History of a Lola T492 Sports 2000 chassis?

[gt917]

Great to have your reporting and updates back. Cheers me up no end as I have such similar tribulations with my Porsche set up, as well you know.

Just put my rebuilt engine back in 917 and have purchased an old dog of a T70 Mk3b replica to totally rebuild, so have joined your Lola camp as well.

Will you please stop influencing me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very best for the new season.

[gt917]

Oh, and another thing.

Will you please stop showing pictures with such a clean and tidy garage/workshop. It is a disgrace and is causing me, and possibly many others, much stress!!!!!

[MGDavid]

Originally Posted by gt917

Oh, and another thing.

Will you please stop showing pictures with such a clean and tidy garage/workshop. It is a disgrace and is causing me, and possibly many others, much stress!!!!!

Amen to that!

[911thillclimber]

I had better not mention I cleaned the floor with cellulose thinners so quite spotless...

But I'm retired early now and every day is a Saturday!

So, stop slakin' and get on with it!

The Lola sounds great, hope you will enjoy the journey.

[gt917]

For those of a nervous disposition, avert your eyes now

Just to show you how guilty I am of workshop neglect, just a few pictures to prove a point !!!!!

Now it is your thread, so keep us entertained.

[911thillclimber]

So today was the start to the 2016 adventure!

With the weather forecast not exactly enticing we took the Lola to my Club's hill climb, Loton Park, for a Saturday of practice along with about another 70 cars opf all shapes and sizes as everyone wants to shake the bugs out of the cars (and themselves...).

Dry on arrival and passed scrutineering with ease, new belts and all, but some had a hard time.

First run came around and I took to the hill carefully along with a very 'wooden' feel to the brakes, so gave them some healthy stabs along the way to scrub the faces up.

61 seconds is a slow run, but everything worked!

Second run felt like I had a head wind (which was true) and did a 60, and every thing worked...

Third run and the same again, but a drizzle started to arrive, and as were very close to Wales, we all knew what was coming next!

Decided to do a runner, packed up and got home just before the Welsh Rain started.

So, all in al a very promising start.
Car ran great, even I behaved and the wife is happy. Bliss!!

First event in the Midlands Championship is at Prescott on 23/24 April, ages away.
Got a birthday before then and the MOST AMAZING present.

[911thillclimber]

At very long last the season is underway this weekend at Prescott Hill climb with the first meeting of the Midland Hill cLimb Championship.
4 cars in my class and I will have to work very hard to come 2nd.

Weather is. Bit cold, hope it is dry!

[MGDavid]

Good luck - have you done any 'driver tuning' over the winter?

[911thillclimber]

Only a little David!

I have a good frame of mind to be honest, and looking forward to a good clean season.
I know the car is ok now although the slicks are into their 3 season so getting a bit long in the tooth.
They will have done about 100 miles now.

Today was practice day, and the venue was about 3 deg C, so bloody cool. Car started a bit slowly, but came on six and took a few mins to steady to a 1200 tickover, normal stuff.

First run was a 'sighting' run so stayed in second bit it all worked. I was not alone in this strategy.
Second run was more determined as the place was a tropical 9 degs!

Gearbox work well ( ) and I was a bit cautious through the Esses and to the finish line. This track can bite back through there and the air Ambulance had already taken a fallen motorbike runner off...

4 in the class and quickest!

This is NO measure for tomorrow, but I am pleased.

1st run: 51.8 sec
2nd run: 48.14 sec

pb: 46.72

In my class I have an NG 4.6L V8, a Lotus Excel/turbo 4L Jaguar and the deadly fast MiniEVO 2.4L turbo with an ex-Isle of Man bike winner as the pilot....

My target is 2nd in class, but the other two are very close normally.

Met a regular 'reader' from 10/10ths also, so that was very good.

[911thillclimber]

A picture says it all!

Car went well, even I went well and for a cold cold day 1st in class (because the EVOMini broke), but to win first you have to finish.

