A Dream Fulfilled - MY 904FF

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911hillclimber
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Re: A Dream Fulfilled - MY 904FF

Post by 911hillclimber »

I'll be taking a very similar picture next Monday!

Bob Watson told me to use the E cams in my hillclimb 2.4 on mech injection for drivability and flexibility and he was nor wrong, fabulous engine, never got to 200 BHP min, but did 180.

I spent a lot of time sorting my chassis on the Lola so the whole engine can come out in one piece, but everything is very tight.
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Re: A Dream Fulfilled - MY 904FF

Post by Kirklands 904 »

The car was now ready for the season but it had better be tested to see what it was like with new engine, new transmission , new rear ssuspension etc etc. On the corner scales, it was 750kgs total weight ready to go with a 45%/55% front to rear bias. With 200BHP this gives 265 HP/tonne. This will be more than enough!!

So off to Blyton Park on the way back home from Yorkshire. Andy came down in case there was a need for further fettling but also to see what it was like from behind the wheel.

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Ready to load into the trailer.

At Blyton, there were occasions when it was difficult to start but it seemed to clear itself and we were able to get a fair number of laps under our belts. When it was running, it didn't miss a beat, sounded magnificent and I was already convinced the car was much quicker than me.

By the time I got home, my pal Walter Robertson from Scotland had already been picked up from Newark station by the memsahib ready for the off to Shelsley Walsh the next day.

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Back in the Shelsley Paddock, ready to go. Jim Payne had joined the Ecurie du Fer team as usual from Malvern

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The new installation completed.

We were again having problems starting and on one run it ceased to proceed at the entry to the Paddock

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Assistance was needed to get back to our spot. The problem was solved by a chap whom we knew from previous visits, seeing us in difficulty and came over and told us to check the voltage going into the ignition system. It was under 10 volts and the fault was finally traced to a loose fuse in the dedicated feed line mentioned previously. We were told later that his day job was with the AA!!!

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Ecurie du Fer - Jim, Walter and Bill - 230 years of hard won life experiences.

To those of a certain vintage more like "The Three Stooges"
Bill

904FF (Mike Bainbridge 2.4S engine and transmission)

I am hoping that I'll die before I grow up!
911hillclimber
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Re: A Dream Fulfilled - MY 904FF

Post by 911hillclimber »

Those kind of pictures are priceless!
You can spend ages imagining what is going through those minds...

"has he taken it yet?"
"what the hell am I doing here?"
"where did he say the pub was?"
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Re: A Dream Fulfilled - MY 904FF

Post by Barry »

Only just caught up with this whole thread: absolutely amazing! Wonderful, wonderful stuff.
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Re: A Dream Fulfilled - MY 904FF

Post by jwhillracer »

Kirklands 904 wrote:
Image

Ecurie du Fer - Jim, Walter and Bill - 230 years of hard won life experiences.
I didn't realise that Jim is only 30! :shock:

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Re: A Dream Fulfilled - MY 904FF

Post by Kirklands 904 »

Cheeky B.....r. Jim is struggling a bit with his chemo but we are trying to achieve his ambition of getting him up Shelsley after his 80th birthday in April.
Bill

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Re: A Dream Fulfilled - MY 904FF

Post by jwhillracer »

Good! Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.
JW
Life's a single timed run with no practice....
1970 914/6 2.4E/Webers
1970 VW Beetle project
1972 911 Hillclimber 3.2 MFI. Part of the family for 30+ years!
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Re: A Dream Fulfilled - MY 904FF

Post by Kirklands 904 »

Once we got the electrics sorted out we got 8 good runs up the hill. The engine had bags of torque, the gears were where one expected them to be and the noise from the Webers inches behind one's head was exhilarating to say the least.

At this point I must point out that I only started competing in 2012 and my first run up Shelsley was aboard Chapman Mercury One then owned by Peter Speakman and now in the tender care of Mike Hawley.

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At the time of this run, I was now of an age when most competitors were hanging up their crash hat or, if still active, had been competing for decades. Having run out of testicular rubber bands, I decided to initially set a modest target to get under 40 secs. A competition 911 will get into the low to mid 30's so let's enjoy it without pushing.

