The summer of 2003

So many races, so little time...

OK, I know I know. No updates for a year. I'm a bad person. Time just doesn't seem to be enough for all the stuff I want to do.

The blue MkI V6 turbo took some time from my Capri, but I still got the time to make a new exhaust manifold. Still not ideal, but probably lots better than the last ones. Couldn't feel much of a difference though.

While my car did not develop that much Tomas blue MkI did. Check in his webpage for the full story (in Swedish, http://www.raceinorr.com/~maverick ) but after blowing one gearbox (split in two!), one propshaft (OK, that was me) and stripping the welded spider gears in the rear axle the car finally got to show its full potential. In Piteå Tomas drove an impressive 12.789 / 177 km/s run down the strip. The target for 2003 was running high 13s so we were quite satisfied.

However, we're doing most of it all over again - a fresh built engine with twin turbos, tubular front end, roll cage and some glass fibre will hopefully mean even better times 2004. The big Holset HX35W turbo did work okey but we had some problems with quite heavy lag.

Both cars are getting Megasquirt&EDIS management systems, finally there is a simple and quite cheap way to get programmable fuelling and ignition. My car seems to need the ignition part the most.

I tried upping the boost to 0,8 bar for the last race, and this is what happened:

Cylinder no 2 does not look too happy....

A closeup shows that the detonation has blown the fire ring outwards, and then compression made a quick job of destroying the gasket. Still I drove a wee bit faster than last years best - 14.918 and 146 km/h. With a blown head gasket :-)

I tried a Sierra Cosworth headgasket late 2003 and it seemed to work fine - but the Kent RL22 camshaft proved to be too hot for this engine setup. Absolutely no power under 3000 rpm but around 5800 (600 rpm before the rev limiter cuts in...) it sings pretty good.

Two really nice things have been bought for the car. The 4-spoke RS wheel (rare in Sweden) was found spanking new at the local dealership. Always wanted one of those. Even better, I found a brand new X-pack kit (genuine Ford RS) too! Wonder when I'll get the time to put that on.

So, it looks pretty good for 2004 if I only can get enough time devoted to all this. Becaus there will also be a new intercooler (Cossie 4x4), new stereo and probably something I've forgotten too...