Luke How

New Cars

2010-11-08T01:29:00.000-08:00

So It has been way to long since the last race, but in the process i have sold the Excel and bought a Nissan Pulsar SSS. This is due to university not allowing much funds. First event for the Pulsar is the 20th at Powrana Khanacross for round 5. I will update the blog with the results after the event so stay tuned.

Also in this long break a group of Engineering students, Alan How and myself have finished building a BMW E30 track car. This will be raced next year in the TAS Super Series, and various club events. If you are after photos of the build drop me an email and I have a large photo collection. This car was built in a period of 5 months mostly on Tuesday nights after uni.

1st Outright at MSCT Khanacross

2010-06-03T02:19:00.000-07:00

In muddy conditions the Excel once again rose. Finishing 1st outright in a field of 45 people. The Excel enjoyed the slippery conditions and i had a smile from ear to ear. The overall lead was 43 seconds in front of 2nd outright which i was really happy about. Can't wait till the next event.

Results: www.msct.com.au

2010

2010-04-07T22:46:00.001-07:00

This blog hasn't been updated for a long time due to time restraints but I have still been competing when funds and time is allowed. Results have been good so far this year too. I will fill you in on the events.

To start of the year I entered the 500CC Khanacross on the 7th February, this event only permits radial tyres and i managed to win the event outright from a field of 21.

Next event was round 2 of the 500CC Khanacross and i made a big mistake in this by not completely stopping in the garage which means i got the slowest time +5seconds. Before I made the mistake I was leading but ended up finishing 12th Outright

My last event I competed in was the Blacktrack gravel hillclimb and I suprised myself when a result of 4th outright came my way. This was good considering the level of competition was high. and most of the cars entering were welll prepared.

Results: http://stuff.johnnysmultimedia.com/suppregs/2010-2-7%20Khanacross%20rnd%201%20result.pdf

http://msct.com.au/results/Speed/Hillclimb%20Results%2027.03.10.pdf

Some pictures from gravel hillclimb :

Two great results to finish of the year.

2010-01-05T21:39:00.000-08:00

The year has come to an end and the car once again prooved its worhty by gaining a 7th Outright at MSCT Gravel hillclimb in retreat area and a 2nd Outright at MSCT Khanacross. The khanacross result was special because it was acheived on standard road tyres.
Results:
http://www.msct.com.au/results/Khanacross/KhanaX%20Results%2021.11.09.pdf
http://www.msct.com.au/results/Rally/Hillclimb%20Results%20%2005.12.09.pdf

Domain hill climb 09

2009-09-18T05:56:00.000-07:00

This was my 3rd year in a row entering this event and it is such a great event that I would come back for another 3 years if possible. The car is not perfectly suited to tarmac setup having no sway bars in the front it tends to get a fair bit of roll around the corners. But it is still a good a fun car to thrash in the hillclimb.

First run was a wet run, and i was not confident at all in the car so I decided to take it very easy and not crash the car. Hillclimbs also run on your best time so there is no point pushing if it is a wet run when it will be dry later in the day. Fortunately the rest of the runs were dry.

The second run i got into the groove and realised that Scotty Neuman in the Charade and myself were very close in the times so the battle began and we were fighting in times all day at one stage the time difference was one one-hundreth of a second. I am very competitive and took the challenge on, it came down to the last run and i beat scotty by a small margin of 0,2 seconds.

All in all great weekend and good times were had

Results: www.cmitas.org

Hellyer Rally Summary

2009-07-19T05:43:00.001-07:00

Well just got back and glad to announce that Scott Newman did a fantastic job of driving his little Dihatsu Charade to 11th outright and first in class. The Rally was outstanding, the organizers did a great job and the whole day ran smoothly.

On the start line we saw 23 cars turn up, which is really good for a TRS event. Walking around and looking at the cars I was amazed at the level of competition in the TRS at the moment, especially in the 2wd section. The most exciting car-driver combination was that of Lee Peterson and the Nissan Pulsar. This car really catches my attention and at the end of the rally it was really good to see Lee finish 3 rd outright and first 2wd.

Our day ran really well and our goals were to finnish and just gather experience. Scotty tried some different driving styles and at the end of the day the in-car feeling was great, and the pace seemed to really improve throughout the whole day. The weather was a little bit cold and when it started to rain some stages became really slippery, but he kept it together and managed a solid finnish.

