As promised in my previous post, I have added a gallery of images from the 2009 VIR Gold Cup.  It was a great trip: beautiful weather, beautiful cars and the fun, welcoming atmosphere that is a hallmark of the annual Gold Cup.  Obviously, the Hemi Challenger was the highlight for me, but there were other cars there that sparked my imagination and offer potential ideas to make the V8Mongrel even better.

One of my favorite cars of all time is the 1968-1982 Corvette.  The C3 has the classic Coke-bottle shape, aggressive fender arches and a stance that just screams performance.  There were three beautiful C3s on display at the 2009 Gold Cup.

While the SA22C RX-7 isn’t a C3 clone by any means, the two designs do share certain elements.  Both are tw0-seaters with a compact cabin and hide-away headlights.  It is in the Gold Cup’s C3 headlights that I found some inspiration.

The RX-7 headlight actuator motors are heavy and take up space in a place that is perfect for getting cool air.  As the engine compartment is cramped, cooling airflow is a major consideration.  Removing them seemed liked like a good idea, but I still want working lights so the car can be registered for street use.

An easy solution to a lack of headlight motors was found at Granny’s Speed Shop.  Their shop mule is a first generation RX-7 like mine and they came up with a clean, simple solution for having working headlights and no motors – removable brackets.

Should be easy enough for me to duplicate, and while that is the solution I will use for now, the Gold Cup Corvettes presented a much more aesthetically pleasing possibility.

Those clear covers and fixed headlights look tough and would fit the look of the V8Mongrel well.  I have absolutely no idea how to make them, how to mount the lights, or anything else, so this project is well down the priority list.  But I always keep my eye open for inspiration like this because you never know what you can take away and how you can apply it to your own project.  That is part of the joy of seeing all these race cars each year at the Gold Cup.

This past weekend (June 6, 2009) the kids and I loaded up into the family truckster and headed to Virginia International Raceway (VIR) for the Annual Gold Cup Historic Races.  We went in 2006 and 2007, but felt the need to skip 2008 because it was over 100°.  Thankfully, this year it was low to mid 80s, and after the morning fog burned off, a perfect day to spend at the track.

I will share all the photos from the event soon, but the highlight of the day for me was being able to get up close with the Hemi Challenger.  This is one of my favorite cars, and rather than try to explain about it here, I will just provide a link to the website that gives full details.

I had seen the car run in person while at the 2007 Gold Cup, but I also found an in car video of it running at VIR.

170+ on the back straight and 145 mph going into the uphill esses!  That is a serious machine.

The night before we left, Colin, Sophie and I watched that video on the computer.  At one point, you can make out a car, rear facing the track, at the top of the roller coaster.  We were at that event, that is our regular viewing spot (the family area), and the Freestyle has third row seats that fold down to face out the back; a pretty unique feature.  While I cannot be sure, I think that is us.  And the kids were thrilled with the idea of being on YouTube, so that is my story and I am sticking to it.

This year, we were walking through the pits and the distinctive song of a large capacity V8 was pumping across the paddock.  This was standing next to a couple of very nice C3 Corvettes warming up their engines, so the Hemi’s sound is quite impressive to be notable in such impressive company.

Around the corner was the Hemi Challenger.  Compared to what I have, the trailer setup is extravagant, but in the world of vintage racing where money often flows like water, the Hemi Challenger arrives with what is comparatively a modest setup.  This is not an insult; in fact it is all more the impressive that the fastest production type car comes not from the biggest trailer and crew.

The hood was off and the crew was working on something in front of the engine.  I was able to help by identifying that they needed a 7/16″ bolt.  As Tom Freeman likes to say, I have a fastener fetish; it actually came in handy for once rather than just draining my bank account.

Up close and in person, the car is just plain impressive.  I have already created an image gallery of all the pictures I took of the Hemi Challenger.  You can find it by clicking the Galleries tab above, or here is a direct link.

In the Gold Cup program was listed every car entered, the class, the displacement and the weight.  The Hemi Challenger weighs 2317 lbs.  Not only does it have the biggest engine in the entire field by a wide margin, but it is also one of the lightest full bodied V8 cars on track.  Note that the Dodge Hemi is called the elephant motor because of its extreme girth.  I don’t have any details on the weight of the engine in the Hemi Challenger, but a stock 426 Hemi is reported to weigh over 700 pounds.  Even with lighter aluminum heads, an aluminum intake manifold and water pump, it is entirely possible that the engine represents a quarter or more of the total weight of the car.  Food for thought for any engine swapper reading this.

Here is the one picture I have that captures the whole car.

There is so much about this car that I like, I am going to keep looking at it for inspiration on parts of my own project.  Maybe it can help me run VIR full under two minutes!

Today I went to the Carolina Collector Car Auto Fest at the NC State Fairgrounds. Unfortunately, cold temperatures and a bitter wind kept me from seeing many of the cars outside. I took some photos and, with the gracious help of Jason Mauldin, have posted them on the website. Just click on the Galleries tab up top and you will be able to find them. Here are a couple reduced sized images of my favorite cars of the day.

I really like side pipes.

And big blocks. This Corvette was just plain beautiful all around.

The Mach1 looks so tough.

Not the typical car show fare, this old drag racer was raw and real.

My main interest was the swap meet, thankfully held inside. Every year there seems to be something that catches my attention, and this year was no different. Of all things, there was a gas welding display featuring the Henrob DHC 2000 torch. The display was very impressive, with the exhibitor cutting off less than one-eight inch thick slivers from a steel bar well over a half inch thick. He could write in his name in the plate in small letters; a typical torch would turn molten so much of the metal that it would collapse. It was quite impressive, yet I managed to resist the impulse buy in order to do more research.

Speaking of research, I have found out that the reputation of Victor is not quite as perfect as I might have originally believed. It turns out that Victor was bought by Thermadyne some years ago and has since be sourcing some parts from China. The American made equipment still has an excellent reputation, but whether due to bias or actual inferiority, the Chinese equipment is not held in such high regard. The Journeyman and Journeyman II have domestic regulators as shown in the high-res images on the Victor site.

The name that has come up as an alternative is Smith. While I haven’t done significant research on Smith, particularly regarding price, their website says all American. While I do not believe that the quality of products can be discerned by their country of manufacture, I also recognize that it makes little business sense to operate in the USA, paying high labor costs, just to produce low quality parts.

As before, more research to be done.