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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in">I've tried to stay out of this...
but... just a few observations, first an analogy...</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in">Fact- the large majority of fighter
pilot “kills” are by a very small percentage of pilots.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in">The same applies to drivers winning
races, there is a small percentage of drivers who win the majority of
the races.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in">Why?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in">Because they have good equipment, and
are better than most other drivers.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in">Note that I say (type) good equipment,
not necessarily the best, although they quite frequently do have the
best equipment.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in"> A “good” driver in a front-line
racecar with all the goodies will often get beaten by a real hotshoe
driving a lesser car.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in">The point is that having a “faster”
car, with all of the whiz-bang go-fast widgets, doesn't necessarily
mean a guaranteed win.</div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in">The other point is that we need to not
lose the concept of “the spirit of Vintage racing”.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in">No explanation necessary.</div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in">Re rules, legal/cheater stuff, aside
from safety-related upgrades that address well-known problems, iff'n
it was up to me, which it isn't, it would be simple to go back to the
basics and require Triumph-based components, limit tire choice to a
degree, rim width (as Kas already pointed out), and (drum roll)... I
hate to suggest it... just maybe consider actually limiting bore size?<br>
Or not.<br>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in">(Note that this is directed at the
vintage racers here; the guys & gals running Prod or GT etc, go
for it, stretch that rulebook until the pages start to rip!)</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in">Just a few thoughts,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in">Glen Efinger</div>
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<div style="font-family:arial,helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Kas Kastner via Fot <fot@autox.team.net><br>
To: Tony Drews <tony@tonydrews.com>; FOT <fot@autox.team.net><br>
Sent: Sat, Mar 10, 2018 3:11 pm<br>
Subject: Re: [Fot] Has anybody ran these new brake calipers?<br>
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<div dir="ltr">There are times when you wish you had just shut up and let the thread pass you by. I have just had one of those times. It was not my intent to cast any aspersions but just to tell how it was back when. It was a different world. If you wanted to make a phone call you needed a nickle but a phone box was on every corner and gasoline was 28 cents a gallon and it was 100 octane. So maybe I should have commented on that instead.
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<div>Certainly if you adhere to the old rules the field would seen be down to three or four cars and they might not make it to the end of a race. I have no complaint about the present manner of preparation or driving either. Have a good time and use what ever is needed to get to the end. </div>
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<div><strong><font color="#000099">Never be beaten by equipment.</font></strong></div>
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<div class="aolmail_gmail_quote">On Fri, Mar 9, 2018 at 11:18 PM, Tony Drews via Fot <span dir="ltr"><<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="mailto:fot@autox.team.net">fot@autox.team.net</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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<div>Bill, I've really tried, but I can't help but respond to being
called out in this one. I know you said it doesn't matter to you,
lets just race - and that's my feeling too.</div>
<div>Not sure how a brake question turned into the annual "what is
vintage" debate - seems late in the season for it this time...<br>
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<div>But... For the record, it's a Ford 8" rear end, not a 9".
Remember when we used to break axles and roll our cars? I do,
very vividly. The memory of the pavement whizzing by my left ear
as I was sliding on the drivers door before the car started to
barrel roll is indelibly printed in my memory. Before the
"southwick" axle conversion (which uses Ford 8" rear axle axles by
the way), the fix for this was to put a Ford 8" or a Dana rear
axle in the car instead of the stock unit. It was a SAFETY
change, not a performance improvement. That's what the prior
owner did to my car - put in a Ford 8" so it wouldn't roll. It
weighs more than a Triumph axle, and has roughly the same ratios
available as a Triumph unit. To switch to a Triumph axle would
cost enough I'd need to take at least half a season off of racing,
probably a full season. Afterwards, my car would be FASTER
because it would weigh LESS. Is the Ford axle legal? Probably
not, now that the Southwick conversion is accepted by every
vintage organization in the US for safety reasons. Is it worth
taking a year off of racing to put the "correct" part there? I
say - no, lets race instead.<font size="2">...</font></div>
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