ginger ostle & andrew duerden—mini—competing on … · a great performance in a £2000...

Northants and Bedfordshire Area

Ginger Ostle & Andrew Duerden—Mini—competing on LeJog. Read Andrew’s article inside.

Area meetings are usually held on the last Monday of each month—at Towcester Mill Brewery, Chantry Lane, Towcester. Going south on the A5 Watling Street turn left into Chantry Lane

in the centre of Towcester. The nearest postcode for your sat nav is NN12 6AD. Map ref: 152/694488

NEXT MEETINGS7:30-9:30pm Monday 25 th January

7:30-9:30pm Monday 29 th February

7:30-9:30pm Monday 21st March


Newsletter—December 2015

For further information on area meetings contact

HRCR N&B Area Co-ordinator, David Holmes

[email protected]

Happy New

Year all N&B M

embers

to

©FRANCESCO & ROBERTA RASTRELLI / BLUE PASSION;

[email protected]

Newsletter—December 2015Page

2


At our last meet ing Alastair Vines made an extremely interest ing and detai led presentat ion on his exploi ts, over several at tempts, on the Ral ly Monte Car lo Histor ique in CRX 89B.

This included a promot ional v ideo, detai ls of budgets and entr ies, Team GB’s intr icate group planning of routes in and out of towns, service points and spares l is ts, wheels and tyres and stud combinat ions, and in-car footage of several sect ions.

Area Co-Ordinator’s Pace Notes…from David Holmes

David H

The HRCR Open Day, which is being held at the British Motorsport Museum at Gaydon on Saturday 16th January, to which you are all welcome, is themed on the BMC Mini, and the 1966 disqualification of the three works Minis, Timo Makinen, Rauno Aaltonen, Paddy Hopkirk together with Roger Clark’s Lotus Cortina on an apparent headlight infringement, giving the Overall award to Henri Toivonen in a Citroën. There will be a host of Minis on display along with the Mini Sport cars who are again supporting the Mini Cup in the Old Stager Rally Championship….

This is followed on February 13th with our Awards Dinner Dance at Hellidon Lakes and the AGM on the Sunday morning. Hopefully I will see some of you there.

As I move into my fifth year as Area Co-ordinator I have to say it’s getting tougher and tougher to think up new ideas for meetings, either speakers or activities. I think regular monthly meetings are important and, whereas other groups don’t meet in the holidays, I am planning to continue our monthly meets for the time being. I hope to have something planned for January 25th. However, February and

March are somewhat confounded by the fact that I am going to Australia for six weeks! So volunteers are required….

With that thought, hopefully in all of your minds, let me thank you for your support, as a group, throughout the year and wish you and your families a very Happy Christmas and a Healthy and Prosperous 2016’s Classic Motorsport.

Travel safe and enjoy whatever you do in your Classic.

Unfortunately, Willie Cave couldn’t join us, as was kindly planned by Chris Baron, as he had been whisked away—by private plane, to the Alps—for another adventure. We learnt that CRX 89B is currently still awaiting repair after a slight contretemps by a fellow Team GB crew during the rally but hopefully will be soon restored to its former glory. The gathered audience much appreciated Alastair’s attention to detail and general enthusiasm for this event—so we look forward to his next effort—which, even though he has had good results in his ex-works Mini, may be in a more competitive car.

This year’s LeJog was won by Andy Lane and Iain Tullie in a Volvo 123GT, with our Peter and Helen Morris—in a similar Volvo—4th in the class and Andrew Duerden guiding Ginger Ostle to 2nd in their class in a Morris Cooper S. I was also very pleased to read that Simon Mellings and Richard Crozier (Rugby Motor Club member) finished third overall and claimed the fourth Gold Medal. A great performance in a £2000 Rover 216S! It was an extremely wet event, by all accounts, with many stories of high winds, rain, floods etc, and certainly lived up to its name as the toughest event in the UK.

Alastair Vines’ Mini, CRX 89B, during the Monte Carlo Historique 2015


3


The HRA’s Alpine Rally proved to be a successful event. We are told that cars drove along stages from control to control, but we saw none of it! Glad and I spent four long days at HQ assisting chief scorer, Gary, to get the times entered and the results compiled ready for the fourth member of our team, Ken—down from Queensland’s Gold Coast—to push up to the interweb so that competitors could see how they were going. As I mentioned last month, we received timing data from RallySafe, the GPS-based in-car competitor tracking software that every vehicle carried.

