Glenn

On top of the Spring Collett
You can see it in the picture above

Cheers Flying

thanks, didn't look hard enough..... i guess they are hardened also. Would need some good lubrication.

Good news, the 1600/1800 hybrid engine works and we've been on the rollers.

We haven't fully crunched the numbers yet, but we reckon we've made a 20hp+ gain, which has put a smile on everyone's faces.
And it seems the revs are picking up more freely....see what you think.

https://youtu.be/QU3KSFR7YoY

Apparently all we need now is a decent cam (as usual) and a longer exhaust manifold (header). Anything else?!!!!!

With all the engineering and work/time put into refining the engine the intake and exhaust still
sounds like a Bellett. Keep at it Mark. Marvelous. Good to watch and listen.

Dave.

Fantastic work mark. Answer to your Qn... "$'s" ?
Can't be a lot more i guess you can do. Maybe some trick distributor work.

Got to be a little careful with the ignition system, Glen, they're quite closely monitored.....and anyway it all seems to work pretty well now.
We tested at Goodwood on Wednesday, and I'm very pleased with the results.

The car is more responsive and a lot livelier from 4000 to 6500......but I'm as equally pleased with the nice steady temperatures and oil pressure, which with combining the 1600 head with the 1800 block had me a little concerned.

So we head to Lydden Hill for the first (and possibly the last) race of the season next weekend. I've not been to this short little circuit in Kent, so another school day for Bellett UK.
Incidentally the GTV on the right is also going to Lydden, pedalled by Simon.....famous for rotating the Bellett down Paddock Hill bend, Brands.
Just in case you've forgotten.
https://youtu.be/79BbtoqL1Cw
Sorry, mate....had to do it!
I'll post the runners and riders for the race when they come through.

Mark.
That's what mates are for..... Right.!
No fun in telling them how good they are. Just keep reminding them your both not perfect.
You and Simon have a good race. Best of Aussie luck.

Dave.

Thanks Dave, I like the idea of having some Aussie luck behind me!
Here's what the initial entry looks like.

HRDC 'JACK SEARS TROPHY' for 1958-1966 Touring Cars
Count Race Car No: Car Year CC Colour Transponder Class Driver
1 SEARS 25 Austin A35 Academy 1958 1275 Maroon/Cream TBA ACD Stephen Potts
1 SEARS 126 Austin A35 Academy 1958 1275 Green/White 2254580 ACD David H Jones
1 SEARS 149 Austin A35 Academy 1959 1275 Green/Cream TBA ACD George Butterfield
1 SEARS 29 Triumph 2000 1965 2000 Light Blue #0941175 TC63 Andrew Sharp
1 SEARS 49 Jaguar Mk.2 1961 3800 Green TBA TC63 Richard Butterfield
1 SEARS 63 Izusu Bellet 1963 1600 Red #0127228 TC63 Mark Bevington
1 SEARS 69 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Ti 1962 1600 Red/Blue 8914961 TC63 Gavin Watson
1 SEARS 71 Ford Cortina GT Mk.1 1963 1530 Pale Blue 426398 TC63 Joe Allenby-Byrne
1 SEARS 82 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti 1964 1596 White/Green 1946179 TC63 Ben Cater
1 SEARS 96 Alfa Romeo Giulia 1965 1600 White TBA TC63 Jonny Horsfield
R1 SEARS 111 Riley 1.5 1959 1860 Grey 6825116 TC63 Ding Boston
1 SEARS 164 Alfa Roameo Giulia Ti 1964 1567 Grey 9312444 TC63 James Gibbons
1 SEARS 11 Austin Mini Cooper S Mk.1 1964 1293 Blue/Black 1953777 TC65 Nick Jesty
1 SEARS 17 Lotus Ford Cortina Mk.1 1965 1600 White/Green 2021605 TC65 Roy Alderslade
1 SEARS 21 Mini Cooper S Mk.1 1963 1293 Red TBA TC65 Richard Colburn
1 SEARS 22 Lotus Ford Cortina Mk.1 1963 1588 White/Green 6827153 TC65 Gerry Buggy
1 SEARS 177 Austin Mini Cooper S Mk.1 1963 1293 Orange 8840644 TC65 Andrew Jordan
1 SEARS 16 Austin A35 Speedwell 1957 1293 Blue/Cream TBA TGS Ellis Bardsley
1 SEARS 66 Morris Minor 1955 1293 Black #0882088 TGS Adam Gittings
1 SEARS 77 Austin A40 Speedwell 1958 1293 Grey #0019660 TGS Mike Jordan
1 SEARS 105 Austin A40 Speedwell 1959 1293 Blue/Black TBA TGS Ben Colburn
1 SEARS 121 Austin A35 Speedwell 1957 1293 Blue/White TBA TGS Diane Osborne
1 SEARS 122 Austin A35 Speedwell 1958 1293 White TBA TGS James Colburn
1 SEARS 199 Austin A40 Speedwell 1959 1293 Red/White 6202766 TGS Robert Burdett
1 SEARS 999 Morris Minor Police 1957 1293 Panda Blue/White TBA TGS Chris Rea
25

Lots of those pesky A35's

Yeah, you're right Glen, the pesky things were all over the place like an angry swarm.....and every year they go better and better, but so did the Bellett.

