Been doing a bit of work on the race car ahead of next season - I've a BMW to catch.

The engine has been rebuilt and I'm working in the car itself. The engine bay has been very cluttered and messy so I've started to rationise it. One thing led to another and I decided to overhaul the wiring because it was messy and had a lot of redundant stuff in it. Here's a clue to the problem:



Huge quantity of wiring removed and next step is to make what remains very reliable - some soldering going on.

The front suspension lowering kit Santa brought me is 2-3kg lighter than what was there - much of that in unsprung mass.

The other job is to fit the replacement seat (old one is about 12 years old and won't get me into Spa) - I bought one this year before realising that I'd left booking my place too late. The bummer is that, despite being effectively the same seat, the mountings are completely different. More fiddling about....

Can't wait to see more pics - and to see her in action in 2017!

Did a bit more today - relocated the extinguisher to a point lower in the car, did a load more wiring prep, and test-fitted the new seat.

The new seat it a Sparco Evo 2 to replace a Sparco Evo 2. To struggle to see the similarities in anything other than the broad appearance is hard. They're a different shape and size, with different mounting points and, almost worst of all, the new one weighs nearly 2kg more than the old one - and that's before using the larger mounting plates. Not very happy.

One of the more frustrating and costly parts of motor racing is how quickly things need replacing due to going out of date. Belts are almost criminal - I raplace belts that look as-new. Helmets are a little better. This year I need to replace the extinguisher bottle because that's expired (again, looks great, pressure fine).

Need some heavy duty cable to finish off the wiring. Tomorrow I think I'll tackle the rear panel fitting up and welding.

Well done sir, re-doing the wiring must have been very rewarding. Yes, lifing is annoying, especially belts which often look like new when out of date. I'm guessing the older seat design no longer passed FIA testing, hence the redesign? Looking forward to seeing the finished article.

A day of welding. Well, actually trying to get the panels something like realigned so the new rear panel would fit - then lots of welding. That's the back of it broken though. Pop some filler on the bits that need it tomorrow after a little more welding. There's a bit more welding I need to do around the car and some more panel-beating and repairing.

You're probably right about the seat, Dave. I will probably need something different though as it's very tight across the hip bones.

Welding complete. Zinc primer applied. Wiring almost complete.

Fair comment I keep thinking I'll take some when I'm a bit further on.

Today was a pretty light day.

Repaired the alumium rad that got a bit damaged on the way home. I damaged it 6 or 7 years ago (cut a core accidentally with a Stanley knife when the rad was brand new). I crimped the core and used some of that epoxy putty on it. I've done the same repair.

Then I've done some fibre glass matting repairs - mostly on the cracked boot lid but also on a few other places around the car. I also made up some new mounting plates for the boot lid.

Finally did a bit of maintenance on the front brakes.

Fitted the mounting plates to the bootlid.

Measured my old race seat. Spoke to Demon Tweeks who told me (this time) that, yes, Sparco have changed all of the dimensions of the seats slightly. Thanks for telling me now....

Applied skim of filler to various bits of the car.