 300d Adenauer	0:05:14	0:09:00	14	7/c4
34	David Hartley / Stephen Hardwick Datsun 240Z	0:06:04	0:09:10	15	8/c4
40	Manoj Saxena / Jesus Mantas Datsun 240Z	0:03:06	0:10:21	16	9/c4
33	Barry Nash / Malcolm Lister Rover P5b	0:03:04	0:11:29	17	10/c4
20	Luc Maruenda / Ian Robertson Jaguar XK120 (FHC)	0:03:48	0:13:16	18	11/c4
43	Richard Phillipson / Catherine Phillipson Opel Kadett C Coupe	1:12:03	1:13:25	19	8/c3
8	Willie McNickle / Chris Pike Rolls Royce Phantom I	12:00:00	26:16:00	~	1/c5
4	Rupert Marks / Leonie Marks Renault 4 GTL	12:00:00	Retired	~

After a little bit of a late night, [we didn't arrive at our accommodation until 1.30 am, the van turning up at 2.00 o'clock] & by the time we had had a nightcap, my notes said we hit the hay at 4.00. 

As the road up to Llanerchindda Farm had been icy when we arrived, I decided that we should leave at 6.00 am. As it turned out, it was much easier to get out than it had been to get there.

For the final day, there was just the one service area at Walters Arena. It was much less crowded than I had expected but just as bad a surface as usual. The rain didn't help either. We eventually found a patch with no large craters or lake sized puddles and set up for service.

Richard & Stefan had had a bit of a lay in, so were fashionably late. After a bit of discussion, we opted to fit 4 new tyres and with that done, we were all set for the final day and also time to draw down the curtain on Ti Motorsport.

The first stage of the day, Rally Collection UK Walters 1, to give it it's full name was a 7.12 blast giving us a chance to see the crews in action.

The next stage was a little 3 mile run through the Coopers Tyres Glasfynydd, before the 10.47 mile run in Crychan 1. In one of those little quirks of fate, at the end of the second stage, Richard came through just in front of his old Opel Kadett, so I was able to follow the last two cars that I built, running together.

Next stop, the service area. and a couple of jerry cans of fuel

The last leg consisted of just 2 stages, a rerun in Walters, imaginatively named Walters 2, followed by the Galway Mini Centre/C Sport Crychan 2.

The first of the two passed with no issues, so here we were sitting at the end of the final stage, just waiting to congratulate the crew when the tracker showed them stopped in the stage.

Been here before, Last time it was with Miles Johnston on the Network Q, Margam Park and that time my Peugeot 106 burnt for hours, so lots of swearing and several flashbacks.

Then suddenly the tracker showed them moving again but very, very slowly. Some relief but that question of why were they going so slowly.

The answer to that soon became apparent when they finally came into sight. The drivers wiper arm had gone awol. Throughout the event, it had been the co driver one that had been the issue. The fix had been so good that they hadn't been able to change it over when they stopped.

At least we were able to sort that before heading to the finish in Carmarthen, a journey hampered by a level crossing failure in Llandovery.

Just as the last time we did the event, the finish was a TOTAL SHAMBLES. 10 or more minutes on the ramp while every man and his dog joins in to be photographed may be OK for the first cars but it does mean the later crews having to wait hours for their turn. Richard & Stefan opted out, so no podium pictures for us.

At least we signed off with a class win

 

 

 

Croeso i gymru or more commonly, Welcome to Wales

After our unexpected day off, the rally was restarting as scheduled in Welshpool. As the first car wasn't due to be flagged away until 12.00, we were able to have a spot of breakfast before leaving and heading for the absolute chaos that the restart venue presented. Bang in the middle of town and half full of shoppers, the  Berriew Road car park was far from ideal, they could have held the cars elsewhere and had the drive to the car park ready for their due time. Not rocket science, other events do it.

