My New Race Car
- Thread starter Jamie Summers
- Start date
Thanks Vic, quite looking forward to some Porsche bothering ! Watch your mirrors everyone ........... coming to a trackday near you in 2012 !
Rick, thanks for your comments on Mark Fish, I think that's helped make my mind up, it was between Mark and K-Tec, but they're in the arse end of nowehere in Dorset !
Jamie
Rick, thanks for your comments on Mark Fish, I think that's helped make my mind up, it was between Mark and K-Tec, but they're in the arse end of nowehere in Dorset !
Jamie
Steve Brookes
Moderator
Good luck with the new challenge Jamie. [
] I found this checklist for you to use next year:
You Might Be a Racing Driver If...
* Despite of all the time and trouble, you're anxious for the
season to start.
* Everywhere you go, you try to find the fastest line through
the turn.
* More than one racer supply house recognizes your voice and
greets you by name when you call.
* People know you by your class letter, car number, and car
color instead of by name.
* The car gets waxed more often than your floor.
* The police have a picture of your car taped to their
dashboard.
* The tire shop won't honor the tread-life warranty on any car
you've been anywhere near.
* When someone mentions "The Good Book", you think of "The
Blue book"
* When you call home, instead of saying "Hi Daddy," your 3
year old asks who has the pole.
* You bought a race car before buying a house.
* You buy cheap tyres for your street car, to save money for
your race tyres.
* You buy new parts because you don't know where you put the
spares.
* You came back early from your honeymoon in order to attend
a test day.
* You can tell it's Friday because the racing papers come in
the mail.
* You can't remember when you last worked on weekdays and
rested on weekends.
* You change your engine oil every other week.
* You complain the seat belts in the family car aren't tight
enough.
* You critique the way people wave the flags at a parade.
* You do more catalogue shopping than your wife.
* You feel compelled to beat your previous best time when you
go on a trip.
* You feel naked in your street car without a roll bar and a
five point harness.
* You get your first racing tee shirt and you are really
excited.
* You have car parts in your cubicle at work.
* You have enough spare parts to build another car.
* You have more pictures of race cars on you desk than of your
family.
* You have more than one roll of duct tape around the house.
* You have racing shops programmed on speed dial.
* You paid more for your race car than for your house.
* You plan your social life around the race schedule.
* You plan your wedding around the race schedule.
* You put all the race car receipts you can under 'Car Repair
Expense' on your budget.
* You refer to the corner down the street from your house as
'turn One'.
* You remember the details of every race you've been in, but
can't remember your phone number.
* You select pets based on their ability to survive a weekend
alone.
* You sit in your race car and make car noises while waiting
for your motor to get back from the shop.
* You stick your arm out the window and raise it straight up
before turning into your driveway.
* You take your helmet along when you buy new glasses.
* You used to have money.
* You take care of your car like it's your child, then drive
it like you stole it.
* Your 2-year-old knows the meanings of all the flags.
* Your criteria for selecting a 'significant other' includes
mechanic skills. Air tools are a plus.
* Your daughter was enrolled in the Marshal's club when she was 1 day old.
* Your friends don't recognize you without a helmet and
driver's suit.
* Your garage holds more cars than your house has bedrooms.
* Your bathroom reading material consists of racing supply
catalogs and car magazines, none of which have centerfolds.
* Your wife can never find enough hangers because you've used
all the wire ones as welding rod.
* Your wife decides to become a race official so she'll see
more of you during the season.
* You've started looking for sponsors for your daily commute.
[]
] I found this checklist for you to use next year:You Might Be a Racing Driver If...
* Despite of all the time and trouble, you're anxious for the
season to start.
* Everywhere you go, you try to find the fastest line through
the turn.
* More than one racer supply house recognizes your voice and
greets you by name when you call.
* People know you by your class letter, car number, and car
color instead of by name.
* The car gets waxed more often than your floor.
* The police have a picture of your car taped to their
dashboard.
* The tire shop won't honor the tread-life warranty on any car
you've been anywhere near.
* When someone mentions "The Good Book", you think of "The
Blue book"
* When you call home, instead of saying "Hi Daddy," your 3
year old asks who has the pole.
* You bought a race car before buying a house.
* You buy cheap tyres for your street car, to save money for
your race tyres.
* You buy new parts because you don't know where you put the
spares.
* You came back early from your honeymoon in order to attend
a test day.
* You can tell it's Friday because the racing papers come in
the mail.
* You can't remember when you last worked on weekdays and
rested on weekends.
* You change your engine oil every other week.
* You complain the seat belts in the family car aren't tight
enough.
* You critique the way people wave the flags at a parade.
* You do more catalogue shopping than your wife.
* You feel compelled to beat your previous best time when you
go on a trip.
* You feel naked in your street car without a roll bar and a
five point harness.
* You get your first racing tee shirt and you are really
excited.
* You have car parts in your cubicle at work.
* You have enough spare parts to build another car.
* You have more pictures of race cars on you desk than of your
family.
* You have more than one roll of duct tape around the house.
