History of a Lola T492 Sports 2000 chassis?

[MGDavid]

hmmm that's odd I thought you hated it and was about to sell it..

[911thillclimber]

Ha!
It/she owes me after all this grief.
Talk about having a mistress with a love-hate relationship...

£30K would sway me, but away from that dream I want to make the most of the current situation.

Big check-out of the OSF corner tonight to see if the bumpy excursion was damaging but by eye it looks ok.

If I need to I'll get the car down to McClurg motorsport for a front end check, but the steering arms and the wheel are all straight that I have checked at the track.

Several people at the track with race cars who DIY their cars said it was going well and sounded really strong, so that is good.

I was too hot into the Fallow bend at the top of this hill and by the time I thought to myself ' this is a bit quick' I was in too deep.

Still, you do have to try hard or else why are you there?

Off to Halfords for a big box of fibre glass repair bits, a new Pip Pin from Demon Tweeks and a 2 week break for the meeting at Shelsley Walsh, a hard steep hill with no run-off space anywhere.

Too Hot = crunch and that needs more than Davids Isopon to fix, even if you have a tin of T cut too!

Finally, will need to get a lot of stones out of the tyres and make this car's 4th timing strut as the current one is very flat...

Motor sport..

[911thillclimber]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=VRU48phqBmQ

[911thillclimber]

Just been sent this clip from Shelsley Walsh as of few weeks ago;

You can tell how smooth the car is now.

http://youtu.be/HC6ZnaPv9Hg

[911thillclimber]

Have had a long hard look at the front end last night and all is well, nothing stressed,bent etc, so just the body to lash-up.
I think I will put some nylon fishing line around the chassis to check the toes is ok, but the steering arms are the weakest point and that is perfectly straight, but as Sean knows, I'm not too good at set-ups..

The front end of this poor car has seen some action, one crash every year since I've run it (or does it run me?)

A few cracks and splits to bond and a small bit of welding of the support tubes that took the brunt of the ploughing. The pip pin mounting ripped out which is not too surprising as the fibre glass around it was dry as a bone, no resin in there at all.

Shelsley Walsh next, the weekend after the bank hols.
Gulp.

[911thillclimber]

After a whole 6 hours of work the front body clam is back together in one piece.
The splits and cracks were mainly the splits and cracks suffered when the car went off at Prescott with the rear suspension failure.
Managed to straighten out the timing strut, the forth one on this car, the driver's corner took the ploughing and the strut needed welding and cutting in several places to get things aligned. The front wheel has always fouled the leading edge of the arch (the passengers side has a good gap), so while the David's Fibre glass kit was out I cut and glued that back so giving clearance.

The front body clam now looks quite a mess and not really as I would like to present the car.
Coming round to a new 3 piece body now Mrs hillclimber thinks I should not sell it as it is working!

All ready for a full-on British/Midland hillclimb Championships meeting this weekend, praying for a bone-dry weekend.

A few stickers that 'arrived' in the post have come in handy during the 'restoration'...

[911thillclimber]

Shelsley, and practice today.
Brilliant sun shine and a great field of cars as ever.

My class was particularly 'plump' with:

Force Sports racer, bike engined.turbocharged x 2 drivers.
Short wheel base Audi Quattro, a million bhp etc.
Real MG Metro 6R4, Will Gollop engine, solid drivers...
4 x 4 Mitsu/Mini space frame special with ex-Isle of Mann bike champ driving.
Pilbeam/Millington diamond engined sports racer, ex Sprint Champ driver.
NG V8 on slicks
Me.

The track was particularly dusty after some ground works recently, but after to Biug Off's code named by the commentators as 'He has stopped abruptly' translated as 'He has had an almighty hard shunt', add the F word where you like, spirited driving was a bit dampened unless you were a hillclimb god.

The Pilbeam was one of the crashes, and the car was very ugly after the impact which is a bit sobering.
Driver was ok though!

The Lola performed great, no bother, nothing went wrong and i finished with an average 33.8 sec v a PB of 33.11
The Impreza has done 32.4 so a long way to go...

Fingers are crossed for a good day tomorrow.

Not sure if I'm sorry to say the car is great!

[911thillclimber]

Race day, and progress!

First morning run and a few messages from trustworthy early runners gave the thumbs-up for the track, so off I went feeling good.

The run was much better than practice stopping the clock at 32.81sec with a poor 2.31 start and i think a 100 mph ish finish speed (timers lost the finish speeds for all first runners) but the car ran so well it was untrue.