This time we more or less kept them at bay.
I've never been to Lydden Hill, and was impressed by this little one mile job.....set in a natural bowl there's some excellent elevation changes to test both car and driver.
Great format too, we had two short races instead of the one longer one, the shot above is the second grid after a little attrition in the first.
I forgot to put the camera in for the first race, which is a shame, as it would have recorded achieving one of my major goals for the car....those of you who've followed Rolie's story will know I've often yammered on about putting a Lotus Cortina to bed. This was done by Alec Poole in a wet Revival back in 2013, but not by me.......guess what?

Proper overtake, under braking going into this corner.
Admittedly the Cortina was badly driven, but it was well prepared....I don't think it finished the race because the driver threw his toys out of the pram!....do you know what?....I think you can detect a wry smile on my face.....all those years and all those $....or was it just wind?
Some in-car footage to come.

Fantastic to see Mark. I wish we could be there to lend some crowd support also.
Did you get an idea of the HP you are getting now? and rpm.
glenn

About 125 Glen, revving comfortably to 7000, but changing up at about 6400/6500. There's still talk of the magical 150............maybe over the English winter, who knows?
Couple more pics, this one shows how compact and up and down Lydden Hill is.


Here we are tangling with Chris 'Road to Hell' Rea's mad Morris Minor.

150hp would be nice. Good luck with it.

Can you strip any more weight or is that a rules thing?

Looking at the pics...... just doesn't seem right having a Minor out front. I always remember a ride in a stock one, I think snails can move faster.

That end of the circuit reminds me of the old Hume Weir racing circuit. Built into the bottom of a rock quarry. There was a bridge over the centre narrow section.
I used to go there in the 70's. Long closed. But some interesting pictures here. https://www.flickr.com/photos/oakleystudios/albums/72157629839055086/

We're supposed to run within a small % of the homologated weight (910kgs)....but one of the advantages of running a Bellett in the UK is that no scrutineer has an idea of what that is.
The car without driver (getting a little heavier each year) weighs about 860kgs....but we've got a big fuel tank!
In conclusion we're sailing pretty close to the wind, and any more weight saving could land us in a spot of bother.
Here's the in-car...
https://youtu.be/cV2ASFGmQBg
Oh, and Glen, the Moggie Minor wasn't in front, I was lapping him (Lydden's a short circuit!!!)

Ok on the weight..

Very happy that Minor was being lapped. !!
Are brakes a problem..... looks like that A35 had you on braking very early into the Video

One thing I hate about my sport is the sedan type gear lever. The GT remote shifter is a much nicer shift.

No Glen, the brakes are fine.....combination of rusty driver and incredibly nimble Speedwell A35.
Incidentally, my old mate Big Simon was at the same meeting in a GTV. In practice he lost 2nd and 4th for the rest of the day, and in qually this happened when he spun on his own oil after the filter came loose.

He still got 6th and came out with a smile on his face.

One other pic that I know some of the forum will like, is one of an old mate of mine who towed is GTV to the race with his 3.2L Ferrari engined Fiat 130....apparently over the 250 mile trip it didn't miss a beat.

I think you'll agree that's a pretty cool combination.

Good Picture.
I like the way that the car and trailer are sitting. Flat as. The sort of towing that once you get going you forget that you have trailer and car behind you.
250 mile works out close to 400 km. Queensland roads it would take about 4.5 hours comfortable at 90 kmh. With the roadworks happening at the moment would have to allow 5 hrs. What sort of road condition do you and your GTV friend have to travel on.??.

Dave.

Dave, the roads here in the UK are pretty good, but especially down in the south, they are seriously congested, so towing is often not a lot of fun.
Back in development corner, we're having the exhaust manifold re-designed......apparently when we built the car back in 2011 we made a few schoolboy errors with it.
These we shall correct before having a (final?) look at the cam.
Something to keep Bellett UK interested during the British winter.

Talking of British winters, just to let you know, what with Covid there's not much going on here in the UK...check out the famous Paddock Hill bend at Brands Hatch at the moment.

Tricky tyre choice.

Bit different from the boiling hot day when Big Simon did this at Paddock Hill!!!!!!!!!!
https://youtu.be/79BbtoqL1Cw