September 2014

30Sep

From October 1st, the familiar circular (vehicle excise duty) tax disk will cease to be. The UK Government has agreed that the production costs are an unnecessary burden on tax payers, and as everything today is computerised, and number plate recognition cameras are in place, we dont need to display them anymore. So we can remove the disks, from October 1st. But what do we put in their place? That small space on the windscreen, will seem empty without the disk obscuring our vision. I for one will be looking for some old tax disks for both cars, the oldest ones I can find the in house I think date back to the early 1990's, I'll have a good look at the weekend to see what I can unearth.

26Sep

A lot of behind the scenes changes have been made to the web site over the past week. Little tweaks to style sheets and content, to make it look tidier and load more quickly. I hope you like the improvements, but if they're working right, you shouldnt have noticed anyway as thats the point of making subtle changes. So the 2014 season is pretty much finished now, not that I had much of a season this year. This was a conscious decision, following the house purchase in December 2013. And I was off work for five weeks during the summer, and that doesnt help when the income is down to £0.00. I enjoy running my own business, but its the months where there are no invoices to raise that hurts the most. I am planning on having a more serious year in 2015, so long as the funds allow it. I'm just not sure what to do at the moment. I've had a good go at sprinting, but I'd really like to have a crack at circuit racing. The Time Attack series is really tempting, though there are some pretty big up-front costs. Having said that, once they're out the way, its just tyres and fuel thats needed, with approximately 6 rounds spread out during the year. I'll do some more research and see what ideas I can come up with.

23Sep

The latest copy of Retro Ford magazine should hit the shelves in the next few days. My article on fitting longer wheels studs, a new front splitter, and adding the front wheel speed sensors came out great, and the pictures I provided came out quite clear. I'm looking for suggestions on what to write about next, so if you have any ideas, let me know, either via the zetecinside facebook page, or email.

19Sep

Quaife has just announced the Sequential version of the IB5 gearbox, that fits on the Zetec, CVH etc. I run the IB5+ Sequential box (on the Duratec engine), and have done since 2011, without any issues, and the same internals are now in the IB5 box. And its a good price too! Head on over to Quaife for more details.

18Sep

I travelled back home last night to see Al Murray as The Pub Landlord, in Loughborough Town Hall. What a brilliant comedian. He had everyone rolling around the aisles, the material he used was based on the responses from the people in the front two rows, as he ripped the p*ss out of most of them based on either their names or their occupations, and who they were sitting alongside. Very enjoyable. And I highly recommend seeing him live.

The new car is going great at the moment. I'm getting almost 60mpg, if I drive it in ECO+ mode, and of course refrain from squeezing the right pedal. But when I do, the slick 8 speed automatic gearbox does a magnificent job of getting the power down through all four tyres. Its a stunning car, and makes the journey to work and back very civilised. I especially like the USB Media feature, allowing me to copy mp3's to a memory stick and play them through the car radio. The adaptive M-Sport suspension makes for a hard ride, but that only happens when I press the Sport button, and the damper settings are electronically altered. And the 19in rims give it a really cool stance. Maybe I should lower it, but that may ruin the ride.

10Sep

I started a new job on September 1st. So thats good right? An income, getting back in to an office environment, racking up expenses. Well it would be, if I weren't spending so much time away from home, and so little time in the garage. What it does give me is time to tweak the website, to make updates and add additional content. And I get time to read the forums, and see what everyone else is up to. Hoping to make a few trips out to see people too, and the Westfield Car Club holds a monthly pub meet a few miles down the road, so Thursday night I'll be making some new friends and hopefully seeing a few modified cars in the process. The new car is turning out to be a delight to drive. I managed 51mpg on the first tank full, which for a 3.0d is very good. I've not managed to find a tow bar yet, though I do now have several websites bookmarked with some very attractive prices. I'm contemplating fitting it myself, but the wiring looks quite complicated and I dont want to void the cars warranty.