Well it's time for a long overdue update.
My plans for 2017 domination of the Association of South Eastern Motor Club and the Association of Central Southern Motor Clubs up to 1400cc Modified Production Sprint classes was bought to a halt by a change of job and some mechanical issues which are now history.
My first event of the year was a return to Abingdon for a Sprint which was the start of the mechanical problems, I noticed after each run that the engine was leaking a small amount of oil but couldn't see where from also on seeing some videos after the event there was a distinct blue cloud following the car, the oil leak was traced to the crank rear main oil seal which meant the gearbox had to come out to replace the seal......joy......but did give me chance to swap the original Sporting gearbox for an ex Punto Challenge gearbox.
With the seal replaced and the Cinq ready for Sprint number 2 at Rushmoor Arena in Aldershot the 2nd mechanical problem arose the day before the event when the flexible pipe between the fuel filler and fuel tank started leaking badly, this led to me having to cancel my entry......bugger.
It was at this time that I decided to have a custom 5L aluminium fuel tank made and move it into the spare wheel well as this will allow me raise the exhaust under the car at a later date and would also simplify refueling with less chance of leaks as the original external fuel filler wouldn't be used anymore.
It was around this time that I changed jobs and so finances also changed.
I had previously bought a second hand but never used Quaife ATB-lsd but had had the usual problems finding a gearbox with a bolted crownwheel to fit it into, my local breakers had a Punto Sporting 6 speed gearbox but when I borrowed it to check found it had the dreaded bonded crownwheel but a month later a mechanic chum had to replace the exploded gearbox on a Punto Grande and was happy for me to check the crownwheel before the box went in the scrap bin......bolted crownwheel.....result.
Punto Sporting and Grande both have 4.06:1 diff ratios so it was back to my local breakers to see if they still had the Punto Sporting box...he did...another result.
So I used the crownwheel from the exploded Grande box and bolted to the Quaife diff and fitted into the Punto Sporting box, it's a bit mix & match but seems to work ok, the Punto Sporting box was then swapped for the unused Punto Challenge box.
At the same time I decided to move the gearshift inside the car and shorten the gear lever length to give a shorter shift, I bought a steel bracket for the internal shift from eBay but when it arrived it weighed far too much so was attacked with the angle grinder and hole cutter to loose some weight, installing the gear shift and cables in the car was fairly straightforward with the only small problem being making to new holes fireproof once the cables were fitted.
I've been looking into a cheaper option for softer compound gripper tyres for a while as the "Standard" Avon A15/A92 slick that everyone seems to use would cost nearly £1000 for a set of 4 which for me is unrealistic, I did look into Yokohama slicks in a very soft Wet compound but here were still out of reach. Then I started reading good reports on the UphillRacers Forum about Extreme Performance Tyres Vr2 motorsport retreads that are available in a range of compounds and in a 175/50r13" size which is ideal for the Cinq, they're also E marked so are Road legal.
After talking to Rob at Extreme Performance Tyres (UK) a deal was done and 4 tyres arrived in their softest W4 compound, Rob said that this compound tyre would be ideal for short UK type Sprint events, these were then fitted to a set of 6j13 Superlites that I bought from a guy who has owns V8 powered Fiat 126 drag racer.
So with a 6 speed box,Quaife diff,quick shift gear change and sticky tyres we headed off to compete at Motorsport at the Palace held at Crystal Palace in south London.
GEE WIZBEES......THIS CINQ NOW HAS SOME SERIOUS GRIP!!!!!!.
Corner exit wheelspin has now gone allowing me to get on the power earlier.
The Quaife diff is very smooth and doesn't grab or pull to one side or the other.
The gear shift is now much improved and the old problem of missed shifts has gone.
The tyres are superb....it's as simple as that, this was the first time I have ever been able to generate some proper heat into the tyres and this was on a course which was only 40 seconds long.
So there we are, lots has changed but everything is a change for the good (even the lower paid job).
I'm still waiting for the 1170 engine which is being built but there have been problems with outsourced engineering but we'll get there in the end and then the Cinq will really fly.