History of a Lola T492 Sports 2000 chassis?

[911thillclimber]

Well, the body is no nice and clean now!

Talk about a wet first day at Loton Park....

Still had 4 runs and interesing they all were too.

First was pedestrian along with all the other 80 runners, so so slippy on fresh slicks.

Car filthy.

Second run was just as wet so gained little except gave the engine a good squeeze over the finishing line and nearly came off...

Third run was in the dry!
I dropped the tyre pressures from 15F/18R to 13F/16.5R and things felt better.

Forth run was wet again but i softened the rear bor a hole and thing seemed not too bad (for a wet run)

Was going to try for a fifth run but a single seater left the track hard which put paid to the day.

The forecast is WORSE for tomorrow, so will try a few runs, but might duck-out and come home early to start the Big Clean.

Positives:
Engine/box great
Narrow tyres different but good so far
Recent last moment probs with the rear hub and front wheels seem resolved
EVERYONE loves the New Look.

Thus, I'm sure I can win the Show and No Go class.

Negatives:

New slicks and water do not mix..

Pics tomorrow!

[911thillclimber]

This pic sums it all up.

Did 4 runs, 1 was almost dry.

Managed to press-on a bit but as soon as some speed was found the front wheels vibrated badly. I thought it was the new splitter, so took that off and it was still there. Can only conclude that the wheels are out of balance....

The car is still un-nervingly twitchy on an infamous part of this 1 mile long hill, Cedar Straight, which has a pesky kink in it and the car was quite unsettled.

I have a few thoughts on this so will experiment later.

First job (that has started) is to get the endless crud off the whole car, what a mess it all is.

One positive to add to the list is the new mega/taxi/triumph herald steering lock is superb, you can really notice it in the paddock maneuvers.

We are back at Loton in 2 weeks time for a clubbie before the Championship starts.

[911thillclimber]

After a bit of fine-tuning i have sorted the bump steer in the front end.

Alan Humberstone told me a few years ago that they had a lot of trouble with the front bump but had cracked it.

I foolishly thought it would be ok, but after some DIY actions i have the front going up and down (70mm) with 0.2mm deviation from static track.

I never knew everything was SO sensitive to change but got there in the end.

Will need tracking now, so have ordered a laser device for £65.

The front wheels were also way out of balance so that has been addressed too.

Getting there!

[911thillclimber]

Getting into laser in a big way now!

Got my £65 laser tracking kit yesterday so i can do this job asap now and in the future to all the cars.
Took a little time to sort it all out but by adding some weight in the form of taped-on socket it get easier to use.
Sean at McClurg motorspor translated the imperial toe to degrees/minutes for me and it is all done.

Funniest part was getting Mrs hillclimber into the Lola for 'ballast' while I spannered. The hillarious part was getting her out!
Needless to say she got some grease on her trousers....so Sean, who suggested such a wild idea, is in the dog house 'cause I blamed it all on him....

I'm ready now for the clubbie at Loton on sunday, forecast is.....
RAIN!

[gt917]

Great to see you using one of those laser units.

I was just wondering about one myself a couple of days ago, so seeing your pictures and post has been most timely.

The long, low and unremovable nose of the 917 makes front suspension adjustment a real pain, and this bit of kit looks as if it might work for me.

JUST how good, once sorted, did you find this equipment.

Thankyou.

[911thillclimber]

Good to hear from you again!

Negative things here, BUT remember this is all of £65 delivered.

Parts are very light and they had to be weighted by taping socket sets to the horizontal bar
The laser starts out pinpoint across the car for first wheel set-up, but increases in 'diameter' to about a fuzzy edged 3mm dia. The increments on the laser head giving toe in/out are about 3mm apart for each 10' of angle, thus, if you want 5' you have to estimate the centre of the laser 'dot'.

I could set-up for 10' and 15' quite easily once my 'eye' had adjusted to the 'dot'. The second pic above shows 15' of angle on the laser head scale.

First set-up attempt showed you need to be quite careful or you loose the laser dot across the garage!
I placed a white panel (polystyrene) behind the head and the mirror so I could see where the laser was.

Above all I think this is a good bit of kit, I got to where I wanted to be on my car, 15' toe-in and to my engineer's eye the wheels look 'right'.