Originally 3 stages were scheduled, before a 30 minute service in Dolgellau. The stages would then be repeated with the overnight service in Machynlleth. Sadly the second and fifth stages, Gartheiniog 1 & 2 were cancelled  due to damage caused by Storm Arwen.

This meant the first stage 11.02 miles of Dyfnant 1, traversed by our crew with no reported issues was followed by 13.29 miles of Dovey 1. Once again, no reported problems, so into service. So far our calculations on fuel usage had been a little on the light side, we had worked on 4 miles per litre, but were actually getting closer to 3 mpl. Our tyre usage was going the other way, the car was being very light on tyres. We did have to do a precautionary change as one of the rear tyres had a slight nick in it. I am sure it would have been ok BUT we were taking no chances. We also gave the alternator belt another tweek. 

With service complete, Jonathan & Jamie headed off for Machynlleth, Andy & I headed back to our management point after the second pass of Dyfnant. Interestingly, for me at least, Richard was now running immediately behind his old Opel Kadett , so the last two cars built by Ti were running just in front of Andy & I on their way to Dovey 2.

Once again a trouble free pass of the stage and we were soon heading for our evening accommodation. It was 10.00 pm by the time the crew arrived in Machynlleth , so we had decided that as there were no major issues with the car, we would put it straight onto the trailer and head for the hills. Once again we were not starting too early, so we would do our prep at Walters Arena in the morning. 

 

 

Arwen- The Aftermath

With the arrival of daylight, we were able to see some of the carnage that the storm had brought, as we made our way to civilisation or Hawick as it is known locally. At least there was electricity and phone service, so we were able to get hold of every one. 

Morrisons were our breakfast venue of choice [No one else was open] and it was from there that we ascertained that Jonathan & Jamie had in fact made it back to Longtown but not before a brief excursion into a ditch. Luckily they had been able to extract themselves without the need for external assistance.

Richard and Stefan had fared better than Andrew & I despite the A7 again being blocked beyond Langholm, had taken refuge in a pub. [You couldn't make it up ,could you]. The publican of The Crown in Langholm, realising that there was a bit of a problem, had open the pub and it's function room up to the crews. The staff had called friends and family to help with supplies and bedding, offering great hospitality to a random bunch of misfits. OK, he probably made a bob or two, but I can't think that anyone would begrudge him that. [except of course one of the other publicans in the town, who shopped him to the council, so I'm told]

Safe in the knowledge that everyone was safe, we made our way back to the cabins. The road was still closed but there had been reports of some action. It was 9.30 ish before we were able to continue our journey. It appeared that there had been more than one tree brought down across our bit of road. Looks like the guys on the right had had their work cut out. While all this had been going on, the app which the organisers had been using to deliver bulletins had been out of service. They had given no thought to the fact that regardless of the storm, much of the area had no service, perhaps next time they might put in a temporary mast. It was obvious to almost all, that there would be no rallying today. The Scottish leg of the event would not be happening. but nothing from the organisers.

As we passed through Langholm, we saw the pub which had hosted the lucky crews. For much of the rest of the run back to Longtown, there were signs of frantic activity, as the emergency services sought to restore some sort of order. [Such was the damage caused by Arwen, that some places were not back to normal for over a week]

For Andrew & I, it was time to review our position. At that time, there was no plan from the organisers, we had some work to do on the car and knew just the guys to carry it out. We opted to do our work, roadside by our accommodation. All the comforts of home on a pretty chilly day and an opportunity to introduce Jamie to the delights of roadside servicing.

 

Lets talk about Storm Arwen

So the Forestry Commission wanted us out of the way, did they, well we were happy to oblige. Storm Arwen, which we had been warned about, was all over the news. The local radios stations were giving hourly updates on it's progress and it was definitely making it's presence felt around Kielder. 

