I think that is Mike Moore - he, Bryce Platt and Trevor McLean had some epic battles at club circuits in the mid 70'sQuote:
Originally Posted by seaqnmac27
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I think that is Mike Moore - he, Bryce Platt and Trevor McLean had some epic battles at club circuits in the mid 70'sQuote:
Originally Posted by seaqnmac27
I remember that meeting, I got $40 for 3rd place which from memory paid for my entry fee, and I think this was the meeting we sat on the grid for qtr of an hr while they repossessed the charger (pink if I recall right) and the driver Alan Scott had a yellow race suit with white rimmed sunglasses. He was a builder (sort of) and I ended up doing some electrical work on a complex he was involved in with a woman lawyer partner at birkenhead and they went bust owing us subbies!!!
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Hi Steve,
I have found some old photos of your e49 taken during those golden days of production supercar racing. Although the car is a factory limelight car, it was painted this darker metallic green prior to been first raced by Allan Scott. The car was later owned by Mick Quinn and repainted hemi orange and not the incorrectly stated magenta color that it appears to be in photo #7 above. I brought the car off Mick in 1981 and raced it for the next 3 or 4 years. Included are photos of Bruces falcon Trevs e49 and my Hemi Orange ( ex Green ) e49. Regards Tony.
e49Tonye49;
In 3rd photo is that Mick Quinn in the red/black Camaro, if it is he used this car for all sorts of events and ended in a paddock and car coming 2nd off in the Hamilton Tarmac.
Last photo no.62 Falcon is Gary Bromley I think, he had a few quick Falcons. It looks like Club Curcuit Puke
Wow, these are SO cool! Thanks heaps Tony. Got any more?Quote:
Originally Posted by e49tonye49
After I finished racing it I sold all the race parts off it and the body as a rolling body to a guy in Thames I think it was. He said he was going to make it back into a road car as it was a genuine XA GT.
Attachment 39722I first raced the ex Francevic Falcon in Castrol GTX and after that series finished I ran it in Production Supercars (photo thanks to
Ross Cammick)
When the Falcon Cobras came out in 78 I thought they were the prettiest cars I had ever seen and so as I couldn't afford one I built one up using an XA luxury V8 Fairmont I got for $4200.00. I took the front sheetmetal off and replaced it after selling it in "The Herald" for brand new panels that I got with the help of my buddy Norris Miles from McMillan Ford for the same money. I painted it over Xmas in my dads garage, bought a 351C 4V from Segedins and changed it to HO specs and put in a toploader I bought from Barry Searches Gotina Sports sedan and ran that in Production Supercars Attachment 39723
Heres another in black and white with another one of those pesky chargers I had just got byAttachment 39724
These are awesome photos George. What happened to the Cobra replica?
Well I think I first raced the rep in 1979 and in 1983 I was on my way back from a race in Taupo and saw a genuine Cobra (#211) for sale at Gary Thiefs, oops I mean Kieths in Hamilton with $20K on the window. I was out of the car immediately, and the next thing you know a deal had been done for $19K. I had the 2 sitting side by side on my drive at my first home in Lynfield for a few weeks while I swapped all the race bits over to the real Cobra and put the other stuff in the replica. I sold the replica to Julian Litherland who worked in the parts shop at Segedins for $17K. So Steve it only cost me $2K to trade up to the real deal!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Holmes
Wow, that is amazing! You did well George. $19K was a huge amount of money back in 1983!
