Thurs.25.10.07.It is becoming difficult to assess the speed at which we are moving forward with the construction of the Burlington. Handling a successful collation of components, that actually fits the car, is a revelation, it is a sheer pleasure to assemble and build the definitive model. On a personal note by the afternoon the day improved further. The newly glassed windscreen, from Reg Caldwell was available for collection at a knock down price of £50.00; originally he had quoted £85.00. The windscreen rubber seal from John at Life’s Motors for £14.98 and two fan belts from Mick at Wallgate Motor Factors for £6.96 were the other items to harvest. Chris gratefully accepted another bag full of toys to play with showing his appreciation by immediately salivating at the prospect of fitting them to the car. It seemed that all the gruelling, disappointing months at last had past. All the experimental developments, in the main, had eventually and victoriously come to fruition. The engineering on the whole drive train twinkled impressively under the florescent tubes of the workshop. The endless modifications abundant throughout the project have exposed numerous practical difficulties but have subversively reinforced the identity, personality and character of the Burlington. The ‘car’ is not merely a collection of manufactured components but the full spectrum of social interaction and growth, occasionally fuelled by Stella Artois, fortified by pure graft but uniformly comforted by banter.
There have been many occasions when I recalled an article that I had read in the Sunday Sport that reminded me so much of the journey.
Frivolously titled. “Stochastic behaviour in a deterministic system” is a scientific phrase of cause and effect. What it means is every particle in the earth’s atmosphere is linked in a chain of cause and effect so intricate that it is extremely hard to make accurate predictions about the behaviour of the system as a whole. The weather forecast for tomorrow may be reasonably accurate. But the weather forecast for the following week will be much less so. And every now and then an apparent random whirlwind will catch the weatherman out as happened in the ‘hurricane’ of 1987. This hypothesis is principally related to the economies of the world, particularly the connection between the American economies to that of the Chinese. This was evident in particular last week where the ‘butterfly’ in this case was manifested by the fledgling Shanghai stock market. A mere winged bug compared with those of the New York and London. But when the Chinese investors flapped on Tuesday, driving down the Shanghai composite index by nearly 9%, the result was a storm, if not a 1987 style hurricane, in nearly all of the world’s markets.
In one day 500 points was wiped off the Dow Jones whilst London plummeted by 150 on the FTSE index. In other words a slight hiccup can create such a ripple effect causing major complications many thousands of miles from the source of the original problem.
This theory has been mirrored in the many modifications to the Burlington. For months we have striven to improve the quality of the finished product, but unknowingly by bettering one aspect of the car we have directly or indirectly affected many other aspects of the vehicle. One example of this was the decision to move the engine back 8 inches. This alone has resulted in the chassis being cut, the standard manifold and exhaust system altered, the overdrive gearbox having to be re-sited with the prop shaft flange re-fashioned. The front suspension has become further exposed with little weight above the dampers the coil springs need to be shorter, in free length, and softer in strength. The ride height, the cast and camber, the increased sensitivity of the steering and the location of the ancillaries; principally the radiator, have all become our “stochastic behaviour in a deterministic system”.
But at least for the Burlington project we can control the weather together with the supply and demand of money. It is Chris and I who will determine the eventual triumphant outcome, not Rimmers, the Sheep Dip brothers, Nutty, deceitful Steve, inferior after market components and even the ‘Doubting Thomas’s’ in the Roy Castle corner.
By the way, we have also heard that at 3.00pm today Gemma has gone into labour.
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