Hi Erik:
Thanks for your reply to my query. Your suggestion to study what others
have done is excellent. Do you know how I might contact the individuals
you named: i.e. Chris O'Donnell, Todd Gerstenberger and Dave Vegher?
Chris's minimalist lightweight setup sounds very in keeping with Lotus,
I'd love to learn more about that. I'm somewhat commited to steel as I
just bought 80 feet of 1 1/2 inch, DOM, .095 wall. But, I could probably
sell it to an SCCA racer.
You say Todd used to use the heavy cage for an excuse? Does that mean
he changed his cage, improved his driving or ? As for my driving, I
concede its not pole-setting, but its the best I know how, so maybe
having a weight excuse might come in handy! ;-).
Reminds me of some recent postings about VINTAGE racing versus vintage
RACING. I fall into the first category, the driver who wants to exercise
car and skills and have a good, (safe) time doing it. A satisfying
track session for me is when I manage to use the Elan better, and whittle
down the lap time, and, by the end of the weekend learn to keep up with
or sometimes pass a driver (or two) who was(were) faster initially.
Now that you mention it, this is about 130 lbs of metal which is almost
10% of the car's weight. Somewhat offset by removing most lights,
heater, wiper gear, windshield, side glass, upholstery and passenger
seat. Probably, in the end it will turn out to be a 60 lb weight gain
in exchange for driver safety and a stiffer (hopefully more responsive)
car.
Thanks Erik, your reply has made me think through the tradeoffs once
again. I think I can go with the cage, but it would be good to learn
what others have done. If you have contact information, I'd appreciate
it.
BTW found my file on accessing the chapman-era archives. There are a
bunch aren't there? I notice in the early messages most list members are
engineers, explains the great answers.
Cheers, Ray in Cincy.
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