 In true OUMF last-minute fashion, the weekend kicked off with an email sent out at 10:39, requesting the team to gather for an 11:00 start at the barn. As cars rolled down the drive and students poured out, a warm blanket of sun saw the team don sunglasses, hats, and suncream – a welcome change from the dark, wet evenings we had all grown used to while working on the projects over winter. As the first race of the season – and the first ever race for some of the lucky freshers to make the team (myself included) – a buzz of excitement filled the barn and yard during the final preparations before departure. We secured the race cars onto the trailers, shut the van doors for the last time, and all piled into the convoy vehicles (smallest person goes in the middle seat!), stopping briefly before the circuit for a Sainsbury’s pit stop for some student essentials – beer, energy drinks and sweets.
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Thanks to Chris Smith at Devon Racing, we were very kindly given some new engine mounts from another TVR, and the engine, with the gearbox, was finally mated with the chassis. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the end of the problems for Gerald. A lot of hard work allowed the engine to be plumbed in and started, after which we quickly realised oil was leaking out the back of the engine through an oil gallery bung that wasn’t properly sealed. We also found the coil would get extremely hot even when the engine wasn’t running, so that needed to be replaced too. The engine had to come out again.
However, every cloud has a silver lining! our Rally Riley is now on display at the The British Motor Museum in Gaydon until May! So if you’re in the area, or fancy a day out, make sure to swing by and check out one of OUMF’s most successful cars, and learn about its rich history rallying across the world! A huge thanks to Jeff Coope and all his team for making this happen!  Saturday January 4th had been a long and cold day of engine prep, and the OUMF team that had gathered for the start of our annual Action Week decided that to lift our spirits and give a boost to the start of the year, this was the moment that we should attempt to start the engine of the TVR 350i project. Its mighty Rover V8 motor had been meticulously rebuilt by our engine team, spearheaded by Tom Reid and James Biley, over many months - and we all really wanted to hear it rumble! So the last coolant lines were connected, the oil sump pan was sealed, and the distributor was connected. The engine was turned over to get oil pressure, the spark plugs were refitted, and the key was finally turned… and as it fired up on all 8 cylinders, a great roar of triumph and jubilation also rang from within the barn in celebration as the V8 lived once more for the first time in over 20 years! Alongside progress on the V8, Luke Crutchley had been hard at work removing, cleaning and preparing parts from various projects like our Elva and Toyo Golf for our upcoming visit to Mr Aston Martin and his Procoat business later in Action Week. However, as our hopes and spirits rose within the barn, the weather and temperature outside deteriorated. It grew colder and colder and then snow started to fall. The forecast promised much more, including freezing rain overnight, and so the team made the decision to cancel the upcoming visit to the Bicester Scramble the following morning with our Riley 1.5 rally car. As work was finished in the barn for the night, the OUMF team celebrated by making the most of the weather with an epic snowball fight and some last minute snow drifting as we headed home in preparation for the following day, before we set off for Devon.
In every project, there are certain moments that stand out, and we have just hit one of those milestones: the engine is finally installed in the TVR! This marks a pivotal step in bringing our vision for this restored classic to life.
The journey to this point was not without its challenges, as we spent months sourcing the right parts, restoring or modifying every single part, ensuring every detail met our standards for performance and compatibility. The freshly built engine was finally ready to go in, but after careful preparation of the engine bay, our first go at the installation uncovered that the engine mounting brackets were the wrong fit—a frustrating setback. The 20th of October marked the final round in OUMF’s 14th year racing in the HRDC. Our Riley One Point Five competing in the ‘Jack Sears Trophy’ and the Austin Healey Seabring Sprite in the ‘Dunlop Allstars’. This event would be impossible without the support of the HRDC’s Race Director, Julius Thurgood; him being a key player into letting us race at some of the UK’s finest circuits. This weekend to many of the new freshers, including myself would be their debut race weekend, meaning Ding had his work cut out to pick out a team with the 92+ different members who had joined the club the month prior. The week of Silverstone a list was organized, being a team of 9 previous members to be supported by 10 freshers to ensure the weekend would run as smooth as possible, along with giving the opportunity to see how the freshers would fit in the team and compare to many professional race teams there that weekend.  The Team and cars in the Silverstone pits
The preparations for me began on Thursday evening when I arrived having been away from OUMF due to the start of my placement. It was good to be back at the barn and part of the team again. The team gathered to give our trusty Riley a final once-over before the big weekend. Everything was looking good and by Saturday morning, the Riley was primed and ready to go. We packed up the van, loaded the Riley, and hit the road at 4 PM, bound for Brands Hatch with excitement and optimism.
 A trailer wheel rolling past the van while leaving the HQ was not the best omen with which to start a race weekend - but luckily the OUMF race team is not superstitious! Attempt 2 to leave went much more smoothly, and the team made their way north-east to the very technical Snetterton 300 race circuit in Norfolk. The team had just returned from Belgium the previous weekend, where we had scored a notable success with a Class win with our rally Riley 1.5 in the FIA Ardeca Ypres Rally. Almost as soon as we got off the DFDS ferry, we had continued the race prep our 1959 Elva Courier, in the hope of running it at Snetterton 5 days later. While it was quite the valiant effort to try and get the ol’ girl ‘good to race’, it was eventually decided to put a much less time-constrained effort in on the car after Snetterton. This meant the team fully committed to taking our Sebring Sprite and Riley 1.5 racers, our tried and tested machines which only required a quick refresh instead of a full buildup!
On reaching the circuit near Norwich, we set up our pit at the track and then made our way to the pub for some grub. However, after previous all-nighter of race prep took its toll on many of the team, and upon our return to the track, a rare occurrence took place…the exhausted OUMF’s were all in bed by 22:00!
The OUMF Austin Healey Sebring Sprite had been lucky enough to spend a few months on sabbatical leave at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon – and some readers may have seen it on its own display in the entrance foyer. For us at OUMF this was an opportunity we could not miss; a chance to exhibit the 6 year practical project representing the engineering efforts of 100’s of students. At Gaydon – away from the racetrack - the public could get up close and personal with the car and admire all its beautiful details. Upon collecting our ‘Little BeWT’, a week before it was to be on track at Donington, Jeff Coope (the museum’s MD) kindly took Ding and I for some lunch, over which he described the huge public interest there had been in not only the Sprite, but the overall concept of OUMF and the incredible opportunities it gives us as students. Once we were full of sandwiches and cake, the Sprite was loaded onto the trailer in no time with the help of some visitors, and we set off down the M40, Oxford bound!  Who are Zircotec?
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