Mt Washington Hillclimb is back

You cant keep a great event down.. Come one, come all.

http://climbtotheclouds.com

Hmmm, I saw a bunch of stickered and numbered cars last week driving through Lincoln. 60's Mustang, late Corvette, Miata etc. etc.

Couldn't pin down where they were going? Maybe a TSD?

Ooh! Oooh! OOOOOHHHH!

Mmmmmm... Hilll climmmnbb....

I LOVE driving the gravel section there... and my wife HATES when I drive the gravel section there.

ValuePack wrote: I LOVE driving the gravel section there... and my wife HATES when I drive the gravel section there.

I have a bad habit of going. Uh. Fast on dirt and gravel.

N Sperlo wrote:

ValuePack wrote: I LOVE driving the gravel section there... and my wife HATES when I drive the gravel section there.

I have a bad habit of going. Uh. Fast on dirt and gravel.

My kids rat me out to my wife when I do that - "Mom, Daddy was rally driving again!"

This hill taunts me, like Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown. I bought my classic race mini for the express reason to do this event around 1999 only to have the event cancelled prior to being able to run it. A decade later 2010, with rumors abound of the return of the event, I went through an odyssey to get my salvaged Subie caged in anticipation of the 2011 event....and subsequently, rolled the car down the bank at the Mt Philo hillclimb in the last event of the 2010 season. Destroying the shell/cage. Since it took all of my resources to cage that car, it was a death blow. Thankfully I had a buddy selling a subie shell already caged and legal for our climbs, but NOT mt washington. It was super deal, that I couldn't pass up, as it would allow me to keep racing, just not at Mt washington...and therefore missed the 2011 event.

And now I'm here again. Same shell. Will take a replacement cage....~$2500 to get to Rally-america spec(the spec I'd choose). I'd also need to fit the car with a restrictor, and get it tuned for it. Then the entry fee, while a fair price, adds significant expense. Or I could rent something for similar costs.

This is on my bucket list, but I'm not optimistic to make it happen. I'll be there to work if I can't race. I suppose I could co-drive for a rally car at the event, but not sure I want to....for some reason I fear rolling down the slope for a 1/4 mile, more than hitting a tree or rock, like on a rally stage.

Would anyone care to buy a kidney, plasma, hair?

What needs to be updated to the current cage to make it compliant?

Wrong diameter tubing. My cage is grandfathered with a 1.50 diameter tube, but needs to be 1.75 DOM in the main structure. It needs to be that diameter for other events I want to do anyway. So I really do need to do it. That means I need to pull it all out and basically start over. Putting a Rally america spec(fia more or less), will increase it's resale, providing I don't destroy it, and allow me to run Rally New York as well.

It can be done cheaper, but If I'm doing it.....I'm doing it right.

Seriously? No accommodation for wall thickness, or is yours too thin?

1.5 x .120 is stronger than 1.75 x .095. It fits tighter to the body as well, making for more room for the driver / more crumple space.

It's not 120 wall. Parts are also chromoly. I just assume have it out. The replacement cage would fit far better, despite the size based on cages I've seen the guy build recently in the same model car. Rally America does not allow 1.5 though for the main structure. My hillclimb group does so long as its 120 wall. Can be .095 if the car weighs less than 2800lbs which my car does. However, rules are different for this climb, and because of my engine, I'd need to meet a minimum weight of 3000lbs. So basically it kind of puts me in a wierd spot. I'd rather have the 1.75 setup, and this cage builder will fit it so damn tight I'm liable to end up with a lot of extra room.

Good enough.

it's that sort of extra incentive to get it done.

This is why I've been holding off on the cage for the RX7. We've been working to make this event happen for 8 months now and I didn't want to invest money in a LEGIT cage until it was OFFICIAL.

DILYSI Dave wrote: Seriously? No accommodation for wall thickness, or is yours too thin? 1.5 x .120 is stronger than 1.75 x .095. It fits tighter to the body as well, making for more room for the driver / more crumple space.

how did you come up with that?

all else being the same, I values determine the strength of a shape. The 1.5 x .120 has an I value of .126 while the 1.75 x .095 has an I value of .16.

the 1.75 x .095 is 25% stronger

viccath5 wrote:

DILYSI Dave wrote: Seriously? No accommodation for wall thickness, or is yours too thin? 1.5 x .120 is stronger than 1.75 x .095. It fits tighter to the body as well, making for more room for the driver / more crumple space.

how did you come up with that? all else being the same, I values determine the strength of a shape. The 1.5 x .120 has an I value of .126 while the 1.75 x .095 has an I value of .16. the 1.75 x .095 is 25% stronger

You're right. Now I'm wondering how I got that in my head.