…. BoltStop has their charity drive on the 25th ……… Fossa returned from an extreme wet testing at Zwartkops Raceway with no problems. It is late afternoon 24 October. I start preparing Fossa for an appearance at BoltStop, I turn the key and something is not cooperating …. no start, suspect the battery, add the power from our auxiliary source, still not the desired change in pitch from starter motor to engine.

Eish, lift Fossa and remove her starter motor. The brush retainer broke yet again and the bushes have given up the ghost ….. I put out an appeal for a urgent replacement …. no luck. Annalie even planned her attire to assist with the loading of Fossa on the Friday morning.                No replacement offered …….. We are screwed, to bed very tired and with disappointment!

Every month we think this month there will be some extra funds for a this or a that … Not when you have a race car. Friday morning I find a brand new “replacement” at R1627.??. We collect in the afternoon and have to change the bendix with the old one as the gear on the new bendix has one less tooth. First attempt at making a bendix removal tool fails miserably. Call it a night, Saturday up at 03h00, thinking, planning.

With a pending “car show” less than two kilometers from home, the race continues.

Using a much thicker gauge material at a cost of time and hardware, attempt two succeeds and we have the old parts cleaned and swapped in good time. Now for fitting, but now the holes do not align and the lugs on the engine side is too long. Elongate the holes and cut off a piece to allow fitment. At last the starter is fitted.

Starter motor assembled, elongating holes

Now it will start, RIGHT? Nope,        WRONG     !

We drain the battery. We drain the auxiliary source. We have the Cortina on charge and jump start. NO LUCK. We checked for spark, present. We checked fuel supply, present. Compression is there. Distributor is tight and have not moved …….. She wants to start and then dies. With our hands in our hair, almost like a m$ problem and the clock ticking. It is time to look for a more advanced gremlin.

We experienced some small water based challenges in our “speed boating” at Zwartkops the weekend before and I decide to start stripping the electrics. Remove the distributor cap, no damp present, pull off the rotor, close inspection, this looks just peachy ……. but wait what is this? The wires of the AccuSpark had pulled in under the trigger and stripped clean. Push some cable in from the outside, reassemble and start as if there was nothing wrong in the first place. No words to describe!

Fossa and our Cortina gets a wash and we are off utilizing the old faithful a-frame with a quick panel beat. Arriving to a show and shine and sound off. Neither of the cars have that kinda sound and have not been prepared for a show and shine. We hang around for a while with the odd visitor to do a quick inspection of Fossa.

Fossa and mighty V6 sister

Then our planned time to depart arrives and Fossa remarkably starts. Give her some time to warm up. Pushing up the revs a bit, she lets go with flamed explosion out of her exhaust which suddenly draws a bit of a crowd.

Myself, after a meal, on the couch and slept from 18h00 to awake and go to bed at 22h00 and wake at 04h00. Well I have some refinement to do too prevent that failure again and some pre race checks and wire sealing to do, see you later.