I did the lot in a dark garage to improve resolution of the laser 'dot' but brighter conditions just might improve the dot's definition by removing the fuzzy light and allowing the core intense laser to literally shine through.

Before I bought this I considered using fishing lines to string the car but I feel there are too many errors that can creep in (because of me) and the next alternative are the classic Dunlop optical gauges, £550 new, £250 second hand/bent/nicked and space hungry in a small garage like mine.

Clubbie hillclimb this sunday, so we shall see!

If no good it will go to McClurg's for a real tweek.

Hope this helps you.

[andy97]

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

http://www.uphillracers.com/attachme...1&d=1395935322

Rumour is that it may have been sold to someone in N Ireland?

Also rumours that Dr E may be planning on re-commissioning his Karmann Ghia Special Saloon over next winter, ready for 2015. Hope it happens.

[911thillclimber]

I have bought a few bits from Dermot recently and was dreadding having to go there and get them because i would see the car.

I'm too old now to have that car and do something other than hillclimb with it, but would have loved to build the car (money pit).
You would need a good £20K to build it strongly for the track again and i want to retire early!
However, if I sold the Lola for good money I think that would have been a financed retirement project to keep me busy..oh how tempting, but I doubt the Lola will sell well, esp in one piece, maybe £16K broken and sold off.

Just a great looking period piece that Skoda.

And so will the DrE Ghia be too!
Way back I did have a possible route to getting a body off those moulds he still has and even phoned him about it.

The Ghia body would be a major project and it is too long to fit in my shallow garage.

I've tried through Lee Costello's site to find who has any moulds for the Skodas but seems they are not around anymore.

[gt917]

Thankyou so much for the very informative reply. As you have intimated, it does look quite lightweight and would need some "tweaking".

Once again, thanks for another very informative and helpful post.

[911thillclimber]

No problem, esp as it has worked on my car!

Just back from a dry and VERY wet Loton Park hillclimb Clubbie.

Took both morning practice runs in the dry, and what a transformation the car is!
Through the undulating Cedar Straight (kink) the car was far from unstable, and ran through there (carefully) nice and easy.
No front wheel wobble and very light steering, tracked by Laser

Only one niggle and that was a knocking noise from the nearside front.

I was in fear I'd left something loose in the front suspension, but it drove great.

Turns out the new body is rattling at the front, so a tweek there to fix it down better before the real off at Prescott near Cheltenham next weekend.

Dead chuffed, it all seems to work, drives straight, runs on 6 and changes gear when I say so, never done that before!

[911thillclimber]

This weekend we are at Prescott hill, Gotherington, close to Cheltenham.

Rained and rained all friday, so the paddock was close to a quagmire and nearly went home, 3 meetings this year and all sodden.

Today, Saturday, and we had 2 dry practice runs, the first on a drying wet-dry-wet-dry track, the second quite dry ish.

Car worked really well, the body rattle is now fixed, the engine works, the gearbox works, and I nearly work too!
There is a clonk-clonk noise commensurate with road speed and only when turning left, found the marks on the wheel weights on the off-side rim hitting the caliper.

Easy fix, but need a lathe at work, so made a bit of room and fingers crossed for tomorrow.

In the under 2000cc class there is a simply drop dead georgeous Crossle 9S with a Duratec and Hewland MK7 box. What a beauty.

First drive for the ex-911 driver, and he gave the front corner a kiss with the armco, so that one has been christened now!

Cars in the class are huge players, so no points for me, but good fun.

Weather for tomorrow is evil, so the biggest challenge will be getting to the trailer and getting home.

[maguire imp chassis no1]

Great just enjoy it while u can

K

[911thillclimber]

Indeed I will!

What a muddy mess Prescott was.
However, had a damp slippy practice run this morning, then the two race runs.

After a gentile (slow) first run I found myself behind the NG V8 on road tyres..
The rain held off some more and on the second run 'we' stormed ahead to 5th in a class of 8, just pipping one of the SPA/JUDD V8 drivers.
Far off my best of 46 the 49 sec run was good, but the car felt so planted it is untrue.
The steering is very light like I suddenly have power steering which is a little disconcerting but it steers fabulously and is rock steady 'neutral' so plenty of space to explore the grip.