We were expecting to have a few teething trouble with the interface between our scoring program and RallySafe, but that part worked perfectly. What we hadn’t anticipated was that the logic of the scoring system expected times on all the liaison stages while RallySafe only provided special stage timing. The program assumed that a car without a liaison time had failed to finish and so no progressive scores were calculated. We could only upload individual stage times for a while, until Glad & I had painstakingly entered dummy liaison time information. Gary, meanwhile attempted to rewrite the coding to bypass this part of the logic, but it kept creating similar issues no matter what he did—it is an intrinsic part of scoring an event to look for valid times on every stage and to mark a car as DNF once an invalid time is encountered. So we had to enter dummy times for 105 competitors on each of 26 liaison stages so that results could be compiled. Then, once the course closing car arrived back at HQ with the crews’ road cards, we had to re-enter the actual times so that late time calculations were done correctly and time penalties could be allotted. We weren’t finished then; we also had to enter all the control card information to cross-check the data entry and resolve any discrepancies.

We did a lot of data entry! With start & finish times on 18 stages (control cards) plus the double entry (road and control cards) of start and finish times on each of the 26 liaisons, we entered over 14,000 times between the two of us!

We managed to get the results compiled and checked sufficiently for the presentation to take place at Sunday night’s dinner as planned. We even arrived at the dinner in time to eat with the rest of the officials and competitors—unlike the previous event, when we arrived after the kitchen had closed.

All competitors seemed to have enjoyed the Alpine, so we will continue to develop the scoring program ready for the 2017 event. Our grandson Mitch did well and was happy to finish in the top one-third of the field.

In mid-December, I competed in a motorkhana, using a borrowed car (BMW 318i) as I found mine wouldn’t start. First time in a rear wheel drive for nine months. Pleased to say I beat the owner—who went the wrong way on a test he designed himself—and won the class and finished fifth outright into the bargain. Mitch was first overall in the Peugeot 405Mi16, by a fraction of a second.

Thanks to the contributors of the articles and photos in this month’s newsletter and to Monica for making it happen and contributing herself to fill the gaps. Till next month, from Down Under— Nick

Down Under

Season’s Greet ings to one and al l . No doubt you are al l exper iencing a chi l ly Northern Hemisphere winter. Yesterday, Chr istmas Day, we enjoyed (endured) 35C p lus temperatures as we consumed prawns,

salmon and salads for our Chr istmas Dinner.

Editorial From Nick Wright—Editor In ChiefW

R

I

G

H

T

I

N

G

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Winner of the Alpine Rally of East Gippsland—South Australia’s Jack Monkhouse in his Datsun 180B


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HRCR (Northants and Beds) was recent ly invi ted by Bob Sketchley to part ic ipate in a quiz at a Br i t ish Motor Sport Marshals Club meet ing on 26 th November at the White Horse pub in Si lverstone vi l lage. I have known Bob from many

years ago when we used to be part of Northampton and Distr ict Car Club’s quiz team. On this occasion teams were to be of up to four people. Our HRCR team consisted of Ian Butcher, Andrew Duerden, David Holmes and Andrew Bodman.

Quiz Night at Motor Sports Marshals ClubBy Andrew Bodman

When we arrived, the room was full of teams from two to four people and a quiz evening was clearly a regular activity for this club. The questions were nearly all motor racing oriented which was no great surprise bearing in mind the location of the club. The questions were set by the Scott-Rusell commentary team (father and son). Steve Moffatt joined us (surreptitiously) after the start. Ian Drummond played for another team as did Bob Sketchley.

The questions were provided in several forms including photos, single letters cut out from advertisements, national anthems being played, interview clips as well as questions asked in the conventional way. The single letters formed the word Silverstone and each letter had to be related to the company name or logo from which it had been taken.

Another question involved six racing cars from the 1930s to the current day which had to be arranged in descending order of engine capacity. We got one (a GT40) out of sequence which meant no marks. Another question was, which racing circuit is located next to Lake Lloyd? Another question was in which year did a Coventry Climax V8 engine first win in a Formula One race?There were two individual bonus questions which anyone could answer. The person with the closest answer would gain points for his/her team. The first was, “What was the date of birth of Juan Manuel Fangio”. I endeavoured to work out the date and was just over one year out, which was the third best answer, but no marks. The second of these questions was what was Ari Vatanen’s time up Pikes Peak in a Peugeot 405, about which Peugeot made a film called Climb Dance?

Another (ordinary) question was what car was used in the tie break decider of the 1958 British Saloon Car Championship at Brands Hatch?

There were two rallying questions to which the answers were Vic Elford and Walter Röhrl. Perhaps it was notable that both of these drivers were also circuit racers.

The total marks on offer were about 100. Our team reckoned the questions were tough even for motor racing enthusiasts and some questions were pretty obscure. We scored 66 which placed us fifth out of about nine teams. The third best team scored 70 and the best team was on 75 (we think). Seeing as BMSMC holds motor racing quizes regularly, we reckon we did not disgrace ourselves as a predominantly rallying team.

Andrew

A famous sti l l from the fi lm Climb Dance. Ari Vatanen’s record time set in the Peugeot 405 was 10:47.77


5


I am intending enter ing BlueBeet le in the Tour of Cheshire on 5 March 2016. Unfortunately my regular navigator Dennis Greenslade is domici led in Cornwal l so his t ravel l ing up to Cheshire for a prologue and one

day of ra l ly ing is out of the quest ion.