Smooth and no raggedness just my caution going into bottom Esse, so hard not to brake early, but it was simply GREAT.

Sean's chassis set-up is still sound, the engine was on song and the gearbox direct and there on request!

A PB and closing in on the Impreza time of 32.41.

Sadly, the second run was too weak, a 33.2, so the Impreza 'record' will have to wait!
Left the time in the lower Esse and the short spurt to the top Esse, but it went really well all the same.

# 2 Sadly is I'm out of the class points coming 7th in 9 runners, I can't compete with a million bhp, 4 x 4 and good drivers...

Loton Park again next weekend then a long long rest in the Championship rounds for the summer.

hope to use the 911 for a while to go to Silverstone, Oulton and a few Tours with some hillclimb mates in classic cars, far more gentle, civilised and becoming my age, but sod that, back to racing in late July!

What a weekend, a car that works at last and is simply a hoot to drive.

[911thillclimber]

To finish the first half of the Championship events before the holiday of 4 weeks it is back to Loton Park near Shrewsbury, my favourite hill.

Of course there is the unfinished business of the '56' second run that is close with a pb of 57.14 under my belt, and a small 'off' in an attempt to get it.
That is the goal for the weekend, a 56, a car in one piece and a big grin.

Checking the car over shows a small oil leak under one of the cam housings but nothing to get upset about, a Xmas job.
Everything else is all ok, nothing negative to report!

The hillclimb paddock is relieved to find me positive as this little car and the adventures it's been through are well followed.

Race report to follow!

The body is looking very tatty now. Equinox do a 3 piece body (T 492 as it is now) which would be very nice at £2200 in burn orange gel coat.

Tempting for Xmas!
The Ghia body will be too long for the garage I have, but I know to a tatty closed glass body in Essex...

[spd(john)]

Outstanding, at last the devil has turned, see you at the w/e,

[MGDavid]

Good luck and hope it stays dry for you...

[911thillclimber]

Yes, see you there John, should be a very good meeting though entry is well down after the impacts of Shelsley...

Place looked good today taking the car up to the paddock.

Spanners crossed for the first 56!

[911thillclimber]

So to practice today....
First run was a driver-induced mess.
2 big sideways slides on a dusty track (I was not alone) shows how fast this car breaks away.
Result was a silly result, 63.34 secs, a 2.66sec start.
Compared to the PB of 57.14/2.16 and I really was not on the pace.

Collected my thoughts and the second run was much cleaner but still very slow at 60.14/2.21 so in the right direction.
We got a 3rd practice run and netted 59.7/ 2.19

I need to find a LOT of time saving tomorrow, a 56 is required.

Must say I'm not quite full mojo today, good night's sleep should do it, and it is a bit hot!
The class is very small, 6 drivers, one less now the V8 has 3 bent valves but will still be last so just 1 point.

The class leader runs 48's.

As to the car?

Flippin great again!
It is even more economical recently at about 6 to the gallon.

Meet some of my class mates from today:

[911thillclimber]

Sunday and Race Day.
I use that 'race' term carefully as the class was dwindling rapidly...

Practice first and a bit of a rough run in the 60's, weak. Car great and the muppet not so.

Race run # 1 and into the 58's so ok, but still off colour.
Car great but the muppet not so.
Missed a gear from 2nd to 3rd right on the very last part of the track so used 4th and bumbled across the finish.

Second race run and car great, muppet...you get the message.
Stinking hot in the car, and faced a long Red Flag as the track was cleared from someone else and to be honest I was ready not to run.
Result was a miserable 60 sec run but a good 2.18 start.

Thus, a bitty end to my first half of the 2013 hillclimb season.

Next race will be at Shelsley Walsh in mid August would you believe!

Time to tweek the Lola, re-tune the carbs and fix a few niggles (ie oil and temperature gauge readings), but to get the 911 out and about to Silverstone and Oulton Park.
SPA classic becons.

The car is in one piece, works well and has been great.

Cannot believe I'm saying that after all these years of grief.

[911thillclimber]

Just noticed it has been 2 months since the last post and the last competative run in the Lola.

It feels like it was last year, what a long long wait for a bit of Championship action.

My fault for being lazy. I could have raced outside the Championship but I wanted to run the 911 a bit and indeed after a frazzle getting the handbrake to work for the MoT, replacing the 1973 starter that suddenly became dicky and a speedo that broke, all is well!

After 10+ years my long standing Insurers told me to 'go away' because the car is modified (Footman James) so much for loyalty, so indeed I went away and got cover for cheaper.

