There are 8 images on this page.
Street Machine took the
photographs in Blackpool. It took 7 hours to do 3 cars.
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The idea was to get the
lights in the back ground. All the standing around in the cold was worth it
because the pictures came out well. ( See the section on magazine articles
on the home page.)
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While attempting a burn
out at some traffic lights I broke a half shaft. These had been shortened
by cutting new splines down the shaft. This cuts through the heat treatment
and will never be as strong as rolled splines. The replacement set were shortened
by moving the drive flange and bearing surface down the shaft. Shrink fit
and welding stop them moving.
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The underneath soon gets dirty. I also replaced the rear wheel bearings while the shafts were out. The gearbox was removed and rebuilt with tweaks and an uprated stall speed torque converter. (2,500 rpm). This should improve the launch off the line.
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The finished car. It
drives great, does about 25mpg and even goes round corners very well.
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This car was my daily
driver for a while and I drove it in all weathers. It handled quite well in
the snow.
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I put about 50 runs in
down the drag strip and would always do a big burnout, not to improve the
time but because the crowd loved it. Even though the diff. is open ( not LSD
) I could spin both wheels. I would have to open the doors to get rid of the
smoke. On the road I struggle to get any wheel spin from a standing start.
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The rebuilt gearbox and
torque converter helped with the performance. This is as far as I know the
quickest time run by anybody with a completely standard Rover V8 engine in
a saloon car. ( Not an open top kit car.) The times down the strip are very
dependant on the grip at the track. Most days I would get wheel spin in 2nd
gear. The day I ran 12.81 the track was very sticky.
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I drove the Kitten throughout
the 1990`s around the country and once to Germany. It was very reliable and
comfortable to drive. I would often do 200 miles in a day. I attended many
shows but only ever won a prize ( other than the Street Machine trophy ).
The prize was for best engineering. Most of the shows I went to, the car did
not fit in with the judges idea of the car they wanted at the show. They were
trying to have shows which were for pre 1949 cars and kit cars of pre 1949
cars. This did not bother me too much as I went for the fun of driving to
and from the event and meeting my friends.
Towards the end of the 90`s I was having problems with insurance and the car
required a rebuild to keep it at a high standard. (One of the problems of
driving it often and hard.) I had also learnt a bit more about cars and there
were a few areas that could be improved and the engine was getting tired and
needed a rebuild. The rebuild of the car was delayed due to my illness and
the garage being used for other projects.
