We started out full of hope that there would be no surprises as we began the inevitable last minute jobs. The car needed a bit of rollcage work, setting up and harness replacement. The bike however required a top end rebuild from the crankcase up.
However we were aware of this and the Ian’s and Andy flew out to Bruce’s a few days earlier than normal to get the bulk of it done.
It wouldn’t be this project if things went smoothly, or we’d all be very worried we’d offended an entity or something.
The bike assembly went together without too much trouble and the modifications to the roll cage in the car were simpler than feared. However that’s where things stopped going to plan.
After rebuilding the bike engine complete with new high compression pistons and really exciting four spark head, the last thing was to test everything and make sure we had no hidden gremlins.
Horror of horrors the motor in the roller starter had completely failed. This uses a commonly found (in the UK) Ford starter motor, which is impossible to find in America.
Bruce immediately leapt into action and began to fabricate a mounting for the spare race car starter motor.
And what a fantastic job he did! With the exception of the fact it’s now spining the wrong way it’s a perfect job.
The solution, put the bike on backwards and we’re off!
While the Ian’s and Bruce had been working on the various bike opportunities, Andy had been beavering away on finishing off the car.
We now have ‘hopefully’ a fully rule compliant rollcage and headrest setup.
We’re starting the two day trip to Bonneville tomorrow, so hopefully we’ll have some slightly more interesting news in a few days time.
