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  1. Hi All, It’s 6.30 am Monday 27th June 2022 and I am at work the day after the best few days of my life, I really should be looking at the 400+ e-mails I have just come back to but I just want to briefly write down how I am feeling after this years Goodwood Festival of Speed whilst it is still fresh in my mind, there have been so many amazing memories made over the last 4 days that it is hard to know where to start but here we go, have to say that I have mixed feelings at the moment, even getting a bit emotional as I’m still buzzing from what just happened but am really sad that it is now over, it is going to be a huge come down, I’m such grateful that I have the best day job also to help me get back into the daily groove. So I went to the very first FOS in 1993, 29 years ago, where it was more like a garden party compared to now and I have been to nearly every one since when I can but this year was very different, after a few months of planning and negotiations we got invited to actually drive up the hill twice a day for 3 days in front of 10’000’s of people and the best part of it all is the car we would be doing it in. I am a big Nascar fan, started watching that in the early 1990’s, for me it is the best motorsport on the planet and can be misunderstood in this country but there is no purer form of racing in my view, the skill involved in oval racing is incredible, it is like chess at 200mph as the various strategies play out and the skill to race in a pack on 40+ cars at 200mph cm’s apart is incredible. My Nascar hero was and still is Jeff Gordon, a real legend of the sport, he famously raced No 24 for 22 years, winning the championship 4 times and 93 races from 805 start, it is the reason why I race no24 myself. So to cut to the chase, I was actually going to drive a 2012 Jeff Gordon Nascar up the hill, it is around 900hp and I had only driven it for 10 minutes or so a week before in a quick shakedown at Millbrook Proving Ground, so no pressure then, but never one to turn down an opportunity I just had to go for it, I mean what could possible go wrong. Firstly, I have to thank the UK Nascar Community, these guys are awesome, I’d met a couple beforehand at Carfest last year but at Goodwood I met many more of the gang and what a really lovely bunch of guys, within 10 minutes I felt I had known them for years, so knowledgeable and passionate about the sport but more importantly to me just really fantastic people, without these guys it would be impossible for me to drive a Nascar over here but with their support I knew I was in safe hands, when I left Goodwood last night I really felt like I had made some amazing new friends for life, so thanks again guys, thank you so much for the weekend and helping give me a truly off the scale weekend. Goodwood FOS Thurs - Sun. So here we go then, let’s run through the weekend, it is all a bit of a blur really of early starts, late finishes, very little sleep, a lot of coffee and thank god for adrenaline. I agreed to run the 24 a couple of months before but once I pulled into the car park on the Thursday it all became a bit real, this was really happening, I agreed to meet the guys in the car park where we sorted out all the passes and tickets then headed into Goodwood where the 24 was sitting in the paddock looking stunning, I want to thank Shaun at Road to Race for his support also in getting the car to Goodwood and collecting it after the event, so Thursday was a day of checking the car over, a few systems checks, getting signed on and collecting our access all areas passes and we even got a really cool medal to which would gain us access to the Driver Club where we were fed and watered for 4 days and then we had a wander around waiting for the big day on Friday. Here we go, the first run! Did I sleep Thursday night? Very little if I am honest, I really don’t get nervous but this was like nothing I had done before, it would have been nerve racking enough in a normal car but in a 900hp Nascar Monster it is enough to give anyone nerves, especially as it is a big car and the 2nd part of the run up the hill is very narrow, to make things worse as I sat in the holding area 10 minutes before Dario Franchitti, 3 time Indy 500 winner, said ‘Be careful, I’ve crashed loads of these, they are a handful’ thanks Dario. From the collecting area you drive back down the track to the Start line, here you line up and wait to be called forward where you are told to wait, you watch this one man and once the car in front is far enough up the road ahead he waves you to go, I sat there waiting and all I could think was not to stall it which is really easy in a Nascar as the clutch is like a switch, on or off, but then I was told to go so I gave it loads of revs and we were off with a little wheel spin, the last thing you want at Goodwood is to be the person who gets it wrong so I drove it more like Miss Daisy than anything and although I had practised it a lot on my sim there is nothing like going up the iconic hill for yourself, the funny thing was though that although the hill was lined with 1000’s of people I never saw one of them as I was so focused on not getting it wrong that I may as well have been the only person there, it was all very surreal, so we poodled up, around the flint wall that everyone made me were of and I have never been so happy to see a finish line before but that was run one complete, I’d just done something that very few people had done before, driven a Nascar up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the sense of relief was amazing but I was absolutely buzzing. What is it like to drive a Nascar? It is basically like sitting in the middle of a volcano, it is a very brutal environment, incredible noise and power, you can feel the cars anger as you sit in it as it shakes and rumbles side to side, it seems to want to spin its wheels at every opportunity and it really wouldn’t take much for it to bite you but show it some respect and it is an exhilarating experience, it could be further away from my other cars I race which are generally lightweight but low power, but once you have tasted a thoroughbred top tier race car like this it is very addictive and as the runs ticked by I found myself just wanting to get back in asap for another go. We had 6 runs through the weekend but that was my run done for the Friday as I had been introduced to YouTuber PetrolPed, again a really nice guy, and we were going to split the runs, 4 for me, 2 for him, so that he could do a film for his Channel about the experience of running a Nascar up the hill, really can’t wait to see this. Next it was Saturday, this was going to be a full on day, as I had 2 runs then it was the Driver Ball at Goodwood House, the 2 runs went really well again, each time I was getting more confident with the 24 as I pushed it a little bit harder each time, that could be dangerous but I really wanted to get a feel what she could do. Our last run finished around 6.30pm and the ball started at 7pm, luckily the drivers had showers so it was chaos as everyone tried to get ready, have to say it is very surreal seeing loads of your heroes in the their undies getting dressed ready for a night out. The Goodwood Drivers Ball. Just when you think things can’t get any better Wendy and myself found ourselves at the Driver Ball, I was looking forward to this just a much as the driving to be honest. So we arrived at Goodwood house around 7pm, where all the Bentley’s and Supercars are pulling up with all the rich and famous, then walk in for a champagne reception in the Goodwood Gardens, again surreal surrounded by loads of your motorsport hero’s, now I feel that you really shouldn’t approach these drivers in this sort of environment, just didn’t seem the right thing to do but another of my real heroes is Mika Hakkinen, I used to follow him all round Europe attending Grand Prix to cheer him on so when I saw him I just had to go and say hello and get a picture with him, he was as lovely as he seems to happily stood there to have picture taken, what a great start to the evening. After the reception we are asked to take our table, we were sitting with 6 others, mainly from a Biking motorsport side of things but had some great chats, food was served which was incredible, basically smoked Salmon to start with, Beef for main and what was probably the best chocolate desert I had ever had to finish things off, all washed down with as much red and white wine as we wanted, as I was driving the next morning early I actually drunk more water than anything, what a shame. Next we were asked to go outside for the entertainment to start and what a show that was, fireworks like I’d never seen before, amazing singers, pyrotechnics, drone planes firing rockets, a jet man landing on the stage followed by more singing and fireworks, all you could do was watch in awe at the spectacle, I’d certainly never seen anything like this before and what blew my mind was that all this was for just around 1500 of us, Lord March really knows how to throw a party. After this was finished we were then asked to go back inside to the concert area for the live band, this is kept very secret and there have been many big bands over the years apparently, I knew that Lord March loves his rock music, as do I, so was looking forward to this, who could it be? Well it certainly didn’t disappoint as it turned out to be one of my favourite bands who I have been to see many times before over the years, The Darkness, and what a show they put on, pure rock’n’roll, Justin the lead singer was really on it, again it was like I had been imported into some alternative motorsport universe as I’m down the front row enjoying The Darkness then I turn round and Mr LeMans, 9 times winner Tom Kristensen is jumping up and down behind me standing next to Lord March who was really loving it, I look a couple of people over and there is Jenson Button rocking out along with his Radford partner Ant Anstead, in the end everywhere you looked there were famous drivers and boy do they know how to enjoy themselves, I guess if you are willing to risk your life racing cars at crazy speeds then you really are going to enjoy life at every opportunity. The Darkness finished around midnight then a DJ set started to finish things off, it was such an amazing night but I was keen to get to bed as I was going back up the hill in the 24 around 9am, so 3 hours sleep later I was back in the paddock and getting ready for my final run, who knew having so much fun would be this exhausting, although I am sure I won’t get any sympathy. The Final Run! Here we go then, my 4th and final run up the hill in Jeff Gordon’s 2012 Nascar, so I lined up behind world rally champion Stig Blomqvist, unbelievable I know, the Stig fired off up the hill and I was ushered forward, when I got to the line for the first time I looked up and as I did that I saw hundreds of people hold their phones up to film me pulling away, really wish I hadn’t done that as straight away the nerves set in, all I could think was don’t stall it now, I was given the go signal and I gave it loads of revs and we were off, I was determined to make this run my fastest attempt but at the 2nd corner I tried a bit too hard, touched the grass and got a little loose, at that point I decided to not be a hero and just get to the finish line which I did and that was that, I had completed my 4 runs up the hill with the car still in one piece, result. Next PetrolPed had one more run at the end of the day which he did successfully and that was that, the 4 best days of my life complete, huge smiles all round. I’ve been racing for 5 years now and this was the first time I actually felt like a Race Car Driver, to be in the inner circle at Goodwood is like nothing else I have experienced and being in the drivers club, this is basically where all the drivers hang out away from the crowds, when in your race overall then all the drivers are happy to talk to you, I’ve just jotted down some of the people I spoke to below, talk about a Who’s Who of motorsport. Jacky Ickx Stig Blomqvist Dario Franchitti Nigel Mansell Mika Hakkinen Damon Hill John Watson Karl Wendlinger Tom Kristensen Jenson Button Travis Pastrana Jackie Stewart I even got asked twice for my autograph, I explained that I was no one but as I had driven Jeff Gordon’s car they still wanted me to sign pictures of Jeff, hilarious really but great fun. So to coin a phrase, ‘if Carling did dream weekends’ then I have just lived mine, I really couldn’t have had more fun if I tried, I’m hopeful I’ll get invited back one day to do it all again but if not I’ll be fine with that as I now have the memories of a truly incredible weekend. Finally I’d like to thank everyone at Goodwood for the invite and the hospitality, it really is an incredible event like nothing else in the world and to be a very small part of it has been such an honour and privilege so thanks again Goodwood and the UK Nascar Community for making this Petrolheads dreams come true, a weekend I will cherish forever and will never forget. Regards, Paul. Please find some random pictures below - Damon Hill Nigel Mansell and some stalker! Wendy as a passenger with PetrolPed. Thanks for the Memories
    6 points
  2. I am excited to announce that for the 2021 motorsport season we will be competing in the Lotus Elise Trophy Championship around the UK's best circuits and here is our new race car fresh from the Lotus Cars Production line. I've owned Lotus's for over 30 years now, my first true car love was a Lotus Elan M100 back in 1989 and since then I have had the pleasure of owning quite a few Lotus Cars, so to finally get to race a Lotus is super exciting and especially so as Lotus recently announced that 2021 is the final year of Elise production after over 25 years so better late than never though I guess to finally drive one in anger on track. So thanks to the team at Lotus Silverstone for supplying the beautiful 250 Cup in Porsche Miami Blue, the car is now off to Hangar 111 to be converted into a race car which basically means pulling it all apart and replacing a ridiculous amount of parts. I will update regularly with how the season is progressing, just hope I don't make too much of a fool of myself, and hopefully soon motorsport fans will be allowed back to the track so feel free to come along to watch the shenanigans unfold. For More info please follow link - https://bit.ly/2Oyc8ve Some more exciting HFL Motorsport news coming very soon! Cheers, Paul.
