Classic Car Regularity / Reliability Rallies

[ScimmyMike]

Well, as I have got 2 coupes and a GTE I along with Simon, seem to have resolved to go and do these rallies, or at least have a try and see if we get along with the format.

Does anyone on here have any experience of these and their regulations, it would seem from what I'm reading that the only changes I can make are stiffer springs and uprated brake pads, even if I've got adjustable dampers these need to be locked off to prevent mid event adjustment (as if I would )

Do we need racesuits, helmets, gloves and the like, it seems the HERO regs are the most stringent which is why I can't use the GTE as it is built after the cut off date of 31/12/1981

So, any pointers on things we'd need to acquire or desired within rule mods we could make would be gratefully accepted, might even go road going class sprinting at Curbs in it as well, you never know.

Oh and anyone got a complying terratrip or similar going for sale, needs to not have a speed readout or be able to calculate average speeds, aparently we have to either work those out using a calculator or buy some average speed tables so if anyone has these for grabs also we could work something out, the intention is to limit expenditure incase we don't get along with things.

Cheers,
Mike & Simon

[philhoward]

Geoff C or Chris Gallacher are "the man" when it comes to this (I did a few of these with Geoff before I had a mortgage to pay for..).

[Scimher]

Saw a 'Halda' of some sort, go for £1226 on e-bay, a month or two back, Mike!!!!.......(Cheap enough to have one each....!!!!..??)

[piman]

Hello Mike,

I did a couple of road (regularity) rallies some years back. I don't remember all the regulations however, but speed is low so I wouldn't be worrying about uprated performance parts. Yes there are some driving tests as well to make it interesting for the driver but the ones I did were not that strenuous. Have a look on the Historic Rally car Register's web site ,http://www.hrcr.co.uk/, I would think you'll get up to date information there. They also used to run a training rally for beginners.

Alec

[philhoward]

I think its something like "classicrallychat" the forum Geoff C frequents on there?

Haldas are shockingly expensive (some are, anyway) - check regs to see if a digital Terratrip is allowed as some have quite strict rules that only mechanical trip recorders are allowed. The Terratrip units are sub-£200

[piman]

Hello Phil,

I think that the Terratrip is allowed as long as it senses from the speedometer cable, rather than a wheel sensor.

Alec

[philhoward]

Hi Alec,

Thought it best mentioned as I was aware of "no digital" rules on some rallies back when I last did them (not a problem as Geoff only had Haldas in his cars anyway) - but things change. I suspect that rule change might have been brought on by the high price of said Haldas?

[ScimmyMike]

Hello Phil,

I think that the Terratrip is allowed as long as it senses from the speedometer cable, rather than a wheel sensor.

Alec

Alec, thanks forn the weblink, I'd already looked at that, there is a electronic tripmeter that is allowable and ithappens to be the cheapest as well that's on offer.

I've emailed numerous suppliers for a quote for the whole tripmeter unit and all the bits I'd need to fit, guess what, a week later not a single reply.
Whats the point of a contact us link if you're not going to monitor and reply, garage doors, they all managed to reply within the hour!

The Don Barrow site is pretty good and carries a link to the HRCR site where it states that the Terratrip 202 classic is acceptable and at £175 reasonable when compared to others that are more terrafying (sic) in their prices.

We are thinking of trying a couple of the scenic tours to get the hang of the tulip road book system before attempting any sort of timed event (better to have a fall out when not up against any form of timing me thinks) and they sound a good excuse for a nice drive in a coupe to me.

Suspension wise seemingly standard is what's required so I've to change my springs anyway, the car is about 3" high at the front and 1" at the rear, wrong length springs it would seem, can't see any other reason for it, dampers don't adjust regarding spring seats at least.

Mike & Simon

[piman]

Hello Mike,

I must say that I like the Tulip system of directions, an easy and logical system to understand.

Alec

[GavinR]

Hi Mike,

Have a look at my SE5a Restoration thread which I will be using on some of the HRCR Clubman events this year (which are all the road events)
GavinR's Se5a Project

I have fitted a dual circuit braking system, uprated pads, uprated springs, Spax adjustable dampers (but with fixed spring seats), polybushes all round, uprated engine (with std carb) and hopefully will have fitted an LSD before the first event. To cope with any sections in the dark, I fitted brand new headlights and rewired / relayed everything and they now work very well
I checked with Paul Loveridge (the HRCR eligibility scrutineer) before fitting the dual circuit brakes / springs / dampers / bushes as I wasn't 100% sure on them but he said they were fine, everything else I was certain about

I've also fitted a Trip meter probe into the front upright (using an un-driven wheel is more accurate than a driven one) and will be fitting a Brantz International 2 Pro electronic trip meter as the red numbers are easier to read in all light conditions. Anything with a built in speedo is illegal as has been said and none of the HRCR events restrict you to mechanical only tripmeters, but I've never heard of any restrictions on which probe is used - the original Haldas used a cable drive system from the front hub grease cap on some cars

Yes the regularity sections are timed at a maximum of 30mph average, often a lot slower during the day, but the driving tests also contribute to the result which is why I went for the performance improvements, but you can have plenty of fun in a standard car

For a couple of years I navigated on one Historic Rally a year and made up my own Average Speed Tables using Excel which is not that difficult if you understand the relationship between Time, Distance and Speed...

My first planned HRCR event is the Leukaemia Rally in May - hope to see you out on some this year

[ScimmyMike]

Gavin, useful information in your post, I'll have a read of your SE5a project sometime this weekend, sounds interesting (don't usually read SE5 stuff not having one myself) sounds overall just like the sort of event that apeals to us, brain not brawn and bottomless pockets, never know might meet up later in the year on an event.
You wouldn'nt care to share the excel formula would you, no point reinventing the wheel as they say.
Cheers