3l GTV6 PRC project

[scuzzyGTV]

would love to come & watch, but i'm on that other island 
yes more complex systems cost more & oversteer does look truely excellent. i think targa shows that with the big ol' V8's looking spectacular against the 4wd's.
anyway good luck with it, and please do write up the post rally review, as i for one love reading them!
scott.

[redalfaracing]

Only 2 weeks to the kick off of the Victorian rally season.

We have entered the 2011 Millard Memorial Rally at Heywood on Feb 26th. Held in the Anya state forest it is usually a mix of fast flowing roads and head scratching navigation. Run this year as 2 Divisions. Division 1 in daylight starts with a khanacross test at the Heywood festival then a few forest stages followed by another khanacross test.
Dinner break then after dark Division 2 starts with another khanacross test followed by some navigation night stages.
Haven't done a lot to the car since August, except enjoy driving it. I'll give it a spanner check during the week, scrutiny at Ringwood Wednesday week.

BRING IT ON!

[redalfaracing]

Got our competition number, car 18
not sure what is going on with the start order, the guy who won the HRA championship last year got 24. There is some talk of doing a fine tune to the grading on the night.

Funny, there only 22 entries and for the Eildon 1600 on the same night only 45.

I would have thought all the frustrated rally drivers would have been chomping at the bit, i know i am!

Passed scrutiny on Wednesday night no dramas, but on the way home i detected a slight miss at 6000 rpm, got some new plugs to put in today, can't have the engine sounding like a Jap through the speccie point. Everyone always comments how crisp and clean it sounds as it powers away.

Let you know how we get on. Hopefully there will be someone taking pics somewhere.

[aggie57]

Welcome back Greg - always good to see your latest post.

FYI the cream car is stripped apart from the suspension.  As soon as I get a spare day I'm taking it up to Jim's to start work on the shell.  But man was that cream car rusty!!  

Funny thing though - turns out that car was first owned by Paul Gulliver, who not only posts on this forum but lives 1 street from me and who I've known for many years. Small world.

Alister

[Paul Gulliver]

Alister,

I have now stopped crying after seeing what happened to the first " new " Alfa Romeo i ever purchased back in 1980.

Nice to hear that parts of it live on in Group S.

I'm also using it as my current screen saver to remind me of what a little bit of rust & neglect can do to your pride & joy.

( The colour is Piper Yellow)

[Neil Choi]

Off-topic, but Alister, what colour will you go with, nice to be back to that cream which is what my one will be, back to original. 

Reminds me of my GT which I have as a screen saver too.

Neil

[aggie57]

Poor Greg - we're taking over his long running thread!

Probably Piper Yellow but also thinking White.  Ray Williams in NZ had a 1980ish one in White that he raced and it looked great.

I'll start a thread for this when I have something to show.  For now it's just two shells and a pile of parts

[redalfaracing]

Unofficial results from the Millard Memorial,

O/R Crew Car POINTS
1 Greg Wyatt/Dale Allan Alfa Romeo Alfetta 33:00
2 Alan Upton/Mark Laidlay Datsun 1600 33:45
3 Kim Harper/Steuart Snooks Ford Escort Twin Cam 35:02
4 David Johns/Les Shadwick Mitsubishi Lancer LA 38:10
5 Darryl Brown/Monica Burt Nissan Skyline 39:05
6 Graham Wallis/Phil Nicholas Peugeot 203 49:05
7 Jamie Robertson/Daniel Young Subaru WRX STi 55:09
8 Kim Barclay/Andrew Hutchins Datsun 180B 60:06
9 Keith Winter/Peter Maurer Volvo 144S 75:58
10 Adam Becker/Dion Becker Toyota Corolla 78:02
11 Doug Norman/Robert Knight Peugeot 504 108:44
12 Geoff Hale/Alan Baker Volkswagen Golf GLS 120:12
13 Daniel Rossi/Simon Rowland Chrysler Lancer 134:04
14 Robert Dyer/Jenny Pollock Datsun Sunny PB210 143:59
Did not finish the event
Bob Brown/Sarah Hargreaves Nissan Skyline Control closed (T6)
Derrick White/Nathan Lowe Peugeot 504 Ti Sick navigator (T6)
Stephen Richards/Fred Lakerink Ford Escort Mk2 Starter motor (C6)
Joel Wald/Ashley McBain Datsun Stanza Clutch (C5)
Michael Conway/Jenny Cole Ford Escort Mk
2 Broken suspension (C1)

Full report later, when i get a bit more sleep!

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Uhhh, does that mean you won?  If so, well done!!  Does the car still have the 2.5?

Poor Greg - we're taking over his long running thread!

Probably Piper Yellow but also thinking White.  Ray Williams in NZ had a 1980ish one in White that he raced and it looked great.

Racing Ray Williams?  I only ever knew him as a Porsche driver.  Unless there are two Ray Williams'.

[redalfaracing]

Uhhh, does that mean you won?   Does the car still have the 2.5?