    5 points
  3. Goodwood Festival of Speed 2019, Meeting my Motorsport Hero! Hi Everyone, I’m sure loads of you have attended the Goodwood Festival of Speed over the years, I actually went to the very first one way back in 1993, it was almost like a garden party back then, and I have been going on and off ever since and have seen it grow massively over the years and it is still an incredible event to attend. Now I wasn’t going to go this year but a couple of weeks ago I read that a particular car was going to be there, now I was sceptical if it would be the actual car as it was also supposed to be paraded before the start of Le Mans this year but that was actually a replica, I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to this particular car, but I really didn’t want to risk missing this car coming over to the UK, I was actually planning to go out to make the trip to see it is it’s normal museum residence in the states so this actually seemed to good to be true. But anyway I got there Friday morning at 7am and started my hunt, it isn’t easy trying to find one car amongst thousands at the biggest car gathering in the world, but after a couple of hours I saw those iconic Gulf Colours out the corner of my eye, I rushed over to the car and to my amazement it was the actual Ford GT40 Chassis Number P/1075, I actually really couldn’t believe that I was standing next to such an iconic car and it was just sitting there with no security and to be honest most people probably didn’t realise the significance of this particular GT40. I have seen it read many times that it is considered the most valuable race car in the world today and as I mentioned it normally resides in the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit where I was planning to go to see it so I really never thought such a piece of history would be in the UK and be so accessible, I guess that is the power of Goodwood, So why is it so special? Well basically it is the only car to win Le Mans on 2 consecutive years of 1968 and 1969, I guess most car enthusiasts will know that Ford was in talks to buy Ferrari and when they fell through Henry Ford made it his mission to beat Ferrari at LeMans which he did for 4 consecutive years from 1966 to 1969 with the GT40, actually there is a big Hollywood film coming out later this year about this story, anyway not only is GT40 P/1075 remembered for it’s 2 wins it is also considered the winner for the greatest Le Mans race of all time in 1969 where is won by only 100 meters after 24 hours of racing, changing the lead 5 times on the last lap with the faster Porsche, you can view the video I took at Goodwood of Jackie Oliver discussing this incredible win below - Finally another iconic moment of the 1969 race was that Jacky Ickx made a protest about safety at the start of the race, this was when the drivers used to race across the track to their cars and speed off without doing up their belts til they got down the Mulsanne Straight to get a quick start, so Jacky walked slowly across the track, climbed in, did his belts up then left the grid in last place and as it happened there was a big crash on the first lap where John Wolf was killed as he hadn’t done up his belts to get a quick start, so in the end with Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver behind the wheel they fought their way from last to win with Ickx crossing the line by the smallest of margins after 24 hours, quite incredible. Anyway it was an amazing day and a real honour to see P/1075 up close and personal, I probably looked like some weird stalker as I spent all day admiring the car taking loads of video’s and pictures and I really struggled to leave at the end of the day as the chances are it may never come back to the UK again but at 8pm I dragged myself away. There are a few more video’s on our YouTube page below and probably far too many pictures below. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPJOUerA5TrUPs0HpWORopg?view_as=subscriber Jacky Oliver Re-United With P/1075 50 Years after it’s famous Le Mans win. Cheers, Paul.
    5 points
  4. Hi all, I know this is not strictly a Lotus but a Westfield replica of a Lotus Eleven but I have just bought this in my quest to put together a collection of Lotus's from every decade since formation so hopefully posting it on here is OK, the originals go for around £130K now so this will have to do for my 50's example. It is brand new but the fly in the ointment is that it is nearly finished being built by the current owner but it has yet to get through its SVA test to make it road legal, this shouldn't be too painful but I guess you never know the outcome till you get stuck in and to be fair the last Westfield I owned was a disaster as I bought a cut and shut without knowing and that was a death trap in which I had to replace the chassis + other bits a bobs. But I just can't resist a pretty car and I have to say that I find it totally stunning, one of the prettiest cars I have ever seen, I'd be quite happy to put it in the living room as an ornament but I think my wife may have something to say on that :-) So let's see how things pan out when I put it in for an SVA, in fact Westfield have said they will help with this so fingers crossed, watch this space. More pictures to follow once I get it home. Cheers, Paul.
    5 points
  5. For a bit of fun I thought I'd do a video walk round of the 380 Cup, Don't laugh, I am certainly no camera man :-)
    5 points
  6. Hi All, Just wanted to share this, a customer of mine was walking past an antiques shop in Norfolk when he saw this in the window so he fired me a mail and I quickly grabbed it, such a great period in Lotus Cars history and a great memento of that time. Cheers, Paul.
    3 points
  7. Hi All, Hope everyone is OK during this 2nd lockdown, now this isn't exactly HiFi related but I know a lot of our customers are petrolheads and love their motorsport, very much like me so thought it may be of interest. So my other passion other than music is playing racing games and in particular driving simulators, I started way back in 1984 with REV's on the BBC Micro, arguably the world's first racing simulator and I haven't stopped since, wow that is 36 years, to be honest I should be better than I am after all that practice, anyway when the first lockdown happened Radical took their racing online, as did pretty much all motorsport, and in particular they chose the iRacing platform, I find it unbelievable now but 9 months ago I wasn't even aware of iRacing but now I have to say that I am totally addicted, doing my best to do one race a day, for those who don't know basically you race people from all around the world in real time, after 3 years on racing my Radical for real I have to say this is as close to the real thing that you are going to get from the comfort of your own home, you still get the same nerves and tension you get in the real world as your driving has real consequences on the points you earn and it is so in depth, I've been using it for 9 months now and still learn thongs daily, it is an incredible simulation that most professional drivers use to hone their skill, it has certainly come a long way since Rev's that is for sure. Well after all these years of sim racing and my new love for iRacing it was time to do it properly at long last so we converted one of our bedrooms into an all out sim room and the theme was my favourite race car of all time, GT40 P/1075, which won LeMans twice in 1968 and 1969, the story of its 1969 win is written in motor racing folklore of one of the most exciting races of all time with it starting last and beating the Porsche by only a few metres after 24 hours of racing, so please find a few pictures below and if any of this is of any interest please feel free to ask any questions as I have learnt so much about these rigs this year and iRacing that I'll always be happy to discuss. Finally I want to thank the guys at Pure Sims for their brilliant advice and fantastic install that took all day when installed a couple of weeks ago, far more involved than a HiFi install that is for sure but there are definitely some similarities as already looking at my next upgrades. Cheers, Paul.
    3 points
  8. [B]Big Tick On The Bucket List This Weekend![/B] Hi All, So life really is for living in my book and last weekend was a huge tick on the bucket list after spending 3 days racing in our Radical SR1 at Silverstone on the Grand Prix layout, only a few days after the F1 circus left and we had a new HiFi Lounge Livery on the car to celebrate. The event was a Radical invitational so we didn't score any championship points but we joined the back for the Radical SR3 grid and gatecrashed their race weekend really, they are about 15 seconds a lap faster than us so there was no way we were going to be racing them but it meant instead of our normal 2 x 20 mins races we had 2 x 50 minute races with pit stops and also a 20 mins sprint race with a standing start, normally we do rolling starts, it turns out that I love the longer races, you can really settle into a rhythm and on Saturday the car felt particularly good and I did some of my best laps ever in the Radical, my SD card played up but I am hopeful I can upload my quickest lap, LeMans next year Please find a few pictures below of the new Livery and from the race weekend, Brands Hatch GP next, another layout I have never driven before, next year I really do need to give Spa and Nurburgring a go. I'm never going to be the quickest but it isn't through a lack of trying and it certainly feels quick to me. Cheers, Paul.
    3 points
  9. Hi all, So I have been challenged by one of my friends on Facebook to list 10 vinyl albums that greatly influenced my music taste over the years, funnily enough I said to Wendy around a year ago that something similar would make a great blog so I guess with the world in lockdown there is no better time to put my thinking cap on and create a list of albums that helped form my love of music. I have given this a fair bit of thought over the last few days and I have got it down to 12 albums that to be fair were all recorded between 45 to 25 years ago, as much as I love finding new music it is going back to my favourite's that really give me the most enjoyment when I sit down to listen at home. The funny thing with this list is that although I love all these albums, it is also the artists that I really love, I mean I could have filled the top 10 with all Bruce Springsteen's albums but this is more the albums that I grew up with, changed me in some way and that I go back to regularly to listen to. So here we go, these are in no particular order and I apologise for none of them, I will write a few words on each one but will keep it short and sweet and will add another one Daily with my all time favourite album listed last, hope you enjoy and any thoughts feel free to mail me. Album 1 Elvis - Moody Blue Elvis was my first love in music, I was 8 when he died and it left a real mark on me how his death affected people around me, this was my first Vinyl record bought by my Nan for me in 1977 and Elvis's last studio album, I went to Graceland in the early 90's and even today Elvis is the biggest part of my vinyl and CD collection which I listen to regularly. Album 2 - Coming Tomorrow Cheers, Paul.
    3 points
  10. Well after a very troubled start to our relationship it looks like the Esprit is now finally ready to start a new chapter in her life as at long last she seems to be running well and I actually got her to work this morning, thanks to @Sparky who worked his magic on her 👍 Everywhere you park her it is a Leica moment in my eyes 😍😍 Cheers, Paul.
    3 points
  11. Hi All, Had my first track day this week over at Bedford Autodrome, watch out Lewis :-) The morning session was very wet which made trying to learn the circuit a challenge as the Caterham was constantly trying to swap ends on me but I actually really enjoyed it which surprised me but luckily the afternoon dried out which was much more fun, really loved the fast flowing parts of the track. I think I have well and truly got the bug now though with another one booked for a couple of weeks time, I can see this being a slippery slope :-) Cheers, Paul.
