As an end-of-year drive, I took the Giulietta SV from the north coast near my place, and drove to the south coast in the nice autumn weather. Enjoy the film and revisit some of the stuff I experienced during the 2015 season. Next year will be more of a racing season - hopefully.
The national safety rules say that aluminium seat brackets must be thicker than 5 mm. I had these nice items machined at work by a colleague; they are 10 mm. And they are - well, nice!
Got the last race suit shipment in the mail today - 2000 EUR poorer now.
Tried all on for size and fit - approved!
Next problem: Big dude doesn't really fit in small car anymore!
I sat down with a couple of my motorsports friends last weekend, and at some point it was my turn to tell about the progress in my Giulietta SV project. When I told about my choice of seats, Claus Larsen, who used to race an Alfa Romeo Alfasud Sprint in a young-timer series, was appalled that I would not install FIA-spec safety seats.
But actually FIA App K rules say that only from period F forward do you have to use those ugly safety seats. All race cars up until 1961 may run period seats. And this is because we're talking Historic Racing - meaning it is just as much 'historic' as it is 'racing'.
Just think about what a historic racing festival like the "Cavalino" or "Old-timer GP" or "Le Mans Classic" or "Goodwood Revival" could look like if the entrants took the 'historic' parts as seriously as the 'racing' part?
Now, let's see if I will get killed in action or if it will scare the shit out of me - once it all starts?! I intent to put up a show. It should be possible, while still abiding to the App K rule book.
What it should look like?
What it does look like!
2014 has been a very exciting year for the "Scuderia Ultimostile - Berlinetta Alfa Romeo"; I have dedicated most of the year to just enjoying my cars, the experiences they gave and the company of the many friends I have gained by just belonging to this wonderful community.
Waiting in the pit-lane for a rough round of Spa-Francorchamps.
Valve-job on the 2-litre Bertone engine; and then i sold it!
Summer evenings with the other car-nuts.
A whole year of crazy trials in the garage.
Catching it all on video for the Youtube channel.
I have compiled more than 8 hours of video on youtube, my subscribers have exceeded 1,200 and at new-year's the daily viewing rate was at a steady 1,100. All helping me to round the 1,000,000 views corner earlier this year. Not bad for such a narrow field of interest - fantasticly important as it may be for alfisti!
How my daily view rate has risen since the first video in 2008.
Since I posted Mille Miglia videos in 2012 the two last years (2013 and 2014) have had a significant hump of interest during the month of May - followed by a steady growth, catching up over summer and autumn.
In 2013 that took me from 450 to 750 views; and this year it took me from 750 to 1,100 daily view. Let's see what next year will bring. I will try to improve both video quality - and quality of the experience!
Stripped Sparco Sprint Junior seat.
I have four Sparco Sprint Junior seats in my garage, and none of them can be used for FIA motor racing. They are all too old (more than 5 years since they were made). I could buy a new set, but I think they look too modern - or too big for the car in any case. I have been writing about this before, and you know that I am opting for a "period seat" as stated in the FIA Appendix K rules for pre-1961 cars. A "period" seat could be an original Giulietta seat, or any original seat from the period - or it could be a new seat fabricated to look "period".
Blocking rear vision and just too big for the tiny car.
All of the major producer of racing gadgets such as helmets, clothing and seat belts, have a "period seat" in their product portfolio. They are all fine, but none of them really look right for the Giulietta. I have found that the best options are: A Zagato type re-production (Berni Motori in Italy) or a cart-type bucket clad in "period" cloth (Tillet in the UK), but why not do it myself? I could modify two of my Sparco stools - if it is possible to change them properly without jeopardizing safety. Have you seen a Zagato seat from the 1950's?! They are absolutely tiny and look very fragile.
Headrest will go and seat-top will be just at belt-openings.
I am planning to cut the front tubes just before the shoulder-lobes and insert a tube that will go as high as the headrest opening where the seat belts are supported by the seat back. The whole headrest will be removed. This will retain the basic geometry of the Sparco seat, it will look much better in the car, and it will have the excellent support of the Sparco seats.
I should at least try!
Collector, Jørgen Støjer, posing like James Bond.
I went with Steffen Madsen, my mechanic, last week and took at look myself at what the racing community really felt like. The east section of our Historic Motor Sport club (HMS) held an early briefing at a very nice museum with a private collection of all kinds of sports and race cars (see Strøjer Collection).
Much passion and nice sounds and smells.
