2010 10 oct - Constructors Car Club

Spare Parts
October 2010 Issue 9 Volume 23
On the cover:
Various stories.
In this issue
Coming events...........................................2
Pointons Museum and Gladstone
Scarecrow Run..........................................3
Club Officials
President: Dave Clout
Secretary: Matthew Porritt
Club Captain: Richard Kelly
Treasurer: Stewart Collinson
Club Meetings
The Constructors Car Club Inc meets at
7.30pm on the second Tuesday of each month
at The Vintage Car Club, 3 Halford Place,
Petone (Eastern end of Jackson Street).
Prospective members or others interested in
building their own cars are welcome to attend.
(The club does request a donation of $2
towards running the meeting, and includes a
raffle ticket. Meetings generally include a guest
speaker or demonstration followed by general
discussion and supper.)
The Club Magazine “Spare Parts” is produced
monthly from February to December each
year. Contributions and advertisements are
welcomed.
Club minutes
Tuesday 14 September 2010......................4
Editorial....................................................7
Last month’s mystery car...........................8
This month’s mystery car..........................9
Spotlight on Seaview …
Note – no date given yet..........................10
Brian Nobbs – Rest In Peace Mate..........12
Notes from the LVVTA Newsletter.........13
News:
Saker GT Win for Graham Tilley............14
ClubSport October 2010.........................15
Update on Craig’s Diablo........................20
Pelican Parts’ 550 Spyder........................23
Escartus 1978 to 1982............................26
Sabre It....................................................30
Scruitiniering Pat’s Sabre.........................34
Correspondence......................................37
Car club website classifieds.....................42
Who’s who October 2010.......................44
Cut-off date for contributions for the next magazine is Tuesday 26 October 2010.
Send contributions to Brian by email: [email protected] or to Secretary
by ordinary mail.
Club Correspondence to:
The Secretary, Constructors Car Club, PO Box 38 573, Wellington Mail Centre, Lower Hutt 5045
Editor: Brian Worboys, phone: (04) 476 3799, [email protected]
Printing: The Colour Guy, 10 Raroa Cres, Lower Hutt, phone: (04) 570 0355
Design and typesetting: Tanya Sooksombatisatian, [email protected]
Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Constructors Car Club (Inc).
Coming events
Tuesday 12 October
Sunday 24 October
Speaker: Tony Johnson from LVVTA.
Seal Sprint Port Rd, Seaview. Run by
HVCC
Hopefully we will also have John Loar’s
prize-winning JohnLoar’s Ford F100
truck
Monday 25 October
Sunday 17 October 2010
Grass Autocross and Motorkhana
Silverstream. Run by HVCC
CDCC Clubmans race meeting at Manfeild.
(Several club members are entered).
Sunday 28 November 2010
Sunday 7 November
Depart from Caltex Rimutuka 10 AM.
A club run to have a look at the Gladstone
scarecrow festival, then a visit to the
Pointon Musuem. Some members will
remember Francis Pointon bringing his
Fiberfab Jamaican classic racing car along
to a club night earlier this year. Francis
has a collection of cars in the Wairarapa.
There is also an interesting garden and
period clothing on display. We will also
have lunch at the Gladstone Pub. The run
will take in some good roads too. If we
can get 20 people, the cost of the Pointon
Museum is $5 a head. See the notice in
this issue.
Sealed Autocross series, to run at the
Slipway venue in Brooklyn. This is the
final event in a 6 event series. Required:
Helmet, Overalls (100% cotton or race,
not polycotton), Road legal tyres (no
slicks, no balds), $30 entry.
www.hccc.org.nz
4th or 5th of December
Club Christmas Run or Dinner
Keep these nights free! The plan is to go
to The Carvery in Trentham. We could
go past the Christmas Lights on the way
back. More details to follow.
Sunday 7 November
Those not going on the scarecrow run
might be interested in swinging by the
Vintage Car Club Open Day at their clubrooms (the same place as we hold our
meetings) There will be an extensive car
boot sale going on and also the club parts
store will be open. Starts at 11:00am.
Sunday 14 November
Tui Brewery “Mangatinoka Motors” car
meet/show event. Members who have been
to this in the past say it’s a fun event.
Richard Kelly flicks a tyre into the air whilst
competing in a Slipway autocross earlier in
the year.
Photo courtesy of www.motorsportcentral.co.nz
Pointons Museum and Gladstone Scarecrow Run
Bob Cumming
CCC Scarecrow
run to Gladstone
7 November 2010
We have a club trip planned for Sunday 7th
Nov. To visit Pointons Museum in Masterton.
The idea is to coincide with the Gladstone
Scarecrow Festival and travel Via the old
Gladstone road to view the scarecrows.
The idea came from a ride though there a
few years ago, the landowners had really
put some effort in and the displays were
well worth a look. I have had a report that
the scarecrows haven’t been so good lately
but that back road is always a favourite drive
and a good excuse to get the cars out!
You will know about the Museum from the
talk Francis did at the club night a couple
of months ago. He has said he would open
up the back shed and show us the projects
he has on the go as well, and apart from the
cars and motor bikes Mrs Pointon has a craft
shop and a period fashion display, so there
is something for the whole family.
Entry is $6.00 per head but if we can get
more than 20 in the group it will be $5.00
We should be finished at the Museum
by about 1 pm. So we thought we would
head to the Gladstone Pub for lunch or if
that is too busy the Wild Oats in Carterton.
After lunch head home via the back road to
Martinborough or if anyone wanted to they
could spend the afternoon in the Wairarapa
I hear the wine tasting is quite good.
Sunday 7th November
• Leave Caltex Rimutuka 10 AM.
• Pit Stop Martinborough Square 10.45
to 11.00.
• Travel along the Gladstone road and
check out the scarecrows.
• Tour of Pointons Museum 12.00 until 1.00.
• Head off for lunch 1.00 to 1.30.
Coordinator: Bob Cumming 04 972 7674,
025 222 6817
Club minutes Tuesday 14 September 2010
President: Dave Clout
7. Outward Correspondence:
Secretary: Matthew Porritt
None
1. Apologies:
8. Treasurer’s Report:
Alan Price, Matthew Cooley, Guy Cross,
Alan Cheriton
Treasurer Stewart Collinson reported there
was very little to report. Still in the process
of balancing up from the trackday.
2. Visitors:
None
9. Committee Report:
3. Previous Minutes:
If you have had any problems signing up
to receive the club’s Yahoo email, speak to
Richard Kelly and he will get you added.
In the magazine.
Matters Arising
Minutes: None.
From
the
Previous
4. Previous Events:
Sunday 29 August – Manfield Track day.
45 brave souls battled the rain to get up
to the track, where the weather cleared. It
was a good day, but we could have used
some extra flag marshalls.
5. Coming Events:
Sunday 26 September – Wellington Car
Club Shelley Bay bent sprint.
25/26 September – The Pride and the Passion
vehicle show to be held in Levin. This event
is hosted and presented be members of the
Horowhenua Branch, VCC.
Sunday 7 November – A club run to have
a look at the Gladstone scarecrow festival,
then a visit to the Pointon Musuem.
Sunday 14 November – Tui Brewery
“Mangatinoka Motors” car meet/show
event.
