Emotional Attachement

Update on the widebody build for Simola Hillclimb 2024.

The idea behind rescuing a derelict racecar for the HillClimb, was to have no emotional attachment in the very likelihood of a racing incident.

Well that didn’t last a minute!

As posted previously, I specialise in massively underestimating the time to complete a task. In my defense, I was on track with my project plan until I started to fit the rear windscreen valence… and that’s when I noticed the entire rear end has previously been repaired, badly. Very badly. Very, very badly.

On the upside, by comparison, my repair of the previous repairs look quite factory. So that’s a win!

But how do I not become emotionally invested in this guy. After all, I’m putting my life in his (thats the car) hands! Not to mention mine and the previous repairer repairs!!!!

On a serious note, the idea of this build, was to start out with a vanilla version. Basic racecar, using the best of what I have. Well, that didn’t happen either, thank’s to the enablers in my life!

Previously I would have been happy, but apparently the car we, the enablers & I, are building should comfortably run 54s… (he actually said 53s, but I can’t count that low…)

What an incredibly journey this has been so far. Simola 2024.

CUTTING AND WELDING

Weekend of cutting, grinding, welding, body filler and sanding, sanding, sanding, welder repairs and confusion.

After carefully securing new panel onto old body, to single mindedly focus on all attention on welding… and the car immediately starts melting at the first sign of heat! Lead filler from previous repairs… and so the scope creep continues!

Sort of proud at how committed I am to improving previous poor repairs, despite the time pressure. So much for “no emotional attachment”, but at least this project is already significantly improved from the state I received it!

SETTING UP

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Egos and body work may have been injured in the work leading up to this post.

By far the sketchiest thing I’ve done with a car. Mount it on a rotisserie!

105’s are known for their fragile bumper mounts and I don’t have time to manufacture elaborate brackets. Also, the removal of fenders has lessened the structural rigidity of the mono chassis. So, much time has been spent reinforcing the bumper mounts to carry the weight of the body.

Cautiously setup the rotisserie, slowly lower car hoist, allowing the 12mm threadbar to take up the slack. Far too much bend for my liking, but no signs of weakness from my bracing on the car. So set about upgrading thread bar to 16mm confident all will be well.

Once again lower hoist allowing freshly installed thread bar to take up the slack. Stare in shock, in a minutes silence, as everything seems to be doing what it’s expected to do. Blinded with confidence, start making adjustments, before I know it all comes crashing down. Our first crash. Testing that emotional attachment….

Adrenaline kicks in and before anyone notices, the car is back on the hoist, left rear the only sign of negligence.

Bewildered as to what happened, inspect the rotisserie and notice that the adjuster I had been turning on had completely undone itself causing the car to come crashing down.

Damage to the car seems restricted to the left rear which has clearly seen previous action, most of which will be hidden by the wide body fender flares.

Not happy how my thread bar coped with the magnitude of the forces, upgrade to a more solid 18mm hi-tensile.

And that’s how we got here!

Old wives tale suggests when one acquires new motorcycle leathers, it’s best to put them on and throw yourself down the road, thereby scuffing the leathers, ultimately avoiding the possibility of the inevitable alternative! In a way, this experience has been exactly that. We survived our first crash and live to race another day. Minor setback in the project plan, but invaluable experience in rapid repairs.

Somehow I seem to focus better under pressure situations. No time for procrastination or overthinking. Just get it done.

I’m loving this build!