Yes Sheldon, We did win, and yes, still a bog standard 2.5 engine.




It was a very well run event. The guys from SEAC were friendly and helpful. If you ever want to do a rally, hillclimb or a khanacross, couldn't do any better than going to one of their events.
There was a khanacross on the Saturday. We decided not to enter, but helped out on the day replacing witches hats as they were dislodged from the side of the track. (there were many @ 5 seconds penalty each)
The khanacross and trial are run as part of the Wood, Wine and Roses Festival. They also have mower racing, freestyle MX and a whole range of things you expect to see at a  country festival.

We were in the Red Alfa Romeo GTV6, car 18.
C1, We all had to do 2 laps of the full khanacross course (2km) then sent on our way to the second competitive in the Mt Clay forest.
Disaster struck for one crew in an Escort. First gear change in the khanacross they broke a leaf spring and so had to retire hurt. How would you feel, i thought. Drive all the way to Heywood (380 km from Melbourne) and only do 50 metres competitve? Well, we very nearly found out! Third corner in the khana test was a very tight hairpin right. Rev limiter in 2nd gear, hard on brakes, down change to 1st, throw it in, full throttle and full opposite lock, it felt good!!! apparently it looked good, but it smelt really, really bad! Burning rubber smell. Hmmm. 2 corners on, really tight left hand hairpin. Attacked it the same way, same result. I indicated to Dale that maybe we shouldn't do that again, so i drove a bit more sedately from that point on. Not as much fun, not as fast, but smelt so so much better. Time 2.32, 1 second behind fastest 2wd. happy with that, but could have been so much faster! While Dale is doing his paperwork thing i get out and lift the bonnet. Shredded rubber everywhere. Front dough nut on the tailshaft  is looking very tired. One segment is completely gone. Well actually still there, but distributed all over the engine. Dale starts to hand the card back, thinking that it's all over. No! i say I'll nurse this thing to the end.
From that point on, no wheelspin starts, smooth gear changes, no slamming back gears  and no revving over 4500 rpm. Kinda took some of the fun away, but hey, the result was worth it.
At this stage we are about 14th on the road. 15 km of competitive with a mix of goat tracks, minor tracks and some very fast flowing roads, all fully route charted. Dropped 2.21 tootling along with a fear of a blowup. The fastest was a local in a Datsun 180B, dropping 1.29. He was fast, i thought at that point this guy, with his local knowledge of the roads would probably win, as he did last year. The WRX dropped 1.35 and being an ARC spec car ( anti lag, intercooler sprays etc ) should have won, but the driver was a novice, so i reckon we would pass him sooner or later.
Kim Harper in his twin cam Escort finished the first stage with about 150 mm of toe out on the front and almost undriveable. Dale climbed under it and with a shifter and a pair of vice grips got it back to a manageable setting. something got itself horribly bent going thru a deep hole. Gave no trouble for the rest of the night. One of the other Escorts stuffed the starter motor at the finish of C2 and got push started but pulled out during the night because of it and Derick White ( winner of the BP rally) had to stop and do a repair when fuel started spraying on the windscreen. One of the bolts that hold the fuel rail on stripped and the rail came off. A worm drive hose clamp got it up and running again but he dropped 11.17 in the process.
We then had to compete back down the same course for C3. I was feeling a little more confident that the driveshaft would stay connected so used a bit more aggression on the way back. Missed cleaning it by 1 second, 4 others did clean it. On the way we passed Derick White on the side of the road, stopped and out of the car. Different problem this time. Eventually, he found that the ecu had unplugged itself.
We had a dinner break at Heywood, waiting for it to get dark. Our scores were totalled and we re-started in fastest to slowest order. We were now 5th car on the road. Pretty happy about that. Not too far back but a couple of cars ahead of us to clear the tracks.
On the re start we had to do the khana test again. 1 second slower than the previous run, 2.34 .
Now it's off to Annya state forest for the remaining 5 stages. These are navigation, done  off maps.
C5 we drop 3.00 minutes, 5th fastest time. Sure enough, we pass the WRX. We find him obviously lost, coming the other way at us on a grotty. We dive into the bushes and let him pass. we don't see him again till service. We are now 4th on the road. A bit further on we find Joel Ward in his Stanza with a blown clutch. Shame, he was going real quick. Pass him and now we are 3rd on the road.
By now it is starting to drizzle. Less dust now and the occasional slick clay patch on the roads. The roads are generally very grippy though. The front tyres are working well and the back are letting go quite easily when i give it the message.
C6 we drop 5.01 which is the 3rd fastest time. The local guy in the 180b is putting in ripper times, but his engine is drinking heaps of water. Kim doesn't know where it is going but he has a 20 litre drum of water in the boot and he tops it up whenever he stops. He is doing really well and i still think he is going to get the big trophy.
This stage has a few navigational challenges, we had to find a totally unmapped road junction. The roads are very interesting to drive and Dale is working hard keeping the calls coming in time. A lot of the calls are only 100-300 metres apart. Sometimes the road we want are there and sometimes the road just turns, with the other mapped roads no longer existing. When they aren't there, it gets hard keeping track of exactly where you are. Dale keeps his cool and we get to the finish control with all the observations. The Escort driven by Steven Richards with the dud starter pulls out in this stage.
Off to service at the camp ground in the Annya state forest. We get to hop out and we have 20 minutes to fill in. As we don't have a service crew, no fuel, no parts, (not that we need any) we spend the time talking to other competitors as they turn up. All seem to have  a  tale of woe, except Graeme Wallis in his 203 Peugeot. According to him, it is still the best handling, most durable, all singing, all dancing car of all time. He does finish 6th in the end.
Kim in the 180b is there, pouring water into the radiator. He is missing a couple of driving lights from when he tipped it into a corner just a little too early, and came to rest wrapped around a tree. But he's young and you know how the young can see in the dark... I couldn't have got as far as he had with twice his lights, my eyes need HID's to tackle the forest at night. Kim had a couple of h1 Narva 150 mm halogens.
After service we head off to C7. There is a hold up while controls are set and 0 car clears the stage. I could have easily gone to sleep at this point. 30 odd minutes sitting in the dark waiting. It is too wet to stand around outside. If your clothes get wet, when you get going and you get hot, the windows fog up real quick. Finally the ok is given and we get going. We drop 3.30, the 2nd fastest time and I'm starting to feel like we can get a podium finish. Derrick White in his Peugeot 504 Ti calls it quits with a sick navigator, and Bob Brown get to the start of C7 to find the control closed so it's back to Heywood for him.
C8 starts with everyone doing a 4 km loop and coming back onto the same track 880 metres from the start. There is a passage control where the two tracks join, We arrive and a guy leans in the door, draws a smiley face  on our control card and lets us go, just as Darryl Brown in his Skyline shoots past. BUGGER!!!!! Now we have his dust for a couple of kms until we get to the point where he turns left and we turn right. This is a fairly long stage and blow me down, with a few kms to go, we catch the car in front, Alan Upton in his Datto 1600. We pass him and Alan starts to race us from behind. Great fun dicing through the trees with only metres between the bumpers. We slow to check a road we need to take and Alan passes us. With only a little way to go we are happy to follow him. Knowing i've  got the goods on him and could pass him at any time, even though I'm still not revving over 4500 rpm is a good feeling. We pass the flying finish right on his tail. his time 11.12 our time 9.15  3 seconds between us, means we beat him by 1.57 and we got easily the fastest time on that stage.  Off to C9, the final for the night.
We elect to bypass the 10 minute service on the way ( nothing to do, so why bother)
Kim in the 180b turns up, with a few more lights missing and fur all over the light bar. Apparently a roo got in between the "b" and where it was pointing. He had been to service to tip more water into the radiator. Still doing good times but with a missed info he was no longer in the hunt. Bloody good job though.
C9 was tight and with a couple of dubious mileages. We get through alright but have a very conservative time. 9th fastest. But as it turned out, we had already done enough to get the top spot on the podium. My first one.
What a great car, and a great job by the navigator.
I'll be back next year to defend the trophy. With an engine that will spin at 6500 rpm all night.