6. Inward Correspondence:
Petrolhead Magazine, Sports Car Talk and
the Early American Car Club magazine.
Mangatinoka Motors event advertising.
10. Tech Committee Report:
Following some recent scrutes, Grant
wanted to remind builders of a few things
to take into consideration when building
a car:
• When locating a steering column in your
build, remember that engine mounts
tend to sag, meaning the engine doesn’t
always stay exactly where it was originally mounted, which can affect steering
shaft clearance.
• Driveshaft hoops must be made from a
material no less than 50mm x 5mm. Some
of the commercially available driveshaft
hoops do not meet this criteria!
• Watch that your wheel studs engage
sufficiently with the wheel nuts. The
rule of thumb is that you should have
6-7 full turns of clear thread before the
nut “bites”. This is a particular problem
with Cortina hubs, which tend not have
studs long enough to suit alloy wheels.
11. Magazine, Spare Parts:
Editor Brian Worboys reported the
September magazine had 48 pages, which
is pretty good. Please send Brian your articles and photos.
12. Mystery Car:
This month: Stewart – Pegaso
Sam – Studebaker
Phil says makes it even more economical
than the factory computer. The ute has
190kW at the wheels and makes a good
daily driver. The only modification to the
engine is a set of custom extractors. Phil
says it’s right on the noise limit.
13. Buy, Sell, Swap:
19. Raffle:
Last month: No one guessed correctly (see
the September magazine for the answer).
Jared Scarlett is after a set of Sierra or
Cortina wheels to roll his McGregor
project around on. They don’t need to be
pretty.
Number: 10 – Stewart Collingson
The meeting closed at 9:05
14. Club Shop:
Ken modelled the prototype of the new
rain jacket. They will probably be about
$30. Watch this space.
15. General Business:
John Wilson has had a pacemaker fitted
and is doing well. Well enough in fact to
renew his membership!
16. Tool of the Month
Mike Macready brought in a telescopic
inspection light and mirror, like a big
dentists mirror. He finds is good for scrutineering checks.
Comfortable & practical seats
17. Guest Speaker:
Frank Mander runs a soda-blasting business called “The Blast Off Guy”.
He uses food grade baking soda with
compressed air. Granules are propelled
at the object and explode on impact. It
does not affect glass, chrome or rubber,
which is a big advantage over sand blasting. The process can also be used to clean
up masonry and strip the paint off wood.
It is a non-abrasive process so it removes
paint, but not rust.
Examples of Soda Blasting
18. Guest Vehicle:
Phil Murray’s 1993 Toyota Hilux extracab ute. Phil fitted a Lexus V8 and Supra
gearbox. It runs a Link G4 ECU, which
Members almost obscure the Ute
The lettering says it all …
Functional interior
Hix Lux Ute engine bay – very tidy
Members obscure the Ute
Members inspect the Ute
Editorial by Brian Worboys
Changing the give-way rules
Have I got this right? We are changing the
road rules back to how they used to be
in 1972 because this will save lives. But
we aren’t going to start saving these lives
until 2012?
How about, there’s a truck parked in the
middle of the motorway, and we plan to
move it next week.
webpage. There has to be consultation.
Yep, that could do it. International experience supports the change. The AA supports it. Public polls support it. Yet we are
happy to pay for a consultation process
with additional fatalities. I guess Nero was
actually consulting while Rome burned.
The editor
How about, there’s a dog wandering the
neighbourhood and we’ve just found out
it’s rabid so we will catch it next month.
Why not do it now? Lets save the lives
starting right away. We’ve all seen it on
TV. We’ve looked at BOTH diagrams.
Yep, there are a whole two of them. About
a week of repeating the same stuff on TV, a
letter drop and a bit of cautious muddling
about on the road should get it done.
There was some talk that the change
should take place after the rugby world
cup. What on earth has this got to do with
it? Two years more delay for this reason
just means unnecessary additional car
crashes and the associated fatalities can
then be blamed on rugby.
Do it now.
Oh dear… I think I have found the answer
to my own question. I’ve just re-read the
The new give way rules from the Transport
Agency website
Last month’s mystery car
In the meeting last month we
had two guesses: a Pegaso and
a Studebaker. Both wrong.
The car was an Abarth 1500
Coupe Biposto. This model
was produced from 1952 to
1957 and had a 1.4 litre 75 hp
engine.
The car had an overhead valve
4-cylinder engine had dual
Weber Tipo 36 downdraft carburetors, 4-speed gearbox with
suspension; front, independent
with coil springs, rear, solid
axle with semi-elliptical leaf
springs and hydraulic drum
brakes.
This Bertone-bodied Abarth
1500 Biposto Coupé is among
the earliest, if not the first,
Fiat-based Abarth. It is Franco
Scaglione’s first design for
Bertone and the centerpiece of
Bertone’s exhibit at the XXXIV
Turin Motor Show in 1952.
The 1952 Turin Motor Show
Abarth 1500 Bertone coupé is
patently the first in Scaglione’s
series of aerodynamic technical
exercises, incorporating both
concept and details echoed in
the subsequent B.A.T.s. It was
followed in 1953 by a similar
design on a Fiat 1100 chassis.
Following the Turin Show it
was purchased by Packard and
brought to Detroit where it
was used in Packard’s design
studio.
Mystery car 10 09
Abath Biposto 1952
Abarth 5
Biposto
side view
Biposto
rear corner
Biposto at
the rear
This month’s mystery car
This is a competition. Do you know what this vehicle is?
Please provide country of origin, manufacturer, model name and number and other distinguishing details.
Have a go. Announce your best guess at this month’s club meeting and get it recorded
in the minutes, or email it to The Editor. The winner will be announced in the next
issue of Spare Parts. Extra points will be awarded for any additional interesting relevant
information, pictures etc. provided.
Remember… we want the actual name of the car.
***Notice***
Spotlight on Seaview …
Note – no date given yet.
Hello
As you may be aware the Seaview Working Group was set up recently to
facilitate the long-term interests of industry in the Seaview area.
Out first initiative is Spotlight on Seaview a Mass Open Day where businesses
in this area are given the opportunity to showcase themselves by offering tours,
information, retailing and demonstrations of their products and services.
I was wondering if the Constructors Car Club would be interested in being
part of the event and showcasing your cars to the public. This would be a great
opportunity to let everyone see the cars that have been constructed as well as a
chance to attract some new members.
Dave Beazer suggested that the club would be a great addition to the event.
We are also looking for transport around Seaview for visitors on the day. So far
we have 2 limos doing circuits of the area and offering lifts. If we could cover
petrol costs would the Car Club be interested in working as a mode of transport
around Seaview?
The goal of Spotlight is to increase awareness of the wide range of industry in
this area Hutt and Wellington business and public.