Took the 911 to the Silverstone Classic to participate in the record attempt for the most 911's on a race track.
We got 1208 of the things moving round, a new record.

Decided that I would do a clubbie sprint to get back in the seat, so have entered for next weekend's Curborough Mid Cheshire one day meeting with Shelsley Walsh the weekend after.

So, the covers are off the sleeping Lola!
Only needs a good clean, some fuel and some air in the tyres, so will fettle over the next few evenings and run it up a few times.

After this one there are just 3 more events to do and that's it for 2013.

Hardly seems worth doing!!

What to do over Xmas?
Now, that IS a big question.

[911thillclimber]

Got the Lola out yesterday to start it for the first time in 7 weeks, the last time I drove it.
The pump went crazy filling the big carbs for 20 seconds, switched on, and after a usual reluctant cough and wheeeze it fired up on all 6 and purred for ever (well, at least till hot).

that was good. The car is now sitting on the trailer ready for the little clubbie at a local sprint track, Curborough, close to Litchfield, definitely the Home of Club Motorsport.

It is a simple sprint track based on where WW2 planes were parked during the war. Bloody tricky to get round fast and a measured approach is needed.

I last 'raced' there about 8 years ago in the 911 and have run the Impreza there for a corporate 'hot-lap' day, and recently the Lola when Sean at McClurge Motorsport did such a great job sorting the suspension for me that is still in the car now. The chassis in this car has always been great, just the drivetrain and the driver...

Bit of luck Mrs hillclimber will take a few snaps as I try to go fast tomorrow.
Weather looks good, my favorite of cool and overcast, perfect.

As an aside, the 911 sports some big boots now and looks the Classic car now but rides so much nicer and smoother and quieter and....

As an aside, i am deeply indebted to you all reading this little story of grief with a few highlights of absolute joy for over 200,000 hits.
Never thought it would generate so much interest.
I get a lot of encouragement from this 'attention' so thank you all for stick with it!

[MGDavid]

we enjoy the saga too Graham; please keep posting pics of that simply gorgeous car...

[911thillclimber]

Thank you David!
Met a couple of 10/10ths-ers today at the Clubbie at Curborough.

Small field meant a lot of runs, infact 6 runs, all 'double lappers' so a lot of driving, good weather and some nice company too, but in a class on my own.

First practice was a very careful look at the track as it has been about 8 years or more since I last drove there.

2.4 sec start and a time of 68.12 (which is slow) Car ran great, driver a bit rusty, but everything worked(!)
Second practice and a bit quicker,
2.31 start and 62.46. Nice.

First race run was 2.24/60.20, begging to be a 59, my target for the day.
Second race run 2.26/61.37 because I tried taking 3rd in one stretch which slowed the cars 'flow' in the bends.
Third race run was 2.17/59.73, that's better
4th race run was 2.31/59.63

Car back on trailer, all in one piece, driver rust-free, and ready for Shelsley Walsh next weekend!

[911thillclimber]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=5Q8_ZYWHjRo

[Andy Clegg]

I look at 10/10's every day and always look for your posts.

[911thillclimber]

That's kind of you to say, thanks.
I hope my mood swings with this car raise a smile and nothing else.

I have promised myself that if this year is 'bad' then the car will go in one piece or be broken up to get some of the money back.
The engine and box are worth about 8K as they are becoming very rare and desirable as a hot rod 911 now.
The chassis is quite another thing.
obviously very thunder saloon with the Ghia body on it, but maybe back into sports 2000 with a lot of back-dating.

If I keep it then I will fuel inject the engine with a decent ECU (maybe DTA or Emerald).
A fresh body in burnt orange (two suppliers now in the UK would you believe) and much narrower wheels, 7" front and 10" rear (currently 10" and 14") so I can put the fronts on the rear and find new fronts keeping the center locks.
I have a set of suitably period BBS split rims, 7" wide but the centres need some machining to get a fit.

I need fresh slicks for 2014 so the wheel decision is key at £1300 a set for AVON's best...

Yesterday was a nice day all round and the car got better as I got going. Looking at the Mrs Hillclimber video I can see so much time to be shed all down to me not the car, this is why the videos are so important to see.
There is about 1.5 secs to be had over the 'double-lapper' as it is called at the track.

I can feel Driftwood's comments now as well as Clive Brown's!

Sometimes I feel as though I'm in front of the axle in this car which has always been in my mind...