    3 points
  12. In the beginning there was light and all was good....... Well up until the point when I removed the cam belt to change it for a nice shiny new one. The crankshaft went clunk, dunk, thug, thought that was a little strange, pretty sure it shouldn't be making that noise )-: My heart sank as I suddenly saw money oozing from the galleries and seals of the engine. When I had stopped crying I decided that action would really need to be taken and find out what needs to be done. I checked the endfloat and it was about 4mm, when it should be 0.08-0.2mm..... so err slightly off. I Knew that the thrust washers had come off, but thought that even with them out this was a little excessive. Initial plan would be to see what was lurking under the dry sump and make a decision from there. So I started stripping off all the ancillaries that I had so lovingly put on just days before. Well at least it was all nice and clean and the bolts weren't rusty and seized, so didn't take too long to remove the plenum and carbs. Even with only those off I felt like I was making immediate progress. Noticed that even though the carbs were cleaned and polished the aluminum had already started to have white corrosion marks on, not good, I'll have to address that when I reinstall. As it was getting cold and late I thought I'd call it a day and attack the engine in the morning. Over night I had been thinking more about it, and realising there and then that this wasn't going to be a quick job, decided to take the engine indoors to my workshop where I can work on it in relative warmth and most importantly the dry, over the winter. This was no mean feat as I had to juggle about a lot of stuff in order to make enough working room around the engine. Why is it that there's never enough storage space? Engine now in the dry I could attack it with zeal, external oil pump was first to go, with about 8 x M6 nuts holding it on, no problem at all, I suppose that all that oil had kept all the nuts nicely protected and lubricated. Very elaborate seal underneath though, it'll have to be an original seal to replace it as I don't fancy cutting that out of the gasket paper. On later internal inspection I found that the annulus and rotor were all good, this was a major plus as these parts are really really rare to get hold of. Whipped the engine over and WD-40'd all fixings that I could see, then went for a cuppa tea. Refreshed and bolts readily soaked, started removing the lower ones on the sump, working my way from the centre outwards, some where extremely tough to get going....a bigger lever was needed. Then removed the smaller nuts around the edge of the casting, these were a b*gger because the casting itself wraps around the nut so tightly that you can only just get a socket on only half the top of the nut. There wasn't a hope in hell of getting any spanner on it either. Felt like this could have been the turning point for me, if I'd struggled too much and either stripped the threads or the outer edges, I'd probably had thrown my tools down in a strop and paid someone to finish the job for me. End seals were then removed, well partly, the cam belt end wasn't going to come off without a special tool that I'd have to make up, so I let it dangle there in the mean time and proceeded onwards. Narrowly escaping the major strop and excessive output of cashflow paying someone to do this engine rebuild for me, I got all the nuts off. Now for teasing the aluminum casting off the long studs, which all in all took about 1 hour. Rubber mallet and casting now severely beaten into submission and with the lower half of the crank casing on the work bench, I inspected the innards like a surgeon and he's poorly patient. As suspected the thrust washers had indeed come out, but were whole, thought they may have been mushed into a billion pieces, good sign. But then there was this additional ring that had been broken, pretty sure that that wasn't supposed to be there. Later investigation on the LF and eyeing it up against the crank in the daylight showed that is was part of the casting of the crankshaft, which had cracked in a perfect circle around the main bearing. Cause was that the number 5 main bearing wasn't getting enough oil from the reworked chamfer on the crank case casting. The PO didn't line up the Vee with the Chamfer so it was starved of all oil, not good for something that was rotating that quickly against another metal object. Took the parts and engine up to Lotusbits for an expert assessment and advice. Although I knew the crank was toast, I thought that the rest would be ok to put back, considering the pistons were new and beautifully forged. However there was a large amount of float on the pins in the piston, so a new set of Mahle forged pistons were purchased along with seal set and rings. looks like this is turning into a full rebuild /-: Have to keep reminding myself that this is a preservation project to keep our heritage on the road. It turns out that the dry sump that I have is the 1 in 100 that was bored out to 0.015", which generally means that because the main bearings are as rare as hens teeth that the sump is now a lovely oily door stop. Only two options available to me: 1. Buy a wet sump engine. or 2. Skim the top off the original lower crank casing and line bore back to standard with a 2nd hand upper casting already at standard size. I wasn't liking any of these options, first one would not only take a vast amount of money out of my pocket it would also depreciate the dry sump engine car. So like most OCD Lotus Esprit drivers I started trawling the internet adamant that I could get the holy grail of bearings to fit my car. By hook or by crook I will find some til my dying day!!!!!!!!! Update to this.... Amazing I found some bearings +0.015" ....yay!!!! I got a mate to send them to me ....yay!!!! Haven't received them yet and this is 3 days after being posted 1st class .....boo!!!!! I'm now quietly crying in the corner of my house while I write this ? Fingers are still crossed that they turn up, could be the Black Friday post is a little slow this week.... Update to the Update Bearings have now turned up, they were sat safe and sound in the post office waiting for collection, only problem was that they didn't tell me they were there!! Good old PO, anyway I nearly keeled over when I opened the box and saw the gleaming bearings glinting in the sunshine. My daughter thought I'd gone a little loopy when I started doing a little jig on the pavement. However she benefited from my unusually generous behaviour by receiving a big chocolate bar from the newsagents. My happiness was alas short lived though, when one of the really really rare bearings, as opposed to the really rare bearings, was scuffed.....oh man, from ecstasy to misery in a few short minutes. I'm not sure I can take this sort of feeling, my constitution isn't used to these roller coaster emotions. Phoning back Phil, who I'd originally bought the bearings from bared no fruit, apart from a sharp discussion about not wanting to return the money to me for supplying a faulty bearing. Eventually all was sorted and my task for looking for another one started out in earnest. Thanks to this forum and in particular JerryS for pointing me in the right direction it turns out these bearings weren't as rare as I was led to believe, apparently they were still available at source, so I got them to send another one through. It just goes to show that when someone gives you advice on something, it's sometimes worth doing the donkey work to find out for yourself! Next installment will be the building of the engine which I will start a new blog for....... One last note, a friend of mine keeps reminding me that so many people generally give up on their restoration, for the very same reason, too much stress and emotional turmoil that it's difficult to take on a constant basis. I think everything had gone so well for me up to this point I'd fooled myself into thinking it would continue on this vein, and when it went a little south, I began to wobble slightly. I feel I'm now over a hurdle and stronger for it.....bring it on!
    3 points
  13. Engine was looking very shabby with paint flaking off it and corroded aluminium spots all over so I thought that it would be nice to give it a clean and possibly paint the seen bits...... oh how wrong can I be, I've now virtually stripped it down and am now in the process of cleaning and shot blasting everything on it, then on to spraying the bits in wrinkle black and silver and only then to add them all back in )-: Here's a before picture. And the after shot....
    3 points
  14. Hi All, I've just scribbled down a few words looking back at the Silverstone Festival if anyone would like a read, it was certainly a busy one jumping from the Lotus to the Nascar everyday, awesome fun though 😀 https://bit.ly/3Z7k6vv Cheers, Paul.
    2 points
  15. Hi All, Been a busy old year and I never got round to posting the pics from our Club 750 Enduro round at Croft earlier in the year so here we are. It was my first time racing at Croft, really loved the circuit but with this being the 2nd round of the Club Enduro it highlighted the problems we found in the first round where our Elise Cup 250 just isn't competitive in its class compared to the competition, so although we didn't know it at the time this ended up being the last race we would compete in the championship and actually the last race the Cup 250 and I would have in 2022. We have some really exciting plans though for 2023, watch this space as I am about to enter the Historic Racing scene where I can see myself racing for many years to come all being well, all will be revealed early next year. Many thanks, Regards, Paul.
    2 points
  16. Hi All, So the Brands Hatch Indy layout is one of the races I really look forward to every year as it really suits my driving style as to me it is just one big go kart track and although it is really technical with every corner seemingly having multiple ways through it I always seem to go well there. Thankfully that continued with our first trip there in the Elise where we had our best race weekend of the year, which was strange as my normal team where off racing elsewhere so I had Hangar 111 looking after me + I had a team mate for the first time this year which was great as you can compare times and notes, so thanks to Hangar 111 for doing a stellar job 👌 Unbelievably I have never had a lap time disqualified before but unfortunately my best lap in Qualifying was deleted for exceeding track limits so I ended up starting 4 places back on the grid to where I had hoped to start but that made the race more fun I guess. When it came to the race, we just avoided a big crash at turn 1 which I had to stop to miss so that dropped us right to the back pretty much so I got my head down and lap by lap caught the pack back up, now this was a 45 minute race with a mandatory pitstop so once I caught the pack I pitted early to try the undercut which worked a treat as I made 2 places, made me smile as I exited the pits and I said to myself, right now it is Hammer Time, below are my first 3 laps after the pitstop - Then half way through the race there was another big accident but I was 2nd in my class with 3 other forced induction cars behind me, who to be fair have been quicker than me all year so it ended up with a 10 minute race to the finish, as I am fighting these guys in the championship I was determined to hold my 2nd place so basically I just looked forward and ignored my mirrors and at the end we held of the assault from behind to finish 2nd in class which I was really pleased with. So we have one more race weekend left at Donington on the 30th October and if we have a good weekend we could finish 2nd in class and third overall but just checked the weather and it looks like it may be wet which will be a real shame as I’m much happier in the dry but let’s see how things pan out. Certainly going to be a fun end to what has been a really enjoyable first season racing the Elise, please find highlights from Brands below + a few pics - Cheers, Paul. Video Highlights
    2 points
  17. Hi All, So for our Snetterton race weekend it was certainly a weekend like no other, basically it was British Summertime so we had plenty of rain but we also had a huge pit lane fire just when we were about to go out for our first race, basically a teams lorry caught fire and it took 2 fire engines to get it under control, luckily no one was injured but it meant we lost our first race and our 2nd race was re-scheduled for 6pm, this ended up being cut short due to a car stranded on the track so basically we did 3 days at the track for a 17 minute race but at least we came away with a trophy so it wasn't all bad. Plus we had the new livery on the Elise to promote iLounge Racing, a couple of tweaks to do but overall really happy with the look, really stands out on track now. So off to Brands Hatch this weekend, really looking forward to this one as it is on the short Indy layout so is very much like a big Go Kart track which should suit me, presently we are 5th overall in the standings and 2nd in our class so plenty to still play for. We were testing there last week and I had my closest moment to a big crash yet, please see below, certainly a Code Brown moment but luckily we got away with just a little damage under the car where I had to go over the grass in avoidance, could certainly have been much worse. Anyway please find a few pictures below from our Snetterton weekend. Cheers, Paul.
    2 points
  18. Hi All, So last weekend we had our first race in the Lotus Elise at Donnington Park, one of my favourite tracks, firstly it was a huge tick as I can now say I have raced a Lotus 😁 So how did it go? if I am totally honest I was a little disappointed that I wasn't a little quicker but we did come away with a trophy for third place in our class so I really can't complain at that and as seat time is so important, and I was racing people who have been in the Elise Trophy for years, then I'm hopeful as I get to know the car better then we can move up the grid and taking positives from the weekend I got faster with every session on track with my fastest laps coming at the end of the 45 minute race on Sunday. Next stop in Silverstone in a couple of weeks which I am really looking forward too as I'd like to think we can really be in the mix there and whichever way you look at it I will be racing a Lotus as Silverstone, now that really is a dream come true. Please find a selection of pictures below taken from the our first race in the Lotus Elise Trophy at Donington Park. Cheers, Paul.
