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Birmingham Historic Races

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Tony,
Lee was my third grade teacher in Hattiesburg Mississippi. I worked for him while I was in college at USM as well. Him and David are the reason that I got into sportscars in the first place. It is a small world isn't it?

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Isn't it, Lee? We made it a point to drive down to Hattiesburg right after the hurricane went through to check on Lee & David...Lee's house took quite a hit but when we were back down this summer, it had been rebuilt/repaired...&, you know him, he wasn't the least bit upset about it!

Oh, next time you see him, ask about the Miata his wife rammed into my Dodge pickup!
 
Nial,
I have a 1275 spotted but I would like your opinion on what mods are effective. I was thinking about boreing out the cylinders (+.60) and adding a hot cam and shaving the head. other than that I was going to add a couple of oil coolers and going with the dual SU carbs. What are your thoughts? Oversized valves as well?
Tony,
I've been away from Lee Walker for a couple of years or more because my wife and I moved down to the coast after the children's museum closed that Lee and I worked at. It took about five minutes before things were like we have not spent one day apart. He is the most optimistic and "good" person I know. That poor MGB-GT has been on the track for as long as I can remiember and he has never taken first place but, thats not the point... He loves the "chase" and If he never comes in first it would not matter in the least. He and David are "living the dream" and you can't ask for anything else. Did you know that about thirty years ago Lee and David copyrighted a grand prix board game? They did a civil war srategy game that actually took off pretty well during the 80's. Now that they have both "retired" from teaching they are pouring everything into thier MGB-GT. I'm e-mailing Lee tonight with some pics of the races, I'll tell him that I know you.
 
Lee:

If you are going vintage racing, you can have just as much fun with a moderately hotted-up engine....it doesn't have to be a 9000 RPM, 130 HP screamer (which will grenade regularly).

The 1275 I just got runs good and I do not intend to overdo it on modifications (I've been racing a nearly stock 1500 with maybe 75 HP for the last few years and it's been a hoot).

In my case, the 1275 will get a crank regrind and new bearings and rebore cylinders to the next size. I'll put in a moderate Elgin or Kent cam (something in "the hot street car" level). I'll use 9:1 pistons and probably grind 0.050" off the head (I'll probably end up with about 9.5:1). Also, a header, standard valve job, and port cleanup. Otherwise, the thing will get a Pertonix electronic unit in the stock distributor, a spin-on oil filter, cooling fan removed, themostat blanking plate and new timing chain. Maybe new lifters and oil pump if needed. I may delete the alternator/generator too. I'll run stock rocker arms, stock rods (resized with APT hardware) and likely cut about 4 lbs. off the stock steel flywheel. Stock carbs set rich.
I may have it balanced. All told, I may get 80 HP or so.

I haven't seen the need for an oil cooler in 1500s or 1275s in the club racing that I do...and sometimes they just trap a lot of crud. If you use an oil cooler, throw it away every few years...you can never get them clean inside. I change the oil and filter every race and always run race gas.
With this moderate setup, a 6500 RPM redline and new rod bearings at the end of each season, I'll get many years of fun.

It's funny that you and Tony know the same person, but I've noticed that I run into familar faces at vintage events too. I ran into a former student at the '06 Pittsburgh Vintage (plus Dave from here). And I met two buddies from regular club racing at the Summit Point vintage event a few weeks ago. The vintage crowd is very chummy and a good bunch.
 
Hi Guys,
I just found the forum. I am chief of tech with HSR and would like to commend Lee and Jim on a great job at Birmingham last weekend. I will now refer to them as the "Iron Men" as they made every session they were supposed to (albeit a little late for the last one!!!). The Lotus ran great, he just needs some more folks to run with. Those of you with small bore cars need to come back and check out HSR. There is some weird perception out there that we are not small bore friendly. It couldn't be further from the truth!!! The only reason we have ended up with combined grids is that we can't get enough of the small bore guys to come play. You won't have to race with the 356s or the 911s if you can bring enough cars to fill a grid!!! Don't forget I'm an old small bore guy too!!
Chip Wright
 
Chip W:

Welcome to British Car Forum! Great to see more and more vintage-types here (up here in the NorthEast, I run with VRG ( www.vrgonline.org ) and I'm the RaceChair for EMRA ( www.emraracing.org ). Especially happy to have more small-bore guys onboard!

Mo:
The pictures are "attachments". You will need to click on the blue link that says "attachment" to view them.
 
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Mo:
The pictures are "attachments". You will need to click on the blue link that says "attachment" to view them.

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Tried that, get the dreaded "404 not found"
 
Basil hasn't gotten around to uploading the photos & classifieds...they're next....until thin, we'll have to host them on our own sites or on a photo-specific site....but, he's working on it.
 
I'm leaving for Atlanta in an hour. This is the weekend of the SVRA end of season races at Road Atlanta. I just checked out the entrys online and it looks to be a big weekend. I'll try to get some more pics to share with you guys when I get back.
Cheers,
Lee
 
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