Engine Punk

I doubt that it will be this sunny on the 10th January Blimey - it wasn't so long ago I was getting warm again after the 2014 Exeter... My inability to learn sees me passengering Binky again in the Candidi Provocatore Allard J1in the 2015 Exeter Trial. We didn't get a Gold Award in the 2014 Land's End Trial because we messed up on of the special tests by not stopping astride the final line. On of my mates got penalised for arriving too early at a holding control so we will be on our best behaviour for this event. It really is about the taking part, though. If we were pot hunters we wouldn't be doing this, we'd be doing something else (probably less enjoyably). Binkers is gradually working his way through the suspension on the old war horse which now rides on new springs. Experiments with the tyres have proved interesting. He's happy with the mud clearing Pirelli Cinturatos on the front and the grippy Bridgestones on the rear. However, he's not happ...

I'll be looking out for this device again! Driven by Duncan Pittaway, it appeared in the 2014 Land's End  Trial running as a 3400cc GN. Combining the looks of a Brescia Bugatti with those a Shelsley special it sounded bloody brilliant, too! Binky told me the barrels and heads came off a WWI aero engine but that's all I've learnt about it so far. My immediate thought was what sort of crankcase does it use?   Transmission is of the GN/Frazer Nash school. Duncan's in his TVR 4000 in the Exeter Trial but I hope to catch up with him and quiz him about this device.

Continuing the theme of Shelsley specials after the trip to Wisombe, here's Miss Bacfire. Or maybe that should Miss BACfire. That 2.4 litre vee twin originally lived in a 1920's motorcycle used for bicycle pacing. I'd never heard of this sport but it's basically going as fast as you can on a push bike whilst slipstreaming behind a motorcycle or car. It used to be incredibly popular because of the speeds involved and velodromes sprang up all over France to sate the demand. It was even worth Louis Bac building motorcycles especially designed for this very purpose. These had big engines with a direct belt drive off the crankshaft and would build up speed slowly and inexorably dragging the hapless cyclist along behind them in their wake. You can see the sort of device on Silodrome . The A Meier BAC, to give the machine its full title, was built around 1928 and featured rollers on the back to avoid any mishaps if the pursuing push bike put its front tyre to clos...

The GSM Delta was the first that I've ever seen When I arrived at Wiscombe Park I was amazed to see how cut up the the top field was. Under the trees it's sort of level but the ground was still waterlogged despite recent dry weather and ruts showed vehicles had got stuck and been towed out with difficulty. So we were all crammed into the top paddock and very cosy it was, too! It wasn't always sunny, though I met up with my old mate Pete Low who was on the first leg of his holiday to France. He was on his BMW Funduro and I was my Monster Mazda and we were both camping in tents. Friday was very windy and it rained hard. Neither of us got  much sleep. There were rumours around the paddock in the morning that the event might be cancelled but I'm delighted to say that it wasn't. The lower paddock was very muddy and inevitably the start line became covered with clods from competitors wheels. It rained intermittently all through the day but we had some sunny spell...

So here's a special post to reply to latest four that I've had on Engine Punk. This pickup was found in a barn a few years ago. (Photo : Jon Clark) Anonymous and Bones added to the chronicles if the UAZ 452 . Apart from that time on Dartmoor when i was on my Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme expedition and these things were newly imported, I have never seen one. Bones reckons the engine was based on a Standard Vanguard and that the compression ration was so low they could run on paraffin. My neighbour has a petrol/paraffin grey Fergie with an engine based on the old Vanguard so perhaps this is true? He used to work for the importer who used the trade name of Trekmaster and they had incredible off road performance and had been type approved in the UK for a 1 tonne payload. Anonymous pointed me to a Facebook page about the Southern Electricity Board Vehicle Club and there's a UAZ on that. It seems they didn't last long (4 years) but were bought because Land Rover...