Engine ran really gutsy, gearbox changed positively, and everyone loves the new colour and graphics!

So, car great and my huge ego is stroked a touch..

Got drowned coming hope and it took ages to load the car onto the trailer.

There is even mud in the rock cake tin!!

Next two nights or 3 will be cleaning it yet again and mopping up all the water in the tub.
The nock-nock-nocking has gone, so it was the balance weights hitting the caliper, so a touch of time on the trusty Myford Super 7 will fix that.

Shelsley Walsh next weekend before we depart for the Mille Miglia and 2 weeks in Italy getting a LOT of brownie points.

Away from the mud, a great great weekend with my 'mistress'

Oh, and Mrs Hillclimber who endured all this mess with me.

[911thillclimber]

Not sure that the car has ever been in better shape as it now is.

2 long evenings to clean it, big pressure wash blast which certainly worked and got round all the rose joints, quick air line and a lot of towel drying.
Second night towel clean and oil on every rose joint, WD40 else where.
Looks great now.

Car is at Shelsley Walsh this weekend with 3 others in class, fast pair with forced induction 1400 bike engines, and the NG V8 and me quite a way back!

Magic place Shelseley, but a bit of a scarey track.

Weather looks good and cool (), so should be a nice weekend of hillclimbing amongst some terrific cars old and very new.

FAST!

[911thillclimber]

Perfect hillclimbing weather today,and a paddock full to the brim of fab cars to oogle at.

Some are just beyond belief..

2 practice runs and both good.
First was a sighting tour to make sure the car ran straight. It does.
Second was a bit harder and nearly 100 mph over the finishing line, just 30 mph behind the class leader...

Car ran just perfectly. Apart from being too slow, operator error I think, it is the best it has ever been.

I think I am finally on top now, it is simply a delight.

I'm now in danger of being mechanically bored as making the driver perform better is way harder than getting the car better.

My rival, the NG V8 is painfully close to me so really must up my game for tomorrow.

[911thillclimber]

Irritating day at the hill today!

Just what is the matter with me i don't know..

Car is perfect. Never thought I would ever say that, but it is.
Starts, runs, changes gear , brakes, handles and even looks bloody great (according to many this weekend).

Where is the speed?

Operator error in lack a of b@lls I think.

First timed run gave a great start of 2.08 secs then just got going to a red flag.
Came back down the hill, straight to the start line with a hot engine and all fired-up.
Bam and off we went, 2.11 sec start and off up this very steep hill, every part of this track is tricky, and an error is VERY costly.

First bend was flat in 2nd on the limiter, second bend (the fearsome 'Crossing') and hard in third, to the upward section harry flatters in 3rd, engine giving every bit it has, peddle to the metal, bottom Esse loomed fast, down to 2nd and lurch into the left, then a spurt and to the right missing the drain cover and hard second, hard third, hard forth to the finish...and....

A bloody 33.79 @ 92 mph (a full second off my personal best) GRUMPY.

Second run this afternoon, clean start, 2.17 and off up the hill to finish a miserable 33.14 @ 90 mph but missed third trying too hard after the esses looking at the finishing straight.

It would have been a 32 but for 'operator error'

BUT, what great weekend with the car.

Came 3rd in a 4 car class, so some more points in the Championship, but the top two cut 26 second runs.

Great fun.

Off out to Donnington in the trusty 911 tomorrow to watch, drink coffee and a burger with Mrs hillclimber. Chill!

I'm a very happy old skool driver with a great car at last.

I finally think I'm there.

[911thillclimber]

https://dub124.mail.live.com/att/Get...YWdlL2pwZWc_3d

https://dub124.mail.live.com/att/Get...xpbWFnZS9qcGVn

[911thillclimber]

Oddest feeling that there is nothing to do to the Lola except clean it and put it on axle stands.
I can remember when this was ever the case...

I have found that one wheel was not sitting down on the hub face by about 0.5mm but was bolted down (centre locks) onto the top/sharp end of the 6 drive pins.

Having drilled the wheel hub pin holes about 2mm deeper, all is well with no play.

There was a small clunking noise from one side which i thought was the disc gripping the pads and the pads knocking in the caliper.
Took the pads out on the offending side and the knocking noise was still there. Came down to the depth of the holes in the wheels.