    2 points
  19. Hi everyone, I thought i would share the progress of the lotus esprit 1988 restoration project. It was never supposed to be a full restoration project. More just a tidy up, then one thing led to another and alot of money and parts down the line it has become a restoration. I am looking after the mechanical things and the old man is doing the electrical and interior side. Big job to do: - Exhaust manifold repair - rear calipers refurbished - full suspension re build These big jobs led to lots of smaller side jobs. Picture of how it was at the start. Not bad on the surface. But the mechanical side of things needed alot of TLC. One thing let to another. Front spring was burst bit in taking the hub off the lower ball joint fell apart. This lead to finding out all of the bushing bolt has corroded to the bush sleeves so had to be cut out. This then led to wanting to change the upper wishbone bushes and ball joint. O ly to discover that the upper wishbone stud was solid inside the mount. After lots and lots of heat and force the pin came out. All front suspension components have been changed. The lower wishbones had to be changed after the balljoint collar was found to be enlarged so wouldnt accept a new ball joint and hold onto it. Much better now. Thanks for reading. Lots more to follow. Any advice, hints or tricks greatly appreciated. Marc
    2 points
  20. Hi Everyone, I thought I would just jot down a few thoughts from my first drive in the Radical SR1 at Oulton Park on Friday, I must say I was very relieved to finally get out in the car after our first 2 tests being cancelled due to snow and with my first race less than 1 week away. So how did it go? well looking back a couple of days later I would say I was fairly happy although I need to go a fair bit faster but for my first drive in the car at a circuit I didn’t know and to be fair is a pretty scary track, then I was reasonably happy at the end of the day. Blimey It’s Fast! So as an overview of the day, basically it was a general test day so there was some seriously quick machinery there of all kinds, it was quite cool start to the day when sitting in the cafe on my own eating a sausage sandwich and Matt Neal walked in, the triple British Touring Car Champion, to get his breakfast, that actually bought it home a little that this was all about to get quite serious. The day was broken down into 4 x 30 minute sessions, I had 2 drives in the morning and another 2 in the afternoon, below are my thoughts on how each session went. Session 1 So to say I was nervous would be a slight understatement as I had only driven 3 track days before and done some karting a few years ago but the guys as UPE Motorsport really helped me settle into the car and made me feel like there was no pressure and I need to get to feel the car first and to find my own limits. So bearing in mind that the car had never been driven before in an ideal world we would have had someone who knows Radicals shake the car down but due to the test day cancellations this was never done so came down to me, so it was a case of going out for one lap then coming straight back in which I did and to me at least everything felt great, then I repeated the same but this time for 3 laps and then back in, again all seemed good so then I was free to go out until the end of the session and to start building my speed up but before I knew it the 30 mins was over and I was back in the pits but happy with my first drive. Session 2 So now it was time to start pushing the car a little, as the track was still damp we did session 1 and 2 on wets which still felt very quick indeed and to be fair I still wasn’t reaching the limits of the tyres or the car, it’s really hard to describe how fast and physical these cars are, I had been practicing on Project Cars on Xbox which is great for learning the circuit but has no real way of giving you the sensation of speed and how scary it can be, in the game I can take some corners easily flat but in real life this is a very different story. So during this session I was reasonably happy with my progress and got down to a 1m 59 second lap time which apparently on wets was pretty respectable, one thing I did notice was that when going down the main straight I was noticing that my head was being pushed back due to doing over 100 mph without a wind screen and after a while my neck was really starting to hurt, so after a couple of trips into the pits the guys added extra padding to the headrest which ended up helping a lot, looks like I need to get down the gym to start working my neck out Session 3 So after a quick bite of lunch I was back in the car, this time on dry tyres so I was expecting to take quite a chunk of my time but in the end it ended up being a bit of a messy session with yellow flags then a red flag to stop the session and I was still concerned about my neck pain so I actually ended up going 2 secs slower, to say I was not impressed is a understatement so I went off, sat in the van and gave myself a telling off This was actually becoming a lot harder than I thought as the quick guys were doing 1 min 50′s so I was 10 secs of the pace which was quite shocking as it felt like I was going really fast, It’s much easier watching it on the TV that’s for sure. Session 4 So with this being the last session of the day and my last drive in the car before qualifying the following weekend for my first race I was determined to try harder and to find some time, in the end I got down to a 1 min 56 which made me a little happier as at least I improved and I got within 1 sec of my team mate who raced his Radical last year so he is a very good benchmark but there is still a lot more speed in the car, I just need to find it in myself to man up and to throw caution to the wind a little more. I have spent all weekend watching quick laps round Oulton Park in Radical’s on You Tube and to be fair I am pretty happy with my lines and breaking but there are 3 really quick corners at Oulton and I am sure it is here that I am loosing most of my time as well as that I am lifting when approaching Druids which should be flat out so I am confident that when next back in the car for Qualifying I can find some more time. Doing quick laps on your own is one thing though but once it comes to racing then I am sure that will be a totally different experience again. 1st Race This Weekend So this Easter weekend I have qualifying on Saturday followed by 2 x 20 minute races, certainly going to be a fun weekend, I hope my body has recovered by then as my arms and neck are still aching a fair bit, I have ordered some brave pills from the chemist as I know that all the extra speed I need is in me not being such a wimp in the quick stuff, to be honest though I am gagging to get back in the car to see if I can find that missing time. Watch this space and I will report back after the first race weekend and will hopefully be able to load up some race footage. Cheers, Paul.
    2 points
  21. Finally got a chance to play with the Cup today after taking delivery a couple of weeks ago, have to say extremely happy going with Signature Orange, really comes alive when the sun hits it, just looks epic Anyway here are a few pics - Cheers,
    2 points
  22. Popped over to Hethel yesterday to see my Cup 380 in it's final stages of build and decided to take the Elise Home, 17 years after rolling of the production line and looking as good as ever :-)
    2 points
  23. It's been a while since I've revisited the Esprit, I've been trying to get some additional finances together to pay for the engine rebuild. When the sun comes out it seems to motivate me to do things, so I striped the engine down to constituent parts and tried to catalog everything by taking pictures, although my iphone seems to lose pictures all the time, what is with that! Anyhow all the castings were sent off to get vapour blasted and have returned shiny like new, a thing of beauty I can tell you. The Main casting has been sent to the machine shop to get Hone bored to take the +0.015"/-0.02" engine bearings which were the only ones available. Unfortunately this block was one of the 100 to 1 blocks that was rebored to +0.015", and subsequently a right pain in the **** to get bearings for! The crank also needs to be reground from -0.01" to -0.02" and then be balanced, with the flywheel, its fixings, the cam belt pulley wheel and washer. At the same time I've given the machine shop the new series 4 ball bearing for the spigot shaft on the transmission to put in the crank shaft. I've also given the pistons to the machine shop to clean up for me, along with the Cylinder head, which I asked to be bolted onto the block whilst it was machined, it gives the block added rigidity that can only help. Now just awaiting the return of this so I can get on with the rebuild. Update to follow, hopefully shortly..... So now I have the block back and the pistons, crank and flywheel plus all the periphery that went along with it, I can crack on with the assembly. Yay! I don't know if any of you have had this problem but it is a right b*gger to get the dry sump off the main block. It's tightened down with 10 x M12 nuts and about 10 x M6 nuts, and once released will come off with a beating from a dead blow hammer......usually! But not this time. I gave up after about an hour and decided to put the little grey cells to use rather than my rather aching muscles. I've now come up with a spreader which I have manufactured using the ends of the casting and 4 M10 bolts to pries them apart. Pictures will be coming shortly.....if it works. And it does....sort of! So after being partially defeated by the main casting I thought I would put together the pistons, how hard can this be! I seem to be thwarted at every turn at the moment. In the manual it clearly states that the gudgeon pin is a finger push fit, well I defy anyone who can push these gudgeons in with their fingers! They came out of the pistons, albeit with a bit of persuasion . I measured the internal diameter of the piston 24.1mm and the outside of the gudgeon at 24.5mm so I suspect that the internal diameter of the piston has bulged a bit. Will be taking it back to the machine shop to get a little bit of material removed and I'll get them to check and assemble them too. All in all a fairly unsuccessful foray into engine building! Will try harder next time! Some small successes this weekend, the spreader tool worked to a degree, I managed to separate it to a point then tried to pull it apart with my hands. That thing was trapped, can pull it up 5mm one end then go to the other a pull that up 5mm too, only to have the first end drop by 10mm. Got a bit frustrating I can tell you. In the end I resorted to getting two car jacks at both ends and separated it that way! on another note, had the machine shop clean the engine block after machining but there's still swarf and grit in there so I'm going to have to clean the whole block myself, hate that job with a passion ?. Still at least I'll be able to trial out my new parts washer!
