One year on

Well 12 months have passed by and here I am again, once more with all my cars up and running! And yet in those intervening months there have been a number of mishaps.


The 1929 Riley Brooklands

Last September at Donington the crank broke going into the Old Hairpin. New crank, rods, pistons and block re-machined. This May back at Donington the mag breaks down at around 4000 RPM and then the boot lid comes off, to be driven over by my fellow competitors. After burning lots of midnight oil the Brooklands is taken to VSCC Cadwell Park. Disaster - front main location screw works lose and the main rotates, cutting off oil supply. Result: almost new engine seized!! Replacement engine fitted and we secure a handicap win at the Double 12 at Brooklands this month. Off to AMOC Donington Park this weekend for three races.


1929 Amilcar CGSs

Wheel comes off on start line at VSCC Spring Start Meeting at Silverstone due to half shaft shearing. Why? Fatigue and poor design. Now back in the workshop her next outing is VSCC Loton Park in July.

1935 MG PB

At the Vie en Bleu Meeting at Prescott eighty year old mother has an off at Pardon, hitting the tyre wall. Result - damage to car and damage to mother but she is a tough old bird and shakes it off. MG's front valence being repaired.

1960 Cooper T56

Now here's a thing. She's all in one piece and is pictured above with a sister car that was once owned by Steve McQueen.

1927 Harley Two Cam Racer

Still waiting for pistons. The intention is to have her running this year. It's been 15 years since her lovely engine note was heard thumping away.

1980s Ducati Pantah Race Replicas

I went to Moto GP at Silverstone as a VIP guest and was like a kid in a sweet shop. I fell in love with two Ducatis and had to bring them home. Pictured is the 500, the other is a 650. More on these when I get them running.

Two years ago today my wonderful dad died. He was my inspiration. Thank you dad. Simply the best.

Pressure

Cadwell Park has been and gone. We had a good race although oil pressure was a problem and continues to be so. So much so that we didn't race at VSCC Pembrey. Instead we went to this super circuit in Wales to watch our friends. Great weekend. The Brooklands is now on mineral oil as opposed to Castrol R 40. However, I cocked up on refitting the oil pressure relief valve so its off with the sump and some internal fettling or is it infernal fettling.

The run of bad luck has also manifested itself in problems with the Amilcar. At Shelsley Walsh there was a major problem with the gearbox. It looks as if the input shaft has twisted and is no longer true. This means getting another manufactured in time to go off to the VSCC Prescott meeting. Here's hoping!

Tempus Fugit

Time flies. Where have I been? Well Silverstone Spring Start was a damp squib. Not the weather but a holed piston. So while I scored a hole in one, it was "nil point" for the first round of the season. Following the Riley's demise I then went to Curborough with the Amilcar and beat my handicap. The Amilcar was great. It really shifts through the gears, although there is a noticeable gap between third and fourth.

Following Curborough the repaired Riley was exercised at Oulton Park which is a beautiful location for racing vintage cars. We had a class win which was pleasing but still had low oil pressure.
From Oulton Park it was a trip to Prescott where the Amilcar won its class and set the class record. Personally this was very pleasing because we spread my father's ashes at Pardon and up to the Esses. He would have been proud of his old car.
This weekend sees me at Cadwell Park, another fantastic venue for vintage racing cars. I then go as a VIP guest to the British Moto GP. This will be awesome even without the GOAT. I have to confess I love race bikes. I understand that a Moto GP bike clocked 202 mph at the Isle of Man during a demonstration run. Oh to have the balls to go that quick on those roads. As they say tempus fugit. So do Moto GP bikes.

Runners and riders

Well the first race of the season is VSCC Silverstone on the 24th April. Known as the 'Spring Start', I have entered the Riley Brooklands in the pre-war sports cars race. All looks well with PG472. Yes there are a few cracks in the paintwork, blisters on the wings and stone chips. But this is a proper vintage racer that gets used regularly. And she has a competition history that can be traced back to 1930. I have seen the car on film, shot in the paddock at Shelsley Walsh that year. If only I could remember the film title I would buy a copy! It's only a fleeting view but she's there.

