OV9

DeskJockey wrote: Wed May 17, 2023 4:40 pm Galaxy's cooling saga should hopefully be resolved. New hose fitted as the final piece. Will keep an eye on it obviously.

It is also getting new summer tyres. Was going to go for the Continental Premiumcontact 7, but then there was 15% off on the Michelin Primacy 4+ with Blackcircles, so I took the £80(ish) saving. The current and previous set are Primacy 4 tyres, so shouldn't be much different. Interestingly the Y rated version was a bit cheaper than the W version that is the factory fit, so we're good for up to 186mph.

Why a car that, when new, couldn't top 130mph needs to have tyres rated to 168mph I don't know. Quick research suggests that the fastest of them all topped out at 135mph, so seems rather OTT.

It was to cope with the lesser known Galaxy RS

GG. wrote: Wed May 17, 2023 4:47 pm

DeskJockey wrote: Wed May 17, 2023 4:40 pm Galaxy's cooling saga should hopefully be resolved. New hose fitted as the final piece. Will keep an eye on it obviously.

It is also getting new summer tyres. Was going to go for the Continental Premiumcontact 7, but then there was 15% off on the Michelin Primacy 4+ with Blackcircles, so I took the £80(ish) saving. The current and previous set are Primacy 4 tyres, so shouldn't be much different. Interestingly the Y rated version was a bit cheaper than the W version that is the factory fit, so we're good for up to 186mph.

Why a car that, when new, couldn't top 130mph needs to have tyres rated to 168mph I don't know. Quick research suggests that the fastest of them all topped out at 135mph, so seems rather OTT.

It was to cope with the lesser known Galaxy RS

I bet that sounded like cool idea in their mind...

It's got the S-Max front bumper.

4 new tyres for the 18s on the compact, wasn’t keen on using the ones on them which date from 2015 and have been sat pretty much unused for a few years.

I know they’re old tech, but I run stoppid settings and like directional tyres so I can flip them over and pretty much double their lifespan.

Hankook Ventus evo were the cheapest not totally crap ones I could find.



The spare wheel looked horrible and rusty and wouldn’t hold air, I guess rust had crept under the tyre bead.

Some basic e46s used the same wheel and they live inside the boot on those. Just need to make sure it has the two little peg holes between two of the bolt holes so it fits the holder properly.


The car came with a nice looking strut brace. Unfortunately it wasn’t doing anything because the mounting points on one side had ripped out and it was flapping in the breeze.

I did various repairs and made an insert with captive nuts so it would actually bolt up. However, because I’d put the M3 reinforcement plates under the strut towers the topmount studs weren’t long enough to give more than a thread of engagement.

So I made some shouldered nuts out of some stainless m8 connecting nuts. Obviously I don’t have a lathe so whittled them up holding one end in a drill and using an angle grinder to turn them down, then trim to length.



Another job ticked off the list, and one less ‘thing’ cluttering up my shed!

Nice - and funnily enough I was just looking at strut braces. All the ones listed for Compact / 4-pot E36 seem to loop almost right back to the bulkhead, but yours goes straight across like the 6-pot ones. What's going on ?

My shonky old BMW update. The small hole in the trailing arm got bigger with a second application of wire brush. And even bigger again as soon as I touched it with the welder. Ended up about 1” square Eventually it stopped expanding and I was able to build up layers of new metal. It is NOT pretty but it’s solid. I’ll grind it down a bit, put fresh paint over the whole arm and as far as the MOT is concerned, I think we’re OK

Shonky old VW update. My wife has taken quite a liking to the Bentley and has been using it to drive to work. I'm genuinely surprised, she didn't like the 7-Series at all, nor the 5 before it, wouldn't drive them at all.

Sundayjumper wrote: Wed May 17, 2023 9:16 pm Nice - and funnily enough I was just looking at strut braces. All the ones listed for Compact / 4-pot E36 seem to loop almost right back to the bulkhead, but yours goes straight across like the 6-pot ones. What's going on ?

Yeah, I don’t really know.

Because this one fits straight I was going to use the carbon Hamann one off the m3 which is sitting doing nothing, but when I tried it on it hit the engine somewhere and wasn’t even close to mounting.

I guess because it’s quite wide it doesn’t need to be very thick? The back edge is thinner than the visible front edge.

I’m not sure how much bracing it actually does, but feels pretty sturdy. I just fitted it because I had it and it looks nice

It sits close, and has made an impression on the bonnet insulation, but clears everything




Would have thought it would be fairly easy to make one with two thinner tubes and brace between them instead of the massive bends most manufacturers put in their 4pot ones.

Or even a full loop like you get on mk1/2 escorts, I’d find that less troubling than the single arc towards the bulkhead.

Not my fleet but related - a chap on the Bentley group had his Continental dyno’d and a “medium” remap. Gained 100bhp & 200Nm. Handy. Nice flat torque curve too.

These engines are allegedly good for 850bhp & 1200Nm.

@Sundayjumper I am not sure that's what you "need" but I had similar thoughts when I looked at that trace - obviously a significantly bigger step in the delivery from 2600-odd rpm onwards, but it's nice and smoothe after that and falls away pretty gently. Nice.

Also - his rev limiter is nice and consistent.

Sundayjumper wrote: Fri May 19, 2023 8:46 am Not my fleet but related - a chap on the Bentley group had his Continental dyno’d and a “medium” remap. Gained 100bhp & 200Nm. Handy. Nice flat torque curve too.

These engines are allegedly good for 850bhp & 1200Nm.


IMG_0785.jpeg

I might see that out and about somewhere as it's in Sunderland. Recognised their logo on the print out from the Facebook posts so had a look and it was posted yesterday.

Great how smooth the curve is compared to the original one too.
It's normally £400 for a remap there, and sometimes 30% off I'd you're lucky to get a cancelled short-notice appointment. Considered it a lot on the Focus to take it from 150bhp to over 200bhp from a standard remap but didn't do it before I sold it.

Bentley bloke paid £450. Sunderland is a 5½ hour drive from here unfortunately.

Although probably only 2 hrs on the way back from the remap, late at night.....

Oh the joys of an unlocked ECU. Caterham remap costs £3500 due to the encryption requiring a new ECU. You have to map it because they run so rich that it will lead to borescore issues and ruining the cat. Although as a result of running the correct mix it liberates an extra 40-60 bhp

Nice, I bet the surge as it builds boost would make it feel even better than the on paper figures

Mito Man wrote: Fri May 19, 2023 10:51 am Caterham remap costs £3500 due to the encryption requiring a new ECU.

Hang on - you have a Caterhan now? Or this is just knowledge in your head?

mik wrote: Fri May 19, 2023 11:45 am

Mito Man wrote: Fri May 19, 2023 10:51 am Caterham remap costs £3500 due to the encryption requiring a new ECU.

Hang on - you have a Caterhan now? Or this is just knowledge in your head?

Not me, my dad - see page 865. But it was general Caterham Duratec knowledge when researching them!

@Mito Man Well that is weird - I managed to miss that post (and all the responses completely) .

Very nice - 620 is a pretty rabid thing. Track days coming up?

mik wrote: Fri May 19, 2023 12:40 pm @Mito Man Well that is weird - I managed to miss that post (and all the responses completely) .

Very nice - 620 is a pretty rabid thing. Track days coming up?

Yes, Caterham have their own track days with tuition so he booked a slot later in the year with them at Bedford.