New tyres for the Allard J1 make Binky very happy After our encouraging result in the 2014 Exeter, Binky and I were looking forward to the Land's End Trial even more than ever. Binkers had been unhappy with the front tyres for some time and managed to get a good deal on some Pirelli Cinturatos the week before the trial. These were slightly narrower than the Bridgestones that we'd used before and continued to use on the back. This is the new windscreen wiper system - no rusty allen keys wrapped with wire for us anymore On the train up to Andover from Liskeard I had tread problems of my own - the sole on one of my old frank Thomas motocross boots began to come away. I've had them since 1987 so they've lasted well. I think being quietly cooked in the footwells of the Allard hasn't done them much good - I left my previous pair of walking boots next to my Rayburn for a winter and they just fell apart soon afterwards. Once at Binky Villas, there was nothing else...

My god the Exeter Trial was wet this year I could take issue over the name of this special because it doesn't look like a Ford Pop and has a Fiat 1995cc twin cam engine in it. This machine is far removed from the sit and beg Ford Pops that may once have donated the odd chassis component. Personally, I reckon it needs something more distinguished - unless the plan is to lull fellow competitors into a false sense of security. There comes a time in the life of many Fiat Twin Cam engines when they have to flee the rusting privations of their first home and migrated to pastures new, like a friendly Morris Minor. This one has done something even more "special". I spotted it at Popham  Airfield last weekend and remembered that I'd had a closer look at it at the top of Bulverton Steep back on the 2012 Exeter Trial. They were out of the awards on the 2012 event... It's crewed by David Jackson and Peter Horne from Buckingham and they don't do the Land...

Binky and Mrs Binky invoke ancient gods to bring us luck in the 2014 Exeter Trial This year the weather was so bad I almost didn't make it to Binky's place "somewhere in England". I was all set to travel by train to Andover but lightning strikes knocked out signalling in Cornwall and Devon and there was flooding at Cowley Bridge between Exeter and Tiverton. I set out at 0945 but was back home by noon thanks to rail replacement buses. Nobody was going to be going anywhere by rail that day so I drove up to Honiton where I caught a train going to Andover. I arrived at 1800, much later than intended but still early enough for Mrs Binky to inflict food torture on me. I even had time for an LLD (Little Lie Down) before we set off for the start of the 2014 Exeter trial at Popham Airfield. This is the first time out for the revised and much improved lighting arrangements on the Allard J1. It's, er, a bit dark here so you'll maybe have to my word for it. Bink...

Credit where credit is due - the staff at Liskeard and Plymouth railway stations did a great job of dealing with weather related problems last Friday. This is not a scene of uproar and crowds at Plymouth railway station - it is one of quiet efficiency with passengers already on the replacement coaches laid on in lieu of the cancelled trains due to weather. I had tickets from Liskeard to Andover with return tickets from Exeter to Liskeard as part of my travel plan to start in and return home from the 2014 Exeter Trial. But it wasn't to be. Lightning strikes knocked out the signalling in Cornwall during the morning so nothing was moving in Cornwall at all. At Liskeard, Jo and Sonya organised buses for us and as I was travelling beyond Plymouth I was on the first minibus. But at Plymouth it became apparent that further lightning strikes in Devon and flooding beyond Exeter meant that plans to stop services at Plymouth and redirect them eastwards wouldn't work. A...

The future of classic trials? The Suzuki X-90 is a car that has only just begun to have its day and even then it's having it in the obscure world of classic trialling. Not only that but it's the unloved two wheel drive variety that's found favour. The X-90 was one of those niche cars that may have made sense when the concept was pitched to senior executives but, once let loose in the market place with everybody else looking at it, it didn't actually make a lot of sense. I can sort of understand where Suzuki were coming from. So many people aspire to the lifestyle that a four wheel drive vehicle apparently indicates that you are enjoying that it could be sensible to offer them the look of it without all the tiresome heavy duty stuff that any self-respecting hairdresser doesn't need. And no disrespect to hairdressers - for many years the MGB was known for being a hairdresser's car. The MGB had the look of a sports car without all that tiresome performa...