History of a Lola T492 Sports 2000 chassis?

[911thillclimber]

Some things are never simple are they, esp in this world of motorsport.


Ben of BHP came to see the car and spoke sensibly about the changes which I have agreed to.
He has taken the dist and the leads to convert to points-less ignition with a punch.
Ignition to be set on the rollers, carbs too. He is happy to deal with the carbs.


However, he asked about the tyres on the back and was worried about wrecking them on the rollers....


Seems he is dead right.
Thus, I now have to find 2 scrap slicks to replace the good rears on the car.
Easier said than done, but I hope BMTR who are sort of close can help without silly expense.


2 new rear tyres are £600.


If this fails I'll surrender, fit the ignition and call it a day!

[andy97]

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

Some things are never simple are they, esp in this world of motorsport.


Ben of BHP came to see the car and spoke sensibly about the changes which I have agreed to.
He has taken the dist and the leads to convert to points-less ignition with a punch.
Ignition to be set on the rollers, carbs too. He is happy to deal with the carbs.


However, he asked about the tyres on the back and was worried about wrecking them on the rollers....


Seems he is dead right.
Thus, I now have to find 2 scrap slicks to replace the good rears on the car.
Easier said than done, but I hope BMTR who are sort of close can help without silly expense.


2 new rear tyres are £600.


If this fails I'll surrender, fit the ignition and call it a day!

What size are the tyres? And what else normally runs on them? Maybe someone in the circuit single seater or historic sports car world can help with a pair of rear slicks - Monoposto, Historic F2, Historic Group 6 etc etc?

[morninggents]

I'm sure many of us on here have contacts using slicks. As Andy says if you give us the tyre size you need someone probably can help.

[Gerard C]

In a certain way, fine tuning the carbs cannot be fully done on the rollers. We experienced this more than once with this air-cooled engine but in a 911 body only which differs from a proto. If my memory serves, we have only one Hema Porsche in the area. Proof in the pudding means proof on the track! Can you monitor the AFR with a simple wide band lambda sender to two, and a recording gauge at the dash may be?
Always a pleasure to read from you and your wonderful aventure!
Merci.

[911thillclimber]

Tell you what..
Firstly this Forum is great!
Secondly, a fellow hill climber might have some tyres and can deliver (he has a UK wide haulage business)
Thirdly, BMTR are hunting down some BIG tyres for me, just needs the boss there to give his blessing.


The actual size tyre is 1.5" x 23" x 13", however there are more duff tyres in a far bigger size at BMTR that will fit my 14" WIDE wheels that I originally raced on before going 'narrow'.
If this works I can have the diff tyres fitted to the big wheels and keep the actual hillclimb tyres all undisturbed. They are remarkably air tight for a racing tyre so it would be a shame to take them off.


My fingers are crossed as well as the spanners.


Not many dull simple relaxed calm tranquil times with this little car!

[911thillclimber]

Closing in on all this mini adventure..


Had the gigantic tyres from BMTR fitted today, just £15 each inc fitting and a balance. Circuit tyres and checked by BMTR as 'sound' and sacrificial for the rollers. Forgotten just how big these wheels were, 14" wide!


BHP cannot upgrade the distributor to the level hoped for, so just a points swop-out and the sports 3 ohm coil as previously used and fresh silicon leads.
Car booked in for the 29th March so well in time for I hope will be the first hill run in late April, at least it is not 1st April.


This should re-set any ignition timing, carb balance (I think the mixtures are ok) and minimise the runs up on the horrific experience that is a rolling road. Hate it!

[MGDavid]

Aren't Porsche engines bullet-proof? Have faith...

[911thillclimber]

Ah, but I built this one!

[S griffin]

And it looks in fine fettle I must say

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by MGDavid

Aren't Porsche engines bullet-proof?

Yes they are, very reliable when using the good parts. The real issues we had were on… the rolling road, snapping rollers due to over-revving.
I hate this too but its necessary.
Just out of my curiosity, what type of fuel do you use and is the ignition timing more than 32/35°?
Yes 14" wheels look massive and the price is a real bargain. Forza!

[S griffin]

Hopefully you have the right parts for the Porsche engine. And at least the rolling road makes you realise how much you can rev the engine to, so it's not all bad

Anyway hope the car runs well. It looks the business, especially with the tyres and wheels

[911thillclimber]

Did this engine, my 4th build of a 911 engine, a few years ago after a BIG bang at Prescott.
Rockers fail first to over-rev, then rod bolts, then piston(s).


The last BANG cost £4000 in parts, labour was free.

[Gerard C]

Bucks for the bang… Last time, moons ago, was on the rolling road, mechanic's fault. Snapped two rollers due to over-rev. No other damage because the rockers were old style, the ones with adjusting screw. Modern ones fail at higher revs, hence many more damages. As we say, "on ne fait pas d'omelette sans casser des oeufs"!
Forget about this which belongs to the past!

[911thillclimber]

Tes, the rocker arms are cast steel so if one or more snaps due to an over-rev at least the valves shut.
When my engine let go at Prescott it went a bit further, 4 rockers snapped and one cylinder came apart.
Took a lot to clean the inside of the engine, threw the cooler away.

[Gerard C]

Not surprised to see you're a very wise man. After such damages and even minor ones its nearly impossible to clean the cooler and the thermostat housing of the 911 as well. We try to avoid the use of "modern" rollers with the shim as found on RSR's. Do you use head gaskets or steel rings?

[911thillclimber]

Neither!
The 3.2 engines have no head/barrel gasket, just metal to metal, works perfectly if those surfaces are 'perfect'.
The tolerance stack-ups have to be carefully checked.
There are 3 barrel heights, so all 6 barrels must be the same identity, the block totally flat or you will have the cam binding in the housings. Head thicknes another critical measurement.


This make swopping one damaged barrel (say) hard to do as you have to find a spare that is the right height or too tall and get it machined down.


There are copper crush gaskets under the barrel/block feces to help seal and ease the tolerances....

[Gerard C]

You became a very good engine builder with those experiences and when reading some of your words, like the "block must be totally flat" it sounds easy but is not. That's why your engine is powerful and reliable. With a slightly lighter final bill. Have you been asked to work for other competitors? Or may be, Madame would not appreciate too much?

[911thillclimber]

Oddly only been asked to do a Honda bike engine (classic 350cc) by someone, but don't want the responsibility and risk of come-back.
I like doing old classic motorcycles, so easy and light to work on if a tad expensive..
Thus, not Mrs hillclimber's favourite topic.

[Gerard C]

I got rid of all my RDLC's and now dont regret it. Funnily enough I used to buy the needed hard to find parts from a supplier near Nottingham, others from US, Aus and OZ. All electronics bits were from Russia… Nothing from here, of course!

[911thillclimber]

Car all ready for the rolling road tomorrow, hope we both survive the ordeal.
I don't think there is much to tweak, mainly to get the timing just on and the chokes balanced, mixture is about right.

It will need a good clean over ready for the first hill climb which I hope will be end of April's Prescott.

[911thillclimber]

Went well today at BHP, the local rolling road.
After a few tweaks, 257 bhp and 237 lbft.


Video to follow when the iPhone is repaired...
Sounded REALLY good at 130 mph in 3rd at full chattttt!

[911thillclimber]

Turn your volume up maybe!


https://youtu.be/c8pzuNoSi0w

[S griffin]

That sounds like a fan being turned up. Sounds great!

[A.C.Clegg]

Just read the latest news. Glad to see thread is still so popular.

[A.C.Clegg]

Glad to read latest news. Good to see things are progressing.