Note: you can tell the racing season is over, cold weather has set in
and philosphy rears its ugly head again. I guess I will yield to
temptation and join in - but not without careful thought and 3 - count
em - 3 passes at editing this response before hitting the "send" button!
Well, boys, I think we often have selective memory about the "good old
days." I was reading a paperback last night called "Alfa Romeo
Giulietta, Gold Portfolio, 1954-1965" as part of some research into a
new car I'm working on (more later.) What did I find in all those old
reprinted articles?
The Alfa Giulietta engine began life as a 1300cc/65 hp "jewel", that
over the course of the articles reprinted in this book grew to 90, 112,
116 and finally 125 hp in factory racers. SCCA and FIA racing mods
started quoting 103 and got up to 130 HP over the same period. The
engines were bored and or stroked up to over 1500cc, modified for Jag
valves, American engine valve guides, higher compression and or oversize
pistons, sometimes with highly modified crowns, milled heads, bigger
carbs, ram tubes, headers, exotic valve shapes, removing the protruding
valve guides, and more. They twisted those little jewels to over 8,000
rpm! Chassis mods included gearbox, driveline and rear axle mods,
lightening the bodies, fiberglas and aluminum body panels (from the
factory, no less), wide wheels, brakes, etc. etc. etc.
There was, admittedly, no accusumps, carbon fiber panels, titanium rods,
and a few other modern mods.
But, boys, if you think we raced these suckers stock in the sixties, you
are getting $%^&(*)_+ senile....
If contemporary mods are not enough for you, you are not trying hard
enough. I know plenty of engine builders who cannot consistently get 130
HP from a 1300 cc Alfa on the dyno to this day...but we did have to put
bearings in every other race weekend and rebuild every 4 to 6 weekends.
My new 59 Giulietta Sprint will sport a discrete rollcage (invisible
from the outside), strengthened suspension (where mine failed and caused
the car to roll into oblivion at Mosport in 93 - making me unwilling to
race unsafe cars), upgrade to Veloce spec and more. All things that
would have been done to the original car in its race history.
I HAVE THE VINTAGE SPIRIT! HALLELUJAH!
Also, I do not like the idea of unsportsmanlike driving, so I act like a
gentleman on the track and expect the same from others. However I have
almost reached the 6 month ban I placed on myself regarding discussing
what happened to me at Mosport last summer.
A MG driver named Andy Schmidt punted me in the last half of Moss
hairpin, simply trying to get past in a corner where 1)I could not
easily see him, 2)I did not expect him to try to pass 3)I was already
committed to the corner 4) his nose was barely even with my door 5)it
was during practice and if he had gotten by, it would have ruined both
our entries into the straight and blown both of our lap times anyway.
Plenty of people up on the hill saw the incident - they came to the pits
and told me so.
I ended up with a big dent in the door and RR body side of my car - an
expensive repair job. He dented the LF corner of his MG and ruined a
tire from the rubbing. But that's not what bothered me.
I pulled into the pits, expecting him to follow me and the officials to
yell at both of us. I found an empty pit. I got out and inspected the
damage and decided to abort the session because I was unsure if I still
had adequate tire clearance.
The VARAC officials had no comment on the incident. They said it was
between us.
So tell me guys, what the %^&*()_+ does it take to get some official's
attention? Was I supposed to take a tire iron to him in the pits? Does
the 13/13 rule mean that you give us $13 (Canadian?) and we look the
other way for 13 incidents? Do I just I tell you about this dude with
the poor judgement and suggest you avoid him at all costs?
You scoff at SCCA, but I have seen much more vigorous enforcement of
rules at recent SCCA events - you just try passing under the yellow
there and see how long you get to race!
Now, back to the parts catalogs - gotta order some seat belts,
electrical parts and those titanium rods....
Ciao, Jim
--
Jim Hayes Fotec/Cable U
hayes@mediaone.net http://www.CableU.net
jeh@fotec.com http://www.fotec.com/
All generalizations, with the possible exception of this one, are false!
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