907 replies to this topic

[DEPS]

Hard luck Dave. Rather frustrating, but at least not down to error on your part.

[rally1380]

Hard luck Dave. Rather frustrating, but at least not down to error on your part.

 

Hope not!  Gonna go and have a look under the bonnet later to see if i can see anything more obvious in the light of day....and not in the freezing cold pitch black of a welsh night.

 

Just heard on the grape vine that some idiots has tipped a load a Diesel on the road at a later section!!! Utter morons....I woulda been out for blood had i hit that!

[miniweights]

Gutted for you  Hope you have better luck next time buddy

[rally1380]

Gutted for you  Hope you have better luck next time buddy

 

Cheers.....felt pants all day!  But hey ho....can't do anything about it now, other than learn from it and move on.

[rally1380]

Just had a look at the results.....we were 11th Overall after the tests....aaaaggggghhhhhh!!!!!! Bloody electrics!

[Rob Jones]

Hi Dave

 

... bad luck on not finishing. Nice to meet you before you entered the first test at Ruthin cattle market.

 

Here's a photo from the lanes ... gutted I didn't see you on my second spot.

 

 

 

 

PS how did you get on with the tyres?

Edited by Rob Jones, 13 May 2013 - 08:18 AM.

[keefr22]

Another nice piccie...!!

[rally1380]

Superb pic Rob. 

 

Better than the one the official photographer is trying to flog me.

[rally1380]

So the diagnosis began today.

 

Checked Alternator output and it did read very low. Then checked the fan belt.....it was slack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Not so slack that it squealed like it normally would, but slack enough that the alternator wasn't spinning at its correct speed.  So, belt tightened and checked output....correct 14 and a bit Volts!  Rubbish, because if i'd spotted it on the night i could have fixed it super quick, but as i'd tightened it pre event i didn't even bother to check it. Lesson learnt - always double check stuff!

 

My dad came over today to borrow (more like steal!!!) the welding gear, so he had a look over the car with me and diagnosed a bad earth too...another job for the list.  Its a great help to have someone who rallied and messed with mini's 'back in the day' on call.  And in checking the earth we discovered this......

 

 

OUCH!!!!

 

I remember hitting something pretty hard on the back and thinking that might have caused some damage.  Rear shock mount cracked right open!  So a few deft swipes with a lump hammer, a tickle with the welder before it went A.W.O.L and all fixed.  Not a pretty fix mind you, but a strong one.  Gonna reinforce once welder is returned.

 

In all honesty i think the damage was done a while ago by the previous owner running the car very low on 10's with standard height shockers. So took a hammering all the time. Then I rally it over some rough ground and hey presto....opened like a bean tin!

 

Dreading looking under the car, but i'm certainly glad i ran fuel, brake and battery lines inside now...well worth the effort.

 

Anyway, gonna order a new fan belt (plus spare) to replace the rubbish slipping old one and should be ready to go.

[Archived4]

Awesome stuff! Bad luck with the dnf, but you are getting good results the rest of the time! How competitive are you? I will either road use or rally my mini depending on how competitive it is. Or should I get a characterless proton haha

[rally1380]

Awesome stuff! Bad luck with the dnf, but you are getting good results the rest of the time! How competitive are you? I will either road use or rally my mini depending on how competitive it is. Or should I get a characterless proton haha

 

To be honest i reckon we are fairly competative. We're never gonna stick with the really fast cars though. And in all honesty we are driving the roads completely blind....whereas the locals we are up against know the roads like the back of their hands.

 

3rd fastest time on a test can't be bad though?

 

My thoughts are (if we really get into (night) road rallying) i might buy something faster if we reach a point that the mini is clearly struggling against faster cars.  Thats a future plan though and until we really get the hang of things the mini will do the job fine....plus i love the reaction we get.....seems everyone loves a mini.

[Archived4]

Yeah, cracking result! And yeah, i've heard road knowledge can win events, especially on map 146 etc. And cool. looks like I'm gonna fit a cage

[rally1380]

Crews go out and practice everywhere. I would, but i ain't got a clue which roads they use and they are miles away anyway, so there is no point me going out....although the Altratec is local to me!!!!!

 

Would recomend fitting a cage...every car seems to fit one with good reason!!

[Archived4]

My dad did results on that event when it was high peak 061 mc. Will ask him what roads were used for you. And ye, probably best haha

[rally1380]

My dad did results on that event when it was high peak 061 mc. Will ask him what roads were used for you. And ye, probably best haha

Ask him how rough it is too....don't want to do any silly rough events (little wheels don't like big holes!!!!)  I like whites and rough stuff...just not the kind of roughness that kills a mini!