Step by step by step......

This is my recollection of what has happened so far (some of it seems a bit hazy now!)

Step 1 I found the details of the BLMRA. That's easier now as they have a web site.

Step 2 I rang Jim Gavin who sent me the regulations and a copy of the latest edition of Cuttings (the club magazine)

Step 3 I went to meet club members at the noggin & natter. Here I met Colin Fox who sold me a copy of the very useful book about building a mower (Dick's tip no 1 ... buy this book! To get your copy email book@blmra.co.uk).

Step 4 I bought a mower. In the copy of cuttings I found an ad for an old Westwood Lawn Bug which had just cut it's last blade of grass. I rang the owner & agreed to collect it. When I arrived to pick it up the owner told me that he had owned it from new and that he had the original owners handbook, until he had posted it to Colin Fox a couple of days previously.

Step 5 I stripped the whole mower down to the chassis. I found a local company to sand blast it clean for me (Dick's tip no 2...talk to club members. You can often find somebody to help out with specialist jobs at much less than commercial rates. Committee members can often tell you who to speak to)

Step 6 Using the guidance in The Book I placed a load of orders for metal to strengthen the chassis and kart parts for the back axle.(Dick's tip no 3...order more metal than you think..you are bound to need it). I also ordered the T Drive and Brake parts.

Step 7 I visted an old friend (Ted Hoyle) who has a well equipped garage who helped me to strengthen the chassis whilst teaching me the basics of welding.

Step 8 I brought the cheapest arc welder I could find. I looked at second hand ones which didn't seem much cheaper than new ones. The cheapest and simplest one I could get has served me well so far.I also brought a cheap angle grinder & lots of discs.

Step 9 Following the guidance in The Book I got the back axle set up with keyways by a local precision engineering firm, I dismantled the T Drive, fitted the new back axle ...et voila! (Dicks Tip no 4... talk to club members before getting anything done commercially ,cos often a member will do it cheaper, quicker & better!)

Step 10 (Many Congratulations if you have read this far). I ordered pulleys, belts & bearings from one of the club members, Tanya Annett.(I'm learning!).

Step 11. Cut an engine plate. At the plate was 1/4" aluminium I used a domestic jig saw with a metal cutting blade. For the big hole for the drive shaft I used a domestic electric drill & a hole saw. No special tools or skills needed here. Just lots of patience.

Step 12.I met a club member (Steve Hodgson) who had a finished steering set up off his old mower, and an engine. Bought them both as they saved a lot of work. Got him to bore out the pulley centres & mill key ways.

Step 13. Welded the steering onto the chassis. Took a while, but I noticed my welding was getting better.(more news on this later)

Step14 Ordered wheels & tyres

Step 15. Fitted back axle, wheels & tyres. Fitted front wheels & tyres. (Dick's Tips 5 & 6. Fit the wheels as early as possible as the chassis gets mighty heavy. Get friendly with a local tyre fitter' 'cos the small tyres are very hard to fit with tyre levers.)

Step 16 Fitted the brake caliper and made up pedals for brake , clutch & accelerator.

Step 17. Fitted the engine (don't forget the cut out!), pulleys, belts & clutch (using most of the original clutch)

Step 18. Welded up a frame for the steering and fitted a steering column with a universal joint brought from another club member who runs a car parts shop! Fitted a steering wheel scrounged from Ted.

Step 19. Visited the local breakers yard & bought a seat. Fitted the seat. Painted the chassis in zebra stripes, they hide a really bad paint job, and entertain the children watching the racing. The mower is now known as Zippy the Zebra!

Step 20. Fired up the engine. Went for a first run up the road outside.The pedals were all useless. I had not used heavy enough steel & they were all too weak and bent. (Dick's Warning..I live in a quiet cul de sac. I don't recommend testing on public roads. It's probably illegal & it's certainly dangerous.)

Step 22. Went to the seasons first race meeting to look at other peoples machines & steal their best ideas. (Dicks Tip no 7..This is a good idea..take your camera, and don't forget to ask the owners if you can take pictures. Most people are very obliging & will tell you how they have done things). Got ideas about pedals , and dealt with the pedal problems.

Step 21. Borrowed a field to give the mower a run to find out what was going to drop off. First the steering broke( my welding wasnt as good as I had hoped. )Then the engine bottom oil seal gave out & poured oil over the drive pulley..result no drive , but lots of smoke! (Dick's Tip No 8...Trying it out in a field was a really good idea as it gets a quick result in learning about the gross errors)

Step 22 Fixed the problems. Tried in the road again. The brakes are terrible!

Step 23 Booked in for the next available race meeting.

Step 24 The first race meeting. I got through scrutineering with no major problems, and I got lots of advice from the scrutineers (Colin Fox again!). I practiced & had a few races. The problems were that the steering broke (welding again!) and the drive sytem was poor. I also managed tio runover a marshall (Sorry Mike!). The mower was nowhere near competitive, but I wasn't down-hearted as I had not expected to be quick at that stage. The objective at this stage was to finish.

Step 25. I moved the engine forward by cutting the front wheel arches on advice from Colin, and fitted hydraulic brakes as the original ones were useless.

Step 26 Next race the brakes were much better, the handling a bit improved by the better weight distribution, but the drive was still hopeless. One of the other members told me about centrifugal clutches and where to get one.

Step 27. Fitted the clutch and rearranged the pedals with the accelerator on the right & brake on the left (like a cart).

End of First Season Update: Well it's been brilliant fun. All through the season the mower has been getting better, & I've started to get the hang of driving it. I'm still well behind the pack, but getting better.

If you have read this far I'm sure you can see that I truly don't have any special skills, but with common sense, lots of advice & help, and a few basic tools you too can build a racing lawn mower.

I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to give me lots of advice , given me practical help and put up with all the dumb questions! There are so many of them but I'd especially like to thank:

Colin Fox, Mark Constanduros, Mick Hills, Peter Austin, Steve Hodgson, Ted Hoyle, Tanya Annett and my family Annette & Michael for putting up with all this madness, and sometimes helping.

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