We chased the rally car, but never manged to catch it, we did however come across some other crews heading for the A7 and back to H&H in Carlisle. We fell in line  we were after all going back to Carlisle.. It was all going swimmingly, until we rounded a bend, to find our convoy at a halt. A tree was blocking the road. Although there were plenty of people, it was pretty obvious that we weren't going to be moving it. A mass U turn by rally cars & chase crews and it was back to follow my leader. Until then, we had been following the road book and had almost made it to Newcastleton, now we were going back the way we had just come from, before going off piste in search of the A7. 

And off piste, we certainly went. One by one cars pulled off , presumably to check the maps, as we made our way across the moors. A couple of times we had to stop and clear broken branches from across the road. By now the snow was covering the road and the ABS in the 807 was going berserk, as the tyres scrabbled for grip. At one point, Andrew thought of stopping, visibility was so bad but we soldiered on.  One big problem was the lack of a phone signal, which might have enabled us to get a detailed map of our location. It's all very well seeing the odd sign post, not a lot of help if you don't know where the places are. After two and a bit hours of  exploring the moors, we finally managed to get to the A7 at Hawick and naively thought we were out of trouble. Back en route as it were, we were approaching Langholm, when we once again came to a standstill. There had been so much damage all around, trees and branches were down all over the place, power lines and phone lines adding to the problems faced by the emergency crews, who were obviously completely overwhelmed. 

This time, we were faced with about 25 other crews who had all parked up, luckily there was quite a lot of parking in and around Ewes Water Log Cabins and we found a suitable spot, before finding out what was going on. It was inevitable I suppose. Yet another massive tree had come down across the road. It looked like we would be going nowhere for a while. By now it was 11.15, so three and a half hours after leaving Kielder Water.

Having checked all the other rally cars, Our 'boys' weren't here. We, the no signal brigade, had no way of contacting them or Jonathan or Jamie, hopefully enjoying the benefits of our Longtown accommodation.  At least we were warm and dry and relatively safe and we did have our guardian knight.  At times during the night, the skies did clear, briefly, to reveal an amazing star scape. Between cat naps [Andrew just seemed to drop off, he had after all driven through the storm] I listened to Cumbria Radio, what an amazing show they put on for anyone stuck out in the wilds. Seriously good choice of music, loads of local updates, all you could ask of a 'Local' station. Thank you guys.

During the night, we had frequent visits from various emergency response crews, none of whom seemed able to get the road cleared. We also had the odd visit from other crews, checking that we were OK and had food & drink. By 7.00am we were both awake and decided to go back to Hawick, find some phone service & get some breakfast.

Day 2

When we got back to our accommodation, we still had to plan for the new day & a run out to Kielder. Little did we know just what a day it would turn out to be.

Jonathan & Jaime left fairly early to get a reasonable space in the service area [memories of problems last time driving this decision]. For Andrew & I, there was time for a bacon butty & a coffee before taking Richard and Stefan into Carlisle for the restart.

Looking at the schedule, the crew were in for a pretty hard day. Andrew & I had our own little rally to look forward to on the way to the end of the first stage of the day, Clintburn, a 13.18 mile starter. Our 9.5 mile along the forest track to Crookbank was lots of fun.

With no problems to report, Andy & I made our way to the dam at Kielder Water, while Richard & Stefan tackled the 14.45 mile Chirdonhead 1 stage. A quick wave as they passed & we then made our way to Service area B, where Jonathan & Jaime had set up shop. Talk about right hand not knowing what the left was doing, while we waited at Service B, Stefan had guided Richard to Service A. They are about 5 miles apart so not ideal, especially as Stefan had told Jonathan which area to go to. So a somewhat reduced time for service. Luckily the only thing we really needed to do was change a rear wheel, as the sidewall had a nick in it. Just as well because the weather had turn really cold and damp. Reports of Storm Arwen were starting to impact the area.

On the way to the next management point the trip in th 807 started to play up, [diagnosed as a dodgy connection], caused a wrong slot but as the timing wasn't too tight, we were on station at the end of stage7, Falstone 1, in plenty of time. The crew had a little indiscretion on the stage, loosing 4 minutes exploring a ditch. With no management after Bewshaugh 1, a 17.2mile marathon, Andy & I made our way back to the service area and something to eat.

