I think that the original poster questioned the origin of this rule.
It is rather embarrassing to be old enough to recall. . . . .
And it is the only time in my memory that a SEB took an action
seemingly of little value to the membership at large while of
significant benefit to the sitting SEB chair.
It was '86 I think - and the Lotus (a source of so many of the issues
in this sport, n'est pas?) Elan was fairly prominent and dominant in
A/S. These vehicles have a plastic fuel/oil/hydraulic (not sure which)
line that was prone to failure, typically
resulting in a fire of terminal proportions.
Said SEB chair had replaced the line in question on his vehicle with a
braided/ss piece (rather than doing the proper maintenance/replacement
of the OE part) and it was questioned at the Nationals - perhaps by
protest. He was not penalized; and after the event the allowance was
made a part of the rulebook.
A number of us fought the inclusion of this allowance, to no avail.
The grandfather language came later, during the ill-advised 'keep
Stock class Stock'
campaign (which changed perceptions, but not reality. . . . .).
All of the above is from memory, I do not have results from the '86
event. It could be very wrong, but is how I have chosen to remember the
events. . . . .
Roger (Ohio) Johnson
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