History of a Lola T492 Sports 2000 chassis?

[MGDavid]

OK I give in, please enlighten me - what is it?

[911thillclimber]

It is a Vauxhall VX 200 but with a supercharged 2.2 litre engine, trick trans and rifle drilled drive shafts, slicks and some carbon too.

However, 2 wheel drive and a killer driver, ex rally-cross so a hill track is easy peasey.

[911thillclimber]

The Narrow Wheel Lola exercise is getting going at long last.

New front outer rims arrived from MB Wheels and the Dymags are off tomorrow to Force Racing Wheels for the drilling of the 6 drive peg holes to match the rear hubs.
I have a set of crossply slicks for set-up to ensure it all fits, new bolt-in valves etc.

This will give me a 7.75" front width (currently 10"), 10" rears (currently 14") and bring the tyres under the body arches *just*.
Only down sides so far is mounting costs and the rears are 22" dia and not the current plump 23", but a tweek of the chassis by McClurg motorsport won't hurt for next season.

If nothing else i will have a nice set of wheels/tyres for wet meetings at last, though those have been few and far between except for the biblical conditions at Barbon Manor.

Once this is out of my head thoughts will turn to injection of the engine and a general strip out and refresh of the rear of the car; so many stone chips!

Off to glorious SPA next week for the fab Classic Enduro meeting and then back in time for the last hill of my season at Loton Park.

If all goes to plan I hope to go to other hills in the UK, but a French one beckons! I would love that adventure and to race on open pipes too.

I think Mrs Hillclimber might be up for that, but we will see.
Would fancy early retirement too...

[morninggents]

Will you get a chance to try the narrow wheel set-up before you develop engine further? Best way to monitor how the narrow track works is to try with no other modifications to cloud the issue - other than the slight ride height tweak. Hope it all works out and I think, for what it's worth, you are travelling the right road.

[911thillclimber]

good point.
Trouble is I have good quite fresh slicks for the front but none for the rear, just some strange compound crossplys from Avon of the right size for set-up.

Only alternative are fresh slicks for the rear (though all round is better as hillclimb rubber is time sensitive) which is a £350 hit then they stand still for 6 months (wrapped in black clingfilm)

The injection will raise bhp but only marginally but I hope the engine will be more drivable. I'm looking at it as a techie anti-winter-boredom challenge as it is all DIY.
The big carbs are really right for a 3.6/3.8 litre (choke size) so a bit big for my 3.2 litre. The throttle bodies I have are if anything too small which might improve torque (drivability?)

With the run to SPA I think I won't have time to get it all together for the last run at the end of Sept.

[911thillclimber]

Spent a few calm hours in the garage this afternoon after tweeking the 911's front wheel bearings for a trip to the drag racing tomorrow (I hope).

Exercise was to strip the BBS front rims, try on the new MB outer rims and see how it all measures up.

Off with the Dymags and this is the front brake set-up:
I was a bit concerned about clearing the huge Brembo calipers (F3000 I think).



Stripping both rims off the 'hub' was easy and i measured the pin dive dia/holes and all other locations to the hub. Found a centre nut disc and two new nuts in a box!

The wheel centre fits correctly and there is a good amount of caliper clearance which means I can machine the rear face 6mm to get the wheel further inboard.



Loosing on the new outer rim shows the rim to be about 1" further in compared to the Dymag.



The rears should now be at force Racing Wheels to be drill in about 2 weeks time (they are busy!)
So, by the end of september i hope to be able to fit the tyres and see what I've got.

[morninggents]

Just nicely in time for Loton Park then, Graham.

[911thillclimber]

Hmmm..not so sure.
Firstly, with the trip to SPA etc that will slow things down, but to buy a fresh set of rubber for £800 to do one meeting then to leave the tyres for 6 months (albeit in black cling film) may not be worth it.

I prefer to get the tyres fitted by BMTR who supply the hillclimb grade slicks who are close to me but it all takes time to get done away from work.

I could get them fitted at Loton as it is the last British round so they might be there for the Big guns.

Pause for thought.

[morninggents]

I agree with your thoughts on laying out for new boots at this time of the season.

They may have some part worn ones for next to nothing though .............

[911thillclimber]

The Lola is at the hillclimb now for the last event of 2013. It is still on it's fat wheels and seems ok to run.

The front wheels are ready to paint satin black, and force have drilled the rear Dymags to suit the rear drive pins, and should be back with me for early next week.

Plan is to trial fit the set-up tyres I have and if I can get it down to Sean at McClurg Motosport for the revised ride height for the diameter change at the rear. Should be a white I wait job having chatted to Sean at the Gold Cup.