Results: http://nwcctas.net/docs/hellyer09.pdf

Hellyer Rally

2009-07-16T04:01:00.000-07:00

This weekend the Shiftlock team will be heading up to Burnie for the unforgiving Hellyer Rally. This is the same rally I crashed out of last year. This year I will be enjoying the scenary from the passanger side as I navigate for Scott Newman in the Dihatsu Charade. Really looking forward to this rally, and it will be good to see how Scott goes. It will also give me a chance to have a look at road conditions before the Novice Rally that will take place shortly after Hellyer.

3rd Outright at MSCT Motorkhana

2009-06-20T05:30:00.000-07:00

Another great day held by MSCT. This event saw a massive turnout of 27 entries. I was really happy with 3rd Outright first car under 2l.

The day was great but I did suffer a huge amount of understeer on the tight tracks due to my worn out tyres. Another improvement for future events will be the fitting of a hydraulic handbrake for the really tight corners. But all in all stoked with 3rd from 27 entries. Enjoyed the close battle with Stephen in the CRX.

Results:

http://msct.com.au/results/Motorkhana/Motorkhana%20Results%2020%20June%202009.pdf

Now to continue with preparations for Novice Rally can't wait...

Gearing up for Novice Rally

2009-06-12T23:16:00.000-07:00

I have began gearing up getting ready for the novice rallies being held on the the north west of Tasmania. The events will be run by North West Car Club. I am really looking forward to these event the first one is held out at Hellyer George.

below: getting interior ready

These type of events will be a step up from Khanacross, Motorkhana's and Hillclimb and I beleive the car and myself is ready to go to the next level. Finishing each event will be number one priority though.

Dates are: 8th August Novice Rally - (Hellyer Gorge)

19th September Novice Rally - (Ridgley)

The second event on the 19th of September will be a Night event so that will definitely be an interesting experience.

So time to get car ready and find myself a navigator......

1st Outright at MSCT Khanacross

2009-05-23T06:42:00.000-07:00

Well what a weekend. The khanacross was fantastic, the Powrana track is fairly challenging and it caught a few competitors out. I ended up using the rally tyres as the level of competition was too high to win on radials.

A large field of cars turned up, which was good to see. The first run I had got the adrenaline going, and after I got out of the car I was shaking. Lucky for me I was the last car on the track and all the cars before me had swept most of the loose gravel off the track.

The only issue I had throughout the day was dust coming into the cabin. I have to put silicon in all the holes before the next event. Overall though couldn't be much more happier with first in class and first outright. pictures to come

RESULTS: http://www.msct.com.au/results/Khanacross/KhanaX%20Results%2023.05.09.pdf

Till next time.

Excel back out this weekend.

2009-05-19T02:26:00.000-07:00

Excel will be racing this Saturday at MSCT Khanacross. Really looking forward to this at I missed the first khanacross. Will try to run it on radials rather that rally tyres we will see how that goes.

Targa Pics

2009-05-19T02:18:00.000-07:00

1st in Targa Tasmania Rookie Rally

2009-05-01T02:35:00.000-07:00

Well what an event... Phil House and myself in the navigators seat piloted a BMW E30 to victory in the rookie rally. An amazing achievement and something i am still yet to take in. The event started with reecie which we did Saturday, Sunday and Monday before the event. The event then kicked of in George Town with the prologue street stage.

The street stage was one of the highlights for sure, Phil managed to get the car sideways on most corners and put on a show for the spectators and also set very quick time.

Day one and Day two involved going through some of Tasmanians best roads. The BMW handled very well giving us some great stage times. We held the lead from Prologue to the last stage, with fierce competition from Ian Swan at the end of the event. The BMW was an amazing car and sitting in the navigators seat was quite a wild ride.

MSCT Gravel Hillclimb

2009-04-18T05:17:00.001-07:00

Just got back from an action packed weekend in the forestry around retreat area. The Excel once again proved its worth by giving me a result of 1st in class and 14th outright. Which is not to bad considering it is a gravel hill-climb and the best combination for a hillclimb is a high powered rear wheel drive/four wheel drive, and the the Excel is everything but that.

The first run I was very cautious just trying to find grip levels and get used to the corners. There was a few corners that could catch you out, one including a 3rd gear long left hander. The track had two chicanes and getting into and out of them as quick as possible was difficult aswell. My second run I shaved over 6 seconds of and started to feel a little more confident in the car. Then I was slightly improving on my times throughout the rest of the runs. Throughout the day I was trying some different lines, finding not much time gain but some lines felt better inside the car than others. Overall the event was fantastic (thanks MSCT organizers and officials). The hillclimb was a good size with each pass taking a little under 2 minutes.