I don't get many days like this, so forgive the bragging...

[morninggents]

Well done. Did you top it off with a PB?

[911thillclimber]

No, tried though.

pb is 0.49 sec faster than my best today, set on a late season sunny weekend with ambient about 14 deg hotter!

Today was my first competitive run of the year, 7 months after my last run last year...
Good excuse!

[MGDavid]

Very well done - pleased for both you and the car :-)

[Andy Clegg]

A good start to the Season then.

[911thillclimber]

Thank you all; it all went well and with some fresh slicks it would be better still, but as I'm just 0.47 shy of the PB they aren't too bad.

It is also £1050 for a set.....so don't have a permission for that one.

Bought a new lithium battery and fitted it as the huge Red-Top was 11 years old and sometimes just gave me a reminder of it's age.

The new one is stupidly light in comparison and sure gives the starter more urge when tested, £140 well spent (mate's rates).

So I will now have a corner weight issue as the left side is about 15Kg lighter, or I can scoff more bacon butties now.

[morninggents]

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

..... or I can scoff more bacon butties now.

Yes, but how do you get that weight into the right place?

[911thillclimber]

Don't get all complicated!

With my quality of driving there are FAR many more issues than bacon butties...

Currently, I'm thinking of fitting a lightweight flywheel 'mid season' and two other web sites are debating the relative merits of such a move in this car.
I think I have some work to do on the starts, too much wheelspin and little forward motion.

A good hill climb start is to pull 1g acceleration.
There is a timing beam 64 feet out from the start. Break the beam in 2 seconds and you have hit 1g.

My best is 2.19 in the warm dry but this can slip to 2.3 or even 2.4.
My 911 can do 2.2 all day and my Impreza did it sub 2 secs regularly.

Into the hill the lower inertia will improve the acceleration throughout, so a tempting mod.

They are easy to get but cost £400...

[MGDavid]

softer clutch?
stickier (new) tyres?

[911thillclimber]

I've had the same issue with the fresh slicks on the 15 inch rims as well as the fresh tyres on the current 10 inch rims.

As to a softer clutch, this is where the idea for the clutch with a lower masses hence stored energy comes to mind.

Another idea is to change the way the throttle opens, or rather the rate at which it opens from tick over.
Modern cars have a snail cam on the throttle body so the first 30% of the pedal only opens the throttle say 15% and so the rate changes with more pedal movement.

This will be quite easy to make and will give a softer advance to the pedal.
At the moment I think I have the opposite to the snail cam!

On a slightly related note, the car was faster on the wide rims, but is nicer to have on the narrow ones, though with the prospect of fresh tyres for next year which rims to use is a big question.
I would need to make and fit to a cut body to cover the tyres some extensions.
I can't have those aluminium spats again....

[brookesy]

Was good to see you Saturday Graham and really good to see the car going as it should do, I'm now really enthused to crack on with my build.

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

I've had the same issue with the fresh slicks on the 15 inch rims as well as the fresh tyres on the current 10 inch rims.

As to a softer clutch, this is where the idea for the clutch with a lower masses hence stored energy comes to mind.

Another idea is to change the way the throttle opens, or rather the rate at which it opens from tick over.
Modern cars have a snail cam on the throttle body so the first 30% of the pedal only opens the throttle say 15% and so the rate changes with more pedal movement.

This will be quite easy to make and will give a softer advance to the pedal.
At the moment I think I have the opposite to the snail cam!

On a slightly related note, the car was faster on the wide rims, but is nicer to have on the narrow ones, though with the prospect of fresh tyres for next year which rims to use is a big question.
I would need to make and fit to a cut body to cover the tyres some extensions.
I can't have those aluminium spats again....

[911thillclimber]

Good meeting you at last!

Glad you got some 'oomph' for pressing on with your car too.

It was a good weekend all-round for me.
Doubt I will bad 1st in Class again, but some nice points on the bag.

