Special getting closer...

jwhillracer · Post by **jwhillracer** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:09 am

Hope you get it sorted Graham! Did you send it to Ian Dayson's after Shelsley? It will be interesting to see how it handles after his attention

I'm off to Wiscombe Park to practice taking Martini hairpin facing the right way......................

Cheers!

JW

911hillclimber · Post by **911hillclimber** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 12:51 pm

Never got to Ian's as I modded the gears and then hit this stupid brake issue and then had to work in Sweden for a while!
Simply ran out of time.

After the off at Loton Trish is nervey about the car until it is fettled more, so just asked Prescot if I can race the 911 instead and then i will take the Lola apart over the winter and get it RIGHT!

I could not trust that the brakes would be there when stamping on them, so it is best not to tempt fate.

I will have 6 months to get the things done and the car will be better for it as I will not be rushing and cutting on costs etc. It will go to Ian's in the winter when I put it back together.

On all this is the noise of the engine. It is very bad now and there is a real chance of being stopped because of that!
I am dissapointed in the carbs, and there must be something wrong in there for this issue as Bob knows what he is doing with them.

I will continue to slightly bore everyone with the winter adventures and hope the car will be very strong next year.

Prescot just have confirmed the 911 is OK for a swop so I am up against all manner of hot cars this weekend on cr@p old tyres (getting mt excuses lined-up right now).
Should have a good race with Andy in the black 911!

jwhillracer · Post by **jwhillracer** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 1:05 pm

I'm sure you're right, you just can't drive a car you don't trust, especially on a hillclimb course. Strange about the carbs

. As an aside, I had our 914/6 on the local rolling road a couple of w/ends ago, and it came up with 168bhp, with a promise of about 10 more to come by leaning it off slightly. Not bad for a 2.4E with 10.5:1 pistons and 40mm Webers!

Have a good week-end - show that Stealth Targa the way up Prescott!

Cheers!

JW

911hillclimber · Post by **911hillclimber** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:27 pm

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:17 pm

Interesting photo, Graham

Glad to hear you're using the 911, proper racing cars have to be right or they are liabilities.

The tub sitting down below the bodywork, is something I'd take advice on, as cleaning up the underfloor aero is reasonably important now that you're playing with Big Boy's Toys

First of all it's "free" downforce, almost nil effect on drag, and secondly it doesn't compromise the Historic look of the car when viewed from above.

I'm sure Ian would have some good ideas.

911hillclimber · Post by **911hillclimber** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:20 pm

I noticed that too. I was sent the pic last night. The plan is to have a plywood splitter extending back to the front bulkhead line.
The lola in historic format is not allowed such a platform, but on the hills? Anything goes!

As you say, unless you have confidence totally you can never drive the car fully.
My Bitza 911 is a great little car and a wonderful hillclimber.(I hillclimbed it for 16 years befor my faster Impreza, the car Martyn now has)
If it rains I can get embarrasingly close to the Big Boys!

My original plan was to wheel the car out in 2010, but I am very impatient. The runs I have done though have been invaluable for me, and this winter's work will be all the better for it.

Roll on the welding and the doing, but roll-on April 2010!

911hillclimber · Post by **911hillclimber** » Sun Nov 15, 2009 4:49 pm

You may be as surprised as me that I have actually re-started work on the Lola Porsche.

After the fooling about before Prescott I simply left the car under a cover and raced the 911 there (quicker than the Stealth, but Andy is getting firmly to grips with the Targa now).

The car is just so simple and user friendly in the extream I do wonder if I have made the right decision with the Lola.

Anyway, we are where we are!

I have a definite plan for the winter (which to me has started)

1
Get the 911 out of the garage and into it's new Carcoon (outdoor variety).
Nearly did that today, but not quite.
2
Arrange for the rear bodywork to pivot open to the rear so Trish and I don't have to keep on taking the whole thing off.
This was all but done but ran out of thin wall ultra light tubing (from B&Q no less) but nearly finished.

The front clam can then be pivoted open to reveal the brakes and front end to scrutineering. The front is a real pain...

The mods will carry on to the front inc a new splitter and easier mountings for the pip pins.
3
New headers.
The ones I borrowed from Turbo Thomas are the wrong shape and diameter( they are 914-6's) so it is custom all the way this time.