Around 40 local businesses have confirmed their participation so far including:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
10
Kadima – Design consultations, demonstrating the upholstery process
Top 10 Holiday Park – Tours of Park, discounts on next stay
Turners – Car deals, BBQ
Teacher Direct – Clowns, face painting, children play activates
Seaview Marina –Boat Crane demonstrations, Marina walks
Capital Limos – Limo rides, discounts
Macaulay Metals – Guided plant tours, car crushing
Heavy Metal – Demonstrating the metal pouring process
Deborah Sweeney – Annual Fashion Sale
Winesale.co.nz – Wine Tasting, specials and offers
SpeedTech- High performance car demonstrations
Placemakers- Spotlight Specials, children’s activates, BBQ
We are expecting a very good turn out on the day and our advertising campaign
includes posters, billboards, ads and editorials in local papers. We are creating
an e-mailable invite for all business to send to their database, which will also be
sent to the HCC and Hutt Chamber of Commerce databases.
This is going to be a very exciting event with so much on offer for the public. I
look forward to talking with you about Spotlight.
Regards
Theo Nettleton,
0276346542
11
Brian Nobbs – Rest In Peace Mate
Sadly Brian Nobbs passed on last month. Brian was a car racer, car builder, mechanic,
trader, mentor, devoted husband to Vicki and family man extraordinaire. More than a
dozen club members attended his funeral and as we listened to the tributes and saw the
pictures on the screen the extent of the loss was really brought home to us. In recent
years Brian was a great help and inspiration to so many of us, but this wasn’t just a
recent thing. Brian had been a great help and an inspiration to so many for the whole of
his 64 years. He was a club member for a long time, probably best known recently for
his association with the (shown in Dave Beazer’s article in the issue) little sports car that
was originally built by Ian Macrea, but resurrected and totally rebuilt and raced by Brian.
Unfortunately Ian also passed away earlier in the year, so for us all, a significant motoring
chapter has just closed.
Notes from the LVVTA Newsletter
The LVVTA sends out a newsletter for all
the Low Volume Certifiers. The following
are snippets from the April-May-June 2010
issue, with a few comments relevant to
CCC interests.
Bump steer
LVVTA are developing a “bump-steer swingcheck bar” that can measure bump steer
more simply than a computerised wheel
alignment machine. The device still has a few
glitches to be sorted out, but when proven,
and if we can have access to one, this could
be a real benefit for CCC builders.
September If anyone knows of people who
should have the opportunity to comment,
please email Tony on [email protected].”
LVV certification numbers for 2010
“After a slow start to the year in January and
February, and then a spike and a trough in
March and April, the last three months of
2010 have tracked fairly well. The monthly
average so far for the year 2010 is 527.”
CCC Members take note. We don’t account
for even one tenth of one percent of these
certs. But, of course, only a small fraction of
all certs are for whole new cars.
Wilwood and Outlaw calipers:
Not so Supreme
“Another problem occurring with brakes
is a lot of people are buying second-hand
Wilwood and Outlaw calipers off Trademe,
but they are not taking enough care to make
sure that the caliper thickness is compatible
with the rotor thickness. In some cases I fear
that on HQ style spindles customers have
fitted the above calipers designed for a 32
mm rotor on to a 25 mm rotor. With the VL
and Outlaw calipers, they have a support
system for the pad. If you have too much
gap between the rotor and caliper, as the
pad wears it actually tries to drop off the pad
supports and jam between the caliper and
rotor face.”
“From a number of different sources, LVVTA
has become aware of failures of the brand
of wheels known as ‘Astro Supremes’.” This
is not surprising when you see how they are
made. In order to be able to weld the centres
to the rims after the parts have been chrome
plated they actually avoid welding the two
parts together directly, and join them with
intermediary tabs that are low temperature
welded to the centres and the rims at
locations that are not seen from the front
face side of the wheel. They could make a
good strong wheel if they wanted to by
properly welding the two main parts directly
together, but instead of this, in the interests
of a clean chrome look, the manufacturer
compromises strength and safety. The
LVVTA sum this up appropriately: “LVVTA
believes that these wheels should not be
used, and LVV Certifiers will be instructed
not to approve any such wheels for LVV
certification if presented, irrespective of
condition. If they haven’t cracked yet, they
probably will eventually.”
Electric
closer.
vehicle
standard
moves
“Work on the draft Electric Vehicle Standard
has been moving along, with Dan Myers
and a team of knowledgeable members
of the Constructors Car Club reviewing
the old guideline developed in 1996. The
draft standard is scheduled to be formatted
and distributed for consultation during
Illustration page 48.
13
News: Saker GT Win for Graham Tilley
Club member Bruce Turnbull sent in a link
from a UK motorsport website. As you will
know, Bruce’s “Saker” sports cars continue
to grow in popularity in Europe and just a few
weeks ago they had a big win. Clips from
the press release follow. The picture might
be the actual car and driver… Bruce isn’t
sure, but it could be. Great to see Bruce’s
design doing so well.
“Grahame Tilley, the first racer to purchase a
Saker in the UK, stormed to an overall victory
at Rockingham on Bank Holiday Monday
(30/8/2010) in the Euro Saloon and Sports
Car Championship. Grahame shared the
story of his victory with us…
“Race day started with a twenty minute
qualifying session on a dry, but cool track.
There was a strong breeze blowing down
the main straight, which no doubt helped
the car’s speed. On Friday, during testing,
14
I was going through
the first banked turn
at 122 mph. During
qualifying,
with
the tail wind, the
speed increased to
132mph. Unusually,
for a racetrack, it
actually felt very
quick,
especially
with
the
wall
looming up on the
outside. However,
the Saker was
really good in the
high speed turns and absolutely awesome
on the infield section, to the point where I
managed to gain pole by almost nine tenths
of a second.”
“Although I was out dragged into the first
chicane by both the Lotus and V8 supercar,
they were preoccupied with holding each
other up and I managed to squeeze my
extremely nimble Saker GT inside them to
take the lead. This was all I needed and I
managed to open a gap through the infield
section, which meant that they could not
attack me on the long straights. I then
managed to control the race from the front
and hold the gap to the Lotus at about 2.5
seconds throughout the race. I was delighted
to win my first race at Rockingham. It was a
such a memorable win, as it was also the
first victory for the Saker GT in a British
championship event!”.
ClubSport October 2010
by Dave Beazer
Wow, this year is surely flying by. It is nice
to see the magazine coming along strong
thanks to our bully of an Editor. I kid you
not but what would we do without him. As
such I feel he deserves some recognition or
revenge, whichever way you look at it. So if
you are around the country and wonder who
he is, this is Brian at a local car club sprint
in Lower Hutt.
Moving along, a new motorsport season
is upon us and CCC members have been
competing with success already. But our
season will be tinged with some sadness
for some time as we remember and miss a
cheerful and good mate who left us on the
15th September from a terminal illness.
Brian Nobbs
October 1945 – September 2010
“Gone But Not Forgotten”
Pictured Brian with wife Vicki at the Port
Road Sprints in Lower Hutt, the personality,
the smile and the laughter will be missed by
the many who knew him.
Brian drives a VW based special that is very
quick on short type sprint events and Gymkanas,
he epitomizes the Club Sport Competitor, he is a
credit to our club and liked by all except some of
us at magazine time.
Au revoir and so long
Brian the club racer. MG Classic … Magic
Manfeild.
15
Ice Breaker Meeting
Hampton Downs 25th 26th September
Club member Anthony Moult and myself
absconded from work for a couple of days
and made the long and expensive haul to the
new facility at Hampton Downs. It is a great
track, a racers dream with a wide smooth
track with the ups and downs that get the
adrenaline going for sure. It is brilliant that
there are members in the club that support
and help others when they go racing, so
having Anthony onside sure helped to reduce
any stress and enable careful checking and
preparation which is the key to a stress free
and fun day.
