My apologies for the delay in updating the website, we've had a busier than expected race off-season and every time I sit down to start this something else seems to crop up that's more important - I get side tracked and that's the end of it for another few weeks!

Dave Bests 65 Corvette's cooling system is now complete with the addition of the radiator hard-lines. Dave did'nt want the "hose clip on hose" look & steel braided lines were'nt an option at the lower hose so we fabricated the custom hardlines using slip-on o-ringed sleeves that we import. They allow some end-float during heat expansion, up to 6 deg of misalignment & are rated up to 150psi so they should work great. They look tidy & are quick to remove. They are available in 1/4in increments from 1in up to 3in + & are suitable for air or water. The radiator now has bleeds, drain tap & mounts finished also.
The wheels have been ordered & once they arrive we can finalize the wheel spacing & ride height. We can then sort out the rear 1/2 shafts (Indycar style) & finish the LF suspension.

Mike Hunters historic Formula Ford has been back getting the work discussed earlier this year completed. We have converted the upper front outer ball-joints to rod-ends making it much easier to change cambers and service uprights. We have also machined the tie-rods to accept rod-ends and the outer ends can now be shimmed up/down in minutes to correct any bump-steer irregularities making the car a lot more settled and predictable to drive. We then scaled the car, set heights, wheel cross-weights etc.

Mark Dudson has had his Chev powered CF Bedford, blown Chev HZ Holden and tunnel rammed 300z Nissan in for various repairs and modifications. The CF now has a proper restraining system for his wheel chair that will allow him to enjoy his drag racing a little more knowing he's secure in the event of an accident. We have also changed his diff ratio and just made a few more items easier to service between rounds.

The HZ has the correct suspension spring rates and better bushings now for a better ride height and handling, we fabbed some custom exhaust tail pipes and we also discovered during some engine tests that the engine was about to expire due to poor quality parts being fitted previously. A supercharged engine needs not only good internal componentry but good external "support systems", i.e, good fuel supply, exhaust, cooling and wiring and these are often overlooked. The engine has since been rebuilt by my engine builders at B G Automotive & is ready for break-in.

The Nissan has had the whole cooling system reworked to remedy previous overheating problems. We have designed and fitted a custom dual-pass race radiator that is as big as can possibly fit in the given space, the trans cooler remounted and alloy ducting fabbed to redirect the air in the correct direction and not "spill" or waste any air flow. The electric fans have been repositioned correctly and will be automatically operated. All of this is necessary due to the large engine-small engine bay-low frontal area combination. The radiator , fans etc can be removed in less than 5 mins, this is one thing that is ALWAYS high on the priority list on any car, systems must be EASY to service. There was also some exhaust work, ignition, carb and plumbing work carried out.

Andy Greenslades GT1 Corvette has been back in the shop getting some rear brake mods & an upper front chassis tube fabricated. This was done in order to stiffen the forward chassis bulkhead and remove the possibility of it "lozenging". Andy showed good pace at the first meeting of the season at Taupo.

Paul and Mandy Sinclair and Justin Butcher have had their respective Commodore and Falcon Musclecars in for rollcage work. None of these cars had the upper parts of the main roll cage fully welded from day one when the cages were constructed. All the cage installations were slightly different so Pauls car needed the roof taking off to get at the cage and the other 2 were accessible by cutting out local patches and rewelding.

Paul Sinclair has since won the overall honor's at the Musclecar Masters meeting held at Eastern Creek in September. We are currently freshening his engine for the up-coming CMC season. Full Eastern Creek results can be found at www.centralmusclecars.co.nz

Justins car, after coming out of a short retirement has had the exhaust raised approx 50mm. This was always a limiting factor in getting a good set-up at some tracks and also a hassle during loading/unloading the car from the race trailer. An anti-spike valve was added to the rear brakes, the shifter was strengthened and moved closer to the steering wheel. The front upper suspension arm angles were altered to change the front roll center and reduce the acute angles they were running at. During a test day recently Justin was very happy with the cars performance and is looking forward to running at the new Hampton Downs facility early Nov.

Brian Grey bought his GT1 quad rotor Mazda in for a "measure up". I checked all the front and rear suspension pick-up points in 3 dimensions and loaded the information to a software program I use. This allows me to move points around to remove some of the undesirable characteristics road cars have that are unsuitable for race car use. I reduced the steering bump-steer, changed the camber curves and anti-squat/dive curves. Also the steering Ackerman was changed slightly and some factory joints were changed for rod-ends. I gave the new coordinates to Brian and he is currently carrying out most of the modifications himself. These major modifications are a good starting point but, as always , track testing is the next important step.

John Rae's GTI Corvette is now finished, having had the similar measurement process that was carried out on Brians car. Johns car had had a checkered past and several chassis repairs had been carried out, a few of which had left the car "out-of-square" . Several mounts were repositioned, some excess clearances were taken care of and serviceability of the car was improved to allow less time in pit lane and more time on the track. After some early season testing the car is performing well and will improve with more testing/racing.