Jørgen Strøjer started a Bentley 4,5 liter, followed by an Alfa Romeo 8c2600 Monza and a Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa - and finally a Bentley Mulsanne W12. All with nice sounds. But the most overwhelming was no doubt the Monza. Jørgen Strøjer ran the 2013 Mille Miglia in a special-bodied Lancia Aurelia, and he said that it was lame and boring - and that he was thrilled whenever an 8C Alfa came roaring past their Lancia.
For 2014 we learnt about the two big street-circuit races in Aarhus and Copenhagen and the track- and hillclimb sections briefed all about what was new and what to expect during the season. My plan is to run in the parade at Classic Race Aarhus and compete in the Munkebjerg Hillclimb - apart from a few test-outings at Spa Francorchamps and the Nürburgring.
But first the car needs a little more tuning.
I spent some time this weekend cleaning the parts I got from Severin Skallerup. He sent me an email saying the he and the wife liked the wine I shipped to them; Barolo, Chianti and a Sicilian vino rosso - two of each, in case they tasted good. And I gave him a 6-bolt flywheel I had in spare. A fair swap? - you decide!
I'm a lazy bugger, but that's not the only reason why I left the gaskets in.
I unpacked all the parts and disassembled as much as I had tools for - leaving the camshafts and valves, because I don't have any valve spring clamps. Severin had kept a few parts for his own engine build, such as water pump, oil pump, oil sump, valve cover and distributor. And he came back the other day and told me that he had forgotten to pack the rear cover plate, but would send it in the mail. Once the block was all disassembled I scrubbed all surfaces in a petroleum bath, sprayed them over with a tough soap solution with my high-pressure cleaner and washed all in clean water. Then I left everything to dry a bit before oiling everything over with WD-40.
Standard cast iron liners with worn surface.
So now all is quite clean; not exceptionally clean, but enough to be able to handle the parts without stinking like sour engine oil. I also left gaskets in place, or rather - the torn parts i couldn't easily peel off with my hands and a dull spatula. I didn't want to risk damaging the sealing surfaces.
Piston crowns indicate that Severin has been giving the engine some stick.
My biggest concern is of course that the engine is too new; being a tipo 00530*S engine, as explained plenty times. But I leapt at the chance when Severin mentioned that he just wanted to get rid of the engine; and that he liked the idea that I could use it for my racer. But I may have to swap it once again for a tipo 00530-proper or even better; a 00106 (Sprint Veloce) or 00102 (Sprint Normale) block. It looks like the spin-on filter will clear the chassis?! That was a concern I had; that maybe there weren't enough room for a spin-on, low in the engine bay. But is it too modern? Decisions! Terrible!
Conrod big-end bearings each unevenly worn.
The piston crowns, combustion chambers and valves look like the engine has been living a good life, no char there - not much anyway. But even if I decide to use the engine block, I will most certainly buy high compression forged pistons and fresh liners. Alfaholics (see www.alfaholics.com) have high performance conrods (350 EUR a piece) and they have a delicious crankshaft (at a lofty 2.980 EUR) and they also have liner/piston sets (1.600 EUR for the four pots). Not my kind of equipment; not my kind of vallet, I'm afraid. They say it all spins to 9.000 rpm and that it will withstand 10.000 rpm, but I'm looking for a well sorted tractable solution that will travel to Spa Francorchamps, do an hour of practice, an hour of racing .... and travel back home the next day. So that kind of performance is not for me - yet.
Journals for main and throw are also worn but at max size.
The crankshaft is worn. It looks like the engine would have had difficulty sustaining oil pressure, and I'm still waiting for an indication from Severin about how the engine actually ran. I only know it from the Munkebjerg Hillclimb; and it ran very well indeed there. But you can't hear the oil pressure - unless it's fatally low. The jounals are rough and the conrod big-end bearings are unevenly worn and almost destroyed. I meassured the diameters and it showed 60,0 mm for the mains (59,960 to 59,973 mm Alfa Romeo tolerance) and 45,0mm for the throws (44,964 to 44,975 mm Alfa Romeo tolerance). This means that the crankshaft could be ground downto 1st under-size (59,7 mm and 44,7mm respectively).
But all this will be up to Steffen Madsen at Skallebølle Automester, and I will also have to consult Henrik Carlsen at DASU, the Danish national automobile sports union for some proper input concerning FIA HTP asseessment.
Helmet is good but what's with those two catapult seats in the otherwise classy car?
