Martial Arts

10 Apr

Training since the age of 11, first in Judo, then Karate, Kick Boxing then Thai Boxing, Krav Maga.
Competing in Thai Boxing and Escrima, including the low armour formats.
Training under G.M. John Harvey since 1997.
Teaching his daughter and training in Luton they both went on to win many British Championship fights.
This page is a few videos, stills and memories of the many talented people I have had the pleasure to train with

training GM John Harvey, Pat O'Malley and Simon Wells

Over the years i have had the pleasure of training and sparring with G.M. John Harvey, Guro Pat O’Malley and so many more, Thai Boxing, Rapid Combat System and many more.

My first Thai fight was a bit of a screw up, both Lewis and i were to fight other guys, but they pulled out, so i got to fight Lewis.
It was the fact that he was trying to knock me out that got me to fight, i did not want to fight a training partner!
I was glad i got the decision, must have been on looks tho.

Apart from loving Thai Boxing, its nice to bring weapons into play, heres a couple of low armour fights

Here are a few newspaper clips from when myself and my daughter Tanya were both winning

Here is a couple of clips of my daughter Tanya playing!

And a little knife drill

Teaching at the Rico arena with G.M, John Harvey

A little knock about in the garden after a private lesson, fortunately Mir was more bolloxed than me!

Silat Seminar with Guru Glenn Lobo

Training in Bruni martial arts with Master Maul Mornie. Another very talented man

Porsche 944S2

03 Apr

My 1991 Porsche 944S2.
My S2 is a great handling car but lacks the acceleration i’d like, so this is a condensed history of the mods and improvements to the car.

When i bought the car it was bog standard, i firstly added 968 electric heated mirrors and 968 door handles.
And a new set of 18″ Turbo wheels

I then added a promax chip and de-cat pipe from Hayward & Scott, to help the breathing i replaced the panel filter with a K&N panel filter, i then junked that and added a huge K&N cone filter from an Aston Martin, putting it right in the cold air flow up front of the radiator.

original air box, modified with restrictor removed, more inlet area, K&N panel filter

air box removed and K&N cone filter fitted

Air filter and mini cooler for power steering

I had an old cam cover so i stove enameled it, looks ok so i will do a good one, next i worked on the brakes. but as i am uprating them i thought i would add cooling ducts.
The Porsche items are pants!
I can do better than that!
It required some cutting of the original to fit the intakes, and moving of the power steering cooler, but my solution is cheaper to buy and more effective, some pics of how i did it.

air intakes, ducting and new back plates

i have cut a hole below the bumper and reshaped the inlets i have bought, very theraputic! much filing and then fiber glass work, once the new back plates were fitted, ducting was fitted, making sure it is long enough on full lock both directions.

While doing this i have fitted an oil cooler in the bottom of the bumper, connected with aeroquipe hose, then mesh to stop stones reaching the disc.
this is an easy mod tho i would recommend buying a spare bumper to re-work, it took me quite a few hours tho, but take longer and get a better finish than a rush job.

Why didn’t Porsche do this! it looks good in my opinion and must be an improvement over standard.

The finished look!

Now thats sorted time to do the brakes, all wheel bearings were replaced, if i am up-rating the brakes seems daft not to!
Calipers refurbished, new PFC race pads, these work great on the road too, new vented and drilled discs.

As i was fitting the brakes i added poly bushes all round, and Gaz Gold shockers all round too

I have fitted grooved and drilled discs, an extravagance!

drilled and grooved discs with reconditioned calipers

The best way to get better acceleration is to loose weight, the car not me!
So i have stripped out all the interior, all the sound deadening ( that was heavier than i thought ).
removed the heavy Porsche electric seats, wiring , window motors and fitted perspex items.

The modifying bug has caught, the car is turning into a more orientated track car but i have to reign it in a bit!!
home made center console with fuel and electric cut-offs, roll cage, tho iam not fitting the door bars to help keep access easy.
alloy battery box behind passenger seat.
Light weight door cards with door pulls.

My next job is to weld in the roll cage then i can start a add some carpet and make my own interior panels.

Things have slowed down a lot on this car due to the work on the cab, and needing to buy a mig welder, but the car is running sweet and small things are happening, slowly

corbeau revenge, but i need a MIG welder!

Porsche 944 Cabriolet

07 Sep

A tired and tatty looking cab when i bought her, wrong wheels, heater not working, none standard fog lights, dirty inside, paint very stone chipped and sills need doing!

let the fun begin

A day at Santa Pod, quick starts but let down by serious power shortage compared to the opposition!

Yay im still in front, not for long tho!

There is so many jobs to do, but first to fix the brakes, reconditioned calipers, new discs and wheel bearings.

New momo wood and leather steering wheelMany of the mods i have already done on my 944S2 and i know they work, so the air box delete and K&N cone filter has been done.

One of the mods i have done is to add anti roll bar bracket supports, stops the A.R.B brackets snapping (i hope).
Poly bushes as well.

The interior was pretty filthy so i have stripped it all out, carpet was washed in the bath with carpet cleaner, not a happy wife!!
I bought a seat re-colouring kit and stripped the seats and re did then, tho believe this is a temporary fix and when seats are very worn, they need recovering, a future job.