Saturday had a mix of wet spells throughout
the day making some races unpleasant. My
only race on the Saturday was damp but I
was fortunate to have minimal rain. Sunday,
while not that hot was mostly fine so the
racing was able to be enjoyed by all.
At this meeting I ran with the Historic Racing
Sports Cars with a mix of single seaters and
sports cars. Again with this class I have the
issue of similar power to alot of the cars but
pay the weight penalty of being between
100–150kg heavier than most of the cars
competing.
In spite of having issues with not getting
the heat up and getting the most out of my
new tyres I had a number of tussles and still
enjoyed some close racing. 30 cars entered
in my class, 24 –28 on average per race
Times
Practice
Race 1
Race 2
Race 3
5th
16th
12th
16th
1.24 dry
1.25 damp
1.25 dry
1.23 dry
Overall the rebuilt engine ran like a dream
– thanks Paul, Ants and John.
16
The Hampton Downs experience, September
2010, Dave Beazer having fun as it should be.
I also managed to avoid most of the dramas,
so I brought the Lotus home in one piece
albeit that both the race car and tow car
were very dirty as a result of all the rain of
recent times and road works.
IRC MEETING
NZ SPORTS CARS – SPORTS SUZUKI
Manfeild 2nd 3rd October 2010
Another great meeting held in fine sunny and
hot weather – hurrah. Lots of club members
around which made for an enjoyable and
social day. As for the racing, in the words
of one racer !!
“WELLINGTON ROCKS”
This spontaneous quote came about as a
result of all three races, one on Saturday
and two on the Sunday that were all won by
Wellington cars and drivers. Not a common
occurrence!
Our club’s most advanced and special
homebuilt ground effects sports car that
had such a dismal first two seasons, has
now finally seen the success that it deserves
and club member Mark Galvin celebrated
the race meeting with two wins and a new
sports car lap record of 1:07.5 – that’s right
1min 7 sec’s. Wow.
In the final handicap race John Mines gritted
his teeth and tore through the field to win the
third race and make it a trifecta for the CCC
Club with both cars powered by Hyabusa
Suzuki engines. Johns extensive rebuild
over the winter with the additions of some
ground effect aero has seen his car much
faster in the entry and overall corner speed
and bodes well for the forthcoming season.
Mark Galvin, Terra FX.
On the dummy grid at
magic Manfeild – IRC
series 2010. New
Sports Car lap record
1:07.5.
17
Anti clockwise:
Mark shown on the left. Leading the field of busy
Sports and Suzuki racing cars. John Mines not
far behind.
John Mines shown on the left in the white JRM
3. About to take the lead in the final race of the
day for his first win of the season.
Club members always about to help on the day,
Garth Hickling & Paul Rasmussen. Both part of
the John Mines’ support crew
Huw Allen with his road legal Saker Sprint, also
had a great day on the pace showing great
speed, supported by wife Kathy and umbrella on
dummy grid.
All work and no play. They don’t call him the
spanner man for nothing, Darryl Cooley always
on hand to give his son the best opportunity and
advice.
Finally, Chris Allen. Yet another club member to
have a great weekend in his Chevron. 4 seconds
off his lap time, Wow ! what has he done to his
engine one might ask? Well done Chris, great to
see that big smile on your face.
18
A family affair with the Cooley tribe and relatives, Alan Cheriton, Darryl and Matthew Cooley all on
hand to give son and brother a hand with his Suzuki single seater.Wives and families also not far away.
Results for the weekend IRC Manfeild
Sports cars – overall
Mark Galvin
John Mines
Huw Allen
Chris Allen
Sports Suzuki
Glenn Cooley
Race 1
1st
4th
9th
16th
Race 2
1st
5th
7th
14th
Race 3
9th
1st
8th
14th
8th
11th
6th
Series
Leads open class
Leads 2 litre championship
That’s it for now, see you at the MG Classic November 13/14 … as they say, “Anything is
Likely”
19
Update on Craig’s Diablo
by Craig Burlie and Pat Harlow
Following is correspondence relating to
Pat’s article in Spare Parts last month on
Countess.
From Craig:
A great read and an accolade to Dave –
who in my opinion has not received nearly
enough recognition for the part he has
played in the NZ auto scene. I do however
need to correct a few of the captions that
accompany the Photographs.
Strictly speaking the white Countess that
is listed as being mine – was owned by my
ex wife Geraldine. Having said that - the
car pictured on Page 33 is not the one we
had. I believe this is the first car that David
produced and was photographed by a friend
of mind may years ago who passed a copy
of them on to me when he discovered that I
had also owned such a car and was a fan of
the Countess cars produced by Dave.
The pictures on Page 34 are of the Countess
that we had – but as much as I would like to
claim the picture of the engine bay correct
– I cant. In this case I think the engine bay
is from Dave’s yellow race car. The article
includes a section where Rob Hawkins – an
auto writer from the UK describes his drive
in the same car that I believe the engine bay
photo is from.
I was in Fielding at the point that Dave
had received an enquiry from Japan from
somebody wanting to buy a car and Dave
was considering freshening up his personal
car and selling that. We took the car out
into the back roads of fielding do take some
video footage from inside the car and I can
confirm that Rob Hawkins gives a very good
description of what the ride was like.
20
I will have to pull finger and do a proper
article on the build of the Diablo that is
mentioned – but in the mean time here is a
shot of the current stage the Diablo chassis.
This was taken two weeks back and since
then I have sat the engine and transmission
in place.
Regards,
Craig Burleigh
Pat replies:
Craig is quite right in his call of the pictures.
It is my policy to always acknowledge who
the photograph came from and confusion
has arisen due to the way they were placed
in the article. In the pictures I send to the
magazine editor along with a story, the
person who took/provided the picture
is always the name before the “-” ie “C
Burleigh-” and “P Harlow-” This ensures
that they get the credit due. The pictures
on page 33 are of the prototype and Craig
was the person who provided me with the
photos. I am sure that Craig is correct about
the engine bay on page 34 as it shows a V8
and his car had a Mitsubishi V6. I included
that V8 picture as a bit of artistic licence.
Almost all the Countess cars had a V8.
From memory I never claimed that any of the
pictures were of Craig’s car but I can see
how the confusion could have come about.
This Lamborghini Countach has always been
one of my favourite cars and I currently have
pictures of it hanging in my garage, office
and the classroom I mainly teach in. I had
one hanging in the Lounge for several years
until my wife decided to redecorate and the
picture was banished to the garage. Despite
the trauma that ensured our marriage
Craig’s Diablo replica chassis
somehow survived. Over the years since
there have been several attempts to get
it back into the house but she has quickly
spotted the 800 x 600mm picture and it has
been stuck in the garage again. I have not
bought it back into the house for a wee while
now as she told me where she was going to
put the picture should she see it again. As
a boy back in the early 70’s, I heard that the
chief test driver for Lamborghini was a Kiwi
by the name of Bob Wallace. Being more
than a little ambitious I decided that as I was
young and he was old that the best person
to replace him was me so I duly sent my CV
to “The Manager, Lamborghini Car Factory,
Italy.” Although I am still waiting, almost 40
years later I have yet to receive a reply. Still
it could be in the next post.
