Congratulations Greg. Great story, thanks for sharing it with us. Good luck
in your future races.
Tim Stiffy
Sunbeam Alpine, Series 1
-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Locke <glocke@ihug.co.nz>
To: Hillman list <hillman@can-inc.com>; Alpine list <alpines@autox.team.net>
Date: Sunday, July 23, 2000 4:38 PM
Subject: humber takes the day
>Hi all
>
>Well, the Humber 90 (alias mark 2 superminx) has just successfully competed
>in its first real event, a bent sprint/autocross run this the weekend. It
>was quite a tight twisty course, about 2.5 km long around an abandoned
>industrial site, mostly 2nd gear with a brief excursion to 3rd, and a
couple
>of snatches of first.
>
>I arrived there and thought I might as well go home, most of the cars were
>proper race cars, or 4 weel drive turbos of some sort.. subarus, corolla
>GTs, MR2s, RX7s etc. No pre 70 cars except for 3 ford anglias and an Austin
>A40 farina. Great, I thought, some competition for me!... but apon closer
>inspection I found 2 of the anglias and the Austin all running complete
late
>model japanese running gear, twin cams, four wheel disks, LSD etc. The
>remaining anglia was equipped with a 1600 ford pushrod, webered and about
>130hp. I would have been the only car with less than 120hp (the humber may
>just scrape 100 with its mildly worked 1725cc alpine motor), and the only
>pre 1980 car still running standard running gear (complete with whiny diff,
>which according to recent info I have now more confidence to rectify
(thanks
>list) and gearbox with worn synchros and tendency to jump out of first
>violently if not held by in hand).
>
>To my cars credit, it was on cheap street legal race tyres (what most other
>cars were running), the suspension is standard but lowered about 2 inches
>with nolethane bushings and 30 year old Koni shock absorbers, and the body
>is lightened from its initial 2350lb to around 2100lb. All the other rootes
>traits were present.. i.e axle tramp, standard slidy seat, enormous
steering
>wheel and standard brakes (just ohauled) that like to fade when pushed
hard.
>I had already noticed people sniggering at the car and I really thought I
>was going to embarrass myself and the humber marque incredibly.
>
>Pactice came and I just gave it my best. The course was a bit damp, and I
>had oodles of understeer. But as soon as I backed off she'd grip again and
>come around nicely. The brake pedal went very soft towards the end, however
>she basically felt real good. Check the times and whoa! I was about 2/3 the
>way down the field. Not only was I not last, but I was just on the edge of
>the main group. I couldn't believe it.
>
>I put in another litre of oil as the pressure was looking a bit low after
>the practice (cam bearings apparently, taa Jim) pump the brake pedal back
up
>and I was ready for first main run. Again it felt good, less understeer as
>the track had dried plenty, but now getting lots of nice axle tramp out of
>the tight bends. Probably not really worth going to first gear. On the
short
>straights though, 2nd gear was slightly too low, but I just kept my foot in
>as not worth grabbing 3rd. I generally don't rev it past 6000rpm, as with
>the standard cam it is just as quick to go up a gear, and I don't trust my
>backyard engine rebuilding that much, although it is balanced. But there
>would be 3 times on the course that I pulled a good 6500 with no signs of
>distress, (I can't tell for sure, the smiths rev counter gives up at 6000,
>and even starts to go backwards sometimes). The now impressed onlookers
>reckoned it was doing more like 7000 and sounded fine. They all wanted a
>humber like mine.
>
>The brake pedal lasted to the end this time, but the oil light was now on
at
>idle and the engine temp was also getting pretty high for 2 minutes hard
>driving. I was feeling pretty mean to the car really, 35 years of sedate
>tootling around then this. Check the times again, and 4th in my class
>(1600cc to 2000cc) Great!
>
>The 2nd run felt even better, just concentrating on keeping my speed up
>through the corners, but my 3rd run was aborted as the car previous blew
its
>engine and spewed oil over the track. The run was feeling even better
again.
>
>Final placing, 3rd in class (beaten only by a lotus 7 replica with 2 litre
>twin cam engine, and a toyota levin, again with a 2 litre twin cam engine).
>Overall placing 24th out of 50 competitors, whipping all 3 "anglias", and
>only 2 seconds slower than the twin cam powered A40. Also beat the RX7s
some
>of the MR2s, and many cars that I should really have had no chance against.
>It was the lowest powered, oldest speced car there and should have come
>last. I still can't beleive it, and nor did many of the people who asked me
>my final time, who I suspect were just trying to be nice until they
realized
>I had beaten them.
>
>Secrets of the Humber... reasonable yet predictable handling with plenty of
>low rev power and gearing that suited the course, i.e. 2nd gear could be
>used out of corners and held all the way to the next, thus concentration
can
>be directed on keeping speed up through the corners. The car is basically a
>good initial design (for 1960!), with maybe the exception of the live rear
>axle. Many small improvements, like weight removal, bushings etc, have
>transformed it. Many comments from the spectators centered around how
smooth
>it looked cornering, how quick it was through the bends, and how stable it
>looked, even though it was obviously underpowered on the straights.
>
>This was its first real event, I'll check all the bolts and stuff again. I
>think the brakes will be fine now, though I may look at finding a way to
get
>some more air to them to keep them cool. The oil pressure really needs to
be
>dealt with, though I don't really want to pull the engine out at present.
>Improvements... a limit slip diff would be nice (any suggestions anyone?),
>and some better axle location, also some more neg camber on the front
wheels
>to reduce understeer. Also get rid of another 100lb, add a race seat, and
of
>course another 40 horsepower. But for now I am most happy.
>
>Greg
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <TIGEROOTES@aol.com>
>To: <glocke@ihug.co.nz>
>Sent: Wednesday, 19 July 2000 07:19
>Subject: Re: cams
>
>
>> Greg,
>> Cam bearings: that's number one for oil pressure problems. New
rocker
>> shafts can be had thru Rick at Sunbeam Specialties.
>> When you disassemble the rocker assemblies, be sure to have your
>machine
>> shop dress the rocker tips, and the sides of the rockers. The sides
>develop
>> a "step" in them from riding against the springs, and you will feel they
>> begin to bind when asked to travel beyond where they are "familiar"
>> travelling.
>> A cage is cheaper in the long run compared to Hospital bills... I
>have a
>> friend that badly bent his Tiger in a hillclimb. As he put it, "I hit
the
>> mountain..."
>> Jim
>>
>
>
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