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With apologies for the long post, I reproduce part of an email I received from John Merriman at the start of this year. John races FF1600 in the States and here outlines some of the technical changes in the US:
I have been racing in Club Ford here in New England for 22 years. My first car was a VanDiemen RF76 which I purchased from Richard Peacock when I was working in London from 1981-1983. I am an active participant in efforts to revive the class and we have seen some recent growth in entries and general interest over the past few years. Up here in the northeast part of the country we are fortunate to have fairly large fields – sometimes over thirty cars at Lime Rock, New Hampshire International and Watkins Glen. I am also a member of the SCCA Formula Car Advisory Committee. This group pulls information and comments together and provides it to the Club Racing Board which is the technical committee within SCCA that oversees rules changes and adjustments, etc.
One of the major moves we made had to do with assuring the supply of Kent engine parts which were becoming very scarce here. Since Ford ceased production, we convinced the SCCA to approve any aftermarket part which is made of the same material and which is dimensionally consistent with OEM. This has resulted in the production of crankshafts, camshafts, flywheels and a few other miscellaneous parts. Soon we will have a forged piston which will last ten times longer than the standard AE version we are now using. The crankshafts – made by two different companies - are of stronger material and they have better journal fillet radii and will last literally for years – instead of for hours! Pierce produced an aluminum cylinder head – mostly for his Asian market – and we got that approved as well. It is an exact replica of OEM and flow work on it is now easier and less expensive. All of this has been a great benefit to the FF racing community because those who could not get parts previously – or for whom parts were too expensive – can now obtain any piece they need.
I know about Don Hilton’s group and its “rights” from Ford to produce approved parts and I have spoken with him about his parts production. Right now, I believe he makes crankshafts and cams but that all other parts are reconditioned – parts such as cylinder blocks, front and rear cover and others. I also understand that your various racing clubs still require that the Ford logo be on any part – as it was previously. We do not operate under that same limitation. Therefore, I think we may have a better situation with regard to competitive pricing and availability.
There is a major supplier here in the US – Pegasus Auto Racing - which handles the FFI (Hilton) parts but the costs are higher than the aftermarket parts we now have available. Perhaps Hilton’s “licensing” fees play into that. He sells his used blocks (sleeved) at $1,200 which is not too bad if the quality is high.
Our next major goal – after the pistons get approval – is to start cylinder block production. We’ve been working on this for about two years but as yet we have not been able to get any capable company to commit to take on the project. This is primarily due to the fairly small market – at present certainly no more than 200 per year – and the considerable costs which would have to be paid by the company up front. We think we could make a few very small improvements in the block – slightly stronger main webs, for example. Interestingly, once Pegasus heard about potential block production here, Hilton told them he might start making blocks, perhaps as early as late 2004. Have you heard anything about that? Are parts in general and blocks specifically any sort of problem there?
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