Racing A40 + Modified Historics

[Graham Davies]

Peter, Thanks for your reply on another thread.
Here is some info on my racing A40.
This was a 1959 A40 Mk1, fitted with 1293cc motor,SCCR box, LSD etc.
I built the car & raced it for 3 races 1987, I found it was to busy racing & looking after the car.
So,in other year,s I got other people to race it in HRSR.
David Lewis, Richard Dowing,& Phil Brown.
Alas with little result.
Raced @ Brands,Donington,Cadwell,Oulton,Mallory & Snetterton.
The car I liked the most,was the Ron Fielding Anglia or
Rod Birley Anglia.
Also the Bob Sherring 7 litre Galaxie was cool.

I raced with club for 4 years, and noticed a change in car prep.
So did the club. They changed the rules.
Alas it was not a good move as club died after that change.
A real shame, as there were some nice car,s racing there.

Various people went to different clubs & it fell apart.
I had already moved to the States with car.
And same thing is going on here, this year.

Still after info on Mick Cave Austin A40 raced 60,s.
There was a person with old race photo,s that went to Goodwood event,s over past few years. Find contact info please.

[Peter Mallett]

Graham.

Thanks for the info. My first ever car was a 59 A40 with a 998 Morris a series and a frogeye gearbox. Went well up to around 50mph then died off. Great to throw around corners, very light at the back. In fact it was extremely light due to the amount of rust in the floorpans.

[simon drabble]

I am a little confused as HRSR is definately alive and kicking, the only change that is going through is banning oversized engines which has to be a good thing as it brings it into line with Appendix K FIA rules. I assume you mean the same HRSR as the same characters are involved. It is now affiliated with HSCC

[zefarelly]

Graham . . .any relation to Rai Davies?
A40/spridgetidget/ A series racer/builder . . . .

[Chris Y]

Do you mean Rae Davis, brother of Darryl (From MotoBuild) ?

[zefarelly]

yep , i DO . . .I know he has a brother, he said they used to work together, obviously not Graham then

[Graham Davies]

No, not related. But used there Motorbuild parts many times.
Yes HRSR is still running, but if you read there background. You will see they went through a troubled time early 90,s.
The biggest upset then was banning Anglia,s with Lotus T/C or
1600 crossflow engine,s.
They could only use 1500 motor & at that time the quickest car,s were the 1840 T/C,s.
I think the Warrior Mini, driven by Pete Baldwin also suffered.

There are only a few of the driver,s from my era still running
Glen Maskell ( Ex Superspeed Anglia )Trevor Ladd ( Anglia ).

The same thing is going on overhere. And rules change each year to find the correct format Engine size max + .040", no roller rockers etc.
Rim width & type of tire,s. Body mod,s.
Yes, it,s a good idea to bring car,s into line. But also a shame.
As there will be no Doc Merfield V.8 Cortinas running etc.
There have been various UK visitors racing here ( 3 E.types from
Scotland. They ran La Panamerica @ came here on there way home ).

[Graham Davies]

If your interested in what going on over here, Go to
www.corinthianvitagerace.com
I have a workshop here in Austin called Best of British & have
4 customers with race cars, Lotus 23B, Mini S, MGB & TR4.
Even though Tx is a large place, there is only one track, they have to go to Oklahoma to get another track.
You will see they run saloon & sports in same Grp.
You should hear the 7 litre cars running down the straight.
Grp 2 car,s that run are Fiat124,s,MGB,s,Lotus Cortina,s,Mini,s
various Alfa,s ( smallest car Fiat850 spyder & saloon ).

Past 4 year,s the group has been won by MGB,s
Next race is in Oklahoma ( A very British type track ).
This is easier for people to get to from other parts of the country & there are meant to be 15 Mini,s there.

Is anybody going to Goodwood, If so please ask about photo,s re Cave A40 & post me the contact info.

[simon drabble]

I have sent you a pm

[Graham Davies]

Sorry, try www.corinthianvintagerace.com

[zefarelly]

Its a good point re the heavily modified cars Graham, Id love to see them racing, but if its an xflow anglia it cant be pre 66, as for a TC anglia . . . .theoretically it could have been, I think as time goes on there are less of these cars so people are more reluctant to chop up good originals, also keeping things more standard means its often more competitive as money isnt the only issue.

the Anglias are suffering again now . . . .no more 1500 . . .now back to 1300.