I ran both the Riley and the Amilcar at the weekend. I went on a circuit of roads through the local villages. What did I see as I was driving the Amilcar back into Whittlebury? None other than a real Jaguar D Type. We both exchanged waves. I then saw bemused faces of the Nissan Skyline, Mazda RX7, Ford Cosie drivers as they passed by on their way to the Trax Day at Silverstone. While they popped, I could hear my supercharger whistling out front. Lovely noise.

I have fitted a new harness and extinguisher in the Cooper. If everything pans out I may test the Cooper at Silverstone on Friday. I anticipate some pre-1966 grand prix cars will be out testing. They look fantastic as do the earlier cars such as the ERAs.

Should be a fun day...

Green shoots

Well we are now into February and it won't be long before the fist vintage race meeting of the season - VSCC Silverstone on April 24th. Now some of you might be thinking it is a long time off...what's he thinking of. Well the truth is that time always seems to run out no matter how much you pre-plan the fettling of motor cars. It's the nature of the game.

Last year John Guyatt established a series for pre-war sports cars and I am delighted that it will run again this year. The grids were full and there was lots of close racing. Better still there was oodles of hospitality and fun. Known as the D.O.M. series I was the joint winner of the championship...if it was a championship. Now you might wonder what D.O.M. stands for. Well it does stand for Dirty old Man and as a Driver Owner Mechanic I am often dirty!

Now before one gets to play with vintage cars there is opportunity to race Formula Juniors. I may well get the Cooper out but first I have to buy a new harness and extinguisher. My old Willans harness is now out of date. But rather than throw away what is only a five year old product, I may well find alternative use of the harness. Suggestions?

Out With The Old. In With The Old

Well 2009 is officially over and has been for several days. So here's to everyone having a successful 2010. Back in 2009-December 12th as I recall-I went to the Frazer Nash Party at Hereford's Green Dragon Hotel. I got the invite as a consequence of winning the Geoghegan Trophy at Cadwell Park back in June. What a bash the Chain Gang put on. Brilliant entertainment and I didn't get the whipping I thought I deserved, having won their trophy in a Riley!

Well the Christmas break was a long one . I managed to get a number of jobs done on the motors including changing the drop gears in the Cooper. Oh for a Hewland box! Both the Amilcar and the MG were prepared for the short blast to Stony Stratford on New Year's day. Vintage Stony was very well organised and pleasingly I was awarded an expensive bottle of champagne for bringing the most desirable car or something similar. So well done to the Amilcar which is often a 'show stopper'. On the return home I thundered past a few modern cars on the A5. Even though I was running on methanol I avoided any icing problems with the blower by blanking off the radiator.

Well I am not changing the AMG. I was tempted by a Porsche Cayman S which I road tested before Christmas. Fun car, especially with a seven speed box. However, too much dosh for my budget, especially when the depreciation is factored in. So it is a case of staying with the 'Old' in 2010. Here's to a Vintage Year.

Some images

I thought it would be a good thing to share some images of racing cars that I captured on my old camera a number of years ago. The first is of a BRM v16 captured at Silverstone. The 2nd is a delightful six cylinder Amilcar. Below these is an ERA-Delage, again at Silverstone. The Alfa was photographed at Oulton Park prior to the extensive modifications to the paddock. To finish off this gallery from yesteryear is an ERA at Silverstone and a Mercedes W154. I hope you enjoy these images of some fantastic racing cars. More to come in the future.

Everyday Wheels

I have been asked what my day-to-day car is. Well it's a 2002 SLK32 AMG which is a Merc with some oomph! The SLK32 AMG has 354 bhp courtesy of its supercharged 3.2 Litre V6 and is capable of 0-60 mph in 4.5 seconds. All the engines were hand-built by AMG; each one by an individual engineer. The engine features an intercooled Lysholm-type "twin-screw" supercharger. Production ran between August 2000 and March 2004. Only 4,333 SLK32s were built in total, of which 979 were retained for Germany, 2,056 exported to the USA and 263 went to the UK. So she is relatively rare. I think she will be a future classic. With taut handling and a silky smooth engine that delivers oodles of power, the SLK32 offers supercar performance but without the tantrums associated with more exotic beasts. Top speed is restricted to 155 mph but an ECU switch takes it up to 174 mph with a few extra horses thrown in for good measure. I also understand that a tweak or two to the headers and a change of pulley drive pushes bhp up another 100 bhp to 450 which must be awesome in such a compact car. Well I'm hoping my AMG will become a classic and in the meantime I am just going to enjoy her for what she is...a true thoroughbred.

