Phillip Island Historic Racing 2021

[rgh0]

Back on the track for the first time in a year with Phillip Island being the last meeting in March 2020 before the lockdowns and the first now after easing of the restrictions this year and I sure was rusty with my driving !

My new engine engine and gearbox both worked well with no leaks and no other issues. I had to retorque the exhaust manifold bolts to the head as they loosened a little with the heat cycles. With the Quaife helical gear set in the new box you hear a lot of different noises as you no longer have the whine of the straight cut gears drowning out everything else

cheers
Rohan

[rgh0]

A couple more photos
Over the top of the hill. A hard fast ( 5000 rpm in top gear) left hand going up and over the hill and then a slower ( 5000 rpm second gear) right hand at the bottom after a hard 50 m downhill braking zone once the car stabilises when its over the top .

pick the Elan surrounded on the dummy grid

cheers
Rohan

[h20hamelan]

Good stuff
Is that pace SUV a 4x4 or AWD?

[rgh0]

Good stuff
Is that pace SUV a 4x4 or AWD?

That's the fire and rescue car that sits at the back of the grid for the start and then waits in pit lane for a call.

cheers
Rohan

[alan.barker]

Well done Rohan ENJOY
Alan

[Andy8421]

Back on the track for the first time in a year with Phillip Island being the last meeting in March 2020 before the lockdowns and the first now after easing of the restrictions this year and I sure was rusty with my driving !

2021 Phillip Island.jpg

My new engine engine and gearbox both worked well with no leaks and no other issues. I had to retorque the exhaust manifold bolts to the head as they loosened a little with the heat cycles. With the Quaife helical gear set in the new box you hear a lot of different noises as you no longer have the whine of the straight cut gears drowning out everything else

cheers
Rohan

Rohan,

Congratulations on getting the car going again, and thanks for all the time you have taken with your rebuild threads and pictures, they have really been very useful. I know I have mentioned it before, but I am concerned that the Aussie hot summers have melted the adhesive in the side stripes, and they have slipped down the car. Interesting thread here....

https://lotuselan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=27637&start=

[rgh0]

Back on the track for the first time in a year with Phillip Island being the last meeting in March 2020 before the lockdowns and the first now after easing of the restrictions this year and I sure was rusty with my driving !

2021 Phillip Island.jpg

My new engine engine and gearbox both worked well with no leaks and no other issues. I had to retorque the exhaust manifold bolts to the head as they loosened a little with the heat cycles. With the Quaife helical gear set in the new box you hear a lot of different noises as you no longer have the whine of the straight cut gears drowning out everything else

cheers
Rohan

Rohan,

Congratulations on getting the car going again, and thanks for all the time you have taken with your rebuild threads and pictures, they have really been very useful. I know I have mentioned it before, but I am concerned that the Aussie hot summers have melted the adhesive in the side stripes, and they have slipped down the car. Interesting thread here....

https://lotuselan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=27637&start=

Yes must be the hot summers . My car was repainted probably in the late 60's in the UK before it came to Australia when it was in a major accident and the RH front and side had a lot of damage. They clearly chose to do a Lotus F1 Gold leaf colour scheme as the car was originally white as far as I can tell but did not try to do a Sprint replica paint scheme. Maybe it was done before the Sprint gold leaf cars came out ?

When I rebuilt the car in 1980 I kept its current colour scheme when it was repainted as it was a one off it had had for most of its life.

cheers
Rohan

[h20hamelan]

Good stuff
Is that pace SUV a 4x4 or AWD?

That's the fire and rescue car that sits at the back of the grid for the start and then waits in pit lane for a call.

cheers
Rohan

Ah
I figured as most manufacturers in N America are not building cars anymore, only SUV/cross that’s what’s happening Down Under too?

[rgh0]

Good stuff
Is that pace SUV a 4x4 or AWD?

That's the fire and rescue car that sits at the back of the grid for the start and then waits in pit lane for a call.

cheers
Rohan

Ah
I figured as most manufacturers in N America are not building cars anymore, only SUV/cross that’s what’s happening Down Under too?