We were now getting snow flurries in the service area and the wind was picking up. Again we were lucky, the trip to the ditch had caused no damage except the loss of a couple of mud flaps and the washer bottle had jumped out of it's mounting & needed refitting.

Because of the absence of a management spot between stages, Andy & I stayed in the service area, sending Richard & Stefan off the cover the 9.01 mile of  Pundershaw & a second run through Chirdonhead 2. When the car came in, we were in trouble with the wiper blade again but all else was performing well, unlike the weather which by this time had turned into a blizzard. As Andy & I only needed to go down the road to the dam, we helped Jonathan & Jamie to load the van and get them on their way back to Longtown before the weather really closed in.

Andrew & I then made our way to the dam where we waited for the car to complete SS11, Falstone 2. No problems reported other than the absolutely horrendous conditions in the stage but just one more to complete before we too could head back to our accommodation.

And that's where everything went pear shaped. Turning out onto the main road Andrew thought he saw sparks from the underside of the car. As one, we suspected that one of the Proflex canisters had broken free. With lots & lots of headlamp flashing, we managed to get Richard to pull over so that we could check the underside of the car. Sure enough, the near side canister had broken it's mounting clips and had been bouncing along the road. We were so, so lucky that it hadn't punctured and with the aid of some mega tyraps were able to fix it back in place. With a dire warning to Richard to be gentle with the car through the stage, we started to put the jack and tools away, at which point a Forestry Commission truck pulled along side & in no uncertain terms told us to pick up our rally car and get the hell out of there. The last stage had been cancelled and they were trying to make sure everyone got clear. Storm Arwen had arrived with a vengeance.

Richard & Stefan had arrived at the turn off to the stage and had been given the same message. FOXTROT OSCAR as they say.

The RAC Opening Day

Being a bit of a milestone event and with Christmas coming so soon afterwards, I have taken a little time to take it all in.

The last time we did the Roger Albert, back in 2019, Andrew & I managed to cover the event, I ran chase & Andrew looked after the service van. We did manage and got the car to the finish BUT it was really hard work. This time, we wanted an easier life and recruited Jonathan Styles, long time service buddy, but sadly, for one reason or another, none of the rest of the gang were available. For a while I thought we were going to be a trio, which wouldn't have been too bad but a chance remark to one of Christine's cousins and we had our 4th musketeer.

Jaime Davies is currently studying engineering at Telford and after asking permission to take time off from his course tutor, agreed to join us. He has never done anything like this before, so he was in for a real treat. One 18 yr old & 3 old timers. Time for his proper education to begin.

Andrew had collected Jonathan & Jaime on the way to Penrith, I had taken the van and despite the best efforts of the traffic to thwart me, met up with the others, albeit a little later than planned. This left us with an easy journey to Carlisle on Thursday morning. I have already covered scrutineering elsewhere, so with the car fuelled, tyres pressured, all the crew & service crew fed & watered, Richard & Stefan joined the queue to start, Andy & I parked up ready to 'Manage' them while Jonathan and Jaime settled in to wait for our return.

We were off to Kielder for a pair of stages. The first, Newcastleton 1, was a short 3.58 mile wake up call to the crews. Management made their way to Kershope Bridge to wait for our charges. We did have a mini panic in the chase car, while I struggled to change the trip from kilometres to miles, but with that sorted, and the crew opting not to stop,  we made our way to the end of SS2 Kershope 1. This was a 12.9 mile stage, so a bit more of a challenge, but again no issues. However following them back, we noticed that Richard was running with all the spots on, something that we had very specifically asked him not to do. Because of the small nature of the battery and the heavy load we were putting on the system, we were worried that there might be some belt slip on the alternator, which might present problems somewhere down the line.

