Thunder Races last night.

->Was I the only one to watch it ?

->

->Thought someone might have mentioned the 7litre Oldsmobile (+300bhp Nitrous)

->powered, Jag IRS suspensioned, 1986 Skoda Estelle. Hearing-aid-beige colour

->and all.......

->Was I the only one to watch it ?

->

->Thought someone might have mentioned the 7litre Oldsmobile (+300bhp Nitrous)

->powered, Jag IRS suspensioned, 1986 Skoda Estelle. Hearing-aid-beige colour

->and all.......

Heap of junk, stealth car my arse, rear axle stuck out at least a foot from the arch, the few bits he was waiting for so he could finished seemed to be all the ancillaries and most of the interior !

I suspect the paper mache air intake on the bonnet was the only thing the bloke had actually done himself based on what they built for the race.

Oh bugger missed it. Wonder when it is repeated.

->->> Was I the only one to watch it ?

->>

->> Thought someone might have mentioned the 7litre Oldsmobile (+300bhp Nitrous)

->> powered, Jag IRS suspensioned, 1986 Skoda Estelle. Hearing-aid-beige colour

->> and all.......

->>

->>

->Oh bugger missed it. Wonder when it is repeated.

Saturday morning and again Sunday morning.

Geoff, may I suggest that before you put your foot in your mouth you at least do you research. If you look at

you will get a full and detailed description of everything that has been done to the Skoda.

You would then realise that contrary to your observations:

the rear wheels actually only stick out 3-4" each side, and are only temporary (10" wide ones have yet to be ordered),

The ancilliaries have not been fitted as there is little point when the engine has to come out for final prepping.

There is no interior to put back in, it is a stripped out race car.

The intake is made from fibreglass, and had to be widened to fit over the carbs.

You would also realise that the car that we built for the race was technically the most challenging due to the extensive modifications that were done. This was the case as we had a severe weight disadvantage, so tried to compensate by using less ballast placed further from the pivot.

Visited your site and I have to say I did like the basic approach. However, it did very little to convince me that you were qualified to make the observations above.

All the best,

Big Dave Akers

Nice one Dave. Been lookingat that site on and off for a good while. The guys on the Skodarescue and Skodalovers lists have been informed, and are a bit disappointed with a non Skoda engine, but they seriously love the idea of Oldspower, even if it is at the wrong end.

:)

->Geoff, may I suggest that before you put your foot in your mouth you

->at least do you research. If you look at

you will

->get a full and detailed description of everything that has been done

->to the Skoda.

Strange I had seen that before but forgot about it.

->You would then realise that contrary to your observations:

->

->the rear wheels actually only stick out 3-4" each side, and are only

->temporary (10" wide ones have yet to be ordered),

Only a little out then, not exactly "stealth" is it ?

->The ancilliaries have not been fitted as there is little point when

->the engine has to come out for final prepping.

You said on camera that you were only waiting for a few parts and it would be done. BTW I hope final prepping includes some more bracing in the engine bay.

->There is no interior to put back in, it is a stripped out race car.

->

->The intake is made from fibreglass, and had to be widened to fit over

->the carbs.

I guessed you missed the joke, again not exactly stealth.

->You would also realise that the car that we built for the race was

->technically the most challenging due to the extensive modifications

->that were done. This was the case as we had a severe weight

->disadvantage, so tried to compensate by using less ballast placed

->further from the pivot.

You took the car with the strongest shell, cut it in half, moved the rear axle forward and made it so high you never would have got over the "offroad" section due to the lack of clearance at the front, you the buggered up the weight distribution so much that the thing looked undriveable. Did you break down in the end or just get stuck ?

The weight dissadvantage was all of your own making.

BTW did the blue team bring the hydrolics with them ?

->Visited your site and I have to say I did like the basic approach.

->However, it did very little to convince me that you were qualified to

->make the observations above.

Glad the simple approach appeals, before you go down this route however have you checked all the links on your site work ?

BTW How much work did Pat Jackson do on your car ?

Once seeing it how can you possibly forget it!

If you pulled up next to it, you wouldn't think twice to have a go.......perfect stealth, in a double bluff style.

I am waiting for a chrome water neck and some pulleys, I also need to source a radiator. After that its all systems go.