[Mat Francis]

You should save these write ups for the magazine! Awesome story.

I will have to get out and do another control at something a little more local.

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Awesome work, and an excellent story.  Nice one.

[aggie57]

Nice one Greg.  Well done!

[aggie57]

Racing Ray Williams?  I only ever knew him as a Porsche driver.  Unless there are two Ray Williams'.

Yep - same one.  Weirdest thing ; yesterday the latest Christophorus arrived and in the Aus/NZ section there was an article on him.  It included a few paragraphs on his GTV which apparently he raced because MANZ decreed sub 2-litre cars for touring racing at the time. It says he ended up putting a turbo on the thing but it was "unreliable".

How far away is the 24-valve Greg?

[redalfaracing]

You should save these write ups for the magazine! Awesome story.

I will have to get out and do another control at something a little more local.

Thanks Mat, put it in the mag if you want to.
The Yakkerboo is on  April 2nd. Based out of Willow Grove again. You could do a closure there. Or, if you want, you could service for me. Not directing this time, going to be a competitor. Put my local knowledge to good use. Actually looking for a navigator, as Dale is going to drive it as well. Anyone want a chaufeured drive around Baw Baw?

Awesome work, and an excellent story.  Nice one.

Thanks Sheldon, Looking forward to the report on your rally

Nice one Greg.  Well done!

Thanks Alister, 24 valve is still upside down on the engine stand. I have been postulating on the oil pump and sump. I have worked out it would be better to do away with the original pump and have bought a Barnes 3 stage scavenge pump and am going to dry sump it. Hope to get it ready for the transplant over winter. Headers are the other big issue. Still thinking about that. Probably build my own out of mandrel bends. All good fun