Phil Barker

Sep 19 2011

With a track day at Brands Hatch coming up and another planned for Anglesey – I decided it was time to stiffen the Clio’s shell up and a bit of safety

I drove down to gloucester to buy an OMP roll cage from a lad on ClioSport. It was originally a 6 point OMP cage with a single diagonal bar in the back but it has been modified to now have a full cross with harness bars. Got it for a bargain price but the platforms to weld into the car had seen better days.

Got the car booked in at FrenchSport Tuning and the lads did a superb job as per usual.
They cleaned up the platforms and re-welded them to neaten them up, then welded them into the car.
The cage was then bolted in with high tensile bolts. Took 8 hours and it looks superb.

I’ll let the pictures do the talking

Sep 13 2011

Rants

The 5 stages of office based web development

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DENIAL
You start a new office-based job but convince yourself that this one will be different. You’ll love it, there will be no stress, there will be fantastic management and processes and every project will be a rewarding challenge.

ANGER
Why is all the current software so appallingly written? You’re supposed to fix this stuff? They’ve got to be kidding right!? You can feel your soul slowly dying while wading through your endless inbox. Yet another open-plan office layout means you can’t concentrate on anything ever.

BARGAINING
Ok so there are problems, but there are problems everywhere, you’ve got to make the best of the situation. There are some simple processes and management that could be put in place that would make such a big improvement. Work hard and impress everyone. People will notice your good work and you’ll get promoted and then you’ll really be able to make a positive difference.

DEPRESSION
You’re getting nowhere. Clients don’t know what they want and no matter what you do it’s somehow wrong!? Even when you write great code you have to try and integrate it with the spaghetti rubbish that other developers and 3rd parties produce. No-one notices how fast your new SQL statements run, they’re too busy wondering what colour the logo should be. You literally hate everyone.

ACCEPTANCE
You’ve completely given up trying to make any positive impact at all. You’ve phased out. It’s time to brush off your CV and start looking for something else. This place is beyond help.

Aug 21 2011

Cars

New dashboard

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The dashboard in the clio has rattled ever since I fitted solid engine mounts.
I was sure it would be something easy to fix but it’s taken me a while to get around to removing the whole dash.

I stripped it all out last week and found the alarm wiring all loose behind it – which was causing the rattling noise as the cables vibrated against the plastic. I also found that the heater control cables had snapped and had been badly bodged together (which is why I’ve never been able to select the demister function!!)

So I went for a drive to ClioSpares and picked up a new lower dashboard for a bargain £40 along with 2 heater control cables. Highly recommend them for parts, Josh is a top bloke to deal with!

While the dash was out I binned the passenger airbag – reprogrammed the airbag ecu to turn the warning lights off – tidied up all the factory wiring so nothing rattled about (where would we be without cable ties eh? ) and removed ALL the sound deadening.
6kg of sound deadening and a 2kg air bag binned – I think that must get the weight-loss down to about 60kg now!!

Everythings all re-fitted now and I’m pleased to say I’ve got no rattles at all and fully working heater controls

Picking up a roll cage in 2 weeks – and I’ve started sanding down the interior ready for paint. Got to get it all fitted and sprayed before September 22nd as I have a track day at Brands Hatch.
Also need new tyres and a full geometry setup. No rest for the wicked!!

Jul 20 2011

Cars

Bye bye tired suspension

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I fitted Bilstein B14 coilovers a month or two ago now and while they did firm the ride up the handling was still a bit soft and the turn-in dissapointingly slow. I was finding very little feedback through the wheel and a lot of under-steer on track

I had a look at the suspension and with the car just ticking over 113k the bushes and ball joints had seen better days.

So I bought a set of wishbone bushes from Demon Tweeks and matching ARB bushes. I then went looking for some solid top mounts and stumbled upon a setup from Pure Motorsport which looked ideal. It’s a copy of the old cup racer setup with solid top mounts bolting directly to a very strong strut brace. So purchased one of those too

Pure Motorsport were brilliant and the whole kit arrived next day

Sadly things then went down hill. To cut a long story short I treated myself to a cordless impact driver and ended up rounding the top off of one of my coilovers

Anyway a few weeks later and massive thanks to my mate Phill at G&G Motorsport and it’s all fitted.
I’m very happy to report the turn-in is now fast and precise, the feedback from the steering wheel is greatly increased and I’m a happy Clio driver once again.

Now just need to get it booked onto a track session again ASAP!