Results:

http://www.msct.com.au/results/Rally/Hillclimb%20Results%2018.04.09.pdf

2nd and 3rd for Excel at Cambridge

2009-04-05T00:43:00.000-07:00

The Excel made its long awaited return to action. The car hasn't been raced for over 4 months. The event was run by 500 Car club and a strong field of 26 cars turned up. Scotty Newman and myself were in the Excel and we managed to get 2nd and 3rd outright.

At the end of the day Adrian Morrisby won in his Subaru Forrester (4-wheel drive), although I was only 4 seconds behind total. The car ran very well and the car got some attention with its newly added roll cage and exhaust system (thanks Simon). Next event is a gravel hill climb on the 18th of April.
Results:
http://stuff.johnnysmultimedia.com/suppregs/500cc_Khanacross_Round_2_Results.pdf

Big kick off for 2009

2009-03-14T02:01:00.000-07:00

Motorsport events are starting up again after the summer break and I have been given the opportunity to navigate in the all tarmac round, Targa Tasmania. I will be competing alongside Phil House in his BMW E30. Phil has entered in the rookie rally, which is focused for first time targa competitors. The rookie rally consists of 2 days competition and the prologue.

I will update the blog with more info as Targa nears.

visit: www.targa.org.au (for more info)

Update and break

2009-02-09T02:33:00.000-08:00

I have got my car back from Simon Jansen at "Mufflers and More" in Hobart and he has done a great job with the exhaust system on the car. The sounds is great, there is a difference in the power as well.
To get a exhaust system on your race/road car, contact Simon through:
www.mufflersandmore.com.au

Now the building continues with the roll cage. I havn't done an event in the Excel for a while and I can't wait till the next event comes around.

During the break I have been doing alot of riding on my Scott Scale 50. I will be doing a few races on the bike this year but I will be using it mainly for riding to uni and work.

Also been doing some sailing races in the derwent river with some guys from work, I have tried doing some dinghy sailing and that is great fun.

Back in the workshop

2009-01-10T15:03:00.000-08:00

The Excel is back in the workshop for a few updates and a small refreshment.

I have only got the chance to start working on the Excel this week but progress has been made.

First lets start on the E30 M3 this is my fathers car and he is still putting away at it. He has custom made some extractors, it took a very long time to make these due to the amount of effort gone into making each one almost equal length. The collectors look very good aswell.

The car body now needs to get welded together with a spot welder so that is the next thing on the list for the E30.

The Excel,

Spent 3 hours every night this week removing tar on the floor. I will have lost about 15-20 kg in tar. I have removed some of the audio system and all the carpet.

In the mechanical department, I have fitted some of my nolathane bushes to the front lower control arms. The gearbox oil has been replaced, and cv boots will be replaced tonight. I pulled the old exhaust system out and will be buying a mandrel bent exhaust system some time next week.

The cage probably won't go in until I get some more holidays which will be around easter or June/July. Next event on the calendar is probably a motorkhana in Northern Tasmania on January the 24th.

Old mate Nick O'neill from Victoria is keen to navigate for me in a few rally events mid to later this year. Plans are to do Auspine rally October 3rd which is a state rally round and possibly a few club level rally's during mid year.

Till then.

1st Outright at MSCT Motorkhana

2008-12-06T12:57:00.001-08:00

Following the cancelation of the khanacross last weekend due to heavy rainfall I was really looking forward to this event.
The second round of the Motorkhana series held by MSCT was held at Symonds Plains. It wasn't located on the track but in the car-park area. This Motorkhana was a bitumen event, with some very tight tracks. The weather was hot all day but as always at Symonds very windy. The surface was slippery in the morning but after lunch the track was quite warm and grippy. Some very tough competition turned up, including Street's Nissan Skyline. The Excel ran well all day with only a small problem with the handbreak. Keeping my driving style clean and smooth gave me the trophy. Unfortunately my style of driving wasn't very spectacular and without having the hand break made it difficult to get through some 180 corners. I was experimenting with left foot breaking throughout the day and I found it very helpful.
Results: 1st by just under 4 seconds from Stefan and in 3rd was Jason Street.

Update and Preperation for Khanacross on 29th of November at Cambridge

2008-11-18T22:58:00.000-08:00

Update!!!
Car is almost ready for khanacross on the 29th of November at Cambridge Motorsport Park. I have swapped setup from circuit to gravel again which takes about a days work, with all the fiddly settings. The circuit wheels have been swapped for some radials due to the khana rules. The car just needs a toe check and it should be right to go.
The car has recently developed a problem in it's mid range power and we don't know what it could be, so I might start at the top by replacing the fuel filter and work my way down from there. Also I have fixed the terratrip and it is now working perfectly with the foot remote and all.
Summer break is coming up and I have a relatively large list of jobs that I should get done. Hopefully the car will be in full TRS spec(Tasmanaina rally series) around March next year and Then I will keep running it in club level motorsport until late 2009 where I will try and enter a full TRS event again.