[911thillclimber]

The narrow - wheel experiment gathers pace.

The spare 10" rims will fit the rear a treat with larger holes for the drive pegs.
The front BBS rims can have new outer rims for a grand £160 and be 7.5" wide with the outer rim edge within the body arch and I think I have a set of suitable crossply slicks on the way to Shelsley this weekend for a beer.

The 8"x 10" tyres are very very popular size in the small light single seaters that there are piles of them about in the right A15 or softer compound.

Just what I hope to gain is a bit more agility and being able to get more sticky heat into the tyres = more grip.

If nothing else I will have a set of rims just right for cut slicks for the odd rainy day...

With the car working it is time to change something.(hopefully for the better)

Shelsley this weekend and a full-onchampionship meeting, a far cry from the relaxed clubbie of last weekend, but what a place and what a hill!

[Clive Brown]

This does not sound like a good idea to me. I would expect a car with the sort of power, torque, and weight that you have to be running 9.0/20x13 front tyres on a 10" rim, and 12.0/23x13 rear tyres on a 13" rear rim.

If you go to narrower rims, you need to make sure that the narrowing is equally distributed either side of the mounting face; otherwise you alter the track dimension of the car, and hence the overall suspension geometry.

If you go to what I would call F3 size tyres, 7.0/20x13 on the front on an 8" rim and 9.0/22x13 at the rear on a 10" rim, then you will reduce the rear ride height by ½", and thus bugger up your roll centre.

It is true that S2000 T492s had even narrower rims, but they had completely different suspension to your car, ran a rock-hard cantilevered-sidewall Dunglop control tyre in period, and of course, only had about 110bhp, all except one car at a Championship round at Mallory Park one day.

[911thillclimber]

Thank you as ever Clive for the comments, I value them.

The wheels came with the chassis as we know via the mods with the Ghia body.
I assume that they are wheels that came with the 'ralt' front end and the March F2 rear parts.

I think the only Ralt bits at the front is the upright assy as the wishbones/roll bar look exactly Lola T 492 from pictures of period cars.

The rear end is a mix of March F2 and my lower wishbones that place the uprights exactly where Humberstone had them. The lower wishbones replaced the two parallel links/side that came off the FT200 box lower plate. I kept to the same pivot dimensions when making the wish bones for the rear and the Porsche box.

The T 492 came with 7"Fr/ 9" Rr and the tyres sat right under the body, if not inside. To run the front 10" I've had to cut the front curve of the body and move it forward a full 1.5" to get clearance of the wheel on full lock, both sides.
If i fit a fresh body I do not want to do that again as it can look messy. The 8" rims will clear the body lip.

At the rear, the spare Dymags I have are narrower by loosing an even amount both sides about the wheel hub/drive flange faces so I would expect the rear geo to be ok.

The front is similar, I will loose 1" from the outside and add an inch to the inside to keep the 8" overall width but inset by an inch moving from 10" to 8" symmetrically compared to the current Dymag 10".

I think this will keep the geo much as it is now.

I am hoping to achieve:
1
Better rear grip
The car will readily spin the rears despite the 12" wide contact patch and LSD.
My 911 on good List 1B tyres (Kumho's) will pull as good a 64ft start as the Lola, same power (ish) and almost twice the weight. The 911 however squats a good 100mm on dropping the clutch (no LSD in the 911) so lots of traction.
2
More heat in the A15 compound tyres in general thus more grip.
On average a climb will last about 40 to 50 seconds or less. Not much time to get them hot.
3
Less rolling resistance so better acceleration.
4
Generally better chassis dynamics.

Quite a few 'knowledgeable' people have commented on it having too wide a set of wheels on the car over the last few years, one is a Champion with a similar but bike engined Sports racer though of far more modern design.
He runs 8" x 10" widths.(radials)

We can add the contentious discussion on Crossply v Radials to this mix too....

Is there a right or wrong answer?

[Clive Brown]

Hmm.... if you can already spin the rear wheels with a 12" wide contact patch, then surely this problem will be exacerbated with a narrower tyre?

If your rear tyres are of smaller diameter than at present, your rear ride height, and hence your rear roll centre, will change.

I don't understand quite what you mean by taking 1" off the outside of the front wheels and adding 1" to the inside; that doesn't alter the width of the front wheels, it just reduces the front track by 2", and alters the front geometry. Surely you must mean an inch equally off either side of the front wheels?

If you do proceed, I would carry out the experiment before ordering/fitting a new body, so that if it doesn't work you can readily revert to the status quo.