* You have racing shops programmed on speed dial.
* You paid more for your race car than for your house.
* You plan your social life around the race schedule.
* You plan your wedding around the race schedule.
* You put all the race car receipts you can under 'Car Repair
Expense' on your budget.
* You refer to the corner down the street from your house as
'turn One'.
* You remember the details of every race you've been in, but
can't remember your phone number.
* You select pets based on their ability to survive a weekend
alone.
* You sit in your race car and make car noises while waiting
for your motor to get back from the shop.
* You stick your arm out the window and raise it straight up
before turning into your driveway.
* You take your helmet along when you buy new glasses.
* You used to have money.
* You take care of your car like it's your child, then drive
it like you stole it.
* Your 2-year-old knows the meanings of all the flags.
* Your criteria for selecting a 'significant other' includes
mechanic skills. Air tools are a plus.
* Your daughter was enrolled in the Marshal's club when she was 1 day old.
* Your friends don't recognize you without a helmet and
driver's suit.
* Your garage holds more cars than your house has bedrooms.
* Your bathroom reading material consists of racing supply
catalogs and car magazines, none of which have centerfolds.
* Your wife can never find enough hangers because you've used
all the wire ones as welding rod.
* Your wife decides to become a race official so she'll see
more of you during the season.
* You've started looking for sponsors for your daily commute.
[
]
Thanks Steve, a lot of those are already a little too close to home ........... !
Neil Haughey
New member
ORIGINAL: Steve Brookes
Good luck with the new challenge Jamie. [
You Might Be a Racing Driver If...
* Despite of all the time and trouble, you're anxious for the
season to start.
* Everywhere you go, you try to find the fastest line through
the turn.
* More than one racer supply house recognizes your voice and
greets you by name when you call.
* People know you by your class letter, car number, and car
color instead of by name.
* The car gets waxed more often than your floor.
* You bought a race car before buying a house.
* You buy cheap tyres for your street car, to save money for
your race tyres.
* You buy new parts because you don't know where you put the
spares.
* You do more catalogue shopping than your wife.
* You have car parts in your cubicle at work.
* You have more than one roll of duct tape around the house.
* You have racing shops programmed on speed dial.
* You paid more for your race car than for your house.
* You plan your social life around the race schedule.
* You plan your wedding around the race schedule.
* You put all the race car receipts you can under 'Car Repair
Expense' on your budget.
* You remember the details of every race you've been in, but
can't remember your phone number.
* You take your helmet along when you buy new glasses.
* You used to have money.
* You take care of your car like it's your child, then drive
it like you stole it.
[
Oops busted [
], this one in particular;* You remember the details of every race you've been in, but
can't remember your phone number.
Good luck next season Jamie.
I'd be happy to deal with Mark Fish in your situation Jamie. He always seemed to be a very pleasant helpful sort of chap when I encountered him back in my racing days
Thanks Jason, should be huge fun, and, no doubt a pretty steep learning curve........
A quick update for anyone interested ....... We took the car along to Brands last weekend and the MSV guys and scrutineers couldn't have been more helpful and accommodating, which was above and beyond the call of duty on a busy race day. Interestingly we bumped into two former owners of the car at the track (only one of whom we were expecting to be there).
Looked out for Neal, but just missed the end of the Team Trophy race, and he was then off in the TinTop series race, which I think came to a sticky end....
Anyway, it seems that the car is in reasonably good shape to go racing. The scrutineer had very few issues with it, and certainly nothing that will be a deal breaker for us. The one interesting problem is seating. With Will at 6'4" and me at 5'8", we have a bit of an issue with seat position. In theory the seat needs to be fixed in position, which won't be comfortable for either of us. The scrutineer said we could use a slider, so long as it was the one originally homologated with the car ! Now, who knows whether they were even homologated with sliders in 1991, and if so, how would we ever find one or prove it !
So does anyone with any practical experience of this problem have any suggestions ???? The only FIA homolgated set up I can find is the combination of Recaro seat, sidemount and slider, which will be pretty pricey... None of the other sliders on the market eg Sparco, OMP etc are FIA authorised as far as I can see.
So far the car has attracted lots of positive comments, and we are now starting to collect up the bits and pieces we will need to go racing. We're taking the car up to Mark Fish next weekend, and he seems excited to be working on one of the original Cup Cars, and had a refreshingly honest and open attitude to running it on a modest budget.
All looking pretty exciting, just hope we can find a suitable solution for our seating conundrum ..........
Jamie
A quick update for anyone interested ....... We took the car along to Brands last weekend and the MSV guys and scrutineers couldn't have been more helpful and accommodating, which was above and beyond the call of duty on a busy race day. Interestingly we bumped into two former owners of the car at the track (only one of whom we were expecting to be there).
Looked out for Neal, but just missed the end of the Team Trophy race, and he was then off in the TinTop series race, which I think came to a sticky end....
