Car fettling

One of the main reasons I became interested in sprinting was the lack of modifications needed to my car.

The really good news is that, for sprinting, you don't need to install a roll-cage, fire extinguisher, external battery cut-off or undertake any of the many modifications required for circuit racing.

As I understand it so far (despite my continued lack of the mysterious blue book) all I need is:

• A race number on each side of the car
• A timing strut mounted to the front of the car
• A sign in the interior indicating the position of the ignition and how to turn it off
• A clearly marked earth lead in the engine bay

For the race numbers you can simply use tape. This does however make it look like you're heading to Thurrock for a spot of banger racing. As a result, I opted to purchase a set of self-adhesive numbers from Demon Tweeks, who also supplied my helmet & racesuit. For the princely sum of £14.75 you can get a set of six-of-each of numbers 0-9, so these should last me a while (provided I don't draw the number 333 too often).

The timing strut posed a more interesting problem. You can't buy the bloody things, so you have no option but to fettle one for yourself (another test of your resilience and self-reliance!). Fortunately the very lovely South East Lotus Owners Club (SELOC) also organise sprints and include some guidelines for timing-strut production in their TechWiki.

The gist of it is - buy some threaded rod, some nyloc nuts, a length of some sort of cornering material and the tools necessary to cut everything to the appropriate length. I bought the following:

The rules state: "Height of Strut 245mm with a depth of 51mm, the bottom of which must be no less that 180mm from the ground and no more than 200mm from the ground. This strut must then be finished in matt black". Basically, I cut a short length of rod and bolted the plastic cornering to it. The contraption then screws into the towing-eye attachment on the front of the car, so I had to measure it all up to get the height right. The one further complication was that the cornering only had a depth of about 45mm, so I had to cut another length and glue it along one side to achieve the necessary depth. Here's the finished article prior to painting:

I must say that I'm rather proud of my handiwork!

The total cost of materials was about £12. Running costs so far, covering licence, club & race entry, helmet & racesuit and my lovely new timing strut are £584. Fortunately, most of that expenditure is on items that will last me (hopefully) for many years to come!

The other modifications are a piece of cake in comparison. A small sign in the car to indicate the position of the ignition will be knocked up on my PC. Then I just need to wrap some yellow tape around the negative lead on the battery & I'm done.

Oh, by the way, I'm now confirmed as an entrant for the sprint at Curborough on Sunday 17th June. It will be on the short course - you can see a video lap of the circuit here. It's a very short lap, but hopefully will give me a good introduction to the sport. Roll on June 17th!