    2 points
  24. Been a while since I posted anything, but while my engine undergoes its rebuild I've been reflecting on the various works done to the interior over the winter. The dash came out (there are 4 nuts holding it in, and I defy anyone to get them all back in without the aid of extension bars, universal joints, magnets and lots of swearing), along with all the leather panels for reconnolising and repairs. While all this was out, I: - put in an electric aerial - wired in some footwell lights - wired in Spiyda Design's anti-slosh module to the fuel gauge and light - fitted a delay box to the circuit feeding the dome light, so it dims to nothing rather than just switching off - treated some minor rust to the chassis door mounts and the scuttle beam - refitted the choke control - the little clip that holds it in place is an absolute pig to get in properly and I don't believe it can be done with the dash in situ - tidied up all the wires with loads of cable ties - retrimmed the steering column shroud - put new black leather on the dash below the windscreen - replaced the rusty steel air vent on the passenger side below the windscreen - replaced the rusty sun visor pivots - broke the rear view mirror but sourced a second hand replacement (off a Hillman Hunter apparently) Hopefully I don't have to do any of these things again for a very long time... Anyway, the main purpose of the blog entry is to document how I put in a new console piece, just above the radio aperture. On my car, this is just a blank panel covered with a strip of leather. For some time I've wanted to put something in there with buttons and lights and things. As a fan of Knight Rider in my youth, you can never really have too many of these things. Panel design Reigning in my desire for a funky but anachronistic air/fuel mix gauge, I realised it needed to not be too crowded to look sensible. I looked at what I needed in there; and settled on a switch to override the otter switch and control the rad fans, a yellow light to show me that the fans were working (as opposed to the "fan fail" light, which may or may not show me if the fans aren't working, although has been known to come on when the fans do), a blue light to show me that the air con was operating (if I ever get it fixed) and a switch to retract the electric aerial without switching the stereo off. This last one was needed because the replacement aerial cannot drain properly to the outside, it's just too big. It has a drain hole at the bottom, but rather than fill up my footwell I prefer the idea of stopping and putting a rubber cap on the retracted aerial if I'm ever listening to the radio in a rainstorm! So 4 switches or lights. At this point I decided I wanted rectangular items, which seemed to me to be more 1980s than any of the circular options. Note that this is a much harder option than going for circular bits, which can have their apertures drilled. Materials Suitable switches and lights were easily obtained from Car Builder Solutions. Plastic was much more of a problem, as if plastic is rigid enough not to bend on switch pressure, it's too brittle to work properly when you're trying to make a rectangular hole. I found this out the hard way after cutting out the required size of black ABS (took numerous attempts with my rubbish jigsaw), using a soldering iron to melt out approximate rectangles, and then setting to work with craft knife and file. Managed to shatter the thing pretty quickly. Further research yielded The Plastic People who offer a range of plastics cut to size. The aperture is 185mm by 37mm on my car, so rather than rely on jigsaw and steady hand I got them to send me this sized piece in a couple of different types. The best for this purpose turned out to be their "foam board" which is soft enough to have the rectangles cut out with a knife but solid enough (just) to act as a panel. I did reinforce it with two thin strips of the original ABS along the back of the panel though. Here's what the plastic panel looked like with the holes cut and the lights test fitted: The font of wisdom At this point, I decided that unlabelled switches or ones made from a label maker were going to look a bit crap. I needed something authentic but which Doing a bit of research on this forum, it turns out the retro-futuristic font in use on the Esprit up to about 1990 when the old HVAC panel was discontinued, was something called Microgramma. This was also used on the Elan in the sixties, so is a nice link to Lotus history even if the font on the exterior of the car is different! To try and match my HVAC panel, I downloaded a font file and mocked up a Word document with suitable legends (attached here). This can then be printed out on sticky paper and applied to the panel. Finally, I put on a layer of matt self-adhesive film to cover over the whole thing and make it look a bit more plastic than paper. Wiring Meanwhile, I'd managed to identify the wires needed for the switches. Both lights are currently unwired, as the air con doesn't work and I think I need to run a wire from the rad fan relay to the dash to have the rad fan "activity" light work - a project for later. The aerial switch just interrupts the 12v signal wire from the stereo to the aerial. The rad fan override switch interrupts the yellow and green wire which goes from the otter switch to fuse 13 in the fusebox through a large block connector on the RHS under the dash. It's not any of the binnacle connectors. Putting it in place On the home straight now, I used a dremel to cut an aperture in the blank panel forming part of the centre console trim. This was just wide enough for the switches and lights, as I needed to retain some of the panel to receive 2 self-tapping screws. This are not very tight (to avoid distoriting the switch panel), but secure it well enough. Here's the end result - terrible photo, will take a better one when I get the car back... Control panel.doc
    2 points
  25. As written in title, I found some of the most rare factory fitted Eclat wheels. The problem was, the seller knew that too! [attachment=28396:Ad_Eclat_Sprint_(77).jpg] Even though I had to buy them - and paid what he was asking for :huh: [attachment=28395:$_57a.jpg] And now I' m able to give some new knowlege about these wheels... [attachment=28645:image.jpg][attachment=28646:image.jpg]
    2 points
  26. Hi Everyone, Just a quick break from HiFi as I thought it would be fun to look back at 2023 and cobble together a quick highlights reel of some of the car action we’ve had this year, been a brilliant year of driving our 2012 Jeff Gordon Nascar up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed which is a real honour, then chasing a Nascar round Brands Hatch in our 1964 Lotus Cortina at the Ford Festival, surely that has to be a world’s first, then finally getting to race our 1961 Lotus Formula Junior at the Silverstone Festival after a years restoration + a special mention has to be made to where Jim Clark’s Lotus 25 overtook me at Silverstone in a practice session which is in this video, that really was the highlight of the year for me as such a beautiful car that was driven by arguably the world’s best F1 driver, I couldn’t believe it when I saw it coming up in my mirrors, that is at 3 mins on the video. Looking forward to what adventures 2024 has in store for us. Happy New Year, Cheers, Paul.
    1 point
  27. Just thought I would upload this in car video of our Sunday morning run up the hill, unfortunately by the time we got to go up my forward facing camera battery had died so all we had was the camera facing me. Watching it back it is amazing to see how many people there are as when driving you don't see one single person as you are so focused on not getting it wrong and crashing, always a relief getting to the top. The gearing is all wrong really in the car, more geared up for 200 mph+ not a drive up a driveway, you can hear it hunting when not on the power but still an amazing experience. Cheers, Paul.
    1 point
  28. Love the above pic, just shows the variety of cars we had on the day. Hi Everyone, I just wanted to say a big thanks from team HFL to everyone that came to this years Boys Toys Day to help make it such a brilliant day and our best BTD to date, stunning weather with a fantastic eclectic mix of cars, it really couldn't have been better. Also thanks to Greg from Axsim and Nathan from Race Anywhere who helped run the Sim room which was busy all day. I did this quick walkaround video, unfortunately some of the cars had left by this point but it still show what a wonderful day it was, you may want to mute to volume though so not to hear me talking gibberish 🙄 Thanks again everyone, roll on the next one 👍 Regards, Paul.
    1 point
  29. Hi Everyone, Just wanted to post a quick update regarding tomorrow's Boys Toys event, firstly the great news is that it really does look like the weather gods are Petrolheads as the forecast is looking excellent, what a result. Secondly thanks to everyone who has registered, we have over 70 cars registered from every marque you can think of so it is going to be a very eclectic mix of cars that's for sure which is great news, just hope we can squeeze everyone in, as I mentioned before if everyone can aim for between 10-11am for the car part that will be great, I think we could possibly go for the Guinness Record for the longest queue to get to a HiFi shop ever 😉 I'm hoping to bring a 60's car that I bought a few months ago that I haven't driven yet, not even managed to get it started yet but I'm hopeful tonight with a little luck we can breathe some life into her and she will make the 30 minute drive to the shop tomorrow, if I'm not here you know why. So we'll be busy setting up 3 listening rooms today with speakers from PMC, Wilson Audio and DeVore Fidelity playing plus we'll be fine tuning the sims but most importantly we'll be getting the BBQ dusted off for the BBQ breakfast, we've ordered 200 sausages and 100 rashes of bacon, if that isn't enough luckily there is a Sainsbury's just up the road. Free Entry to this Years UK Audio Show As a bonus we have teamed up with Chester Group to give everyone that comes tomorrow a VIP Pass to give free entry to this years UK Audio Show in October where we will be exhibiting so don't forget to grab your VIP Pass. Ok must crack on, look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow, oh yes I should also say please make sure you turn into the correct HFL turning, not into the big house which is the entrance before as the last thing the people that live there need is 70 cars disturbing their weekend, we will sign post it also so make it nice and clear, thanks. Regarding parking, we will use the part outside the front of the shop first, then the normal car park then we will overspill into the hard standing where the big barns are so hopefully there will be plenty of space 🤞 See you tomorrow, Regards, Paul.
    1 point
  30. Hi Everyone, I'm actually just heading out to Barcelona to see a couple of Bruce springsteen gigs but just wanted to do a quick blog so everyone can put a date in their diary for our Boys Toys Day 2023, it has been 4 years since our last one so really can't wait to hold another one, so if you'd like to come along then please stick May 27th in your calendar. The same premise really as our previous BTD's, if you have an interesting car, doesn't need to be a supercar but something that is special to you then feel free to bring it along and we'll have our own car display out the front of HFL with breakfast served on the BBQ, Also as we never actually got round to launching iLounge Racing this seems to be the right occasion to do that so we will have all our simulators up and running with representatives from our partners Race Anywhere and Axsim on hand to help run the room, finally we will have our HiFi rooms banging out some top tunes with PMC helping run one of the rooms with the mighty Fenestria's playing powered by Bryston. Car Meet around 10am. I think it makes sense to do the car bit around 10am till everyone has had enough really but the sims and HiFi will be running all day but it will be good if all the petrolheads aim to be here for around 10 am so everyone is here together. I will fill out the rest of the details once back from Barcelona but hope to see you on May 27th for Cars, Simulators, HiFi and Food, what's not to like. RSVP If you'd like to attend can you fire me a quick mail to the below and also let me know what car you'll be bringing, now we need to start praying for good weather 🤞 paul@hifilounge.co.uk Many thanks, Regards, Paul. Please find some pics below of previous Boys Toys days, thanks to Bibs for some of them 👍
    1 point
  31. Hi Everyone, I just wanted to share some of our install pictures from last year, 2022 certainly proved to be an interesting year, when we launched iLounge Racing early in 2022 I had no idea how it would perform, I knew when I was looking to buy my first proper sim in early 2020 I had so many questions and didn't know where to start so I thought starting a demo facility where we could help answer all those questions and offer a build, delivery and install service for the daunting world of sim racing seemed like a good idea but it was a proper punt, the good news is without any real advertising we hit the ground running installing several full systems all over the county with our partner 'Race Anywhere' so I'm delighted to say that the concept certainly seems to work. I know there are alot of people out there that get a lot of satisfaction from building their own rigs but equally there are a lot of people that really wouldn't know where to start or just don't have the time to build and setup a full system but would like to enter the world of Sim Racing, I certainly know that feeling, so that is where we come in, we are not really here to sell individual parts, there are loads of companies out there doing that, our existence is mainly to advise on the best equipment for you then build and deliver the system to your house and to get you on track asap so that you know you have the best kit and finding the lap time is all down to you and putting plenty of practice in. If you would like to come in to try our variety of sims or discuss any options please feel free to get in touch, it really isn't that daunting once you understand a few basics, being fast is another matter. On with the install Pictures.
    1 point
  32. Not long now till our 10th Anniversary bash this Saturday, we've had over 100 people register to come along so a huge thanks to everyone, it's going to be a lot of fun, please find a link below to take you to a blog I've just written on our website with all the latest info and what we will be running on the day 👍 https://bit.ly/3Ud4ItW I just found some pics that go back to day one, the quality isn't great, just shows how far cameras on phones have come over 10 years doesn't it but please see below what HFL looked like a decade ago, we even had a certain American rocker pop in for a cuppa in the early days + a pic of our very first visitor who was a little scary 😬 All the best and look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday. Paul, Wendy, Billy, Ady and team.
