Looking for info

[tristancliffe]

Hi

Recently I had the pleasure of purchasing a Reynard 883, which with any luck I hope to be using early next year once a few niggles and details are sorted out...
But I'm also hoping to find a bit more history about the car in question, and thought you might be the people to help... I'll try and post all the information I have, but if you want anything else I'll see if I can dig it up.

Hope you can help.

• Chassis no. 883 045B.
• It's an ex Tom's car.
• The spare side pods are marked Johan Norling, Maskiner - Verktoy - Rekvisita on one side and Reklame & Ide, 810 Slitu on the other side. This sounds Scandanavian and the car was meant to have been used by Rickard Rydell.
• The new info on 883 045B is that it was sold new to a famous (I've never hraed of him) Swedish racer/entrant called Picko Troberg. He ran many famous drivers including Rickart Rydell so there may be something in the story that it was "his" car.

more info to be added as I think of something worthwhile... And I'll post some pics as and when I get round to it....

[John Turner]

Welcome to 10-Tenths tristancliffe; hope some of our members can fill in some gaps in the history of your purchase.

[Steve Wilkinson]

Tristancliffe, any info available on its more recent history? Like what was it doing last year?

Also welcome to 10/10 it is one of the best places to find out things about your new purchase.

Which series will you be entering? What do you intend to do with it over the winter?

[Jeremy Jackson]

According to the F1 register's 1989 fact book, 883-045 was raced in the 1989 Swedish F3 championship by Fredrik Ekblom for the Hello Sweden team. That year, it raced with a VW engine.

Sorry I can't help with any other seasons.

[tristancliffe]

Sorry for not replying!

Now is the time to come clean I suppose - it's not my car, it's my Dad's, and he's scared of computers and forums, so I'm trying to research for him. I don't know what it was doing in the recent past, but I will try to find out this weekend, when I come home from University.

With regards to series, thats a bit of a stumbling block. Basically, my Dad wanted to have a Formula car, and see just how they behave. He's only driver road cars (albeit some quite nice ones), and this should be very different. But most 'track days' don't allow Formula cars as far as I'm aware. So I think what will happen is that he (and I) will apply for our non-competition B Licence (£40 iirc), and then go to sprint meetings. I think it also means we can go to 'Official Test Days' with it too.

My Dad doesn't want to race it (i.e. competitavely with other cars on track), and I don't think he'd really like me to (road death in family not so long ago, so motorsport isn't high on my parents agenda). But we want to drive it, and we know we 'll have to drive it fairly hard to generate any meaningful tyre temp and downforce.

Based on that, would you suggest sprints and test days to be the most appropriate?

Over the winter we plan of giving it some tlc. Sort out some problems, straighten the odd panel, overhaul the brakes, make a new seat, examine every part quite carefully, and generally aquaint ourselves with the car. It's obviously not "original" in many areas (the electrics for example), so we'd like to improve that whilst keep the feel of the era. Also, there has been talk of removing the restrictor and getting the engine modified for that, and hopefully release a few more horses. But first we'll drive it in restricted form methinks! Lots to learn...

Looking forward to your answers, and I'll do a bit of sniffing at the weekend.

Tristan

P.S. Don't use your thumb to block a high pressure fuel leak - the fuel gets forced through your skin, and it hurts. Then it goes yellow. But still hurts. It's what my father did faced with a fuel leak, and as he's used to carbs (he runs a classic car restoration firm, Omicron Engineering), it was the first thing that came into his head. He knows now

[tristancliffe]

Some pictures, which may or may not help. Would edit the previous post, but 10 minutes elapsed!

Anyway






The people in the first/third picture are the previous owners. As I said, I'll found out what they did with it, but the beam-breaker suggests some form of competition.

[Steve Wilkinson]

The previous custodians used it for a couple of sprints. I believe the idea was to run it for their daughter and her boyfriend. However the cost of running two cars and the lure of an Over Two-litre Racing Car were too great.

The first photo is taken in the Coelrne paddock whilst photos 2 and 3 were taken at Llandow.

[tristancliffe]

Wow, pretty fast detective work

[tristancliffe]

Thanks for the previous replies, and apologies for the excess of slightly dumb questions.