The car needs a good tidy-up and some chassis painting; it's been 3 years since i painted it in very lightweight satin black...and it shows.

Then the grand decision about the fuel injection direction for the engine.

Spanners crossed for a good weekend to keep the record this year to 100% reliability.

[911thillclimber]

Great practice day with my final run being in the 57's, very close to my pb. Car ran up this twisting hill great, everything worked, and maybe that applies to me to!
Need to be a bit braver tomorrow to try to find a 56 or even a 56.99 will do.

Competition is very tough for this final round but if I can squeeze a bit harder just might end up with 4th in Championship Class, if not, 6th.

Found a failure on the car!
Doing my usual clean and check routine this morning found the rear hub CV joint rubber boot flapping around on the drive shaft, CV fully exposed.
The steel pressing on the CV has been machined by the inner CV joint and the boot has nowhere to sit.
Did a quick mod and pushed the boot up against the hub and kept it there with a big cable tie. It will have to do until I take it apart in October.
I think Driftwood has a pair for sale so will risk my wallet!

This is the first failure this year, and such a minor issue, not bad.

It has been caused by there being too little axial float in the CV's/shaft, some thing to engineer out very soon before it goes to McClurg's for the set up.

Been offered a high spec DTA ECU for full engine management...

Hope the fantastic weather holds out, I have a 4.1 litre full tarmac spec Metro 6R4 dual driven to keep behind me.

That might be a challenge.

[911thillclimber]

And indeed it was.

What a great weekend of fabulous hillclimbing!
Brilliant 'Indian summer' conditions and frantic running in and out of all the classes, but with a lot of attrition, and a fair bit in my class.

The killer AUDI Quattro lost it's sequential gearbox yesterday, the NG V8 lost or bent it's valves, the 4x4 Mitsubishi EVO Mini lost its way in the ECU somewhere yesterday, the Force sports racer nearly lost the midland Championship with a snapped half shaft, which got welded back together using a length of jack handle...

Classic hillclimbing that makes this wacky leg of the motorsport world so special to me and many more.

So, to my Lola.

Faultless car this weekend bar the CV boot thing.
The first timed run this morning on a cold track netted a 57.59, and the quick Metro 58.78..shade close and a worry.
My first run nearly saw the engine break as I selected 1st instead of third and the engine buzzzzed, but I snatched it out of harms way in a second and back to third. I must have lost some time getting through that fright, so felt i had a chance at a 56 something this afternoon.

Afternoon came round and the call for the class came out and down we all trooped only to be held for ages in the sun. Not good.

Got to the line 15 mins later with a hot engine and staged in the start beams. Red Flag.
Wait some more with a warming engine, red flag again and I hadn't moved yet!
Getting a bit ratty the green clear lights came on and off i went.
Start was good at 2.14 sec for the 64 foot mark, and the first sharp left loomed bloody quickly. Front locked up a bit but round it went, sweet as a nut.
Through the kinky Loggerheads in 2nd and to the red line, tail moving about a bit but ok. Through the slight left of Fletcher's Dellow and very hard pedal-to-the-metal in second and a very sure move to third (instead of first as before), third blasted down to the sharp right of Triangle and round that with no fuss to Keepers left and onto Cedar Straight, which is 4 straight bits with kinks joining them up.
Scarey to get through but great and off to the top at Fallow arriving in third over the crest the car going light and then just where should i brake?

Been off here earlier this year, but not this time thank you.
Fallow in a flat sharp left with lots of grassy run-off into dwarf walls in the grass so bet be clean and indeed off to Museum in a strong third.
Round a great inclining right turn and off to the finish through a tricky kink first. Hard charge in third to cross the line in 57.68, after all that work, and the bloody Metro 6R4 4.1 litre was a tenth quicker...

What a nice run though, smooth and did EVERYTHING asked of it except for me being boiled on the start line and a touch flustered by it all.

I think all this will get me to 4th in Championship class with 7 runners registered. I'll wait until the arithmetic is done.

So the 2013 Midland Hillclimb Championship finishes and my year with the Lola.

Though all the 9 events the car has been perfect.
It has run, it has been fast (for me) and never let me down.
It had delivered big smiles and exciting times, beat my Impreza times at Loton but shy of them by a tenth of a second at others.

It has cost me nothing other than entry fees and petrol.

It has been my dream come true, sentimental as that may sound, but after 3 previous years of deep lows and few highs this is a wonderful thing and I feel very good to have got here and with such great results, and everything in one piece including me.

I no longer feel a muppet in the car, and can only hope to move forward next year with help from a few with some careful changes.

