What club is this?
My car has a large-diameter steel tube rollover hoop welded inside the headrest and braced diagonally to the rear subframe alongside the filler. I’m not going to race but would like some track time. My red line will be any track/club that tells me to mangle the long nose bodywork to mount a fugly external roll bar or cage.
Peter
This is VSCCA. When I joined a few years ago I had the privilege of being on track with a multitude of pre-war race cars (Alfa’s mG’s, Bentley’s, various Bugatti’s, rare and seminal Ferrari’s from the 1950/60’s, Aston’s, a Veritas (now that is a cool car), and a many production sports cars do the 1940/50’s. Over time many of these wonderful owners have aged out of wheel to wheel competition, and the buyers of their cars seem uninterested in racing them. We are lucky to still have people like Peter Greenfield and the McNeils bring our and race cars with values equal to the entire remainder of the grid… times 10 to 20. While I originally opposed allowing replicas, I have evolved my position to take into account the rarity of the originals and the fit of the owners with the intent of the club. Guys like Kurt in driving cars that are faithful to the originals are an asset to the club and may be the only was people will see cars of this type being used per design intent outside of Monterey.
Peter- I agree… I have spoken to a roll cage specialist about exactly type of internal roll bar… anything else/external would mess up the car…
also- I sent you a picture of the number on the engine head…
John- I appreciate the sentiment and support…
Here’s racing -
Peter: I couldn’t agree more… !!! … what’s better than a gaggle of E-Types blasting down Lavant Straight and sliding into Woodcote… nothing.!
Welllll… perhaps except a gaggle of D-Types doing the same…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpu3HjH8WK0
Kurt…
About your engine number - it’s not an engine number.
The large digits on the pad are a foundry code. The other digits are not Jaguar and might be an engine builder or something - I’ve never seen those.
The engine number, if present, is at the front end of the valley on the back of the timing case above the front plug and should either be the same as your data plate engine number (because 4.2 heads are the same as 3.8 E-types) or, if it’s a 3.8 head to match the 3.8 block it will likely start with an R, followed by 4 or 5 numbers plus a dash and the number 9 or 8. So R12345-9
Around 1968 they stopped painting and numbering heads and a lot of people go for the 79-onwards fuel injection head which had bigger valves and ports. It doesn’t really affect anything but it’s useful to know what you have when ordering spares.
The actual engine number (block number) for a 3.8 is stamped on the horizontal plain area next to the alloy oil filter casting. 3.8s are peppier and more suited to a D because they like revs. The 4.2 is torquey and nice to drive normally but not as racey. They mave have put the 3.8 block in for that reason for the original customer and either kept the same head as the block, or the 4.2 head from the original data plate 4.2, or an un-numbered head altogether.
There a HUGE cast 3.8 on the side of the block…
Well of course, duh, you said it was a 3.8 so there had to be.
But that just gives the capacity. It doesn’t say anything about tie-in to the ID plate. The head could be a match to the 3.8 block, a match to the data plate, or a match to neither and just a cheap way of getting D-sized 1.875" inlet valves.
Understood Peter… Going home now and I will look again based on your instructions… Thank you. Kurt
Hi John,
What is your understanding of roll bar rules? the standard rule seems to be the “broomstick rule”. (The drivers helmet needs to be 2" (?) below a broomstick placed on the windscreen and the roll bar.
Yet when does this apply? It seems there are sometimes state rules (New Jersey has (or did) a law/regulation that mandates roll bars) track rules and then event such as VSCCA etc. rules?
Regards
Keith
Keith
We have too many BRG Cara in the club, you’d have to paint your D-type recreation red to join 
I’m no expert on this. The VSCCA is run a bit informally where many issues and decisions are managed on a case by case basis by a club director. AFAIK, this results in a significant degree of inconsistency (as Kurt has experienced). Another person light describe this as political and unfair.
I’m not going to say if this is good or bad. It’s simply the way the leaders of this club want to run the club. No, I would not run a club they way they do.
Roll bars - I have been told pre-war cars don’t need roll bars, and that is how many are run at speed on the track.
Post war cars are supposed to have roll bars per the broomstick rule. But if you showed up in a $10,000,000 one all original C-type and said, “I really don’t want to modify this car with a roll bar,” I think you’d probably be given an exception.
In some cases people are told their “roll cage” is too strong because it actually adds to the torsional stiffness of the chassis. I find that strange because those cages are designed for safety first, and the chassis stiffening is pretty clearly a secondary and perhaps unintended benefit.
All That said, it’s a great club that provides many people wonderful opportunities to use cars as they were designed to do. But I also do SVRA events, which are in many ways at the other end of the spectrum from VSCCA
John
PS:
It is interesting reading the attitude the other side of the pond, and your rules seem to differ greatly from ours in Europe. to be eligible to race - and I have had personal experience with my C-type on this - the car must be a true copy of the original, has to be inspected,and is then given a hologram sticker and official papers authorising racing - or racing where they will accept replicas that is. The C-type chassis was inspected, the brakes (no discs please) and it took them over half a day to go through the car from front to back.
A Lynx cannot race in “proper” racing events here. It is but E-type mechanics reclothed in a D-type body. Nor do the Lynx C-types conform either, the chassis not being correct and they all have a 3.8 engine. It can race where admitted in local events, but anything remotely serious and they are outside the regulations. I had a roll cage on my D-type and had great fun on track days, but was not allowed to race it. A great pity, because they are such lovely cars.
Good Points, Tony…
Below is a recent video of a track event that I/the D-type participated in… fun stuff… I thank GT Joey again for the modifications he advised on to make the car run/drive so incredibly well… Kurt
You like the presetting on the advance?
No break up or bog…
Looks great.
gtjoey1314
yes- so far i love it… Number 2 MAP…
thank you
Nice looking event…nice looking Rover…!!!
for sure , Paul… it was a fine event at a cool track, with some really nice cars… And it was even more fun throwing them around in the wet, Kurt