I am therefore looking for an expert navigator to join me on the rally. I am an expert status driver, the car is very competitive on this type of event and fully equipped with Brantz navigator’s instrumentation.

If interested in going halves on entry and hotel, please contact me on my mobile 07770 626173 and/or e-mail: [email protected].

Navigator Needed…for Tour of Cheshire From David Alderson

David

The organisers of the two premier ral l ies on the Costa Brava have announced exci t ing changes for 2016.

The 64th Rally Costa Brava, (Friday 11th and Saturday12th March) will run with twelve closed road stages over the two days and give more than 160Km of competitive driving. The event will be based in Girona. Of interest to UK road rally enthusiasts who would like that little bit more from their rallying, the organisers will offer the option of a 70km/h or 50km/h Regularity event running behind the stage rally. On

ClOsed ROads! As it is the opening round of the FIA European Championship there will be top quality crews there and the normal RallyClassics superb organisation.

A few days later the Rally Costa Brava Historic will start from Barcelona on Friday 18th March and finish on Sunday 20th March 2016. The event offers tremendous rallying on wonderful roads. It will be a little shorter than in previous years with some 1000Km.

Documentation is kept to a minimum and a UK competition licence is not required. As in previous years the organisers are offering UK crews a special ‘Golden Pack’ deal. The price for the Rally Costa Brava Historic has in fact been reduced, making it even better value for money. The ‘Golden Pack’ deal of 1,900 euros includes transport by fully enclosed

transporter from the UK to the Costa Brava and back, the entry fee, service crew, shuttles to and from Girona or Barcelona airport as well as four nights hotel accommodation in Lloret de Mar.

For those who want that extra bit of excitement and to enter both events the organisers are offering a fantastic deal. For 2,900 euros the ‘Golden Pack’ deal offers covered transport to and from the events, four nights accommodation in Girona and eight in Lloret de Mar as well as Service crew on both events, garaging between events. For the Rally Costa Brava you can even make pace notes, Regularity on closed roads takes on a different meaning!

For more information, a ‘Questions and Answers’ fact sheet and how to get your entry, please contact

Peter Collier

00 33 (0)4 68 24 72 13

00 33 (0)7 81 36 84 52

www.facebook.com/Rallycostabravahistoric

2016 Rally Costa Brava and

Rally Costa Brava Historicfrom Peter Collier

Peter

[email protected]

www.facebook.com/Rallycostabravahistoric


6


I last d id Le Jog in 1996 and stated, unequivocal ly, that I would not be doing i t again. Ever. Not never. Back then, we were t i red beyond exhaust ion (doing 20 minute st ints each whi lst we could stay awake); and the resul ts were incorrect when eventual ly

publ ished, robbing us of qui te a few places on the l is t .

So how come I found myself in car #14 on the 2015 version? A phone call from Jeremy Dickson suggesting that I should call a chap in Germany who was looking for a navigator, started the ball rolling. And my adamant refusal to consider doing the event again was compromised when I remembered that I was taking 2015 to be a ‘bucket year’, fitting in as many events as I could. How could I turn it down?

So there we were—at Lands End scrutineering in a windy marquee—in a German registered, left hand drive, 1964 Morris Mini Cooper S with a German domiciled, Englishman, Ginger Ostle. Ginger has never rallied in the UK but has done the Monte Historique a couple of times. His desire to do Le Jog was borne out of fond memories of watching North Western road rallies in his teens and wishing to fulfil a long-held want.

The Saturday morning start at Lands End went straight into the traditional first test around the hotel grounds. It was Ginger’s first ”car park grand prix”

as he called it, and the entirely new concept of driving around a set of cones did not find favour from the left hand seat. However, the first regularity went well and we were off on our Mini Adventure.

Regularities and tests took us through the south west region to the teatime break at Chepstow after a long run up the M5 and over the windy Severn bridge. The night section instructions were issued at this meal break and there was the sight of a full restaurant not occupied by diners, but by earnest navigators poring over folded-out maps.

Regularity sections through a very dark Welsh Marches led us to a fuel halt at Crossgates near Llandrindod Wells. The car park and fuel pumps there—with classic cars of all shapes and sizes—resembled a scene from a MN rally of years back. Instant nostalgia.

A Mini LeJog Adventurefrom Andrew Duerden

continued on page 7PHOTO WITH THANKS TO TIM SAWYER.

Ginger Ostle & Andrew Duerden in the LHD Mini

PHOTO PUBLISHED WITH THANKS TO HERO / F&R RASTRELLI

Also on Le Jog

Peter and Helen Morris were also on Le Jog in their Volvo and

they were caught on camera by Tim Sawyer on the Saturday night

as they were about to head for Wales. Their final result was 23rd

o/a and 4th in class.