Anyway, it seems that the car is in reasonably good shape to go racing. The scrutineer had very few issues with it, and certainly nothing that will be a deal breaker for us. The one interesting problem is seating. With Will at 6'4" and me at 5'8", we have a bit of an issue with seat position. In theory the seat needs to be fixed in position, which won't be comfortable for either of us. The scrutineer said we could use a slider, so long as it was the one originally homologated with the car ! Now, who knows whether they were even homologated with sliders in 1991, and if so, how would we ever find one or prove it !
So does anyone with any practical experience of this problem have any suggestions ???? The only FIA homolgated set up I can find is the combination of Recaro seat, sidemount and slider, which will be pretty pricey... None of the other sliders on the market eg Sparco, OMP etc are FIA authorised as far as I can see.
So far the car has attracted lots of positive comments, and we are now starting to collect up the bits and pieces we will need to go racing. We're taking the car up to Mark Fish next weekend, and he seems excited to be working on one of the original Cup Cars, and had a refreshingly honest and open attitude to running it on a modest budget.
All looking pretty exciting, just hope we can find a suitable solution for our seating conundrum ..........
Jamie
Good news Jamie, MSV have always been great with us so glad it was helpful. I know the XJS has got runners in it and I'm sure they are just the OEM ones with a race seat attached. Had a really fun 1st stint in the team trophy, but it went a bit down hill when it came to the tin tops. I hadn't even crossed the start line on the rolling start before someone decided to spin into me! The bummer was I couldn't get her started so had to park her with out doing a lap, but nothing tank tape couldn't sort so managed to get out for the last race of the day. Lots of jobs for the winter to get some grunt in the old girl down the straights and hopefully we'll see you out on track next year.
Neal
Neal
Jamie,
You will need to spend some time in the Blue book I think. I assume MSV run to MSA rules not FIA, therefore so long as your seat is compliant with the Blue book, you will be OK. I've not read the section on seats, so it may say something along the lines of seat mounted solid, unless FIA approved slider mechanism....which seems to be the guidance you've had.
I assume the issue is that you will be in races that requried driver changes, so you cant simply move the seat between races. I share a car with a mate in sprint races, and we simply swap seats, however, we also share (another) car for 2 driver races, and we shove a cushion down the back during the change, there isnt as much height difference for us though. If you cant get a decent answer, it may time to ask around the paddock, or somewhere like tentenths for advice.
At least you know you can throw the credit card at Recaro and be sorted.
Glad its going well - sounds like it will be a blast.
You will need to spend some time in the Blue book I think. I assume MSV run to MSA rules not FIA, therefore so long as your seat is compliant with the Blue book, you will be OK. I've not read the section on seats, so it may say something along the lines of seat mounted solid, unless FIA approved slider mechanism....which seems to be the guidance you've had.
I assume the issue is that you will be in races that requried driver changes, so you cant simply move the seat between races. I share a car with a mate in sprint races, and we simply swap seats, however, we also share (another) car for 2 driver races, and we shove a cushion down the back during the change, there isnt as much height difference for us though. If you cant get a decent answer, it may time to ask around the paddock, or somewhere like tentenths for advice.
At least you know you can throw the credit card at Recaro and be sorted.
Glad its going well - sounds like it will be a blast.
Thanks all for the advice. I strongly suspect this may eventually turn out to be a non-issue, the MSA Blue Book has only this to say on the subject ........
"If rails for adjusting the seat are used, they must be those originally supplied with the homologated car or with the seat."
My take on this was that if we bought a fully FIA approved set-up (ie Recaro), then there really should be no question. However the wording would seem to suggest that if you had, say, a Sparco seat, so long as you used a Sparco slider (as supplied with the seat), then that should be acceptable. However, I know for a fact that the Sparco sliders are not FIA approved .........
I may be making a mountain out of a molehill here, but I can't seem to get a straight answer out of anyone on this ! MSV are looking into it for me, but I think I might try to make contact with somebody at the MSA for clarification.
Jamie
"If rails for adjusting the seat are used, they must be those originally supplied with the homologated car or with the seat."
My take on this was that if we bought a fully FIA approved set-up (ie Recaro), then there really should be no question. However the wording would seem to suggest that if you had, say, a Sparco seat, so long as you used a Sparco slider (as supplied with the seat), then that should be acceptable. However, I know for a fact that the Sparco sliders are not FIA approved .........
I may be making a mountain out of a molehill here, but I can't seem to get a straight answer out of anyone on this ! MSV are looking into it for me, but I think I might try to make contact with somebody at the MSA for clarification.
Jamie
I think you'll also need to address the time taken to adjust and tighten the seat belts at driver change time with there being a big difference in your sizes.
The GT3 cup car I raced had the drivers seat on rails, but biggest driver started the race as its easier to tighten the belts than ease them off
The GT3 cup car I raced had the drivers seat on rails, but biggest driver started the race as its easier to tighten the belts than ease them off
Thanks Paul, I don't think the time taken for belts is likely to be a big problem - it's a mandatory two and a half minute stop, so there should be plenty of time !
Jamie
Jamie
Posts made and opinions expressed are those of the individual forum members
Use of the Forum is subject to the Terms and Conditions
