It takes 2 to Tango!!

The itch was just too much, the in between waiting had become too long, the want almost a must. Besides, I was not sure which way the rules would go for 2011 especially the 'replica' rules and decided to look at another Datti in the interim, this time a 4-door 'boxie' all while the dust settled. The car was a HRCR 3rd overall championship car for 2008 and I always had one eye on the track and the other on this car and eventually took the plunge to buy it at the beginning of August. Everyone including myself wants to have a personal or unique looking car and I started stripping the bodywork of decals and the interior to suit my taste. It took me almost a month with my 2 left hands to do so but patience and perseverance finally paid off and I eventually transformed it to something I liked all while still retaining the exact mechanicals as originally bought.


And so it went from this........................................................to this.










Permission was sought and granted to participate in the last 2 races of the HRCR season of which my first was on 18th September at Kyalami. Not having had the chance to previously test the car I had no idea of its capability although its potential was always a given knowing its previous history. As such 'Mr Datsun Guru' of the fairest Cape duly was to attend the race meeting and came up on the Thursday night. He quickly noticed a few key areas and was soon removing unwanted or unnecessary parts from the suspension and also made some changes in other areas he found somewhat wanting. Mechanically he changed the jetting to something that made a bit more sense, adjusted tappet clearances and set the timing to his specification needs. The Friday morning we were off to the track and our testing commenced. Our first stint was not of the greatest but hey, this is a new race toy and a learning curve was to be expected. Again we made further changes to the jetting and by late afternoon I manged to get her down to a 2:12.5. As certain internal carburetor parts were suspected to be incorrect, we were left with no alternative but to make do with what we had to out disposal. Further changes were again made but as no further testing was possible on the day, it was now left to the qualifying session on the Saturday morning. A brilliant day with cool morning air did the trick and I posted a 2:10.9 for qualifying. During race 1 I again bettered my time and clocked a personal best of 2:09.8. Race 2 saw the mercury a little hotter and also therefore times slightly slower but hey a fantastic achievement for the weekend and for our first time out. We finished 16th overall out of a total of 56 competitors with a 7th overall in class.

My second race meeting was to be on the 16th October at Zwartkops and would also be my last as the northern region season had come to an end. In the interim I painstakingly removed the carburetors and inlet manifold and gave this to a friend of mine who offered to help with the stripping and setup. I ordered the correct parts as instructed and such were fitted along with new bolts, spring washers and the like. After having collected the carburetors I once again painstakingly put them back into roughly the same place I removed them from and tightened all the bolts and fittings. No matter how hard I tried I could not get the Datti to start. After battling for about 30 minutes I eventually got it fired up but man it was rough and sounded terrible. No matter which screws I adjusted on the carbs, nothing changed and I duly killed the engine, covered her up and reported to Cape Town HQ.
Again on the Thursday night before the race, 'Mr Datsun Guru' appeared from nowhere and went about setting the carbs which was supposed to be a 2 minute job apparently. My my, no matter what was adjusted the problem remained and it was decided to strip the and remove the carburetors again so as to better ascertain the problem. Now for those who may think I have a state of the art workshop to accomplish all of this work, well let's just say it is very unique indeed. Pictured below is how we have to make do when you don't have the luxury of an equiped garage at the race track like I have access to in Cape Town.
To top it all, after we had removed the carbs we had a Gauteng thunder storm of note resulting that we could not finish that night (the car stands outside on its trailer) and had to wait for morning. By 06h30 the carbs were reassembled, adjusted and were back on the car and fired up by 07h30. A whole range of screws were adjusted (it almost looked like a grand piano tuner) and within 2 minutes she was idling smoothly and revving beautifully once again. We duly packed the car with all our tools and race fuel, hitched the trailer and off we were to Zwartkops arriving there by 09h30 on Friday morning.

My first stint again was not anywhere near my expectation but I was at least here to have some fun and intended to do just that. I was then posting around the 1:19 - 1:20 lap time. I had set myself a personal goal for the weekend of reaching a 1:17 lap time and would be most satisfied with that for 2 reasons, one, I was not used to the track and two had I ever raced this car here. 'Mr Datsun' did a spark plug analysis reading and again decided to change the jetting. Again I went out and tested and not before long I was down to 1:17.5. Very chuffed with myself I was still 0.5 seconds away from my goal but would now have to wait for tomorrow as our allotted testing was over for the day. We duly packed up and enjoyed a few hard earned frosties with the boys down at the track bar. Saturday morning we were again up early and got to the track (40Km's later) by 07h00. We fueled the car, set the tyre pressures to suit the crisp cold morning air and then just stood around with a great bunch of racers making idle chatter, everyone a touch nervous for our qualifying session. I was super motivated this being a new track, a new car (well almost) and at the back of my mind a bunch of guys who could seriously peddle fast around Zwarties. I did not want to disappoint, not myself or anyone else for that matter. I sat in parc ferme deep in concentration going over my race lines and trying to remember my areas of weakness as was pointed out by those a lot more observant and experienced. In the interim, 'Mr Datsun Guru' made some final tyre pressure adjustments.

I took to the track and warmed the tyres and brakes on the first out lap after which I nailed her good and solid. This was my best chance with the cold morning air (9 degrees) to get my goal lap time I had set myself. The car felt good, very responsive, handled well and did everything almost perfectly. I had only put in 4 laps and felt it was the best I could do, at least for now. Almost unbelievably upon returning to the pits, my boet open the door, stuck out his hand and congratulated me, I had just posted a 1:16.2. PGA - Personal Goal Achieved!!

Race 1 was hard, very competitive and I was dueling with 3 much bigger engine cars as well as another Datsun like mine but with plenty Zwartkops track experience. Equally then we were most probably all over-driving our cars with hardly a cars length between us at times, some accidentally running into others, others a little too sideways in corners with some eventually suffering terminal engine failure. I finished 5th in my class. Race 2 was as good but with somewhat less competition due to some DNS's and I somewhat had a much lonelier race. In the end I finished 3rd in my class and for the day I achieved a 3rd place overall which was most unexpected.

I guess one can have the very best guitar and have the talent to play it well but if you don't know how to tune it, it pretty much sounds awful. Yes I drove my heart out and gave it my best shot on a not too familiar track but without 'Mr Datsun Guru' I would still be stuck on the trailer at home unable to have got my car started at all.


Thanks 'Boet'

Also a big thank you to the HRCR for allowing me to participate in their last 2 race meeting of 2010.