Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

going to have a bbq and fit an eBay engine.

Good news!

Jokes about cooked engines here...

Shit news about the MX but glad theres a solution on the horizon.

I had something similar happen when I picked up a Renault Master van that my dad had bought from Epsom and had to take it back up to Hexham. Day started badly when my sense of direction failed me and I went the wrong way around the M25, having to do a full lap to get to my junction to the M1 and then getting worse when the engine seized whilst cruising past Boroughbridge. Waited at the side of the A1 for about 4hrs until they could get a low loader big enough to uplift it home, in which time I was passed by the Megabus I had meant to be taking home before my dad asked me to do him the favour and drive the van home!

Hopefully you get it done in decent time so you don't miss too much of the summer.

Nice.

Wtf is dis. Feels like I'm looking at a Gieger painting!

My brother's 03 hyundai coupe (needs new clutch otherwise sound, bar a non opening electric window after a thief broke into steal the radio) has been sitting gathering dust as he left it with me as didnt need it in london. It did a job for me for a bit but as I knew I was getting a new car, getting a new clutch didnt seem wise. It's now got a flat battery, two flat tyres, and is needing taxed. It was clamped last week, but I got the clamp removed, though it is now on borrowed time sitting outside our house.

I can't move it. I dont see point in taxing it - plus he hasnt sent me the V11.

Is it time for the scrapheap in the sky?

Ported and gas-flowed cylinder head ports.

Scrap prices are high at the moment, so will probably get decent money for it. You will need the log book for it though.

Anything wrong with this that I should know before ordering it for track day dicking about?

https://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/helmets/sparco-club-x1-helmet

I feel like I shouldn't say anything due to your #buyer status, but it's not FIA approved, so should you wish to race in the future, you'll need a different one.

However, for your current purpose, it's perfect, I'd say open face, but roof down track days are best days.

I'll let you know when it's happening, please come along, even if it's just to hang out and eat food.

There's the roof, and there's the non-airbag wheel+inertia reel seatbelts.

I very much doubt I'm going to race in future, and if I do then I can cross that bridge then.

In order to fit in I have to write "Hammet, AB+" on the back of the helmet, correct?

Looks like it's all my fault on the car, it appears to have drunk all the coolant, and then overheated terribly as a result.

If I'd looked at the temp gauge I'd have seen it, but because it didn't dump it all and create a massive cloud of steam, I didn't notice.

I well and truly cooked it.

Going to have to fit water temp, oil temp, and oil pressure gauges with the new engine, and wire up a big fucking buzzer and light to go with them.

In order to fit in I have to write "Hammet, AB+" on the back of the helmet, correct?

Not on that type of helmet. That's only if you've got full-on personalised kit - suit, gloves, carbon helmet with custom paint job - with your own vanity 'team' name on it, an eye-wateringly expensive special edition street racer (think Ferrari Scuderia, GT3RS etc) and absolutely no ability to drive quickly whatsoever.

This species of trackdayist is often seen at RMA track days, particularly at Spa, where the favoured driving style is full beans down the straights, brake early and gently as soon as a corner is spotted, and then take all the bendy bits at a brisk walking pace. Do that for 10 minutes, then come into the pits, pose in your customised race gear for selfies you can post on your wide range of exquisitely-currated social media streams.

If you're driving an overpowered hairdresser's car, however, no-one cares about your blood type.

I fucking hate RMA track days.

Oh you can overtake on both sides? That's great when some wanker in a GT3 RS stuffs you up the inside only to brake about 5 times harder than you intended to. Well done pal, you can call that a win.

That's why I should renew my race licence to make sure it's current. I have no intention of racing again, but I much prefer proper race-licence-only test days to track days. If someone at a test session has a GT3RS then they're going to know how to drive it rather than pose next to it. Although they may be able to do both.

you forgot the trailing brake, then the gas-lift-gas on exit.

I think that's the next level up. Ham-fisted and inept unsettling of the car is one stage up from nervous mincing around. I'm thinking of the drivers who have been told only to brake in a straight line, and stick to that advice, then go round the corner without pressing the accelerator at all, wait until the car's straight, and then boot it. Rinse and repeat for a couple of laps, then selfies and moody B&W photos.

Hnnnnnnnnnnng

Oooooohhhhh. Nice. Do it.

I don't have any evidence for this assumption other than the shiny photographs, but I suspect £lots.

All this race day chat sounds like bike chat.

(I'm firmly in the pelt down the inside, slam on the brakes, misjudge lines, cause holdups, when I try a bike race)