Tom Fenton
Site Admin
15300 Posts
Member #: 337
Fearless Tom Fenton, Avon Park 2007 & 2008 class D winner & TM legend.
Rotherham South Yorkshire
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Well I suppose I ought to write a bit on here about me, in case anyones interested......
Where to start.....well my name is actually my user name, thought I'd be different as opposed to having a nickname like most people, although I have noticed there doesn't seem to be a TurboTom on here and that has a certain ring to it! I am now age 24, and live in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. I am originally from near Stratford-On-Avon, a place called Henley in Arden, which is about 2mins down the road from "Minits".
I went to university in Loughborough and did a Mechanical Engineering degree, following that I got a job with Corus (used to be British Steel) in Rotherham, and I am now a shift engineer, meaning I have front line responsibility for making sure all the steel production plant is available for use, and rectifying any problems. The kind of steel we make is the high grade forging and machining steel, such as the stuff used to make gears, conrods, etc etc.
On the cars side I have been into messing with cars for as long as I can remember. My father runs his own motor trade business, and has at different times been involved in various different areas, from car reposession, motorsport, recovery and general repairs, so all my knowledge has come from helping him or is self taught. My first car aged 5 was an Austin J40 pedal car, aged 6 I took the wheel trims off as I thought that it looked more sporty with the pressed steel spoked wheels exposed.....the seed was sown......
Aged 14 I moved into Autograss racing in the Juniors class, using mainly standard 998cc Minis, and that was where my Mini interest came from. I have also been involved in motorsport through a few of my friends, notably running an ex-works Seat Ibiza in the BTRDA rally series.
For a time I worked at a Mini specialists, Evesham Mini Centre so it is fair to say I know my way round minis fairly well, I would guess I have probably done more or less 100% of mechanical jobs on minis, and also a fair bit of welding too.
So why am I building a Mini Turbo? Well aged 17 my first car was a 1976 Mini Clubman 1098cc Estate. It was Inca Yellow and I put 10" Minilites on it. I loved it to bits, but sadly it was forever IN bits.... The long stroke 1098cc engine didn't last long with my foot up its arse, I couldn't afford a 1275 engine due to insurance, so I built a 1120cc engine with a 12G295 head and a cam in it. It made about 65bhp which wasn't bad as it was also quite torquey. The car eventually fell to bits, and the final straw was when one of the gudgeon pin circlips escaped and scored one of the bores.
Next up was a 1962 saloon, at some point before I got it, it had been reshelled into a Mk3 shell, that went from a 998cc to a 1275cc, and then gradually got faster with a 286 cam and a stage 4 head, until I ran it into a big kerb messing about in the snow, buckling the floorpan and bending the front end.
My last road Mini was about 3 1/2 years ago now, it was another Clubman estate, by this time I had got a bit more handy with the spanners and welder, and so this car was built using most of the trick bits from my saloon, and a few mods such as a metro front rad. When it was set up it had approx 90bhp and was as quick as my mates Minisport converted Sportspack, much to his dismay.
So back to why I am building a turbo......well while I still had my yellow estate, I got the opportunity to buy a bodyshell from a salvage yard. It was a Sportspack car that had been stripped heavily, the only thing left was the shell and the headlining. Everything and I mean everything else had gone, wires, pipes, cables, everything. Anyway, I decided that I was going to build a power plant that would produce 100+ bhp and be reliable, after problems with tempramental cammy NA engines I decided a turbo engine would fit the bill nicely. However, 5 yrs on and I am still building it.......the problem being that it has always been a project on the side, and so any spare money I had has always been ploughed into my everyday cars at the expense on the turbo mini. Also as it has progressed over the years, what started off as being a recondidtioned standard turbo motor has now turned into a steel main bearing capped, stage 4 headed straight cut boxed high spec engine, hence slowing progress on available money.
Anyway, the current position of it is that I am saving up for some Forged Omegas to finish the engine build off. Everything else is ready, the gearbox is built, so I am getting close to getting the engine in the car. The rest of the drivetrain, brakes, suspension, fuel system etc is more or less finished, so once the engine is in and running I just need to get bonnet, boot and doors on, and paint. The plan is to make the car look from the outside as much as possible as a standard sportspack, but to make it pack some serious punch to suprise a few people. I dread to think how much it owes me.
As usual current cars are getting in its way though, my everyday car is a Citroen Xsara VTS, my going to work car (I work on a horrendously shitty steelworks remember) is a Peugeot 205 Diesel, and I half-own a Peugeot 205 GTi track day car, that has a 170 bhp Mi16 engine, roll cage, LSD, big brakes etc etc.
So there you go! Apart from cars I am quite into music, nothing that exciting, although very much liking the current wave of Indie bands, Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, The Zutons, Razorlight etc. I am also learning to play the guitar (badly)
PS will try to take some pictures one of these days....
Edited by Tom Fenton on 7th Jan, 2005.
On 29th Nov, 2016 madmk1 said:
On 28th Nov, 2016 Rob Gavin said:
I refuse to pay for anything else
Like fuel 😂😂
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