GoPro Hero2 HD External Microphone

I'm really pleased with my new GoPro Hero2 HD video camera.  The picture is awesome.  Only issue is the sound quality, or more specifically the problem of wind noise. With the skeleton door on the back of the case it is pretty bad.  With the waterproof solid door it is better, but you still get a lot of wind noise (bad) and not much engine noise (good).

Anyway, I investigated external mikes and bought the following off eBay: UltraDisk 4036 Omnidirectional Hands Free Car Kit Microphone 3.5mm 3 Metre Cable.

Then I drilled a 9mm hole carefully in the nice new waterproof case.  Yes, I know, it won't be waterproof anymore!  I then routed the cable around the roll cage and attached the mike under the scuttle on the exhaust side.

Tried it out and success.  The wind noise is almost gone and you can hear the engine much better.  This test video was taken before I had drilled the hole in the case, hence the reason why it's just resting on the passenger seat.  Didn't want to drill hole until I knew that it was going to improve the sound.

Tiger Curborough Sprint Day

Rallye Artois Lys 2012

Late September saw our second outing to France with the Southern Kit Car Club.

Front Camber Adjustment

The rear camber had previously been set up by adjusting the rose joints on the lower wishbones.  I tried to set the front camber, but I found that I could not wind the upper ball joints far enough in to the wishbones as the locking nuts got in the way.

The solution was to either machine down the wishbones or the locking nuts.  I decided it would be better to go for the lock nuts.  The local machine shop reduced them from 9.5mm thickness to 6.5mm.

Once re-fitted the upper ball joints would wind far enough in to get the desired 1.5 degrees of negative camber.

A test drive confirmed that the handling had been significantly transformed for the better.  Previously, with neutral front camber, the car handled okay, but it felt like there was room for improvement.  Now the car is much more willing to turn into corners and goes round on rails.  I should have adjusted this particular geometry setting months ago.  I'm now looking forward to testing the car out further on some more 'twisties'.

Front Half of Roll Cage Fitted

Brackets are supplied with the cage to mount the front half.  There are some tubes welded onto them to protect the chassis rails from being crushed as the bolts are tightened up.  Problem is these are 16mm outside diameter.  If holes were drilled big enough this would remove two thirds of the metal in each of the 25mm chassis rails!  It would be okay if they were welded in before the body was fitted.  So I decided to cut the tubes off and just drill 10mm holes, using the remaining metal of the brackets as spreader plates.

Initially the roll cage came very close to the exhaust, but after tightening up the bolts it pulled the cage far enough away from the exhaust.

The silencer needed to be removed to get the lower bolts in.  The seats and interior trim panels had to be removed to get at the upper bolts.

Steel tubes of 10mm internal diameter were needed to space the roll cage out from the upper chassis rails.

Once fitted it was clear that the front half of the cage was going to foul the mirrors.

New mounting holes were made further back and 25mm rubber grommets were inserted into the holes previously cut into the aeroscreen.

Here are some photos taken on the way to the Southern Kit Car Club 2012 Jamboree.

This was taken at the Jamboree parking.

Rear Half of Roll Cage Fitted

The previously made template was used to accurately mark out where the holes needed to be cut for the rear bracing tubes.  A hole saw and a curved file were used for this.

What I hadn't appreciated was that these bracing tubes were at a slight angle.  Meaning that the holes had to be widened to get the ends through, before the rear half of the cage could be lowered in to place.  Covers will need to be made for these.  Probably out of aluminium sheet sprayed white.

The feet were then bolted on to the bracing tubes and holes drilled in the rear of the chassis to accommodate the fixing bolts.  All in all not too bad a fit, the fabrication tolerances probably within a few millimetres.

Luckily the off-side bracing tube clears the fuel filler by about 10mm and also the filler pipe below.  Phew!  That was a close call.

After fitting I tried to get in the boot.  Oh dear, we have a problem.  Looks like the boot on the Avon Mk2 bodywork will only open to about 45 degrees with the roll cage fitted.  Never mind, access is still pretty good.

Next on to the front half of the roll cage...

Delivery of Full Race Cage

Yesterday my full race cage arrived.  This was delivered on a pallet direct from the manufacturers Caged Laser Engerineering.  It is comprised of a braced roll over bar with the main part of the cage bolting to this and the side chassis rails.

It is very substantial and quite heavy.  Much tougher than the chassis by the looks of it.  Which I suppose is reassuring and whole point of fitting the cage.  The quality is very good and it comes complete with a fixing kit.  We'll see how straightforward it is to install.

Holes need to be cut in the top of the rear tub to allow the diagonal braces to pass through.  The feet are bolted on after passing through the braces through the holes.  This helps keep the holes as small as possible.

I've made a cardboard template to establish the location of the holes.

I'll use this template to transfer the dimensions across to the top  of the rear tub.  I am praying that fuel filler is not in the way and does not need to be moved.  Once I've got the old roll over bar off, and the template offered up, I'll know for sure.