the life of rolie

[julieandtom]

I agree with Stickman. What a shot!

[Glenn]

Here's a brief over view of the whole Goodwood event. A lot going on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3-EHI1 ... ploademail

[Pombellett]

Yes Glen.....as usual the Revival was a fabulous event, and although as your YouTube clip shows, there's always a lot going on elsewhere, the action on the track was just as hard fought as always.
To prove the point, have a look at this excellent clip.

https://youtu.be/e9gEogHrl6Y

This year was indeed Rollie's chance of a forth entry to the Revival, but we knew all along that this would be a real long shot.......The Revival moves on really fast and my face and the car doesn't fit anymore.....I'm not a celebrity TV chef who dabbles in historic racing, nor am I a current Touring Car driver who's commissioned a 'brand new' hot rod to play with on his weekends off.
Equally the car would have been hopelessly off the pace.....the whole grid has probably moved on 3 or 4 seconds from the last 60s St Mary's Trophy......have a look at this....

https://youtu.be/0Tt4mSImzSA

We're working hard on the engine at the moment, and the head is on a computerised flow bench believe it or not! Who knows? We may still give a few of these show ponies the hurry up after all.

[redback]

WOW - thanks for posting those clips Pom..............they are really racing for sheepstations now too.

I hope the head work bumps up the HP as well.


Cheers
Neil

[Asroc66]

Geeessss
It really is 'Win-it or Bin-it'..........
J

[PR91]

While it's an impressive spectacle, I'm glad that sort of thing isn't what goes on here in historic motorsport, especially in regards to who gets a run.

[Pombellett]

It's only the Revival that is/can be so selective Brett.....they pretty much have the pick of the world's Historics (cars and drivers!) and consequently continue to roll out some seriously impressive grids.
I'm privileged, with the help of you guys, to have competed at three......but like all successful events it doesn't stand still.....and although I'm not a fan of the way it's going, I understand why it's going the way it is.
Historic club racing over here is the opposite, and is very inclusive....in fact they're so keen to see you on the track they're prepared to be a little 'flexible' with the rules....prime example being Rolie….lets face it, he is a bit of a hybrid isn't he?

With that in mind we go in to the winter break with a reliable but boring engine, and the search for greater compression and better breathing has taken us to one of the true mavericks in the world of historic engine prep....I got this pic from him the other day...

flow bench.jpg (72.79 KiB) Viewed 188244 times

I don't suppose anyone's really thought of Belletts and computers being natural bed fellows, but the talk of 10% gains here and CFM improvements there excite me in ways I can't explain!

[Pombellett]

After a long dreary British winter, things are beginning to warm up. Rolie fans will be pleased to hear he's coming out of hibernation.
The new engine is steadily progressing, although as usual the cam is just holding things up a little, but we think we've found another cam specialist who's prepared to be a little braver with the re-grind.​
So in the meantime I leave you of a picture of our uber cool sump extender (remember the last one we did was a welded band)​
​
Onwards and upwards...…….

sump100.png (468.41 KiB) Viewed 186321 times

[Glenn]

Nice work there Mark. I hope you get some serious extra power. Every bit helps, but i guess this is where the diminishing returns come to play.....

[gazzweld]

Hi Pom, great to see rolie still going stronger than ever. certainly a lot quicker than when i used to drive it on the roads back here in Aus. really appreciate the photos and videos being posted. I still think I had the most fun driving the Bellett than any other car I have owned. keep up the great work.
cheers, Gary.

[Pombellett]

Hi everyone...just to keep you updated...the new engine build has ground to a halt.
We were progressing nicely until we discovered the donor engine (the second G180 from the States) has a bent crank.

Although I have a good crank in the current engine (the first G180 from the States) I really don't want to butcher yet another engine, just for one component.

Can you help guys?

Does anyone have a spare under their bench or know of anyone who might?

Much appreciated, in anticipation.

[CQGT]

Mark.
There is a slight possibility that the crankshaft in all vehicles that are 5 bearing is the same as yours. I'll explain.
According to my parts catalogues all 5 bearing engines built after 1967 are the same part number. G130/150/161/161SS.
Bellett sedan, GT, KB LUV Aus., Florian OHV and OHC.
These are engines with the 1/2 moon rope seal rear main. NOT full circle as in g161/180/200Z and in series 2,3,4. LUV USA.
The only listing that I have for Chev LUV USA series 1 is the GM part number 94020363. No Isuzu part number.
For Aus. and other countries it is 12310 297 Isuzu. 94021848 GM.
Have you still got the spare engine that came over with Rollie? Is it a 5 bearing.? A quick way to identify that is to look at the sump and if it is a 2 piece with the upper being alloy and has a lower sump that is pressed steel. Similar to Rollies' Engine before the upgrade. The only difference could be the clutch pilot bearing may be smaller 'OD' than the original. As far as I'm aware all transmission input shafts diameter are the same. And all the bigends and mains are the same.
Food for Thought.

Dave.

[Pombellett]

Thanks for that Dave, great intel......but it's the stroke that's giving us problems.
The G180 has an 82mm stroke, and the earlier G motors either had 73mm or 75mm. I'm on to the Chevy LUV forum....but no joy yet.

[CQGT]

Yes. Your correct. 75mm stroke. Was not thinking of top end at all. Only bottom. DRRRRRRR.
Good luck with the forum.

Dave.

[flying]

Hi

Just a thought - some of the g180's like mine (g180w) have 6 bolts connecting the flywheel.

Cheers Flying

[Dean]

Throwing out a dumb question: would a crank from a G180W work for you?

[Pombellett]

Not dumb Dean...because it's not far off, stroke's right but the gubbins either end of the crank are different.

[Pombellett]

Yeah, you're right Flying.....from what I can gather, in terms of 1800 Chevrolet LUVs, from 72-75 the series 1-4 all had the four bolt crank, the later ones had the six bolt job with a different nose.
The lack of a straight crankshaft is now becoming a serious nuisance, I might have to have one made, but at the moment they're quoting 6+ months, which inevitably will take us well into next season.

Go on, have another look under the bench, there might be one under there that you've forgotten about!!!

[Glenn]

Dean, who is on this list has a complete (bar carbies etc) G180 SOHC engine in a 1972 Sport Bellett he bought from me.

The condition is unknown as not running for some years. But dean might be coaxed into selling it or just the cranks perhaps. He also bought a DOHC engine from me for that project so i think the existing engine will never be used.

glenn

[Dean]

Dean also has a second motor he bought from Lismore that has carbies and Dean hasnt yet gone thru all of Peter Areskog's stuff to see if he wrecked any motors as well.