ssg-racing

Well this is what I / We started with. Bought from Andrew Cowan,originally for wayne 471 to race,and then sold on to me! The chassis is a Higman - possibly around 1998 - and is as straight as you will find on an older car. Quite light too considering steel side panels & 4 chassis legs...yes , one inside the other on both sides(?!!),but has an ally bell housing & stuff to make up for it! Dont know wher it came from originally - I think it started off with a red chassis,and has been silver too at some point...The bodywork was metallic blue once over too & maybe silver....anyone any clues???

Not a lot left is there?!!! I can see a big job breaking out! Bumpers,roll cage,nerf rails & all the panelling has been binned. Originally the cage was going to be left as it was,but we really struggled getting the seat to fit in a comfy position.Plus it had been chopped & modified that many times,so wayne decided to amputate! Glad he knows what he's doing!

Nerf rails pretty much done now,and a roll cage from Randall Motorsport arrived & was fitted. Good value for money & saved wayne a lot of work chopping & bending....plus we know it will look ok! Needs me to have a trial fit now,so the seat brackets can be positioned & welded in,then the steering column made to suit.

Wayne has finished with the fabrication work on the car now,including some new bolt on bumpers. Look industrial but only thin stuff!! lol. Nice job done again...

The cars been picked up from Wayne Helliwell racing & is at mine now.Slow going for a week or two,but all the panels are made now,and next job is to strip the car right down again to a bare chassis. Heartbreaking job,just when it was looking like a car again! At least Ive got an idea how it will look now.....Quite pleased with the result really,especially for a first attempt at panelling. Made several bonnet sides though!

All stripped bare now. I ended up scraping all the paint from the undercarriage & chassis rails off by hand......Never again! I got given a front wing,so thats just placed on for bracket fitting in the picture. The new bumpers were removed just to ease access to everything & allow the engine crane to get in a bit closer. Good sweep up,de-grease & then some primer next.....

Few days later & the primers on the chassis.....and the floor of course! Looks like a new 'un! The 2k ford radiant red went on the day after....and even more of that went on the floor!

All the red is on now,and most of the major components in place. I wanted the car rolling so it could go outside,as painting the panels was next on the cards,while I had nothing else in the workshop. A new floor & sumpguard was made,and the suspension components stripped & painted satin black. The shockers went up to Mark at Taylormade & sorted into the good,bad & plain ugly! The Diff was checked over too & given the thumbs down - Something else for the shopping list!

Panels & floor painted! Unfortunatley on opening the paint,it had been mixed wrong! Quite a bit greener than my usual yellow,but I stuck with it anyway....

Not much change. Dropped a couple of panels on to give me an idea how it'd look, & started on the dashboard as wiring & stuff would be next while I can get at everything. Went to Redline for some braided fuel hose too,as the tank was relocated from its original position & the old fuel lines werent long enough.

99% of the wiring is done now - switches & guages fitted, rev counter,tank,battery etc all in place. Bottom panels on the undercarriage were fitted as they cant be done once the tank & fuel pump were in. With a bit of telephone help from Dave Helliwell I had it fired up for the first time before I went home! All the wiring could then be finished off properley & fuel lines secured & double checked for leaks.

A few days flat out on the car...All the wiring done now,radiator was fitted,a Diff arrived from Wayne Helliwell so the prop & back axle could be finished. Engine mountings were modified a bit,bonnet pins fitted & all the panels put in place....still need an aerofoil though!! Looks done on the picture,but still loads of bits to do yet & parts to sort out. Some new springs are in the post,I need more rivvets to finish the panels,brakes bleeding up....loads really. Just need some more money now!

Not a lot happened really this week...Some new springs arrived in the post,ordered for me by Wayne. The old ones had no markings,so at least now we know what we're working with! Ive started to fit them,but having trouble getting the ride height right now....Wayne will sort it ! lol.
Chopped the exhaust up & had a new centre piece fitted, and a proper reducer - Thanks to Shaw Tyre & Exhaust. Put a couple of sponsors names on the car,but will wait for the wing before I go any further & my licence,just in case theres been a change of mind on my grade & number! Have now ended up with 3 transponders.....Long story!!

