In reply to Basil Exposition:
How important is the block strength on a mild engine? As luck would have it, I'm currently looking at a '67 Midget.
In reply to Basil Exposition:
How important is the block strength on a mild engine? As luck would have it, I'm currently looking at a '67 Midget.
In reply to bravenrace:
Probably not crucial, depending on your definition of "mild" and how long you can resist uprating it. For most racers, that's usually one season.
Most importantly, check for cracks before you spend any money on building it.
FWIW, the "thin flange" A series engine had a prefix of CC on the engine number. The "best" blocks (besides the not-in-US A+) are 12V. You can Google "thin flange A Series block" and get more detail.
Basil Exposition wrote: In reply to bravenrace: 1966 to 1974, though most racing organizations allow them in earlier cars, though some not in the Bugeye body, as I said.
Would you generally be allowed to run a Bugeye bonnet on a later 1275 car, so long as you were competing with the later cars?
From what I've seen/heard about racing an A engine, having at least one spare on hand is a good plan.
I still have this nagging idea of pulling the interior out of my Mini, having a cage installed, installing a proper seat and some more gauges and letting 'er rip. Would need to look at the rules to see if the current coil spring conversion would be legal or if I'd need to convert back to cones.
Woody wrote:Basil Exposition wrote: In reply to bravenrace: 1966 to 1974, though most racing organizations allow them in earlier cars, though some not in the Bugeye body, as I said.Would you generally be allowed to run a Bugeye bonnet on a later 1275 car, so long as you were competing with the later cars?
No. Generally any variance to stock body panels are verboten (the exception sometimes being fender flares, as long as they are the same material as the body).
Lots of good information so far.
Picking a group and getting information from them on what is acceptable is key. I know VSCDA allows tube shocks on rears, not fronts, very minor flaring (about what you can get with a bat) and they poo poo fiberglass. Same with cross drilled rotors. The 72 SCCA GCR is a very good reference though- spells it out rather clearly.
One car was a bugeye that had the front converted to a square body. That way they could keep the 1/4 elliptic rear springs.
Two BEs run 1275's for sure. One is bone stock, the other is a Prather built fire breather with a dog box. Ironically the stock one finished every lap of every race. The other one, well, didn't.
The info is out there on the desirable heads, blocks, half shafts and so on. I bought a core 1275 lump off CL that I will freshen and likely put a cam in and not much more. I'm more concerned with getting out on the track and doing laps.
It's a super fun group. Parts are "loaned" freely in the paddock- we all want to see everyone go out and have fun.
Where are you located Bravenrace? Sharp Mustang by the way...
In reply to Basil Exposition:
Again, from the VSCDA perspective, the big deal is displacement. Their upper "Spridget" engine size is 1380cc. If you built a 1500 Midget you would run in a group that would eat your lunch on a regular basis.
If you did put a BE bonnet on a Midget, and it looked right you could probably get away with it. You would suffer some teasing, but everybody does anyway :)
Honestly though, for the price of a BE bonnet you could buy lots of Midget goodies...
Woody wrote:Basil Exposition wrote: In reply to bravenrace: 1966 to 1974, though most racing organizations allow them in earlier cars, though some not in the Bugeye body, as I said.Would you generally be allowed to run a Bugeye bonnet on a later 1275 car, so long as you were competing with the later cars?
There's some car specific build sheets for vscda that lists some allowable mods, or not, like semi floater axles recommended for tr2-4s (although the FOT guys will give you crap if they spot a ford 8" on a triumph) or dual SUs are ok, dual webers can bump your run group...
In reply to paranoid_android74:
I'm in northeast Ohio. PIBRRR would probably be the only race I would run in the next few years, and possibly the Mid-Ohio VGP, and the Pittsburg VGP. But I haven't even looked into what sanctioning bodies the other two are. Thanks for the compliment on the Mustang.
I'm just southwest of Cleveland and race a Spitfire. IMHO the PIBRRR is a neat event but might not represent what a typical vintage race experience is at a track. If you ever want to chat with somebody local feel free to contact me @ trmarty@hotmail.com.
Marty
In reply to Marty:
Thanks, I may do that! I should clarify that I'm particularly interested in the PIBRRR because I have a history with the island and I've gotten to know a lot of the people involved in the race. Before that happened, I had no intention of going vintage racing. So whether or not it's typical, its something I want to do as much for the event and the people as it is for the racing. I'm open to other forms of vintage racing, but whatever car I build will be legal for the PIBRRR event.
Canoe
In reply to bravenrace :
Bracenrace -
You can't go wrong with the Spritget. Even if you buy the wrong one, it's cheap enough to make right. I bought and raced one in the mid-eighties through college and a few years after. Then life started, marriage and kids.....It's a good thing my wife comes from a car family (I did my research prior to proposal) My farther-in-law is now my crew chief. Moved up to a big Healey 6-cylinder and now have traveled the US & Canada enjoying diverse tracks and great racers everywhere we go. I look forwrd to every season, getting better and learning more.
I been wondering whatever happened to Bravenrace. Have not seen him post in a long while.
This waa a good thread from the past about cars from further in the past.
5 years later, has Bravenrace taken up vintage racing?
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