At the June meting a 39 sec then a 38 sec run were achieved so things were going in the right direction.

However at the July meeting things were no longer going in the right direction. Saturday was wet and the 904 tried to get away from me at top "S"

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Sunday was dry but oil was dropped through the the Esses and even after the marshalls had done their bit there were a couple of offs. The word in the paddock was to keep right after the drain cover to avoid the oil.

That didn't quite work for me.

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I am still in the car and hear a voice saying "Do we need the air ambulance?" Blimey I may be hurt! However Doctor Chris and Marshall Lisa decided that I was OK and allowed me to fall out of the car like a sack of potatoes before being taken off to the ambulance.

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The car was carefully removed from its parking place. Lots of comments later about excellent parallel parking!

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All the parts were collected or swept up and delivered by Richard Weaver back to the paddock. Even the Porsche badge was retrieved and delivered to me by Lisa who had taken care of my "Nuts" Don't panic they were holding the tail closed and had been removed to open the tail to get the lifting strap on the rollover bar.

I had not a mark on me which is more than could be said for the front of the car.

The place that I ended in is now referred to by some of the reprobates in the MAC as " Drysdales Gap".
Bill

904FF (Mike Bainbridge 2.4S engine and transmission)

I am hoping that I'll die before I grow up!
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Re: A Dream Fulfilled - MY 904FF

Post by hot66 »

Dramatic photo if nothing else !
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Re: A Dream Fulfilled - MY 904FF

Post by anglophone1 »

Fantastic thread- keep it up!
Clive
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Re: A Dream Fulfilled - MY 904FF

Post by Tuizner »

You should at least clear the gap next time with the 6 ;). Thanks for the updates Bill.
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Re: A Dream Fulfilled - MY 904FF

Post by Kirklands 904 »

After the incident at top "S" the rest of the season turned out very differenly thanI expected. I wrote an article for the October issue of the MAC News and it is reproduced below with photos of the cars involved.

Five by Five

On the 29th July at exactly 16:23:30 as the noise stopped and the car settled at 45 degrees after Top Ess, I thought that might be the end of the season as far as the 904FF and I were concerned. After loading the bits of the car into the trailer, I still hoped that it could be repaired for Bo’ness and thus the September meeting at Shelsley. This was important to me to meet the objective of competing after another birthday in early September.

When we got the car out of its trailer and had a good look at it with George Laycock and Andy Lockwood, it was clear that it needed more work than originally envisaged so that was the rest of the season in the bucket! Or was it?

A telephone call from Mike West to ask if I was entered for the Blyton and Rockingham sprints. When I confirmed that I had been, Mike then said that I had better share his Westfield at one of them. Since I had tested earlier in the year at Blyton I thought that was the more sensible suggestion so we agreed that I would amend my entry accordingly. Within hours the phone rang again and an Irish accent took me to task for agreeing to drive a Westfield rather than a proper car with an air cooled engine in the rear and I was TOLD by Jim Collins that I was to share his VW Beetle 1303 Porsche at either Blyton or Rockingham. The entry was amended and the change of vehicle was such that I was now to drive the VW at Blyton and the Westfield at Rockingham.

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On the 18th August I duly made the short journey up to Blyton to find Jim and Mike already there and I was able to have a good look at the VW. I had looked at it before but when you are about to drive it, somehow you look a lot more closely! As everyone knows, it is different, in fact it is unique. Jim has pedalled it up Shelsley in the 37’s so it was roughly similar to the 904. It wasn’t, for although I had been at Blyton once previously, a small change to the second corner from before resulted in a spin before I realised where I was going. I blamed it all on the short wheelbase and the engine stuck out the back!

On the second run, I experienced dreadful axle tramp off the line and the car jumping out of first gear. Jim told me that it was obviously the way I drove it and, yes, he had forgotten to tell me to hold it in first. Well the axle tramp got worse and worse but Jim still insisted that it was my driving since he was having no problems. On Jim’s last run the VW failed to proceed very shortly off the line and came to a halt in a pool of transmission oil.

