Turkis Blue ST Hot Rod

Ferry Man · Post by **Ferry Man** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:38 am

gridgway wrote:what michelins are they?

TB15's.

http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/michelin-tb.php

gridgway · Post by **gridgway** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 12:49 pm

Awesome, now I understand eye-watering! Which sizes do you use? The 215's and the 270's? Do you use the F's and R's?

Graham

Ferry Man · Post by **Ferry Man** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 1:26 pm

gridgway wrote:Which sizes do you use? The 215's and the 270's?

Yes, I'm running 7" & 9" rims with 215/55 (18/60-15) on the fronts and 270/45 (23/62-15) at the back.

I've just bought a new rear tyre from Longstone and they had them in stock and it'll be with me tomorrow.
A few people volunteered trying to repair the tyre but I've decided I'm not happy doing that. I understand the forces on those tyres whilst on track and I'm not taking any chances. Shame because there was plenty of tread left.

Silverstone has an abrasive track, the tarmac is hard on tyres. Many folks commented after the day that it wears your tyres out fast.
That's evident in this photo, the Michelin compound is very soft and you can see the tread peeling away....

Nige · Post by **Nige** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:04 pm

Close to the sidewall that is, not many places would want to repair that. Looks quite a substantial wound.

964RS · Post by **964RS** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:59 pm

agreed i'd not repair that, way too close to sidewalls

Ferry Man · Post by **Ferry Man** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 4:02 pm

The ST recently spent some time back down at Early911 where the guys did an excellent job of smoothing and re-painting the rear quarter to remove the dent acquired on track.
As it's been about a year now (incredibly) since completion, the car was treated to a full service and MOT.
Nick also adjusted the ride height and lowered the car for me. It's probably less than an inch but it visually helps fill the arches with rubber. The stance looks a shade better.

Ferry Man · Post by **Ferry Man** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 4:04 pm

After seeing Andrew Dyer's lovely black car at MPH recently I'd set my heart on a perspex rear screen. So, I acquired one and that was fitted too. The photo is a bit pointless because you can't tell it's not glass but a simple press with your finger determines easily enough if it's plastic.
Anyway, the result is another saving of 7 kg. The car is nudging toward 930 kilos now...

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 4:40 pm

Yes, the weight saving you can get from the glass is substantial, I saved about 13kg in my Alfa with a full set of side and rear windows. Are you still on glass in the doors, Paul?

Take care with the rear screen, I assume its makrolon, as though they are meant to have better scratch resistance than perspex, you can still scratch them even when giving it a light polish !!

Ferry Man · Post by **Ferry Man** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 5:09 pm

MikeB wrote:Are you still on glass in the doors, Paul?

Yes, still glass in the doors.
So I can wind the windows down without worrying about scratches.

Although if you wind the windows down at speed, the rear screen pops out.

Not really.

MikeB wrote:you can still scratch them even when giving it a light polish !!

Tis, true, they mark easily. Very easily.

Ferry Man · Post by **Ferry Man** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 7:48 pm

And for my new rear window a period correct sticker.
A bit of fun for us oldies that remember the famous Esso campaign of the late sixties/early seventies....

sladey · Post by **sladey** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 8:10 pm

Ferry Man wrote:The ST recently spent some time back down at Early911 where the guys did an excellent job of smoothing and re-painting the rear quarter to remove the dent acquired on track.
As it's been about a year now (incredibly) since completion, the car was treated to a full service and MOT.
Nick also adjusted the ride height and lowered the car for me. It's probably less than an inch but it visually helps fill the arches with rubber. The stance looks a shade better.

Can we have some better shots of the new ride height Paul?

Ferry Man · Post by **Ferry Man** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 8:21 pm

sladey wrote:Can we have some better shots of the new ride height Paul?

Yeah, fair enough, you can't see it in that shot.

One day, when the sun shines again I'll get some profile shots and check out the height with the 'stick man'.
I didn't get many photos because most of my driving today was through absolutely torrential rain. Never driven through rain like it.

dizzycap · Post by **dizzycap** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 10:03 pm

Ferry Man wrote: Although if you wind the windows down at speed, the rear screen pops out.
Not really.

I've been contemplating plastic rearwindows, but am slightly concerned about the rear window popping out. Is there a vaible risk of this? Haven't really seen many other marks using bolted window fasteners/rear window bars.

What about noise levels in the cabin? any apparent difference?

I'll probably go for plastic. 7kg is just too tempting

Ferry Man · Post by **Ferry Man** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 10:15 pm

dizzycap wrote:I am slightly concerned about the rear window popping out. Is there a viable risk of this?
What about noise levels in the cabin? any apparent difference?

Unlikely to pop out. The normal rubber seal secures it well and I've no real problem with air pressure within the cabin because of the louvered vents.
There's no extra noise.

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Wed Nov 25, 2009 11:52 pm

dizzycap wrote:
Ferry Man wrote:Although if you wind the windows down at speed, the rear screen pops out.Not really.
I've been contemplating plastic rear windows, but am slightly concerned about the rear window popping out. Is there a viable risk of this? Haven't really seen many other marks using bolted window fasteners/rear window bars.

I did some research some time ago into this question of plastic/perspex screens coming out with pressure build up in the cabin and windows open and so on, and these stories seem to stem from people's idea's over the years as to why racing Porsche's had the twin fixing bars running down the screen to hold them in.

It's my understanding that the bars were originally fitted for racing at Le Mans where there was a significant risk on the Mulsanne straight of a stone, rabbit or bird strike shattering the front screen at 180mph. The driver (if still alive and having punched a hole in the screen) would then have 6 miles or so to drive back to the pits under racing conditions, and it would be at this stage the rear screen, would blow out if it wasn't for the bars. The pit crew could easily change a front screen with the driver in the car, but the rear would be almost impossible to change with seats, harnesses, roll bar and fire extiguisher all restricting access to the underside of the rear screen.

I even heard one grizzled old racing mechanic refer to the twin aluminium strips as 'rabbit bars'

Even if not true it's a good story!

Mike