Roy Kemp's Blog (26)

Hello all, and belated HNY to everyone!

I didn't manage to get the Phaeton out as much as I'd have liked last year, and I'm still waiting for that first win. Even in little events where it's me versus three Micras... quite embarrassing.

Anyway, I got the rear leaf spring mounts beefed up nicely after on failed. One rear damper was shot so it's on new spax gas adjustables at the back, and polybushes on the whole rear end. Other than that, we didn't really upgrade…

Can't remember if I updated the blog earlier this year or not, but last time I was out playing in the Phaeton I battered it over a cone and into a ditch. Not sure if it was the ditch or the cone, but I burst the radiator and put it out of action for the day.

So, not wanting to pay Mk1/Mk2 Escort tax on a new radiator, I ordered a 3-row aluminium radiator. Intended for a Honda Civic, but cheap at £59 delivered and looked like it could be persuaded to fit. Needed a bit of angle…

Well, new project, really, as it needs a bit of work. 

But an interesting little bit of kit. Anyone…

Just managed a couple of hours in the workshop. Been meaning to get the corner weights measured for a while, so have had a bit of time to thing about how to do it without handing over the car to a competition prep company or shelling out a fortune for proper corner weight scales. So... The Kemp Method. You will need:

8 pieces of 30mm thick decking board, cut to 320mm long. 4 need bevelled edges.

1 Salter Max Bathroom scale, rated to 250kg, or equivalent.…

Unfortunately, not too much to report.

Steve's had her out again, another demo run at the Alford Speedfest and one Autotest, but I've still only managed one so far this year. Been so busy it's been a total bust, fun wise.

Anyway, in terms of upgrades, about the only thing we've done is get the Peugeot 205GTi 1900 15" alloys fitted to the rear. Needed 20mm spacers, although I reckon 15mm worth might have done. Also discovered the car was already fitted with the…

Evening chaps,

Just a quick report from the weekend. Well, I drove like a complete tube. Out of 9 competitors the only guys I beat were the two complete novices that I chucked into the Dutton, and one of them was bloody close to making me look bad. 

On the plus side, the modifications have cost me a feckin' fortune, but have obviously been worth it. The fact that someone could just jump into a car with no experience and run me close shows how much more compliant…

First up guys, a big thanks for the guidance and well-natured abuse that I've received from you all over the last year. I hope 2017 brings you all good health and good fortune.

Right, back to business...

** Updates 07/01/17! **

As you've probably seen from the photos, the Phaeton's coming to the end of it's winter modifications. Still a bit to do though:

• Chassis brace incorporating…

Two drop link bars at an angle (tacked on for now) meet the Corsa C column mounting points.We'll see how this goes dealing with the torque reaction forces. If it's a bit wobbly, we'll think about adding some more. Wooden supports will shortly be…

Just a few photos of where we're at with the Phaeton upgrades....

Adjustable bottom arms, all modded with brackets and looking saucy. Unfortunately, however, the rose joint inner races are 1/2" and the existing bolts are 7/16", so I need to drill out the bolt holes and fit 1/2" bolts.…

Evening all,

First up, I just wanted to say a big thanks to all of you that commented on my previous blog entry and forum post on ARB relocation. Didn't even know what a caster angle was before all that. I'm still bloody clueless, but now at least I'm aware of more things that I'm ignorant of, and need to be aware of. Always a good first step!

So, popped round to see how my fabricator chum is getting on with the various bits on the Phaeton. The adjustable TCAs…

Hi all,

Actually managed to wangle a few spare hours to work on the Dutton yesterday. Which, given present commitments, is a minor miracle in itself. So, you may recall from previous blog posts that I've got a pile of fancy bits to fit, stuff to fix, things to modify/improve, etc.

So, I decided to have a decent loo at my front suspension which has always been a bit of a bugbear of mine. The car is phenomenally understeery, even taking the locking diff into…

Evenin',

Been out playing again today. This is significant because it's almost exactly one year since we wheeled the Phaeton out for its first Autotest. You may remember, or even refresh yourselves by revisiting my old blog post, that both Steve and I were truly shocking that day, and various things went wrong with the car. We were last and second-last by a long bloody way on the 2015 SDMC July Autotest.

Fast-forward one year.

Other than…

Hi all,

We've kinda hit quiet time of the year for Autotesting as clubs get stuck into organising rallies and things like that instead, so I've revisited a few of the things I'd like to develop on the Phaeton.

1. Double width triple ARB kit - Bought ages ago but not fitted. You may remember I had to scrounge some bushes from a guy to do an event as I noticed the bushes were stuffed the day before, and he only had double width ones. So I had to fit these in…

Good evening chaps.

Currently sitting here with a very sore right arm. Nope, not had a romantic evening in with myself, just been autotesting all day. Christ, that Phaeton's a fair shift to hustle around. Think I'll sleep well tonight! Anyway, had another cracking day. Car continues to be completely reliable in the face of absolutely no maintenance. Takes a beating from a couple of dickheads all day long and just keeps taking it. Very impressed.

Had a good day…

Evenin' chaps,

Out playing again tomorrow - my "home" event at the farm where the car's kept so no fudging about with trailers and towcars, just arrive and drive!

It was totally reliable last time out and handled well, so hoping for another solid day tomorrow. Got a new ITG air filter to fit, as the old one was utterly bogging and probably about 50 years old. Other than that, check the tyre pressures are correct (25 psi front, 60 psi rear), launch some fuel into…

So, yeah. It didn't go all too badly in the end. Actually, come to think of it, it went really well. Car was super reliable all day. Nothing broke, nothing needed tweaked. Oh, I needed to duck-tape a headlight back in place. But, other than that, it was perfect.

Managed to get the front brakes bled after a few goes. How many times did I let the poxy wee reservoir run dry in the process and have to start again? About four. Anyway, despite chucking the caliper back together with…

Hello again, my fellow men.

Entered in an Autotest tomorrow, with co-owner Steve also driving. 

After my last blog post where I said I was going to do various things to improve the car, I've done precisely none of them. I have bought adjustable bottom arms, however. Went to fit them last night and noticed (of course) that the ones on the Dutton of course have the welded bracket for the bottom shock mount. As my adjustable ones don't have this, they've gone back…

Hey all,

Just got back from the Autotest. Had a pretty good day. Well, better than the last one, anyway. Here's how it went down.

You may recall the last time I took it out we couldn't really play with it, as the cooling fan died and we had to watch the temperatures. Glad to report that, this time, the two Cheapanese eBay replacements did just great. Temps didn't go above a comparatively icy 95 degrees or so all day with the fans wired on permanently. One weak…

Hey folks!

Yes, we've got about about 37 minutes of daylight each day up here at the moment, it's piss-cold and miserable, and that's before the kind of floods that make fitting an outboard to the back of the Phaeton a realistic proposition. But hey, there's a local club organising an Autotest on Sunday, and there's nothing like a freezing wet Autotest in a kit car to finally shift a lingering hogmanay hangover.

So, here we go again.

Following on…

Hey folks,

Just a quick one to say howdy.

Not done much with the Dutton. It's still in the workshop in the same spot as as it's been since the Autotest. I have however bought two 8" electric fans to go in. Did some maths and the two small ones will cover more surface area than one bigger one, so should keep it as cool as possible.

Will get a few days on it at some point soon - been quite busy. Since my last visit, I've won the Scottish RTT…