7


Whilst Ginger was not enjoying the tests (particularly in the dark), this old-fashioned road-rally atmosphere was what it was all about for him. A blat though the Shropshire lanes (what the Irish would call a night nav section) ensued before a short overnight halt in Telford.

Sunday morning started with a regularity with an incorrect Jogularity mileage (the only one of the event) which led to cars milling everywhere. We were lucky to get the correct route straightaway, but immediately afterwards there was a long-way-around-triangle instruction where an overkeen spectator—parked in said triangle—was gleefully telling everyone that they had to go “thataway”. However, his blocking of the correct route meant that the interval mileage to the next tricky slot into an off-road layby between containers meant we overshot and dropped valuable seconds.

A visit to Steve Perez’s place in Derbyshire restored our feelings regarding tests as we were the best in our class over all three tests. However, as the day wore on as we journeyed further Northwards, our negative feelings towards tests was reinforced by a diabolically awful one at Eastgate. Sodden with rain, covered in mud and with cones set so far apart on a very dark night, we plodded around trying to find the correct route (which we did) only to be told by a zealous marshal that we had gone wrong “somewhere over there” (which we hadn’t). Sense prevailed when check sheets got to the very efficient results service.The severe weather of the weekend had taken its toll by the time that we reached the overnight halt at Slaley Hall. Whilst, mercifully, we had missed the worst of the flooding by travelling up the east side of the Pennines, the wind had wreaked havoc with the trees and many were down in fields, parkland and across the roads.The longest day started with a pleasant run through the Scottish Borders, up to a not-so-pleasant jaunt around the Forth as the organisers endeavoured to get the rally to the late lunch halt at North Queensferry. The closure of the Forth Road Bridge meant a long detour over the Clackmannanshire bridge. More regularities and tests got us up to the evening halt at Aviemore where—with the distribution of the night section instructions being held until departure—there was nothing to do but try and rest. Not the easiest thing to do when the adrenalin level is high.

A Mini LeJog Adventurecontinued from page 6

PHOTO PUBLISHED WITH THANKS TO HERO / F&R RASTRELLI

At the restart the route details were handed over, and all the rumours were true: the ‘Loch Ness monster’ was back. This is a 2.5 hours, 100+ mile regularity with over 15 controls. It was all going relatively well for us until I inadvertently pressed the clock reset button on a particularly bumpy road rather than the trip interval. Oh well…

The night continued with further regularities and a short ‘night nav’ section until the finish hove into view. It was at this point that the car made its only cry for attention during the event. A particularly high three-ply mountain track regularity pulled the exhaust mounts away, so a hasty repair with three nylon tie-wraps got us going again, albeit costing us three minutes and dropping us down the leaderboard.

A final test at John O’Groats before a return for the ceremonial finish at Wick saw us placed 12th overall and second in class. An excellent result for a newbie to UK rallying. More significantly, we got a Blue Riband for reaching every control within our allotted time. A medal was out of the question as poor times on the tests dropped us out of the margins of the complicated allowed times. However, Ginger professed himself happy at the finish with mission accomplished.So, would I do it again? Probably yes. It was a hell of a challenge, but well organised with excellent maps. I/we were not as tired as we expected to be at the finish, but there is still the problematic conundrum of how to get back from the end of the rally. But that’s another adventure in itself….

Andrew


8


I’d l ike to thank David Alderson for sending his Falcon Motor Club report on the ral ly

publ ished here.

On the front page of the November edition of the newsletter we had a photo of John Abel and Andrew Duerden ‘making a splash’ on the Rally of the Tests. So here is the N&B results list, and a few more photos courtesy of Tony Large, www.tonylarge.net, one of which shows just what that splash was all about….

Rally of the Tests—www.craevents.eu from Monica Dowson

N&B Results on the ROTT

Jonathan Hancox and Richard Lambley

Triumph TR4 6th o/a and 2nd in class

John Abel and Andrew Duerden

Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint

12th o/a and 4th in class

Peter and Helen Morris

Volvo 123GT 28th o/a and 7th in class

Richard Tomkins and Richard Askew

Hillman Super Imp

5th in class 7 (post ‘62)

David Alderson and Dennis Greenslade

VW Beetle 1300

Retired

I see that three of these crews are already on the entry list for next year’s rally. As David Alderson said to me: “Unfinished business!”.

Monica

PHOTO: TONY LARGE

PHOTO: TONY LARGE

PHOTO: TONY LARGE

Peter & Helen Morris—Volvo123GT

John Abel and Andrew Duerden—Alfa Romeo

Giulia Sprint

Jonathan Hancox and Richard Lambley—

Triumph TR4

www.tonylarge.net

www.craevents.eu


9


Falcon Motor Club enjoyed increased representat ion on this year ’s HERO/CRA ‘Ral ly of the Tests’ , a re-creat ion of the RAC Ral ly format f rom the glory days of 1950s/60s road ral ly ing.

