Group Nc Bellett Sedan

[PR91]

hi all.
ok, we all know 'yellowperil' is in the throws of building a group N Bellett, but unfortunately we haven't heard anything for a while about it.... ANDREW, WHERE ARE U????

anyway, i've been around historic motorsport since i can remember, and have always really enjoyed the old 'appendix J' catergory, which is now a combination of 'group Na & group Nb', being cars raced before 1965.
CAMS then came up with the 'group Nc' catergory for cars raced between 1965 and 1972, which is perfect for what i wanted, being a Bellett historic racer!

rules are briefly.... if it raced in Australia in touring car races, then it's eligible to race in that catergory now.
that means i we can use only a 4 door sedan tho.... GT's were raced, but in sports car events, NOT touring car events.

anyway, i've been toying with the idea of a group Nc car for a while, but other things seem to get in the way.
i was all systems go to start the process last year, but as those here that are close to me know, my life has taken a whole new path over the last 12-18 months, so the plans were shelved....
but now they're not!

first things first is to get the Bellett 4 door sedan "recognised" by the CAMS historic panel as a group Nc car.... see, u can't just show up to a race meeting with a car that isn't recognised, because all types of cars raced need a set of guidelines and specs set out that they must adheer too.... and as nobody has raced a Bellett sedan in group Nc, this has never been done.
so i've been in constant contact with CAMS about doing this, and the process is 80% done. i have all the specs now detailed on their approved documentation, and all is to be submitted very soon.
also, i have to "prove" that Bellett sedans were raced in Australia within the 1965-72 time frame, which is easily done.

anyway, this is just a heads up to what's going on and i'll keep u informed.
and yes.... when the specs are approved (which is really just a "rubber stamp" proceedure), i'll be starting on my own group Nc Bellett.
i have a car for it, about 50% of the parts i need, and alot of other things will be copied off my existing race car, so i hope it'll all go fairly smoothly.
but before anyone asks.... no! i'm not selling or pulling apart the race car i currently have.
i have a lil girl here that wants to have a drive when she's old enuf!!

cheers!

[PR95]

Good one Brett, will be a very interesting journey, and if anybody is dedicated enuf to do it, would be you. Go Brett

[Leadfoot_Liz]

maybe this is Naomi's new car that your building
you go girl

[Pombellett]

Good luck with that Brett. Sounds like a a great plan. I know what you mean about all the hoops you've got to jump through to get a car accepted!
They've got to do it though, of course, to keep the playing field as level as possible, and hence a lid on the costs........but what annoys me is that some of them seem to enjoy the power they weald (frustrated non-racers I reckon)....consequently they are known in Pomland as 'Baby Bernies'

[Stickman]

Hey Brett,
If that young lady of yours wants to have a drive of it then you'd wanna hang on to it.
She KNOWS how to round house a man your size to the head.

A skill every father should teach his young daughter.

[gt orphanage]

mmmm and then you think as you pull it from the corner and remove that 1st bolt then you get a little keen then comes why am i doing this again one day it will be worth it you keep telling yourself that.

10000 hrs building it.
1hr every 3 months driving it $ PRICELESS

[PR91]

u've been there like me greg....
i always vow and declare that after i've finished a car that "never again!!!!!" will i do another one....

sounds silly, but every 4 years i seem to go back on that and start a fresh project tho....
re-built Wal's Falcon ute in 1999.
race car was re-built in 2003.
GT resto was 2007.
and now i roll onto the Group Nc car.... 2011!

and yep, all that time and money to get used 2 or 3 times a year is CRAZY.... but i reckon i like the build better anyway these days.
after all tho, if it was another "road" car, it'd be pointless for me coz i don't drive the GT or Wasp anywhere near enuf so adding more to that just makes things worse, where as a race car doesn't cost u to just sit for 6 months and not get used.

as u said tho.... the feeling of a good lap in them is worth every second and every dollar in the end!

[PR95]

Is that your lounge room? Might have to tidy up a bit for Christmas.

[RobSA]

I'm going to enjoy watching the progress of this one.
Love the fact that you can write the specs for CAMS to approve.

Cheers
Rob

[PR91]

geoff... nah, the factory mate.
is actually "the company's", but of the 3,000 sq ft, maybe 1,000 of it is "company" stuff.... the rest is cars!
and the loungeroom is where the motorbike lives, not the car.... onlt coz the front door ain't big enuf to drive thru!

rob... was funny as hell mate.
when i started all this over a year ago, i asked what the process was.
they detailed it all for me, and sent me a BLANK sheet spec, with the comment "just fill it in so we can document the reliavant specs are...."
of course i thought "OMG!! how open to building a 9,000hp Bellett that weighs 42kg is this!!" but getting caught doing that ain't worth the hassles, so it's straight down the line i play it.
but having said that, of course i've picked the eye teeth out of every original Bellett spec there ever was so i can build the best spec i can, "legally"....!

