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

Race cars need fully plumbed-in systems with a switch outside and a switch inside the car that can be reached from the driving position.

The little deodorant bottle ones are pretty much useless. they can put out something small, under the bonnet, when you are out of the car already, but they won't buy you any time.

what's quicker/safer:

unclick seatbelt, open door, get out

or:

undo seat belt, rummage around under seat on the opposite site of the car, undo latch (if it hasn't already and rolled under the seat - check where yours is in the jeeb, mashton!), work out how to pull the pin out, read instructions, spray on fire, open door, get out

that said, i'd still have one in a classic car.

oh, that's been said already.

I know exactly where mine is in the jeeb - sat on a shelf in the shed.

it's probably 8 years old, anyway

You don't need one for trackdays, only for race cars.

Story time, Anglesey circuit, Time Attack 2012, my friend's car catches fire, fire extinguisher system doesn't work, all the wiring in the engine bay is toast. The cock smoking shaved apes who set the car up and were there providing track side support all scratched their heads as to why it didn't work, turned out it was something obvious that they'd fucked up. Cue one particularly dim witted oaf proving he'd fixed the problem by emptying the contents into the car via the system. While it was parked. In the pit garage. With 1 person with their head under the bonnet and another in the car.

Did the first to 50-laps session at Team Sport karting in edmondton the other week, was running in the top three all the way around, was a great/hellish group, 18 karts with 10 of them being a large group of yoofs, absolute filth, ramming, not slowing for yellow or red flags, so I'd lose places every time I did which was often, then spend 2 laps clawing the places back, finished 3rd would have been 2nd if I hadn't played fair, but 1st was a regular, there's always one isn't there.

50 laps, christ, your neck and arms must be trashed

I think 3 years of child carrying has either fortified my muscles or just made me numb to all sensation

Still, dammits solution was neat, and thats what matters on his cars.

Nice.

Had a 2l never had a v6 even tho I always wanted one. Doubt I ever will now.

For fire extinguishers, take the fire brigades advice oh and avoid plastic topped ones.

Ok valuation time:

BMW E30 320is - No engine, gearbox, diff and no brake calipers or master cylinder. Is it worth anymore than a normal E30 rolling shell?

I may be on fire, but it's a tidy fire.

My dad and uncle were doing a test day at Donington in the early 90's with my uncle's newly purchased Tuscan race car which was as per the original spec using 4x 48mm Dellortos. When in the pit garage, they started the car and it spluttered, spitting back through the carbs and setting fire to the filter. Everyone in the garage was voicing their opinion that my uncle should give it a boot full of throttle to clear it's throat and extinguish the flames but he couldn't help but think that potentially adding more fuel into the mix could make things worse. Eventually he pulled the plumbed in extinguisher release and a what could be best described as a dribble was emitted. The bottle was empty and somebody's leather jacket was eventually used to extinguish the flames. #CSB

Sounds pretty normal then. In 90% of situations I'm fairly sure a fire blanket would be a better option than a woefully-undersized extinguisher.

The best extiguishers I have ever seen are the haylon ones, now illegal due to the ozone depleting characteristics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw025Ho8KyM

I've done a whole load of work on the brat recently, and photographed it all on my proper camera, but unfortunately my laptop is broken, so can't upload any. I borrowed Dad's workshop, while he was away for a couple of days, to weld up a 'new' rear section today, using recycled parts from the scrap-bin at the local classic car garage. I think the silencers were from a twin pipe E-type Jag. Decided to use them both inline, as I didn't want want it to be too loud. Seems to work really nicely, and the exhaust tone Is nice and crisp, without rasping or being deafening. It seems comparatively loudest at lower revs, and similarly quiet at driving-speed to the original, massive/ heavy silencer, which used to rasp and sound a bit hollow.
I've already welded up the front and mid section, removed the forward silencer, and cut out rotten flange joints and some other sections that were blowing a bit, and replaced it with straight-pipe, so it is now a single section. All finished with several coats of black stove paint, and a chrome tip.

Edit: photos added: Finished product, and original silencer, which was butchered.

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Haven't been able to post any pictures of the truck since finishing the rebuild (have been using it as a daily driver for 2 months now), so just took a couple of snaps on the iPad. Will post some before/during after pictures first.

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...and some during photos. Sorry for posting so many at once.
The front-end rebuild was pretty substantial (It was driven head-on into a tree, and left to rot in a hedge for 5+ years, on a mate's farm), and I replaced a huge amount of rotten body work, which I had to beat by hand. WIll have a lot more photos of the panel beating and welding work when I get my laptop fixed, if anyone's interested.

Cut out the front crossmember, straightened every back out nicely, then rebuilt it. The bumper/bodywork is composite (I build boats normally).

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Awesome

Wood bumpers! Nice.

Totally rad!

Great work @Sam_Doman
Tidy Brats are getting hard to find these days.

Ok, what is coming through the bonnet here?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lotus-Elite-501-V8/113323868856?hash=item1a62a102b8:g:nbsAAOSwi5hbzasg

Side draft carbs? Looks like SU.

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