LIVING WITH EARTHQUAKES
Today I filmed what is a pretty straight forward procedure, installing the latest MACH SR7 front aero suspension. During this we had a 4.1 magnitude shake; well it was more like the ground deep down beneath you simply breaking apart. I had stopped filming moments before, and immediately looked at Mark and Robert for a sign to dash outside. They calmly stopped, then said “it’s alright, these ones come and go quickly”. On went the installation.
LIVING WITH EARTHQUAKES
It is not until you actually are in Christchurch that you begin to bridge the gap from media coverage and reality of daily living in an earth quake zone. In three days I tasted a few aftershocks and simply shook my head and how the people of Christchurch have survived the 7,400 ground shaking moments.
For McGregor Motorsports it has become a way of life, managing perhaps three productive work days a week, a factory that is badly beaten, suppliers who cannot supply, new factories empty due to no way to insure the buildings and amidst all of this they still continue.
The February shake all but stopped the business; it destroyed buildings, took lives and altered a community forever. The below photo’s taken on that day shows a factory almost crippled.
NEW ZEALAND CLASSIC CAR
Issue 247 in July 2011 featured “Made in New Zealand” and my MACH SR7 was one of the three cars to be featured. Obviously I am thrilled to have my car in a magazine, the story and the photographs – but more important is to recognize the team in Christchurch who when building my car would never have realized what the next year had in store for them. The initial earthquake and subsequent 7,400 aftershocks tested them though unbelievable trying times. With damaged homes, a factory wobbling they and their suppliers have managed to keep producing “Made in New Zealand”
MACH SR7 VIDEO SERIES
A lazy Sunday in Auckland, nice to go shopping with the younger brother and soak up the sunshine in my MACH SR7….
MACH SR7 VIDEO SERIES
Kelly’s Track was one of my boyhood play-fields, but back then it was a gravel track that gave us a chance to test our bicycle skills. Now some 50 years later it is still a playground but not on a bicycle.
CONTOUR HD GPS CAMERA
There was a great debate between the GoPro and Contour camera I was in Los Angeles so I actually pick them both up physically in the shop and decide. The Contour HD GPS won the test and soon I was filming test clips and eagerly waiting to get it attached to my MACH SR7 in New Zealand.
I looked at the available mounts and ordered the Roll Cage and Windscreen mounts from a New Zealand company online so they would be waiting for me when I arrived. The team at BASE in Wanaka were excellent and most helpful in all aspects of the Contour camera. Check them out at http://www.basenz.com/
With the camera mounted in was time to take the car out and set the audio levels and upload to my YouTube site MACHSR7.
SEAT CHANGES
The original seat design was for conventional lap diagonal seat belts; however I decided to install four point harness belts. The new belts wrapped around the head rest on the seat and were prone to slipping off you shoulder unless you really pulled your self in tightly.
The solution was to take the belts through the seats in the conventional manner; this meant some surgery was needed to make this work.
Allan Wakelin had just done some paint work on my car and suggested I wander up the scenic drive to his upholstery man; Stephen Huggins. After a quick inspection, a consensus of what needed to be done I headed off home to pull the seats out so Stephen could begin the alterations.
Stephen quickly had the seats stripped down so we could mark positions and discuss how the leather could be finished to trim around the new seat belt positions. Once the holes were cut we pushed a belt through to see how it looked and once again think about the best way to finish the trim.
The challenge was then how to trim the holes and after some internet searching Stephen tracked down some plastic seat belt trim from Racetech in Wellington. Because of the width of the seat I needed to get some spacers made and drove through an industrial subdivision asking who could fabricate these spacers. I was sent to Bernie Knight at Classic Sheetmetals. What looked like a simple task four spacers were made but did not do what we thought they would. I wanted the spacer to vary in width to match the contour of the seat, but the main issue was that the plastic trim as a male and female design! Third time lucky I had the four units made, painted and ready to install.
My good friend Andrew Brislen, aka AJ who lives in Laguna Niguel, California is the absolute guru of special parts and custom tools. AJ is currently in the process of building one 1966 Barracuda from two Barracuda’s! I was fortunate to be there earlier this year to help with the project, as expected AJ made several wonderful custom tools to make things happen efficiently. AJ will correct me but I think he has the trademark WERD TOOLS.