Been busy finishing what jobs I can off & doing the signs on the car! A wing has been ordered from TaylorMade, & will hopefully be here by next weekend. Still messing around with the suspension a bit,and thanks to Wayne Helliwell,now have 4 shiney GAZ shocks which he dropped off last night. Hes at the NEC today...alright for some! Im really pleased with how the car is at this stage,but despite its looks,I still have a list of jobs as long as my arm,plus spares to get...

Not made any major leaps forward since the last update,but it's all coming together slowly!
I made a temp sender adapter up,and so now have that fitted in the top hose,and have also put a water pipe in to cool #4 cylinder a bit more,as this had been blocked off previously.
The engine was missing a bit every now & then,which was traced to a dodgy plug,so new plugs have now been fitted & decided it may as well have some leads while I was at it! No expense spared here !?! lol.

Been a bit of debate over wheel colour this week! I liked (& still do) the black,but after getting a white wheel in my spares I thought that looked good too....Anyway,they've ended up white now (Still not convinced though!),mainly due to the fact that i had a litre of white in my cupboard! :)
Ive managed to beg/steal/borrow/buy several wheels the last week or two,so they all need doing,plus a few tyres swapping about.

My van has had a few modifications too - Ive moved the bulkhead back in the rear & stuck some carpet down (Carpet right £23 ! ) & a double seat (Free!) for my invisible mechanics...

Was hoping to have my wing by now,but still hasnt arrived - not to worry,loads to do yet anyway!?
Went to pick up my 'old' trailer on saturday.....not strictly mine,but Ive had it sat about for 3 years at the Helliwell farm!! I stopped using it due to it being far too big (19ft), but beggers cant be choosers so it's time to resurect it!
First job was to fit some permanent lights,instead of the previously used trailer board - I got some lights off the rear of a waggon from one of my sponsors (RBS),which fitted on really easily. A new plug on the wire,& fit 12v bulbs instead of 24v & job done :)

The winch had stopped working,which turned out to be the main gear spindle which had sheared. Ive just had the gear welded back on & hope for the best. It seems fine & the motor still turns. I got the brakes working (A bit!) for the first time in years & fitted a new tyre.

Next job will be to try & convert a bottle jack into a ram for the tilting bed mechanism. I had a few Ideas,but Wayne's were better ones,so we'll have a go at his methods...

Speaking of Wayne,my car has gone up to Wayne Helliwell Racing today for a few jobs before he goes off on holiday. All the shocker mounts are being moved to cure the ride height problem,a rear anti roll bar is being fitted,the rocker box altered a little & some fresh UJ's on the steering column.....maybe a weigh & set up depending on time,though that will probably be done at a later date.

The car's now back from Wayne Helliwell's,all jobs done (I think! There's always something else!!). New shocker mounts have been fitted & a rear anti roll bar. It also ended up with a complete new steering column,& I swapped all my tyres around on the rims.
The new front wheel studs weren't long enough for my new alloys,so had a trip to Redline today & got some longer ones,and a braided pipe for my oil pressure guage as the old one wouldnt seal properly.....more money spent :(

Will it ever be ready??!! lol.

Jobs still to do that I can remember are to get an 8" wheel & put a tyre on it
Lengthen the anti roll bar links
New bolt in the steering
Get my wing,paint & sign it
Weigh & setup
Paint the wheels
Fit Transponder (When it eventually comes......)
Oil & Filter change
Pick up & weld my 4:1 diff
Make some spare suspension up
Turn halfshafts down
Plus anything else that crops up inbetween!

Well,where do I start!
The good bit is my transponder came,so that has now been fitted- easiest job on the car yet! Ive now got my wing fitted & painted too. The wing was coming from Taylormade as sponsorship,but was unlikely to be ready in time so I stole the one off Flan's car (Residing at Wayne's) that Smithy used at Belle Vue. It's only done 1 meeting (Few 'handling' dints though) so I'm going to give my new wing to Flan once I get it. (Cheers Flan!)