New Parts Arrive

2008-11-12T19:59:00.000-08:00

I have ordered some parts for the Excel recently. I bought some bushes from Superpro. They are made from a much stiffer polyurethane material which will make the car setting in toe, camber and caster much more fixed, which will give better stability, handling, and control.
I also purchased a shift light kit from Jaycar which I am in the process of wiring up. The kit said that it takes 60min to wire up but it has almost taken me 3 times that and I still haven’t finished.
I also received some more camber washers from DMS so I can give the car a more neutral set-up for gravel I will probably be running around 0.5 negative camber on dirt on the front and rear and 2-4 negative camber on the circuit.
Next event is a Khanacross out at Cambridge.

Wiring the Terratrip and Intercom

2008-11-01T00:47:00.000-07:00

Today I was able to get a little bit completed all though it felt like the small jobs took for ever to do. I was able to get some of the wiring for the terratrip and intercom done. A wheel probe was inserted inside the hub and a small bracket had to be made, to hold the probe. Then thin wiring had to be run up to the dash to the terratrip. The terratrip was mounted to the dash with the wiring coming up from under the dash. Then we sourced some power from the cigarette lighter to power the terratrip and intercom.

Excel shows potential at Supersprint

2008-10-21T03:13:00.000-07:00

The Excel debuted at it's first track day and it surprised a few people including myself. We were out there to see what it would do in standard form. We were hoping to run a 1:12.00 around the track if we were lucky but we managed to get the car down to a time of 1:10.60, beating alot of high performance cars. out of a field of 36 Aaron (my brother) managed to finish 19th with a time of 1:10.6 and I finished 20th with a time of 1:10.7. The car suffered a fair bit of oversteer with the standard bushes and lack of stiffness in the body. The brakes weren't up to scratch either, although once these minor issues are sorted I'm hoping to get a 1:08.00 out of the car. I will be getting some Whiteline swaybars and nolathane rubbers for the car shortly and that should help with the handling.
The highlight of the day was a close 4 way battle with 2 Minis and a Daewoo. had a blast...
Results
http://mgtas.org.au/Competition%20Results/MG%20Mini%20combined%20club%20day%20191008%20results.pdf

Preparations finished for Baskerville Supersprint

2008-10-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

I spent today getting the car ready for the Supersprint tomorrow. It will be my first supersprint and I'm looking forward to it. The last event was nearly a month ago, so it will be good to blow the cob webs of the Excel. In preparation for tomorrow I replaced the oil and oil filter, fitted new spark plugs and got some track tyres fitted to my 13 inch rally rims. Hopefully the weather will be similar to today's weather. Tomorrow I will be making some changes to suspension set up and maybe toe, to get a better feel for the car. I will also be trying the difference between a 13 and 15 inch tyre. Halfway through the day I will put on the 15 inch wheels and tyres from the Domain and see what difference it makes to the cars handling and times.

1st Outright at MSCT Motorkhana

2008-09-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday MSCT held it's first motorkhana for the year, it was held behind Symonds Plains race track. It was a great day and the track was very slippery and muddy. The Excel proved to be a great car around the muddy track. It was good to experience alot of understeer and oversteer on the entry of corners. Out of 22 competitors we placed first outright.

Results:

http://www.msct.com.au/results/Motorkhana/Motorkhana%20Results%2028%20September.pdf

Baskerville test with David

2008-09-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

David Waldon tested his new Subaru for the first time on Saturday. I went out for a look and helped out a little bit with some of the setting changes. It was great to see the new car with it's new livery and he should be a contender for some podium places in the next few tarmac rounds coming up. Tarmac challenge is only two weeks away and they are planning on entering the Subaru in that event.

some pictures of the new car:

Domain Results and photos

2008-09-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

Results for the domain were 26th out of a field of 48, and also 4th in class.
click on pictures

http://cmitas.org/

Great day at the Domain

2008-09-14T02:32:00.000-07:00

It was another great day at the domain hill climb the conditions were a bit eratic but overall it was quite sunny. The Excel showed good pace, especially considering it is a standard car and it is Front wheel drive. It felt tight through the corners. My first run was very cautious as it had been raining and the tyres I was using had been siting in the sun for 3 years and were very worn. When the sun came out the grip improved and on the last run I was able to shave almost 10 seconds of my first run. which is a dramatic improvement considering each run was only about 50 seconds long. Had a ball although the track would of been nice if it was longer.

