Scratchbuilt 'Kiwi 40' goes racing.

[Russ Noble]

Geeezus ! Its that age where we still think we're 22 -- anyway least we can't say you're not trying and wish you a speedy recovery.:thumbsup:

BTW have a couple of 930 trans (as a core) if you need one ?

Ah, 22! That was 1969 when I rolled my first singleseater at Teretonga. Youthful exuberance and stupidity, 6 weeks in hospital. ... 41 years later geriatric exuberance and bad luck, 1 day in hospital. I think things must be improving......

I could be interested in one of your cores at a later date when I go dogbox. Will be in contact.

Thanks to everyone for the kind wishes and all the support. :thumbsup:

 

[Russ Noble]

Interestingly, I noticed the rear trailing arm was bent up pretty well. Can you provide some data on those arms. It is nice to see that piece fold up rather than break the mount and spear anybody sitting in the seat. I'm currently using 1 1/4" diameter .125" wall tubing, but considering 1" diameter .095" tubing instead. Would you care to opine on this (aside from the obvious weight reduction)?

All rear suspension arms are 1" Ø x .062 WT. Heim joints on rear of trailing arms are 3/8" shank, front of trailing arms are 7/16" shank.

I know there are many who opined that the tube this car is built from was too light and that many had reservations about the use of nickel silver bronzing, but in all honesty, as some have said, I think the way the car (and driver) survived such a major hit is testament to the design and execution of the build.

 

[Russ Noble]

Damn, a major spanner in the works at present. I have been told I cannot get a medical clearance before the end of Feb. That stuffs any chance of doing SFOS this year. :furious: The Spinal Unit in a recent letter to my doctor started off "Mr Noble does not really think he has hurt his neck particularly, but I have explained to him that he has had a significant fracture of C4...." They've got me consigned to a Philadelpia collar until the end of Jan when they will review and if OK insist on a further month to strengthen and mobilise before returning to racing.

But maybe thats not so limiting, progress on rebuilding the car is very sporadic as by the time I've done my somewhat restricted days work I'm a bit tuckered out and really only want to go home and take it easy. I'm meant to be off work but not much chance of that when you own a small business. So unless I start to feel a bit more energetic very soon, the chances of having the car ready in time for SFOS continue to inexorably diminish anyway.

Having had the chance to reflect on the accident the last couple of weeks, I have to say that given the speed and severity of the impact that I have obtained the best possible outcome that was available from that incident. The likely result from going in frontwards or sideways just doesn't bear thinking about. Better to be born lucky than rich sometimes. I guess missing SFOS is a small price to pay for that sort of luck.

 

[Dalton Veitch]

Agreed, Russ. Now take advantage of this enforced slow down. Re-build, re-group, gather up your energy again gradually, and next year you'll end up really going well. Best wishes, and glad you are still walking around. Keep us posted, but don't rush.

 

[Keith]

Sorry to hear about the delay Russ, but it will give you time to refine the package (and the car :laugh: ).

To be quite honest, what you have already achieved from scratch in the timescale is nothing short of amazing. You have no reason to be disappointed with the recent turn of events mate..

 

[Kevin Box]

Russ

Not being able to do SFOS is a little disapointing as it seems you were progressing well with sorting the car.

I guess I have the backing of the whole forum in wishing you the best with your recovery. :thumbsup:

Take it easy and enjoy the Christmas and New Year.

Hope hope the new year brings you an early reprieve from the dog collar.

Regards

Kevin and Ruth

 

[Jack]

Russ,
Speedy recovery mate, be careful...

 

[John]

Hey Russ, bloke what the hell happened , ive just seen the carnage and the report, man you are one lucky SOB , a damaged C4 is not something most people survive let alone still walk, go buy a lotto ticket.
i trust Lim and crew under your guidance will have the old girl ship shape in no time but dont you try hurrying things up were not as young as we used to be remember and we take a bit longer to heal.
hope you have a great xmass
cheers from over the ditch
John and Fran

 

[David Morton]

Lucky man Russ.
Do what the Docs tell you for a while.
Dave

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Russ, I'm very glad you are going to be O.K. And I'm sure the car will be better than ever once you get it back on the road. Mind what the Doc says, any neck fracture is significant give it time to heal.:thumbsup:

 

[Russ Noble]

Maybe this not strictly about Kiwi 40 going racing, but it is connected on several different levels. Rehabilitation being one of them. So I have included it in this thread, and also I wouldn’t want any of my mates to miss out on the opportunity to take the piss….. Anyone with a distaste for thread drift, stop reading now.
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com

