Saturday 17 July 2021

Improving the view

 So time to actually do some work on Zedster, rather than all this namby-pamby driving.

The screw that held the lower windscreen crossbar to the main frame had given up on life:


It wasn't particularly serious but looked a bit rubbish. To do this properly (you can see where this is going), I should take the screen off and redo that screw. However, that was a lot of work, removing wipers and worst of all, having to remove the self-tapping screws that hold the frame to the side brackets. I'm no expert on self-tappers in metal but in wood, I've rarely managed to get a self-tapper back into its original hole securely; they always end up much looser and I normally have to move their position and start a new hole. This isn't possible with the windscreen as there are fixed holes in the steel brackets the frame attaches to. 

So my cunning plan was a U-shaped bracket under the crossbar and screwed into the frame. This would mean having to cut a slit in the rubber strip under the crossbar which is a shame but it wouldn't be visible and needs must when the Devil vomits in your breakfast. 

Now, anyone with a delicate aesthetic disposition may wish to stop reading here - what follows isn't pretty. 

Simple bracket made (had to be more boomerang-shaped because of the curve of the crossbar) :


Relatively simple to cut a slit in the rubber, push the bracket through and bend it round so each arm folded up the frame. I then gently drilled 4 holes through the bracket and into the frame and job done:

It's very not pretty but does the job and should last longer than the screw ever did. 

I shouldn't be worried about what it looks like but there various forums and FB groups full of beautifully painted factory builds, with long threads on where to get carbon fibre indicator stalks, for example. I feel a little like a charity case...

Saturday 10 July 2021

Goodwood once more

 Thankfully, Goodwood went ahead as a test event - and it was as awesome as ever.

It was absolutely heaving, as always but the biggest difference were the electric cars; there were more electric cars than ICE! The EV designs are lovely and they are so fast BUT I just can't get excited about them. The lack of noise just makes them so dull - fine for daily drivers to go shopping but nothing to excite the soul.

I watched a couple of beautiful Porsche EVs whoosh up the hill and they were very impressive but it was the rip-snorting Lambos and NASCARs that made me (and everyone else) smile as you felt the thunder from their stupidly noisy exhausts vibrate in your chest and the unburnt petrol clogged your nostrils.

Thankfully, I will probably always be able to have an ICE car for the rest of my driving life - I honestly feel sorry for future generations who may never experience that V8 roar of a Maserati Quattroporte (one of my lottery-win cars).

Some highlights of the day:

A 7L V8, 1950s NASCAR - jees, it was loud:




Pagani Hyeru (or something, can't spell it) - one of the few cars that looks better on the inside:

Lola T70 - another ear-splitter:

Dubious colour scheme #213:




This is what it sounds like to be 6 inches from a NASCAR:



All in all, another great day and I'm going to try go every year from now on, to fight against the dying of the ICE. You should to.