I asked my father about the history of the car, and that is, apparently, the unknown. The previous owners using it last year, but claimed they didn't know any of it's previous history, and that it was bought on the spur of the moment at some event.
So, we have no idea about the previous years, and I/we were hoping you might be able to tell me anything from your various travels.

Regarding using it, we are planning once it is ready (overhauling entire braking system at the moment) to do one or two 'test sessions' to get used to it (none of us have driven a single seater in real life), then a few sprints. Is this the best way to enjoy it do you think? As far as I know open wheeled/formula cars are not eligable at track days. I presume there must be somewhere I can find this out, either a website or a person who knows about these things.

I'm going to try to get my father to use the forum in the future, as it's quite annoying trying to get information from him to post here. Hopefully he'll overcome his fear of computing.

Thanks again, Tristan

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by tristancliffe

Regarding using it, we are planning once it is ready (overhauling entire braking system at the moment) to do one or two 'test sessions' to get used to it (none of us have driven a single seater in real life), then a few sprints. Is this the best way to enjoy it do you think? As far as I know open wheeled/formula cars are not eligable at track days. I presume there must be somewhere I can find this out, either a website or a person who knows about these things.

Thanks again, Tristan

Tristan, the car wil be ideally suited to sprints. Not so useful for Hillclimbs where kerb climbing, corner cutting means they tend to run higher ride heights.

There are a few venues that still allow Single Seat racing cars but they are few and far between (Liverpool Motor Club's Aintree Track DAys being one). The best bet would be to enter the world of Speed Eventing.

If you don't have an MSA license then you'll have to dstart with a National B. Make sure you get your signatures and get upgarded as soon as possible to National A. With a 'Nat A' you can run at the highest level in British Speed Eventing.

Best of luck

[Adam Ferrington]

Tristan,

I can add a little more...

883 045 appeared in the 1988 UK F3 championship 3 times. It was raced by Rickard Rydell for Picko Troberg Racing. Rydell appeared at two early season races, plus the season-end race at Brands Hatch.
I assume it was raced in Sweden between these British appearances.

Hope this helps.

[tristancliffe]

Sorry to bump this old thread, but I thought it would be preferrable to starting a new one.

I last posted on this forum a few days before Christmas, and now it's time for some more questions. Sorry.

On Christmas morning my brother, father and I trailered the car to the local airfield where we'd be given permission (on the agreement that the airfield owner was allowed to come and watch) to drive the car on the runway(s). So we did. It was fantastic - quick, agile yet stable, and seemed to have plenty of grip on my girly attempts at finding the limit turning onto the taxiways. I think I could have gone twice as fast as I did, yet I thought I was trying...

Anyway, since then we've rebuilt the front wing, painted the nose (and wing), sidepods and engine cover. A few gremlins in the cooling system and clutch hydraulics have ben attended to, and I keep meaning to get round to making a rear jack for the car and a trolley for the external battery pack. It's not fun carrying a battery the length of a runway when your dad stalls

Anyway, I'm now back from uni, and the sun is mostly out, and we're all very keen to drive the car properly, with corners and everything. But the question is HOW?

As far as I can tell we have a few options:

1. Take the car to a public track day where open wheels are allowed at the same time. Driving with Fiestas and Imprezas doesn't fill me with confidence, and they are usually heavily noise restricted.

2. Take our ARDS test (3 drivers = expensive) and go to official test days. Great, but expensive, especially as we aren't sure what we'll do with the car, and overkill because it's most likely we'd do no more than sprinting.

3. Get our non-race Nat. B licence, join a sprinting club, and learn as we go. Downside is it's a lot of pressure, and only two people get to share the car. Track time is also limited, which isn't ideal.

4. Find a welcoming private track for us to play on. So far I've found Blyton near Scun'thorpe, which for a reasonable sum of money will give us a pretty clear track in the middle of the week for unlimited 9am - 4pm track time. But I don't know what the track or the quality of the tarmac is like. It's an ex airfield, and could be terrible for something like an F3 car.

But we can't be the first people to buy an F3 car and want to drive it without doing ARDS test, or paying out of out noses. Perhaps someone here who knows the scene can suggest something where three drivers with no experience of this type of car (though we've all driven on track days, and my father raced TVR's in the HSCC in the early 90's), and no licence can have a decent amount of track time on a decentish track not a million miles away from Norfolk. Your thoughts? I never realised getting a race car on a race track would be so hard...

