May 2009
On the GT6 I have re-mounted the front ant-roll bar after running for a while without one. We are going to do some proper back-to back testing at Snetterton to see what actual difference it makes. Should be interesting. I have also started making the modifications I need on the fuel tank to have a proper external filler cap. At the Nürburgring in 2008 we lost about 40 seconds faffing about with the tailgate and internal filler so have decided that a proper external filler is the way to go. I will also add another 5 litres capacity to the tank at the same time.
The Falcon – loads of progress even if some of it is invisible! I have now made a decisions on the gearbox and rear axle after consulting loads of people in the UK and USA. When it’s done I’ll put the detail on the site but suffice to say it should be good (what did you expect?). Hoping to have the engine back in May which is when the car should be ready to receive it. Not fully sure how I am going to get the time to get it all done whilst campaigning the GT6 but I’ll try!
The brakes are back from being rebuilt; bloody expensive (like most race stuff) but looking really great and ready to bolt on. They are 100% FiA legal unlike some of the other ones I have seen! I got them from eBay along with the adaptor plates that allow the calipers to be bolted to Falcon drum brake uprights. Just struggling a bit to get the bolts now as they are some weird thread. Anyone any ideas? (They are 7/16 UNC).
All the panels have now been ordered – in FiA appendix K spec the car is allowed to run with fibre glass doors, bonnet, boot lid, front wings and bumpers. That saves loads of weight and will compensate for the 40kg of Custom Cages roll cage. I am doing everything else I can to reduce weight where possible and where legal. I hope to have the car running and in for its HTP inspection before the end of the year.
The ongoing major jobs are paint and then will be getting the fibre glass panels to fit and we need the weather to improve for the former to progress. I have loads of parts on order from the USA and hope to get them on soon too. I have discovered loads about the 64 Falcon and how it differs from the 63 and 65 models and also how it differs from the similar period Mustangs. Quite a few detail differences which means in a couple of places I accidentally bought the wrong parts.
Dave’s 63 TVR Grantura is coming on well too and he has done a fabulous job on the dashboard; the one that was fitted to the car, along with the wiring in general, was a complete shambles. Much of the work on the car was a bit shoddy and Dave is doing a truly outstanding job on the car; it’ll basically be concourse! His GT6 is sold an whether we see it again is a matter for conjecture but I understand it is registered for CSCC Swinging Sixties. Most race cars seem to be sold and then never seen again; same seems to be true of Stacky’s Spitfire which also has failed to make an appearance anywhere since he sold it last summer.
4th August 2008 Things are now moving on with the Falcon build. Stacky (mostly) and I painted the whole underside in chassis paint prior to it going up to Custom Cages for it’s 6 point FiA cage. I did consider fitting it myself but having spoken to them I have decided to bite the bullet and get them to fit it too. If you take a look at their site they have some really nice photos on there of a Falcon with its new 2008-rules FiA cage fitted. Mine will be pretty much the same as that. Not cheap but looks excellent and I’m sure it’ll be a better job than I could do.
The rules for cages in FiA historic touring (saloon / sedan) cars changed last year; the rule only allowing 6 fixing points is still there but you are now allowed to fit lateral bars between the front and rear uprights to provide additional side impact protection. The configuration of the rear struts has changes slightly too and it’s now OK to fit two door bars instead of just one.
I have been spurred into action by Dave Thompson deciding his own Triumph GT6 days are done and that he wants an FiA sports car – watch this space for news on that. That is why Oulton will be his last race in the car (unfortunately I cannot make it this weekend) and it’ll then be sold. If anyone wants to go classic car racing it really does not get any more reliable that Dave’s GT6 and the price he is asking seems very reasonable to me.
24th July 2008 Quite a while since I last posted an update so here it is! Dave’s hand has recovered well and we are off to Brands Hatch this weekend for the two CSCC Swinging Sixties races being held on the Grand Prix circuit as support for the World Touring Cars. Rather than a single two-driver race it’s two races, Dave is doing the 20 minute race (first one of the day) and I am doing the 30 minute one (last race of the day) both being on Sunday. Apart from the WTCC races there are also Formula Palmer Audi races so it should be a good day for spectators.
We are planning to arrive at the circuit on Friday evening and for a change we are camping (no RV this weekend) along with quite a number of other people so hoping for good weather! There are something like 36 cars in each CSCC race so the track should be pretty full.
Still not 100% sure of the rest of the year other than further two-driver races with Dave (who unfortunately missed the Le Mans Classic due to the Jigsaw Spitfire not being ready and Mark being unwell) probably at Castle Combe and Snetterton. I am not doing the CSCC Oulton meeting as the kids are in a summer school stage show that day and I missed last year’s.
For the Nürburg Nordschleife races I have decided to share my car with Martyn Adams – he has not races there before so it’ll be a good learning experience for him. There are going to be 2 races, an 8 lap race on Saturday and another 8 lap race on Sunday which means 90 minutes for each one! I am currently planning to take the GT6 which means I probably need a bigger fuel tank to run for 5 laps (warm up plus half distance).
Still not been called to take my Falcon in for its cage fitting so not much progress on the bodywork side although I have progressed well with buying some of the parts I need and also with cleaning up some of the components to go back on.
WTCC support race report up next week!
30th May 2008 Suddenly loads going on at Wolfitt Racing HQ! The Falcon is now back and sitting on its temporarily re-fitted suspension. There is some tidying up work to do on the new panels and a lot of work to remove all the old paint from the car too before it goes to have its cage fitted. Meanwhile the 289 engine will be ready by the end of the summer and that’ll spur us on to get the car fitted out, wired and ready for engine over the winter.
