As i intend to compete in the local sprints and hillclimbs in 2008 one area of the car which has to be addressed is that of the cylinder head and crankcase breathers which currently vent to atmosphere. I looked around for a suitable oil separator but could not find anything available that i could mount tastefully in the space left by the OEM battery. After much thought i designed my own separator before having the tank, baffles and lid cut from aluminium sheet. As i intend to return all oil that is 'knocked out' in the separator back to the cars sump a -10AN boss is to be welded onto the tank. I machined the remaining bosses for the level gauge, push-fittings and breather pipe myself which will also be welded on.

I also finalised my air filter install and in doing so managed to make enough room to allow the intercooler water spray reservoir to be refitted. A cut-down Samco hose allowed the slightly smaller K&N filter to be orientated towards the O/S strut which in turn allowed the reservoir to be reinstalled.

With the filter assembly finished i could set about designing a shield to prevent the filter inducting hot air from the engine bay. This was achieved in true 'Art Attack' fashion using lots of cardboard and sellotape before the final shape was water-jet cut from aluminium sheet. The result is far more stable temperature indication from the OEM temperature sender (mounted in the shield) and a filter which is cooler to touch.

Before having the cars wheel alignment set i fitted a few more Whiteline goodies. The cars 22mm rear anti-roll bar was replaced with a 24mm item. Steering rack bushes, rear diff lock kit and rear subframe lock kit were also fitted along with the heavy-duty rear anti-roll bar mounts. I also took the opportunity to replace the tired front drop links with some adjustable ones, these will come in handy for setting corner-weights in the future.

With the car in one piece i drove down to Edinburgh to have Andy Forrest give the cars Power FC map a quick check-up. Since the initial remap the fuel pressure regulator has been changed (SX for Fuelabs), the induction had been altered (as above) and the car now runs NF Race rather than Millers Octane Plus octane booster. The result was a smoother-running car with some priceless peace of mind prior to the cars first event.

On the way back from Andys i stopped in to Automotive Services in Dunfermline to have the cars geometry set up... i'm ashamed to admit that i've never had the wheels aligned since i bought the car! Fortunately Job Gevers did a cracking job of setting up the car helping it feel much more predictable on the limit.

Unfortunately Round 1 of the Highland Speed Championship at Golspie was cancelled due to poor weather conditions. Although this was disappointing it was probably for the best as i doubt it would've been much fun sprinting on a snow-covered kart track!