This photo of the Cobra at Baypark shows the one and only time I actually got some sponsorship. I had started to do a little work on the suspension by then although it was just Konis all round and bigger front bar, a rear bar and eurothane in a few joints. Trevor Mclean had a big say in the rules and we all had to run on the 15x8 rims (that were the biggest you could fit on a Charger)Attachment 39726
This is one of the first times I ran the genuine Cobra (minus front spoiler that day) as you can see by the different number plate and the rear side indicator is horizontal instead of vertical on the replicaAttachment 39727
That day I think I clocked a 1.10 or 11 on slicks around there where as now days to basically the same set of rules but on 180 tread wear road tyres my best time around the old circuit was 1.06.33 and the new layout 1.16.2. Wish I had have known back then what I know now haaaa
Here she is today sitting on the dummy grid as last raced at November Puke ACC meeting. The wheels now days are Magnesium BBS racing rims 17x13 on the rear and 17x11 front. Attachment 39728
And an action shot through the new chicane on the back straightAttachment 39729
[B][COLOR="#0000CD"]Some parts get around.. that Top Loader was made up from a wrecked one ex USA with all lugs broken off front of main case, case was replaced with one from ex Francevic F/Lane, then later had internals swapped with those from an early FE trans to get close ratio gear set, it then served in both my MKII & MKIV OSCA Cortinas before the rolling MKIV was sold to McElrae who had a mainshaft snap at Timaru and I just happened to be at the meet & got hi-jacked by Rod to swap in the replacement mainshaft- from Rods extensive tool kit... 1 chippies hammer, two phillips screwdrivers, a couple of plain screwdrivers and a couple of cresents, ~ 1hr to strip & reassemble to get ready for last race only for the throttle cable to break. Pity the poor guy who had to rebuild it from there, I had to do a couple of 'uglies' to get the allen screws out of the shifter rails.Quote:
Originally Posted by George Sheweiry
Thats such a cool story! I love this stuff.
Well if its the same box then you did a pretty good job of it then Jac Mac because its still in the car, still goin strong and before each race I leave the pits sideways onto the track. I can break most things but I have never broken a toploader. Most of my competitors have pulled them out and run a lighter Super T10. They usually break and I just keep on goin!! Jim had replaced the Sidchromes Toploader with an iron case super T10 and it was nothing but trouble so I pulled it out put in a close ratio toploader and have never had to touch it!! To finish first, first you must finish.
That reminds me, a certain Boss Mustang running a Jerico from Tauranga had to sit behind a dirty old Mercury Comet with a Big shaft Toploader that took 1st place. Mind you I wasn't invited back again, haaaaAttachment 39733
Barry Search will probably pop up now and say he broke it/replaced it and ruin the story George:) .Yes I share the same thoughts re Super T10 & later versions, in the TL sedans they like them due to weight, but you can see how the case twists and causes taper wear on the teeth.
I still have the original USA case with broken lugs, its now serving as a drilling/machining jig for the T44, never ending story.
Have to agree re Top loaders , we had a wide ratio in mustang & Roly fitted a close ratio built by Derek at Puke , I must have had it in there four years & it did some miles but never punished it....my only concern it was SSoooooo heavy ...Quote:
Originally Posted by George Sheweiry
Well that's right Grant and that's why a lot of people shy away from them, but while they are slotting in another box between race 1 and race 2 I am sitting there cool calm and collected ready to go, and when you get home there is enough maintenance to do on the race car as it is !! (especially when you have 28 of them)
That would be a huge up keep George ....good on you for that , I find 2 are taking up so much time but really enjoying that challenge infact love it as time etc allows, having 3 young daughters takes up time etc etc ...as well ....getting back to what I need to do is great we are blessed
We can learn lots from photos some will say not , car in front is fast in a straight line but suffers understeer & positive camber 3 seconds at least in reading this car , mind you I still try & correct my own car .[not judging ].& a bit of caster ...
...but photos tell a story
Three seconds!!!, that would get George relegated to starting from pit lane if he wanted to race those hot rods!!
28 cars has been fun alright, too many really but its time to downgrade so 4 have gone and another 2 soon. Yes the Comet does suffer from understeer and I have slowly been working on getting it better. I spent too much time trying to get it to hook up with dumb rules that don't allow a LSD and of course I spread myself too thin with too many cars, but I didn't have to be the world champion and not ever having any major sponsors I didn't have to go to every round if I didn't want to so it always kept the fun factor high. I always liked to run something different to and I have always done everything myself which as an electrician gave me some problems as well. haaaa The Comet had huge potential and guys like you Grant were always fun to race against. That first race I debuted the comet at you and I had a ding dong battle from the back of the grid and I would pull 12 car lengths on you going down the shute but because I had just finished building it the night before the brakes weren't right, the handling wasn't right and you would gobble me up under braking and then after battling to the front with you hounding me the whole way the cast iron crankshaft on the beginning of the last lap let itself be known that unlike the Clevelands it wasn't up to the job and it took me 2 more failures of that part before I cured it with a $$$$$$ original steel crank. Luckilly having all the different cars I had and after not succeeding to get her to hook up without a LSD I just concentrated on the other classes I was running in and told the pre 65 guys that when they changed the LSD rule I would go back. Here's the funny thing they just found out that the car that won the series last year was running a LSD, how dumb, but I bet they still wont change the rule. Go figure??
