andyowl
Sr. Member
Posts: 456
New exhaust "straight through" - good sound!
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« Reply #45 on: May 26, 2009, 08:57:31 am » |
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Prescott on Sunday was great fun! My son Philip (Bagheera S owner for over 10 years) also entered driving Baggy Joe with my wife "Charlie" in full support. A real family affair with the UK Matra club having a stand in the "French Quarter" and great support from them too.
The scrutineer was quite thorough but he only required us to tighten the battery securing strap and we were ready to go!
How did we do? On the first practice run up the hill we both "visited the gravel traps", mine being very close to the barrier, but we had similar times (slow!).
When we came to get Joe ready for the second practice run he wouldn't start. I think some of the many visitors who had been sitting in Joe may have unconciously pumped the accellerator pedal as he seemed to be flooded. (This is not a criticisim of the visitors as I think we might all do this instinctively) We tried a rolling start down the hill and Joe was trying to fire but he just would not continue to run. We had not had time to find the fault with the non-charging alternator and so we had brought a spare battery. We tried that but in my haste I did not notice that we had not connected the second (ignition) wire to the positive termial so he would not start then either! We pushed him downhill, across the public road into the camping field where our motorhome was parked with his 6.7litre, V8 diesel charging system. It was lunchtime anyway and we ate while the batteries charged. After lunch he started first push and we drove back to the paddock in time for the first competitive runs.
Two more runs each but with slower times (my memory of the gravel trap and the Armco barrier was still very fresh!) saw the end of the day, and time to pack up. We have since found out that our accellerator cable had lost its adjustment and the throttles were only opening to 50% or less. It certainly did not feel as powerful as the initial practice run. My excuse anyway!
The weather had been beautiful and the help and support from competitors, family and the Matristi was wonderful. I must particularly mention friend and Alpine Renault enthusiast Tony Gomis whose assistance, advice and encouragement has been pivotal in getting us to Prescott and beyond. Given Joe's unfinished state and our amateur performance I was surprised how many people said that it was great to have Matra represented in the La Vie En Bleu competition. Not just one Matra but two with Graham Prime's beautiful 2.2 Murena showing us how it should be done.
What now??? The "immediate" list is quite long and includes making Joe a reliable everyday car with a working alternator and reliable starting. Painting must be high on the list too for although I painted the headlamp covers in MINI Liquid Yellow the light grey primer needs a lot of rubbing down before we can paint the whole car.
Would we do it again?? You bet! Etretat (Le Havre) in August is likely although I am required to fit an FIA approved driver's seat. Perhaps one or two UK events per month in the season while we sort out the reliability and paint issues and with the plan for 2010 including a 1.6 Murena engine with some extra power. I was speaking to an owner of a beautiful open CG with the 1.6 Simca engine who also has one with a supercharger... So it can be done! The newly joined UK Simca club are also being very supportive with experienced competitors and tuners in their membership and I plan to pick their brains too.
Andy Owler
PS I find the fact that this thread has been visited nearly 2,000 times is quite amazing! Thank you all for your interest. It is very motivating to think that you out there are spurring me on. I am a notorious non-finisher of projects. You keep pushing me onwards. Thanks for that too!
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andyowl
Sr. Member
Posts: 456
New exhaust "straight through" - good sound!
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« Reply #46 on: June 08, 2009, 09:25:47 am » |
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Photos of Baggy Joe at Prescott, May 24th. There are two photographers who have pictures of Baggy Joe at Prescott. www.pr-photo.co.uk www.sgc.myzen.co.uk/msport/p240509/index008.htmLook for car number 136 or 936 (myself and Philip respectivley although you cannot see the faces!) I have ordered copies and requested permission to use them in the MECUK magazine. Andy Owler PS I have other pictures (interior, seats, roll cage etc) but the file sizes are too large for this forum. Can anyone tell me how to reduce the file size after they have been down-loaded from the camera? I use Windows XP Pro and have the HP imaging software supplied with their scanner. I suppose I could print the images and then scan them at a lower resolution. Anyone kow a better and/or quicker way? AMO
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Anders Dinsen
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« Reply #47 on: June 14, 2009, 07:32:09 pm » |
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Anyone kow a better and/or quicker way?
Hi Andy On XP, I use a little tool, which can be downloaded from Microsoft. They call it a Power Toy, but it's neither a toy, nor very powerful. But it does the job og easily resizing images stored in a folder on your harddisk. Go to this URL and download and install 'Image Resizer' (see rightmost column for links to the downloads): http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/Downloads/powertoys/Xppowertoys.mspxWhen you have it installed, it will show up as a popup menu when you right-click one ore multiple images in a folder. It will display a right-click menu with an option 'Resize pictures'. Select that. A dialogue will then pop up, asking you for the size of the resulting image. It will per default create a new file of the requested size. I think it does the job quite nicely! /Anders
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1982 Talbot Matra Murena 2.2 prep 142 2017 BMW i3 "Charged Professional" 94Ah
Used to own: 2001 Renault Matra Grand Espace "The Race" V6 24v 1997 Renault Matra Espace 2.0 8V 1987 Renault Matra Espace J11 2.2
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andyowl
Sr. Member
Posts: 456
New exhaust "straight through" - good sound!
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« Reply #50 on: June 16, 2009, 05:09:18 pm » |
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OK, here goes with some long promised pics.. Try one first perhaps! (This one is approx 60kB) This is the Prescott set-up. - Primer paint as we did not have enough time to paint him first. - The headlight covers are the correct (future) colour. - The towing ring is on a 5mm x 30mm aluminium bar fixed to the front cross member with a 10mm bolt. - I have not fitted the clear covers in front of the lower lights. They are so hard to find that I would prefer not to damage them if I hit something. - The front undertray has not yet been fitted (lack of time) I was still making the towing ring 2 hours before we left for the meeting! Andy
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