Amongst the prestigious entry list Falcon MC was represented by two crews (who are also members of the HRCR N&B Area group)—Richard Tompkins was joined by his long serving navigator, Richard Askew, in their 998 Imp Sport; the history of this Northampton area crew and car going way back to the 60s and 70s. Joining the two Richards in Class 7, was yours truly, David Alderson, making a return to rallying after 17 years away and joined again by navigator of old and fellow trials ace, Dennis Greenslade, in their newly prepared rally 1641 VW Beetle; this pair hoping to rediscover the magic that gave them success in David’s earlier 1300 Okrasa rally Beetle back in 1998. Saviour of many troubled rally crews and service star of the show was Falcon MC member Dave Smith with his Maulden Garage rally service team, Dave and the boys were in for a busy four days!

The rally started from Slaley Hall just outside Hexham, the two Richards elected to drive their recently overhauled Imp all the way from Kislingbury to the start and that’s when Richard T discovered a weeping front seal on the rebuilt transaxle. There was nothing else for it but to keep topping up the transaxle with hypoy and hope for the best. The Beetle, virtually fresh from the workshop as a new build, and with only 300 running in miles logged, had a hop and skip journey to Hexham. Firstly, trailered to the Blackpool finish venue, thence driven the final 140 miles across to Hexham.

Both cars sailed through scrutineering on the Wednesday evening so the crews had plenty of time on Thursday to set up their rally instrumentation against measured distances and fuel up in readiness for the evening ‘Prologue’. Both crews encountered minor problems with their rallying techniques during the two hour Prologue but it related to lack of practice more than anything else and both creaky crews soon began to function properly together as the evening progressed.

Friday action began after an early breakfast with timed tests and regularities coming thick and fast from the outset. The rally route headed to the Scottish borders via the infamous Kielder forest complex where the similarity to those RAC rallies of old was unquestionable. Long and fast timed tests on Kielder’s far from smoothly graded gravel tracks

(rocks!) began to take an immediate toll on the old rally chargers. Lunchtime service at Moffat saw all the rally service team in frenzied action, bolting up all manner of components that had shaken loose from their mountings on a large assortment of competing cars. The Beetle was suffering from a self dis-assembling exhaust system but Dave Smith swiftly came to the rescue in between changing a TR3 alternator, replacing an Escort Mk2 clutch cylinder, and draining diesel fuel from the tanks of two competing Dutch crews who had mistakenly topped up their respective Datsun 240Z and Mercedes 280 from the wrong pump at the fuel stop immediately before the lunch halt.

continued on page 10

Rally of the Tests 2015Falconers (and N&B members) By David Alderson

PHOTO: TONY LARGE

PHOTO: TONY LARGERichard Tomkins and Richard Askew—

Hillman Super Imp

David Alderson and Dennis Greenslade—

VW Beetle 1300


10


On into the fading afternoon light, with the rally heading now towards Dumfries for the night halt. Tight regularities and interesting road sections—through dramatic scenery, interspersed with more timed tests, on a variety of surfaces ranging from slippery leaf strewn wet tarmac to the now familiar rough forest tracks—provided a feast of challenging rally action for the crews.

The Beetle crew hit trouble again on Test TS 1/7 when the oil pressure disappeared completely on the stop line at the end of a spirited climb up yet another forest track. A quick inspection showed that the secondary oil filter had managed to break loose from its under rear wing mountings and bounce its way through the rock guard; this allowed the filter unit to trail the car at high speed, bouncing along the rocks. Once again Dave Smith came to the rescue and, after short circuiting the oil lines and refilling with oil, the Beetle engine fired up to regain normal oil pressure.

However, by now the course closing car had passed, so the Beetle headed off for an early finish at Dumfries with the intention of taking a time control penalty and rejoining the fun the following morning. Unfortunately, an exhaust misfire began to develop en-route to Dumfries and subsequent inspection at service showed that the rockers on one bank of cylinders were virtually closed down, a slightly overheated valve being the suspected cause. With

heavy hearts but sensible heads the Beetle crew decided to retire from further rally action before the carefully prepared—and rather expensive—engine suffered any further ill effects. There are budget constraints related to rallying on a pension!

Fortunately, the two Richards soldiered on in their Imp all the way through the furious Saturday and Sunday rally action to reach the Blackpool finish, they ended up 47th in general classification, 5th in class and and were delighted to find the Imp Sport had collected the ‘Concours d’Elegance—post ’62 class’ special award.

Jeremy Dickson kindly arranged two lifts with the HERO/CRA organising crew via Hexham to Blackpool, where the Beetle crew collected tow car and trailer, then headed up to Dumfries for the stricken Beetle. Saturday just happened to be David’s birthday so a suitable celebration dinner—taken at the Crooklands Hotel M6 jct 36, and comprising Morecambe Bay shrimps followed by Westmorland bred steaks, oh and some fine red alcohol—went some way towards offsetting the Friday afternoon disappointments, ‘BlueBeetle’ will be back!

