I went Racing :D

[Bilbs]

I had my first crack at racing in speedway on sunday, my car isnt finished yet, but one of my mates that i help with his car was feeling sick after a big night, and said that i could race his car on the condition that i fix anything i break (which i pretty much do for them anyway lol) But to cut it all short, i had a ****in **** load of FUN, i didnt win, but i didnt come last either, i did crash into one car that looped it in front of me, but lucky i saw that she was outta controll, and had already backed off, and only just hit her (felt so bad, she is HOT as too), didnt loop it once, didnt hit the wall, managed to pass some cars, and im told that it took the guy in a worked v8 commy a few laps to get past me (i was in a xf with a 6 in it) so yeah, now im buzzin to get my commodore finished off, which i should be quicker in, and i wont be hunched over to fit in the car coz he had his seat too high for me, and my spine is STILL aching like mad from it lol, but it was the best 50 ive ever spent

[STEALTHY™]

Sounds Fun.

Any pics of your car (or your mates that you borrowed?)

[quick308]

i would love to get into racing jus costs to much tho. im guessing u were in steet stock. i know someone in tassie that is in that

[Bilbs]

This is the car im building at the moment, ill get a couple of snaps of the one i was driving tomorrow, and one of what it looked like after the owner wrote it off a couple of months ago as well lol And no, im going into standard saloons, a much lower budget, yet more strict form of street stock, basicaly its what the name suggests, standard! No LSD, No extractors, no holley carbs on the v8s, the 6s can up to a 500 2 bbl on stock manifold, only red blue or pre efi black motors, no v6's, if it is a vl up, you have to use a v8 or inline 6, no fuel injection, can use rb30 with patrol manifold and holley carb, fords are similar rules, but ea up is the ohc motor with centerpoint manifold with holley carb, but mine is a 253 4 spd, its all just fun, and it dont cost much to do, so far my car owes me maybee 250, and i need to spend about another 800 to finish it, then its about 100 yr for club fees, i think bout 90 for the licence, then about 30 to run on the day plus 15 entry fee, and once you got the car done, it is cheap, if you stack it realy bad, you can usualy get something good enough for a shell for under 200, only replace guards and bonnets when they are beond being straightened, done worry bout dents just bash them back out with a hammer, the more dents they have, the better i recon they look, plus its one of the only legal places you get to hook round a 400m long oval track at 100+ kph, it is a bit freaky first few corners, they are pretty tight, but just remember, Dont touch the brakes once your in the corner (the track is wet slipery clay), then turn the wheel, hope the car turns, the belt the trottle, and start workin that wheel, then once you can see the straight, try and put the pedal into the engine bay, lil bit of opp lock, and get ready for the next turn lol

this was my attempt at spraying it before i took it off the road, well, i wasnt driving it at the time, i had the work van, but then the ute pooped up so i never bothered to finish it lol, so im gonna incorporate it into the paint scheme some how

[quick308]

nice looks good. i was always led to believe even the cheaper classes are still costly. standard saloons i have not heard of that one. after you telling us how much it is to get into it. it makes me want to get into it myself

[feistl]

Where did you go racing? What was involved?

I really want to get out on the track for a burn, (Im in Melbourne)??

I reckon it would be heaps of fun to go fast in a VR Wagon... Could you imagine getting passed by a wagon

[emmanuelk]

Nice Work man.. Which Track did you go on??

[Clutchy]