When you have a significant weight to lift (i.e. me and Ollie) you have to do something. The back end of the car was removed to get rid of weight that was furthest from the pivot as we all know that the turning moment is the product of the weight and the distance from the pivot. After doing this it was simply a case of putting out counterbalance somewhere where it would lift the backend up. Again using the principles of moments we chose a lighter weight and greater distance, we could have had a smaller overhang but would have needed about 700kg of concrete. The car was raised so that it would get over the off road section, which incidentally was a lot more involved than was shown on the TV. During the filming the Discovery we were in grounded out several times and Rachael managed to stall it twice on the inclines. Suprisingly the car handled reasonably well, the only reason we struggled is that we were just too heavy. We didn't get stuck anywhere, we had a short on the main battery cable not a lot we could do once the battery was fried.

The blue team pre ordered their hydraulics, had all their steel cut to precisely the right size, knew exactly where all the outlets were, and went nearly £500 over budget.

As far as I am aware the links are all fine

Pat Jackson did almost nothing to our car, and the things he did do really buggered us up. He fitted the obligatory safety gear (battery cut out, kill switch) checked the welds, and moved our front wheel which meant that we couldn't go past the point of no return on our wheelies......we simply bounced off the floor and back on to four wheels. He also did something with the choke as the car simply wouldn't run below 4000 rpm, every time I backed off the car cut out.

->> Strange I had seen that before but forgot about it.

->

->Once seeing it how can you possibly forget it!

I did remember just didn't put 2 and 2 together ;-)

->> Only a little out then, not exactly "stealth" is it ?

->

->If you pulled up next to it, you wouldn't think twice to have a

->go.......perfect stealth, in a double bluff style.

So at the traffic light grand prix there wont be a V8 burble, you're gonna make it sound like a tired 4 pot sitting in the back ???

->I am waiting for a chrome water neck and some pulleys, I also need to

->source a radiator. After that its all systems go.

So how long has it taken to get this far ?

->> The weight dissadvantage was all of your own making.

->

->When you have a significant weight to lift (i.e. me and Ollie) you

->have to do something. The back end of the car was removed to get rid

->of weight that was furthest from the pivot as we all know that the

->turning moment is the product of the weight and the distance from the

->pivot. After doing this it was simply a case of putting out

->counterbalance somewhere where it would lift the backend up. Again

->using the principles of moments we chose a lighter weight and greater

->distance, we could have had a smaller overhang but would have needed

->about 700kg of concrete. The car was raised so that it would get over

->the off road section, which incidentally was a lot more involved than

->was shown on the TV. During the filming the Discovery we were in

->grounded out several times and Rachael managed to stall it twice on

->the inclines. Suprisingly the car handled reasonably well, the only

->reason we struggled is that we were just too heavy. We didn't get

->stuck anywhere, we had a short on the main battery cable not a lot we

->could do once the battery was fried.

The Mini I had donkeys years ago did that, the battery cable running under the floor rotted and shorted, tho you must have moved the battery as you cut off the boot !

Rachel is lovely tho she is not used to driving off road slowly, also with all the weight in that Disco it would suffer on anything like rough terrain.

I bet there was a lot they didn't show, I got the impression the race was not as close as they made it out to be, the blue team certainly had a advantage as they had no real extra weight and they didn't bugger about with any of the mechanicals.

->> BTW did the blue team bring the hydrolics with them ?

->

->The blue team pre ordered their hydraulics, had all their steel cut to

->precisely the right size, knew exactly where all the outlets were, and

->went nearly £500 over budget.

So they did the research and planned ahead, nice simple solution that didn't involve any serious work, not in the spirit of the challange however you must admire them for the way they did it.

->> ->Visited your site and I have to say I did like the basic approach.

->> ->However, it did very little to convince me that you were qualified to

->> ->make the observations above.

->>

->> Glad the simple approach appeals, before you go down this route however have you

->> checked all the links on your site work ?

->

->As far as I am aware the links are all fine

The link from the Thunder Races page does not work, well that's the impression you get till you suss that is a powerpant presentation that you need to download it.

->> BTW How much work did Pat Jackson do on your car ?

->

->Pat Jackson did almost nothing to our car, and the things he did do

->really buggered us up. He fitted the obligatory safety gear (battery

->cut out, kill switch) checked the welds, and moved our front wheel

->which meant that we couldn't go past the point of no return on our

->wheelies......we simply bounced off the floor and back on to four

->wheels. He also did something with the choke as the car simply

->wouldn't run below 4000 rpm, every time I backed off the car cut out.

Did he give any reason for the choke and the wheel ?

For a team of safety engineers (Pat excepted) they didn't know very much, their welding was shocking, after they put our cage in we re-did some of their welds, moved the seats and replumbed the battery isolator as they way they did it didn't work !