UKDRN

Do you own or know the whereabouts of a piece of UK Drag Racing History or just want info on a particular machine.

Moderators: timetravel, ukdrn

 #34500  by ukdrn
 
I'm really looking forward to seeing this car Maurice.
Hopefully your film the fire ups
 #34509  by MisteR Tee
 
ukdrn wrote:I'm really looking forward to seeing this car Maurice.
Hopefully your film the fire ups
We plan to film it tomorrow with any luck, although if it's crap, I may not!!
 #34515  by LostinFrance
 
Short video of us firing the engine on Spirit in 1996 after a complete re-furb of the car.

Dave Miller came to see us, and can be seen adjusting the fuel-injection system that he built some years before.

http://youtu.be/4C1IuuH1m_w

Mike
 #34523  by MisteR Tee
 
Well, what can I say? That was a very successful day all round. My thanks go to Dave Gibbons for all his help (although he is to blame for this aberration to my normal lifestyle!!). We removed the old plugs, checked for spark to make sure the mag was still working ok & we had oil pressure, fitted new plugs, filled the tank with the methanol that Dave Raper had very kindly included in the deal & hey presto, it ran!! Well, it did after a few false starts, although the amount it rocked on the jack stand was alarming, so we will probably change the design of that somewhat. However, after the initial start, it began to run on just what we were squirting into the intake & eventually we discovered it wasn't pumping fuel which we eventually traced to the feed pipe from the tank being clogged with crap! Once we'd blown through all the lines, it began to run properly, job done! There was an issue with the idle being too fast, which we traced to the cable needing adjustment & few little tweaks to the throttle system, but that was all really.

Next task was to actually drive it!! After a considerable effort, we managed to push it all the way up Dave's yard, due to seriously binding brakes & then had more false starts until we put a lot more fuel in & then it was time for my first drive, not only of this car but a real proper dragster!! Due to the location & my inexperience, I daren't attempt a full throttle launch, so a few bunny-hops were the order of the day, but it ran, drove, had gears & best of all, stopped!! Whooo hoo!! Time for lunch & then another run, more of the same except that at the end, there was no throttle response! It seems a bolt had dropped off the linkage under the floor! Still, we had achieved what we set out to do & could be satisfied that with a couple of tweaks we could run it as is!!

We now have a small list of things to do, as well as the mods to make entry & exit easier for the larger gentleman who will be driving!! Once again my thanks go to Dave Gibbons for the facilites & oportunity to do this, I don't think my neighbours would be quite so happy as the cows, sheep & goats near Dave's. Also, I must thank Dave Raper for being such a great guy to deal with, not only did he accept my offer for the car, he went out of his way to help, checking over the trailer that came with the car to make sure it was serviceable, & then painting it to make it presentable & not only including all the spares, equipment & books & documents, but throwing in a 25l drum of methanol & a gallon of nitro!! As he said "well, you'll want to fire it up, won't you?"! Nice one Dave. My thanks also to Mike Tomlin & Simon Williams (previous owners) who have contributed info & pics, much appreciated guys & I hope to see you at a track next year with the car. If anyone knows how to get in touch with Dave Miller, I would dearly like to make contact with him, if only to show him his creation is still alive & well.

There are 3 videos that I posted on my FB page, I've tried several times to upload or copy to here, without success, sorry guys.
 #34524  by torment
 
Well done sir.i bet you're still smiling. . :D
 #34528  by MisteR Tee
 
Thanks To Mike Tomlin for some further info & also for a contact number for Dave Miller. Amazingly, it was still his number but sadly he is no longer with us. I had a very nice chat with his widow who said that he died 4 years ago from a brain haemorrage. After he sold the dragster, he totally rebuilt & restored an MGB from the ground up & ran that for many years. So, a sad moment for both of us, she misses him very much obviously & was clearly very proud of his achievements, so cheers Dave, hopefully you're watching over me & the car & are rightly proud, it must be your Spirit on the cowl.
 #34537  by muddytalker
 
Here's another one for your collection MisteR Tee taken at Long Marston in 1981/82.
006.jpg
006.jpg (316.09 KiB) Viewed 9159 times
 #34539  by MisteR Tee
 
Thanks Jerry, I really liked that colour scheme, might have to do something similar but in Kandy Apple Red (to match my rod!). But not for a long a while, need to find the period wheels first.
 #34552  by davethesparky
 
I might have a set of spoked wheels going spare will know in the next few day,
regards Dave
 #34553  by muddytalker
 
I spoke to dad about this and he said you would have a bit of a job locating Raleigh Whisp wheels, especially the tyres. Dad had the very same wheels and tyres on his dragsters and they only just did the job then and that was way back when! But if Davethesparky knows where there's some then bonus.
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