Lola T-342 shocks & stuff

[Mike Jones]

I am in the process of putting togther a Lola T-342. I now have just about every thing to built it. However, I am looking for help with the shocks. Should I try to have the old ones rebuilt or go for soimething else? Any recommendations on the fire system and location? I am looking at building a bead seat since the fuel cell has been moved inside. Any suggestions here?

Mike

[Larry]

If you have Bilstein shocks, they are probably the finest non-adjustable shock on the market. Bilstein will rebuild them for about $65 each, which is a bargain. If you really want to spend money, you can go with a much more modern, triple-adjustable such as the Penske, and they will run about $1,000 per corner. If you plan on running regionals, the Bilstein will be fine. If, however, you are willing to put in 3 or 4 (or more) practice days each season, you'll be able to tune the adjustable shocks and get some advantage from them.

Larry Oliver
International Racing Products

[Mike Jones]

Thanks for the input. So where do I send them?

Mike

[Brian]

When I spoke to them a few months ago, they said that they would also re-valve them to suit stiffer springs, etc, during the rebuild. I think that for these kinds of cars, and with a driver like me at least, they are still a very good choice. I would have a hard time putting a shock package worth about what my car is worth in there, even if it was worth a second a lap...

Brian

[Brian]

I forgot to add that when I spoke to them they said that if the shocks still extended by themselves and they stroked smoothly through the range with no dead spots, they were probably good to go and didn't need to be rebuilt.

Brian

[Wooly]

Send to:
Krupp Bilstein of America
Attn: Jack French
14102 Stowe Drive
Poway, CA 92064

Phone # 858-386-5900

I always call Jack before I send them in.

Wooly

[Mike Jones]

Thanks for the info. I will make the contact.

Mike

[Mike Jones]

I contacted Jack today and got the info I needed.

Thanks,

Mike

[TedV]

Thanks, I too can use this shocking information My fire bottle is skinny and fits on the left floor under the side frame rail where the optional left fuel cell would go.

[Mike Jones]

Did you mount the fire bottle outside of the frame where the old fuel cells went? Any suggestions on a fire system?

[TedV]

Yup, that is where the previous owner put it back in the early 90's. It is in that dead space about mid way near your hip where some side V bracing is between the side rail and floor. I'm in the process of figuring out the big picture in reworking my 342 so it may get moved a little bit. I'm not familiar with current fire systems, I'd say measure the space you have and compair with sizes of bottles available.

[Mike Jones]

I'm also looking for 16 7/16" sleeved nuts with washers for revolution wheels. Plus, my car came from Mexico where is was raced in the formula III series. It does not have the antisubmarine straps. Since I will need to build a bead seat, where do I bolt the lower belts? A tall skinny guy also. I hope that I fit this thing. I did fit a Mini for 11 years. Of course I was sitting in the back seat.


Mike

[Brian]

It's permissable to attach the anti-sub straps to the same mounting points as the lap belts. It's better to fabricate new mounts under your seat.

I just moved the fire bottle on my car to under my legs, since I added a frame tube from the upper rail down to the lower rail to further triangulate that section, and the bottle didn't fit anymore. I made a new seat upper and lower section out of aluminium to suit. I'm 6'-2" tall so I needed more room that the seat that came with the car had. I used .080" for the seat back, .062" for the sides and the lower section under my legs, and Tig welded the seat back.

Brian

[Mike Jones]

Would be a really bad thing to drill the tube to mount the antisubmarine belts or does this need to brazed?

Mike

[Brian]

on to one of the frame tubes under the seat. If you use a Mig welder (please only have someone who really knows how to Mig weld do this) the heat input will be so small that you won't affect the floor at all, and only need a bit of touch up paint. .100" mild steel for the tabs is fine. On my T440, about 95% of the frame is Mig welded, only a few tubes were factory brazed.

To answer your question, yes it would be a bad thing to just drill the tubes. Although on my car (curious to know if they are all this way) the floor is about .220" thick really hard aluminium. That's about the strongest thing on the whole car and you could just bolt the sub belts to the floor and be about as strong as it could be on that car. I swear, on this car the chassis is riveted and bolted to the floor, not the other way around!

Brian

[Mike Jones]

Thanks,

My car is now down to a powder coated frame so I should not have any difficulty welding the tabs. The floor pan is constructed out of 1/16" T-6061 aluminum. This is really tough stuff. I built the dash out of it over the weekend. It was a real drag to cut. I plan to glue the floor also. The engine is off to be rebuilt. I only need new pistons, a crank, and a race clutch! I hope to get the body of to be painted by the end of the month. Any recommendations on the fire system?

Mike

[D.T. Benner]

If you like Halon systems (I do!) and want one that is short enough to fit sideways check Ebay item #4586059371. These small units have been hard to find but this guy has 20 of them in stock.

[Mike Jones]

Mucho Thnks.

Mike

[Mike Jones]

What spring rates do you recommend front to rear? I have a basic set up of 300# front and 200# rear. However, I think this might be well dated data. Any suggestions on an air cleaner? I will be running the snorkel. This is for a Lola 342.

Mike

[Wayne Lee]

[size=2]You might get even more feedback in the Club Ford section pertaining to Lola T-342's as they are not Vintage Formula Ford's. Wasn't the T-204 the last Vintage Formula Ford? T-342's are 1975-1976 aren't they? There must be quite a few people with them over there.[/size]

[size=2]Wayne Lee[/size]
[size=2]73 Hawke DL11[/size]
[size=2]74 Hawke DL12[/size]