Ralph Meaney Chat archived ..., in case you missed it. Options

[Aaron Cox]

Once again i would like to thank Ralph, Steve, Eric and all who were involved.

Thanks for sharing this with us

Lawrence Hello, everyone!
Lawrence Mr. Meaney... thanks for joining us tonight
Lawrence Hi Guys! Hi Betty!
rdauenhauer So Ralph Welcome!
Betty Hi there!
So.Cal.914 Good Evening
aaron_cox Welcome!
rdauenhauer 1st Question Ralph : Was driving that thing at LM hard or easy?
Betty Hey Pam!
rdauenhauer For EVERONE the chat team is exeriancing technical difficulties so bear with us
aaron_cox I think we are just waiting for people to straggle in. Hang tight,
Lawrence I just got off the phone with Eric... he was tied up in construction traffic... gonna be about 10 minutes.
Lawrence hi Pam!
aaron_cox yep, just waiting for people to straggle on in.
ClayPerrine Hello Toolwench!!!
SirAndy hi guys ...
Lawrence Hi Andy!
ClayPerrine So... how is everyone?????
davep Dave Pateman signing in
ClayPerrine HI Dave!
SirAndy is it 5:00 yet?
davep When do we start with the questions?
Headrage Hello
rdauenhauer Im ment Daytone in the above Q
ClayPerrine Hello!
Ralph_M. I was invited to drive at lemans with Steve McQueen (1970) but I couldn't leave my business for 6 months
Headrage Bummer
rdauenhauer Or how about which do you recall was the more difficult race Datona or Sebring
ClayPerrine Was that when they did the filming of LeMans?
rdauenhauer 6 months!!
rdauenhauer why six months
Ralph_M. I was going to be in the movie. Steve McAQueen and I were teamed together at 12 hour sebring
Ralph_M. My father picked up his wife at the airport. thats how close we where
ClayPerrine Now that hast to suck!! MIssing out on the movie!
Ralph_M. were
rdauenhauer wow imagine the residuals
Ralph_M. yes. but being self employeed you can't jsut close shop and go to france for 6 months
Lawrence Q. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced racing the GT?
rdauenhauer would you consider it a fragile car?
Ralph_M. in the early day's, my first 6 hour endurance race in watkins glen in 1968
Ralph_M. the next biggest challange was 1970 daytona 24 hour
stevelimbert did you drive both #18 and #19
Ralph_M. fragile car.
Ralph_M. I didn't get my 14/6 until he won the 1970 daytona
ClayPerrine In what way was it fragile?
Ralph_M. I did drive both 18 and 19 at times
Lawrence Welcome, Eric... our MC!
Headrage How do you feel the 914 will do in the future? Will the car (even though it is almost 40 years old) still be a viable platform for racing in say, 10 years?
Ralph_M. Fragile. hmm
davep How many 914/6 cars did you run in total? There was 0691, 0663, and another with a Ginther windshield That I know of.
Eric_Shea Danke Amigo... UT traffic
Ralph_M. Steve Bahr and I had clutch problems at the first IMSA race. We drove almost 1/2 the race with no clutch
Ralph_M. I owned 3 of them. #18 was the first GT car in the country
Ralph_M. the one with the Ginther windshield was the first gt car. there were variations of paint on the cars and windshields through the years
okieflyr Ralph, how world describe the handling setup of the GT, pushy/neutral/tail happy?
stevelimbert Aircooled Racing is currenty building one 914-6 for vintage racing and cloaning #18 in all steel and they are still very competive
Ralph_M. completly netural. just like a go kart. anything I wanted to do with the car, at whatever spped, I could do it
Eric_Shea That Ginter windshield is what paved the way for others in the class correct?
Ralph_M. that is correct. that is for C production only
mikez Wax...I need to know about wax....
Lawrence lol
Ralph_M. the cars were so fast that they were disqualified (outlawed) in B production
Ralph_M. wax, we don'
Lawrence Under what grounds were they disqualified?
Eric_Shea Ralph, can you elaborate on the factory GT siffening kit? If I recall, you were a tad bit upset with the factory for not providing the privateers some of the things they had..???
Ralph_M. t need no stinkin wax. paint your dam car
ClayPerrine Sounds like the can am 917.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
SirAndy Q: these days, at the vintage and club races, the 914 is very well respected. was that the case back then or did other racers look down on it?
davep I had my hands on Harry Bytzek's 914/6 with a windshield frame like the 356 Speedster. Quickly removed and replaced with a Ginther screen. Did you find any advantage to the open car?
911quest Do you have any suggestion car setup etc. for someone about to start racing a 914-6?
Ralph_M. GT kit question. I was running B sports with my car in N.H. and another racer asked about "rear stearing" and the problem was that the chassis had split on both sides. boy did it handle.
