"Playing Cars" with Northwoods Shelby Club

[Tom Veale]

Great weather, good friends and lots of fast cars made for a perfect combination for exercising #007 on the track at Road America.

Just before the apex of Turn 7, a sweeping right hander taken at the top of 3rd or short shifted to 4th gear:


The extreme Left Hand of Turn 5, heading for the Apex:


007 acquitted itself very well considering it was out there lapping on street tires (white walls, no less). Even some of the cars on race rubber didn't keep up through the twisties.

I took my friend's son around the track for a full 30 minute session while chasing down his dad in his Pumpkin Orange Challenge Car.


I hope these photos encourage all the builders to keep up the good work and get your cars OUT THERE!!!

Best regards,
Tom

[David Hodgkins]

GREAT pics!!

[vnmsss]

I love RA and love that event!!! Great to see a '33 on track!! The Northwoods crew really know how to host an awesome event!

Karen

[Tom Veale]

Karen and David, FFR was well represented there by owners. I paddocked with two Roadsters with two more just across the road from us. I didn't count up all the FFR Roadsters, but think there were around a dozen. I was the sole '33 Piloto, however. One of the FFR Roadsters would have won the Loudness Award if they were handing one out! Every year that particular car grows more spoilers, wings, tabs and louvers and goes very quickly.

Loads of track time was available for those who could play all three days. Alas, I was just there for the Sunday Fun.

Best regards, Tom

[Gordon Levy]

Was the loud one this car? http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...type=1&theater
We did a full rebuild of that car in the off season. Looks like you had a lot of fun. I haven't been to that event since 2000.

[Tom Veale]

....Was the loud one this car?.............

Hi Gordon,

Whajasay? I can't hear you over the Green "Gordon Levy" Roadster!!!

Yes, they're the guys. I think they hail from Northern IL, if I remember right.

Lee, from Rockford, IL, another very happy customer of yours, was paddocked with us. Only his second time on the R.A. pavement, but he said your front torsion bar (anti sway bar) and rear suspension changes/additions really helped settle his car down.

Tom (03) and Lee (999) head for the Apex of Turn 8 at Road America:


Best regards, Tom

[Gordon Levy]

The green car has one of our exhaust systems on a high compression, dry sumped, 427 Windsor. For some reason we have a hard time keeping mufflers in it.
I like the track 33. Glad everyone had a good time.

[efnfast]

The green car has one of our exhaust systems on a high compression, dry sumped, 427 Windsor. For some reason we have a hard time keeping mufflers in it.
I like the track 33. Glad everyone had a good time.

It better not be louder than me; otherwise I'll take that as a personal challenge :rofl:

[Tom Veale]

Re: Track time in the '33............

Of note was the outside air temp being in the high 80s to low 90s. The '33 ran at under 210°F water temp the whole time even while burning fuel at the rate of around 7 miles per gallon. That's a lot of BTUs to get rid of through the radiator, but it did fine. The fan came on while cruising back to the paddock, but shut off shortly after I parked the car. One fellow with a similar 302 pushrod Ford engine was seeing water temps higher than me, but his oil temp (no cooler) was running as high as 250°F and higher. I don't have an oil cooler on my car, but didn't worry since I don't have an oil temp gauge, either! I suggested he start short shifting to 5th gear on RA's long straights and when he tried it his oil temp moderated a bit.

On my '33, I'd done a reasonable job of bedding in the brake pads out on the highways, but it's never the same as on the track. Getting deep into the brakes from triple digit speeds for several laps fully completed the job. Brakes work quite well overall - better when they got hot than when they are stone cold. Overall, the car's a bit easier to drive hard than the 90" wheel base Roadsters. I didn't get any lap times on my car, but I wasn't catching or being caught by my friend's Challenge Series car and he was turning 2:50s with a passenger on board. So, my guess is we were lapping at around the same pace and it "felt" like a sub-3 minute lap to me.

I'd cranked up the shocks (QA-1 "Proma Star" single adjuster, jounce & rebound) from my usual street setting to 4th from the softest setting. That was still just a little bit loose on the long straight sections with speeds above 120 MPH. I added two more "clicks" to be at #6 from softest and that settled the car down for the high speed sections. Now that the weekend is over I'll drop the shock settings back down. (two clicks from softest seems to be pretty good for highway speeds and still happy at 25 to 35 on bumpy city streets) The progressive springs at the rear balanced nicely with the 450#/in front springs. It seems to be a reasonable combination for handling and ride for street and track.

You guys are going to really enjoy track time in your '33s if/when you get the chance. They're very competent cars to drive on the track.

Best regards, Tom

[aesthetect]

You guys are going to really enjoy track time in your '33s if/when you get the chance. They're very competent cars to drive on the track.

i really cant wait. still shopping around other options but always keep coming back to the 33 for a great looking, streetable track car. if nothing else the light weight and level of adjustability should make for years of track fun

really would have been interested in your lap times though!

and HA at the oil cooler comment!

[ehansen007]

Tom, so jealous. I can't wait either. Just trying to pick a date this busy summer. Need to buy some stiffer springs for the front too. Since I put the cam in there I've yet to really stretch the car out but I think Willow Springs is going to be the place.

[TriPower]

I want to thank Tom V. for being my coach on the track since I am still learning to drive on the track. It was FANTASTIC and I cannot wait to do it again. Gordon, the car with the suspension changes worked great.

Lee