We start this post with the extremely sad news that one of the Motorsports broadcasting legends Murray Walker OBE, has passed away yesterday 13^th March 2021 at the age of 97.

Murray was born 10^th October 1923 and is of Scottish decent. He has been the staple motor sports commentator for every petrol head from the 70’s onwards. He left the army after the second World War and had successful but brief career in advertising. His voice was first heard in the early 60’s where he commentated on motor bikes with his father until 1962 where his father passed away. They were the only father and son commentary team at the time. He became the chief motor cycling commentator shortly after, then he progressed to rally cross in the 70’s and then British Touring Car Championships in the 70’s & 80’s. 1978 he became a full time BBC commentator for Formula 1 as well as any other motor sports events which were offered to him. He teamed up with (the late) James Hunt, a Formula 1 world champion from 1976 where they became a firm favourite with the fans the world over. He retired in 2001 but still remained a in the public eye with guest appearances and the occasional fill in commentary.

Hi flamboyant style of commentary was legendary with speaking at a fast pace keeping up with the action on track along with his unique animated enthusiasm. He was also know for his many “Murrayisms” (see the list below), when he got so excited and got the odd thing wrong now and again. Nobody minded and it was part of the fun which made motorsport an enjoyment to watch. He would remain standing during the races to keep him on his toes in more ways than one.

Some of those legendary ‘Murrayisms’:

• “There’s nothing wrong with the car except it’s on fire”
• “With half the race gone there is half the race to go”
• “I imagine the conditions in those cars are totally unimaginable”
• “Either that car is stationary or it’s on the move”
• “Do my eyes deceive me or is Senna’s car sounding a bit rough?”
• “And the first five places are filled with five different cars”

He had many many friends up and down the pit lane with team bosses, drivers like; James Hunt, Damon Hill, Martin Brundle (who he later teamed with for commentary when James Hunt died), Michael Schumacher, Sir Stirling Moss, Jackie Steward, David Coultard and many many other high profile names. His respect was often noted with other media teams around the world, often being a guest of honour at events when he retired or at the talks about his life that he gave.

Perhaps his most famous long term friendship was with Nigel Mansell 1992 F! World Champion who would often been seen together, being professional sometimes for interviews. 😉

One of the most famous moments was when Nigel Mansell won the 1987 F1 Austrian Grand Prix. While standing on the parade truck he banged his head on a low bridge. A large egg sized bump appeared on his forehead. Murray had a now famous interview with Nigel;

“Nigel first of all could you carefully and slowly take your hat off. You’ve got an enormous bump on your head, can you let us see it? Right up there, ooh I’m sorry!”

It was at that point that Murray accidently poked Nigel’s head where the large bump was. Nigel was in pain and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

R.I.P. Murray Walker, you will be missed.

Customer Cars

We have completed our first customer Leed Brakes conversion for free on Pauls’ very nice 1963 Ford Falcon.

First job was to remove the old brakes and doesn’t take Yogi long as it’s almost second nature now.

The master cylinder was removed and all fluids drained out.

The new parts laid out ready for fitting to the existing spindles after being checked that there was no excessive wear and tear or damage.

There the process of building up the rotors to the spindles.

The rotors were fitted into place with the wheel bearings and greased accordingly. Note the special tool we have that doesn’t damage the polished bearing cap.

The callipers are fitted on next.

Yogi with the copper slip coating (before being evened out) to allow the pads to slide into the callipers.

With the brake callipers in place new lines and brackets were fitted to the callipers.

The master cylinder take a little longer due to the confines of the location. The unmistakable brake line works of art can be seen too.

Then we bleed the brakes aligned the wheels to our own secret settings before take it for a test run. On return we checked the bleeds again and adjusted the brake pedal which invariably different from the stock drum position. The brake balance front to rear was set up to be a little bias to the front and then all was good with the world. We can’t go mad with the brake testing as the pads need to bed in little and settle to the rotors for a few miles. But, even at this new stage of fitting, stopping is significantly improved without fade along with a much better feel for the brake pedal.

We had another job which was to fit the Pertronix Ignitor ignition upgrade. This bit of kit replaces the the standard contact points setup for a more accurate electronic solution for fit and forget.

Old points and condenser on the right, new tech on the left. the parts shown located on the base plate of the distributor in their respective positions.

The distributor cam is replaced with a magnetic collar for the sensor to pick up the fire signals, and finally the rotor is replaced.

An upgrade you notice from the outside, but a big upgrade for performance vs stability at a reasonable cost depending on the type of Pertronix kit you want.

Well that’s one car fitted for free, we just need the next car in to show that one as well for you.

Stay Safe & Take Care.