I want to keep my record of 2nd in Championship class this year, where I ended up last year.

If the EVOMini is in the class I'm doomed.

At Shelsley Walsh this weekend with Nick Mann in the class.

He and his cars are absolute legends and I hope to be second to him and less than 5 seconds behind.

If I come back in one piece with the car the same that will be great.

[911thillclimber]

Saturday and practice day, kicking of with the temp at 4 deg C......

My new battery was all but dead, but the engine just caught enough to run, but I've removed it and re-fitted the old battery for the weekend.

The new one is a lithium type, so maybe upset by the cold(?).

Did 3 runs today missing any rain and storm which came so very close to the track, but all runs were dry.

Nick Mann in his 4x4 Mallock with the wildest engine you have seen cut a non PB of 27.1 and a finishing speed of 130 mph.
Gulp.

I managed a good string of runs using a 'new' strategy on this hill I really don't like: 37.14 33.90 33.71 and 96 mph.

my PB here is 32.97 last August, so a LONG way to go yet.

I also have a Toyota engine Smart car in the class, turbocharged, running 38.76/88mph and my old adversary in his V8 NG at 35.50/87mph

If I work harder I aim to get 2nd and a PB., oh, and to be within 5 secs of Nick Mann.
My starts were ok at 2.15 best, Nick Mann's was 1.86!

[911thillclimber]

Sunday and Race Day.
This meeting counts towards the Championship and the weather looked like the first morning run would count with heavy rain forecast by the BBC and far more importantly, the local farmers.

We ran in program order, so the Smart car was forst, the NG V8 then the frightening Nick Mann car then me.
Following the Mann car is a hard act to follow. It uses a helicopter starter turbine to provide an instant and constant pressure to the engine and sounds truly awesome.

The car went really well and the new gear change strategy worked also (ie minimise the gear changes).
I was planning to do a PB and get within 5 seconds of the Mann machine, however...

ran a strong 33.06 (pb is 32.97) and so 1/10th of a second off with a 2.24 start. If I could have replicated yesterday's 2.15 start I might have cracked the pb.
Anyway, a good run and the 'team' in one piece.

Nick Mann ran a 27.02/1.93/129 mph
Lola ran 33.06/2.24/99 mph

But we took 2nd in the Class and some nice points.

It then rained and some.

We took the run and what a waste of space that was and the car is really muddy as a result.
3 hours cleaning tomorrow and the water is still coming out of the car, even out of the rear anti-roll bar tube!

Loton Park in 2 weeks time, my favourite hill.

[911thillclimber]

We are at Loton Park this weekend for a Championship round #3 so points are required.

Practice day today, Saturday, and just 2 of us in the class! Miserable.
We are joined by a fab Maguire Mini as under and over 2 Litre cars are merged.

Great weather with nice cool air and 3 practice runs.

My PB at this hill was Sept last year, a 57.00 dead.
I had a gear change plan in mind (ie minimise the number of changes) and off we went.

First run was 57.66 with a start of 2.15
2nd 58.81/ 2.14
3rd 58.24 /2.15

The 2nd run I tried a few gear changes too many....but the starts are very consistent.

I hope to take a PB tomorrow and a first in class for 4 points.

To win you first have to finish! But that is for tomorrow.

My class mate fights to get to 59's so I hope to succeed.

[911thillclimber]

Sunday and race day.....
Came to Loton with a firm mind, 1st in Class and a PB, that was the Plan.

Great weather and the first run was good and solid, neat and tidy and netted a slightly disappointing 57.72, but miles ahead in the class.

More gritted second run and with an eye closed at times in certain places it came to me.

Class win and a good PB @ 56.79

My starts were very consistent too, another first!

So, a perfect weekend of hill climbing, 4 points better off, but also a PB.

1st run: 57.72/ 2.10 start
2nd run: 56.79/2.12 start

Car was magic, 3 year old slicks are chirping on some bends. Loverrrly!