Well, things didn't quite go to plan & i never made it to Winton last weekend. I'll have to put it down to a learning experience, i had thought starting 6 weeks out would have given me enough time but there were a few variables i hadn't accounted for. Most importantly though, i need to mention that the support and advice from forum and club members has been teriffic, and enabled me to succesfully do quite a lot of the preparation myself. It was only the bits i outsourced that i had problems with - brakes and suspension.
In summary:
Bad -
- Well known brakes place (with 3 initials) who decided that having replaced my master cylinder that the brakes were 'fixed', despite the car having a softer pedal that when it went in and refusing to flush new fluid though the system because it (quote)"can cause problems and make the brakes worse"
- Overseas (US) parts supplier who neglected to tell me that he hadn't actually processed or sent the order for the swaybar bushes......at all
- Price i had to pay locally for the above bushes, between 4 to 5 times what you'd expect for a similar car, or than the OS price.
Good -
- UK parts supplier for the powerflex watts linkage bushes.
- local 'no bull' suspension people who managed to source, replace rebuild & fit as neccessary the remaining bushes, brake hoses, proportioning valves etc. in a very small window of time.
Unfortunately the last of the brake parts didn't arrive till the day before Winton & once every thing was back together it was found that i still have a soft pedal that goes within an inch of the floor on any decent stop.
So not the start to motor sport with the 75TS i was looking for, but hopefully i'll see you all at an event soon. i'll probably know a bit more about brakes by then too...
Cheers
Darren