DavidPhotos: With thanks to Tony Large [email protected]

Rally of the Tests 2015continued from page 9Falconers (and N&B members)

The Engineering ColumnInstrument (In-)Accuracy

I have raised the quest ion before of whether auxi l iary gauges showing engine parameters are a good thing or merely a distract ion for the dr iver. However, the XR2 has some spare instrument holes in the panel and Monica was keen to see

them f i l led wi th something so I have now f i t ted gauges for water temperature, o i l temperature and oi l pressure.

They are all of the electrical type manufactured by VDO in Germany and match the existing ammeter. The VDO data sheet did not give any figures for accuracy of the gauges so after a lot of web searches I found the US site of VDO which had a lot more information available than the European one, although still no accuracy figures. There was, however, a calibration table for the temperature sensors and this was a surprise as there seemed to be a +/- 2.5% tolerance on sensor readings. The temperature sensors are negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistors in the form of a disc sitting in the end of the brass

sensor tube which is submerged in the liquid. A check on other types of NTC thermistors showed that the tolerance of the VDO ones was typical although it is possible to procure matched sets.

I thought that potential error was rather large, although in reality it is less than the needle’s thickness at 100˚C, and I still did not have any figures for the instrument accuracy so a calibration test seemed to be in order.

from John Dowson

continued on page 11

[email protected]


11


The simplest test to give some confidence in the gauges is to submerge the sensors in boiling water which will be at 100˚C slightly dependent on the ambient air pressure but that is getting just too picky! Before doing a calibration run, I measured some electrical parameters and was surprised to find that the sensor had approximately 6v across it when the gauge was supplied with 13.8v. As the sensor is a resistor it will be subject to some some self heating from the 6v. This self heating could affect the accuracy but as the sensor is submerged in a large volume of liquid with a much greater heat capacity, any self heating will be absorbed into the liquid. This would not be the case if the sensor was measuring ambient air temperature for, say, an ice warning, so a different sensor would be required for that application.

The photograph shows the test set up. I did not have a mercury in glass thermometer with the right range so used a K type thermocouple and amplifier manufactured by Fluke. This has an accuracy of +/- 2.5% at 100ºC so very similar to the VDO gauge. The test was conducted using the kitchen hob and an old saucepan. Readings were taken as the temperature was increased until the water was boiling but no attempt was made to dwell at intermediate temperatures to allow all components to stabilise so those readings were no more than a confidence check.

With the water boiling the results can be seen from the photograph, with the electronic thermometer showing 100.6ºC and the VDO gauge slightly below 100ºC.

The voltage applied to the gauge was also varied

between 11v and 16v but there was no significant change in indicated temperature.

A minor comment now on VDO temperature sensors.

The electrical connection seems to be of a type to suit

the American market. It is something called a type

56 connection or in the US a Packard connector. It is

actually a flat blade of metal with a long slot with a hole at the end. They are available in the UK but only in

quantities of 1000. I e-mailed the supplier of the VDO

gauges asking why they supplied that particular type

of sensor connector but the reply I eventually received

said that I was the first person to question it and therefore they didn’t think there was a problem. So I

soldered a male Lucar blade to the sensor connection

and insulated it with a

plastic cap.

Finally was this

exercise worthwhile

and should the

pressure gauge

also be checked?

Well, the answer

has to be a guarded

yes. It is always

worthwhile checking

that instrumentation

is telling the truth but

it is equally important

to understand where

the measurements

are being made and

what the parameters

should be at that

m e a s u r e m e n t

point. In an ideal

world individual

gauges would be

unnecessary and any

out of limits readings

would illuminate a

warning light with

the information

then displayed on a

warning panel, but

that’s not quite in the

principles of historic

rallying perhaps?

Should you wish to contact me I will be pleased to hear

from you at [email protected].

Test set up

Boil ing water result

John

The Engineering ColumnInstrument (In-)Accuracy continued from page 10

[email protected]


12


USB Sockets

There are an increasing number of plug in electrical items creeping

into our rally cars. Sat Nav, phone

charger, dash cam and for a summer

event perhaps a cool box, all requiring

an electrical supply which produces

a mass of spaghetti wires in the car.

Most period rally cars would have

had a single cigarette lighter socket

probably in a not very convenient

position. It was only recently that I

discovered that although they look the

same, cigarette lighter sockets are

slightly dimensionally different from the

similar looking auxiliary power sockets

fitted in modern cars. This explains why some expensive connectors

of German manufacture don’t fit a cigarette lighter socket properly.

Anyway, in an attempt to reduce

the number of wires lying around, I

decided that what was required was

a couple of USB sockets mounted on

the instrument panel to supply the

Sat Nav and a phone. A trawl through

eBay produced an amazing selection

of twin USB sockets and some of

them are designed to fit a standard rocker switch aperture, of which

there happens to be a spare one in

the XR2 panel. So for around £6, two

of the wires are shorter and not lying

around the foot well. Just have to sort

out the rest now!

