LE JOG 2016

[Paul Blore]

That looks like a lovely car to be doing the event in Colin. I've always had a real soft spot for the 240Z after building the Tamiya 1/12 model of the works safari rally car as a kid.

If I had the space (and the spare funds) I'd definitely have on in my garage.

Paul

[clive]

Nice car! I can't remember the 240z in green, yet there was a very similar one on DIY SOS last week.

[Roger King]

I'm really not sure I should be following her orally on facebook...

[Colin Newbold]

I'm really not sure I should be following her orally on facebook...

OMG ... What were they thinking! Who decides these things? Borat? You could try following her verbally Roger, or even in writing, but the result might be less predictable and would certainly take a lot longer. Good spot though!

[Colin Newbold]

Well folks... its all over now. Way more difficult than either of us imagined and although we got as high as 41st at one point, we lost 4 whole sections when the prop shaft bolts sheared. Long story short... we were able to fix that although by now we were excluded from the results, but we decided to go for a finish anyway, only to lose the diff just 50 miles from JOG So we crossed the finish line on the back of a low loader.

Until the next time....

[Paul Blore]

Well done for at least getting to JOG.

It's amazing isn't it; you could drive for decades and never lose a propshaft or diff, but you lost both within hours of each other.

I'd fancy having a go, but I'm not sure how robust the Dino would be.

Paul

[clive]

Hard lines Colin. At least you wouldn't have needed winter tyres with the current weather.

[Roger King]

Bad luck Colin. Were they standard fasteners? Prop bolts are usually of a higher grade and should have a machined shoulder to ensure no chatter in the flanges.
Valiant effort though, and as we were all told at school, it's not the winning...

[Old Boy Racer]

My driver and I just completed a weekend of day and night practice. Very exciting! No dramas and all went well. In calibrating the Brantz, it took us several minutes to realise that the 'mile' markers on the M25 are actually in kilometres! How very dare they

Had a lot of fun practicing handbrake turns and donuts in a deserted rain-sodden car park

Not long to go now...

Mmmm. Maybe too many of these?

[Colin Newbold]

Quick response...(got work to catch up on)...our mechanical problems in my opinion could have been avoided by more sympathetic driving. My friend loves his 240Z more than most everything else and yet is very heavy footed. He punished the car, perhaps in response to some basic navigational blunders from your's truly...it's what we Learning & Development people call 'passive aggression'. If he had been more able to express his anger through verbal feedback to me we might have been able to calm down, relax and recover lost ground. It is no surprise to me that the car failed. Sadly. It's taught me a lot about how important is the relationship in that very tight and confined space we call the cockpit! A partnership we were truly not able to achieve.

Regards the prop shaft bolts Roger...not sure what Dean had in there before but when the problem happened, the travelling mechanic that accompanies the rally was able to provide a temporary fix using some 'Meccano' bolts and then we drove out of the rally, 2 hours south at 50mph to Thirsk. An unscheduled overnight stop there saw us at 08:00 with the top 240Z rally car preparer in the UK who gave us the correct shoulder bolts and K nuts which Dean fitted with assistance. We then drove back into the rally and caught it up 4 whole sections later (this had resulted in our exclusion from the results). We were on for a finish under our own steam but with renewed confidence that the prop shaft was now intact, Dean continued to punish the car until the diff finally cried enough!

How's this for a post script though...in hoisting his car onto the Straight Eight 8-car transporter in JOG, the winch gave way which resulted in the car rolling down the ramps, shooting out the back of the lorry and hitting the first available 'brake' (not sure if that was another car or a brick wall) resulting in considerable damage. You couldn't make this up! I wish Dean no ill harm but I can't help thinking there might have been some universal laws at play here.

Regards using your Dino Paul...don't even think about it. Ideal cars for this would be the 911 or Volvo Amazon (eventual winner), followed closely by the BMW 1602/2002. Or maybe a pumped up Mk 1 Escort:).

If anyone is interested, I would consider doing the event next year, as a navigator again, probably in an arrive and drive car that HERO have. I just need a competent and careful driver. (Oh, and half the not inconsiderable fees!).