This is the car im building at the moment, ill get a couple of snaps of the one i was driving tomorrow, and one of what it looked like after the owner wrote it off a couple of months ago as well lol And no, im going into standard saloons, a much lower budget, yet more strict form of street stock, basicaly its what the name suggests, standard! No LSD, No extractors, no holley carbs on the v8s, the 6s can up to a 500 2 bbl on stock manifold, only red blue or pre efi black motors, no v6's, if it is a vl up, you have to use a v8 or inline 6, no fuel injection, can use rb30 with patrol manifold and holley carb, fords are similar rules, but ea up is the ohc motor with centerpoint manifold with holley carb, but mine is a 253 4 spd, its all just fun, and it dont cost much to do, so far my car owes me maybee 250, and i need to spend about another 800 to finish it, then its about 100 yr for club fees, i think bout 90 for the licence, then about 30 to run on the day plus 15 entry fee, and once you got the car done, it is cheap, if you stack it realy bad, you can usualy get something good enough for a shell for under 200, only replace guards and bonnets when they are beond being straightened, done worry bout dents just bash them back out with a hammer, the more dents they have, the better i recon they look, plus its one of the only legal places you get to hook round a 400m long oval track at 100+ kph, it is a bit freaky first few corners, they are pretty tight, but just remember, Dont touch the brakes once your in the corner (the track is wet slipery clay), then turn the wheel, hope the car turns, the belt the trottle, and start workin that wheel, then once you can see the straight, try and put the pedal into the engine bay, lil bit of opp lock, and get ready for the next turn lol

]

Dont be so sure on this comment mate. Are you going to tell me that Scott Whittles charger was cheap to build ?? What track did ya run at mate ?

[Rhino Racing]

Good on ya mate!: thumbsup:
Glad ya had a great time!
I race Street Sedans here in Qld. It is our entry level for speedway with a couple of divisions but we have a driver and passenger.
It is a good fun sport to get into.
Like you said, it can be one of the cheaper forms of racing to get into... but like Clutchy has stated, you are only limited by whatever rules are in your division and the depth of your pockets.
My only advice is, dont under any circumstances take any shortcuts on anything safety related.Wheather that be barwork, seat and mounting frame, belts, helmet, suit, gloves , boots. For us here we have to replace belts and helmets every 5 years regardless of condition or if they have been damaged previously.From my experience the only people that i have personally seen that have been injured have been from either poorly welded out rollcages or loose fitting or damaged belts.( if your race car lives outside in the weather remove the belts as uv from the sun damages them)
Most of all, take care, have fun and enjoy.
P.S. If that is a timber "Race" Steering wheel..... dont use it for racing! They crack or shatter under severe impact and are dangerous, that is why they cant be used here. One guy sliced his hand open badly from one.
P.P.S. Keep them belts tight!

[DANNY8]

We do dirt circuit racing here which is similar to speedway. Check out dirtcircuit.tk

[vt1538]

Good work bilbs. I race Street Stocks here in Alice in a VS commodore & can vouch for the fun that can be had.
One thing though is the Commodores can be a real pain in the butt to get the suspension right.( unlike an XF falcon which is one of the easier cars to get hooking) Also the gearing if wrong can really mess up the cars ability to turn in. Once set up though the pedal can be held to the floor except for a slight lift to get the car to turn in.
As for what Pete(rhino) stated about safety not a truer word has been spoken. Even a professionally built cage like mine was severely damaged when a control arm failure put me into the wall. My seat also took some heavy damage & if it wasnt for meticulous belt placement I could of suffered some severe injury.
Good luck & let us know how you get on.

[quick308]

]

Dont be so sure on this comment mate. Are you going to tell me that Scott Whittles charger was cheap to build ?? What track did ya run at mate ?

wtf mate i dont think anyone would just get into racing without looking into it themselfs. i dont know who scott is and know nothing about his charger im guessing he races in that class

[Clutchy]

wtf mate i dont think anyone would just get into racing without looking into it themselfs. i dont know who scott is and know nothing about his charger im guessing he races in that class

Mate read the post I quoted it wasent yours that is why you are confused it was a reply/question to Bilbs.

[Clutchy]

Good work bilbs. I race Street Stocks here in Alice in a VS commodore & can vouch for the fun that can be had.
One thing though is the Commodores can be a real pain in the butt to get the suspension right.( unlike an XF falcon which is one of the easier cars to get hooking) Also the gearing if wrong can really mess up the cars ability to turn in. Once set up though the pedal can be held to the floor except for a slight lift to get the car to turn in.
As for what Pete(rhino) stated about safety not a truer word has been spoken. Even a professionally built cage like mine was severely damaged when a control arm failure put me into the wall. My seat also took some heavy damage & if it wasnt for meticulous belt placement I could of suffered some severe injury.
Good luck & let us know how you get on.