Now....the sump on the car has always been very low to the ground on my car,and the sump guard made from metal which seems to be recycled Kit-Kat wrappers! I should have altered it before now,but you know how it is....But with the car bottoming out on just about everything,I decided I'd have to make alterations. I wasn't about to lift the engine up,so have just made a stronger sump guard,with a bit of box for more strength. The Sump was pretty battered so I decided to take that off while I was at it & straighten it out. On removal,I found a hole which had been Araldited up so welded that up properly (Well,as properly as you can with a 'mini-mig' - Mark Taylor once said theres more penetration in a limp dick,but I doubt it! lol). Put the sump back on,with new gaskets,and it split at the top next to a previous weld!......so I araldited it up!!!?! Filled it up with new oil,and got a strong whiff of petrol - carb was leaking. Fixed that,& noticed water under the car.....The water pump had decided now was a good time to expire. 1 new pump fitted!

So,all done & time for a test drive but couldnt select reverse gear.....which I had even less chance of doing when the gearstick snapped off in my hand! Anyway,I got it into first gear with the remains of the stick,only to get an alarming noise from the gearbox area - which wasn't there before!? At this point I decided to pack up & go home before I put a match to it!

Wayne came to the rescue & sorted my gearstick out for me,which I picked up tonight & went to work to fit it back in the 'box. Still no reverse!!! Wayne came down & spent the best part of an hour messing with it,still with no joy. It looks pretty worn,no reverse,and there was the 'new' noise in first - so to sum it up,its had it. Anyway,after a bit of negotiating, dealing & messaging via Wayne I now own a nearly new shortened Quaife gearbox! Best bit of the car...and worth more! The deal was good , but to be honest bad too,as Ive had to rob another fund to pay for it......now PLEASE let that be the last of the problems for now! I'll let you know how it goes fitting it....only 9 days til practice :)

So - time to fit the gearbox! Did it go smoothly?? Like hell it did!! lol. The gearbox that was in the car wouldn't actually come out in one lump (Though I knew that before...),so the firewall,seat,floor & pedals had to be removed - plus prop of course, and I managed to seperate gearbox & bellhousing inside of the cab & then take the 2 halfs out seperatley. The original bellhousing I had was a bit different to the one on the quaife box,so I took it off & used my original item. The new 'box can be unbolted from the bellhousing from the outside (Good idea!),so I put the bellhousing onto the engine & then the gearbox in & built it all back up again. Felling all pleased & smug that it was a good job done,until I fired her up to find the clutch release bearing had had enough & was as noisy as they get.....At this point I went home!

Well,out came the gearbox...pedals...floor...etc again! This time on putting it back in I had the wit to try it before putting the pedals / prop & floor back in! As it happens it was much quieter with the new bearing,so at last I could get it finished! Then I did a few other little jobs on the car,like welding the bumpers on to avoid the big daft 8mm chains needed otherwise & generally checking the car over .

Well it was Wednesday night & time for Wayne to come down & weigh the car & set it up for me. Still a bit heavier than I would of liked (It's like a fat bird in a posh frock!) but we got all the weights in the right place (So Im told!!!) so we've got a reasonable starting point. I also replaced a couple of rosejoints wayne brought for the watts linkage & anti roll bar......Just got to get what spares I had sorted out now,& collect the trailer on friday & load up.

10th March...PRACTICE!

Well yesterday I went to pick the trailer up from Waynes just after lunch & fitted a new tyre onto an 8" rim he'd made for me - Thanks again Wayne! The rest of the day was spent getting fuel,checking the van & trailer over & finding all the tools I'd scattered about the place since october!
Got down to work today at 8a.m. to put the trailer on ready for leaving at 8.30 for Buxton. The curse of the car did strike again though! lol. Despite the unit door at work being 12ft wide & me having backed up to it more times than I remember,I somehow managed to back straight into the wall instead,smashing the back light & bumper on the van. Perhaps it wasn't the stockcar's curse - I may have still been half asleep & shocked to find there really are two 8 o'clocks! Wayne turned up at about 8.15 & then Ian Venebles (Of RBS on my car / Ex F1 driver) who was on time for the first time ever!! lol The rest of the day went reasonably well though (See 'race reports') thanks yet again to the help from Wayne.

Piczo