I have also ordered a load of suspension parts from the USA which I expect should arrive in the next few weeks. The great thing with the 64 Falcon is that it shares many parts with the 65 Mustang and I intend to put something up on this website soon about that in the hope that it helps other people rebuilding these quite rare cars.
The bodywork that was done is excellent (even if somewhat more expensive than I originally expected) and is far better than I would have been able to do. Clive managed to get repro panels for nearly every one that he replaced and that means the finish is as near original as is reasonably possible. Where the correct panels were not available he was able to modify 1965 Mustang panels to fit or fabricate panels from scratch. I have also found a source for all the fibreglass panels I need too. The 64 Falcon was one of the earliest cars to be homologated with fibreglass because of its use in the 63 and 64 Monte Carlo rally which I think also explains why it can race on 5.5J15 wheels but had 7J14s from the factory.
The car is booked in for July to have its FiA spec cage welded in. That’ll be a significant moment as it’ll suddenly start looking like a race car from that point on. I am having removable door bars fitted as I intend to have the car road legal too.
24th May 2008 The Falcon is returning today (Saturday); I'll put some pictures up just as soon as I can! Also the engine will be ready in about 8 weeks time - looks like it's all starting to come together now...
8th May 2008 Quite a bit going on at the Wolfe racing stables. As you may have read I did the Brands Hatch race in Dave’s GT6 and we managed another class win and we are doing the Mallory Park round in a few weeks time too. At that meeting, Dave is also running in the Jigsaw invitation Triumph race along with 25 or so other Triumph regulars.
I have been having some fun recommissioning my TR7V8 (which has not been out since Autumn 2006) and have fitted a new set of big end and main bearings as well as a new set of rocker shafts. Most overhead valve engines get through rocker shafts quite quickly and as they are quite inexpensive at about £25 a pair it’s not a bad thing to replace them periodically as they do wear quite badly. They are deliberately made of quite soft steel (you should never use tuftrided ones) so they wear out instead of the rockers. I have also had the dry-sump oil pump to pieces to clean it out and check for wear; it was all ok apart from a slightly sticky oil relief valve.
The Falcon is at a full stop at the moment as Clive has had some considerable difficulty getting rear wing repair panels from the USA, hopefully they are on the way now and I should have the car back in my garage by July. Incidentally, there was a very nice 1964 Falcon at the Brands Hatch meeting and it was very good to see one finished and it gave me a bit of a kick to get on with mine; I’ve had it nearly 18 months now and I’d like to think it’ll be out rolling next year some time!
I am getting ready to do the CSCC Nurburgring meeting in September (not sure which car yet) and that may well be my only overseas trip this year. Should be good with a lot of CSCC regulars going over on the same train crossing.
Lastly, Stacky’s Spitfire engine is ready for reassembly after the block failed at the 2007 Birkett! New block, new pistons and all new bearings should see that car back out and about again soon.
13th April 2008 As you will have seen I have had a less structured amount of racing over the past year or so (in fact since I won the TR Register championship in 2006). We moved house in May 2007 to a new place that had not been finished by the previous owners so we have had to put a lot of effort into getting the domestic stuff sorted.
With the house came a large workshop and a big double garage and they were both left full to the top with the previous owners junk. It took months to clear it all and in fact we are still moving some of it out! The workshop was left in a dangerously decrepit state too, with water streaming through the roof, everything wet and appalling electrics. Getting everything as I want it is probably 75% of the way to getting it to a state where I can start properly working on the cars rather than the fabric of the buildings.
Anyway the TR7V8 has not turned a wheel since I won in it at Castle Combe in September 2007 (that was after the shunt I had at Brands Hatch) and it has sat idle since. I was up for selling it but there was no serious interest so I have decided to get it out and use it again. In February Stacky and I pulled the engine out for a quick bearings check and I fitted new mains and big ends; they were not too bad but worth changing. The engine is now back in situ and the car is nearly ready for its first outing of 2008. It is certainly capable of winning more races and the CSCC Future Classics series looks as good a place as any to have a go at it in! At this stage Rockingham looks like the most likely debut and it’ll depend on how it goes there as to what happens afterwards.
In the other CSCC Series, the Swinging Sixties, Dave Thompson and I have started well winning the class in round 1, Brands Hatch looms soon and we’ll be doing it again there as well as most if not all of the following rounds this year. We were 9th overall at Snetterton and I reckon we can improve on that at Brands on the short Indy circuit.
Whether or not my own GT6 takes to the track this year or not is unknown at this stage; I would like to do the FISC meeting at Dijon and, if possible, the 6 hour Birkett relay assuming we can get the team sorted and have the entry accepted. I have not had to do too much too it since last year’s Birkett; it just needed new final drive bushes and yet another water temperature gauge, the 4th since the car was built!.
The Falcon still looks like it’s a long way off! Floor pan and rear wing repair parts have taken an age to come from the USA and Clive (Aryliam Motorsport) is now sitting waiting for them; he can’t really do too much more on the body without them. To add complexity the car is booked in for its cage in 3 weeks and I shall have to call and postpone it by a month at least I think.
I have sourced most of the other major parts for the Falcon now and at least know where they are coming from and roughly what it’ll cost. The most annoying this is that the windscreen cracked in the bad weather while in storage at my place. Might have to make a polycarbonate one to start with as the US parts dealers will not ship screens unless in huge, heavy wooden boxes. I might have to buy 3 to make it worthwhile.
Also I cannot buy either a GRP bonnet (hood) or boot (trunk) lid off the shelf so a certain Triumph Vitesse racer famed for his GRP fabrication skills is likely to be called on for assistance! Other than that most parts just seem to involve the spending of vast wads of cash!
That’s all for now! Have fun.