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Thursday 5th November 2009
Time: n/a
Distance: n/a
Rally Position: n/a
Location: Oxfordshire

For those of you new to the blog, hello and welcome. For those of you returning, welcome back!

A lot's happened since the last Endurance Rally from Tunis to El Gouna, Egypt (scroll down to take a look at that event).

The last rally taught us a huge amount about motorsport, even at this low level. The first thing I learnt, is how bloody expensive it is! And how with a classic car you fix one thing, then another part breaks.

Apart from blowing the engine last year, we also managed to crack the A-pillars on both sides of the screen, meaning a very big re-weld was required. Once that started we found out just how much rust we'd been carrying across the desert with us!

Anyway, the car has now had;
The engine rebuilt and driven for 1,500 miles without issue.
New front springs (150lbs) lowering the car for this rally which is mainly tarmac.
XR4 gearbox.
Re-jetted carbs (now 112bhp at rear-wheels)
New road spec rear diff.
Upgraded brakes.
And we've virtually finished the work that makes the car a replica of the Roger Clark 1968 London-to-Sydney works car.

Over the year the car has been driven in anger at The Rally Show Chatsworth House


Tested on the circuit at RAF Abingdon, where we learnt that the hard suspension and super grippy Dunlop rally tyres were not a good combination!


Got invited to show the car at Lotus HQ in Hethel and found ourselves on the test track somewhat out of our league!


Won a trophy at the National Meet being Tony Mason's choice car from the show. I suppose being a Roger Clark replica helped as Tony was his navigator!


And finally, finished preparing the car for the challenge that starts tomorrow...


Well here we go again!

I must be bloody mad.....

London-to-Casablanca - November 2009

Hi blog fans, keep an eye on your favourite blogsite as we're off again, this time competing from the UK to Casablana.

The Casablanca sections are full-blown rally stages, so this time we'll really see how we and Colin perform under pressure...

This time, it's personal!

CD

Some action pics....

Extra Engine Damage Pics....

Engine damage pics....

Thanks to you all....

Thanks to all of you that followed our adventure both here on the blog-site and within your owners club forums.

The car is on the water back from Egypt and will be with me in around 4 weeks. Once back the engine will be removed and we'll get a clearer idea from the builder (Vulcan Engineering) what went wrong and the way forward etc.

Your support was much appreciated.... watch this space though because we're competing in a two-day event at Chatsworth House in June and then a 7 day event from the Brooklands circuit to Casablanca in November.... You'll see an LC win in 2009!

See you all.
Regards
CD

Here's the score...

We checked into our hotel and awaited the arrival of the spares from the UK. They arrived late last night and we hoped we could breath life back into Colin.

I spent 4 hours today working with the mechanics trying to get the engine back to life.

The initial checks revealed that all the cylinders were holding pressure and remarkably none of the valves were smashed. We re-assembled the top-end using the new cams and buckets and checked for clearance.... We were having to use the original shims and these needed cutting back. This was done using a rotary drill and a cutting disk.... Welcome to Egypt!

Having reduced the thickness by 40 thou, we tried again; still no clearance....

We removed the shims..... no clearance! A closer examination revealed that the head had been modded (which we knew) but the standard cam we'd brought from the UK head the valves open.... In short, we were finished! As mentioned on the following forums, The Fat Lady had just sung!

We've now arranged recovery from Luxor to the exit port at Hurghada, so we'll be travelling with Colin, but he'll be on a flat bed.

I honestly believe that we were in a strong postion to finish 2nd but possibly 1st. The engine failing cost us the rally and I am hoping that Vulcan Engineering will be as disappointed with their engines performance as me..... especially with the spend involved... I'll keep you all updated and let you know what happentced to the engine etc...

Once again Ces and I would like to thank you all for your support.