Fuel tanks..

Custom, all-ally.. beautiful.. not sure how many litres there.. must be 80-100 litres I'd have thought :)

Engine plates and dry brake arrived

Fuel hosing too from summit racing.. engraved plates look good. Dry brake needs modifying but Merlin think it will work fine - needs a 90 degree pipe made up.

Zausts and things..

Zausts trimmed and lights and rear bumper positioned back just to get an idea - those exit bores are 3" to give you idea of scale.. modest compared to a lot of jap cars but then that bore goes all the way back to the 4-branch collectors and there are 2 banks. That keeps the velocity up and the sound down hopefully.. the rear cans are very big but there is no internal baffles and no re-routing inside the cans - straight-throughs.. rear bumper still to be modified and cut out and we'll be venting the arches to pull out pressure build up and enhance the ground effects of the rear undertray and diffuser.. rear meshed then lower diffuser mounted and rear arches etc etc etc etc etc

Jst ordered OBP full floor mounted 3-pedal kit inc. all resvs, cylinders, aeroquip etc.. but VERY reasonable compared to Tilton/Wilwood if not as bling to look at.

More pics from the shop..

Zausts look crazy - tight clearance.. new tanks looks cracking and big - just as well given the engine's likely thirst. Probably paint the zorsts with ceramicool.

Mad Zorsts from Merl

"you asked for mad exhausts you got em, im still smilling and i have> >> > been looking at them all morning. just need painting.tanks fit too> >> > 'phew'.cheers merl"

Notes from Merlin..

its all been worked out, harvey has done a few of these b4 so he has got an idea he was just wondering if your engine guy had an exact length in mind, dnt worry thou. stepped headers,have you ever looked at a rule and seen the difference between 1 5/8 + 1 3/4 ? it aint much and im sure that this would make no difference. I told harvey exactly what your plans were for the lotus, so he is going to build you a system that will give you nice top end but also make it easy to drive day to day by hopefully increasing lower end power.big wing no problem!

Re rear wing - the only rules about end plates is that they cant stick out side the body work! not sure about the pointy bits may have to have a 7mm radius. didnt get a chance to go and see harvey to day i will have to pop down to morrow. only prob with putting stickers on the end plates is that they usualy hide the lovley carbon, so have to be clever with graphics. i like the idea of paint design and love the red idea around intakes.oh on a good note spencer "petrol tank man" phoned up to day tanks are tacked up and ready for final fit, so i just got to go and get them +see if they fit,make allterations ie fixing brackets,inlet, outlet,and breathers.his web site is www.sm-engineering.co.uk im sure there will be some other bits and pieces from him like a headertank.

picking car up on tuesday morning i have got a mould for a dash which i will try to sketch for you . I think it will look well cool especially at an angle. i love the led toggle switches there is also an other type which is what i am fitting to the rage buggy but if they dont tickle your fancy then the led toggle switches are ace.

sva? i cant see why you will need an sva? you do have the log book and its already road registered.

could do with a pipe from demon tweeks " fuel filler neck hose 45degree 51mm" and a 51mm straight.il send you some pics on tuesday of the exhaust and the tanks which i may pick up tomorrow.

Zausts on their way, tanks nearly there.. progressing nicely

spoke to Merlin - had choice of the big single element or smaller twin element wing - went with the big bad boy which is probably better for catching the flow over a GT car than the bi-palne which does look better for a single seater.. all good.

Car having zausts made up - hope to post pics soon. Twin tanks made also and all moving along nicely.We've decided to make the car driveable on the road, which will give me a few options down the road (no pun intended).. that means losing some focus compared to the Gt1/GT2 cars but can always focus the package if I'm able to afford to go full racing and trailer the car everywhere.. as a serious bargain hyper track car I may find a buyer next year and then I'll start the next project, sth a little more sane... maybe a Nurburgring weapon made out of a stripped and lightened BMW X5 diesel..lol

How the 358SS drives on the road will determine a lot and also interest from would be sponsors and likelihood of going proper racing. No doubt it has proper 600 bhp p/tonne tool potential.. the engine could be taken up in power with no obvious limit... really it's common sense that dictates and keeping the car driveable. I think 650-700bhp is about optimum (top end) and 800bhp is excessive.. that can be done in 3 ways - stroker port 'hop' tune, s'charger or turbo install. .. personally I'd like to keep the engine n/a to keep it linear.. car will sit on the fence a little for a while but could then be santised or the full devil released in time.. Looking to put some sort of convincing interior - bit of carbon, some fire resistant lightweight cloth, bit of paint.. all helps make it easier to live with on those Sunday morn runs.. prb stil nned ear plugs tho ;)