On the Sunday at Rockingham, Jim and Mike had already had a good look when it was on the trailer and discovered that the bolts holding the CV joints on the drive shafts to the gearbox and hubs were loose which had caused the gearbox casing to split and the box to be in reverse and first at the same time. There is another story to tell of how Jim was able to compete in Ireland two weeks later.

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Now on to the Westfield. After the previous day’s confusion as to where the course went next, I walked the course at Rockingham and noted Chapman corner which is blind after a small rise. The Westfield couldn’t be more different from the VW. Everything is in front of you and I felt that I was sitting on the rear axle. On my first run, as I came into the first corner, I realised that I had the wrong specs under the goggles and they had tilted to such an extent that I was now seeing two corners through the reading section of the variofocals. The rest of that very slow run was spent in trying to guess which corner to take, the first or the second! However, on the second run with the right glasses on, I remembered Chapmans and keeping to the right for the left hander, realised as I crested the small rise the Chapmans is a right hander! Another O.S. moment and after scrabbling round that was another run to be forgotten. By the fourth run, I was beginning to enjoy it and getting more confidence in the car and my remembering where to go next. Mike was a lot quicker than me but I thoroughly enjoyed being at the last sprint at Rockingham.

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I had been persuaded by David Strange to enter the 904FF at Etretat but on trying to cancel ferries etc found that I could not get any money back, so Lucia and I decided that we would go anyhow and enjoy the experience. When David heard of this plan, he immediately offered me his Porsche 911 since he was taking his Crossle but that I would have to sort out belts and a seat since the event in France is run to strict FIA regs. So the belts were changed for those from the 904 and a new seat with an in-date FIA hologram was duly purchased and installed.

We then determined that the 911 was too tall to go in my trailer so the Crossle was loaded in mine and the 911 in David’s. On arrival, we had a few runs up and down the track which is the public road between Etretat and Bouneville and tried to remember which of the two tight right handers had negative camber! If you have never been to Etretat then I can thoroughly recommend it even if it’s just for the experience! After scrutineering on the Saturday, the total entry lined up at the top of the hill and proceeded in convoy down to a traffic island in Etretat then back up the hill and all lined up before the start. This process is repeated after each run so you never get back into the paddock so make sure there is enough fuel in the car. After three runs, I had a vague idea of where the road was and was enjoying the 911 and the bark of a tuned 6 cylinder.

On the Sunday, a round of the local hill climb championship was practicing in the morning so we did not need to appear till after lunch. The championship timed runs were to take place first but one of the early cars had a major off and hit a marshall who had been in the only gap in the Armco. This caused a huge delay since she was badly hurt, initially there was fears for her life but we learned later that she had to have her leg amputated. By this time a number of us were wondering if it was right to run and we withdrew from the event. It seemed that it was too high a price for a marshall to pay for us to have our fun!

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At the August meeting at Shelsley, Mike Hawley was there and in conversation, he offered me the Chapman Mercury to drive at Bo’ness. I had previously driven it at Shelsley and Bo’ness so Mike was aware that I knew most of its foibles particularly how to control engine temperature. Pete Bentley and I duly arrived at Bo’ness late on Friday with Mike’s trailer and Chapman Mercury ready for the weekend. Saturday started off with a dampness in the air and a very slippery track. CM1 has so much torque that the procedure, even at Bo’ness, is to start in second, change into top and leave it there. Every time I touched the throttle, the wheels spun and I had two very tentative practice runs. The rain came down in the afternoon and I convinced myself that discretion was the better part of valour and there was no point in potentially stuffing it into the bales, so did not run at all. What I did not realise was that Mike was watching “resultsman” and thought that I might have actually stuffed it since there were no times showing in the afternoon. I was able to respond to an anxious text that all was O.K. Sunday dawned much better but the track was still slippery but after a couple of practice runs, I was feeling much more confident and as the sun came out was able to enjoy the timed runs in the afternoon.