I first saw the David Short prototype at the
Auckland Sports car Club Motorshow in
1989 I think. The car was spinning on a
turntable at the entrance to the show and
looked magnificent. It was the first full sized
Lamborghini I had ever seen and it looked
better in real life than in the pictures. It was
powered by a Lexus V8. David was not sure
what capacity but it was under 4 litres and
may have been 3.6 litres although David said
that there was more room in the Countess
than the Countach it was still pretty tight. I
fondly remember the time, in the late 90s,
when I received a phone call from Roy Hoare
to say that Craig had his Countess parked in
his driveway in Wainuiomata. As I happened
to be going over to Wainui on the way to
umm… somewhere else I thought I should
drop in and check it out.
Craig’s car was one of the first five or six kits
built by Countess Mouldings and Roy was
helping Craig out by trying to rectify a couple
of bugs the car had in it’s steering and/or
suspension. This Countess had been built
by MF King as a retirement project and was
powered by a Mitsubishi V3000. To ensure
that he could use the Mitsubishi computer
King had retained the original dashboard
21
The only Diablo body made by Countess Mouldings. Now owned by Craig Burleigh.
which was hidden in the boot. The car still
had it’s Mitsubishi automatic gearbox and I
was more than thrilled when Craig offered
me the opportunity to drive it. But as it often
happens when the universe decides to smile
on you it is just a matter time before the other
shoe drops and you realise that perhaps it
would have been better if you had stayed in
bed. The first impression I remember from
hopping into the Lamborghini replica was
how low the roof was. The second was that
I was too tall for it. Although I would not
have to worry about getting my leg past the
steering wheel to depress the clutch there
was no way I would be able to kink either
leg into the required angle to depress the
brake peddle. As this was pretty important
to Craig I had to pass up on the one and
only opportunity I have ever had to drive my
greatest dream car. On a trip to Countess
22
Mouldings some years later this was again
confirmed when I tried to sit in each of the
four cars he had there at that time. The only
one I could operate was the car still under
construction and had been improved to fit
the taller figure. Sadly there was no motor
in at the time. Finally I must commend Craig
for the work he has done on his Diablo
and have included the picture I took of his
Diablo body in David Shorts shed. Although
the powers that be did not publish it in last
months story I have included it once again
as it is probably the only fibreglass bodied
Diablo to be made in New Zealand. Certainly
the only one made by Countess Mouldings
and therefore well worth the mention. I look
forward to hearing from Craig about this car
as I am certain there are a few interesting
twists in it.
Pat.
Pelican Parts’ 550 Spyder
Here’s a drawing of the 550 Spyder. This is courtesy of Pelican Parts www.pelicanparts.com.
They really did give permission for us to use it. In fact, they said “I don’t see a problem with
you reprinting the image and attributing it to Pelican Parts. Thank you for having the integrity
to check with us. Regards, Scott”
23
Escartus 1978 to 1982
by Patrick Harlow
Escartus as seen in Classic Car 2004. Credit: Classic Car.
Although being famous for its earthquake
and art deco style architecture, for a short
time Napier was also famous for being
the manufacturer of New Zealand’s only
supercar at that time. Graeme Ross along
with his father Don were very keen on
owning a supercar but there was absolutely
no way that they would ever be able to
afford to buy one. The alternative to buying
one was to design and build one. Graeme
was a carpenter by trade and always keen
to give anything a go. However he had never
built a car before or even used fibreglass
but despite this he boldly decided to put his
aspirations into action. Initially he started by
building small clay models of the features
he would like to see on a supercar taking
inspiration from the then current Lamborghini
Countach, Ferrari 308 and the Lotus Esprit.
Once father and son had agreed on the
style it was scaled up to a full sized buck.
To put it into production they quickly
became aware that some things would be
key factors in influencing the final design.
One of the main considerations was the
windscreen. A big windscreen was desirable
26
but with Lamborghini type windscreens
being very expensive they could not even
be considered. Graeme eventually settled
on the far more affordable Alfetta GTV
windscreen because it was the deepest one
available at the best cost. All other glass
on the car was simple flat laminated glass
panes. Another influencing factor were
the headlights and sidelights. These were
sourced from the relatively new Rover SD1
with modern Falcon taillights at the rear. As
it was going to be an upmarket car it would
also have electric popup headlights, electric
seats and windows. Because at the time
Graeme had a young family there was no
point in building a two seater supercar so
he made it a 2 + 2. Most of the electrical
moving parts such as windows, seat and
popup headlights were powered by wiper
motors as factory made equivalents were
just too expensive. Instrumentation was after
market Stewart & Warner gauges set inside
a custom made binnacle.
For the prototype an existing Triumph Herald
chassis was used which was cut in half and
widened by another 400mm. The standard
independent rear suspension was widened
with the Herald diff head being replaced by
a Triumph 2.5 one which had a 3.5:1 ration
and Triumph 2.5 half shafts. To keep things
consistent Triumph 2.5 uprights were used
on the front suspension as well which was
a good thing as they were stronger. Later
cars would use a Leyland P76 dif head, with
more suitable 2.9:1 ratio; this was mounted
independently with shortened P76 half
shafts. A widened transverse spring similar
to the one used on the Triumph Herald was
only used on the first two cars after which
Graeme switched to coil over shocks all
round. Apart from the prototype all other
chassis’ were constructed in house out of
RHS and channel that was then hot dip
galvanised.
What started as whim became a full time
job as Graeme took a year off work to
create the buck, moulds and a driveable
prototype. Budget constraints were always
an issue and despite being designed for a
V8 motor, at one time it looked like the best
that could be afforded would be a Cortina
2.0ltr Pinto motor which neither father nor
son were happy with. Fortunately during
the build of the first car they were able to
source some detuned P76 V8 motors that
had been destined to go into a Terrier truck.
The motors were brought in by the Napier
company of Stuart Greer. Although not
as powerful as motors destined for use in
cars the price was such that they were too
good to pass up and they certainly fitted
the style of the car better than the Ford 4
Above: Graeme Ross’s own
car the protoype circa 1986.
Credit: G Ross.
Right: Production car under
construction at the Nivan Street
factory in Napier. Credit: G Ross.
27
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
28
1. This car clearly needs restoration. Missing tail
light comes from a Ford Falcon
2. JStar Wars or Star Trek. This car was clearly
off the planet
3. This example of the car resides in Auckland
and is being turned into an electric car now
4. JThis car went into production around the
same time as the first Star Wars movie
5. Leyland 4.4ltr alloy V8
6. Petrol was put into the fuel tank via the rear
flying buttress
7. This dashboard would have looked pretty
amazing in the early 80s
Credit: Jay.
cylinder. A standard automatic Borg Warner
gearbox was fitted behind the 4.4ltr Leyland
V8 although some cars had a five speed
gearbox. Getting cars registered for the
road was a far simpler thing in those days.