    1 point
  33. Hi Everyone, Well I'm not really sure what to say to be honest other than HFL is 10 years old, how did that happen? I guess firstly Wendy and myself would like to say a huge thanks to all our customers over that time, I don’t like the word customers really as many have become great friends over the last decade so thanks to all of HFL’s friends who have helped make the last 10 years an incredible experience. I know I’ve said this before but when we took a punt at opening a HiFi shop I really didn’t think we’d last 2 years but I thought it was worth a try and would hopefully lead to a job in HiFI somewhere but here we are 10 years on still living the dream, quite incredible really. When I look back I do wonder what Wendy and I were thinking back in 2012 really, selling our house to fund it, very little experience, setting up on a farm with no passing trade in the middle of a recession but luckily we found out quickly that there is a real passion for music and HiFi out there and to be honest we hit the ground running and haven’t looked back since, most definitely the best decision we have ever made, so thanks again everyone, it wouldn’t have been possible without you all. Let’s go back to the beginning! So we are going to have a little party on November 5th to celebrate a decade of HiFi Lounge and it would be great to celebrate with anyone who would like to come along. Now over the last 10 years the number of brands we represent has grown a little so the idea for the party on the 5th is to go back to where we started and celebrate with the 8 brands we started with so we will have 3 demo rooms running with Naim, PMC, Rega, Spendor, REL, Bryston, HiFi Racks and Atlas Cables all running so there will be plenty of different systems to listen to with representatives from each brand present. Chris with Vinyl for Sale! Over the last 10 years we have done a lot of open days, always great fun, but the most popular we do are always our vinyl days, in particular having Chris here with his great selection of vinyl for sale so we couldn’t have a party without Chris so I am really pleased to say he will be here with a real variety of vinyl for sale on the day. Looking back! 10 Years is a fairly long time I guess and I couldn’t help but think back and look at how we have changed over that 10 years, I remember when we took on No4 The Granary with it’s 4 rooms which became an office and 3 demo rooms, I really wondered how would fill it, it seemed huge but looking where we are now we could do with even more space, there is so much great HiFi out there. One of the great things about where we are located is that we had space to expand by taking on more barns and knocking it all into one space. A couple of years after we launched we setup ‘Highend Headphones’ in one of the barns 2 doors down then a few years after we took on the buildings that linked HFL and HH to become what we have today, but not one to stand still earlier this year we launched iLounge Racing offering a World first as far as I know, of a retail demo facility for Motorsport racing simulators for home which is proving a lot of fun. Growing Team The initial plan was for me and Wendy to run HFL, to keep it small and manageable. I started running it but Wendy also kept her day job to help pay the rent. We both worked every moment we had, relying on friends to help with open days etc. Wendy gave up her career and came on board full time after a couple of years. Now we have Ady here on Friday and Saturday; Billy here most of the week; Haydon doing ebay and general helping out and Jono helping run iLounge Racing. As many will know, finding the right people to fit a business can be very challenging but I feel we have a great team now to take us forward to our next chapter. RSVP I could keep writing about all the adventures we have had here but we can discuss all that at the party as there are just so many great memories from the last 10 years, so I hope you can make our 10 year anniversary and if you would like to come I would appreciate it if you could send a quick RSVP to my e-mail address below - paul@hifilounge.co.uk Time Machine I just wanted to give a quick mention to a website called Time Machine where you can view any website from any time, I really don’t know how they store everything but it has been fun seeing how we have grown over the last decade, please find a link below - https://web.archive.org/web/20120919095009/http://hifilounge.co.uk/ Offers on the Day! We are talking with the 8 brands that we are celebrating with about offers for the day so we will announce more about this nearer the time and needless to say we will have plenty of cake and refreshments available throughout the day, we will run from 9.30am until everyone has had enough so it could be a late one. Please find a few pictures below of various stages throughout 10 years of HFL, it has been so much fun looking back. Thanks again everyone for your support over the last decade, here’s looking forward to what the next 10 years will have in store for us, one thing's for sure is that I know it will be a lot of fun. 2012, We're open and ready for action! Then we Opened Highend Headphones Then we knocked through to Link HiFi Lounge and Highend Headphone to create 2 more demo rooms! Now we have iLounge Racing We went from this in 2012 - To This, no wonder we are always busy - Open days have always been a bit part of HFL, Looking forward to many more. Take care all and hope to see you on the 5th. Cheers, Paul, Wendy, Billy and Ady.
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  34. Hi All, So around 2 years after the idea popped into my head of starting a Retail Demo Facility for Motorsport Simulators for home it is finally finished with the addition of a plinth for the Porsche 917 to sit on to make it more of a centre piece for the showroom as it was getting a bit lost just sitting on the floor, please find some pics below of the finished space and if you would like to come in to try any of the simulator solutions we have set up please feel free to get in touch to book an appointment. In other sim racing news, we are now proud to sponsor the Radical Sim Racing League where we are participate in the Radical World Cup Championship in the Pro Class and Endurance Championship, these are broadcast live on Friday and Sunday evenings with full commentary from James Parfitt, you can find the links below, don't expect me to be overly competitive as these are some of the best Sim Racers in the world but it is great fun to compete against these guys, the last race at LeMans was amazing, never thought coming 10th could be so satisfying - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfdc8Ba0hssLXnRi7VnNCsg/featured https://radicalsimracing.com/ Regards, Paul.
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  35. Hi Everyone, So it has been a good couple of years since we've held an open day for obvious reasons but last Saturday we jumped back on the saddle with a behind closed doors event which proved a lot of fun. Thanks to Covid I really got back into my sim racing, especially iRacing, and being that I raced a Radical in the real world at the time I naturally gravitated to racing the Radical SR8 in the simulator and then discovered league racing with the UK&I Radical Race Series where we all meet up every Thursday night for a weekly league race online, the main advantage of league racing is that you race the same people every week so there is a mutual respect there and the quality of racing is much higher and enjoyable. The funny thing is that we speak all the time on Discord and race every week but most of us have never met so with the iLounge Racing Showroom now ready for action it seemed like the perfect opportunity to arrange a get together which we did last Saturday and I have to say I was thrilled that pretty much everyone came along, travelling from all over the country and we all got along as if it was a old school reunion where we had known each other for years, obviously helped by our common love for sim racing but I must say everyone was so nice, such a great bunch of people. So we spent the day enjoying the Sims and HiFi, fired up the BBQ where Ady was top chef, then the real fun part was to take us bunch of Virtual Racers to Rye House Go Kart track to race for real, again I was so pleased that we managed to get a full grid of 24 Karts together for this and just like on iRacing there was great respectful racing throughout the whole field, not one to blow my own trumpet but I was over the moon to get pole and win the race in such a competitive field or racers but I am the first to admit that I had home advantage as I do race at Rye a fair bit so it was a little unfair. Then after the racing a bunch of us went out for a curry to talk sim racing some more, it really was the perfect day. Look forward to doing it all again next year. If anyone would like to join the RRS league please find a link to the website below, you'll be very welcome and will experience some of the nicest people in Sim racing and will have some excellent racing too - https://www.radicalraceseries.co.uk/ Also this week's race at Monza is well worth watching, one of the most fun races races I have ever raced on iRacing. Cheers, Paul.
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  36. Hi Everyone, So here we go again with another season or racing, for the last 4 years I have raced in mostly 20 minute sprint races with the odd longer 45 minute race in both the Radical SR1 Cup and Lotus Elise Trophy and it has always been the longer races I have enjoyed the most and have been the most competitive at so for this year we thought we'd try something different, endurance racing in the Elise in the 750 Motor Club 'Club Enduro' championship, which it turn out is the biggest grid in UK motorsport, for our first race at Donington we had 58 cars on track which certainly kept me busy for the 2 hour+ race. So there are 3 classes we could enter depending on the power to weight, we decided to unleash all of the Elise's power to be bang on the 300bhp per tonne limit to be in the top class A group, I was going to share the drive with my driver coach Tom and we really thought that we could be competitive and maybe fight for the title, how wrong we were. We arrived at Donington for Friday practice but we suffered brake issues all morning but once we sorted them we soon realised that the Touring Car type cars, TCR's for short, are much faster than us even though we all run to the 300bhp per tonne limit, they are basically specially built race cars where our Elise is a road car we turned into a race car. Anyway come race day I did my mandatory 3 laps for qualifying then Tom went out to see what could be achieved, he is basically one of the quickest guys around and he could only manage 14th on the grid, it was decided I would start the race and Tom would jump in at the fuel stop. I must admit I was a little nervous at the start as I starting higher up than my natural speed would normally put me being Tom qualified and at the start I got eaten alive by all the quicker guys but in the end I fell back to where my pace was competitive and settled into the race, after an hour or so I was summoned into the pits for a fuel stop and driver change, I jumped out the car and refueling started and whilst out the car I decided that I'd like to do the whole race which Tom was happy with as I need the practice and he doesn't and at the end of the day we weren't competitive so I may as well get more seat time, so in the end I did the full 2 hours and 5 minutes which I must say was brilliant fun, towards the end though I could see I was getting low on fuel and as I was going through the Craners with a couple of minutes left when the car spluttered and I thought, bugger, I'm not going to finish the race so I decided I would limp home to the pits but as I came round the last corner the chequered flag was out so I just made it across the line to finish, talk about relieved. In the end we finished 25th out of 58, there were quite a few Elise's entered and we finished as the top Elise so I guess that's something to take away from the weekend, but it certainly wasn't the weekend we were hoping for, at the end of the day though I loved being in the car for 2 hours+. What to do for the rest of the season? well there are 6 rounds left, I have decided to do the next one at Croft in 2 weeks as never raced there then we are off to Spa in July so will do that as that is a huge tick on the bucket list then I will decide what to do from there, I have an historic racing itch I'd like to scratch but more on that later. Please find sme pics below, they are quite funny as they make you realise just how small the Elise is. Cheers, Paul.
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  37. Hi Everyone, So this is a little different, to celebrate 10 years of association together Naim and Focal have created a very limited edition system in a Tin / Aluminium look which traditionally celebrates a 10 year anniversary. I must admit I wasn't sure on the look when I first saw it but it has really grown on me, particularly like the look of the speakers. The system consists of the below components making a very nice setup indeed so if you fancy something a little different which will be very limited and is going to sound great and ready to go as a complete solution, plus save a few quid compared to if buying it all separately, then please feel free to get in touch to discuss more - Focal Sopra No2 Speakers in a Light Concrete / Tin finish Naim Nac 282 with NAPSC (Tin Special Finish) Naim HiCap DR Power Supply (Tin Special Finish) Naim NDX 2 Streamer (Tin Special Finish) Naim NAP 250 DR Power Amplifier (Tin Special Finish) Naim Super Lumina Speaker Cable (3m Pair) Price as Seperates - £31,695 Anniversary Bundle Price - £28,000 Launch Video Cheers, Paul.