Primary length = 17.5 '' and the tubes are 1.625 O/D.
See, easy.... This will take ages to do as the engine has to come out and the gearbox come off.
I have on order a gearbox case gasket kit to stop the leak(s).
Gary says it is easy so I will trust him. I will leave the lsd for now, I'm fed-up spending $$$$$$$$$ on the car.
4
Brakes: all refurbished/ground and new cylinders to get them right once and for all.
I would like to fit a G50 hydraulic master and slave to get the pedal weight down. It is very heavy indeed.
5
Modify the front roll cage for more leg room/comfort.
I find it hard to drive 'laying-down' with a 6 point harness very very tight where it hurts a lot, so need to look at the seat position too.
6
Have the whole car pro aligned. Have arranged this for Feb2010 so need to get on with things!
7
Get the carbs sorted at a highly respected local shop.
8
Paint the body, new slicks and a polish.
9
Buy a trailer.

Not too bad considering where I was this time last year:

Gary71 · Post by **Gary71** » Sun Nov 15, 2009 5:30 pm

911hillclimber wrote: Gary says it is easy so I will trust him.

I'm also doing mine this winter as I'm bored of the blue drips on the garage floor!

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Sun Nov 15, 2009 6:21 pm

Glad to hear it's nothing money can't fix !!

Yes, getting the seating position is critical, you have to be comforaable and be able to rest your heels against/close to the bottom of the pedals.

On the brakes, take advice from Ian Dayson or the like, it's not like a road car, don't use road car settings. Remember that a smaller diameter master cylinder produces higher pressure. Get the calipers fully sorted and make sure the pistons are all free. Use something like EBC Green stuff pads, they are great for hills and sprints Red stuff are for road use. The late Roy Lane used to stock some really trick Hillclimb pads, they used to go on fire after 2 laps of Kirkistown they were so soft !!

And remember Freddie Dixon's motto - There's nothing as light as nothing - when it comes to the bodywork etc

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Sun Nov 15, 2009 6:23 pm

Graham, who's going to be fabricating the headers, if you don't mind my asking?

thanks Mike

911hillclimber · Post by **911hillclimber** » Sun Nov 15, 2009 7:53 pm

The pads are already Green Stuff, their latest 'Grade 6 ' compound. Quite good imho.

The huge Brembo's (F3 ones i think) will be re-sealed, the rears are new AP's but the masters are fooked, so nice new Girlings to go in.

The clutch is super heavy, I have AP 0.75 dia slave, and a 0.75 master Girling, but the weight is huge and spoils the contol.
I almost slide upthe seat rather than the pedal goes down.
The clutch itself is a bog stock F&S 'Sports' clutch with the simple lever arm. The 'lever ratio' of the Lola brake pedal is about 8:1 so the reason may be there; the 911 is far greater?

The headers will be all mine!
This will be the most demanding part of the winter, there is a great thread on Pelican about some ace racing 911 headers that I've printed off and will faithfully copy.

The production (made in the USA) parts are $1600 the pair...

Not sure to go the whole hog and go for stainless. Hate working with stainless, so bloody tough.

911hillclimber · Post by **911hillclimber** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 9:32 pm

After being a couch potatoe for far too long, it is time for action.

Work started on repairing the front body, now done, but too cold to paint the area repaired, so the garage is now clear for the mechanical stuff.

I have already moved the front roll bar cross brace to allow far far more room to fight the clutch action and to get out of the thing!
This means a new dash board, but that is all done too.

Now in the mood for the car, the headers come next.

I have bought a big box of 1.625'' OD stainless U tubes, 20 deg bends, some straight tubes and 6 laser cut/cnc machined flanges for the task.

I will use 17'' primary lengths and copy the general routing of the butchered system on the engine at the moment. I will start with the 3 to 1 collectors and jig those to position on the engine and so link the ports to the collectors. Plan is to mig tack-weld and then have them pro TIG welded. I need to complete this lot by end of the festive break or the week after to be on schedule for the April season start of hillclimbs.

Engine came out tonight and the box off. Clutch is perfect.

I treated myself to a new load leveller for the engine hoist, just great for £27!

Carbs off next so welding will not get too exciting...