Graeme said that all it required was for the
car to be driven out of the factory and down
to the local testing station where it had to
pass a Warrant of Fitness and pick up a pair
of registration plates
Eight cars in all were built at their Nivan
Street factory which were sold mainly
to friends. The dream was to go into full
scale production building turn key cars.
Unfortunately their timing was totally
wrong with the car coming into being at
a time when the Muldoon Government
was loading a huge sales tax onto luxury
items. The flat 20% sales tax applied to
cars was bad enough but the V8 engines
drew an additional 60% tax which bumped
the car up into an elite market. In 1980 the
turnkey Escartus cost $52,000 which is the
equivalent of about $250,000 in today’s
money. The customers were not there either
as even those who could possibly consider
such a price for a car were having to cope
with runaway inflation that existed in New
Zealand at that time. To make matters
worse people were also having to contend
with a wage freeze coupled with mortgage
interest rates that would eventually peak at
25%. The government was not interested
in giving a tax break to the struggling
company. An attempt was made to get the
car ready for small scale kit production but
it was still not economical. Facing such a
mountain of obstacles Graeme and Don
started to diversify into other less expensive
fibreglass products such as shower units.
Consequently the Escartus quietly ceased
production in 1982.
Bibliography
Thanks to Graeme Ross
Pictures from Graeme Ross, John Wilson,
Classic Car and Jay
Graeme’s car parked in the driveway at home. Note the Ferrari parked behind it.. Credit: J Wilson.
29
Sabre It
by Patrick Harlow
The Author sitting with Sabre outside the Almac factory earlier this year.
Photo courtesy Dominion Post
It seems to be a long time since I last wrote
a Sabre It article. For those that do not
remember these were a series of stories
where I journaled the build of my Almac
Sabre project and was a regular inclusion
in Spare Parts in the latter part of the last
century. This, by the way, is something
I thoroughly recommend. Not only does
it inspire other members to work on their
projects but it also makes a permanent
record of something that you did and is a
pleasant thing to look back on after a few
years. Naturally a bit of water has gone
under the bridge since I wrote those first
articles and now the Sabre has come up
once again for certification as it now boasts
it’s third motor. Originally built with a 2.3ltr
V6 which came out of the donor Cortina
car in 1995. Upgraded to a 2.8ltr Ford
30
Capri V6 in 1998. This was a very easy job
as the engine bolted into exactly the same
spot as the 2.3 motor with no alterations
being required.
The new millennium came and went and it
was a few years ago when I purchased a
Leyland P76 V8, near new. I thought that
it would make a good upgrade from the
V6 as everybody knows that a V8 sounds
better and is a far smoother running motor.
Unfortunately it had been stored outside
and water had gotten in through the inlet
manifold turning two of the cylinders into
weetbix and the motor was ceased solid.
That would have been the end of it but by
now I had sourced many of the parts I would
need to use for the upgrade such as a 2.9
ratio Cortina diff. This took a couple of years
to hunt down as these diff’s are very hard
to come by especially as they were only
fitted to the Australian Cortinas that were
powered by the Falcon straight six motors.
I had spent sometime phoning every Ford
wrecker in Australia and eventually found
one in Christchurch.
Shortly after the demise of the Leyland, long
time club member Ron Robinson offered me
a Rover 3.5ltr V8 that he happened to have
under a bench which was taking up space.
The only condition was that he insisted that
he would be the first to start the motor as
he wanted to be absolutely certain that he
had sold me a good motor. Rover motors
that have been sitting for a while need to
have things such as the oil pump primed
and the pressure checked before firing a
spark plug in anger. A condition I was happy
to accept as Ron was clearly an expert on
these motors.
As Rover parts are much easier to come by
than the Leyland parts and Alex McDonald of
Almac cars had offered to do the conversion
for me as a thank you for some work that I
had done for him it was decided to do the
complete change. The rear end was easy as
it was just a matter of bolting the new diff in
place. However once oil was put into the diff
it proceeded to deposit itself on the floor as
the front seal was clearly passed its use by
date. A new one was sourced and that was
the first easy problem sorted.
A gearbox was sourced from Ron Robertson
and reconditioned at Hutt Automatics and
the key parts were ready to go in. Due to the
fact that my health has deteriorated to the
point where it is very difficult for me to work
on cars, my primary function was to stay out
of the way and be the goffer which involved
sourcing the difficult to locate parts such
as the alternator, Edelbrock inlet manifold,
power steering pump (not used), drive
shaft (not used), water pump (wrong size),
gearbox mount (not used) and other parts
which would add to the growing pile on the
factory floor. See I have my uses.
Right from the start we knew that we were
going to have a problem getting the steering
shaft past the V8 as my Sabre was fitted
with a power steering rack that came off
the original donor car and as it enhanced
the driving experience I wanted to keep it.
Unfortunately the exhaust manifolds that
came attached to the motor were quite
determined to occupy the same space. I
managed to source a set of Rover SD1
manifolds from Auckland which looked like
they would do the job only to discover that
Alex already had a set so I added mine to the
same pile as all the other parts. I doubt that
few people aware that there as many as six
different sets of manifolds fitted to the 3.5
Rover motor depending on which vehicle
the engine was dropped into. Custom
headers were going to be very difficult to fit
in the tight space and it was decided that
the exhaust manifold fitted to the passenger
side would do the job if it was reversed
and put on the drivers side of the car which
would entail the exhaust pipe coming out
of the car pointing towards the front where
there was more room for it and then down
under the sump thus avoiding the steering
shaft. The theory was good and it did work
once a section of the manifold was ground
so that a patch could be welded into give
even more clearance, or so we thought.
Tony Love adapted original Cortina wiring
loom to work with the Rover motor after
which Ron came over to start the motor.
It started on the third attempt which was
pretty fantastic after all the years it had sat
on a shelf. A humorous thing that occurred
during this time was when Alex was filling
the engine up with coolant it seemed to
31
be taking an awful lot. That was until Ron
informed him that the Rover motors have
a tap on each side of the block to allow
for easy draining and the growing puddle
on the floor could be indicative of the fact
that these taps were not closed. Running
the motor also highlighted the next major
problem we would have as it proceeded
to dribble water out of the front of the
waterpump seal. I was sent to locate a new
waterpump and discovered that there were
as many as four different types of these as
well. I required one that would take a power
steering pulley and would not require a
hole to be poked in through the radiator to
fit it. Although this would have solved the
waterpump leakage we would then have to
solve the radiator problem.
Ron once again came to the rescue with
a variety of pumps, most of which leaked
because the seals had hardened as they
had been sitting dry for so long. I had started
researching people who could recondition a
Rover pump when Alex got one to seal after
it had been left soaking in coolant for a few
days. Fantastic, the car was dispatched to
the painters for a tidy up and a certification
was booked in through the club. It appeared
that I would have the car on the road for
October. I was confident that the car would
pass certification in all but two areas the first
of which was the exhaust as I suspected that
it could be too noisy. Also I was fairly sure
changing from a 3.5 to a 2.9 ratio diff with
a different gearbox would have changed
the accuracy of the speedo, both items I
believed would be easy to fix.
Grant Major, Tim Hutchinson and Brian
Worboys turned up at the Almac Factory one
Saturday morning in early September and
pretty quickly I realised that things were not
going to go too well. The first issue was that
when the car was airborne the exhaust would
32
pouch the rear passenger shock absorber.
