Absolutely beautiful.

I'm so glad you've been able to re-create such an iconic car and to such a high level of finish.

Congratulations.

Cheers
Rob

Thanks Guys, yes you're right Greg, it does look like I've lost a lens, I'll have a look ......I've either got a very clear lens and the special anti reflection filter on the camera doesn't show it, or I've got a 2.5 mile walk to try and find it!!

Anyway this might interest some of you......Polara Jim velcroed a little camera to my helmet and this is the result

http://youtu.be/1XnJ_G-AuNU

It's all rather tame at the moment but this was literally the first proper drive, and we just wanted to see what we had built.....thers'e rather a lot of head movements but I've yet to put any mirrors on, and I kept expecting those pesky supercars to come flying past, but it seemed like only one way traffic

Great bit of footage PB, awesome to see.
Rolie sounds very smooth & drives real nice after the slight 'polishing' of the gears early in. (can't find'em? grind 'em)

You hit the nail on the head at the end too..... you do have a race car.
Hats off to you for all the effort.
Damn it's good to see Rolie turning his treads like that.

I'm soooo jealous

Stickman

AWESOME VIEWING MATE,Rolie sounds and looks great ,CONGRATULATIONS,
Like Greg at the Grafton Hill Climb,faster each lap,and to pass a Ferrari doesn't
get much better Gerry

Thanks again guys for all your kind and enthusiastic comments, it really helps all of us here at Bellett UK Central to really keep our collective feet pressed hard against the bulkhead....more pics of the test day...... the first one didn't come out as well as I hoped, I did want to show you racers out there what we've come up with, I'll try harder next time...
I like this one because it shows how Rolie attracts attention over here
And this one
A bit of engine fiddlery
Action shot
And lastly a nice shot of Woodcote corner leading to the chicane, in the background you can see the famous 'SuperShell' building, that used to be grubby workshops and now is a posh bit of corporate hospitality.

Hey MARK,
Maybe you could get a sponsor to pay your Air fare over to "Down Under" to "gain knowledge" on setting up from these "Racey Aussies".
Only 4 months to go to our Nationals!!!
You and your Team have done a great job on Rolie, I am sure it would be very difficult to take the smile of Rolies Aussie connections, Eh Geoff and Greg??

mark.... i notice in one of those pics u aren't running the rear transverse leaf spring....
can i ask why? is just they handle terribly without one, or more.
cheers.

Hi Brett, we looked at the transverse spring and concluded that it did nothing more than limit the droop, and hence the tuck under of the wheels (and add on quite a few kgs) so the whole lot went in the bin.
We've checked the above mentioned movement with the limit of the shock absorber travel, and it all seems to work fine. The only, very minor, problem we've had with the rear is that we have a little too much tow in, which is making the turn in a little aggressive....easy fix though.
Hopefully testing again in a fortnight, once we've 'breathed' on the engine

ALARM ALARM!

This is a scarey prospect for me. I don't know a lot about competition, suffice to say I'm a 30-year-ago novice, but the thought of running without the leaf has me shaking.
I immagine if the shocks are hard enough they would reduce initial body roll, but if the guts comes out of the top of the unloaded shock, theres nothing to stop that wheel laying on the hubcap. I think it would be more correct to say the leaf doesn't do enough.
I suggest go to the bin, fish it out, and put it back with a second one piggy-back. I will even go over to the shed, get one out & mail it to you if needs be. I did this in 1979 along with back springs in the front, and it made the car seem like it wanted to go AROUND the corner instead of onto it's roof. The camber is adjustable with extra rubber blocks above the leaf ends.

For the record , I wouldn't drive around the block without the leaf in, let alone a track.
Not trying to tell you your buisness, just really REALLY don't want to see all that fine work undone.
Cheers, Matt.

My street cars are running the transfer spring modified. The club car has had it removed also. My car is running a set of vn lowerd commo springs in the rear with a set of koni adjustable shocks limiting the downward travel. The bellett that i compete against is of the same set up although i don't know what shocks or springs Glen runs (he needs to have some secrets ). This car has been run most of it's life as a race car and very competitive in it's class. In saying this it is my intentions to run limiting straps in case of a shock failure. As far as handling goes at this early stage of development is awsome. I have also had a good look at pr91's set up and intend to graft a few of his idea's into the car also (i have a 3 second gap to fix Glen ). It is good that people share their info it save's time and stress but there is alway's room for improvement.
p.s I did not advise Mark that this was the way to go he did know i dont run one and Glen and Mark have swapped emails. I for one would be interested in what set up is in rolie.
It was once said that one of Henry fords engineers claimed that they developed the v8 engine as far as it could go he was fired.

Fair enough, I bow to superior experience.
It's the 'error' part of trial & error that worries me, but 'tried & true' - that's different.
Long as you're having fun!
Cheers fellas,
Matt.

Well this is all very interesting isn't it? We came up with this idea for the rear end set up completely independently, and then my Scandanavian friends(where are you Ari, Antti? you can join in if you like ) confirmed this is how they set theirs up.
Like you Matt I had my reservations, but everyone I've spoken to (including my mate who built the shocks) said they would be man enough to handle the impact of a lifted wheel.
If this elegant Colin Chapmanesque solution works, it'll be spot on for us. If it does't we'll find out hopefully in testing and not the race. Or at least in true Chapman style maybe it'll fall apart on the slow down lap after the flag

after spending all my life around race cars and the building and preparation there of, including racing my own Bellett for nearly 15 years with proven results (including posting pics on here showing how well it handles which is it's strength and it's widely regarded as the best example built in this country...) i thought i may have known a thing or 2 about the traits of Bellett's and how to fix them... But obviously not. I'm only too happy to offer as much advice or knowledge as possible to help those that ask but it seems some are experts with the first one they have been involved with. Better your neck than mine racing one with no rear spring and enjoy the rebuild due to the roll over it causes... And i wish u luck with getting the front end to work too.