Eric_Shea LOL
Ralph_M. Platform question: Yes, I think so. It is a really good car
ClayPerrine Did the GT kit actually fix this or was it in the wrong place?
Ralph_M. hold 1 sec let me answer some questions
Eric_Shea Did you end up fabricating your own GT kit after that?
Gint Guys... Let Ralph cath up on the existing question before asking half a dozen more eh?
Eric_Shea OK ***QUESTION BREAK GANG*** (thanks)
Ralph_M. the other racers laughed at it until they saw the tailights. then they got pissed.
okieflyr Steve, what suspension changes if any have you made to the GT for personal feel/class structure?
Ralph_M. The GT kit fixed the problem
Ralph_M. GT Kit. Yest I did. I ended up making a lot of my own parts for the GT car
rdauenhauer What about trailing arm boxing?
Ralph_M. In the early days of the car, I even used my 911 koni adjustable shocks modified to fit the 914
Eric_Shea Did it kinda piss you off the factory didn't send them along??
stevelimbert the stiffing kit was fine but the real solutin is a full cage
Ralph_M. I didn't really need to box the trailing arms, but I did do tha t on my 3rd car
Ralph_M. A full cage definatly stiffens the car up. I had an aluminum cage in #19 originally.
Ralph_M. this was to fit the rules.
seanery The factory did the aluminum cage?
Eric_Shea Was that a Moritz cage or did you have it installed?
Ralph_M. It was a factory cage
911quest Did the GT have a full cage? I thought it had just a rool bar
Ralph_M. I think they had them for sale and you could buy them
Eric_Shea Some didn't have anything
Ralph_M. the GT (19) had a full cage. 18 only had a roll bar.
stevelimbert the aluminum cage was remove ed metalman and replaced with steel but i still have the org aluminum cage
ClayPerrine So you could feel the difference between 18 with the roll bar and 91 with the full cage?
Ralph_M. don't lose it. that is a lot of history and progress there
Eric_Shea Back to davep's Q: Any advantages to the open screen cars?
Ralph_M. the car felt the same. the aluminum cage was to meet the rules
rdauenhauer Was there any little or unknown mods the factory did to the /6 that evan today the average enthusiast dosent know about?
Ralph_M. I saw no advantage. I turned the same laptimes open or closed. empty or full of gas
Headrage What do you see as far as the future of the 914 platform????????
Ralph_M. hmmm
Ralph_M. I don';t know really
stevelimbert i have raced SCCA with both open and enclosed cars and the open cars have less resistance lower cg
Ralph_M. a lot of the stuff on the /6 was design work. bushings, the sway bar. I wouldn't use a rear sway bar as it would cas the car to oversteer
Headrage Do you think the Boxter is the next generation 914?
seanery steve, is it very noticeable with lap times
Ralph_M. future of the 914 quesion. A lot of people want to build a GT car to race if they allow it.
davep What happened with the cars after the 1971 season?
Eric_Shea 911quest had a good Q: Any "Step" advice for a current 914 (Steve or Ralph) E. G.: First I would...
stevelimbert dont have any numbers but the open cars seem to be quicker
So.Cal.914 Was there anything, in the day, done to improve the shifting?
Ralph_M. that is correct on the CG, but I can drive at the same pace and that really donsn't effect me.
Lawrence Sir, do you feel the 914 teams were supported equally when compared to the 911 teams of the same era?
So.Cal.914 Insert elevator music here
rdauenhauer we got a minor miscue Ralph will be right back (bathroom break probably)
Headrage Where did Ralph go?
rdauenhauer (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
Betty Insert "Sounds of the 914-6 at Speed" sounds here....
Headrage Kevin you bastard!!!! You killed Kenny!!!
Ralph_M. sorry. typist fat fingers
Lawrence While we're waiting... I wanted to thank Eric for spearheading this chat program...
Lawrence Ooops... welcome back!
Eric_Shea Thanks go to Jeff and Ralph wink.gif
Headrage Glad to see that you're back...
Ralph_M. sorry. what was the last question?
seanery thumbs up to eric, ralph & steve...this is great!
Ralph_M. Jeffs sitting on the chair. chris is typing.
Lawrence Sir, do you feel the 914 teams were supported equally when compared to the 911 teams of the same era?
stevelimbert if you want a 914 for racing you must find a rust free tub that is straight we also check and buid on a heavy leve steel rack
Ralph_M. the 911 teams got much better support. there where only a couple of 914 teams.
Headrage We were just talking about the future of the 914. Will it still be a viable platform for racing in 20 years????
Ralph_M. as far as the cars after the 71 season. the cars where kept around for a couple of years then sold off. obsolete. back to 911's
smg914 A good friend of mine now owns the M&M # 69 car that had the same colors (conda green) as your cars. It was driven by Quist/G?ring/Krumm. Were you involved with this car?
911quest What engine combo's did #18 & 19 run?