[pearcesnr]

Sounds like a great idea, keep us informed with the process.
pearcesnr

[PR91]

well a quiet morning in my factory ain't a good thing sometimes... but today is an exception. thought to myself 'wonder if this thing actually runs before it's pulled apart?' now remembering I've had it sitting in the same spot for over 3 years and have never touched it and it was sitting in a corner of a backyard for about 10 years that i can work out before that, so i thought an hour or 2 might have some result... oh how wrong i was! check it had oil, there's no radiator in it so it's was only going to be a 1 minute run at best, turn it over with a spanner on the crank pulley to make sure it had compression and that the valves opened and closed... all good. threw the battery out of the yellow race car into it... it cranks like a new one... bit of fuel down the carb throat... and AWAY IT GOES! ok i can't tell how well it'll really runs like that, but that good ole Isuzu reliability shines thru again by starting and running pretty well in under 15 minutes for the first time in probably 13 or more years. now roll on Group Nc!

[redback]

Hey PR91,
I had the same experience with my Bellett - it had been sitting in the elements for 8-10 years (broken engine mount took it off the road - previous owner used that excuse to buy a new Magna ).
I pulled it from the bush - put new plugs, leads, points, dizzy cap and bit of fuel (a total of $63 from Repco) and blow me down it started first go - I was absolutely stunned.............
I was also surprised on how little rust it had - mine was the factory maroon colour and it was painted sooooooo thick the moisture had no chance of getting into most places - I was super impressed by the little thing.
I was also biased as my first car was an Isuzu Gemini wagon.
Neil

[PR95]

Isabell was the same, had been sitting since 1983, put some fuel and water in, water ran out of the welsh plugs from rust, turned over about 3 time and burst into life,back fired and farted and blew rust and crap out the exhaust like a great atomic bomb had gone off.
Took hours to clean up the mess, Wish I hadn't done it.

[yellowperil]

Hi everyone
I'm still around but have been busy organising my retirement from work (i.e the stuff you have to do rather than the stuff you want to do) and have been slack in not contributing. I've kept up with the forum developments and it's great to see PR91 doing a Group N build as well. I reckon we could start a trend here Brett.

Mine is still progressing, albeit more slowly than I'd like but the body has been completely stripped to the shell and a lot of work done to fix a front end shunt of many many years ago that hadn't been fixed properly and ended up in rusted bits all over that section. Now all the cutting, realigning and welding in new stuff is done, the underside has been stripped of deadener, back to the metal and treated with KBS coatings rust inhibitor and rust seal. I haven't used it before, it is a 3 stage process but sems to work well. The topcoat comes in a self levelling paint in a choice of colours and can be sprayed or painted. It dries to look like a 2 pack paint. Cylinder head work is progressing now that I've sourced all the go fast bits from good ole USA - Mosly Mistubishi and some Datto 300z stuff which is compatible or can be machined to fit. It is currently at the (real) machinist to get the new guides pressed in and sized and stud holes re-drilled in the correct places to take the GT twin carb manifold donated by Gt Orph about this time last year!! I'm also doing the labout-intensive bit of cleaning and preparing all little bits and pieces that come off everywhere and working on engineering the disc brake set up

Sorry I can't show photos as most had been taken with my phone which had a melt down and I lost them

Will keep you updated with photos soon.

YP

[yellowperil]

Hi everyone
At the risk of overloading you all, here are some of the salvaged photos I mentioned in the last post
You'll notice that the front LHS wasn't a happy section at all!!

I've put them up in different posts as I can only fit 6 at a time in one posting.

Happy viewing
YP

1 Sad Bellett.JPG (30.69 KiB) Viewed 50657 times

2 Front end.JPG (30.98 KiB) Viewed 50657 times

3 Racer FLHS1.JPG (25.82 KiB) Viewed 50657 times

4 Racer FLHS2.JPG (26.53 KiB) Viewed 50657 times

5 Racer FLHS 3.JPG (40.58 KiB) Viewed 50657 times

6 Racer FLHS5.JPG (30.8 KiB) Viewed 50657 times

[yellowperil]

The next instalment

7 Racer FLHS 4.JPG (37.43 KiB) Viewed 50654 times

8 Racer front view.JPG (40.71 KiB) Viewed 50654 times

And in this one you will notice that once again Rob SA was right . It was all an electrical problem - for the second time!!!

9 Front end2.JPG (40.5 KiB) Viewed 50654 times

10 Racer new steel.JPG (34.39 KiB) Viewed 50654 times

11 Racer underneath.JPG (40.61 KiB) Viewed 50654 times

12 Racer underside.JPG (41.07 KiB) Viewed 50654 times

[Pombellett]

Great to see you back on the forum YP. We've missed you.....see Sticky's thread

http://www.bellett.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1637

Some of those holes in your car look awfully familiar, keep in touch.

[yellowperil]

Apologies to all you IT savvy people out there but this is the best way I can think of posting photo updates right now. Besides I haven't contributed much this year so I'll use up my quota now while I'm on a roll.

The quality of the photos of some of the headwork is spoilt by light reflection but I think you'l get the idea

YP

13 Racer underside 2.JPG (23.36 KiB) Viewed 50647 times

14 Racer underneath2.JPG (30.25 KiB) Viewed 50647 times

Headwork1.JPG (25.5 KiB) Viewed 50647 times

Headwork2.JPG (25.99 KiB) Viewed 50647 times

Headwork close up.JPG (17.47 KiB) Viewed 50647 times

[pearcesnr]

Keep it coming yellowperil.