Dont you remember that red VS from victoria #0 at the aussie title at Alice last season that thing has no truble getting around mate

[Bilbs]

Clutchy Yeah, im guessing the scotties charger would have cost a bit, but that said, that is a charger, and it looks like it could win most show'n'shines around, same as glen pendleburys car at the title last fortnight, whittle had bad luck with his eng blowin up in the 3rd heat, but did bloody good to get his bro's car up to 3rd after starting outta 18th in the final

I went racing at Drouin, its a small DIRT track, not clay like most of them

feistl Its realy not that much to get into it, and tbh, one of the biggest costs of it all, is your race suit, race gloves, helmet, balaclava, flame retardent undergear, 5 point harness, window net etc, if you get the cage built from scratch by someone, expect to pay at least 1300, but if you wait till the end of season you can pick up a complete cage for next to nothing, i got mine for 200, but its old, so needs a few more bars added to it, ya just need to chop the roof off to drop it in, the seat i got given by a mate, most people use a 20l boat tank with a breather bronzed into it, and then a brake booster one way valve on the end of it, some people make their own quick release steering hub outta an old gearbox output shaft and a uni yoke, but ya can buy them for 45 off ebay, you can get crappy old shells for as little as nothing if you find someone that wants it outta their yard or paddock, if you only want a 202 or something, im sure you all know that ya can get em for a box of cans if ya know the right person, or you can usualy buy a car that is ready to race for 1500 and up depending on what you want.

And yeah, we do take safety quite seriously, one of the mates i help came outta turn 2 at bairnsdale fairly high on the track going round a lap car, and then spotted the 2 leaders sideways into the wall in front of him, well he got about 1/4 sec on the brake pedal before he hit, and before that he was in 2nd gear at 5,000 revs with 2.77 diff, that means he hit at about 80 kph or so, and to make it worse, he hit the main hoop area of the other car, his car was a write off, but him and his passenger only had a couple of bruises and aches to show for it, his pride was hurt more than anything, he was coming third at the time, just like he was winning at drouin on sunday when his motor blew, and it would have been his first ever outright win, he has been first 6 cyl heaps of times, but had never won a final, so were dropping the spare eng into it tomoz night, and then racing again on fri and sat lol, but yeah, it can cost a bit to get into it, but once you have it all there, it dont cost much for a reshell, and if you do it right it will only cost the re licencing of the new car

[vt1538]

Dont you remember that red VS from victoria #0 at the aussie title at Alice last season that thing has no truble getting around mate

Yeah that thing of Micks was flying. What was in front of him though, looked like an XF to me.
Seriously though that car has had a lot of time spent getting the suspension package right ( not to mention he is one of the top drivers) & I doubt he would give that info out.

[levymetal]

this sounds awesome! when i'm off my ps and i get a new car, i should use my vn as a race car (not like it's worth anything now)

[Bilbs]

You dont even need a road licence to race speedway, just as long as you have a mate that can tow it to the track for you lol, but as a staarting point for susp setup, we have been running the falcons hard in the front, and soft in the back, so ill start there with the commy, but tbh, i think ill just learn to drive it however it is, im not gonna do like another guy we used to help, after every single race, he was changin ****, always blamin the car is it wasnt going his way, he never gives himself a chance to learn the car so to speak, but when my other mate borrowed it one week, he got 3rd in it, so its def not the car, its the driver, he used to race bout 15 yrs ago, but things have changed a lot since then, ppl were tellin me that i was quicker than he is, and at least i didnt loop it like he always does, my main thing that i gotta get comfortable with now, is other cars around me, in the heats it was fine, i was a new driver so i had not choice but rear of field, but in the final, i got put in the draw like normal, so i was startin mid field, but i still hung back a bit on the start cos i was a bit nervous of all the cars around me messin up, and i didnt wanna spend all week fixin my mates car for him, probs different when its my own, i dont give a rats if i dent or bend that, its my own problem to deal with then, not someone elses, so i just gotta get the cash and around to buying the rest of the roll cage i need, bend it up, weld it in, weld roof back on, mount seat, get harness, window net, quick relese hub and then the car is finished, and i can borrow race gear not a problem till end of season till i get my own