I'd like to post this comment from my Facebook-friend Allan Winther Knudsen, who commented on yesterday's post:
"For someone like me, who has been much involved with motorsport, and have seen several serious accidents, the choice of seat is all about one thing, and that's function. The only function of the seat is comfort and safety. You have to feel well seated and being able to use steering wheel and pedals. You have to visit a racing gear shop and try sitting in the seats; and you have to choose one with a FIA approval and with a head rest. You could pick a seat like Sparco Sprint V. It fits somewhat with the style, I think; because I think I can sense what you are thinking about. And this means that positioning and, not least, attachment points are very important. I've seen a world championship car get a little nudge - and make two somersaults, with the seat torn out of the floor pan. You shouldn't jeopardize your own safety, just because the seat doesn't look good in the car. And by the way - I think the car is cool, and I hope you've made it run better, because I have actually tried it, and I thought it had much room for improvement"
Allan, among other involvements, has this nice racer in the garage.
Thanks, Allan. I really appreciate input from experienced racers, and I have also heard it directly from other historic racers: "Never compromise on safety, use HANS and be sure the car is structurally sound, etc ...", and I do find it very important. But ...
I think the sport is too 'serious' when the drivers wont go fast without having all kinds of (exagerated) safety equipment installed. I say, get rid of it, and go as fast as you dare! Don't get me wrong; I wouldn't like being stuck in a wheelchair from next weekend and until I'm eightyfour; but I insist that I'm in this sport because I love the classic cars and all the fantastic races from a past era ... and I'm an idiot!
The Ultimate Style is all about doing it right - or not doing it at all. If something is worth doing - it's worth doing right. You all know what I mean!
Darth Vader in a beautiful car, but what about that helmet?
I will make sure my car is mechanically perfect, and that the (active) safety is top quality. Sitting right and in comfort is very important also; I want to concentrate on driving the car - not on reaching the pedals or getting my knees out of the way when I turn the steering wheel. And I will pay the utmost attention to getting my own involvement just right; finding the limits of my own abilities and the car's. But if that means I will have to look like Darth Vader on a bicycle - I would rather do something else all together.
And that is the point, I think: FIA Appendix K says that cars before 1962 (the slow cars, really) should be kept as they were in period. Remember §1: This is not about racing and winning; this is in honour of the olden days and the men and machines; it's a cultural thing! It really is Ultimostile.
So a Jaguar E-type should have small bucket seats, and the driver should go as fast as he dares, just like they did in period.
I certainly will. No hard feelings, Allan ... and we really want to see that Alfa 155 racing!
A tipo 750E Giulietta Sprint Veloce with nice seats.
As presented in my FIA-121 video (see Ultimostile/Scrutineering) the rules in FIA appendix K period E (1947-1962) doesn't require seats to be FIA-approved. It is recommended that we use original (or period spec) seats, or that we otherwise use an approved "seat system"; the words are:
5.22.1 For cars in GT and T of Period F (1/1/1962) or later, if the original front seats are changed, this must be for a complete seat system for which the FIA homologation is valid. For other periods, these seats are recommended. Appendix VIII/ Modifications authorised for Cars of period E: 4. Seats. Seat brackets may be altered.
OMP Silverstone, the simple solution at 230 EUR
Tillet W1, safe and nice but expensive at 460 EUR a piece
I was bored at work today and started reading about classic race car seats on the 10-tenths Motorsport forum (see 10-tenths forum), and they were really whining about seats under the 'new' FIA appendix K, so I started looking around on the internet for good seats. And bearing in mind that I can pick whatever I like - as long as I do not blatantly compromise safety, I may as well find a nice looking and robust seat. Or two of them, maybe. One for myself and one for any passenger who dares go with me?!
Berni Motori tipo 23; I sent them a mail for a price quote ...
I quite like the idea of having a separate head-rest on the roll cage, because the car is so tiny that a high-back-with-ears seat; even like the slim Sparco Sprint Junior seat I have now; looks ridicolously big inside the car.
GTS Coppa seats Zagato-likes at 650 EUR
Or how about a Kirkey 41V for 170 EUR?
So I rather prefer a Tillet W1 kevlar shell with a full quilted padding - and the separate head-rest on a bracket welded onto the roll cage. Or maybe I should go for an original/period looking GTS Coppa or a Berni Motori Tipo 0023 seat. They are both made in a beautiful Zagato fashion, and look very much the part. It would certainly look smart and feel right - but will it be safe in case I crash the car?
I will have to compare the prices and make a decision.