Fantastic, and Ill sleep well tonight.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=sJSOZSkf2wo

[Andy Clegg]

Congrats, you've had a good year. After all that's happened, bet this feels good.

[911thillclimber]

Indeed, the best year in the Lola, and the type of year I'd gotten used to in the 911 and the Impreza, forgotten what they were like, arrive, drive, go home, glass of red with a smile.

The only daft bit was early on when I fell off slowly at Fallow at Loton Park crunching the front body yet again on the OSF, trying too hard and lost concentration....

I've been pondering just what to do next with Mrs Hillclimber managing the situation.

I would like to change the carbs/dist for a full ITB/dizzy-less system, and have most of the parts required. Trouble is I doubt I will gain much other than be busy and spend a lot this winter.
She is not too keen because the engine is working now.

The body is a bit shattered in the front after 2 large and two small offs, the rear is ok, but it looks a shabby racer, not really my style, thus a permission has been granted for a new T 492 wet-n-windy body with a colour change to yellow or burnt orange via the gel coat. I doubt a new front will colour match with the 6 year old red rear and i don't want a painted body, so a 3 piece body is being found.
Will add a front splitter and a shallow gurney tail strip at the same time.

The narrow wheels are drying in the garage right now, all machined etc and satin black.
Will get the tyres on soon.

The rear chassis and suspension looks tired with lots of spanner chips so needs an engine out and clean/paint before it all goes down to McClurg Motorsport for a full set up gain. (won't be this month Sean).

I have 3 things to do at the rear, the CV joint/boots, the chassis <just> touches the rear trailing arm in one place so that needs cutting and welding up and I've found a broken drive peg on one rear hub. That is a 'big' job as all the hub has to come apart to weld a fresh one in, but may bolt the new one in instead. That one side must have been the only one driving and could have been broken for some time.

That will be it then for winter 2013.

The class is getting two more cars and if this happens it will be about the largest class in the Championships. I will know my place...right down the bottom.
4 years ago there was only me.

[911thillclimber]

Got the old slicks fitted to the 'new' rims today (day off work) and onto the Lola.

This experiment may be short lived!

The rears sure are skinny compared to what I'm used to and sit right inside the bodywork which means the tacky aluminium spats can come off. The tyres are the narrowest for the 10" rim, and I've a gash set of the widest they will take which have the bonus of being 23" diameter.
They will still have room at the back.

The issue are the fronts.
The body is very narrow at the front and the current tyres are rubbing on the spats which has never happened before and shows I'm trying harder at least on the runs.

Even with the narrow rims they still protrude too far out of the body to be deemed legal by the scrutineers.
The only way i can see out of this are new centres, and MB's are £250 each...

This is all down to the Ralt uprights on the car and the huge Brembro brakes and the clearances needed. Not sure there is a way round this other than to cut the body to flare the arches (= spray the front after), put the spats back on (= putting them back on the rear) which means the car will look odd to say the least.

I have a feeling I will be keeping the current huge set-up and have these new wheels for wets after all.

I'm getting close to ordering a new body, have quotes and one supplier is a full £1000 cheaper than the other.
The expensive supplier though has the original Lola moulds.

Pause for thought.

Current Rear



New narrow rear



New front



Not looking right

[Clive Brown]

Hmmm.... At the risk of repeating myself:

(i) If you narrow the front wheels, unless you take the same amount from the outside of the wheels as you take from the inside, then you alter the basic geometry.

I may be wrong in this, but it looks to me from the photo that most of the width reduction on the front rims is outboard of the hub mounting face, and not equidistant from either side.

(ii) The same is true, of course, for the rear.

If McLurg Motorsport had got your set-up right, and you seem well-pleased with their work, then if you have altered either or both of the the front and rear track dimensions, it will now be wrong.

(iii) Similarly, if you alter either or both of the effective rolling radii of the front and rear tyres, then you alter the roll centre, so it's back to the drawing board again; you can't just alter the ride height to restore the ride height from its present (I presume) perfection.

This is all part of the fun of prepping a race car with almost infinitely adjustable suspension; there's almost an infinite number of ways for things to go tits-up.

Good luck!

[911thillclimber]

Indeed and I take your points Clive.

Of course, the car never came with the big wheels from Lola, so the current set-up could indeed be perfection or something else!
It is very tempting simply to leave all alone, clean the paint chips etc on the rear chassis and suspension and repair the small bits and pieces.
I need to bring the rear hubs in about 6mm each side to ensure the drive shafts can float axially through the suspension travel. They are too tight as they are.

Off on hols for a week for Mrs Hillclimber's birthday and to restore some brownie-points for the winter ahead.

Gives me some time for thought.

