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HRDC Snetterton Success

The penultimate round of the HRDC season was held this weekend at Snetterton. Good weather and good racing with great results all round. Dave Griffiths qualified a commendable 12th place but charged through to finish 7th overall and 2nd in class in the race. Shaun was piloting Ian Burford’s Sprite “Lumbertubs” qualifying 8th overall in the Allstars race and finishing 7th overall and 2nd in class with fastest lap. Larry Tucker in the Ahsley Midget also had a good day finishing 13th up from 16th. All cars ran reliably and performed well. Could we ask for anything more?

Dave Griffiths Standard Vanguard Griffiths Vanguard Snetterton Larry Tucker Ashley Shaun Rainford Lumbertubs

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Split Webers on Tubby

Ian Burfords Healey Sprite “Lumbertubs” has finally got it’s split Weber DCOE setup. The carbs were not working when we received them so they have been stripped and rebuilt before being installed on the car. Well worth the effort as we had a 3bhp improvement at the wheels on our rolling road.

austin healey sprite lumbertubs split weber dcoe sprite a series 2 split weber dcoe sprite a series split webers sprite

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Lumbertubs to FIA spec

Over the Winter we are carrying out the necessary work to ensure that Lumbertubs conforms to FIA spec and apply for HTP papers. The decision was taken by Ian Burford to expand the little Healey’s eligibility. An aluminium roof is mandatory for an FIA Sebring Sprite and as Lumbertubs was built in period with an aluminium roof we thought that FIA papers would be most beneficial. The conversion involves changing out the rear axle for the narrower wire wheel axle and changing the front discs. This requires some custom machining and fabrication as well as new hubs and Spitfire discs. The engine is restricted to 1000cc but we haven’t yet gotten that far. The new axle is in place now and the fabrication work for the front discs is underway. You can also see the recently fitted and very rare copper coloured adjustable lever arm dampers.

Lumbertubs Sebring SpriteLumbertubs Sebring SpriteLumbertubs Sebring SpriteLumbertubs Spebring Sprite

 

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HRDC Spa Summer Classic

Another wet but eventful weekend of HRDC racing. Shaun and I made the journey with Ian Burford’s “Lumbertubs” and Jim Prentice’s Le Mans Sprite. We arrived Thursday afternoon just in time for Ian to make the last practice session which happened to be dry and sunny. By Friday morning qualifying the whole place was soaked which unfortunately led to Tubby spinning and hitting a wall. Ian thought it was the end of his weekend but Shaun and I worked flat out to get the car rebuilt for Saturday’s race. We had to beg and borrow to get the bits we needed and had to patch the bonnet up with bits of old barbecue, rivets and zip ties but we got there in the end and Tubby managed to finish the race. Jim Prentice had a less eventful weekend but but in a very solid drive in the wet with consistent times to finish 3rd in his class. Well done to all involved and to Julius Thurgood for putting on another cracking race.

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HRDC off to Spa

We are getting packed up for our trip to Spa later this week. The HRDC’s next instalment will take place at Spa Francorchamps on the 15th and 16th of June. We are attending this event with Ian Burford in his Austin-Healey Sprite “Lumbertubs” and Jim Prentice in his very rare and unique Austin-Healey Sprite Le Mans Prototype from 1966.