Old Flame

I wonder where my old flame is now? I often regret selling my Riley 12/4 Special because she simply was "Special". Built by Duncan Ricketts on a Kestrel chassis (22T), the lines of the car were superb from nose to tail. Underneath the bonnet was Riley's invincible 12/4 high cam engine which we breathed on with a higher compression set-up. Fantastic for the road and for the track, I even took BBJ to Le Mans on several occasions, and on a touring holiday with a former girlfriend. And no the car didn't destroy the relationship, although the petrol that leaked into her clothes bag soured the affair for a brief period.
With a pre-selector gearbox, my 12/4 was magic on the hills and the wings could be taken off very quickly so I could run her as a VSCC open wheeled racer. I only wished I had done more of the latter. She was very well balanced both on the circuit and on the road.

It's a French thing

Well the Riley Brooklands has gone away so I can focus on the Amilcar and the Cooper. The Amilcar is a gem. With its supercharged OHV Amilcar engine - no Riley 9 powerplant in this car - my monoplace CGSs is a fantastic hill climb car. Running on methanol at almost a couple of miles per gallon when used in anger, she is swift off the line and fast through the turns. The brakes work too!

Yes she sports the OHV conversion. We originally ran the standard side-valve Amilcar engine but managed to borrow an engine that had the period conversion. My late father used the loaned engine as a pattern. I believe it was from the 200 mile race car. Here is my father in the car at the VSCC Curborough Sprint meeting.

Brake-down

Well the Cooper has hardly turned a wheel this year. As mentioned Mallory was a disaster. Since then I have changed the brake fluid and in the workshop there is a firm pedal. I now need to check the travel out and ensure there is no brake fade. At Mallory going into the hairpin I had a pedal as long as furlong. Frightening!



I might have a bash at the Silverstone test on 20 November but will need to change to the silencer as it is a 105db limit. Unsilenced it is louder and I can't afford to upset the folk in Silverstone and Whittlebury villages.



Going back to the brakes I might try a higher DOT specification. I was running some funny silicon stuff. I also will change the drop gears. Unlike the Hewland boxes, my T56FJ has an ERSA box and to change the drop gears you need to remove the gearbox-the drop gears which effectively change the ratios-sit on the front of the box. No cassette type arrangement with the ERSA! Touch wood I have not had a major problem with the ERSA box. They have a reputation for being hard to live with but then I am used to the Amilcar. Must be a French thing.

Went the day well

Over the weekend I thought I would have a last run out in the Riley Brooklands before changing the engine over. What a fantastic car she is. Not many in the vintage era can better her 1089ccs for pace and she is peerless when it comes to handling. The only drawback is the cable- operated braking but I hope to improve this over the winter.

As an interesting back-to-back I then went out in our MG PB. With a blower she is lively too but not a patch on the Riley Brooklands for handling. The Riley beats the MG hands-down. And perhaps that's where the advantage lies. You literally can put your hand down when sat in the Riley. The Brooklands has a low centre of gravity. I doubt there are many lower cars from the 1920s. What a joy the Riley Brooklands must have been to the 1920s' sporting driver. From the factory he or she had a car that was a great sports car and with the wings off, a redoubtable racer. It is not surprising that a Riley Brooklands took the Index of Performance at Le Mans in 1934.

Vintage Harley

This is the Harley Davidson. I think she is a 1927 two cam 'J' series race bike. With Brakes (rear), clutch and three speed box she is not a board racer. I hope that she will run in 2010.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog which focuses on vintage and historic motorsport.

It's the end of the season and the toys are back in the cupboard but there is much to be done. The Riley Brooklands is a priority. After a hard campaign of races the engine is coming out over the winter. I hope to have this ready so that the car can run on New Year's Day. Where my Cooper T56 is concerned I have to sort out the brake problems which befell me at Mallory Park. The Amilcar will need looking over and the oil pressure backed off. However, she seems to be running sweetly at present. Finally a major project is going to be getting our two cam racing Harley going again. I have had the barrels repaired and the whole assortment of bits is going off to a friend to be put back together again...I hope!