John

Lightweight Competition Car Heaters

Since 1997 I’ve campaigned a Healey 3000 prepared to Works Specification. As everyone knows, these cars do not

generally require a heater, especially if they are used mostly in good weather. Therefore, anyone who builds such a car from scratch, would be well advised to remove the heater unit, saving at least 10 kilos in the process.

However, last March Willy Cave and I entered The Horneland Rally, an event I know well. Three weeks before the event, I looked at the route and discovered that one of the nights stops in Germany, was currently showing -8 degrees centigrade.

Naturally thoughts turned not only to winter tyres, but also the tortuous job of reinstalling the removed 1962 heater unit. Naturally therefore, I looked to see if there were any other alternatives. Eventually I found a company called T7 Design, who offer high efficiency, water powered, lightweight heater units with a single speed fan. For around £100, I took a chance and the nicely made unit was easily installed in a day. It’s simple, with two manual flaps for cockpit or demist. It’s also modular so you can configure the outlets where you need them.

It performed well on The Horneland (better than us) but this week I’ve been using the car for work, while my normal car is in paint. I would like to report that the little unit is really quite excellent, makes a big difference and should suit many classic car owners looking for winter warmth in a compact, efficient and simple package.

http://www.t7design.co.uk/index.php/heating/heaters/3-5kw-lightweight-heater-side-vents-12v.html

Mike

Technical Notes

from John Dowson from Mike Spindle




13


When? What? Where? Who? How?compiled by

Monica DowsonTo make sure you appear in this list, please email me on

[email protected] November Wed 25 12–car – Warwickshire 100 Revival www.coalvilleccc.org.uk Chris Valentine & James Barnard Porsche 924 1st o/a David Holmes Marshalling Thurs 26 British Motor Sports Marshals Club - Quiz Night www.marshals.co.uk N&B Team – Andrew Bodman, Ian Butcher, Andrew Duerden & David Holmes December Sat 5 - Tue 8 Le Jog www.craevents.eu Out of 45 finishers Ginger Ostle & Andrew Duerden Morris Cooper S 12th o/a & 2nd in class Peter & Helen Morris Volvo 123 GT Saloon 23rd o/a & 4th in class Wed 9 12–car – The Chinese Takeaway www.coalvilleccc.org.uk Chris Valentine & James Barnard Porsche 924 1st o/a Tues 15 12–car – The 12 Cars of Christmas www.loughboroughcarclub.uk Start/Finish at The Gate Hangs Well, Syston, LE7 1NH Richard Egger & Andrew Duerden Experts 2nd o/a

2016 January Fri 15 12–car – CSMA – North East London Group www.csma-nlr.org.uk Start at The John Bunyan PH, Colman Green, AL4 8ES. Map 166 C4. 45 mile route Sat 16 HRCR Open Day – Gaydon www.hrcr.co.uk Theme – BMC Mini & 1966 disqualifications of Minis & Lotus Cortina on (alleged) headlight infringements Tues 19 12–car – The Old Farts Lash www.loughboroughcarclub.uk Start/Finish at The Cow & Plough, Stoughton, Leics. Map 141 c3 (or later) Bill Douglas & TBA Subaru Andrew Duerden Organiser Roger Kerrison Marshalling John & Monica Dowson Marshalling Mon 25th January N&B Meeting 7.30pm – 9.30pm at Towcester Mill Brewery, Chantry Lane, Towcester, NN12 6AD Wed 27 12–car – Fox and Hen www.coalvilleccc.org.uk Mercia Motor Sports - Rugby MC / Coalville CC - HRCR entries/marshals welcome. Start/Finish at The Fox & Hen, Bascote Heath, Map 151 David Holmes Marshalling February Fri 5 12–car – CSMA – North East London Group www.csma-nlr.org.uk Wed 10 12–car – Derek & James Excellent Adventure www.coalvilleccc.org.uk Mercia Motor Sports - Rugby MC / Coalville CC - HRCR entries/marshals welcome. Bill Douglas & TBA Subaru Sat 13 HRCR Awards Dinner Dance www.hrcr.co.uk At Hellidon Lakes, Daventry. Followed by AGM the next morning on Sun 14th Feb. Tues 16 12–car – Max Torque Rally www.loughboroughcarclub.uk Richard Egger & Andrew Duerden Experts Sun 21 Red Kite Stages - Llandovery www.redkitestages.co.uk Round 1 of MSA Historic Rally Championship Bill Douglas & Dave Tearl BMW 1800 Sun 21 - Thu 25 Winter Challenge www.heroevents.eu John Ball & Andrew Duerden Citroen DS21 Sat 27 Retro Classic Tour www.heroevents.eu Start & finish at Race Retro. Lunch at Bicester Heritage with gymkhana style tests. Paul Boscott & Lynda Stangle Lotus Elan +2 Mon 29th February N&B Meeting 7.30pm – 9.30pm at Towcester Mill Brewery, Chantry Lane, Towcester, NN12 6AD March Fri 4 12–car – CSMA – North East London Group www.csma-nlr.org.uk Sat 5 32nd George Woods Novice Rally www.georgewoodsnovicerally.wordpress.com Glad Fish & Nick Wright Chief Organisers Sat 12 Classic Rally Tours – Training Rally www.classicrallytours.com Tues 15 12–car – Great Northern Rally www.loughboroughcarclub.uk Richard Egger & Andrew Duerden Experts Mon 21st March N&B Meeting 7.30pm – 9.30pm at Towcester Mill Brewery, Chantry Lane, Towcester, NN12 6AD Wed 23 12–car – The Silver Owl www.coalvilleccc.org.uk Mercia Motor Sports – Jaguar Apprentices MC / Coalville CC HRCR entries/marshals welcome. continued on page 14

