Mark Gregory

Blimey, 950mm x 550mm!! How do you get a passenger in?

& another one here........

So who was at The Chase Inn, Malvern yesterday evening watching the beautiful sunset?

So who was at The Chase Inn, Malvern yesterday evening watching the beautiful sunset?

........would love to come across a very expensive Ferrari. To give him a boost....... Reminds me of many years ago, neighbour but one had a Rolls Royce, it would not start due to a flat battery, he asked if I could help get it going. Being poor I didn't have any jump leads, but made a set from 20A mains wiring cable by twisting the cores together. I connected them to my Renault 5 battery & with the engine running got the RR started. I was quite surprised it worked, he was very impressed & gave me a crate of beer, which was nice......

Hello Matthew I've got 2-off red front wings & 1-off o/s red rear gathering dust in my garage roof. The fronts (1-o/s, 1-n/s) have the indicator repeater holes, the n/s one has a bit of damage to the front & middle, but IMHO fine for racing. The rear has had a gravel guard removed, the remains of the rivets are still present. It has the holes for the rear light. All three are in standard Caterham red gelcoat (unpainted). You know where I am, i don't know if you get over this way these days. A modest donation to the Grads charity would suffice.

Thanks Matthew. I'm pleased to find that my supposition was partially correct. Do you still work for Fisher German? Following our meeting a number of years ago I'm in touch with Neil Hogbin & Ben Longstaff at the Ashby office.

Hmmm... not sure about that Roger. My 1996 X-flow, purchased from Kim in 2000, had Spax dampers fitted, without adjustable platforms. I cannot remember if the dampers themselves were adjustable. I replaced them with the optional parts defined in 5.8.1 (ii) ©. This allowed me to set the car up properly with a corresponding improvement in grid position. I suspect Spax dampers were fitted to X-flow Scholarship cars & Bilsteins fitted when the VX engines were introduced (1997?), but I have no evidence to support my premise. I wonder if Andy Mac knows. Edit: Too slow, beaten by Charles again.........!

Hello Elie A Classic Grads car with X-flow & Spax dampers is likely to be 1996 ish vintage. Here is a link to the Grads regulations, scroll down to 5.8.1, it may not give you all the info. you require, but it's a starting point: https://barc.blob.core.windows.net/barcnet/2017-championship-reg-wlz68.pdf

Spotted at approx. 11:45am this morning crossing the Stratford Road next to the Mercedes garage/Wyevale garden centre. Heading towards Hampton Lucy.

JNC We were on the M6, a couple of miles north of Spaghetti junction, heading to Anglesey to race with the Grads, it was a Thursday lunchtime in July 2008 & was sunny & perfectly clear. Traffic was very heavy, stop/start, I was doing about 20mph in the middle lane, minding my own business when suddenly all hell broke loose. we were hit hard from behind, into the lorry in front (I thought were were going to be crushed between the lorries as the bonnet started to crumple up). The trailer came off & was hit by a third lorry. When we came to a halt my reflex reaction was to turn round to see what had happened, there were flames already licking up the side of my Golf. Fortunately the doors still opened & we were able to get out & away to safety. It took the emergency services a while to arrive due to the heavy traffic by which time everything had been destroyed by the fire & we were left sitting on the Armco in our shorts & T-shirts. The M6 north was closed for about 3 hrs & had to be resurfaced overnight. The Golf & trailer were insured with the NFU who were brilliant, all sorted within 3 weeks. The Mega & all my race stuff was not insured, but fortunately I had 'Legal Expenses' cover with the NFU & they put it in the hands of a solicitor in Bristol to fight my corner. I eventually got a reasonable settlement, but it took the best part of a year. It was a very painful & frustrating experience.

How did those pictures of my MegaGrad get on to Wrecked Exotics? (Nos. 5 & 6). Spooky.

Hello Steve I used to race in Supergrads & spent ages playing around with the set-up of my car before I found a sweet spot. I finished up using a green front ARB & I had the rear ARB fitted. It's difficult to generalise about set-up, because many of the elements are interdependent & the set-up needs to suit your driving style. My set-up gave a little bit of understeer which I preferred to oversteer. I used the rear ARB settings to fine-tune the handing to suit certain corners. I used the standard 'soft' front springs & progressive rears. From memory my set-up was: Castor: maximum possible. Camber: 2.5-3.0 deg. Toe: 20' out for twisty circuits, a bit less for fast tracks. Rake: Adjusted to give a good balance between understeer & oversteer. Generally more than the 15mm often suggested on here. All settings to be done with you in full race gear in the driving seat & lead ballast fitted (if required). I really enjoyed experimenting with the set-up & seeing how the various changes affected the handling. The car is transformed when you get it right & then you can really start to push. I'm puzzled by your lack of traction out of the corners, are you using the optional stiff rear springs? HTH, Mark

Department of Materials, Loughborough Uni. T: 01509 222527? Possibly worth a phone call.

Spotted in Leek Wootton, heading towards Kenilworth.

Roger There's always deed poll......;-)

It might be worth a call to Tech-Craft Motorsport in Warwick (techcraft.co.uk). Thy are AP agents (crummy website though).

Spire clip or Spire nut.

Thanks Dave. Another 'Spotted' goes begging...... Did you manage to get your car on track during 2014?

This morning, heading out of Leamington towards Kenilworth at the 'Nuffield' roundabout. I couldn't read the rest of the number, the sun was in my eyes.

Grant It was probably me, if it was late Sunday afternoon. Is your car white with a double green stripe? Mine is 'ali' BTW. Mark

Interesting photos. What is the difference in diameter at the break between the old & new stub axle? I would have expected the weakest point (maximum bending moment) to be where the stub axle enters the upright. Unless they are using a different material and/or hardening process. It looks to me that the main difference is the size of the outer bearing which has been changed to be the same size as the inner to simpify manufacturing.

This afternoon, heading down Woodcote Lane towards The Anchor.

Approx. 11.00am this morning, driving towards Kenilworth.

Dave, I did wonder, but I must confess I don't regularly read 'Spotted' because my car's not been on-the-road for a few years. My friend, who goes for a swim on Sunday morning, has seen the car a number of times. I'll ask him to 'accost' the owner & find out more.