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  38. Hi All, So this is an idea I have had for a while so I am excited to finally announce the launch of iLounge Racing. What is iLounge Racing I hear you say? So the idea behind iLounge Racing, hope you like the name by the way, basically HiFi Lounge without the Hif, is that we have got some exciting motorsport, racing simulator and car plans for the year ahead and I know a lot of our customers are also Petrolheads but I am also aware that not all HiFi enthusiasts share this passion so as to not overwhelm HiFi Lounge with car stuff I thought it prudent to start a separate website + social media channels where I can share all our motorsport and car news + stories in this area, I will still mention the big news on HFL but this gives us more scope to cover everything without overcrowding the HFL blogs section with non HiFi news. So what does 2021 have in store? Lotus Elise Trophy! So as many of you will know after racing in the Radical SR1 Cup for the last 3 years it is time to try something new and as I have been a lifelong Lotus enthusiast it made sense to give the Elise Trophy a try so we will be uploading the race videos from each of this years 7 events + any other footage we have, the Elise is at the race shop at the moment being converted into a race car with the first test on the 9th April, certainly can't wait to get back on track, please find more info below - https://bit.ly/2Oyc8ve New Race Suit We've also had the below race suit designed, certainly starting to think it is a case of 'all the gear and no idea' though. Go Karting After my return to Go Karting last year after 20+ years away I have signed up for another year in the Lotus Cup at Rye House, yeah it is all Lotus this year, basically an hour long race once a month, have to say weight is everything in Go Karting so I have been sweating the weight off on my Peloton over the last 12 months so am now over 2 stone lighter than this time last year so hopefully that will help move me up the grid, I’ve now got a new GoPro so we will be uploading highlights from each round, I really love the cut and thrust of Go Karting, it is real racing, so can’t wait to get stuck in again. UK's only Domestic Racing Simulator Demo Facilities. This is the really exciting news, during this third lockdown we have moved the Headphone demo room into a smaller more intimate room to free up the space for an exciting new business, basically the UK’s first demo room for domestic home racing simulators. So I started playing racing simulators with Geoff Crammond’s Revs on the BBC Micro in 1984, a notoriously hard F3 simulator with only one track at launch, Silverstone, but at the time it felt like you were driving a real race car rather than an arcade game, then I worked my way through all Geoff’s F1 games up to Grand Prix 4 in 2002, then there the Papyrus games like Indycar Racing and Grand Prix Legends then last year I was introduced to iRacing where online racing really is taken to a totally new level. I find it hard to believe that I really wasn’t aware of iRacing until thanks to Covid-19, Radical Cars took their racing online due to the UK Race Circuits being closed, I had previously been racing a Radical SR1 in the real world so was keen to see what online racing was like, needless to say I have been addicted ever since, installing a multi screen setup at home where I now race everyday after work. When looking around at simulator equipment to buy for myself I realised that there was no where in the UK that I could find where you could demo a full system and get advice on what would be the best setup for me and funnily enough I soon figured out that the home racing simulator business is very similar to the HiFi Business and basically having a demo facility would be a good idea, I focus on iRacing and to be honest there is a hell of a lot to learn, a year in and I am still learning new functions and tricks so we want to help people choose the right system for themselves and answer any questions that iRacing is bound to throw up, obviously these systems can be used with any other racing sims but iRacing is where we focus. We will have 3 simulators on permanent demo at 3 different price points but all very engaging and capable of posting the fastest times on iRacing and that will allow to realise your potential as an online racer, if you are interested in motorsport and have never tried one of these simulators please come in to give one a try and I know once experienced you will be hooked as I was. We can also offer the full build and install package so there really is nothing to worry about, you can just get stuck straight in and enjoy your motorsport everyday. As a customer of iLounge Racing you will also be eligible to join our weekly league races, for me this is where iRacing comes into its own, I race in a league every Thursday evening, to race the same people once a week in a championship really does add another level of competition, you can also join our Discord channel where we can discuss what happened in the race and look forward to the next race, really looking forward to creating an iLounge Racing community. Sim racing is fun but I must admit I am surprised how serious I take it, it is certainly more than just a game, if you would like to explore this world more please feel free to get in touch to discuss your requirements or feel free to book an appointment to try out one of our simulators. Please see below for more info on my home system, which already I'm thinking of upgrading, see just like HiFi - https://bit.ly/3wf4d7s Live iRacing Race Video’s As mentioned above I race in the UK&I Radical League every Thursday evening which really is brilliant fun and HiFi Lounge is one of the title sponsors, we have just bought on a commentator and the races are now streamed live on YouTube, please search for ‘Milky Cereal’ to follow these live at 9pm every Thursday. Please find a link to last weeks race at Oulton Park, I actually had a pretty good race here. New Car Livery Plus we've just had the below Livery designed for our Radical SR8 that I race daily on iRacing so if you watch any of the races that will be me behind the virtual wheel. Car Videos Finally we will be looking to add some car stuff to the website, I love my cars so we will start off with doing some videos on the cars I own then see where it takes us, we have quite a few HiFi customers with really nice cars so it would be great to do some videos of their cars also, if you fancy it let me know, doesn't have to be a SuperCar, just an interesting car. To Sum Up! So as you can see 2021 promises to be a busy year and why I feel that starting the iLounge Racing website and Social sites made sense as not to mix it up with the HiFi news, if you’d like to keep abreast of what iLounge Racing gets up to please see all the links needed below and please feel free to follow them - Website - https://iloungeracing.co.uk Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ilounge_racing FaceBook - https://www.facebook.com/iloungeracing You Tube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK-P27LCxLlSAqRScDGHqKg Twitter - https://twitter.com/IloungeRacing And remember as Steve McQueen said (from the greatest motorsport film ever made, Le Mans)- Thanks for taking the time to look and if you fancy coming along to any of the track action or to check out our simulator demo facilities please feel free to get in touch to discuss. Regards, Paul.
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  39. HFL Motorsport Season 3 Starts This Saturday! Hi Everyone, So here we go again, I get asked a lot what my plans are for this year regarding motorsport, well things kick of this Saturday morning as I have signed up for a 10 race season’s racing in the Senna Cup at Rye House in the Go Karts that we used for our Boys Toys Day last year as I really enjoyed that and it whetted my appetite for more Karting, the funny thing was that my best session in the the Radical last year was the first practice session at Donington which was straight after the karting where I went 2 seconds a lap faster than my previous best so I am hoping that doing more karting will help my Radical racing as the main thing with karting is that you can race hard and be fearless whereas in the Radical driving to the limit takes some real balls and commitment and in all honesty I am still struggling in fast corners with the Radical so it will certainly be an interesting experiment to see if the Karting helps me in the Radical, either way it will be fun finding out. So the first race is at 10am at Rye, 15 mins qualifying with a 45 minute race, apparently there is a full 26 kart grid, now as Rye is a bit of a proving ground for up and coming talent then I am sure I am going to get my arse whipped by some young whipper snappers who are just out of nappies and weigh nothing but I am really looking forward to giving it a try. As for the Radical racing this year, I don’t think I will be able to do a full season but aim to do at least half the season plus some testing and there is a chance of also racing at Spa which would be a huge tick on the bucket list but need to see the cost involved in that first, may have to get my begging hat out for that one. Anyway If anyone wants to see how we get on Saturday at Rye live timing is available from the link below - https://live.alphatiming.co.uk/rye Can’t wait to find out myself. Cheers, Paul.
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  40. Unfortunately there are no pics as Photobucket appears to be down, there is a better formatted version on our website which you can access from the below link - http://bit.ly/2ShCxNs Hi Everyone, I love this time of year where we look back and I have to say that 2019 has been another brilliant year for HiFi, Music and Hifi Lounge in general, so before we get stuck in I’d like to firstly thanks all our customers throughout 2019, many new faces and many returning customer’s, this year has been another brilliant year for us but without our brilliant customer’s we are nothing so we’d like to send out a huge thanks to everyone who came in to see us. It still amazes me how busy we get but I love the fact we actually get people visiting us from all over the world, a big shout out to Paul and Sue from Aukland, NZ who popped in to say Hi during the summer, it really is much appreciated so thanks again everyone. 2019 Open Days I would argue that we have had our best selection of open days this year which have all been great fun and I look forward to continuing this with some more for next year, the first is already planned for February 15th, more news to follow, and our Boys Toys Go Karting Day was also great fun, even though I did get punted out of 2nd place on the first lap, it’s going to take a while for me to get over that I feel, so hopefully we will arrange a similar event next year as everyone was keen to have another go. New HiFi in 2019 I would say 2019 was a really good year for new HiFi but maybe a bit quieter than some previous years for new kit but there were standout products from Rega with their Planar 10 which has been a huge success for us and their new Aura phono stage and Aethos Amp which are both selling well, Rega really are on it at the moment, but we also had the new fact Signature Range of speakers from PMC, Wilson launched the incredible Chronosonic XVX speakers, if only I had a spare £350k, plus we’ve had the new Nait amps from Naim, the new Arcam AV Cinema range of amps plus Sonus Faber have just launched their stunning new Olympica Nova range and Bryston have just given us their new BDA-3.14 which I have to say is a brilliant piece of kit and Fyne Audio seem to be going from strength to strength with their new speakers so all in all it has been another stellar year for HiFi in general, long may it continue. HiFi Lounge Upgrades As well as new HiFi in 2019 we had 2 reasonably exciting things happen at HFL, firstly we finally launched our new website, anyone who has done this themselves will know how stressful it can be, it just takes so much time but in the end we couldn’t be happier with the end result, hopefully now it is even easier to find the info and products you are interested in. A much more important thing was that we finally took on our first member of staff, now I am a bit of a control freak so that was never going to be easy for me to work alongside someone but we are so excited to welcome Ady on board as he has fitted straight in, a lot of you will know him already as he has been helping out here at open days for years now, for me I didn’t want anyone from sales as that is not what we do here so Ady is perfect as he loves his HiFi and Music and that is all that matters really, the rest he will learn, it has certainly made things easier having him here. Music of 2019 Now I am the first to moan about the state of current music but I have to say that this year has been a real cracker with some great new music being released. The year started extremely well for me as I discovered Greta Van Fleet, basically a band comprising of 4 very young guys, 3 of them brothers, who play rock heavily inspired by bands like Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Rush etc, what I love is the fact that they are playing this kind of rock but bringing it to a new generation, Wendy and myself went to see them at Rock City last month and they were incredible, they have a very bright future ahead of them that is for sure, if you like your Rock then check them out. For great albums released this year there are too many to list but for me the below are the standout albums of 2019. Rammstein – ‘Untitled’ – You can’t beat a bit of Rammstein, their new album which is their first new material for 10 years really didn’t disappoint, it is worth the asking price alone for the track called ‘Puppe’ which is an instant classic, if you haven’t heard it yet check it out on Tidal, you can’t help but love it, we saw them live during the summer + we are going to see them twice more next year, can’t wait. Bruce Springsteen – ‘Western Stars’ – Now I am a huge Bruce fan as many of you will know but I would say this is the best album he has released in many, many years, even if you are not a Bruce fan you should listen to this as it is very different to his past work, and if you have this album make sure to check out the Film Soundtrack version as it is arguably better as it is recorded live with an orchestra which gives a much more dynamic sound, highly recommended. Lana Del Ray – ‘Norman F———G Rockwell’ – I love Lana Del Ray, I have bought every album over the years but when I listened to this new one for the first time I thought it is just another very similar LDR album but how wrong I was, after a few listens it really came into its own and I would now say this is her best album to date, by some margin, so please give it a few listens and hopefully you’ll feel the same. James Blunt – ‘Once Upon A Mind’ – As I have got older I have really got into James Blunt but there is one stand out song on this album you must listen to, ‘Monsters’, I was driving home one day and was listening the album for the first time and half way through this song I started to cry, I had no idea why, so I played it again and listened to the lyrics and yet again I got all emotional, it is probably the most powerful song I have ever heard so please give it a listen, it is very moving, make sure you have your hanky ready. David Bowie – ‘Conversation Piece’ – I nearly missed this album but a customer put me onto it and thank god he did as it is superb, basically it is a boxset based around Bowie’s 2nd album ‘Space Oddity’ but the standout piece is that Tony Visconti has gone back and remastered it as he says when they did it originally they only had a couple of weeks to put it to bed so to go back and spend as much time as needed to give us the release it should have been is incredible, it really does sound amazing, for me this is how all albums should be re-done, not just a remaster but almost a total re-recording, a bit like Giles Martin is doing with The Beatles at the moment, again the release of Gile’s remaster Abbey Road this year was another highlight. Album of The Year 2019 This was actually really easy this year and it has to go to Nick Cave’s ‘Ghosteen’ I really have never heard an album like this before, obviously it was born out of sadness for the passing go his Son but as well as being melancholy, dark and emotional it is also uplifting and inspirational at the same time, Nick Cave never makes a bad album in my view but this transcends everything he has done before, it truly is a special album, a unique offering that can pick you up and take you somewhere that only music can, an incredible album so please do give it a listen or 2 over Christmas. An Interesting Read Finally one other quick thing a customer put me onto, thanks Dave, is a book called ‘The Memoirs Of Billy Shears’ now I don’t read books but this sounded like such an interesting story that I bought a copy and haven’t put it down since, in a nutshell basically Paul McCartney died in a car accident in 1965 and Billy Shears took his place, I know it sounds pretty far fetched but there is so much evidence out there to support this that many people now consider this to the truth, in fact the remaining Beatles apparently left clues on album covers and in their lyrics which this book unveils, I know it blew my mind when I first heard this conspiracy but if you have a mind like mine then I would highly recommend picking up a copy as it makes fascinating reading. HFL MotorSport in 2019 A lot of people ask how our racing is going so I just wanted to do a quick recap on our Motor Racing exploits in the Radical SR1 Cup during 2019, basically I was much quicker over 1 lap than in 2018 but my race pace still is not the best but over the last 3 race weekends I qualified much higher up the grid only to get taken out of the races but over opportunist moves by the guys around me which has left me with unfinished business for 2020, I’m not sure if I will do a full season next year due to the costs involved but am certainly keen to do a few races and I may enter a Go Karting Championship at Rye House as I really enjoyed Karting again for our BTD but I’d like to thanks all our Sponsors again for their support in 2019. So finally to wrap up, I knew I would end up babbling on once I started, again we’d like to thank you for all your support throughout 2019 and we look forward to doing it all again next year, I also just want to mention that you can keep up with all our goings on through Social Media, you can actually see our Instagram posts from our Homepage below which I update regularly – https://hifilounge.co.uk/instagram/ Wishing you all a Great Christmas and Healthy and Prosperous 2020. Best Wishes, Paul & Wendy.
