In early June 2001, I contacted some of the motor insurance brokers that advertise in the kit car magazines. The quotes I got for renewing my insurance were: Adrian Flux - £194.25, Sureterm Direct - £195.00, Hill House Hammond - £224.24, Hoddesdon Insurance Consultants - £240.00, Osbourne & Sons - £256.70 and Graham Sykes - £359.57. These were for fully comprehensive cover, unlimited mileage with a £200 or £250 excess. The car was valued at £10,000. These quotes allowed only me to drive the car, as most of the companies I rang didn't do an "any driver" policy and would only allow two extra drivers at most. Surprisingly, only one company wanted full details of the car's engine - most just wanted to know its cubic capacity. I got the impression that a car with a tuned engine would not be more expensive to insure.
On June the 14th, I received the renewal schedule and invoice from my current broker, Footman James. This was for £205, but the same four named drivers would be covered as before. Also, the excess was lower than with the other quotes, at only £100. I phoned them the next day, to ask what difference a higher excess and a restricted mileage policy would make. They only do policies with £100 excess for kit cars, but restricting the mileage to 3000 miles per year would reduce the premium to £180.60. I accepted this quote and completed and returned the forms, together with a declaration of the car's current mileage. As I've come to expect from Footman James, I received my Certificate of Motor Insurance by return post. The first year's insurance premium of £128.10 was subsidised by Quantum, so I expected a fairly hefty increase when renewal time came. I'm very pleased to get the cover described for well under £200.00!
The last year has really flown by, so on the 16th of June, I took the Xtreme to my local garage for its annual MOT test. Just like the pre-SVA MOT, there were no major problems (there shouldn't be after only 2800 miles! ), but the car initially failed the emissions test. The CO content at idle was 6.0%, well over the limit of 3.5%. The car has been running beautifully since the rolling-road session, so I was reluctant to change any of the current settings. Obviously, something had to be done in order to pass the test, so, while John watched the analyser, I carefully adjusted the mixture screw. I found that by turning the mixture screw one and a half turns clockwise, the CO content fell from 6.0% to 3.0%, which got me a new MOT certificate. Guess what I did as soon as I got the car home!
More shiny bits! The rubber floor mats in my car had begun to look a bit shabby. They are glued to the floor, to stop them moving when getting in and out of the car, which makes it awkward to clean them properly. It's also very difficult to clean out the bottom of the grooves of the ribbed rubber. I wanted to replace them, but wasn't sure what to use. The bare stainless floor panels need something covering them, as they're rather slippery with wet shoes on. At the Stoneleigh show, I saw several Xtremes that were fully trimmed inside. One yellow car in particular was beautifully finished with wall to wall carpet. Although I admire the patience and skill involved, luxury carpet in an open-top sportscar just doesn't appeal to me. I decided to copy another car I saw at the show (a Sylva, I think) and to cover the floor with 5-bar aluminium treadplate (also called checker or chequer plate). I managed to buy an offcut from a local metal store which was just large enough to make the four pieces I needed. The seats, mats, exhaust mounting and steering wheel were removed and the floor area was measured. I then made some card templates to make sure the plates would be accurately cut. After trimming the templates to get a good fit, I drew round them on to the back of the treadplate and carefully cut the shapes out with a jigsaw. The plates were fitted to the floor, then from underneath the car I marked out the holes for the seat and exhaust mounting bolts. With all the holes drilled, the treadplates were bolted down using more stainless socket button set screws. I'm very pleased with the final result - the treadplates are easy to clean, they're nice and grippy even when wet, they brighten up the interior of the car and they're a bit different from the norm.
The car's first outing of 2002 (to the Car Craft Show at Stafford) was rather eventful. On the way up on the M5, four of the press studs that hold the rear of the soft top came undone as I overtook a lorry. As I didn't want the soft top flapping away for the rest of the journey, I pulled into the Birmingham South services. It was a very gusty day and, like most motorway service areas, the car park is rather exposed. As I started to open the side screen to get out, the strong wind caught it and swung it violently forward. Luckily, there seemed to be no damage done, so I refitted the soft top and carried on. Ten minutes after I arrived at the show ground, I heard a clunk and saw my side screen lying on the floor! The incident in the services earlier had obviously weakened the side screen mountings on the windscreen pillar. It's a good thing that the side screen hadn't fallen off on the M5 or M6 - that would have been rather expensive! Not only would the side screen have been smashed to pieces, I would have lost the two mounting pins as well, which would probably have meant buying a complete new windscreen pillar.
I didn't fancy the journey home without a side screen or soft top, so I had to effect some kind of repair. Fortunately, one of the traders at the show was selling some large, spring-loaded clamps. I bought three of these and used them to clamp the front vinyl part of the side screen to the windscreen pillar. I didn't have total confidence in them, so I left the show early and drove the 126 miles home at 55 MPH. Boring!!!. Thankfully, the clamps did their job and I got back without further incident. The next day, I removed both windscreen pillars and took them and the broken bits to Ian at Frenchay Garage (the chap who made my rear arch protectors). Ian TIG welded the two loose mountings to the offside pillar and also strengthened the mountings on the nearside pillar. On earlier Xtremes like mine, the mounts are spot welded on. Later cars have the mounts welded down both sides, as mine now are.
To prevent the soft top flapping about in future, I replaced all the press studs at the rear with lift the dot fasteners. The studs on the rear body were easy to replace, although I had to use some stainless washers under the studs. These are to hide the marks left by the old press stud male fittings, which were larger than the bases of the new studs. The same washers are also used under the securing nuts inside the boot to spread the load on the fibre glass. I then took the soft top to a local trimmer to have the clips fitted. With the correct die and punch at his disposal, it was a quick and easy job for him to do while I waited. He wasn't very impressed with the original system of press studs and is confident that the soft top won't come loose again in use.
Yet more shiny bits! I've smartened up the engine bay a bit by having the cam belt cover chromed at a local electroplaters. Also, a nice new polished aluminium oil filler cap has replaced the rather scruffy black plastic one from the donor Sierra. The outside of the car has also been improved with the addition of some new stainless steel wiper arms and blades. The black arms that were fitted were the original ones from the Sierra which had been reduced in length and fitted with wiper blades meant for a Mini. They were beginning to rust and flake and just had to go!
I've modified my gear lever, as described on Dave Andrews' web site. I used 12mm nuts as spacers and moved the pivot sphere up 10mm. As this results in a small gap between the top of the gearbox and the bottom of the gear lever mounting plate, I made a rubber gaiter out of a section of motorcycle inner tube to stop any dirt or water getting in. To compensate for the new spacing, 8mm was trimmed off the top of the rubber spring. These changes have reduced the travel of the gear lever by about a third. For a couple of hours work and very little cost, it's well worth doing.
Aluminium 5-bar treadplate flooring.
Sidescreen mounts TIG welded to the windscreen pillars. Thanks Ian!
Lift the dot studs fitted to the rear body.
One of the new lift the dot clips in place.
Aluminium oil filler cap and chrome-plated cam belt cover.
Stainless steel wiper arms and blades.