History of a Lola T492 Sports 2000 chassis?

[Clive Brown]

Typical.... just as the car turns good, the driver gives up the ghost.

[911thillclimber]

Ha!
When ever a post turns-up with 'Clive Brown' on it i open it up with a little trepidation!

One day you will be as old as me, and creeeeek a bit.
It turns out to be simply tension, and the Man found the knot in my left neck muscles and 'worked' them with fingers of hardened steel....

It hurt, and still hurts, but I need to relax more (and retire early I think).
I'm here typing and feeling guilty about not rushing back to work...must relax more, must relax mo..

My fingers are crossed for the body to be ready for Xmas and now the 911 is asleep and safe (oddly I think the main source of my tension) I have a double width garage to spread things out.

Not sure if it is worth getting the engine and box out just to clean/check it as it is good as it sits there. a few hours with a few cans of Carb Cleaner will restore the grubby bits and I'mm focus on repainting the suspension parts and cleaning/lubing the rose joints on re-assembly.
I'll loose all the careful settings of McClurg Motorsport's set-up but after the 3 offs some of those angles may have changed...so a fresh start for Sean I think.

It was mustard last time, so more of the same for 2014.

In the mean time while the neck regains it's original shape, I have to frett over two orange arrows on the body or one.
Good job Driftwood is not here as he would be rude!

Hope to get the hacksaw going and the MIG welder buzzin' next weekend or before.

This chassis shot was a long time ago...and this was the Pinto i vey very nearly bought off Mike at the time, i think he asked for £1000 and £2750 for a matching, rebuilt Hewland Mk8 box with inboard brakes included.

Who was a silly boy then?

[911thillclimber]

Ok, enough of the day-dreaming!

Got down to ground level with a hacksaw, an angle grinder and some MIG welding, and then...

Not exactly to plan, I've 'chamfered' the two offending top chassis rails to afford more clearance for the top radius arm and an effort to delete the spacer mentioned above. Did the former, failed on the latter, however, I now have clearance and still with the spacer the CV is mid travel of the available 18mm of plunge, so the CV is good from bump stop to full droop.

While on a roll I thought i would get up close to fix the broken drive peg, one of 3 that centre-locks to the rear wheel.

The pegs were pro TIG weled into place on both uprights, the drivers side had failed and on the last meeting at Loton I 'competed' on 2 peg drive.
Well, that may have been the kiss of death because all 3 are fractured!

As a fix and a way to replace then later in life is needs bee I've changed the design to a 14mm dia peg drive acting as a spacer and a cap head screw, M10 as the actual drive, it's head machined down to 14mm also to present a drive peg in the wheel hole.

I've made one today to see how that goes then if ok, will do 3 more.
The bolt will pass through the drive flange and be secured with a nut well loctite'd (red) and torqued up tight. The remnants of the tig are glass hard which is another issue, but I'll get there.
I've tried to tap the drive flange out of the hub bearings, but it drifted right to the last 15mm and stopped dead, as seen in the pic. I can do the stud change as shown. Might try to tack/MIG weld the nuts to the back face of the flange, but we will see later.

As ever, nothing goes easily!

Interestingly, the 3 drive pegs on the other upright are perfect(!).

After all this will be some paint and the lot back together mid Dec.

No news on the baby-blue body.....Could be a Xmas watching TV.

[911thillclimber]

After some quick turning at work on the trusty Myford lathe, all three drive pins are done.
I managed to just get a threat into each stud in the drive flange so the turned allen bolts thread into the flange with the 14mm dia spacer and then a thin nut on the back to tighten everything up after the allen bolts were tight.
The hub fits the wheels but a very snug fit compared to how they were, but it does all go together.

The March drive hubs are rock hard, chrome moly I think and maybe made of F1 'unobtainium'

Anyway, all done and easy to replace later if needs be.

[911thillclimber]

Snippets of good news is the hub fits the wheel! Getting those 3 drive pins to line up is tricky but all is better than the fit was. I have also made some knock-on sleeves that will convert the 3 much smaller pins to 14mm dia drive pegs to be kept in the tool box incase there is a failure in the future.

Further, the body is underway, and looks certain for Xmas.
It is being made by Equinox in my take on Gulf Blue.

Painting the rear suspension parts now, and i hope to re-assemble the chassis rear over the weekend/next week.

I know Sean is watching from McClurg Motorsport;

I've lost all the settings on the rear so it will need a full set-up I'm afraid...

Tyre swap next.
I have a huge leak in one of the new front wheels, my fault, and i need to fit the wider/taller rear gash tyres to the rear to see where the body will cover.

If all the 'smaller wheel' effort works out i can increase the steering lock a few degrees to help in the paddocks, but also to get to the return road at Prescott, which is only just doable as the car is.

