Not having the Hilux in my garage has given me a new appreciation for it, our time apart has given me time to reflect on its upbringing, a frantic three years of intense concentration towards the build suddenly came to a halt when it was loaded into a container and hit the seas bound for NZ. The theoretical finish date was at WTAC, things didn’t quiet go as planned, once back home I quickly made defining decisions to upgrade and reinvent my perception of what was the finished product.
My point here is a race car is never finished, its a constant battle against mechanical failure, do as much as you can throughout the build to prevent this happening but there will always be some small thing that will always give you drama. Owning and driving a race car becomes a roller-coaster of good times and bad.
I think I like that aspect of it, the ups and downs spur emotions and the emotions become embedded in the car, soon enough every part tells a story and you know the car inside and out. I visit a lot of car and motorbike shows, I appreciate the cars and bikes and the attention their owners put into them, I always walk away thinking maybe I should just do that, seems pretty simple, but in reality I am not that person, give me a racetrack a few sets of tyres and then a broken car at the end of it, fix it then do it all again the next weekend.
As far as cars and the internet go I don’t think there is anything better than a well documented build, as far as the ETS drift ute is going yes its slowing down but its never going to end. As I write this I plan my visit to Wellington and STM where I will clean up the Hilux, fit a new alternator and prepare it for battle once again.
This week I have been busy working on the KTM 250, its been used and abused for a few years now so I am giving the sheetmetal a freshen up. Ill do a post on that tomorrow. I have also been busy working on the PS13 I cut up, the remake of the engine bay is taking shape, ill also get a post up of that in the coming days, I am starting to have worrying ideas about that car, by worrying I mean moving the engine back 150mm, dry sump, high rise crazy headers, tube rear cradle, double wishbone suspension and the list goes on.
Matt
Stick with macpherson for weight – want to keep the PS13 as light as possible right?…
tapeman
He seems like the kind of person that would get more joy out of playing with the suspension geometry of a double wishbone set up, than having a lighter car.