February 10

- Choosing the Bodywork -

The bodywork, whilst only available in one style (unlike the Fury for which there seems to be a huge range of options), can be made in different weights. A very lightweight body woul keep the mass down for racing, and tends to bend under impact rather than shatter, but probably wouldn't be up to the rigours of day to day use. A heavyweight body would be much stiffer, but would add 25 kg - a significant proportion of the car's mass. I asked Ian to go for somewhere in between.

- Choosing the suspension -

I hadn't seen any options for anti-roll bars on the Phoenix. Ian said that he didn't think they were necessary, even on a track orientated car, so I left it at that. If I want to try them later on, I can.

- Choosing the chassis -

I quizzed Ian about the new chassis. It turns out to weigh about the same as the old chassis as they've put extra triangulation in, but it had been designed from the outset to be bike engine friendly, and the engine bay braced under the assumption that the engine would be a bike engine - i.e. small! As to the price of the new chassis, he said that it wouldn't actually be much more than a standard chassis, especially as it had a built in cage. When we got down to the nitty gritty, their standard Chassis pack is £1600, and a roll cage, by my estimation, would be circa £500 - a total of £2100. The new chassis pack would be £3000. Yeouch.

But I couldn't turn it down, of course.

Just as I was leaving, it occured to me that I should check that I would actually fit inside the Phoenix - it is very, very tiny. I sat in the most complete car they had, and it was immediately obvious that it was only just big enough - fortunately I like a driving position with my knees high and close to the wheel, otherwise it would have been a no go. Ian also observed that with a helmet on, the roll cage wouldn't be high enough, and said he'd get an extra 3" added into the one they got made for me. I'm glad I checked! (Ignores incredulous mutterings from the reader)

- Choosing the brakes -

STM are distributors for Outlaw M-16 Billet front calipers, which, naturally enough are a perfect fit for the Escort Mk11 based front uprights on the Phoenix. They weigh more than the HiSpec ones, but they are available a lot more easily, being just sat there on the shelf, and they're cheaper too. It only took a moment of indecision before I plumped for the Outlaws instead of the HiSpecs.

The discs I hadn't really made any decisions on up to this point, except that I was pretty sure I wanted some . As my decline into making my life easier continued, I just asked Ian what he could supply. So I ended up with some grooved fronts and standard Sierra rears.

STM are fitting the new Phoenix chassis with a custom lightweight pedal set with Wilwood master cylinders and bias system. Seemed alright to me on the cars they were building, so why fight it?

- Choosing the wheels -

IanG has managed to find himself a set of crack tested, sound, Barnby magnesium wheels for 300GBP. Jammy so and so. He looked unconvinced at my decision to use 13's, but without actually explaining why. Thinking about this later, I figure it's because I'm planning to run this race chassis as a road car, so I need all the ground clearance I can get. Perhaps 14's or even 15's would be a better choice.

- Cooling -

The cooling on the race car is standard fare - a Polo radiator and whatever hosing is necessary to do the job for the engine coolant. I liked the silicone hosing that I got for the 21, so I'll get more of the same for the Phoenix, except that I intend to do as many of the runs as possible from aluminium tube, rather than silicone, as it's lighter, cheaper and looks good too.

- Oil System -

STM are fitting their race GSX R-1000's with a small air cooled Mocal oil cooler. Other than that, and the remote mounted oil filter (they've done this tor packaging reasons, rather than anything more exciting) the lubrication systems in the Phoenix are uncomplicated.

- Reverse mechanism -

STM do a nice reverse mechanism for the Phoenix, which means I won't have to faff around designing and building my own. It's a bike starter motor, mounted to the engine, and it engages in a sprocket that's attached to the output flange of the engine.

- Choosing the Engine -

When I asked Ian why they'd chosen the GSX-R1000 he shrugged and said that it seemed a good engine, widely used in sidecar racing, and that it didn't need a dry sump conversion. He showed me the modified baffle plate and sump that they were intending to use, and then pulled a particularly good trick.

They had bought an engine, sourced originally from a race bike, that they'd intended to fit to one of their cars. They realised afterwards that it had been ported, and hence was ineligible for use in the race series they wanted to use it in. He said I could have it for £**** (a very large amount), which I politely declined. Seeing his chance of ridding himself of an otherwise troublesome engine, he sucked his teeth, rolled his eyes, we bargained a bit, and I ended up the engine, the modified sump, clocks, loom, ECU and a refresh for the sum of £1850. So not a complete bargain when some other lesser engines are available for £750; but not bad either, especially as it would save me having to actually put some work into trying to source an engine

- Panelling -

The standard Phoenix chasiss is supplied with panels precut to shape. Mine isn't . Having mostly panelled the first 4 cars, Ian's advice was to get 3 8' x 4' sheets of 16 gauge NS4, and they'd lend me the templates they'd used.

- Choosing the Exhaust -

I took the easy option here as well - STM could supply one. I took it It should ensure compatibility later on with STM's emissions kit as well, which I'm almost certain to need to get through SVA, although hopefully not after that, as the car will almost certainly end up as a Q plate (the emissions test on a Q plate is 'visiible smoke only'. So I'm told)

- Choosing the Steering -

Yay! STM do a quick rack. That makes life easy (There's a theme here, that you can probably spot if you're reading these entries by date ). i need to supply STM with a down-link for them to convert - MkI Sierra, sort of tri-angular in shape apparently. I forgot to ask what exactly I'll get when they supply the steering colum - whether it'll be a quick release boss, or a normal one. We'll see.

- Choosing the chassis -

It wasn't till I got home that someone pointed out that having a chassis designed to be only 3" from the ground wasn't necessarily the smartest move for a road car . We'll just have to see, won't we. The 21 was higher than that, but had a scoop, sump and exhaust height of around about 3" or less, so I should be OK. I should be OK. I should be OK. <repeat as necessary/>

February 16

- Front uprights -

I bought the front uprights today, from Tendring Spares. They are MkII Ford Escort front uprights. STM modify them for the Phoenix by welding a doodad on the top for the top wishbone to attach to.

- Change of plan -

I bought some Audi A3 rear calipers today. Despite having seen, and held, the new handbrake version of the HiSpec rears at the Autosport show, I didn't really feel up to the amount of hassle that others have had trying to actually get hold of anything from them, so I wanted another option. The Sierra rear calipers seem to be universally used and universally loathed (on account of their weight and handbrake mechanism), so I didn't want those either (I'm just too fussy, aren't I).

Then a little detail I'd been told at the Autosport Show filtered into my conciousness. Westfield are starting to use VAG parts on their cars (must be something to do with the VAG engine they've put in the XTR4) and had found the Audi A3 rear calipers very satisfactory. They are aluminium, and therefore hopefully lighter than the Sierra iron ones, and maybe they've got a better handbrake mechanism too.

I submitted a request to an online parts locator (can't remember which one now) and had a reply back from Sanburne Autos. They had an 3000 mile A3 just in, and could do me the calipers and handbrake cables. Yay!

- Oops -

I contacted Sanburne and bought the A3's rear brake carriers today - seems that you need something to hold the pads in place. Doh.

This page last updated on: Thursday, Aug 24 2006