CHILL OUT MAN
No one said your set up was wrong My opinion is that it is great that you are prepared to let the info you have to help others. It saves time and money if you get advice and get it right the 1st time. But there is always room for improvement this is not a go at you either it's a part of development the v8 boys do it all the time trying to catch another second by trail and error. I like your idea's and i have idea's from another car that has proven itself also. (Pom is trying a set up ? and a few of his contact's in scandanavia may have an opinion also) I just said i was trying one set up copied from another race car and it handles awsome.
I have some development problem's already smashed a uni on saturday arvo at noosa hillclimb sunday morning a little drizzel nice slow take off with a slow run all good.The next run still a little slippery within 200 meters i had two half shaft's snaped and on the track I could not have cut them off better with a drop saw . So i have it far from right .
p.s i dont think i will be a racing expert ever i just want to have a squirt here and there.

All ideas are good, have a look at the photo, fulls WORKS suspension, complete with works transverse leaf spring! Tool boxing is the way to go, you are are not racing for the Mint or Nation, just enjoy seening the cars out there, alive, well and having LOTS of fun .WHAT A RACE CAR!

Real nice shot there, More.

Did see Tom's car there on a few occasions but never got to see it racing that close and didnt have the required camera lens to get up there.
It was a very competitive car in its class.
Heavily modified as well, so the rumours go, as it pulled away from a XW GT falcon on Conrod straight at Bathurst!!!


OZ

Electronically clocked down Conrod Straight at Bathurst at 146 MPH, yes, MPH!! NOT klm/H.
Beautifully prepared race car!

Crikey, it appears I've ruffled a few feathers. I'm sorry about that, I can assure you it was never my intention to do so.

As I see it motorsport is about innovation and development, stepping back from the situation and evaluating everything you have at your disposal, using your imagination and taking advice. Then applying some or all of these things to best effect.

Although we've been building racing cars (classics to state of the art Group C cars) for a living for 33 years, we would NEVER call ourselves experts, and consequently advice is always happily listened to.

The trouble is with advice is that it's often conflicting (there are more ways than one to crack a nut as they say) and it is then you have to start the evaluation process. Motorsport intuition told us that we could probably do without the transverse spring and this was backed up by some pretty convincing evidence and hard data from the guys who have been racing and rallying Belletts in Scandinavia for some time.

I've never been told exactly why many of you guys race with the transverse spring....only 'this is how we do it here'......but looking at some recent posts on this thread I assume it's been tried (doing away with the offending spring) with disastrous effects and this method of setting up the rear end of a Bellett has become a blind alley.

I admire anyone who has the dedication and commitment to set up and race cars (believe me, I know what it takes) and I certainly would NOT want to offend anyone by not copying their set up........Equally, by trying a different set up does NOT make the original wrong.

Many of my Fathers friends still race cars from the 20s and 30s and not one of them would profess to have found the perfect set up, and like all club racers (vintage, classic and modern) in the UK, they gladly share, use and ignore each others advice throughout the seasons.

This is, in my humble opinion, is one of the best bits of our wonderful sport.....and long may it last.

Great shot of the Tom Amos car by the way.

This is certainly fun reading.

Having looked into how Belletts handle I'd like to add my two cents worth.
No offence is meant to anyone ... AND if I have got anything wrong please let me know

A std bellett (ie std spring) will handle ok, start to push it and things can get scary if the backend gets some air under it.
The prolem being the std spring drops the rear wheel down resulting when the car touches down a very shortened track and the subsequent movement of the suspension upon loading can result in at sometimes buttock clenching moments or worse .

A modified (ie GT works spring or various incantations of the mulit leaf) will handle better as the rear wheels no longer make radical track and toe changes as the spring limits the wheel travel and rate.

A car without a traverse spring needs to have a method of preventing the large movement of the rear suspension.
As such modern aftermarket shock absorbers have rebound and compression adjustments which will control the suspension movement and selecting the correct damper (shock absorber) will also limit the suspension travel like the traverse spring.

A car without the correct damper will require travel limiters to prevent the suspension dropping to far and causing the aforemention gymnastics.
It is probable that the spring rates will be different due to there being not an effect from the leaf spring.

Now with the car suspension travel confined to a specific amount (this may not be appropriate for a road vehicle because of ride quality, transport department regulations) the selction of springs and damper rates can be adjusted in the same manner as any other vehicle to obtain the desired feel the driver wishes.

Really its horses for courses and how you want to set your car up.
In saying that spring rates, rebound and compression, roll bar rates are easier to get from the manufactureres than leaf spring data.

Now Bella has been lowered as far as you can for the street, with selected springs and non-external adjustable shock absorbers and during some corners would wobble a little and chirp the rear tyres as the suspension moved around, her next modification is a multi-leaf spring (data provided by another forum member) as I cannot afford adjustable dampers.

I dont know whether this will muddy the waters or give help with the open exchange

Personally I'd like to ditch the whole weird setup and put something underneath that I am more familiar with, fortunately or unfortunately I havent the funds for such re-engineering so will continue to play with the old girl

Cheers
Rob