Feeling VERY positive about this lot, and looking forward to 2014 season.

The class will be truly awesome, and I'm thinking of going into the Classic class to avoid embarrassment ....

[911thillclimber]

All the rear suspension is now back together and seems ok.

Washed all the rose joints out with carb cleaner and then added a drop of engine oil as l have done for all these years. They are un-corroded and perfect condition.

Thought I would try the narrow wheels back on for size and to get my head around such skinny things compared to the current giants.

Makes the chassis look...Sports 2000!

The actual tyres will be plumper. Going up to the max the 10" rim will carry gets me back to 23" overall dia as the current tyre is at the rear.
I have a set of gash tyres to be fitted for when the body arrives.

Is it just me, but the car looks worse for these narrow rims?

[MGDavid]

I think it'll look just fine; never did like the Carlos Fandango look ;-)

[morninggents]

I think it looks better on the narrower rims and I didn't like the wing extensions to fit the wide track. I think you will find the car more balanced.

[911thillclimber]

We will see at the first run in March!
So far everything can be switched back to the 'carlos' look unless it all works that is.
Not totally convinced, but as an old skool engineer, the phrase 'If it looks right it probably is' is a good way to look at it all.

The big wheels always looked right, but the car was not a nimble hillclimber.
You have to try different things, so fingers crossed.

With the chassis 'done' except for some Sean magic on the set-up, I do hope the body makes it for Xmas or I will be bored silly...

Old and new, and I bet I know what John was thinking here..

[andy97]

I'm still hoping that one day you'll return it back in to the Karmann Ghia Special Saloon!

[911thillclimber]

Andy;
Indeed a great body for this car, and historic too of course.

It would not fit in my garage though...
Unless I sold the 911 and moved all the bench over to the side of my double width/short garage that is.

Mrs Hillclimber would rather the Lola was gone and I return to hilllclibing the 911 BUt she is quite keen to see me sell the Lola and do the other idea I have for a sub 2 litre Sports Libra car.

[spd(john)]

Good to see things coming along well.

Under 2ltr Sports Libra, sounds interesting....

[911thillclimber]

Yes John, under 2000cc is the class of opportunity in 2014.
Over 2000cc will be truly manic for those looking to climb to or remain at the top.
Ray Rowen is coming back I believe in Terry 's rebuilt Pilbeam, Graham is coming to the class with a lot of speed found this year, and rob will be fitting 2,000,000 bhp in the purple car.
The Puma is going flyweight, allegedly 250Kg lighter, same drive train, 600+ bhp.
Then there are the rest....

I think there is one car in sub 2000cc. sounds a lot more peaceful!

I have an idea for a sub 2000cc libre road legal so drive there drive back on Kumho V70's.

no trailers, sell the Insignia and buy a Toyota GT86, and polish the 911.
And retire early!!

(quite a serious thought)

[911thillclimber]

Feet back on the ground again...

Had the max sized tyres fitted (10.5 x 23 x 13) onto the rears and they look far chunkier and will fill the rear arches better.
One front tyre off due to a massive leak in my silicon sealing (other is air tight) but i have an O ring kit so will add that to this one, and the silicon after for double measure.
This car has always suffered from wheel leaks and is a pita on a sunday morning with a foot pump at the track while others munch on hot coffee and a bacon buttie with brown sauce!

No date for the body which is getting a bit of a worry with essentially only next week to go.

I have the ignition side to do now, but the jobs are getting very very few now without the new shell to fix square and over the front wheels symmetrically.

I'm starting to get bored!



It did look good didn't it!

[911thillclimber]

Bit of a messy day in the very damp garage, at one point (dew-point?) the tools were wet...so I've surrendered and come in.

Split the leaky rim, assembled with O rings and back together, first bead of silicon sealent going off, second layer over that tomorrow evening.

Got the narrow wheels with fat tyres on and tight, bit needs a bit of machining to ensure I can fit the R pins to secure the centre nut tomorrow and that's done.

I can still fit the original wide rims, so have the 2 options.

told the body will be ready wed next week, so off to collect it from Lola Sports 2000 specialist thurs, just in time.
This plan is coming together!

Bit spooky, but the body has been made in Herne Bay where much of this saga started!

After Xmas i hope to have the body on and see where i stand on covering the rims front and rear without spats. I'm sure the rears will be 'inside' but not too confident about the fronts.

I plan to fit a front plywood front splitter and a small Gurney tail flap along the rear bodywork.

Finally, the Porsche 908-3 single arrow graphics and apart from an oil change, chassis set-up and a very deep clean, all is done for 2014.

But i might use the spare time to make some flared arches that will cover the wide rims...

[andy97]

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

It did look good didn't it!

Yes it did, and iconic.