Results and more pics to come, also next event is a supersprint at Baskerville October 19th, keep tunned.

Preperations finished for Domain Hill Climb

2008-09-13T00:10:00.000-07:00

I have been spending a few nights getting my car to a semi tarmac set-up for some events coming up. The next two events I will be entering will be Domain hill climb and a supersprint at Bakserville. The Domain hill climb is tommorow and the supersprint is still another couple of weeks away. The car is looking very good with some 15 inch R31 skyline wheels modified to suit the excel. and some semi slick tyres to go with the wheels. It is lowered about 30 mm all round from gravel spec and a little more camber is added. Results for tommorows event will be posted up, so be sure to come back and check.

2nd outright at MGCCT Motorkhana

2008-09-06T05:02:00.000-07:00

Today a motorkhana was held out at Kellyfield. Motorkhanas are timed events were flags are set out in a field and a track is to be memorized. We were allowed 2 attempts at each track and we took our best time from each track. In total there were 4 tracks. To memorize the course wasn't easy, but the challenge made it enjoyable.

In total there were 12 competitors. The Hyundai Excel felt great through the tight and twisty corner although the small Mini's were hard to beat finishing 1st and 3rd outright. I was happy with 2nd outright as it was my first motorkhana, and a few costly errors were made throughout the day.

results:

http://www.mgtas.org.au/Competition%20Results/Results%20State%20Motorkhana%20Series%20060908.pdf

1st Outright at MSCT Powrana Khanacross

2008-08-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

The Excel takes it second outright victory yesterday at Powrana Khanacross track. It was a very competitive field of 20 entries with some highly modified machinery. I managed to keep it clean except for 1 +10 second penalty for finishing outside of the finish area. But managed to win 2 of the 5 stages keeping me in first. Aaron also entered and finished 3rd outright with a slowest plus 5 second penalty for going in the wrong direction but manged to keep the rest of the runs clean also wining 2 stages out of 5 to put him in 3rd outright.

Results

www.msct.com.au/results/Khanacross/KhanaX%20Results%2030.08.08.pdf

Build Update

2008-08-23T23:45:00.000-07:00

Getting the car ready for the next khanacross this one will be out at Powrana. It is held with the motorsport car club tas. In preperation for the khana I have got stuck into converting the standard suspension system to run with DMS rally suspension. This suspension had added travel, adjustability in height, bump and rebound, it is also better suited to rough surfaces.

Also I have a picture of the updated cockpit, it is still waiting to receive cage, nav seat, terratrip and terraphone.

Could be a posibility of runing a track day soon... as I want to see how the car performs on the sticky stuff. If i have enough funds I will enter the mcct track event after the khanacross at powrana, or just go for a private practice one day, keep you posted.

1st Outright at MGCT Kellyfield Khanacross

2008-08-02T00:51:00.001-07:00

Today at Kellyfield Aaron and myself entered the Khanacross event. I managed to get first outright, which i was pretty happy about. It shows the potential of these little cars in standard trim. The field consisted of about 18 competitors. It was a good day, the track was nice and tight.

The night before the event we fitted a bose kit and a sparco steering wheel, couple of fire extinguishers and did some trim removal.

results:

http://www.mgtas.org.au/Competition%20Results/Results%20Khanacross%202%20Aug%2008.pdf

Workshop receives some organising

2008-07-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

This weekend was spent organising the workshop area.

Last week I received another green excel, this excel will be used as a daily driver. It is located in Melbourne, so we will bring it back over on the boat and I will put some pictures up. It is registered and in good condition, it is also green which makes it good for a donor car if the time comes where the rally car needs some panels.

Green Excel receives cage treatment

2008-07-12T18:38:00.000-07:00

This is the cage out of the old excel we didn't manage to salvage much out of the front half of the cage but the rear part of the cage is going to go in. We need to clean up this cage pictured below put some paint on it and weld it in. I have also started to repair the rear damage to the excel so hopefully that will be fixed and it can be driving on the road shortly. Can't wait till the first event...

Excel Update

2008-07-05T01:01:00.000-07:00

Today and yesterday afternoon Aaron and myself managed to replace the cam belt (big job), remove air conditioning, fit drivers bucket seat, removed rear damaged parts, and fit twin 1 kg fire extinguishers, we are no longer entering the motorkhana next weekend because it is north east of Tasmania, which is to far to drive. So our next event is the Multi club khanacross which is located at kellyfield on the 2nd of August then on the 10th of August Multi-club Baskerville supersprint.

The replacement Hyundai Excel

2008-07-03T02:47:00.000-07:00

Picked this car up from Targa ace Adrian Morrisby.