There IS always something on a race car.

Thus the Lola and the 911 are clean and under dust covers as we don't race again now until Shelsley Walsh again on the 31st May.

Looking at last weekend's results I feel a bit ashamed at my times against other cars.
I was matched by a Porsche GT3 on road tyres and a TVR.
A lot were in my second bracket or + 1 second, ie a 33 sec ish time.

Really do have to try harder.

Oddly, there still the mouding marks on the front tyres despite 4 meetings on them. Obviously still a lot of grip to take advantage of.

Pause for thought.

Sean at McClurge Motorsport has offered a solution which I've translated to basic terms.

Take a taller gear earlier and drive through faster.

Now, this does have technical merrit too but assumes I've the courage to do it.

[911thillclimber]

Been on holiday the last 2 weeks in very sunny Italy, the holiday started with going to the Millie Miglia!
Great event if you have not done it, and it never rains when we go....really, flippin hot for the last 14 days.

Shelsley Walsh this weekend, Loton Park and then Prescott all in June, so a bit busy.

Might have found a solution for the slow slow pedestrian Porsche road spec box.

Up Shelsley I change gear all of 7 times, and each takes about a second, esp 2nd to 3rd. If I rush 2/3 then it will bulk and take 2 or 3 secs.

The hill is a 33 sec hill at the moment, so if the mod save just a 0.25 sec off each change the result could be huge!

It is a box out, part strip and £800 later the box could be done.

Tempting.

[911thillclimber]

Practice at Shelsley was interesting.

We got 3 runs on a track that was slippy at first, but quickly came good as the field took their first runs.

I had in my mind some advice from Sean at McClurge Motorsport in my head, and I wanted to try something different. It is practice after all.

The basic rift was to change up a gear and use the torque of the engine to pull the car though.
After many years doing Shelsley, this would be hard to try, but, I did and netted a slow 35.16, but the car was great.
Second practice was a more concerted attempt, using the same strategy, and a 34.22, still very slow.

Third run came round, so tried something a little different going into the hard-to-master- bottom Esse, and came away with 33.69, still a full second off my PB.

A measure of the Esse approach is the speed trap just before the bend, well, 100 meters before, but all 3 speeds were 75/80/81 mph, speeds through the bottom and top Esse were 42/42/45 mph but the last run was 0.5 sec faster through the Esses.

It is quite confusing on a hill to judge the time v speed of the sections but that 0.5 in the Esses resulted in a 0.5 off the final time.

Max speed over the finish was 95 mph.

So, for all of this I'm still 1 second slower than last year at the same venue.

"The older I am, the faster I was" comes to mind.

Two people have pulled out of the class due to mechanical disasters, and at this rate I'm last but two in a 6 car class, and the NG V8 is right on my tail.

Spanners crossed for a good day and some far bigger b@lls tomorrow.

[911thillclimber]

My whatsits got a bit bigger today and managed a small improvement on my last pb at Shelsley with a 32.64 (old pb was 32.73).
Interesting day again, the car is superb, there is nothing wrong with it.

It continues to impress people in it's new blue and Martini livery and looks a honey on its narrow wheels, so that part of my ego is fixed.

First competitive run this morning was with the track much the same as yesterday late afternoon and the car ran 33.4.
I was following Sean's suggestion of taking a taller gear and using the big lungs of this engine to pull the car through.
The car is far more relaxing to drive this way (thanks Sean!) by miles, an absolute delight.

Second run I needed a 32 or better but the heat was greater, and i don't light sweltering, but off we went.

Gave it the beans off the start in first and a 64 foot time of 2.08, nearly 1g of acceleration. Nice.

Off to the first kink and instead of hanging on to 2nd @ 6K rpm, took 3rd (box was a gem) and steered the car..

Next up is the bend I hate the most, Kennel, which spooks me but now really hard in 3rd and through the car sliced, absolutely on rails (thanks Sean)
Then up the steep 'straight' screaming the b@lls off the engine at 6.5K and should have taken 4th which i tried last run yesterday to little advantage, so stayed there (sorry Sean)
However with my mind not quite with the car and the rapidly looming bottom Esse i briefly braked, still in third which it took really well and I forgot to change to 2nd...