Thanks, Tristan

[Steve Wilkinson]

Tristan, as I suggested previously there are Track Days that do allow single seaters and they run them in a seperate batch to the Imprezas and such like.

Where are you based? This will give me a better idea of which clubs to recommend.

If you want to (a) avoid being knocked off by other drivers, (b) not have the expense of an ARDS course, (c) share the car and get some resonable seat time, then sprints are your best bet. Again there are regional championships which I could recommend as a starting point then you could build up to the British Sprint Championship!

[tristancliffe]

I have singularly failed to find these track days And I gather that sprints you'll not actually get that much seat time - a couple of practices and a couple of timed laps (assuming I understood the people who told me that).

We're based in Norwich, Norfolk, about 5 minutes from Lotus, and about 20 minutes from Snetterton.

AS you might have gathered you'll have to have the patience of a saint, and treat me like an idiot, so please excuse silly questions. I'm just amazed how hard it is to get this on track - I've phoned Snetterton, Donington, Silverstone, Blyton, Gold Track, the Hillclimb and Sprint Association, the British Motor Sprint Association, Borough 19, posted on this forum, and a couple of other ones where I know some people. No one, yet, has had an answer (but this forum has been the best so far really).

[JNWRF01]

I would not take a single seater to Blyton - its very rough and the surface will struggle to even warm the tyres. Turweston Airfield is OK for just running bits and pieces in (10mins from Silverstone) if not I guess Bruntingthorpe is your best option. Otherwise, you are spending £££sss on getting your basic license...

[Steve Wilkinson]

Firstly - Track Days/Circuit Hire/Testing - there are several venues that still have either circuit hire or open pit lane test days (e.g. Mallory Park). Dependant upon whether you are (a) willing to travel, and (b) don't mind sharing the track. Then there are other venues that will allow testing (e.g. Llandow). You could also try Kart Circuits as these often allow circuit hire. There are track days that allow racing cars but again you may have to travel.

Secondly - Clubs to recommend - go on the Association of Eastern Motor Clubs website (www.aemc.co.uk) - I can recommend Borough 19 MC who are part of this association.

Thirdly - If you are not willing to (a) pay for the ARDS courses and (b) compete wheel to wheel, then you are really only left with Sprinting as your only competetive outlet to get any 'reasonable' seat time (e.g. Pembrey at the week-end saw the two litre racing car class average 110 seconds per run on Saturday for one and two thirds laps whilst on a two-third lap sprint on Sunday the average was 47 seconds).

[driftwood]

if u want to run f3 car u will need to get yr RAC licence and go to general test day
The track days have dropped formula open wheel cars due to "insurance" reasons
look at RMA websiet they do paddock club and its large ££ to join but will give you track time at many tracks for the 3 drivers
however if you look at Mallory park for wednesday 9-1230 morning @ £85ish thats VFM often get 3x 20 min sessions enough for 20-25 laps per session

as you say sprinting gives u zero track time and u still spend the same ££ on RAC licence and entry fees so may as well go testing then later you can run afew clubby libre races BARC SE & SEMSEC do lydden brands silverstone mallory events later you can do CLUBF3 races

there are few of you guys out there with F3 cars but no real place to run them it may be worth starting a thread to get numbers together to then approacha suitable track day organiser to get 3-4 20 min sessions in aday
some one like willie moore is a logical start he is
1 a racer
2 has track days organised
3 an insturutor

[Chris Roden]

An acquaintance recently hired Curborough for half a day. The cost was not prohibitive (IIRC) and he could take four other cars along, so he issued a general invitation to others to share the cost. It's a fair stretch from Norfolk but....
Have a look at http://www.curborough.co.uk/

Failing that, see if any of the Hillclimb and Sprint schools take single seaters

[driftwood]

A School Gives U Diddly Squat Track Time

Also Llando In Wales Is For Hire Its Used In Sprint Events And I Think Like Curborough You Can Take 4 Or 5 Other Cars Along

When You Add Up The Track Cost Tow Car Fuel To Get There Let Alone Time Mallory Is The Best Vfm ££

Some Days Its Busy Other Not
Even Brands Hatch At 200£ For 4 25 Min Session Can Be Quiet In Single Seater Sesions
Snett Is 200£ For 4 X 45 Min Sessions

Its Far Easier To Just Go And Get The Rac Licence The Ards Test Is A Bit Of A Nuciance But Its There To Protect Other Drivers Of Your Competetance
Look How Many Morons Are Out On The Road Cant Have The Just Turning Up At Test Day To Drive A Car!!