This car is alot better condition to my old car except for the rear damage. This has less km's and less dents (not that the dents matter). This will be receiving a cage shortly and all the rest of the gear should just bolt in.

First event is next weekend were it will enter a motorkhana.

Pictures

2008-06-24T03:16:00.000-07:00

After

Before

Bad Luck at Hellyer

2008-06-23T17:08:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately the team ran into some bad luck at Hellyer. The car was performing well until the second last stage when we ran wide into a soil bank and rolled the car end for end. The corner was a very tricky one with other competitors also having problems, but managing to power out of it. "The corner was a slightly cambered corner with very slippery rocks on the outside line. Unfortunately I got onto the outside line a little to fast and hit a soil bank." No one was hurt and it is a testament to the strength and design of the cage.
Damage report: written of car and one damaged wheel, rest is fine.

Lesson learnt, now it's time to move on. Plans are to swap all the gear over into a new Excel.

Thanks to the following people for the help: Parents, Anthony Shaw, Andy Morris, Bill Fulton, David Waldon, Jamie Drumond and Peter Eastly.

Excel Build Update 17

2008-06-01T02:23:00.000-07:00

Another Update, we have finished rebuilding the front hubs and brake callipers with new seals and bearings. I have cut off the rear exhaust and put a hot dog on there to give the car a note, couldn't hear the car before. Also Strengthened rear suspension arms by using 4 mm flat steel and boxing them to the arms. Removed sway bars.

We are still making up the strut tops, we have decided to use standard strut tops in the front and spherical bearing in the rear just for the first and maybe second round, then we will upgrade the front.

2 weeks until Hellyer.......

New Car in the Build process

2008-06-01T02:17:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would put this up on the blog, my Father, Brother and myself are slowly building an E30 M3 to use for tarmac rallying and circuit. The car will be hopefully finished later this year altough finding time to work on it is very hard. I will write a report on what has been done to it and what needs to be done shortly.

Excel Update #16

2008-05-22T00:24:00.000-07:00

Car is starting to look like a rally car. Wheels are on Stickers were done by Andy Morris at Signworks.

I really can't wait till hellyer now... Hellyer will be held on the 14th of June in Burnie. Unfortunately regular co-driver Sam Button won't be able to make it due to University Exam's, but Anthony Shaw (2007 Tas P2 Outright Driver) will be taking sam's place in the co-drivers seat.

Build update #15

2008-05-06T15:40:00.001-07:00

Front Hubs were removed on the weekend and received an overhaul with new bearings and disc rotors. Also new pads and brake shoes were put in. I used Mintex pad, and brake shoes which is apparently really good stuff. The car will be ready to get log booked for this weekend, unfortunately I won't be able to make Styx, but I'll be at Hellyer.

Sump guard and Foot Tray are ready to be fitted into the car for this weekend too.

Excel build update 14

2008-04-23T02:25:00.001-07:00

Trying to get the car ready for Styx Valley Rally which will be held in 3 weeks time. (still don't know if i'll make it) it will be located near New Norfolk. I have bought 6 Tyres which are dunlop SP 85's as pictured below. I may be puting DMS suspension in the rear and keeping the bilsteins for the front. Mudflaps are on.

I'll be doing alot of work this weekend....

Hyundai Excel Build update #13

2008-02-08T16:41:00.000-08:00

I ordered my new wheels of Mick Gillet and they have finally arrived. I think the white colour will co-inside well with the white car. I got 6 so I have one spare in the car and one spare at the service park. I will be ordering my tyres shortly, and put some pictures up with the new wheels on the car. My suspension is slowly coming along, I have drivers seat fitted and passenger side harnesses. Also fabricated up some mudflap brackets and cut some mudflaps out of tough mudflap material (hand is still recovering).

Work Experience

2008-01-18T04:42:00.000-08:00

Since the 2nd of January I have been doing some work experience for LWR, based in Launceston. I enjoy learning how things work behind the scenes in the workshop. Work Experience is an important aspect of my future career path. This has slowed my progress on the Excel. Although the Excel will be ready for a practice event held on March the 8th also in Launceston.

Quote from http://www.rallysportmag.com.au/ "The LWR team have just five weeks to prepare for the opening event, to be run from February 15-17. Both Longhurst and Quinn will test their Subarus prior to the rally, in order to get the set-up right before the opening stage gets under way"

Hyundai Excel Build Update #12

2007-12-23T21:48:00.001-08:00

The Suspension is starting to see some visual progress.