Hardly in AJ’s league I realized I too needed some special tools to help fit the trim to the inserts. So, with some wood, bolts and nuts some Kustom Kiwi Tools emerged in true #8 wire Kiwi technology.
Not only do the belts look better but they are certainly more effective. It was Allan Wakeling, a New Zealand Zealand sprintcar legend, who said he would not feel safe with the belts on the track. My immediate thought is the YouTube clip of Allan’s enormous accident at Western Springs two years ago – now I would not feel safe in that either!!!
TOTAL GARAGE
The name alones suggests to car enthusiasts an oasis in a desert, a dream that brings smiles to ones face, or that indelible image of reality, simply a place to stack stuff and park car[s] outside. This elusive dream hampered by boogies boards, broken bicycles, golf clubs, lawn mowers [some which work] un-packed boxes, packed boxes, indoor laundry lines, freezers, fridges and of course the washer and drier.
I was invited by Ashley Webb of Classic Cars to be a part of six men and one lady as a market research response group. I am still puzzled why I was invited when introductions were made that explained their classic car collections, restoration reputations and extensive experience within the motor industry. But the common denominator was we all shared common beliefs, experiences and plans/dreams for that perfect garage.
For me, this was more than talking about “man caves” but seeing how a new product to market can be assisted in establishing an identity and fulfilling a “need” more than a “want”. I see this company establishing a valuable niche in the New Zealand domestic garage market and wish them all the best for the future.
But, rather than listening to me, you and your significant other should wander over to their display office and see why I was impressed.
TOTAL GARAGE
182 Great South Road,
Epsom, Auckland.
Phone 09 5245488
Email info@totalgarage.co.nz
Website www.totalgarage.co.nz
CLASSIC CAR PHOTO SHOOT
A phone call on Wednesday from Mark at McGregor Motorsports asking if I would take my car to the New Zealand Classic Car offices for a photo shoot was an easy answer…YES!
Another phone call to Ashley Webb the assistant editor, a check of the Auckland weather report and noon Thursday was in the calendar. For me this was a great way to spend the rest of the afternoon in the garage, listening to the cricket and cleaning my MACH SR7.
There is something so therapeutic in car detailing; it is a much debated topic and certainly long discussions on which products work best flood forums. I simply enjoy the detail, given my MACH SR7 is now 18 months old, driven 11,000km’s it is very much a daily runner not a garaged show car. I felt pretty pleased with the results but the photographs will be the true judge. With fading light I slid the car outside to take a few images just to check my work…the cap snapping off a Stella was my answer.
So, check out the feature on McGregor Motorsport soon to be published by New Zealand Classic Car Magazine, buy it, subscribe or check it online.
http://www.classiccar.co.nz/
CHANGES
While I am considering a few changes to my MACH SR7 what has been very much on my mind is the tragic changes caused by earthquakes. With Christchurch being stuck twice and then Japan this has changed plans.
In September I collected my car from Christchurch and drove to Auckland, this was days before the earthquake. The plan was to return the MACH SR7 to Christchurch in March for further developments; this was stopped by the February Christchurch earthquake. Two days before leaving my home in Japan the earthquake and tsunami struck. The past five months have been extremely tragic and remaining focused on the future is so important.
McGregor Motorsports like so many other motorsport specialists in Christchurch are going through a difficult time. As an avid supporter of New Zealand motorsport specialists we can all do our part to ensure those disrupted in Christchurch are supported. My part is small, but offering my MACH SR7 as a demo car in Auckland for people who are in that deciding period of kit car or turnkey options is how I can help McGregor’s and their suppliers in Christchurch. If you want a test drive, email or phone and it will be arranged:
SUPPORT CHRISTCHURCH MOTORSPORT: FREE DEMO MACH SR7 DRIVE
Send Bruce Wilson an email at kitcarnz@gmail.com
Phone Grant Wilson 09 836 7181 [home] 021 479 991 [mobile]
