DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Steve,

Looking back I see that you do have ORIGINAL 60 mm Drums - Great

I also notice that you are started with Zenith Carbs - there is HP to be gained by swapping to Solex - if you are still on Zeniths

Also, do not lose that Barry Curtis sticker - that is a piece of history

Hi Mike,

4am in Japan and suffering from jet lag so I thought it a good time to reply!

Yes, we've got original 60mm drums which are great – I've been amazed (when they're not too hot) how we can out-brake some of the other cars: it seems counter-intuitive to be able to do this on drums, but I've been able to get the better of a number of cars and the occasional 911 which I thought really interesting! We have standard unvented drums on the rear but in both cases we've got a special lining which resists the heat build up – sounds like I need to get those rear plates vented though. Also on the brakes we're only experiencing the lock up in the wet, not when dry, so I wonder if we just need to back off the rears when it's wet? This is one of those setting/adjustment things we just don't have the experience on yet. Is there any way to vent the rears also with hosing ducting cool air – I've thought about doing this for the fronts as this would be a fairly straight-forward bit of development.

When I bought the car from Vic Skirmants it had Zenith's on it – we've already gone to Solex P-11's and the Barry Curtis badge sits on my memorabilia shelf: I understand there's a myth that they are made of titanium and the exact thickness of the inlet and exhaust valve clearance to allow you to set the valves????

I've thought long and hard about the pedals as we've had an ongoing problem all season with me bending the pedal and then stuffing the throttle linkage so we don't get full throttle, which is mighty frustrating when you have bugger all hp anyway! Do you have a recommendation on the pedal assembly as the only stuff I know is VW (off road and drag racing) and I'm reluctant to rip out genuine Porsche stuff for VW stuff in this case? Failing a bolt-in racing replacement Ian is going to make a stronger throttle pedal with an ally bracket under the floor as the floorpan is actually flexing too, where it bolts on.

The car has urethane (Deflon?) bushes already apparently but I haven't pulled the torsion bar covers to check this – I need to as I've a sneaking suspicion it is on standard ones but as I say I need to check. I had noticed you do the harder torsion bar rubbers though so I might be buying a set of those from you. The other alternative I've thought about is these: http://www.elephantracing.com/suspensio ... shings.htm. Not cheap but look impressive. On the subject of rear suspension, one of the other thoughts I've had is to update the rear torsion bars (Elephant Racing do a hollow bar too, nice weight saving measure). What's your view on this Mike and which diameter bar would you go for if this is a good route to take?

I've got the two front bars I bought from you (your uprated 17.5mm? and standard one I recall) which we're going to test at Goodwood in a couple of weeks, along with playing with tyre pressures – we've never really got a good fix on tyre pressures – we're running 30psi hot all round (which obviously translates to different temp's for each wheel when cold) but I've no idea whether this is good, it's just what the Dunlop man said at the mobile Dunlop garage that attends all the races. Interestingly there is also a VERY good tech topic thread on their site about tyre pressures and corner weighting which I need to pursue. Advice here would, as ever, be appreciated.

Winston just looking at your post – you don't need to change the stub axle, it's a simple bolt-on affair, but they aren't cheap… Mike I saw recently a crowd in Germany doing repro's which I think were forged, but can't recall the name (sorry!). Not sure if one of the crowd you're referring to was Capricorn Mike – they are doing a lot of 356 Carrera and 550 spider repro stuff (quad cam engines, etc!!) so that might be another avenue Winston, but as I say, not cheap and you want to check quality as Mike says with any of this stuff from wherever you buy it.

Cheers,
Steve

steve wright wrote:...which we're going to test at Goodwood in a couple of weeks

May I now book a-day-or-so-in-advance-early-reminder for when you're there so I can come be nosey?

Great to read of your exploits, Steve. You seem to be out there doing what most of us only dream about so good for you. Funny that on Sunday I picked up a WH Smith exclusive 'Retro Porsche, The Early Years 1963-1973' and you seem to be all over it! Where do you find the time?! Keep up the fine work, sir.

"Funny that on Sunday I picked up a WH Smith exclusive 'Retro Porsche, The Early Years 1963-1973' and you seem to be all over it! Where do you find the time?!" Am I?!! Didn't know that and that's a bit odd because I don't write for them! Where do I find the time? well I found three hours early this morning in a hotel room in Osaka because of jet lag that I wouldn't have otherwise had! Seriously, very understanding wife and a good bit of juggling. Don't watch TV either so that helps!

Martin, we're there 9 Nov so pop along, would be great to see you.

Cheers,
Steve

Thanks, merely curiosity really, now dismissed! W

steve wright wrote: Martin, we're there 9 Nov so pop along, would be great to see you.

