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Fireblade 7 - The Devastator


WillisRR

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Bare with me on the name, it will make sense in a few paragraphs 😂.

 

A few years back I bought an MK Indy RR running a little Zetec motor. Previously driving a Cosworth Powered Westfield with silly power and quite a dog rough chassis, the car was quick but i wasn't learning a damn thing other than when you spin off at 90mph on a damp Donington you sure feel alive!

 

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So 160hp and a dream chassis, full inboard suspension, rose joints everywhere (not a rubber bushing in sight), incredibly wide track are just a few things that make the MK Indy RR nothing short of MIND BLOWING to drive!

 

My plan was always to drop an F20 s2000 motor in after I had learnt the chassis with less power. I had the manifold and many other parts ready. The poor zetec had given me nothing but headaches. Type 9 boxes are utter t*ss and eventually when a webber float broke and flooded the engine bay and surrounding few meters in fuel and nearly set me on fire in the pit lane at Cadwell I had to get rid and start the f20 swap earlier than planned.

 

That is when everything changed. In April 2014 our whole lives took a massive blow. We lost a very good friend when an unfortunate accident on his CBR Fireblade while he was out on the Cat & Fiddle (our all time fav road) took him from us. Dev had planned to race at club level the next year but instead the Bike was left in a sorry state in my workshop and we were faced with an impossible situation to overcome.

 

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Me and Dev at Blyton.

 

 

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Dev the day we picked the Fireblade up.

 

It was at this point i knew i needed a focus, something to repel the demons. A reason to get up in the morning and go to work and a vision to aim towards... The MK needed to become the Devastator.

 

For months i researched the install and over and over in my head envisioned my first lap of Cadwell park in minuscule detail. The emotions of pulling out of the pits and hammering the car listening to his bike roar again sure gave me a focus!

 

It took 18 months to slowly build the car. As you can imagine it is a bit of a mission getting a bike motor to run in a seven. Research told me that 08/09 blade motors suffered from crank teeth wear and 2011 onwards used fly by wire throttle so thank you Dev for buying a 2010, the goldilocks of Fireblade motors! A custom made two piece billet sump to give more floor clearance and to stop any nasty oil surge, reversing the whole throttle body assembly to package neatly in between the cylinder head and gearbox then resulted in us making a fibreglass intake that bonded onto the oem airbox to give one forward facing duct instead of two sideways ones are just a few of the troubles we overcame.

 

It was vitally important to keep the oem airbox as it runs dual fuel rails. One housed as usual in the throttle bodies and then a further rail above the stacks feeding a mist for the higher RPM requirements. Fuelling was taken care of using a low pressure fuel pump feeding a swirl pot with the oem Fireblade pump in the base. This ensured no nasty fuel surge that many suffer from.

 

The mech water pump was blanked and an electric water pump added to fully hard piped coolant lines, custom two piece prop and sprocket adapter took care of transferring power from the motor to the rear differential.

 

A Woolich racing ECU managed the subtle changes the custom exhaust manifold would bring along with getting the most out of the motor and deleting the oem exhaust valve, electronics steering damper etc. Along with a full custom loom and map from EFI. The Woolich now including race tools which allows flat upshifts, launch control and a few other trick options, pub ammo maybe, trick as f#ck? Yes!

 

Another gifted item as well as the motor came from a friend Ron when he took me with him to collect his new GSXR 600. We walked in and all i could see was this Yoshimura MotoGP can sat in a glass display cabinet for a stupid, STUPID price... He had to have it, and i made sure he bought it haha. The lobster tail, tidy welds and dull finish made me damn drule... A matter of weeks later he fell off and scuffed the damn thing up and the oem can went back on. So i made a custom bracket, reversed the can and the result visually was wild. Only to be trumped by the noise which you can hear in the Curborough vid below 😎.

 

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So the Devastator was ready just in time for summer 2016, and what an incredible summer it was! The day i had been dreaming about was here and I finally got to sample mine and my close friends hard work. Did i find myself overcome with emotion at the shear significance of what I was now driving? NOT A BLOODY CHANCE! If you think you can drive this thing while even so much as thinking about anything else you are so wrong. What this now gave me was utter 100% focus. An outlet to switch off from the world and switch on to the most engaging driving tool I could ever want. It is only as the motor ticks cool and i take my helmet off and step out of the car that i can then smile and truley commemorate my friend.

 

 

 

The year was spent making slight improvements in drivability and temp stability. Below you can find a link to the Blyton, Curborough and Cadwell track days and some road parties in North Wales.

 

 

 

 

If you got this far thanks for reading and showing interest. This is a car i will keep for life. A few tweaks in time for the summer season including flat floor and diffuser but really nothing major at all. I just want to drive the thing as much as i can! Full slicks and improved geo settings will make the days i have planned at Oulton, Curborough, Cadwell and Anglesey and many more over the summer mega fun. I will be sure to keep this thread updated with all the drama! If you are on instagram search for CT.Willis for much more footage of the car in action ðŸ‘.

Edited by WillisRR
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Haha yeah the Celica losing a wheel made me chuckle!

 

Thanks guys! Hope to get out in it soon but realistically don't think it will be out on track until May. Will be getting lots of time in the 350 and mx5 before then though ðŸ‘.

 

A few laps of Blyton including a Hyabusa battle....

 

Edited by WillisRR
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  • 3 months later...

Now the 350Z has served me well over the colder months with lot's of prep, track days and the annual Nur trip it's time to get cracking with the MK again through the summer! Great shakedown up the Cat and Fiddle last night, just got to get it in for Geo/Corner weight and have the slicks (off a Formula Renault) mounted before Oulton on 30th Jun and Cadwell 20th July. Aiming to get to Anglesey and Blyton soon too.

 

Thought I would share a few of last nights pics>>

 

 

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Thanks bud!

 

Hehe I LOVE that road! Still remember 10 years ago battering it up and down in my Integra DC2. Luckily I live close by too! Not the same these days but still very enjoyable!

 

Took the drone up recently too>>

 

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