Car assembly in Australia has ceased in the last couple of years. Ford, GM - Holden and Toyota who were the last 3 and all shutdown assembly operations. Still some design and testing by the majors and lots of smaller parts manufacturers. The fragmentation of the car market into many subsegments with the traditional sedan now only a small part of the total market from small hatches to large 4x4 and everything in between meant that Australian car assembly could never get sufficient volume to be competitive with the limit market available.

An example of this is the fire and rescue car that is a Ford Territory. This was an Australian develop model based on the Ford Falcon floor pan and suspension but with a 4x4 drive train and SUV body in an attempt to get sufficient volume through the Ford plants as the Flacon sedan volumes declined. Unfortunately volumes never justified the development and assembly line setup costs as it was a pretty good car in many respects

cheers
Rohan

[vstibbard]

Pleased to hear all went well Rohan, I caught up with Colin Wilson Brown for lunch, he normally races an Alfa 1750 but took his freshly restored Alfa 1300 GTA out running with Group S. Said it was fun but only time in his racing that he's enjoyed finishing last in every race!!!

Those of you in the US, his car has terrific US period race history and will one day be heading over for a tour of the tracks it raced in its hey day.

[batfish]

Looking Good Rohan

Pleased it went well after all the work rebuilding the engine and gearbox.

Andy

[CULVENOR]

Great to see you and the car are going well.
Mine is still a few months away.
John

[rgh0]

Pleased to hear all went well Rohan, I caught up with Colin Wilson Brown for lunch, he normally races an Alfa 1750 but took his freshly restored Alfa 1300 GTA out running with Group S. Said it was fun but only time in his racing that he's enjoyed finishing last in every race!!!

Those of you in the US, his car has terrific US period race history and will one day be heading over for a tour of the tracks it raced in its hey day.

Group S has become an Alfa fest in the last couple of years !! Its been interesting how the competitiveness of an Elan versus the GTV's and Alfettas of various engine capacities has gone over the years. 40 years ago the 1750 Alfas had me beat, 30 years ago I was all over the few competing, now they are back with a vengeance and the quick ones are really quick especially the 2000 Alfettas !! I suspect they have magically gotten lighter over the years as rust ate away at the bodies

cheers
Rohan

[h20hamelan]

]

That's the fire and rescue car that sits at the back of the grid for the start and then waits in pit lane for a call.

cheers
Rohan[/quote]

Ah
I figured as most manufacturers in N America are not building cars anymore, only SUV/cross that’s what’s happening Down Under too?[/quote]

Car assembly in Australia has ceased in the last couple of years. Ford, GM - Holden and Toyota who were the last 3 and all shutdown assembly operations. Still some design and testing by the majors and lots of smaller parts manufacturers. The fragmentation of the car market into many subsegments with the traditional sedan now only a small part of the total market from small hatches to large 4x4 and everything in between meant that Australian car assembly could never get sufficient volume to be competitive with the limit market available.

An example of this is the fire and rescue car that is a Ford Territory. This was an Australian develop model based on the Ford Falcon floor pan and suspension but with a 4x4 drive train and SUV body in an attempt to get sufficient volume through the Ford plants as the Flacon sedan volumes declined. Unfortunately volumes never justified the development and assembly line setup costs as it was a pretty good car in many respects

cheers
Rohan[/quote]

Jeez, they have brought online a few factories in Canada for “electric” vehicles.
Wonder If manufacturing is really on the out here too!

[vstibbard]

I agree Rohan, my Group S 1750 with the Benica Brothers prepared a head made 178bhp and solid torque, which at the time was about 10bhp more than the other Alfa's, today same capacity are 195-200bhp and seemingly similar torque!

I had one of my most memorable meetings at Philip Island exchanging 1st and 2nd places with the Victorian Iso Rivolta that raced for quite a few years. I ran with 4.55 diff, Autodelta lightened close ratio gears and shorter 5th which allowed close to max revs' down the mainstraight and me to close up on the Iso into and through the loop, with the only passing option to make the pass stick into the hairpin so I could get away up the back and make a totally committed run over the hill into the right (as your picture) make enough of a gap to hold the Iso out for the drag to the finishing.

Where has the Iso gone?

The 2 litres are making low 200's and lots of mid range torque. I suspect the main change particularly with 2litre Alfetta's is use of one of the flywheel, and lightweight prop shaft.