I dont agree with the +40 only rule though, theres only so many blocks to go round, and theyve all been rebored

[Slowcoach]

I wondered why there seemed to be so many Anglias up for sale now - seems that's why then......there are 4 on the HRSR page alone!

[Graham Davies]

Well the oversize limit was put in over here because people were building large cc motors.
I was one. I built a 1455cc motor for my A40, It went like a rocket & was still under the Grp engine size.
Other people built large cc motor,s for MGB,s.
Not to mention the BIG American Iron.
When the A40 started to win overall, They banned it & changed the rules.
Another thing re HRSR car,s was Suspension & Brakes.
Coilover,s all round , Rear disc brakes etc.
I think the Warrior Mini that ran had KAD R disc brakes with alloy rear suspension arm,s etc.
Hope you are all enjoying the Texas heat there.
I noticed it was hotter in UK than here a week ago.
Keep Cool.

[zefarelly]

yep, a lot of anglia racers are going 'Cortina' instead of building a screamer engine . . . .not sure why, a short stroke 1300 will rev beautifully and only be a bit down on power

still it might help me in a Cortina GT!

[Peter Mallett]

The 1293 engine only has three bearings (I think), which means it gets unreliable.

[zefarelly]

I think yu can use the later 5 bearing block though . . . .not entirely sure though

I THINK THE THREE BEARING BLOCKS ARE REASONABLY RELIABLE WITH STEEL CAPS (oops caps lock)

just dont rev over 4k !!!

[Graham Davies]

I found a interesting track test by John Blunsden in 1966
John Fitzpatricks 1000cc & Trevor Taylors 1300cc
Broadspeed Gp5 Anglias at Brands.
Both with Holbay down draft heads, & Weber IDF carbs. the 1 litre had a 5speed box.
1000cc.... 115 bhp @ 9200 rpm
1300cc.... 137 bhp @ 8000 rpm
The article does mention that they had no bearing failures.

Also mentioned that you could supply them with a new car & for
2000 pounds, they would build you one.
Gosh, I dont think you could get the head for that money today.

[Kelvin]

Originally Posted by Chris Y

Do you mean Rae Davis, brother of Darryl (From MotoBuild) ?

There is a Grahame Davis, brother of the two brothers already mentioned.

Rae runs: Rae Davis Racing - race prep and racing
Darryl runs: Moto-build Racing - Rovers, MGF, ZR, ZS, ZT & Lotus Elise
Grahame runs: Moto-build Ltd. - MGA MGB Midget etc.

all three have there own websites

www.raedavisracing.com
www.moto-build.com
www.moto-build.co.uk

[terence]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

The 1293 engine only has three bearings (I think), which means it gets unreliable.

Peter, is this the BMC engine? because the Ford 1200 was also available as 1340 ,?

[Peter Mallett]

E cheology!!

The 1200 and 1340 (the Classic) were, I'm told, three bearing.

[terence]

Yes they were,the reason I asked is because the 1293 BMC is a good block,it will go to 8000 ,al be it with steel bottom end! very relieably.Norman Grimshaw changes up at 8. I know it,s involving cost but as long as these overbored blocks have not moved,then there is no reason not to have them sleeved down,sometime,s with a bonus,depending on the sleeve type.Just out of curiousity,Spa 2005, the guy with the purple Anglia ,I can,t remember his name,what size engine was he using to post a 3.04,! Any idea?

[Peter Mallett]

You mean Gordon Streeter

.

Not sure of the engine in there but I think its 1400cc or thereabouts. He posts here so he might tell us.

[Anuauto]

Originally Posted by Graham Davies

Still after info on Mick Cave Austin A40 raced 60,s.

Coincidently, researches into Brabham BT35s on the Chassis History Thread have recently been involved with cars in the Caribbean. In the BOAC Speedbird series in Guyana and Barbados in November 1972, Gordon Spice is described as in the ex-Cave A40. Autosport 30th November 1972 has a photo of the car.

[zefarelly]

blimey, this is a very old thread!

Gordon runs a 1300 crossflow (5 bearing crank) I believe, lots of revs, and speed!

1200 and 1340 are 3 bearing, hollow crank, the 1340 is a hopeless engine

Rae Davis and CCK (Sean Rainford) both run and prepare A40's over here now

the HRSR re voted to maintain oversized engines and heavy mods etc and therefore have pigeonholed themselves somewhat, but it continues to be a successful, entertaining and popular series.

[Peter Mallett]

Zef,

Seeing as your forum wasn't invented (in its current form) when this thread was first posted I'll move it over.

So he uses the Kent engine then?