Hyundai Excel Build Update #11

2007-12-23T21:23:00.000-08:00

Co-drivers seat is in and the brackets were made so that the seat could be swapped over easily into another car, pretty much 4 bolts holding the seat in and it comes out. Also the roof vent was put in.

Hyundai Excel Build #10

2007-12-08T00:24:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Stu for the help with painting the cage. I got the paint matched up with the colour of the outside of the car, so it is a Nobel white colour. I purchased the paint from Spectrum Car Paints.

Huon Howler Rallysprint

2007-12-03T13:18:00.000-08:00

On December the 2nd 2007 I navigated for Scott Newman in the Huon Howler Rallysprint. We competed in a Dihatsu Charade. It was Scott's first time on a gravel rally and first time driving a FWD competitively. We finished 2nd from 8 competitors at the end of the day.

Hyundai Excel Build Update 9

2007-12-02T22:29:00.000-08:00

The dash has been cut and temporally bolted in so I could drive the car back to Hobart for pre-log book inspection and to be painted. The wiring needs to be sorted underneath the dash so it causes no problems during events. The car also received a full engine service with all belts, fluids and filters being changed. Next on the list is to finish the suspension

below: the dash temporally fitted

above: vehicle service and inspection

Khanacross 24th November

2007-11-24T02:30:00.000-08:00

below: Finished and packed up for the day.

below: in action

Today was the final round of the southern Tasmania khanacross series. I placed 7th out of 35 competitiors. The weather was very good (hot) and it managed to get a bit dusty towards the end of the day. My Father and Brother also came out for a run in the toyota, Aaaron (22nd) and Alan (21st). The car will get some modification over summer to keep up with the fast field of cars that arrive each event, bring on next year!!!

Excel Build Update 8

2007-11-07T00:52:00.001-08:00

I have removed everything off the damper body and now it is nice and clean, ready to be adapted to the Excel suspension system. The damper body has a nice wall thickness, so it will be nice and strong. I can't wait to try these out.
They will need to be re valved shortly.

Hyundai Excel Build Update 7

2007-10-31T01:26:00.000-07:00

Another week, some more progress. Although school has restricted the amount of time I can spend on the car, but I will have holidays after exam period which I'm looking forward to.

The past 2 weeks I have researched and thought about suspension. There isn't much options in the suspension department for The Excel rally cars, so we (Peter Eastly and myself) have decided to create our own suspension design, mainly due to cost restrictions. What I have in the pictures is the Damper housing and Dampers to suit a Holden Commodore which we will be converting to suit our Excel. Our main goal is to make the suspension strong, reliable and lots of travel. These dampers are slightly longer than the standard excel dampers, which should give us more travel. I will keep this blog updated as I go through with the suspension conversion.

Thanks to Imparts Hobart for supplying the dampers, can be contacted: (03)6231 9000

Build Update 6 cont

2007-10-20T17:23:00.000-07:00

I have finished the cage it is all welded in (note, the pictures below are not the finished cage). the dash was cut and trial fitted and it will be wired up next weekend. I need to get the cage log booked by cams so that will be happening as soon as the dash is in.

Shanons Car Expo

2007-10-16T04:17:00.000-07:00

Hi, last weekend I took part in the Shanons Car Expo, which is the largest car show in Tasmania. I entered my VW Golf with the OzEdition VW club. There was a total of 600 vehicles at the expo. The weather was good and there was a lot of interesting cars that you don't get to see often. This event is great for exposure and next year I will definitely be entering my Hyundai Excel rally car.

Hyundai Excel build update 6

2007-10-07T17:02:00.000-07:00

Progress is showing with the cage all welded in and only the rear legs to be cut and welded in, and the side intrusion bars. After that the cage is finished and it is ready for paint. My next job is to cut the dash a little bit to allow for the cage tubing to go through. Then the dash can go back in and the car is ready for seat mounts to be fabricated. The cage has taken me and my cage builder together about 40 hours up to date, which is pretty efficient. We have been very lucky because everything has gone to plan and there has been no mistakes in measurements.

Khanacross 29th September

2007-09-30T02:19:00.000-07:00

Had great fun, I got 9th out of 29 competitors. I competed in my AE82 Corolla with the twin cam engine, really great car with plenty power for the khanacross track.

I knew the result at the end of the day wasn't going to be fantastic because I hit 3 cones during the day which accumulated to a 15 second penalty and I had problems with the handbrake only locking one wheel. So I knew it wasn't going to be the best result but when I found out that I got beaten by a Volvo. yea.... I wont say anything

cant wait till the next khanacross

below: The lightweight spec Corolla

Hyundai Excel Update #5

2007-09-30T01:49:00.000-07:00

The Cage has started to show some progress with all the bent bits of tubing in place. My Cage builder and I designed and made this cage from scratch. It has been a huge learning process building a cage from scratch and there's still lots to learn. The rest of the cage shouldn't take long to finish because the rest of the cage is just measure cut and weld no bending required.

