This shouldn`t be on a Riley blog!
This is another post about my MG Midget roadgoing competition car. ….. It is probably of no interest to Riley enthusiasts, so has no place on this site, but it helps me to keep a record of my MG Car Club exploits. I promise to get back to the serious business of building a pre war Riley special very soon.
Loton park hillclimb, 5th April 2010 was the first event of the season in The MGCC Luffield speed championship. My car is a standard roadgoing 1979 1500cc, (rubber bumper) midget. …. I had spent the last couple of weeks fitting a fresh engine and preparing the car for the series, (see previous articles). As it turned out the work took much longer than anticipated and I didn`t finish untill the day before the competition! … This meant no time for a rolling road set-up, and very little time for final tuning and testing. The ignition timing was done by “sight and sound” and the carbs not touched at all. Just time for a 2 mile test drive around the block, check nothing had fallen off and all fluids were still where they should be.
Scrutineering was fine. … Battery strapped down, extra springs on the carbs, no holes in the bulkhead firewall, fire extinguisher fitted, helmet, overalls, gloves all conforming to recent regulation updates. (etc, etc). … Loton park is a lovely hill. About 1 mile long with left and right twists and turns, a long sweeping section that can be taken flat, it even has a downhill section!
My target time was 70 seconds. My first practice run was a very conservative 82 seconds, limiting the revs to 5000 and watching the oil pressure gauge for signs of oil surge away from the pump pick-up. … Satisfied that all was well, my second run was 79 seconds, using 6000 rpm and carrying more speed into the corners. ….. The first timed run was 78 seconds. I don`t have a time for my final run. (I will add it later). A satisfactory start to the season considering there is more setting up to do on the car yet.
Scoring in the Luffield champs is a calculation of time achieved, measured against the target time. Assuming my best time was 78 seconds and the target was 70 seconds, I guess I scored something just short of 90%. …. I`m satisfied with that for the moment. I hope to get some scores better than 95% later in the season. ….. The pictures show the car in the paddock and in the assembly area at the top of the hill, waiting to return to the paddock.
waiting at the top of the hill.
assembly area at the top
paddock line up
note the extra dashboard with oil pressure gauge, battery cut-off, etc
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About the Author
Phil Smith is a vintage car enthusiast with many years experience of owning, restoring and using vintage, PVT and classic cars. A longstanding member of The Vintage Sports Car Club (VSCC), The Riley register and The MG Car Club. Makes he has owned include Alvis, Bentley, Lagonda, MG, Talbot and Riley, of course. Now retired, Phil satisfies his 'old motor urges' by competing in the MGCC Luffield Speed series in MG Midgets from the 60's and 70's. This blog will chart his return to vintage/PVT cars.
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E-mail: philsmith432[at]hotmail[dot]com