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  Feb. 5, 2010 11:37 p.m. dougie Reader

  Anyone else itching to hit the track as much as me? We haven't had the snow or the perennial low temperatures as a lot of you on the east coast, but I'm still sick of the on going rain here in the NW. I've got the motor upgrades complete on my big Healey and the chassis dyno schedule in a few weeks. The first track day "shake-down" at PIR is schedule for March 4th and my vintage race season opener with HMSA at NoCals Thunderhill Raceway is a week later on March 13th &14th; http://www.hmsausa.com/index.html http://www.thunderhill.com/html/trackmap.html

  What's going on with the rest of you vintage racers, Sebring anyone?

  Dougie

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  Feb. 6, 2010 9:04 a.m. aeronca65t HalfDork

  My first event is the Jefferson 500 on April 30th, which seems like ages from now.

  Here's our Jefferson 500 last year.

  http://vintageracer.tripod.com/jeff500.html

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  March 9, 2010 3:04 p.m. OFracing Reader

  The SCCA historic race group I normally run with is meeting this weekend to finalize our schedule and there's been a lot of discussion about going to the Jefferson as a group.

  I put on the new header and FIA belts and low oil pressure warning light last Saturday, all the car needs now is a tune up and some adjustments to the front end. Over the winter I put in 325Lb/In, 7" GT6 springs and increased the front sway bar to a full 1" diameter and I need to tweak things in.

  The snow's melting, the trailers clear and I'm chomping at the bit to hit the track.

  mike

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  March 10, 2010 4:58 p.m. aeronca65t HalfDork

  OFracing wrote: The SCCA historic race group I normally run with is meeting this weekend to finalize our schedule and there's been a lot of discussion about going to the Jefferson as a group...

  Just FYI:

  If you mail in your entry by March 15, you get an extra test day at the Jefferson (on Thurs) for no charge.

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  March 10, 2010 8:22 p.m. OFracing Reader

  Thanks aeronca65t, I saw that in the sups. 4 days of racing + catered dinner on Saturday night for the price of a one day national at Limerock, think i'm in.

  What class do you run? My spit has a 1296 bored out to .045 over, so I'm right at the 1300cc cross over between two classes. I'd like to be at the top of the under 1300cc food chain rather the bottom feeder of the 1300-2000cc. I sent a note off but didn't hear back yet. Either way, it looks like a fun event. I liked your pictures, there's some nice cars, which one was yours? Stop by, we'll have to have a beer, or two.

  mike

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  March 10, 2010 9:30 p.m. aeronca65t HalfDork

  VRG is pretty laid back. If you tell them you're 1300 cc and you want to run with 1275 Sprites, etc, they'll generally be OK....if you're in a class that's too fast for you, just ask to be moved down. It's not like we have trophies or money or anything.

  The "classes" seem to vary depending on who shows up. I've raced in my class with a flathead Ford V8 special and also with a one liter Ginettas (curiously, both very close to me in terms of speed). I think thye really just want cars of equal performace together, regardless of engine size.

  Actually, my car is 1500 cc (it's really a rubber-bumper Midget). The engine is bone stock internally, so of course, it's a true pig. And the car's heavy. Originally they put put me with MGBs and I got murdered. After I spoke to Mark (Palmer) they let me run with under 1300 cc cars, where I happily run mid-pack.

  A decent 1275 Spridget will walk away from me on the straights, but that's OK.....it's fun to try to reel some of the guys in around the twisties. I'm building a "new" racer (an Austin A35), so I haven't done much with my Spridget this year. It's pretty tired, but I'm hoping to get a few more events out of it before I start racing the Austin.

  This is it (below). Look forward to chatting with you at Summit!

  
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  March 11, 2010 3:54 p.m. OFracing Reader

  I heard back from VRG, Steve L today and he said take my pick. We'll be in the same class, Lola. I've never been to this track before so I'm hoping to run mid pack by Sunday. BTW, what do you have for headlight covers? Is the glass still behind them so you can run enduros?

  thanks mike

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  March 12, 2010 8:10 a.m. aeronca65t HalfDork

  I actually e-mailed Steve Limbert about this too.......he's a great guy. It looks like he is going to meet with some of the guys from HRG pretty soon to make sure all of this goes smoothly. I know that VRG wants to work with other vintage groups (rather than compete with them). Just like we learned in First Grade: cooperation helps us all. :)

  I raced my car in EMRA for years (I should have switched to vintage sooner). Anyway, as a result, I never bothered with lights except when the car ran the 4-Hour Twilight Enduro at Summit. I still haven't fitted them and I haven't had any complaints. Maybe if my car was a race-leader, some of the other guys might complain about the weight advantage......but my car is slow and heavy anyway. I'm just a mid-pack racer who “plays nice” (that goes a long way with the other drivers). I plan on fitting lights to my new racer.

  By the way, my “headlight covers” are plastic plates from Walmart. Haha. My entire car is like a piece of “found art” :)

  Here's some video of the Jefferson from my perspective . Normal practice (there's a Spit in here somwhere)

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4DQep2ksvM

  In the rain

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9_7lk3FPRI

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  March 12, 2010 12:43 p.m. OFracing Reader

  I've never been to this track, what rear end ratio do you run there? I have a 4.11 which is good for tight tracks like Limerock and NJ MSP and a 3.89 for tracks like Pocono and the Glen with long straights. I have the 3.89 in it now but it's an easy swap if the track is more about accelerating out of corners than momentum. thanks mike

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  March 12, 2010 9:01 p.m. aeronca65t HalfDork

  Re: Final drive ratio, It's hard to say. I run a 3.9 in the Spridget and have run a 3.7 with decent results too. My 4.22 would cause me to "top out" RPM-wise on the main straight.

  But my car has a stock, unbalanced 1500. In order to keep it alive, I shift at 5800 and try to keep it under 6000 in fourth. At Summit, I've made it to 6100 in fourth (at which point I backed off). I realize your 1296 will spin much higher.....that's why I'm not sure what to say.

  By the way, I never use second at Summit (but I have a stock, wide-ratio box)....strictly third and fourth all way around.

  I suppose if I were to advise, I'd say to leave the 3.89 in place. Since this is your first time there, it's probably better to focus on learning the track and not worrying about that little extra bit of power.

  We're towing there on Thursday, so we won't be on-track until Friday.

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