70/3/2006

The car is a beautiful 1987 model, 92k on the clock and a full service history. The twin headlight units allow me to remove the middle two lights and use the hole for cooling.

Initial performance shows a little hesitation at low revs and a 0-60 time of 10.2 seconds (book figure is 7.5) so there is some work to be done there.

The target is to get the weight down from 1733kg to about 1600kg, but the regs say I have to leave the side glass in and most of the trim so its going to be a challenge. So out goes the boot trim, air con, cruise control, visco fan, central locking, electric mirrors, rear seat, sound proofing. But in goes a roll cage and a fire extinguisher system.

The power is 299bhp at 5500 at the mo, this i hope to get up to 320 without spending silly money. The main jobs are setting the engine up to a good standard spec then tweaking the exhaust, intake, cooling and ignition.

The strip down has started and it is amazing how little space there is in such a big car! With the race seat in and my crash hat on, there is interference with the roll cage, looks like i will have to have some vertebrae removed! And I can report that I have now successfully located the rust!

Next outing is Mallory for a track day and to get the car scrutineered before the first race.