<st1lace w:st="on">Christchurch</st1lace> and attracts an international entry and is regarded as one of the most scenic marathons in the world. It sports an entry of over two and a half thousand, and this year over 600 of those are competing in the Walk Section. This year is the 30<SUP>th</SUP> Anniversary. For me it is the first time, and coincidentally, the last.
<o></o>
<o></o>
Why the Buller <st1lace w:st="on">Marathon</st1lace>? Well that’s a bit of a long story, and is due to a lovely lass called Julie, who is a great motorsport fan and whom I had taken out a couple of times just before that horrendous crash at Levels. Despite my suggestion after the crash that she should cut loose and move on, she opted for me to move in with her and helped nurse me back to health. Great stuff, I was now added to her menagerie of stray and damaged cats and birds that benefited from her Florence Nightingale instincts. I just love nurses!
<o></o>
<o></o>
Julie originates from <st1lace w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Westport</st1:City></st1lace>, which is where the marathon finishes up, and she has done the Half Marathon almost every year since the inception of the race. In her early days she ran it, registering her best time of 1h 39min. Jeez, how can anyone do that?
<o></o>
<o></o>
Julies house in Christchurch is up on a hill about 3½ km from my work and last November I decided I needed to get my strength up and also try and reduce the pot gut that I was starting to develop from too much good living :thumbsup:. I decided to start walking to work. The first few weeks were pretty hard on the body and it took about 40 minutes each way. My legs, and strangely my neck, began to ache quite a bit so I figured something must be working and if I kept up the walking it would improve the strength in both. Which it has, and I am currently down to 30min.
<o></o>
<o></o>
When her entry form for this years Buller arrived I decided to do it with her and that was that. So on her advice we went out and selected suitable walking shoes etc and I was hot to trot. You had to estimate your anticipated time for the 21 km so I put down 4hrs but I hoped I could do about 3 ½ , as previous to that I had done 12 km which had taken about 2 hrs but I really had no idea if I could keep that up for twice as long…..
<o></o>
<o></o>
Marathon weekend we stayed at her mothers place in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Westport</st1lace></st1:City> which was right across the road from the park where the finish is and where the buses depart. We were up at six on a beautiful West Coast morning to have breakfast, get into our walking gear and catch the fleet of buses leaving the park for the start line 20 km up the Buller Gorge. Start time was about 8:30 so there was a little bit of time to kill before the start, enabling an interesting study of the various shapes and sizes and antics of the different entrants.
<o></o>
<o></o>
Then it all came crashing down around me when Julie said “Where’s your transponder?” Bugger! Back at her mother’s. Bloody thing was supposed to be tied to my shoelace. That meant I wouldn’t be included in the official results. Not that it really mattered, since I was not a serious competitor. What the hell, getting a certificate has never been the catalyst for anything I have ever done. Personal satisfaction is what its all about. That and winning or setting lap records, but that’s not going to happen here…..Not by a long shot, so I’m not really sure why the hell I’m doing it!
<o></o>
<o></o>
8:30 and the blast from the starters gun reverberated around the gorge and a surging mass of humanity forged ahead, runners at the front, walkers after them. I was hoping to keep up with Julie who had not been able to do any training due to an injury and I managed to do that for a couple of of kms, as we jostled through some of the slightly slower walkers, but the pace was a bit faster than my previous walking to work, so I decided to settle back to something a bit more sustainable.

Everyone spread out a bit and I shortly found myself walking at the same pace as another first timer. Quite a spunky 25 year old blonde :heart: And 40 yrs my junior, we were both hoping to do under 4hrs and after reaching the half way point in 1:39 it looked as though 3 ½ might have been achievable. If we did not drop too much off the existing pace for the second half.
<o></o>
<o></o>
It was good having someone to walk with. Occasionally I would gradually drop behind a couple of paces and have to make a bit of an effort to catch up and similarly elsewhere I would notice Sarah lagging a little from time to time and having to get back up to pace also. So we more or less dragged each other along. Then the occasional walker or group of walkers started to go past us so we decided we must have slowed down so tried to up the pace a little more.
<o></o>
<o></o>
The time was called out at 2km to go, 2:57, so we were definitely going to go under 3:30. The last 2km into <st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Westport</st1lace></st1:City> wasn’t too bad and we finished the event in 3:15. About 350<SUP>th</SUP> out of 600. Pretty satisfying really. Mind you I was totally shagged for the next two days! Julie finished in 3:05 but had to contend with blisters throughout most of it.
<o></o>
<o></o>
Out of interest, the walking record is 1:50. Running 1:07. Bloody hell!!!<o></o>
<o></o>
Below are some pics of myself and of Julie about to finish the event, plus the 30<SUP>th</SUP> anniversary commemorative medal that all finishers received.
<o></o>
<o></o>
And that, for everyone’s amusement, is a slightly different race report, the next one on this thread will be about real racing again, but that is still some way off...<o></o>
<o></o>
<o></o>
<o></o>
<o></o>
<o></o>
<o></o>
<o></o>
<o></o>
<o></o>

 

Good on you Russ. I take it you will not be at Teretonga this weekend?

 

[flatchat(Chris)]

On ya Russ hahahaha! --looks like Julies getting her monies worth outa ya --keep it up mate , don't want any soft half inch in the middle. :uneasy:

 

[Russ Noble]

Ah Chris, a fate worse than death!

No I won't be getting to Teretonga this year Brian. Hope to be tidying up the workshop instead, and fitting new lighting in readiness for a concentrated effort on the car. :chug:

 

[Kevin Box]

Russ well done !!!!!


Cheers KB