Like at the in control to service back in Carlisle, where Richard stalled  the car and needed bump starting to get it going again. Investigation found that one of the alternator bolts had gone awol, allowing the belt to slip and that 2 of the bolts fixing the stabilizer bars for the spots had also gone absent without leave. We also had the first issue with the wiper arms, something that would plague us throughout the event. With everything back in working order, we headed off for a repeat of the first 2 stages. Having left the rally car to start stage 3, we were on our way to Kershope Bridge, when we got stopped by a marshal, a car was on fire in the stage & the rally cars were being brought out in front of us for a reroute. As were were sort of tail end Charlie's, we didn't have too long to wait. Waiting at the end of SS4, the 504 arrived, stopped and presented us with the near side wiper blade. It had parted company after the finish of the stage. A bit of luck then. After his experience last time Richard asked that we lead them back, so that he could conserve the battery & give it a chance to recharge. 

Back in Carlisle, we packed the crew off to our accommodation in Longtown, while the service crew went to work. There was a bit more work for Andrew on the spot lights and Jonathan had the sump guard off to check the alternator before giving the front end a spanner check. Jaime was doing a similar job at the back. I swanned about doing a bit here and there but trying to come up with some sort of fix for the wipers. There were two issues. The first was easily fixed. The wiper arm itself being of a prehistoric design had a spring loaded clip to hold it onto a splined spindle. The arm shown is a brand new one whereas the ones on the car for the event were probably 30 or more years old. The recess on the spindle obviously isn't an issue, providing the arm is fully seated. Our on event fix for this was to put some locking wire behind the spring to keep it in place.

The blade issue was something else entirely. Back in the day, as they say, the most common size for the hook type wiper arms was J7, the 7 referring to the width of the arm, in millimetres. Now at some point, the powers that be, decided to use 9mm instead and that is where the problems begin. Not only is the blade not held straight but more importantly, the lock location is now in a different place and this was what was causing most of our problems.

By the time we had finished, it was nearly 3 am, a bit of a baptism of fire for young Jaime, another day at the office for the old timers and we still had to pop into the fuel station across the way and fill the van and chase car ready for day 2.

 

Roger Albert Clark Rally 2021

After quite a wait, it was time to put the 504 through it's paces again. As detailed elsewhere, there have been several changes to the car spec, since it came back from Kenya. The main decision facing us was what class to enter the car in. We eventually decided on the Safari Class. It seemed the most logical after all.

This years event would start in Carlisle, feature stages in Kielder, Scotland and return south for stages in mid and south Wales. We had commandeered Dave Dockree's Mercedes Sprinter for service and would use Andrew's Peugeot 807 for chase. We had decided to gather in Penrith on Wednesday evening, leaving us a short run into H&H at Carlisle on Thursday morning. Time for a last leisurely beer before the hard work began.

Three must do jobs awaited us in Carlisle, get our tyres fitted. Richard had arranged for some snow tyres but they were road snow tyres, Not competition ones, so although we mounted them up, we never used them. he general consensus being that the side wall were so soft, that punctures would be more or less inevitable. Also in Richard's bag, a second pair of IPF lights for Andrew to fit and finally the event door plates, stickers and sun strip to be collected from scrutineering. It's a horrible job, fitting the stickers on a cold damp car, in a outdoor enviroment.

Eventually we were ready for a trip to the scrutineering bays. It's the first time the car has been put through scrutineering in the UK. As you can see, the lights were going to be
changed AFTER scrutiny.

Having been doing this for so long, it no longer bothers me, but as we had queried a couple of things, including the 'Safari Class' regs, I thought it prudent to have a chat with John Cooper, the chief scrutineer, just in case.

With the car checked and stickered we were set for a start. Time for Andrew to do those lights. 

With the lights done, all we had to do was wait for our start time, which was going to be around 5 o'clock.

Time for our big adventure to start.

 

Finishing Touches

It was finally time to get rid of TopFry stickers ready for the Roger Albert ones, which we would get at scrutineering.