Grants probably right Jac, handling has never been my strong point and everything was so secretive as well. The mustang boys were able to get their cars to hook up with a bar off the top of the diff on the rhs going on an angle to the front leafspring bolt position but my old girl when I tried it with 200hp more and more importantly 200ftlbs of torque would just spin that rh wheel. I tried a torque arm that utilised the bolts on the diff head (in case it didn't work) that went right up to the gearbox. Then I shortened it to half the length, still didn't work. Rightly or wrongly I have always been a stickler for the rules (probably naively too) so after a big effort to build the car, finally sort the engine and try all that BS I just concentrated on other stuff. I felt it was a bit of a shame as the car was so different from everything else that was running and there were so many people who loved the car and wanted me to keep running it but after hauling it all the way to Manfield and seeing Tony Jeffs big Galaxie and the 426 Plymouth from the South Island leaving 2 thick black lines as they accelerated out of the corners I knew I would never be able to get the old girl to do that, and even though I had a way better engine than those 2 cars they still smoked me good. But there ya go, sometimes things work out and sometimes they don't so the Comet has spent most of the time since I built it in 97 just sitting in the garage. Nevermind!
George there is a good photo some where of you & I going through railway , yes remember the race well , I could see you were really struggling over the top of the hill etc I could gobble yr car up once yr tyre & brakes were going off , I was lucky as had some good people behind me and a terrific sponsor the package was perfect........now we are trying to get a little pinto to go like you say different classes bring a different energy , no pressure in my new class but sure is fun getting back into it & moving forwards trying different things we all have our ups & downs though for sure , not having so many cars to focus on to look after makes it a bit easier, we always want to go faster lol have a great xmas buddyQuote:
Originally Posted by George Sheweiry
Attachment 39759
Hey Popey, here's a picture of your Coupe. Do you have a picture of it in XAGT guise?. Note there are 4 Coupes in this image.
There are 4 Falcon hardtops in this photo! Its extremely rare to see even one of these in modern day historic racing. I guess they were a more affordable options back then?Quote:
Originally Posted by Rellum
Attachment 39864
Here is an older one taken on the old Taupo track turn one.
Popey- can you please tell us the history of your car and how it developed into its final form- think I may have run with you and the Verns in early 90s
That Falcon is stunning! Where is it now?
I purchased it as a road car off a dealer in Auckland with the intention of club racing it. Traded a Mercury Cougar in on it, which I had swapped a Ducati motorbike for. It was a genuine XA GT but it was a bit scruffy, had some rust issues that were largely resolved and was informed the previously owner had drag raced it in a production based class.
The first time I raced it was at Pukekohi and it still had bulky superstock tyres on the back. The car evolved slowly over the years as the budget would allow and the rules and classes I raced in changed. I would mainly buy second hand parts and had good mates that would help work on the car and any sponsorship I could get was greatly appreciated and needed.
I got the front off an XC panel van I had and sold the original GT front for good money. I liked the spoiler set up of the XC better. For classic meetings I would have to change the grille back to XB as they wouldn’t allow the later XC model to run.
The car got badly crashed at Whenapai in 1992, I got hit in the driver’s door (it’s now hanging on the wall in my garage) by the out of control Brian Peace 930 turbo Porsche. The car had the RH rear quarter almost ripped completely off and the chasses got bent, but we managed to get it fixed. I found a Falcon panel van door and door pillar to replace the destroyed ones and reattached the original rear quarter with a few patches and a large amount of filler. I remember it cost me around $1,300. I heard the Brain Peace car cost over 20,000 to fix.
When it came time to sell it no one wanted to buy it so I sold it in parts and the body was purchased (buy a guy who owned a garage in Thames I think it was) to be converted back to a road car. I had still kept it registered as I did drive it on the road on occasion.
The original GT engine ended up in a T Bucket. I swapped the good roller cam motor for a twin cam Datsun 120Y race car and the motor ended up in a speedway saloon. Ray Cheba brought anything I had that was a GT part. John Alley brought the ex Allan Moffit GTHO gearbox for his pre 65 Mustang.
What a cool history.
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Thanks, some pics of the damage, after repairs and as purchased
When it was street legal, I remember some good times in that car before you committed the GT to a full time race car.
Wayne
Yes fond memories, but stretching it legs on the track was where it needed to be, otherwise I think I would have got into to much trouble.