Cheers,
Steve

Brilliant, a diary note has been set in triplicate

Steve,

I need time to answer all your questions - bear with me

steve wright wrote:Am I?!! Didn't know that and that's a bit odd because I don't write for them!

Definitely you, mate - there are mug shots.
It's a collection of magazine articles for which you appear responsible for three or four (Robert Barrie's three early cars at Goodwood, a drive in a red '66, a review of Paul's green 2.4S, etc).

That is you, isn't it

If not, awfully sorry ol' boy. They're a cracking read whoever wrote them.

Oh how embarrassing! Didn't realise GT Porsche had released it!

On a different note, does anyone know why everyone uses steel wheel nuts when racing rather than the OEM magnesium ones Porsche supplied on the 911? There's a need to show the thread of the stud at the end but that's easily solved by grinding off just the captive end, but I must be missing something as they are significantly lighter than steel obviously, and it's unsprung, rotating mass so anything you do to lighten is a good thing. Is it that magnesium is softer and hence there's a risk of fatigue? We torque the wheel nuts for every practice and race so they would just be viewed as a consumable. Thoughts appreciated....

I was asked what the cost of the season has been and I hadn't totted it up before so this was illuminating. Here's the costs assuming 8 races per year, which is a busy year racing!

- race entry fee: depends on the race duration, but HSCC charge about £350-£450 per race weekend, so £3,600 p.a.
- petrol: under race conditions the 356 is using 40 litres an hour (no idea of the mpg which is pretty meaningless anyway). what you're interested in when racing is the usage over time. On a typical weekend where we have a 20 minute practice and 40 minute race so we're therefore using 40 litres, so about £60, although the 3 hour Snetterton race took £180 in fuel, so £600p.a.
- typical petrol costs for the bus are dependant on the distance obviously, but the mpg of whatever you're driving drops dramatically when towing. I usually have to put £100 into the bus for a roundtrip weekend, so £800 p.a.
- assuming no development of the car or breaking anything, we do one day's maintenance per race, which for me is working out at one race a month. At £40 (say) per hour that's £320 labour, plus we change the oil after every race so you're looking at £80 for oil, filter, etc. So the total for the year is £3,200.
- Then there's the cost of your race licence renewal each year (think that's about £200?) and the membership cost of whichever MSA registered club you're with. The HSCC is about £200 I think but can't recall that with confidence. £400 for the year.
- Tyres are probably the biggest consumable over a season: budget for £700 for a set of four Dunlop Racing tyres.
- We camp at the circuit like many people, and that's free at the circuits.

So a full year's racing is costing me just under £10,000 per year. On top of that is the cost of the car, getting it race-ready (which typically means FIA/MSA compliant [electrical cut-off, extinguisher, harnesses and seat as a minimum], and race-wear (helmet, race suit, fireproof underwear, shoes and gloves. This assumes no development or breakage, which obviously isn't realistic, but it's important to distinguish the fixed vs. variable costs I think. What is does do though is sort out the car completely. You can't race a car that isn't perfect, as any issue just gets magnified (or worse, something breaks), so you end up with a car that is pretty much spot on and unburstable after a season of racing, which might seem paradoxical in some ways.

Anyway, hope that's of interest - Best ten grand I've ever spent! Cheers, Steve

When I started hillclimbing in the road modified Class on the hills in 1991, a scrutineer told me to change my mag nuts for two reasons; first so he could see the thread engagement and secondly as only steel was to the regs. (Blue Book)

Never questioned it, so fitted Camper van nuts the next meeting and still have them on. No trouble since.

steve wright wrote: the Barry Curtis badge sits on my memorabilia shelf: I understand there's a myth that they are made of titanium and the exact thickness of the inlet and exhaust valve clearance to allow you to set the valves????

Haha.... I have one of those and it's one of my most prized possessions, such a good idea!!!
They are indeed a feeler gauge and are a different thickness at each end.

Barry’s (very tongue in cheek) story was that :-

1) - It is the same thickness as you need to set the Exhaust Rocker Gap
2) - One end of the car is thinned down to set the Inlet Rocker Gap
3) - The name on the card is formed by little perforations - great for grading out your powder
4) - The thickness was great for cutting the powder into lines
5) - Finally, it is the same size as a Credit Card and if the bloody bank had upset you `yet again` - slip it into any ATM and foul up the whole banking system

I am sure that he had some other stuff that he had thought about but that is what I remember over a few large Cognacs

I saw him a couple of weeks back and he was much better, a slow job and he will never again be 99% again but he is mending, which was great to see - one of the 356 worlds `Real` characters

Thanks Andy. Must look up the regs and have a good read!

Doing lines! I didn't know Barry was into anything other than cars great to here he is on the mend