While I struggled, Andrew made light of fitting the spots. He was a little concerned as the alternator pulley was a bit small and wasn't giving a lot of grip area. When I had it made, there was never a thought of lots of lights & heated screens. A triffle foolish in hindsight and certainly something I will address shortly.

With the car ready, we turned our attention to the van & what spares to take. 

We would take front & rear suspension, an alternator, the spare fuel pumps, and a radiator, just in case. The Pug is fairly bombproof after all. It's usually driver error that stops it. [I know about these things]. 

I had arranged a supply of DMACK's from Dan at Mr Tyre and had 10 bare rims ready to be fitted up on Thursday morning. Richard had arranged for Owen Turner, who looks after his Mini to bring up 5 snow tyres, just in case.

After quite a few false hopes we had  settled on a crew of 4. Myself, Andrew, Jonathan [the old guard] and a brand new recruit, Jaimie Davies, who is one of my sort of relations, studying Mechanical Engineering at Telford.

Jonathan & Jaimie would run the van, Andrew & I would run chase in Andy's 807. In order to get everyone in the right place at the right time, I would take the van with the rally car on the trailer up to Penrith, where we had overnight accommodation. Andrew would collect Jonathan and then go up to Chester to pick up Jaimie and join me in Penrith. 

The plan was made. Now we just needed to execute it.

 

 

A Bit of Synchro Action

Next it was time to have a look at the gearbox & the troublesome 4th gear synchro. As were were planning to run in the Safari class, we would be using the 5 speed box instead of the Historics 4 speed version. This box runs a wide fork clutch release bearing and it would come back and bite us later on. The 5th gear is housed in a casing basically bunged on the back of the four speed box [tech speak you understand], so the first job is to remove the casing and 5th gear assy. The housing can then come off, and the 2 halves of the main housing can be split.

 

With the casing apart I was able to remove the input shaft. It was immediately clear where the problem lay. The synchro hub was worn smooth. One good thing about Peugeot is that they often use the same part over several models and as luck would have it, I had a brand new hub for a 205 box which was the same as the one I was taking out. As they say in all the best manuals reassemble in the reverse order and all being well, you end up with no parts left over.

And this is where that release arm issue came up. I hadn't been able to find a new bearing, so used a different arm and bearing. Sadly I didn't think it through. There must have been a reason for the wider arm.

Some time later and everything was back together. Time to run it up and give it a test. Splendid. No Drive

The narrower arm fouled the nose of the box casting. The clutch was engaged all the time. Swear, Swear &

more swearing.

We [Andrew & I ] decided it would be easier and quicker to pull the engine forward to put the original fork and noisy bearing back in. After a quick road test, it was back into the workshop to fit the heated screen.

With that fitted and tested, we were ready for another visit to Phil Prices.

Gearing Up

Having completed our test, it was time to build a new 4.9:1 diff for the car. I had managed to get a brand new 'old stock' one from a contact in Holland. It has been one of those must get it built but no time situations. 

The spare diff, a 3.9 was the sacrificial lamb for the occasion, the 4.1 currently in the car would become the new spare. As I didn't want to damage any of the bearings, I had to modify my bearing splitter. With the bearing off, I was able to remove the crown wheel. This gave me access to the LSD, which I checked over. 

The Peugeot manual diff section is a nightmare of special tools and measurements and while I had been able to recreate some, most of the set up uses old fashioned tooth marking & backlash measurements. With the new crown wheel fitted, it was time to turn to the pinion set up. First job was to measure the old pinion height using one of the pieces I had made, then using a couple more Ti made parts, the pinion and it's bearings and spacers were removed.

Making sure my new pinion height was correct, I then installed the crown wheel, locating it with some more Ti made parts.

The trick then, is to use shims to arrive at the correct mesh and bearing pre load.

Eventually you are looking for an even tooth marking and the correct amount of backlash. Then the diff cover can be fitted, ready to fit in the car.