Came out of top Esse in 3rd with the engine reaching deep at 4k rpm and off it went to the finishing straight, FAB!

To 6K, took 4th with a dream change and pedal to the metal!

Bloody great

I LOVE this car (now)

2 people want to buy it, but it would be sad to see it go now it looks great, goes well, and it a joy.

However....

I cannot get the front tyres hot.
Infact, the moulding flash from the tyre being moulded is STILL on the face of the two fronts after 5 meetings.

I wonder if the toe needs tweeking?

Anyway, Loton next week, my favourite hill (www.HDLCC.com), will be interesting.

[911thillclimber]

http://www.expressandstar.com/wpmvc/...1-TA.thumb.jpg

Finally found an on-track picture.

This is Triangle at Loton Park at the bottom of a gradient and after hard braking for this 90 deg right.

Pleased to see little or no understeer and very little roll.

Just right!

[911thillclimber]

Interesting and very very enjoyable weekend at Loton Park, just got back ahead of a shower..

Saturday practice was WET, so crawled up the hill on slicks to a 'fantastic' 79 seconds. I was not alone.

Put the cover on the car and went home!

Sunday race day was a different matter.

Sun and a bone dry track bode well, and Although i was not in a good frame of mind, had a shot at the hill.

This is with the new tyre pressures of 12 Fr/ 15Rr

Fabulous.

Talk about easy to drive.
Netted a sound 58.04 sec, short of my pb of 57.14 but a good solid run and ahead of two class mates, so should be 2 points for the count so far.

Everything simply worked well, but why am i a second or so off the pace?
Best find a shrink.

Second race run was going well, better start and a full 0.3 sec faster to Triangle corner, then got Red Flagged.

Back down to the start, hot engine, hotter driver and a long wait to have another shot to a very miserable 59.01, slower all over the course.

Back to the paddock and to the bar for an ice cold Magners Cider.

The car is just great and the compliments still roll-in about the flippin' colour and stripes.

Two weeks off now.

I have a fuel cut-off switch to fit and after yet another serious crash this morning in the fast single seaters, this game is starting to worry.

Thinking Hanns etc.

Still; a great weekend of hillclimbing for us, great fellow racers and sun.

Happy.

[911thillclimber]

Installed a nice new cut-off switch, water proof plug etc and things seemed good until just about everyone I hillclimb with condemned such a device...

So many said/say it will trigger with the G forces exerted in a race car compared to a land rover.
I'm not sure as the Rover is on a grass rocky bank at 30 deg and jolts against a hard rock, the sudden G force could well tipple the ball bearing in side.

Anyway, now persuaded to remove it it is back to wiring the pump through the oil switch designed to break the pump feed when the engine stops. This means though the pump need another switch to prime the empty carbs prior to starting.
Once running, the system will work.

Parts awaited from Demon Tweeks.

Also ordered a neck collar at the same time. That will take some getting used to.

Showing the car at the Hagley Club display at a local charity car show close to Shrewsbury on sunday, then Prescott the weekend after. Oddly low entry for that meeting, just 3 cars, 4 drivers. Could get a point though.

The Hill Climb Holiday then starts but I've entered the clubby meets in July/early August to keep my hand in, more time in the seat can only help find some soeed (from me).

[911thillclimber]

Midland Champ meeting at Prescott this weekend, so some points needed!

Arrived in the rain yesterday, practice today was a mixed weather affair with a slippy track and wet under the trees (where I've been off twice before) so approach was very careful.
Cocked up the first run buy finding 4th instead of 2nd. This engine sure has some low-down grunt, netting a lazy 53 sec run.

Second practice was with a better track (ish) and tried a few demon tweeks to my racing driver style, and cocked that up too, netting a boring 53 sec run....

Tried my new neck collar on the second run, surprisingly tight fitting and restrictive, but ok. Wish i could honestly blame the poor run of that.

Third run was aborted when rain totally drowned the venue with a monsoon for 20 mins, half the paddock refusing to run.

Tomorrow is another practice run and then 2 race runs.
One class mate has broken, so just 3 in the class, so might get a point.

Car is great, nothing wrong with it, all down to me and the need to push much harder. Personal Best is 48 secs so a very very long way to go tomorrow.