History of a Lola T492 Sports 2000 chassis?

[911thillclimber]

The finals are out and changed a little for the big Championship meeting at Loton Park very close to the Welsh bourder this weekend. ( www.hdlcc.com )

£ cars in the class as expected, the TooFast NORMA, the dual driven For Sale Pilbeam and us.
If I can bag 2nd, it will be a very good 6 points per run and I think that will cement my Championship Class win for 2023.
The Sunday maybe Sat too will be on youtube live stream, we are car 73 if interested.

Weather not too good, so things may change...

My only class competitor Mike Luck has withdrawn, so any position will net some good points.

Just 2 more events after Loton and we are done!

An old pic from 2011 at the top of Loton, the car has changed!

[Gerard C]

Go, Graham, go!

[911thillclimber]

Ha!
Car looks far meaner on the huge wheels, but drives much nicer on the narrow ones.
At the change oveer time to the blue body i reduced the wheels so the old fronts went on the rear, and 'new ATS' ones on the front.

Main advantage was a far better turning circle and i can now get off the top of Prescot hill without a probable 3 point turn...

Prescott finals for next week just arrived. Full class, Roger Moran in his full house Fabia tarmac rally car is in but no mike. Perhaps he has thrown the towel in?

[911thillclimber]

Quite a weekend of intense hillclimbing!

Saturday practice was to be 3 runs, but rain sent us home after 2, but both were strong, and the clutch is great, so so much better than the old one.
We had one car transfere to Libre, only Roger Moran in his killer Skoda Fabia tarmac rally car, one step down from full WRC spec...

So, bet hope for me was 3rd out of 5 drivers in the class, so so it worked out that way. The Norma was light years faster and the class winner both times, very nearly getting into the 49's

Sunday, and we came 3rd in class each time, so a full 6 points to add to my tally.

Almost better still I was not that far from Roger in the Skoda, about 1 second.

My pb is 44.98 and I came close today to catching it.

Lovely stuff, hard running and great weather today. Fab!

[Gerard C]

Well done, Graham, we can feel you're happy, good to read. So, (old forum joke inside) t'was not the coils but the clutch! You can't be wrong with a genuine Sachs. When and where next time?

[911thillclimber]

Thanks, happy indeed.
There were other Good Things about the weekend as a cherry on the cake.

We are at Prescott next weekend, 2/3rd Sept for more British and Midland Championship hillclimbing.
Tomorrow will be a day of cleaning and titivating about in the garage, might even paint the Yamaha wheels!

The Lola is such a great little car to have, very lucky indeed for me.

The Prescott class is full with the Norma and Roger there, I hope to keep close to Roger's times if I can, but the Norma is far out of reach.

https://youtu.be/nFP96NBUCpk?t=10645

[morninggents]

It looked like you were on for a PB at Cedar on your last run and your speed was good. Last corner whoopsie?

[911thillclimber]

It was really going well, took third just before the Cedar 'straight' and before Keepers and planted the throttle just out of Keepers. The engine (to my ear) really digs in hard and away it went. The kink in the straight is hard work, the kink and in that a slight corkscrew camber change and it is narrow. We even paint in white that spot so you can keep off the grass...

Came into Fallow at the top of the straight flying well, dropped from 3rd to 2nd, but is was 4th!
Grumbled through Fallow and got 2nd cleanly and blasted off. That was where I left the time, that 4th gearchange...

Car ran fabulously, the McClurge chassis set-up is os easy to use in that you never thing the chassis will become tricky, it is so very neutral.

New clutch is so good, that old one was well past it's sell by date.

Engine still excites, so worth all the work, trouble, strife and £10,000.

What a silly sport this is, but cannot imagine stopping.

Looking forward to Prescott next weekend and keeping close to Roger's Skoda if I can.

[911thillclimber]

Double post!
Off to clean it now!

[911thillclimber]

And so to Prescott and the last but one meeting. Full fat Briotish and Midland Championship rounds, all to play for.

Saturday, so practice. First run and the track was very damp with overnight mist and drizzle, so krept up to the top like most.

It all changed for the 2nd practice, and the track was good. Did a great run and achieved 3rd in a class of 7, and only 0.08 sec behind Roger in his second rally Skoda..
The Norma was light years ahead. Mike got a late entry and a few more in the class of 7. I've never known the class to have 7 drivers/6 cars.

My first run was 45.44/2.14 start. That's ok.

PB is 44.15 set last year on nice new tyres, and i was a year younger.

3rd practice run came round after the Spitfire had rumbled pure Merlin over head, and went a touch faster, 45.44/ 2.10 and actually faster than the Skoda (45.62)

I'm sure that will change tomorrow as the temp will be a bit higher, but I will be pleased if these results repeat tomorrow.

Car is going well, clutch is superb!





Sometimes a real race sports car arrives, a Chevron with a very deep past, right back to the Targa Florio. Fabulous!



https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2023...7ca276b606.jpg

[911thillclimber]

Sunday and sunny and even hot (23 C), track perfect.
Task for the day was to come 3rd or better.
To do this I had to beat Roger in the Skoda.

