Yikes , I started a monster !!
Gordon is correct about all the mods that he had done. If some of
you are not aware of Penske shocks they run between $800 and $2,000
plus per corner. I think Paul has around $1800 in shocks on the rear of the car.
I was unaware that they put Wilwoods on the front of the car. Last time I saw
it they were still using the factory front brakes. He has my BRE air damn at his
shop and I told him he could use it on his car. He made the current one using
sheet aluminum. The dash is sheet aluminum and not a true high windshield dash.
Paul is a very competitive person and very proud of his Datsun's. At the farm he
has lets say a bunch of them. I don't think anyone knows how many cars they
have up there. Most of us realize that if he wants to race he should be in
conference
and not in Vintage. The lap times Paul posted are not even close to what his
sons
can post. They are probably good for at least 3 to 4 seconds a lap faster.
I do like seeing the car out at the track and blowing by people, but Vintage
class
isn't really about racing all out.
I totally agree with Marc's and Gordon's assessment of vintage racing, and why
there
are time period rules. It is of course Vintage racing not conference.
A little history about the car that I know of. It was originally a 69" 1600 and
converted
to 2000. It has the original black paint on it. The engine was rebuilt last
year by
Rebello.
That engine grenaded at Seattle during the 4th of July Historic event. It only
lasted
two races. The current block in it was my 69' 2000's block :-( It was rebuilt
over
the
winter by Paul's friend Dean. It's horsepower rating is around 225 , and it
runs on
205/60/14
race radials. It is capable of doing around 135 MPH on most race courses.
I feel bad I posted my original message as it started a bunch of banter back and
forth.
I should have given more information before I posted it.
Thanks Gordon for clarifying what happened,
Mike
Nowroc
Gordon Glasgow wrote:
> I agree with most everything that has been said, but a few clarifications are
>in
> order. My first reaction when hearing about the airdam issue (he couldn't
>prove
> that they had used airdams on 1969 cars) was to get very indignant and go
>after
> one of the Tech Committee members that I happen to know. Actually, he's a
> current NWDE member and past President of the club who raced his 510 in
>vintage
> until last year. He explained a few things to me.
>
> The airdam wasn't the biggest issue, although there was inadequate
>documentation
> on that. Besides, it isn't a BRE-style airdam, it's a big aluminum sheet, more
> like what you'd see at the SCCA Runoffs.
>
> The Penske remote-reservoir rear shocks were an issue, since those certainly
> weren't available in 1969 and nobody else is running them.
>
> The same goes for the Wilwood 4-piston calipers on the front. You aren't even
> allowed to run those in SCCA or the regional Conference events.
>
> The dash is a sheet-aluminum fabrication. While it looks nice, it is
>definitely
> not a production item. A quick survey around the pits showed me that the other
> cars were using original dashes (even the Porsches).
>
> The class grouping is "flexible" based on how many cars show up to run. At a
> small event like this, they just do a small-bore and a large-bore class; at
>the
> larger events, they have a middle-bore class. While it is designed around
>engine
> size, it is more of a guideline than anything else. There were probably 25-30
> cars in his race group, so it was a pretty full grid.
>
> They talked to Paul about all these issues on Friday, before they found out he
> was going to qualify on the pole for the race group, so it really wasn't a
> matter of "Oops, this Datsun is going too fast, we better fix that."
>
> That's not to say there isn't any anti-Japanese bias in SOVREN - there
>certainly
> is on some people's part. A very few of them don't even like the fact that
> SOVREN allows production-based cars! They feel it should be only purpose-built
> race cars. Kind of a "Let's go parade around in our expensive former race
>cars,
> then go have brandy and cigars at the club" mentality. Fortunately they're a
> minority, but some of them are in positions of power at the moment.
>
> To finish the story, Paul was late getting to pregrid and they had blown the
> 1-minute whistle when he got there, so he had to start from the back of the
> grid. He passed 12 cars on the first lap and 4 more on the second. He was
> turning lap times that were close to the lead cars. In mid-race he found
>himself
> in a big gap with no one to race and he dialed it back by about 3 to 4 seconds
> per lap. Then towards the end he saw a Porsche up ahead and decided to go
>after
> it, but by that time there were only two laps to go and he couldn't catch it.
> Even so, his last lap was his best (a 1:41.9, if anyone is familiar with SIR).
> "A pleasant Sunday drive" was how he described it.
>
> Gordon Glasgow
> Renton, WA
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