2007-09-16T02:56:00.000-07:00

More pictures from CMI Domain hill climb. This is a sequence shot with the golf up on 2 wheels.

(Click on picture to enlarge:)

CMI Domain Hillclimb

2007-09-10T03:24:00.001-07:00

On Sunday the 9th of September I competed in the Domain Hill climb with my 1977 Mk1 VW Golf. I had alot of fun it's good to push the Golf on those tight and twisty roads. My best time occured after a few tyre pressure changes to stop the tail of th car coming out I set a 44.46 on the 3rd run. Thanks to Autocraft, Imparts and E-home partnership for there support on the day. Will be good to see the Excel up there next year.

Here are some pictures;

Hyundai Excel Update No. 4

2007-09-02T03:25:00.000-07:00

A fair bit of work has been accomplished this weekend on the excel. I removed all of the interior. After all the interior was gone the sound deadener had to go. Removing sound deadener for a whole day gets a bit tedious and can make you go a bit crazy when you realized all you have removed is about 20kg, but it all counts. The dash has been removed. The car is now ready for a cage (next weekend hopefully).

I removed the air conditioning from the engine as that is no longer needed in a rally car, and the stereo system wiring and antenna.
Pictures will be up shortly.

Hyundai Excel build update 3

2007-08-24T20:40:00.001-07:00

Hi this is build update 3. I have finnaly found a car that has no major damage and is structually sound. This car will eventually become the rally car. The cage will be going in next month. I will be using a weld in type cage that my cage builder and I will be designing and building ourselves. It will be a great learning experience to do our own cage, I can't wait.

I bought this twin cam Hyundai Excel today. It is a bit rough on the outside but structualy the car is good and will make a good rally car. So now it is full steam ahead. I am looking at running this car in the a rallysprint type event later this year.

Keep an eye out for updates on this site.

Hyundai Excel build update 2

2007-08-21T04:07:00.001-07:00

Hi this is the 2nd update I have been organising some parts for my car as in seats, roof vent, terraphone, lights, and other small thing.

Also I have been busy organising some spare parts for my rally car, because the gravel roads are very rough on cars it's common for standard mechanical components to fail and when they do you need some spares so you are able to continue and don't have to retire from the event. I have purchased a cheap damaged Hyundai Excel from Fowles, it was a roll over and there wasnt much body parts that I could get of it, but all mechanical compenents including the twin cam engine where fine. It is was stripped of all the valuable parts, once it was stripped I took the damaged car and unwanted bits to the scrap metal yard.

Here are most of the (spare) parts that I took off the damaged Hyundai Excel

Track Day 29th September

2007-08-21T02:58:00.000-07:00

The VW golf was out at Baskervile on the 29th July 2007.

The car recently had a new engine installed and came up with some promising results setting a 1:10 on radial tyres.

Below: a picture from the track day at Baskervile;

also,

The CMI Domain Hill Climb is on the 9th of September

The car I will be entering is my Mk1 VW Golf.

If there is anybody interested in sponsoring the car and myself for the Domain Hill Climb please contact me (l_how@bigpond.net.au).

Hyundai Excel Build Update 1

2007-08-21T02:32:00.000-07:00

This is the start of my Excel Build. This will be my spare bodyshell or parts, it has been damage in the front but it is repearable. I have removed the engine and gearbox, the interior and the lead on the floor. The car had a single cam engine in it originally. more information on the Excel Rally Series go to; http://www.excelrally.com.au/

Luke's Blog

2007-08-21T02:01:00.000-07:00

Hello this is my blog which I have just created I thought it would be good to start up a blog were I can let others view pictures, read articles and keep up to date with activities/events I'm doing

I am a race car fanatic and am dedicated to pursuing a job in motorsport as an engineer.

I spent 1 year in Gemany to extend my skills and enjoy a different culture I also did some work experience for 1 year at a Berlin based team Muecke-Motorsport. They participated in DTM, F3, FBMW and Youngtimer trophy I got to visit all the race track in Germany and helped alot in the workshop before events.

Below: picture taken at Nürburgring Nordschleife.

I have raced go-karts for 4 years and participated in lots of minor motorsport events like khanacross, motorkhanas and track days

Above: Making some adjustments to the kart

I am currently building a Hyundai Excel rally car please keep a look out for progress on this blog. I will try to update the blog at least once a week

Please Enjoy and feel free to leave comments.