[quick308]

is there any rules to what size engine you can have. are you restricted to 4.2ltr and 5litr engines or can you go bigger (with v8s). and since your engine has to be basicly stock then which wld be the better sized motor to use for this type of of racing. more cubes isnt always the best option in some sorts of racing

[Clutchy]

Yeah that thing of Micks was flying. What was in front of him though, looked like an XF to me.
Seriously though that car has had a lot of time spent getting the suspension package right ( not to mention he is one of the top drivers) & I doubt he would give that info out.

You mean the xf he was going around when they came together ?? And the setup in that car has allways been the same ya just gotta talk to the rite people and he did offer all ya had to do was come over 4 a drink but we dident see ya so you still running the auto ?

[vt1538]

You mean the xf he was going around when they came together ??

Hence the smiley mate. That was the worst piece of luck anyone can have in a final. To work so hard to get in front only to have another cars mistake end his race was a shame.

And the setup in that car has allways been the same ya just gotta talk to the rite people and he did offer all ya had to do was come over 4 a drink but we dident see ya so you still running the auto ?

Mick didnt really look in the mood after the race so I thought it best not to bother him.
The auto is still in but will be removed for the next reshell. Locking the convertor has helped but the power loss through the auto is still too high. Especially now that the later model falcons are starting to hit their straps.

[Clutchy]

[QUOTE=vt1538;735483]Hence the smiley mate. That was the worst piece of luck anyone can have in a final. To work so hard to get in front only to have another cars mistake end his race was a shame.

Nar mate the luck (none) we had this year was worse got crashed out of a heat blew a diff in last heat thank god it finished busted our arse to change it only to find out he was out of 9 in the A then got up to 3rd was passing 2nd when 2nd came off the wall and flatsided Mick and cut a tyre down it was the fastest car for the last half of final and had 3 laps to do it and mate it was hart breaking stuff to finish up on the infield with the run he had going the only good thing was a Holden 1-2

[vt1538]

The Ford boys certainly kept it quiet about the possible 1,2,3 for Holden. All I heard from the locals that went was the same bad luck stories like your team had. If it is any consolation I am sure that once the bad run ends the Aussie 1 plate will be on Micks car.

[Bilbs]

quick308, you are limited to the configuration that your model came out with - to a degree, anything pre, say 85 when efi started to show up, you are allowed what your model came with, so in the fords you can run (i think, ill check when im lookin at the rule book next) a 351, but as long as it came out before efi, in the holdens, you can only realy run 308's, no VN heads or efi, no V6's, just rb30's with patrol inlet in vl's or 202's that are carbied, if you are lucky enough to have an OLD holden st8to or sumthing that had a chev, you can run it in that, but you cant put them in a commodore, but from what i have learnt hanging round the pits, and watching the racing for the last 9 yrs or so, commodore 308s, and ford 302's seem to be the most popular configuration, most ppl either get a 2.77, or 2.78 dif and use 3'nd gear, or try and get something like a 4.11 and use 3rd gear, if it was a BIG track, you might get about a 3.50 and use 2nd gear, but for even a small track, 2.78 is with 2nd is still pretty good, wouldnt wanna go any shorter than that realy. If are realy interested in finding out more about the rules, and specs for the cages and safety gear, best bet would be to contact your local or nearest club, or the VSC and ask for a rule book to be sent out to ya, if your in the west of melb, prolly bacchus marsh would be closest, if you are in the east, i know a few ppl from that way that are members of drouin, or nyora, avalon i dont think run too many standard classes, they mainly run the classes that attract big crowds

[Clutchy]

Avalon run Street stocks as do most tracks in Australia apart from nsw and qld.