No word from Trading Stds or Honda re Phoenix, disappointing tho these things don't happen that quickly :(

Back from the MPH show,, good news for tyres

Jst back from a 28hr round trip to NEC to see the MPH show (won pair of tickets in a raffle) - lots of decent racing porn there - the Gumpart race car looks awesome - 690bhp twin turbo audi v8 and lots of aero - got lots of pics for ideas from the various cars on show including the mighty Audi R10. Got speaking to Andrew who runs the UK distributor so may tap some of that knowledge in the future..also looked at various cars running roof scoops and most use a carbon plenum box with rubber seal that joins when the hatch is lowered - maybe an idea and one way to seperate the filter from hot air under the engine cover..?

Got some great news - Kumho have a brand new hyper tyre for sprints (V70), aimed at hyerperformance and full-on track cars and run up to 335/18 on a 12-13J wheel with a choice fo compunds including hards. Best part tyres are half the cost of Toyo etc so will order the Image wheels once I've paid MVS and worked out some sort of budget but it's a positive step and means we can fill those rears out after all., I'll then keep the 265s with R888s for short sprints where the softer compound will help and the wider rubber wont give back as much on the typical cold Scottish mornings..

Best bit is they've asked for a sponsorhsip pitch to use them as a tyre partner.. either way they look good for the money..!All in all a great cpl of days but absolutely knackered - no work today thankfully - jst watched an old recording of Quincy ME, cracking!!

Now 38 hrs since I set off and 48 hrs since I last went to bed..

more influences..

lots of influences going into the project.. just some of them..

Time Attack: Nearest target

Nadine's GTS Viper is the closest target to the Esprit in the UK Time Attack C'ships..

Awesome!

More pics from the workshop

Arches coming along and sneak peak of what rear wing might look like..

A bit of history - The Codling Flexi Flyer #21

To give a sense of history for my project ..

This was the first race for my engine with Bary Codling in the #21. It took the 1/2 mile lap record with 18.27 seconds.

Car used classic Chevy racing colours of white-black and red..

expect the red chequer to be carried across to the Esprit.. white canopy also.. perhaps

Hopefully I can continue to do the engine proud..

A very rough guide

Black-red-white-grey

= chevy racing colours...

finally ran out of road...(Bombaytv)

Chapter 9: Blurry disrespects Loti

http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?module=see&lang=fr&code=11f66deaadbc2037efa00ee3a8776bbe



Chapter 10: The Lotus community turn on Blurry http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?module=see&lang=fr&code=90d86f4747530fba096f9a8ce1c9b0df



Chapter 11: Neil rides again

http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?module=see&lang=fr&code=f40d0cdd0e8b0a00f02722caa8aaabef



Chapter 12: An unfortunate accident

http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?module=see&lang=fr&code=e06b98720bc053ccbe8a3b8c97c7abb4

Chapter 8.. quarter mile?

Chapter 8: Blur challenges Ross to 2008 USSC http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?module=see&lang=fr&code=ae9a4cb53d46fd48ec438beb52eb8fac

Ballad continues... sagas in bangra

Saga continues :



Chapter 6: McKean has the blues : http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?module=see&lang=fr&code=d9404a6031371aed3cf9819f9a7b35c9



Chapter 7: Blur after LOTRDC : http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?module=see&lang=fr&code=e58b5af3e0774d79dc65b7392074e570

The Bombay Ballad of Jonny Blur .. (Bombay TV)

The characters Jonny 'Blurry' Beckett - The Virtual Driver (co-acted by Jon's toupe), Mrs Blur - the wife Yoshi - the manager and underground street racer, McKeann - Ginger Nemesis and mad Lotus driver, Roger - The Mob Boss (aka 'the doc') Ross - the drag quee., I mean king.