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Going back to the August meeting and a further conversation, it was suggested that after my “wee oopsie” I might be getting too old for further competition runs up Shelsley. At this point David Pawson said that I had better have his Lotus Elite for the Speed Finale meeting in September to meet my desire to compete after my birthday. At that point I was not sure if he was serious but sensing my disbelief, David sent me an email on Monday to confirm that he was very serious and I needed to do the necessary with my entry. This finally meant that I would fulfil a 50 year old dream of driving an original Lotus Elite!
David then explained that his 1961 Elite had never competed since he had rebuilt it as he was unable to get a competition licence due to some of the usual health reasons but it had been used in track days. However, it would need some preparation for competition by the fitting of catch tanks and timing strut etc. Mike and David arranged to take it to Sean McClurg to do what was necessary. On the Friday before the meeting, we arranged that I would go to Leamington Spa to pick up tools and wheels etc. On my arrival I discovered that David was out with the Elite to get a master cylinder leak, only discovered that morning, sorted out and that he would meet us in the paddock later. David duly arrived with a new master cylinder fitted and new front pads from Paul Matty’s own Elite installed as the only ones which could be found in time.

We then ran David home and after a splendid meal with David and Gill and Mike and Amanda, we were ready for bed and the challenge of the weekend.

On Saturday morning we were sympathetically scrutineered and ready for practice. On the first run I left the line quite tentatively and finally arrived at Top Ess and remembering the last time I had approached it, crept through with great apprehension, thinking that I enough bills to pay on the 904 without looking for any more! The other runs on Saturday were spent in trying to get cleanly off the line due to the high gearing and using a bit more road at Top Ess. On Sunday, I was getting into the swing of things and appreciating David’s advise of “just point it where you want to go”

Coming back into the paddock after the last timed run when the start had been slightly damp which allowed a certain amount of wheelspin and gave a better launch, I was met by David and Jim Payne with great grins to be told that I had got second in class (Handicap of course). David was absolutely delighted that his pride and joy had got an award on its first competitive outing! There is quite a story of how David found and rebuilt this Elite.

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What have I learned after a unique five or six weeks. Well, the cars are completely different, from the delicate Elite to the brute force of the V8 Flathead in the Chapman Mercury. Both the 911 and the VW had air cooled Porsche engines stuck out the back but could not be more different. In fact, they didn’t even sound the same and the 904 had yet another distinct sound. Perhaps this is due to its power unit being just behind my head. The Westfield was the easiest to drive and had more benign handling than all the others. The courses could not have been more different from the whole layout at Rockingham costing millions to the paddock at Etretat needing to be cleared of horse manure before you could pitch the gazebo! We are spoiled at Shelsley Walsh!

I also learned that the old engineering maxim of only changing one thing at a time should never be forgotten. To drive a strange car on a strange track is not easy and will not be attempted again(famous last words!). The loss of the little grey cells now means that I need a minimum of five runs before I even have a vague idea of where a new track goes.

I have had confirmed that the Hill Climb community are the greatest and kindest group of people that I know. I have also learned that dreams can come true and have met my aim of competing in my 80th year.

Thank you, Jim, Mike, David, Mike and David.

End

The repairs to the car will follow in due course.
Bill

904FF (Mike Bainbridge 2.4S engine and transmission)

I am hoping that I'll die before I grow up!
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Re: A Dream Fulfilled - MY 904FF

Post by rhd racer »

Great story Bill.

The generosity sums up hill climbing, which is why it’s so enjoyable. David lent me his ex Tony Dron 924 20 odd years ago, when I was only in my first season and so very inexperienced. I had known him 2 or 3 years, but it took a decent amount of trust on his part! Jim is a great character too, and great fun in the paddock.

I hope the repairs go well, I can’t quite believe you got it right over the sleeper from that 2 wheeled shot!
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KS
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Re: A Dream Fulfilled - MY 904FF

Post by KS »

What a great story! I look forward to meeting one day and hearing more!
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Re: A Dream Fulfilled - MY 904FF

Post by anglophone1 »

Fantastic Bill- I had vowed t9 compete in my 70th year =2020- car and rig sorted a couple of school days and off we would go!
Clearly Covid put paid to that - but we WILL get out there , if not thus year, next year, you’ve proved. I have at least nine years left......
Clive
West Cork, Ireland

RGruppe #814
1978 SC/1984 3.2 Outlaw -Jaffa 911
1973 914 - on Webers - historic rally car- Tango 914
1977 924 2.0 on Webers street legal race car - Martini 924
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