Carpets before cleaning, and after.

This car was missing the correct fog lights when i bought it, so i picked up second hand units, rebuilt then and fitted my home made fog light covers over them to protect from stone chips.

Before i changed the fog lights, i borrowed the wheels of my S2 and did a couple of track days. the first one was Bedford Autodrome

As my catalitic converter is blowing i have decided to make my own straight through pipe.

Clear rear indicator lenses to match the front ones i added!

New Veloce wheels added

So much better looking with a crash helmet on!

After my gearbox locked up at Race Retro this year (2016) i have decided to replace it myself, last time i used a classic porsche dealer, very local and my short shift lever went missing!
As i am replacing the gearbox i will do some simple up grades which i will add to my blog.

For a detailed how to remove the gearbox easily on a 944, see my blog, for now i will just add the improvements i have made.

The two previous pics are the standard linkage, i have used a short shift kit and made my own cross bar using quality rose joints and stainless steel bar, as my old short shift lever went missing at a local garage i have sourced another better item from the U.S.A.

The standard worn out lever i found on my car and the new alloy item. if i did not do this work myself i may never had noticed that my old ( new ) lever had been removed and not refitted.

New gearbox with new linkages and £90 worth of swepco oil in it, ready to go in.
Tho while the box was of i cleaned all the underneath of the car, waxoiled it, fitted new rear discs, Spax shock absorbers and Goodridge brake pipes.
I also modified the alloy bar and torsion bar tube to stop the exhaust rattle that my home made de cat had.

While putting the box back in i have replaced all the bolts with new ones, any drive shaft boots that looked iffy were changed for new items. New Spax adjustable shocks,

Cross brace and beam modified to stop the exhaust rattle, caused by making up my own decat pipe that runs soooo close to the floor pan!!

Calipers back from Custom Calipers, fully refurbished, new aeroquip lines made up. all back together

Brakes all back together,wheels to go on then a test blast.

Now to add some sound deadening and clean the carpets before fitting my new Corbeau RRS seats, need to make my own seat belt brackets too.

The next few pics are the carpet removal, 4mm of silent coat then 10mm of closed cell sound deadening .

The seat belt brackets are home made 6mm angle iron, M12 bolt threaded through and nylocked in place too. front seats now in.

The cab is now being striped for new sills and a respray by L.A. Paintworks, while its away i am re-trimming the dash in leather, and having dashboard parts transfer printed

car off to be welded and painted, dashboard removed

new leather applied to top of dash, bottom to do

While the car is away having new sills and a respray i have re-leathered the dash& center console, bought new leather corbeau RSR seats.

New alloy radiator, many engine parts chromed or stove enameled

And to top it of a full luxury carpet kit from Coverdale.

Below are some pictures

Dash with new leather and hydrographic printing

new leather, hydro dipped plastic door pull and surround

Before, during and after painting

Now the car is back i can start refitting the trim and new carpet kit, i have made my own seat belt anchors which i have had chromed, the new seats to go on adjustable slide mounts

Interior now all fitted and engine bay cleaned up

car finished just in time for Le Mans 2018 the next pics are at the mot station, 10 miles since rebuild.

what the pictures do not show is that when i tried to start the car it locked up! a quick strip and it seems the crank is the problem.

so we quickly took the engine out of the red coupe and fitted it with the blue manifold and covers.

So we will be going to Le Mans on an engine that has stood for years with a 15 year old cambelt!!

well we made it! but not without making it an adventure, the passenger window stopped working, so at every toll booth we had to put the roof down and val had to stand on the seat to pay the toll.

the starter motor packed up just before LeMans and we got a bump start from another 944 enthusiast, thanks Arnot! starter motor replaced by a small garage just outside LeMans who were so helpful, lent us a car to get to the gite.

A few pictures of the farm we stayed at out side LeMans,

This is called The Dairy House, on a Farm? stables just outside Lemans, Rented thru Lemans holidays, great place and i would recomend them,

If you have read this far you are obviously a petrol head, so a few cars at LeMans

Once back from LeMans we thought it best to get the cam and balance belts changed, this was taken care of by a local porsche specialist Auto Umbau in Wrest Park Bedfordshire, who i can highly recommend.
After that we had nearly two years of covid restrictions so the porsche did not get a lot of use.
Jan 2022 i noticed the car started using water! i suspect the head gasket so i have rang round for quotes.
Cheapest quote for the headgasket is £3500, and i know it will be more.
I will do it myself and gas flow the head and change the chain and tensioner at the same time.

A few pictures of the head being worked on, a little tip tho, if you are going to be working on these cars yourself it is easier to remove the head studs and fit bolts, that makes it easier to remove the exhaust manifolds, with studs it can be a pig of a job!

Head all refreshed and skimmed, i know if i had paid a garage to do this, it would not have been done to this standard. next the head swap.

refreshed head going on with all new gaskets, chain and tensioner pads,

With the head fitted i am now fitting a new set of injectors, fuel pressure gauge and new pressure regulator.
New braided fuel lines from Devin Lyons in the USA
Also it is a good time to fit a new idle control valve, new spark plugs, cap and rotor, leads etc were replaced before LeMans.