In the thirteen years that I have had the car
it has never been airborne accept when it
was on a hoist. Still as it failed on noise,
that problem could be solved at the same
time as the sound problem. The next issue
surprised and irritated me and is a result of
bureaucracy rather than certification. All rear
drive cars require that a strap be fitted to
catch the drive shaft should it drop out of
the gearbox, dig into the road and cause the
car to jack knife over it. I have never heard
of this happening but fair enough. Alex had
welded a bit of 5mm x 45mm plate to the car
in the assumption that it would be more than
enough to do the job. Grant, Tim and Brian
all agreed that it was plenty strong enough
but unfortunately the bit of paper they had
in front of them stated that the minimum
size for the plate was 5mm x 50mm. I was
5mm out and the new straps would have to
be welded in place. I am curious as to how
production cars get a round this problem.
Although they may have a 5mm plate under
the car what is to stop the driveshaft getting
intimate with the driver as it comes flying
through the thin sheet metal that floorpans
are stamped out of.
The third issue was the steering. Since the
motor had been fitted it had settled down
on it’s engine mounts and the clearance
between the exhaust manifold had reduced
to the point where although it was not
touching, it was now deemed to be unsafe.
To give them credit Tim sketched a possible
solution and if I can get the parts it should
solve the problem.
The next couple of issues were not part of
the certification but were discovered along
the way. The first of these was when they
spun the front wheels to check the bearings
the brake disc started to turn a fraction of a
second behind the wheel. Since the day I
had finished the car in 1997 there had been
a click somewhere in the front suspension
that I had never been able to find. It only
occurred when I had reversed before
starting to go forward. I had kicked, prodded,
tightened and shaken various parts of the
suspension. In the end I had concluded
that it must be a bit of spelter inside the
chassis. That was not the case and 13 years
later Tim discovered the bolts that held the
disc onto the stud axle were slightly loose.
Despite numerous warrants of fitness it had
not been discovered or mentioned before. It
was pleasure to put this mystery to rest.
The final issue is a warning to all those that
fit aftermarket wheels to their cars which I
suspect is most of us. Most alloy wheels
come with blind nuts and it is difficult to tell
how much take up of the wheel stud the nut
does. The rules state (going from memory)
it must be 6 and a half turns for a coarse
thread and about 7 and a half turns for a
fine thread before the nut is fully engaged
and tight against the wheel. For normal
nuts the rule of thumb we all use is that the
end of the bolt should protrude through the
nut about 1 and a half to 2 turns. With an
alloy wheel nut you can not see this and I
had just assumed that due to the fact no
wheels had fallen off for the last 10 years, I
am sure I would have noticed, they must be
okay. Tim counted only 4 and half turns. We
tried an original factory Cortina wheel and
it went up 9 turns before full engagement.
Since fitting the new wheels I have travelled
70,000 km’s, some of them on the race
track, with nuts that were barely holding on.
My recommendation is that you check yours
just in case. The conclusion to all this is that
I now have 12 long wheel studs to locate
and fit to the car.
The Sabre will not be on the road for
October but hopefully for Christmas, in time
for summer and some topless motoring. The
certifiers did a great job checking my car
over and apart from that drive shaft strap
which still annoys me, I should have a much
safer car at the end of the day.
33
Scruitiniering Pat’s Sabre
by Brian Worboys
The original Clubsprint, closely based on the Lowcost and using Ford Escort engine and running gear
As is generally the custom for a scruit, Grant
sets it up with the car owner and a club
certifier, then phones round to find an extra
bod or two from the technical committee to
make up the team. I’m always pleased to be
able to help with these events as getting
cars onto the road is what the club is about,
and these scruits are the steps that make
this possible. It also tends to become a bit
of a technical committee mini-meeting with
the constantly moving landscape of LVVTA
regulations and associated political issues
always getting a good talking over.
And so we came to be gathered at the Almac
Kit Car Emporium on a Saturday morning for
the purposes of giving the newly repowered
Sabre of Pat Harlow a going over. How
34
this all worked out is well covered in Pat’s
“Sabre It” article in this issue. Pat wound up
with a few things still to be fixed. This pretty
much always happens. So much of building
a car is by nature breaking new ground and
it always seems to me you wind up doing
just about everything twice. Some things get
done twice before you get to the scruit and
other things get done twice after the scruit.
The issue with the drive shaft retaining strap
was a bit of an embarrassment. Obviously
the requirement of a 50mm x 5mm strap is
a bit over the top for some cars. But in other
situations (big horsepower cars with long
drive shafts) it might be about right. There is
a huge administrative advantage in keeping
it simple with a one-size-fits-all approach.
Alex driving the Clubsprint XL back into the workshop
Imaging the complexity there would be if
LVVTA set out to publish a table or a formula
to cover every possible combination of
driveshaft, vehicle weight, engine power,
universal joint type, strap location, etc. etc.
Quite unreasonable. So the embarrassment
really is that even with such a simple
regulation, it still got done wrong. The lesson
learned here I guess is that it pays to keep
in close communication with the technical
committee as you proceed with your build
so that you pick up on all these requirements
and just do things the usual twice instead of
three times.
Above: Tim and Alex discuss a technical aspect
of the Scruit. Right above: Alex and Tim with
the newer Almac Clubsprint XL employing MX5
mechanicals Right: The paper work, always with
the paperwork. The certifier’s least favourite part
of the job.
35
Above: Pat, Grant and
Tim checking out the
front end of the Sabre
Right: Clearance
between the steering
universal and the
engine was not
adequate
While we were there for Pat’s Scruit, there
was also an opportunity to have a look at
two versions of Alex’s Clubsprint. The
newer MX5 based Clubsprint XL is a very
well sorted bit of kit. It’s hard to argue with
the choice of donor, the relatively modern
MX5 bits are a perfect compliment to the
traditional 7 concept. There’s also room in
the front for a bigger engine if that is the
builder’s fancy. The other yellow car in the
36
workshop was Alex’s earlier Clubsport.
This car is much closer to the original Lotus
Seven in size and follows the tradition
faithfully by employing Ford Escort engine
and running gear. I must confess my head
favours the new XL, but my heart is with the
little traditional car.
Check out www.Almac.co.nz for more about
these cars.
Correspondence
Shakin all over
From: Walter Costa
Sent: Tuesday, 14 September
To: Stewart Collinson
Subject: Re: Shakin all over
Hi Stewart,
Not much goin’ on hear. Hornets down. I am porting it a bit see if I can get 65
MPH consistently with it. Maybe even 70. Woooooweeee! I was testing it the
other day when the drive belt let go. I mean it exploded into a gillian pieces! Hit
me in the shoulder. Got a nice red welt. I sent what I could find back to Carlisle
belts. Hope they warrant it. Damn things are over eighty bucks, and I only used
it for three months!
As for the Steadybraker. It’s really great. Drives like a dream and it cruises down
the road at any speed I want. The Overdrive makes it pretty economical as well.