And with the Flat 6 Porsche motor it also seems to "fit" together perfectly. Oh well.

[911thillclimber]

Indeed Andy, apart from not fitting the garage, the body would need splitting to front (removable) to middle fixed to rear clam removable/tilt

It all has to come off for scrutineering, and there is only Mrs hillclimber to help most of the time....

The work to get the doors in and all the returned edges on the basic shell plus a new rollcage and I'm 62 soon and creaking at the joints!

The T492 shell I'm collecting this week is 3 piece but all done. a weeks work and it is finished.

Now, if I was 50 then I would be talking to the Doctor and looking for his moulds

[andy97]

Details, details, details!

It actually looks better in Pink - http://www.flickr.com/photos/wembley_1966/2417788557/

[Clive Brown]

Not the same car! That is the Demon Doctor's VW Karmann Ghia, which ran successively with 1000cc Imp, 1120 Imp, 1300 BDA, and finally 1700 BDA power. The bodywork of the Humberstones' Karmann Ghia, which is now 911thillclimber's car, was taken from the same moulds; that's as far as it goes.

[911thillclimber]

Indeed Clive, and you know those differences more than anyone for sure.
Using the Doctor,s moulds would be for a 'look' that
AlanH car was.
I think the pink body was not as sophisticated as the Dr's body shell? ( construction and materials)
I think to replicate the Humberstone shell would be 2 x the Lola body plus the new cage etc.

[andy97]

Originally Posted by Clive Brown

Not the same car! That is the Demon Doctor's VW Karmann Ghia, which ran successively with 1000cc Imp, 1120 Imp, 1300 BDA, and finally 1700 BDA power. The bodywork of the Humberstones' Karmann Ghia, which is now 911thillclimber's car, was taken from the same moulds; that's as far as it goes.

Yes, I knew that Clive. I didn't make it clear but was just showing a pic of a similar looking car.

Dr E still has his car and I keep trying to persuade him to re-commission it and race it in the. CSCC Special Saloons and Modsports series but he is racing a Radical now and it would be expensive to get the Karmann Ghia race ready.

As an aside. I think he still has a Bowlby. Clubmans car too. Both cars are far more interesting than the Radical but possibly not as easy to run.

[brakedisc]

" I'm 62 soon and creaking at the joints! "

In that case you must convert it back to a S2000 car and race with the SRCC, you will be a youngster there.

[911thillclimber]

I've seen them 3 a-breast at Silverstone!
I'll stick with keeping away from trees and Armco thanks.

Too old for the roundly round stuff.
Seriously, the chassis is too far away from the original now for it to be eligable, and the costs too high for a mere mortal like me.

[911thillclimber]

The adventures with this car continue, but today I traveled down to Equinox with Mrs hillclimber to just outside Faversham for the pale Gulf Blue 3 piece bod.

8 hours in a 144K mile old Transit LWB raised top van doing 429 miles is...actually not so bad.

Van design and comfort has come a long way, but my left leg is still a bit numb..Seat wasa bit 'off-set'.
The M25 is a crisis left us both numb mind.

Ordered the 4 panel clips needed so hope they arrive for Xmas, and will get the other front tyre fitted tomorrow so then I can get the body on, fitted and I hope over the narrow rims all round.

Somehow I doubt it will be simple, as nothing on this car is ever simple.

It certainly is different seeing baby blue instead of red, but i think it will look great.

I intend to fit a 100 mm deep chin splitter and a body-wide gurney strip across the back, if only because everyone keeps telling me to.

Here we go again!

[911thillclimber]

Looks like i have a set of tyres that actually stay inflated.
First time ever that they all hold 25psi.
I hope they hold until Monday evening reasonably, that will be a good hillclimb weekend test.
On a sunny weekend the tyres will rise 5 psi over the day, so if these are tight and the fresh slicks in March are too i might try nitrogen fill to see if that stabilizes the pressure over temperature change.

Anyway, that date seems light years away.

Placed the new body onto the tub this afternoon to see where is might fit without a fight...
It will need some cuts to pass over the lips where the old body needed help too, but looks not too bad and might even cover the front rims.
I might have to cut the front leading edge of the front arches to allow the tyres to clear lock-to-lock. I also needed to do this on the 10" rims, might just get away with it on these 8" rims.

One thing is clear, this body is very light compared to the old red shell by about 20 Kg.

I'm getting used to the colour now as i did like the red, but with the orange arrow stripe (as 908-3 Porsche) it will look 'cool' as my daughter would say.

toying with the idea of the stripe in the same arrow shape but not yellow, but Martini colours.

Anyway, I've crumpled my left knee somehow and a corner of a wisdom tooth came free this afternoon so action will be a bit slower than I had wanted this holiday....