Chapter1: Blur can't take it any more http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?module=see&lang=uk&code=16c6fd43d94fd9f185e777147a48841f

Chapter 2: The deal is done with the corrupt doctor http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?module=see&lang=fr&code=0093387a3ea82c7e0f21474e8ddb7c2e

Chapter 3: Finally Blur can make his come back tour http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?module=see&lang=uk&code=036726670e1ca1d95c28020fc144ff4c

Chapter 4: Blur teaches Yoshi the pain of McKeann http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?module=see&lang=fr&code=778eb07dd90f247c1e2fa7b084f2c57a

Chapter 5:The Doc's men come looking for their money http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?module=see&lang=fr&code=aaeab5df8a92e4f485ccb9401c4a3a9f

What happens next? You decide - stay tuned or post up the next chapter.

so in the end.. where's this heading? ssh top secret

Well.. let's wait and see but the thought of black, no nonsense almost military purposefulness has an appeal. Like the Blackbird the 358-SS should be an enigma within the modifying scene.

Updates from MVS - October

ok i know im a bit slack il try to sort out the report on your lotus as soon as poss, here a few pis of the shafts+ altenator.

ok i think we may take you up on the offer of the paint work. it would be nice to see it leaving in more of a finished state.I loved that pic of the orange car you sent, amazing. id like to get hold of one of them bumpers and graft it to the front of your car!! any ways im going for a standard ish looking bumper but with a few changes which will make most bookworms do a double take, a much larger/ longer front splitter as for the ground clearence issue i decided to try to search for some of that rubber stuff and get it to hang down by a few inches,this would be a lot easier than having to remove the front section of the bumper, oh and im going for a double dive plane!

ye these r not the old shefts these dont have any welds on them either so thats all good. only problem with them is that after i put them all together a guy from a local grass track racing team came around for a chat saw them and said" my mate from hewland sez that if you want your shafts to last longer then you should put them in the lathe and polish them up+~ get all the machine marks out! " so i said "balls" so looks like i got to take em apart again and polish them up in the lathe. oh well.the engine came out yesterday for the last time hopfully, its been in and out more times than youve been in and out of the car lol.

cheers merlin.

Updated pics from the workshop

More pics from Merlin - more work on the front lights and first shot of the work in progress vented tailgate/engine hatch

lights coming along..

pics from Merlin: lot of blending and moulding to be done but the overall shape and sharp cutting lines crossed with the curved glass is very pleasing. Very low profile have a good Le Mans look..

more carbon

Merlin making more progress - cut a lot out of the doors and still had time to make up new carbon panels for the cut-out and aero fuel filler.. also the aero catches look good

more from Merlin.. weight watchers.. phoenix take the money!

i sorted out the steering wheel and quick release adaptor. seat position seems good. oh and i attacked your doors the driver side wieghed in at 18kg so choped most of the crap away including the stuff on the inside, and got the weight down to 12kg so minus 24kg both sides ( that's a lot ) easily makes up for new cage and extra bits n pieces. Merlin

Meanwhile Phoenix have cashed the £300 cheque I sent for the work invoiced eventhough John L had said he was setting that aside. Now that has been cashed as full and final settlement then it's all steam ahead to puruse my losses. I may have gone easy if they had set aside the invoice but this makes things a whole lot simpler.

They have until the 27th before the matter goes back to trading standards and ultimately the lawyers..

ding ding!

Team Phoenix the film

not quite.. jst thinking of ways to promote Team Phoenix..love manga style..

Ssh top secret - 358ss front-end takes shape

looks like Merlin has a lot of fun splicing in the ZX lights into the Esprit.. mmmm. nice!

Bits n peices.. work continues at MVS..

It looks like Merlin has been busy cutting the front end to make way for the new headlights... Merlin is also using hid Civic as inspiration of the shape of the cut-in.. Hopefully end result is more like the Diablo GTR limited edition track/race car.

Merlin confirmed: "altenator turned up along with aero catches + fuel cap.strange question how tall are you ?this is for seat position and srteering wheel.the pic of the civic is " inspiration " for the headlights.cheers merlin"

Also had work back from MSA scrutineer Marc H who confirmed cross-bars look okay: Hi JonGood to hear from you - I had been wondering how things were going and if we'd see the esprit next year .the bars look fine to me - I'm not aware of any problems with them for the blue book either.If you want more strength you can weld additional gussets onto the welded joints like they show on the door bars here:http://www.safetydevices.com/images/products/rollcages/step3_weldin_cage_terminoli.gifhope that helps any other questions let me knowregards Marc

I also found a basic CAD design for the GT1 works car so thought I'd thrown that in.

Other news: 2008 Time Attack prelim registration already coming through from Rob Barnes.. how the last year has passed with its ups and downs.

Quick update from 5th avenue off Broadway

Cheers

Jon