Susan wrote:
>
> The 444 and 544s are great! There are a few in HSR and/or SVRA I think.
Dan Scully from NH has a 544 that equals my times at NHIS. But he runs
radials with about 2" more treadwidth, 45 Webers on a 2 or 2.2L engine
and other wild stuff.
Dan clued me into the SCCA/Volvo vintage series and I'm planning on
running a few of their vintage events next year here in NE. They now
seem to fill the grid with old IT cars - lets get more real vintage cars
involved.
As to where we're at in vintage preparation as measured in lap times, my
'62 Alfa Spider runs 1:30 at NHIS on Hoosier TD 500X15 vintage. We run
the infield on both ends which cost about 6 seconds over the SCCA guys
who use the oval on the south end. EP lap records are about 1:19,
leaving about 5 seconds, which could probably be made up by "real"
tires!
Now my car is not strictly SCCA legal, with bigger valves not allowed in
SCCA, but I have about 20 less HP than I could have with hotter cams (I
only turn 7500 for 157 HP on the dyno, while the engine can turn over
9000 and 180 HP safely.It even has stock rods!) I am just on the SCCA
legal weight limit.
So here is a vintage prepped Alfa that could be competitive in SCCA EP.
Even better with an air dam!
Having raced Alfas since the 60s, I can assure you there are many ways
to build very hot engines - many cheaters - and lots of other tricks
that have been used since the 60s.
As I have stated earlier, my belief is vintage racing should not try to
be big on rules. Since the idea is to have fun, and almost everybody
finds someone to race with, let the people who want to spend a fortune
do it. And chuckle that they have more in a Sprite or Giulietta than
some people do in much classier cars. (Do you know about the $140,000
Giulietta?)
And remember who was winning in the SCCA in the olden days - even in the
50s - the guys willing to spend the bucks!
Regards, Jim
--
Jim Hayes Winchester, MA, USA
hayes@mediaone.net http://www.fotec.com/jim.htm
jeh@fotec.com http://www.fotec.com/
All generalizations, with the possible exception of this one, are false!
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