Just out of interest Bob, the Rutherford Escort you used for part of the body on this car, why was it left hand drive?
Just out of interest Bob, the Rutherford Escort you used for part of the body on this car, why was it left hand drive?
I am not sure but I believe it possibly was to give more room around the carburetors etc on the R/H side of the engine,one of the problems I had when I ran it in its original body shell form ,was getting enough room for a decent exhaust system on the L/h side of the engne compartment to suit the Lotus Twin Cam engine.I never really noticed the fact that it was L/H drive when I raced it ,it might have been better at Bay Park for seeing the apexes etc ,hard to say as I always went good there anywayOriginally Posted by Steve Holmes
Thanks Bob, I figured it must have been something like that. I know there were a few OSCA cars in the South Island that were built in lhd, but that was because all the SI tracks are anti-clockwise, not a problem for anyone running the full ShellSport series.
Couple of neat pics supplied by Warwick Clayton. Too bad we don't have sound-o-vision! I bet the little Escort is screaming.
Thanks Steve ,much appreciated ,please hand on my thanks
Interesting reading this thread and seeing the photos
I wonder how much info kiwis had on special saloon cars from the mother land
there was a low line space frame mk2 escort that raced here built by Derrick Walker
he called all his cars ladybird 1 2 3 4 and raced late 70's into the early 80's
he built his own cars and raced Fiat 850 sport 1 litre skoda 2 litre and the escort
Interesting reading this thread and seeing the photos
I wonder how much info kiwis had on special saloon cars from the mother land
there was a low line space frame mk2 escort that raced here built by Derrick Walker
he called all his cars ladybird 1 2 3 4 and raced late 70's into the early 80's
he built his own cars and raced Fiat 850 sport 1 litre skoda 2 litre and the escort
look here for many photos of escorts and UK special saloons in general
ttp://www.racing70s.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/racing70s/menus/carlistmenu.htm
the website is a bit out of date and note been updated the webmaster seems to have changed his email address
but you will get to see some interesting cars
another forum to look at is 10 tenths for special saloon threads
In my own case there was no outside thinking or influence ,it was a common sense approach to build something that fitted with in the rules we had back then.Actually a lot of the thinking behind that car would have surfaced in a Anglia away back in 68 if All Comers had kept going .I have always been a innovator rather than a copier ,in fact I believe a lot of my thinking andi ideas have predated things which have happened offshore,and that thinking is still being projected into the present times where we are still comimg up with better solutions and resuilts for stuff that has been run "that " way for years overseas
LOL Bob typical kiwi statement!!!!
The thing is to read the rule book and see what you can do to stretch the definition and interpret them to what you want to do
The UK main rules where
1 wheel base plus minus 1 inch
2 engine has to remain at same end of the car as originally built
3 silhouette had to remain the same
4 car above axle line be the same
So as time went by the cars evolved from street cars modified to having wide arches big engines light weight panels rolling thru to semi space frame front rear ends to full space frames and then sports car chassis with glass fibre bodies fitted all of
this happened over a 5-10 year period
The Germans had Gp2 cars then Gp5 DRM Japan had similar concept as did the Swedes/Fins Ozzies and South Africans all with varying degrees of regulations on mods allowed and budgets plus any manufacturer input
In theory we could have bought a car from any of these nations to race in UK an they would have been eligible but how competitive remains another matter depending on the year
I would imagine budgets in NZ where restricted due to being small nation fewer people and high importation duties back then so you had to be self sufficient and build your own cars and motors.
The likes of you Mick Hill in UK were "pioneers" doing it first and others followed once they had either learnt the mechanical skills or had budgets to build cars to the next level of rules.
Yes I know Im behind you guys, i like warm beer and it rains a lot here too.
Hi Bob, If my memory is not too stuffed, I think this engine was ex Steve Millen from the Schollum Bros B29 Chevron. I worked on this car in Asia and NZ. It became surplus after the car was fitted with an ex Ken Smith FVC. I remember fitting the .500" lift cams out under the verandah at the Schollums house in Singapore, with my right foot swelled up like a balloon. Silly Kiwi boys walk on the lawn in bare feet. Great engine right on the limit for its time. Quoted at 210 bhp in 1600 form on Lucas injection.
Cheers Dave
Thanks Dave In 1850 form the best I saw was 223@8800 on injection,which I believe because the cylinder head flow figures were 225 hp ,that at the end of the day is the limiting factor,and is as you know what honestly governs it ,the larger capacity did however give it a lot more torque and the longer stroke I believe gave it the ability to carry the bigger cams better The biggest gain in torque and tractability we found was when we built and fitted the anti reversion exhaust system to it,it transformed it
Hi Bob ,interesting about the anti reversion exhaust, as fitted to the Chevron the primary pipes where quite a bit larger than the ports and had a short tapered piece to join the two. In the light of your experience the last thing you would need.
Cheers Dave.
Dave,
Yes I found by running the short stub inside the bigger bigger diameter part of the exhaust with a definate step to be the answer,also choking the tailpipe down with a small transition also helped ,you have to remember this is mid eighties when I did this we do it all the time now ,just built one recently for a single seater with a Lotus TC ,showed a big gain in both torque and power on the dyno
Do you think you'll get the chance to give the Escort a run this season Bob?
Was the dark blue 1983? I need a date for this if anyone can help.
At the March 1983 Pukekohe meeting Bob's Escort was number 76. There could be a 7 hiding behind the flare
Thanks Milan. That figures. I had no programme for that event but I did wonder.
Sports Sedans and Clubmans Saloons at Pukekohe March 27, 1983.
Thanks Milan. Some great names on that grid - and the organisers could afford to offer prize money as they knew they'd get people through the gate and yet entry fees were modest.
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