[911thillclimber]

Having painted the hall ceiling in super quick time () spent an hour tidying the garage and looking at the whee;s again.

Guess who's got a lob-sided body?

The front wheel pictured above is the drivers side, placing the off-side wheel on the car shows the tyre 'tread' to be well within the wheel arch.

If I moved the body over towards the drivers side by 15/20mm or so, then the two front tyres as they are are covered...

To the rear I have some gash slicks the max width a 10" rim can take, 10.2 x 23 x 13, quite a jump up on the skinniest ones on the 10" rears now, and still narrower than the current tyres.

I hope you all are keeping up with this game!

Thus:

When I'm back, fit the wider tyres to the rear and see if the body can move over to covers the fronts, but that is best left until I have the new body. The 3 piece design might make it easier to shift the nose across.

I think I should open the excellent suspension book I have of Alan Staniforth, and do some geo measurments and checks on the 'narrow' and 'wide' versions of this car.

[911thillclimber]

Just spotted that the Lola T 496' an upgraded T 492, had a flared arch body...
And TW Mouldings make one!

[911thillclimber]

Moved on and just ordered a nice new t 492 3 piece body from Peter Richardson.
I've seen these bodies and they are superb, and Peter is very much into running a small team of 492's and knows the cars well. They are his own moulds.

It will be Gulf blue and will get some graphics later on.

I'm earning a huge number of brownie points doing the hall and landing, so the wheel thing will have to wait.

When I built this car from the Karmann Ghia tub I removed the wider side pods, narrowed them to 492 spec and mounted the body on top of the tub so modified.

i built the pip-pin locations from pictures of 492's etc and I think I will do the same again but evening out the front cover over the wheels at the front.

The body should be collectible in 5 weeks or so by which time the points score will be stratopheric, so garage work can begin.

I'm keeping the carbs on the engine after Mrs Hillclimber kept on saying that as it now works, why change it?

Thus the list is quite small;

Body on
Wheel sort out
Narrow the rear track to get more CV driveshaft float
Remove engine and box for clean/check and just maybe cams changed.
Repaint the rear suspension and chassis
Screw it all back together
Get car down to McClurg Motorsport for a full geo check-out
New tyres
Polish.

Finish the lot by end Feb 2014 hopefully for another trouble-free season but at the bottom of the pile.

[MGDavid]

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

.........
I'm keeping the carbs on the engine after Mrs Hillclimber kept on saying that as it now works, why change it?
........

wise beyond her years, that one. You are very fortunate....

[Clive Brown]

The next big step forward lies with the nut holding the wheel.... until this season, you have been preoccupied with making the damn thing run properly. You can't sort a car, or build any degree of confidence in it, unless it starts more-or-less on the button, and performs not just consistently, but consistently well.

The Lola should be much faster than the Impreza ever was, and I think and hope that next season, all your hardwork will be repaid in spades.

Just one thought before you fit the new bodywork.... is the suspension central about the centre line of the chassis? A ball of string and a tape measure should tell you this.

[911thillclimber]

Mrs Hillclimber is a wise one, and a petrol head too, so just sometimes i have to agree. Would like to get rid of the points though...

As to the alignment Clive, I've checked it with a tight fishing line and then Sean at McClurgs did the same before the alignment several years ago now.

The body halves are located on alum pins the fronts being just behind the front arches. They locate the place the body sits very precisely, BUT when I re-did the side pods I had to re establish the holes in the pods to take the pins.

I referenced all that via the body and the side pods, not to the suspension/wheels. This time i will start all over again and set the new body to the wheels to cover them and see where the rest ends up.

I think the body may well overlap part of the tub, but it is a race car and it strikes me few are a good fit.

This is a shot of that check by me and getting the suspension set roughly (as it turned out is was terrible until Sean got it), but you can see the body to tub alignment was quite good.

[911thillclimber]

Anyone reading this with thoughts on electronic (mappable) ignition with carbs?

[Serge]

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

Anyone reading this with thoughts on electronic (mappable) ignition with carbs?

I think there are several options, one of them is this:

"1-2-3 ignition", available with pre-programmed ignition maps, but also completely self-programmable. You can buy a ready-to-go distributor off them, or they can convert your current one.

http://brits-n-pieces.com/shop/produ...86eb2f5cfb67f5

http://www.123ignition-conversions.com/

http://www.123ignition.nl/

This is an option, however I do not have any personal experience with this system.

I'm looking forward to reading about your winter rebuild, very informative and entertaining!


Kind regards,
Serge
http://sleurs-motorsport.com/

Edit: I see that their system only works for cars up to 3.0 litres and I vaguely remember that you had a 3.2 litre engine, if so then it might not be an option.