911hillclimber · Post by **911hillclimber** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 8:04 am

I'm fighting a cold, my first head cold for maybe 3 years, so slow progress...

The engine is out, webers off and the whole lot inverted to build the headers. I must work a set up to fit the same space as the current bodged ones. I have tons of stainless bends and bits so no real excuses now.

These are the current headers 'adapted' from a set of Gary's 2.4 early headers. The wrapping was to hide the mig welds as much as thermal efficiency...

I've started with the simplest run off one cylinder that gives a 17'' primary length. The system will be TIG welded in the end, just tacking by MIG so I've left a 'land' for the welder to tig the pipe to the flange inside using a ring of 1/8 welding wire.

I think things are about to get MUCH harder esp on the port closest to the collector!

I've cut the one tube out of the current headers and made the first pipe come to the collector. This allows me a dataum to bring the two others to the collector position.

I will copy the Porsche collector design by openong out the 2'' pipe and squashing it to match!

If I don't post for a few months it will be because I'm in the loony bin after this 'task'

I think I'm supposed to say 'I love a challenge' but this is the exception.

I was quoted about £1400 to have the headers pro made, tubes have cost £400. Will the saving be worth it?

911hillclimber · Post by **911hillclimber** » Mon Jan 18, 2010 5:41 pm

Things have happened, but progress has taken some time!

The headers were all tacked together and sent for tig welding and with fingers crossed that they would not distort too much. Things are very close in the chassis area.

Here they are before final welding:

£315 of labour and materials later they were back, and one side even fitted! The other needed a pipe cutting and a slip joint making and welded on and that side dropped on too. (phew)

Bolted back onto the engine, the clutch back in, the gearbox leak having been fixed (gasket) and the lot positioned for the drop into the chassis:

Of course, it fouls the chassis.

The one tube 'just' touches the chassis, so after a bit of thinking I decided to raise the whole drive train 12mm, just 4 cuts and that will be that.

Well, nearly.

The front crossmember was cut (again) to raise the front. All done and trial fitted, I jacked the box up to level the drive train in the chassis and pondered cutting the gearbox cross member which is quite complex. After cutting and welding it went back in, still cooling down after some of the nicest mig welds I've done.

It just looked terrible!

So, out with the hacksaw again, and cut all the work I had done for the last hour and welded in some more tubes which look really nice in comparison.

A lick of paint on both before roast beef and tonight all is dry and ready to be installed.

The headers are noe 10mm clear of ecerything and I can start to button all the supplies up this week.

Brakes are back with fresh surfaces on the discs and 2 new mastercylinders too all for £160!

On saturday went and bought a Brian James trailer second hand and carried on to York to drop-off my precious Dymag wheels which were both damaged.

however, the most precious on is badly buckeled and I think is scrap and the other is better but stands a good chance.

Magnesium wheels are not very strong.

If both are scrap I am in deep (expensive) trouble....

It's getting busy and lots yet to do and only 8 weeks to go!

911hillclimber · Post by **911hillclimber** » Sun Jan 24, 2010 4:22 pm

After a zillion hours (the cold always makes time go by slowly) on the car, the Engine is fully in and all piped/oiled/electric'd up.

The new headers clear everything better than they did before by miles, so a plus point.

When re-connecting the throttle cable though a few things needed sorting out.

The run of the cable to the webers, the alignment of the spindle drop links and the spring return posativity all needed some effort, but i noticed also that the pedal did not give full throttle...
The pic below is before the re-alignment of the linkages.

Maybe that is why the engine only gave 198 bhp?

Anyway, all is well now.

The freshened brakes are on with new master cylinders and ready to bleed with my new one-man op race car bleed system. Hope its better than the tube with wife as the peddel squeezer!

Have another set of wheels incase the worse happens on the mag Dymag wheels. I have no news from the man fixing them in York, so just maybe no news is good news, or he hasn't started them yet...

I had decided to change the springs to the original Lola Spec of 300Lb Rear and 250 lb fronts as the car seemed very hard riding last year. I was surprised to see the rear springs fitted when it was a Skoda/Karmann Ghia race car was 560lb rear and 400 lb front....
Little wonder it was stiff!

Here's a few moody shots during today. Tried monochrome for a lark.