mailto://[email protected]


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When? What? Where? Who? How?continued from page 13

April Sat 2 North Wales Stages- Dolgellau www.rallynorthwales.co.uk Round 2 of MSA Historic Rally Championship Bill Douglas & TBA BMW 1800 Sun 10 MK Classic Car Tour – 10th Anniversary email: [email protected] Or tel: 01525 290117 Organised by Alison & Mike Cornwell in aid of Little Lives Appeal New start at POPLARS Garden Centre – 200m east side of J12-M1 Alpine Circuit at Millbrook Proving Ground, Broughton Castle, Porsche Experience Centre Early entry advised – entries opened in Oct 2015. HRCR entries/marshals particularly welcome. Estelle & Adam Davis MGB Roger Kerrison & Richard Kerrison MGB Steve Moffatt & Andrew Bodman Marshalling Wed 13 12–car – C-X75 www.coalvilleccc.org.uk Mercia Motor Sports – Jaguar Apprentices MC / Coalville CC HRCR entries/marshals welcome. Tues 19 12–car – Brown Wheels Rally www.loughboroughcarclub.uk Richard Egger & Andrew Duerden Experts Sun 24 - Thu 29 Scottish Malts www.heroevents.eu Dilwyn Rees & Andrew Duerden Austin Healey 3000 Mk III Daniel & Barbara Wiedemann TBA Peter & Helen Morris TBA Mark & Sue Godfrey TBA May Sat 7 - Mon 9 CRT – Arras Classic Rally Tour www.classicrallytours.com Sat 21 Moonlight Meander http://mmsc.net.au/ Nick Wright & Ray Garrad Peugeot 505GTi Sun 22 Metric Services Easylarity Road Rally www.loughboroughcarclub.co.uk June Wed 1 - Sat 4 Three Castles Welsh Classic Trial www.three-castles.co.uk Entries opened on 1st Oct and now have 67 paid up entries Doug Carmichael & John Gearing MGB Roadster Mark & Sue Godfrey TBA Stuart Anderson & Richard Lambley Bentley 4¼ Sports Mon 13 - Sat 18 Paris – Vienna Rally www.rallyround.co.uk Classic reliability trial for the Charles Jarrott Trophy commemorating the epic Paris-Vienna race of 1902

David Alderson & Dennis Greenslade Volvo 123GT Fri 17 - Sun 19 Summer Trial www.heroevents.eu Based at Woodland Grange Conference Centre near Royal Leamington Spa Paul Boscott & Lynda Stangle Lotus Elan +2 July Mon 11 - Sat 16 1000 Mile Trial www.heroevents.eu Edinburgh to London (Woodcote Park, Epsom) August Sat 6 - Sun 7 Morning Mist Road Rally www.loughboroughcarclub.co.uk Sat 6 Ivans Folly www.pccv.org Nick Wright & Ray Garrad Peugeot 505GTi Sun 14 Welland Valley Wander Scenic Tour www.wellandvalleywander.co.uk September Sat 10 - Fri 16 CRT – The Classic Trophy Rally www.classicrallytours.com Visiting the Massif Central region of Southern France. Rally class & Touring class Terry & Pip Secker MG CGT Mike & Karen Spindle AC Cobra October Sat 15 - Mon 17 CRT – Champagne Classic Rally Tour www.classicrallytours.com November Thu 3 - Sun 6 RAC Rally of the Tests www.heroevents.eu Bournemouth – Bristol – Stoke - Chester Jonathan Hancox & Richard Lambley Triumph TR4 Peter & Helen Morris Volvo 123GT David Alderson & Dennis Greenslade VW Beetle 1300 Sat 19 - Mon 21 CRT – Beaujolais Classic Rally Tour www.classicrallytours.com

ginger ostle & andrew duerden—mini—competing on … · a great performance in a £2000...

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