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  41. Hi There, Just a quick blog of an install I did yesterday with some of our favourite brands, could almost be a copy of the system I have run at home for years comprising of Arcam for cinema, Bryston for power, source and pre-amp and PMC with the awesome Fact.12 Signatures. The beauty of this system is that we used Unity Gain on the Bryston BP173 so the customer can have a really nice cinema setup then switch to 2 channel for his music with no compromise and I have to say that it works a treat, we were hoping to install the new Arcam AV40 Processor and PA720 amplifier at the same time but they didn’t quite make it to us in time so they will be going in shortly. It goes without saying what great synergy there is with PMC and Bryston and for the beady eyed amongst you may notice the new Bryston BDA-3.14 DAC/Streamer/Pre-amp, this was the first installed in the UK, only arriving fresh from Canada on Thursday, even though our demo one arrived at the same time I haven’t had time to play with it yet but it installed pretty smoothly and sounded great out the box, I have to say this seems like an incredibly well priced piece of kit at £4000, especially being a Roon endpoint also. And finally it is all sitting beautifully on a Quadraspire Bamboo SV2T rack that went together easily and looks epic in the customers room. So to sum up please see a list below of what we installed - PMC Fact.12 Signature Speakers Bryston BDA 3.14 DAC/Streamer/Pre Bryston BP173 Pre-Amp Bryston 7B3 Mono Blocks Quadraspire SV2T Rack Coming Soon to finish off the system - Arcam AV40 Processor Arcam PA720 7 Channel Amplifier Already owned - Michell Engineering SE-R (one of only a few out there) Kiseki Blue MC Cartridge Whest Three Phono Stage OPPO UHD-203 Very Nice Indeed Please find some pictures and links below - https://hifilounge.co.uk/product-category/brands/pmc-speakers/fact/ https://hifilounge.co.uk/product-category/brands/bryston/ https://hifilounge.co.uk/product-category/brands/quadraspire/ From This - To This - Cheers, Paul.
    1 point
  42. Took our pad and pencil along yesterday to the Supercar meet at Beaulieu and did a few sketches Cheers, Paul.
    1 point
  43. I have now removed the engine and gearbox, this is with the intention of changing the cam belt, water pump and all rubber pipework with silicone hoses. Not only this but the gearbox whine needs to be looked at. I've come to the conclusion that a reconditioned gearbox is the best course of action, albeit an expensive one. No real problems here apart from the fact that my crane was only just high enough to get the engine and gearbox over the tail at the back of the car. Even with the load leveler, I had to lower the car on its jacks in order to get it over and then lift it manually as well. A few scratches and loads of expletives later I managed to haul it out….yay. Not too worried about the scratches for now as I am going for a respray anyway. However I think I will either hire an ‘A’ Frame to put it back in or separate the engine and gearbox and put them in individually, haven't decided which yet!
    1 point
  44. Progress report.... Interior trim has come back from the upholsterers and looks fantastic, decided to go for black carpets as all the dirt showed on the old cream ones. And a black binnacle, hated being blinded by the sun on journeys, and considering that most of the journeys I will do in this will be when the sun is shining I thought it a prudent decision. Engine has been stripped of all ancillaries and has been cleaned and painted silver using high temp paint, looks the dogs cahooners at present, along with all the ancillaries which have either been painted, replaced or repaired and are also slowly being put back on. I've also completely rebuilt the carbs and put in new seals, fixings and internal float chamber valve, after cleaning in the sonic carb cleaner tank. This is the second time I've done this in a few years so it was fairly fresh in my memory! I did find an issue with the throttle arm, it wouldn't go all the way down because it was interfering with the body of the carb, so grinded a little off the arm and now goes all the way down. The stop screw is still there to make sure that this is still adjustable, it's just not relying on the inaccurate body of the carb to stop over throttling. An issue I had with the new alternator I'm trying to replace, the pulley wheel wouldn't come off initially, but a bit of head scratching and a pair of sensitively placed mull grips soon released the little beggar. This I then tried to put on the new alternator I'd purchased, only to find that the shaft was a different size, I'll have to get a collar machined up to try and rectify this error. All pipework has also been checked and replaced or repainted with high temp heat paint and now looks great, can't wait to assemble all onto the car. My misses wasn't happy about using the Aga to cure all the high temp heat paint on the parts, made the house smell bad, and getting the engine into that small oven was a squeeze Got a load of silicone pipes through the post so will start cutting these to the correct lengths soon, along with the angled pieces, although I've seen a slight problem on the horizon, there is a "s" shaped piece coming directly out of the engine and I'm pretty sure with the bends that I have I won't be able to replicate this, so will need to get this made up especially....more additional expense, wallet is feeling the pinch Transmission is my next big task, bought a new uprated circlip from our friend overseas and hopefully this will sort out the whining problem I was getting. Finances are quite tight at present, so wanted to trial this fix first before committing to a refurbished transaxle. Anyone have any experience in doing this, if so a few pointers would be very helpful? Found a paint guy who is recommended, has painted fibreglass, and is reasonably priced so once the engine is back in, and the dash too I'll get it trailored over to him.... Definitely can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
    1 point
  45. I turn around for one moment and this happens....... He was making himself a little home...little b*gger
    1 point
  46. So the moment I was dreading, as I'd heard all sorts of horror stories about removing the interior trim. Yes there were a few grazes, cuts and bruised knuckles, but generally it was ok. Removing the dash was a little bit of a head scratcher but eventually found the screws underneath and removed them with relative ease. Some of the screws were welded with rust, and they were a bit of a b*gger, but I'll replace these with stainless steel screws when I put it all back in so that the next person won't have as much of an issue. Took the headliner out and found that the foam had disintegrated to dust, which then collected in my airways and eyes. After the temporary blindness and coughing had abated, I then started on the aftermarket sunroof which had some screws on the outside and some on the inside, all of which were rusted and quite painful to remove. Tunnel and back panel, seats and door cards were relatively simple, needing no more than a screw driver and a bit of patience. Holy moly what a mess the car looks when everything is out... God help me what have I done Sent the interior of to get re-leathered at a place in Birmingham, I went up there to see them and they were doing a nice job on the seats so thought I would give them the rest of the interior too, decided on a light cream interior as per the original, but black carpets and binnacle. Couldn't stand the reflection of the binnacle on the windscreen whilst driving in sunny weather. Decided to sort out the visors and headliner myself, but I'll make a separate blog for this...
    1 point
  47. Here you will find my Blog: Lotus Esprit Turbo 1990
    1 point
  48. [img]http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=blogentry&attach_id=25971[/img] The seasons have changed for the better and Spring is in the air with dry roads and glorious sunshine. What better day to give "Mario" his first outing this year. It was up early and on the road for a 180 mile round-trip to the cars and coffee get together in Portland. Every Saturday exotics/rare cars from around the area meet for an informal get together at a local coffee shop, it's become a regular fixture around the USA. [img]http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=blogentry&attach_id=25969[/img] This was the first time I had done any distance on the new original shocks and boy does the car ride nicely. Tyres were set to 25 front and 33 rear, the result was a smooth ride and nice light steering. It also seemed to remove the last of the vibration I had all but eliminated last year. I'd also replaced the rear radius arm mounts as they were on their last legs. The left rear drive-shaft was checked for any defects as the right one had failed late in 2013. [img]http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=blogentry&attach_id=25970[/img] The Seafoam fuel additive I put in the tanks at the end of Autumn worked a treat staibilising the 10% Ethanol blended gas and there was no hesitation or rough running during the trip. All the work done over the winter was fruitful and 136S ran effortlessly. A brief stop at the Ferrari/Maserati dealer on the way home finished off the trip nicely. [img]http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=blogentry&attach_id=25967[/img] [img]http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=blogentry&attach_id=25968[/img]
    1 point
  49. Finally some more interior progress has been done. Just got the door cards back from the upholsterer.. I am very happy with the turn out :) [img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u267/vintaylor/WP_20130908_064_zps6f7955ee.jpg[/img] [img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u267/vintaylor/WP_20130908_061_zpsad8db4af.jpg[/img] [img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u267/vintaylor/WP_20130908_060_zps9d4406ab.jpg[/img] All original double stitching has been re-created [img]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u267/vintaylor/WP_20130908_066_zpsd713748a.jpg[/img]
    1 point
  50. I used my new DeVillbis Teckna spray gun for the first time. It sprays very nicely as you can see from the pictures. This is a big step forward for me. I've had this project for three yrs. Now I can start assembly right after sanding and polishing.
    1 point
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