69 vintage racer

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avidtest
Posts: 68
Joined: 15 Nov 2009 19:20

Re: 69 vintage racer

Post by avidtest »

OK, well after a test day at the new Chuckwalla track a few weeks ago, we found a problem with the carbs. Came home a realized the new air-cleaner backing was restricting air into the 50's. Fast forward a few weeks and now we're at Willow Springs.

Arrived Friday morning and get out on the track. Sweet. The issue has been resolved and the car is running strong. I'd never been to Big Willow before, so my priority is to learn the track and start getting comfortable with the car. I quickly realize I've got a lot to learn.

Mickey Cohen, a hot-foot in HSR-West, and reportedly a very good setup guy agrees to take the car out for a spin. He made some good suggestions and helped dial in the car better. Thanks Mickey.

Not only that, but I was fortunate enough to use the in-car video system to record his laps. That night, upon reviewing the vid, I see many of the mistakes I'd been making (many of which I still continued to make, but some I was able to improve on). It was great to see what the car is capable of with a good driver.

Saturday comes. Practice first then the qualifying races. Wow! Traffic! Frankly, it was a little intimidating. The last thing I want to do is fack up the car it's first time out. More seat time required.

Sunday comes. Wayne McAtee offers to go out in front of me and help lead the way and show me his line. Lap times improve by a little over two seconds. Thanks Wayne!

Finally, the 'big' race. There were at least three cars that were in other classes. I was able to make a pretty good start, but could not make everything stick after that. Unfortunately, my clutch started slipping badly about 1/2 way through the race, so I had to back off a bit and give up a couple of spots. It was a hell of a fun time. I try not to cringe when reviewing the video and seeing all my mistakes, missed opportunities, and just plain conservativeness. Oh well, lots of room for improvement. The car is fast. Now, the driver just needs to get fast. Here's the vid. It's better in HD, large screen format, so watch it that way:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guh91Bak ... er&list=UL
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okayfine
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Joined: 12 Nov 2007 23:02
Location: Newbury Park, CA

Re: 69 vintage racer

Post by okayfine »

Would love to hear about the setup suggestions. Not for my own use, but just to hear what things were, what they where changed to and why, and the improvement felt. Data is wonderful.

Any thoughts/troubleshooting for the clutch?
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
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two_68_510s
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Location: Ben Lomond California

Re: 69 vintage racer

Post by two_68_510s »

That "Race-Keeper" is a great format, how did you do that?

I love that old track.

Joel
Joel

2 '68 510 2 door sedans
'95 240SX


“We will either find a way, or make one.” – Hannibal
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Dave Patten
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Location: Dunbarton, NH

Re: 69 vintage racer

Post by Dave Patten »

It was great watching your in-car video. That guy in the Porsche couldn't hit an apex if it was an 18 wheeler parked across the track.

As you get more track time you'll get better (just don't follow that Porsche he was horrible!). This video will help you see what your weak points are (almost everybody that Club races has them).

There is nothing more frustrating than trying to get around a faster car that is being driven poorly. The biggest problem with guys like the Porsche is you’ll pass them and then they follow your better line only to re-pass you again. Then once back in front they slow up not knowing where the fast line is.

These are the guys you have to watch out for because they never turn the car into a corner in the same place twice. It makes them very difficult to know where they will go next, let alone where to safely pass them.

The best place on a track to pass high power poorly driven car in a 510 is going into a twisty section. 9 out of 10 times they just drive off line so bad trying to get back by that they can’t make up the ground to catch you on the straights. Your pass coming onto the straight was a good one, but there was no way you’ll be able to keep a faster car behind you on a straight away.

If you can distance the high power cars early into the tight turns then they won’t be able to catch up at the end of the straights. Trust me its fun watching a Corvette gain 10-12 car lengths on the front straight to go side by side into the 1st turn only to distance him in the twisty stuff that follows. Next lap they’re 2-4 car lengths back at turn one. 8-10 the next lap as they drive even harder, turning even slower lap times trying to catch you. Now that is fun stuff.
Dave Patten
http://www.FutoFab.com
Dunbarton, NH
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defdes
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Location: Vermont

Re: 69 vintage racer

Post by defdes »

Looks good... how about posting Mickey's lap? That's his yellow 510 at the start , correct?
What were your times?
Josh K.
Posts: 144
Joined: 09 Feb 2009 13:21
Location: Kent, WA

Re: 69 vintage racer

Post by Josh K. »

What front/rear flares are those? Also how did you mount the rears with no visible flange?

Thanks,

Josh-
avidtest
Posts: 68
Joined: 15 Nov 2009 19:20

Re: 69 vintage racer

Post by avidtest »

okayfine - It's just Don's standard suspension stuff. We started at full neutral. Based on Mickey's advice, we stiffened the front bar by one. We also raised the car a bit. I'm getting quite a bit of harmonic vibration at higher speed, so we're probably going to raise the car more till the half-shafts are more horizontal. We'll see if that helps. Won't have a chance to check the clutch for two weeks or so. Only other change I made was more pressure in the RA1's. Went from 36 psi hot to 39-40 hot. It was faster.

Joel - The Race-Keeper is awesome. There is a glitch when I export the video - the tach isn't registering for some reason. It does work when I view the vid within the software thankfully. I haven't even started looking at the actual data yet. One nice feature is I can select one of my sessions (or just a lap) and compare it to another session (or just another lap). The software displays both vids side by side and automatically 'knows' to start the cars on the exact same area of the track. It also shows both cars' position on the track map. Too cool. Also, it will handle up to four cams - plug & play. I'm going to pony up for a 3rd for a rear-view. That should make for more exciting video. I'm really impressed with the system. My only gripe so far is I wish they'd offer it in even higher resolution.