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by driftwood

Also Llando In Wales Is For Hire Its Used In Sprint Events And I Think Like Curborough You Can Take 4 Or 5 Other Cars Along

If you go for the venue hire at Llandow and Curborough then so long as the other users are on Speed licenses that is all you will need. Therefore you can effectively bypass the requirement for the ARDS course.

Liverpool Motor Club also only require a Speed License for their Racing Car Group on their track days, however it is a fair haul from Norfolk!

[driftwood]

if u want to avoid ards test get go kart do some kart races get signature upgrade for International licence and get some racing and experience real racing in 1 swoop !!

[tristancliffe]

Thanks for the advice and tips guys.

Just to let you know that I have arranged to go to the Borough19 sprint meeting at Bentwaters, Ipswich this weekend. Maybe not the best track, but plenty of space to reduce the risk of noob mistakes. After that I'm hoping to go to Cadwell in September for the next meeting.

Maybe after that I'll take the ARDS test and do some proper 'Test Days'...

As for karting, the other week I had a go on my friends Senior TKM kart, and it was awesome. Currently keeping an eye open for a chassis/engine at a reasonable price, and then I might be able to find the money to do a few races there... Who knows where motorsport might take me, but it'll be fun finding out.

I will of course not hesitate to ask questions in the future, as I reckon every single one of you has more experience and knowledge of this stuff than me, and it's always nice to learn new things. But I'm (hopefully) not going to come running here with silly questions I can find out for myself in 10 minutes.

Thanks again,

Tristan

[driftwood]

Hi
i have tkm zip kart to sell i used for play day test etc when i was not running f3 car
also have super A 100 cc kit as well for sale
PM me

Re days out just make suer yr spending ££ and getting track time no point in giving £75-100 for 5 lap sprint day plus tow car& race car fuel cost £50when u can put that ££ towards ards test
if u do enough karting/licence upgrades u may skip part of the ards test need to check racmsa book on that
however karting 5 times wil giove u better feed back then messing around in f3 car at a test track when u do not have enough expereince of speed car control etc karting gives u a chance to throw it into the bushes and not do ££ damage

[tristancliffe]

I've done a fair bit of karting (mostly four stroke, the odd bit of two stroke, but nothing in competition yet), and I've done numerous trackdays in a multitude of cars. As far as I can tell my car control is sufficiently good, but the whole point of our F3 car is to experience slicks and wings.

What we intend to do is do a couple of sprint meetings to get a better feeling of the car, and see whether it's something we want to spend money on. If it is then I will take my ARDS and do it 'properly', if it isn't then there are plenty of other forms of motorsport to keep me happy.

I'll PM you eventually, but right now I'm as skint as a skint thing (long business trip recently which cleared my bank account until my expenses get paid). And being back from Uni recently I can't really justify buying a kart at the same time as having a play in an F3 car.

Whilst TKM seemed very quick for the first couple of laps, I quickly got used to it, and (according to knowledgable spectators) my kart control was first class, though I was a bit scruffy in terms of lines (but the rear bumper/chassis was broken, so it was hard as hell to stop the thing from oversteering that day!).

I appreciate that in the long term ARDS and testing/racing is more cost effective, but in the short term I don't think I (and my Dad/brother) can justfy the cost of an ARDS test each yet.

[driftwood]

karting is good value for money motorsport i find it hard to better it even with all the "toys" i have !!

Sprintimg doesnt do it for me not enough seat time for the ££
£90 at mallory will give you 50-100 miles running
£200 at Brands or snetteton 4 sessions easily do 100 miles at snett

I appreciate the concept of ards test but its too expensive for what it is
having a race car will keep you skint so your gonna have to get used to it!