Morning practice was 'ok' but felt a bit behind the car but still a tall 45.

First timed run was quick and landed a 2nd, well ahead of Roger by around 1/2 second. (Lola 45.25, Skoda 45.88)
Second timed run and i just HAD to take second again.
Roger's time and mine were exactly the same...45.22

However, the morning run being quicker gave me 2nd in class for the event and 12 points to my tally.

Car was just fabulous, it runs so well at Prescott, lots of bends and few fast bits!

A real good 'day at the races'. So pleased, and collected a glass tankard too.

Last one at Loton Park on the 23/24 Sept and we a re all done for 2023.

Flown by.

[911thillclimber]

https://youtu.be/izS0qc9yUoU?t=5066

[S griffin]

For some reason, that link doesn’t work for me

[E.B]

Originally Posted by S griffin

For some reason, that link doesn’t work for me

Works fine for me. That was an hour ago and just tried again and all ok.

[Gerard C]

If it's called Championship Decider, works fine here too. Graham at 1.25' roughly. Correct?

[911thillclimber]

Yes, @ 1.26 I think.
The link covers the class, so 6 different cars, 7 drivers.

[911thillclimber]

A fresh set of entrants arrived yesterday, and my class has diminished to just 3 of us. We have the 'fast' Chrono AUDI special, you know, the slow one, Mike in the last run of the Zolfe and the Lola.
Meanwhile the under 2 litre Libre class is a very full 10 runners.

This class has steadily grown and the majority of the cars are bike engined and tend to be quicker than me!
Weight is everything....nothing to do with the pilot.

The Log Book for the Lola runs out end of this year so a new Passport document is needed for next year which is a £25 document which gets the details on a digital database and is far more detailed as to the tech of the car.

Not too sure of the weather, so maybe a 2nd or 3rd for us.

[911thillclimber]

Saturday and our last meeting for 2023.

Class got shuffled a bit, now 5 runners, the huge Chrono, Roger and son's Skoda, Mike Luck in the Zolfe and us.

Dry and sort of warm, so a good 3 runs for us all. My PB is 54.98.

After the day's runs, Roger @ 54.01, Scott @ 54.51, Chrono @ 54.83, Lola @ 56.98 and Mike @ 60.25.

I have a feeling all will change tomorrow as it is going to rain and then some in the morning, and drying in the afternoon. Will duck-out if raining!

[Gerard C]

Fingers crossed, Graham. Be safe, have fun.

[911thillclimber]

Should have crossed your legs too!

Sunday arrived and the track was drying from rain overnight, but is was all but dry for our first timed run.
We all went slower, but Roger in the Skoda was ahead, but not by much.

Second runs were on a dry track so things became more 'competative'.

I was please to have come 4th (or last but one).
Skoda won @ 54.32
Skoda/Scott @ 54.49
Chrono @54.56
Lola @ 55.17
Zolfe @ 61.86

If I had run my pb the position would be the same, but I was not too far away from the leaders.

So, the 2023 season is over, the car was great, lost one event due to the broken clutch.
Most importantly of course, won the Class in the Midland Championship.

Back home in one piece, the car in one piece, and a Scottish holiday soon to ponder what (if anything) to do to the car in the cold garage season....

It's been GREAT, how luck I am to have this car and my 100% support from Mrs Hillclimber.

[Mike Harte]

Well done Graham. Hopefully you have enjoyed this season, despite the couple of wet events.

Hope you both have a great holiday and also hope that the rain gods are kind to you in the land of midges!

[911thillclimber]

Thank you mike.
Nice pic sent to me:



Bit of today's live stream;

https://youtu.be/ragqW4j8O3Y?t=19211

[Gerard C]

Well done Graham and yes great Scottish holyday. Great to read that you don't forget a very important part of the team Mrs Hillclimber.

So, well done Mrs Hillclimber! happy holyday in Scotland.

[911thillclimber]

Winter on it's way, so time to do some much needed maintenance on the Lola.
The car is quite dirty underneath, the twin plug ignition systen seems to attract all manner of coatings of diret, and it is starting to accumulate so a big clean is needed.

To do this it is engine out and on the stand so i can rotate it round to get at every spot.

I will check the cylinder head stud torque and the valve clearances (etc) to ensure nothing has come loose since the big rebuild which I started almost exactly 2 years ago.
The rear chassis is very spanner chipped, so some tlc needed in a zillion places.

If I do this now I can avoid freezing in the garage...

[911thillclimber]

Engine now all done (!)
Head stud torques all even and down to correct torque, none loose. Cam carrier bolts that I could reach all ok too.
All plugs the same colour and all leads etc nice and clean.

Parts on order to button it up.

When I did this engine and the time before I used M8 Dowty seals on the lower rocker cover bolts (this engine has bolts, not studs) and plain gaskets, all oil tight, so fresh Dowty seals ordered.

The chassis is next, but no Porsche content so will not bother anyone!

Hope to have it all back together by end of next week.

What a long time ago this was, measure an awful lot, cut once.