Dave - Thanks for the advice. Weak points? well... yeah. I might have one or two.. or..... :oops:

defdes - Actually the yellow car is Craig Carter's, but I think he bought it from Mickey. Mickey's lap? Here's one with him starting out behind Ross Ditlove. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEw-_eSgshQ

Ross and Craig were turning 1:36's and 1:37's regularly through the weekend. I think Ross even belted out a 1:35.

During this short vid, Mickey turned a 1:40 in my car. My best for the weekend was a 1:42. I know my car has somewhere in the 1:35's to 1:37's in it (at least), especially if it had Hoosiers. Not saying I could turn those numbers today (I couldn't), but the right driver could.

Josh, the rear flares were on the car when purchased. The fronts are some cheap BRE style fenders that came with the first 510 I bought and sold. They're not really very good - we had a hell of a time fitting the spoiler to them.
avidtest
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Joined: 15 Nov 2009 19:20

Re: 69 vintage racer

Post by avidtest »

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Datsun 1600 Nut
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Location: Pretoria, South Africa

Re: 69 vintage racer

Post by Datsun 1600 Nut »

That is one really good looking 510 race car man! Beautiful... :mrgreen:
"When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place..."

Current Car's:
1971 P510 1600 SSS Coupe
1972 P510 1600 SSS
1972 P510 1600 SSS
1973 P510 1600 SSS
1973 620 Pickup
1979 PA10 1600J
1980 280ZX
rc240z
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Joined: 19 Jan 2010 17:32

Re: 69 vintage racer

Post by rc240z »

We will be racing at Laguna Seca, in Monterey California this weekend, 16 datsun racers on track should be quite a cool thing to behold!!
Ron C

Restoring a fast 510
Racing a 1967 Datsun 2000
Caring for a BRE #46 240Z Tribute car

See my Blog at rcnetworksracing.com
indy510
Posts: 1470
Joined: 24 Aug 2007 14:40
Location: San Fransciso, CA

Re: 69 vintage racer

Post by indy510 »

rc240z wrote:We will be racing at Laguna Seca, in Monterey California this weekend, 16 datsun racers on track should be quite a cool thing to behold!!
Here is my event coverage from this weekend .... (over 300 pics) and full race videos of the 510s and 240Zs:

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/31309 ... ntry468483



and here are the pics of your beautiful 510:


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avidtest
Posts: 68
Joined: 15 Nov 2009 19:20

Re: 69 vintage racer

Post by avidtest »

Thanks for the pics Indy - much better than I'm capable of.

It sure was fun to have the opportunity to drive LSR. Unfortunately, I lost a cylinder during the qualifying race and had to end the weekend early. And after hearing about some of the carnage during the final race, it's possible it may be a lucky thing for me.
avidtest
Posts: 68
Joined: 15 Nov 2009 19:20

Re: 69 vintage racer

Post by avidtest »

Had some fun at Willow Springs last weekend with HSR West. Turnout was very light unfortunately. On the bright side, the car ran flawlessly, and my times improved, compared to my last visit. I really wanted to do better than a 1:40. Goal accomplished by 1/1000th of a second with a 1:399. :lol:

Enjoy the race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUYbEz1L ... er&list=UL

Shannon
avidtest
Posts: 68
Joined: 15 Nov 2009 19:20

Re: 69 vintage racer

Post by avidtest »

two weeks after my last race video upload, I was back at Willow Springs with VARA. This race was a lot more exciting; there were about 30 cars in our group. I ended up qualifying 4th on the grid. The race was really fun. I ended up brain-farting on the last lap and let a few bmw's get by me. Still a hell of a fun race. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfe-yvRT ... yziivXB3ds.

Two weeks later, I was back at the new(ish) Chuckwalla Raceway east of Palm Springs. On Friday practice day, the car seemed to be running well. A famous factory paid Porsche race driver happened to be at the track hanging out with some vintage racing buddies. Without mentioning any names (P. Long, cough cough), I was thrilled to not only meet him, but have the opportunity to have him take the 510 out for a few laps. Holy shit! It was enlightening to see what my car was truly capable of. He requested that I not post any video of him on the Interwebs driving my car, but he didn't mind me recording his session for my own personal edumecation. While I seem to be out for a Sunday drive on my videos, he was frantically sawing at the wheel, constantly making corrections before they became issues and basically, just driving the wheels off the car. I studied his session and then I was back out for my final session of the day before Saturday raceday. I immediately reduced 2 seconds from my times. Still nearly 4 seconds off his times though!!!!! A lifetime on the track. My only consolation is that he is a world champion race driver. So yeah.. it still burns my a$$ that there is that big of a differential.

Five laps in, a problem developed. I pulled off and into the pits. F@ck! Another race weekend bites the dust. A hairline fracture had developed in the head in the 1st cylinder and water poured in when it heated up. Not too expensive, but my weekend was done. Sum'bitch.. After two weekends of the car running flawlessly and me starting to feel good again, another problem reared it's head.

The motor has been pulled and is back at the builder's shop for repair. In the meantime, the season is over and now, no more car drama till the race season starts up again later in 2012. I really hope we'll have addressed all the major issues (I believe we have) and that it will be a more stress-free / breakdown-free race season.

For now, I will satisfy my yearning for speed and adrenaline by riding the local trails on the mountain bike.

Cheers
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