I even have cruise control on it – well almost. I put a venier throttle on it and
mounted it just under the steering wheel. I just pull until it matches the throttle,
then if I want to go faster I just turn the nob clockwise if I want to speed up and
counter-clockwise if I want to slow down. Okay it ain’t rocket science but beats
the hell outa’ electronic cruise control – GAG! I HATE ELECTRONICS ON
CARS! today I was trying to repair the gas tank sending unit. Somewhere along
the way some dits brain put the incorrect sending unit in the tank and the resistance is different than the gauge requires. Makes the dash guage read incorrectly.
I’m beating the bushes this afternoon to try and find the correct one.
Everything else is great. I have my health, a roof over my head, a good woman,
one or two sheckels in my jeans-- Hell --what else could any man want.
As for Earthquakes – I’d rather you guys wouldn’t have one. Christchurch was
enough!
Walt
37
Nev on low energy motoring
Hi Brian,
A bit late now for a contribution for this month.
It is good to see the Aptera is coming along. I saw it about 2 years ago and was
quite skeptical, but it is actually quite an advanced design.
The VW 1 litre car has been around for nearly a decade now and I have already
mentioned it in at least 2 mag articles. The one shown is the original design.
The newer version is less pure, with “automotive styling” touches, which in my
opinion spoil it.
These show the sort of level of innovation and advanced design that I always
wanted to see coming from the ranks of the CCC. 1950s–70s level (Sevens and
Countaches) is good, but has all been done before.
My trike design is at a similar level of size, efficiency and practical usefulness to
the Aptera and VW 1L, but looks different to either of them. But all 3 follow the
same laws of physics and use similar technologies. The VW suffers from having
4 wheels, which means it has to jump through lots of expensive hoops to get on
the road (laminated glass windscreen, crash testing etc). Which is a good reason
to look at 3 wheels.
Of course, as long as many people believe there is ample fuel and no ecological
issues out there, “normal” cars will remain their first choice. As we all know in
our hearts, the earth really is flat, the moon is made of green cheese and the sun
is hauled across the sky each day by a chariot drawn by winged horses, to be
extinguished in the ocean each evening.
Cheers,
Nev
VW 100km per litre 2-seater now reported
as unlikely to be mass produced, at least,
not by VW. Maybe there is a Chinese version
in the wings though.
38
Aptera three wheeler electric or diesel hybrid,
now taking orders
Some Pervis Eurika correspondence…
From: Thor Charters
Sent: Saturday, 25 September 2010 7:56 p.m.
Subject: kit car
Hi there im kind of desperate to talk to someone with nolage of Purvis eurekas
as I own one I would like to try to repower it with a Subaru ej22 motor utilizing a vw bus box but need to know if any one has attempted this or even if it is
possible ..i just don’t know of any one with any sort of nolage on these cars .so
if you know of any one with good nolage or even someone with great vw nolage
it would be much appreciated and looking at your car meets I think I would like
to join the club and do some of your rallys etc many thx aaron 021 514665 or
09 4226975 ps my car was built in blenhum and is now sitting in warkworth 1
hour north of Auckland
(unsigned)
This is what a Pervis Eurika looks like
Wed, 29 September, 2010
Subject: Purvis Eureka
Hi Thor
My name is Ken McAdam. I am a member of constructors car club and own two
eureka’s
One with a 13b Rotary motor and the other one I am building and trying to put
a 3.8 commodore motor up the front. I believe a Subaru motor could be fitted
to one but unsure if you need the van gearbox or an ordinary one as the subaru
motor turns same dorection of rotation as the VW motor but the van gearbos is
designed to run through reduction hubs which reverses the direction of rotation
at the axles. Please feel free to ask questions and I will try to reply where I can.
Regards, Ken McAdam
39
cont…
1 October 2010 06:42
Subject: Purvis Eureka
Hi Thor
This e-mail found its way to me and I may be able to throw in some information too. Steve Clare [email protected] another member of our club has a Purvis
Eureka as well. He lives on the North Shore in Auckland and may be able to give
you some advice too. His Eureka is being repowered by a Ford 3 litre V6 andhe
was not daunted by the task ahead of him. When I saw it over a year ago he had
the motor in place but it was a bit tight and he was pondering how to get more
room. He may be worth a contact as well…. I have also attached to this e-mail,
thanks to Ken McAdam who passed it to me, a report on the Eureka printed in
NZ Car around 1988. Later this year I hope to go to Blenheim to meet the man
himself and get his full story. The Eureka was also put into large scale production
in Auckland/Whangarei except in this case it was called the Scorpion and other
than a sales brochure which I have, I have been unable to find out anything more
about it.
As far as getting information about the club is concerned if you send me your
land address I will send you up an information pack about it which will include
a couple of sample magazines.
Regards, Patrick Harlow
1 October 2010
Subject: Purvis Eureka
Hi .… are you Aaron? I see “Thor” is actually the name of the boat.
If the car is already set up for a VW motor then I would recommend sticking with
VW parts. Much easier to do and will go fine. You can get plenty of power from
the VW motor without too much trouble and the whole installation is so much
easier than having to modify so much stuff to use a Subaru motor. For example,
there is no need for a radiator and no additional strengthening needed in the VW
chassis to support the weight of the Subaru motor. Putting a Sub motor into a
VW van seems to work quite well because they have more ground clearance and
also are designed to support the engine weight at the rear of the vehicle. Also they
are heavy and can use the extra power. With smaller cars, ground clearance for
the Subaru engine can become an issue, especially with a Eurika where a lower
ride height is desirable. I will give some links below to US websites where I have
bought a lot of stuff for VW engines. This has worked well for me with a lot of
stuff very cheap, especially as the US$ falls in value. For example the cost of a set
of 4 new pistons, rings, gudgeon pins and cylinders is about NZ$400 – NZ$500
delivered to your doorstep within 10 days. Whole engine rebuild kit NZ$1200.
40
The older VW bus boxes, with the reduction boxes in the hubs, are basically identical to the swing axle car transmission of the same year. The only differences are
that the crownwheel is on the opposite side of the pinion in the diff (easy to swap
sides, no major disassembly required), they have a different nose-cone (which can
be swapped over) and some gear ratios might be slightly different. If you want a
stronger box, then the newer bus box (no hub reduction boxes) is better. Not sure
of the model but it is significantly stronger and I think some chassis modification
is needed to fit it to a std VW beetle floor pan. For this you will need an IRS
suspension (4 CV joints) … which you might have already.
As you might have gathered by now, my own car is a VW engine powered
sportscar, some details are at: http://www.roadrat.isprettyawesome.com
The following sites are good for shopping:
http://www.cip1.com
http://www.cbperformance.com
http://www.aircooled.net
http://www.thesamba.com
Here is a good site for VW links in NZ http://www.nzveedubnuts.com
This is a good supplier in Ak, http://www.vwspares.co.nz
Ask VW club http://www.vwownersclub.co.nz
Please get back to me if you would like to discuss anything further.
Cheers, Brian
41
Name
Partner
Email Address
Car Name
Craig Wylie
Cynthia Munro
[email protected]
Caterham 7
Colin Young
Vicki
[email protected]
Nigel Young
Jenny Bond
[email protected]
Martin Zeinert
Melissa
[email protected]
Illustration for article on page 13
LVVTA has identified this comon problem with weld failure in wheels sold under the name of Asto
Supreme
48