Ralph_M. time will tell.
okieflyr Steve, is your goal to build an exact replica? or a reproduction w/ newer tricks?
Ralph_M. on the 20 year question. we will have to check back in20 years
stevelimbert yes i think as long as people are racing them they will remain viable cars
Headrage Where has Gint gone?
Eric_Shea Alan, Steve is fairly active in this type of racing now. I'd say it depends on the venue
Ralph_M. the M&M car i was not involved with
Thanks Eric.
iamchappy If Porsche had supported and continued to develope the 914 for racing how do you think it would of faired compared to the 911's successes
Ralph_M. engine combo for 18 and 19 where twin plug two ltr.
Ralph_M. motors
Eric_Shea HSR 2.0 Challenge is usually dominated these days by the 914.
Eric_Shea Was 220hp conservative for those motors?
stevelimbert the outside will be an exact "REPIKAR" with some saftey and performance update wih 2.0l later twin plug
Ralph_M. similar to 906 spec motors. shimmed valves, none adj. rockers and stuff
Ralph_M. so he could turn high RPM
So.Cal.914 Was there anything, in the day, you guys did to improve the shifting?
Ralph_M. hold up 1 sec. let me answer some of these quesions
Eric_Shea ***QUESTION BREAK PLEASE***
Headrage Fluffer>>>
Ralph_M. if support continued for the 914, I don't know. the 914 was already out dated.
Ralph_M. the 14 where running 2. ltr and the 911 where 2.2 and 2.4.
Headrage "The 914 was already outdated" Why?
Ralph_M. the car was not designed at the time to handle the larger engines without breakeing apart.
So.Cal.914 Insert lizard trying to sell us car insurance
911quest Not all of the factory Gt ran the twin plugged 2.0 did they?
stevelimbert the 914 is way cool because #1 car had engine in middle 917 had engine in middle and as of late the boxter coupe has engine in middle need i say more
Ralph_M. shifting quesiont. Yes there was. where the shift rod comes out of the chassis, and there is a plastic copuling. I converted it to a stearing coupling. when the plastic got hot it would get play in it. but the stearing couplings wher made to use guide pins to line it up.
Ralph_M. at the time there where no such thing as side shifters.
Headrage Nope!!!
davep Harry Bytzek told me the 914/6 was competative until the 911 got the 2.8 engine, then it was over for the 914/6, only a short time in the sun. Was Porsche embarassed by the 914/6 success?
Ralph_M. all of the Factory GT's ran twin plugged 2.0 ltr /6 motors
Ralph_M. the original gt's the rules stated that you had to use the 911T heads and they got converetd to carrera /6 heads
Ralph_M. I was proud of the conversion.
stevelimbert toying with the idea of putting an end shifter back in the car with aluminum rollcage if the allow me to drive in vintage excibition
Ralph_M. 914/6 sucess. short answer YES. it was beating the pants off of the flagship 911's
jk76.914 What abouit suspension? You mentioned no rear swaybar, koni-adjustables, boxed trailing arms. What about settings and tires?
ClayPerrine Do you think that there is more development potential in the 914 chassis?
stevelimbert the REPLIKAR #18 will be raced hard in vintage hope to have ready for jefferson 500 in mid may at summit point
Eric_Shea Back to the intersting comment about design limitations. What do you think about the currentl 3.0, 3.2 and 3.6 conversions out there. Is there anything one of those owners can learn from your racing history?
Eric_Shea Steve weigh in as well
Ralph_M. settings and tires. I forgottne wat the rear spring was (180?) all of the suspension parts had delrin bushing and I designed my multi adjustable sway bar ( H&H marketed the for me)
stevelimbert we currently have a customer with a street 914 with a 3.6 its a rocket
Eric_Shea will it break apart? biggrin.gif
Ralph_M. the conversion quesition. you can put the engines in, and get special gear box for the hp,
Ralph_M. it cost's money.
stevelimbert the 914 3.6 has a cage and runs some hill in PA
Ralph_M. will it break apart? it depends on how he reinforced it. again. money answeres the question
rdauenhauer So Ralph what do you think the type 4 Eng. platform. Are you aware of, or familiar with any of the recent developments done buy Mr Raby ...pushing upwards of 200HP now in streetable form.
SirAndy i just put a 3.6L in mine, i'll report back on braking apart at the end of this season ... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
davep Did you have any trouble with the gearbox overheating in the long races?
Ralph_M. I am not familiar with the Raby /4.
okieflyr Steve, what is the current status on the REPLIKAR now?
Ralph_M. back then it was only /6s
stevelimbert the trans in my SCCA car is a std 914/ 901 type box i have had over 300 hp for years with sticky slicks
Eric_Shea Let me be more specific; Are there things that can/should be done in advance to reinforce those cars? Street? Track?
Ralph_M. Andy, you did other work to the chassis like the motor mounts and all kinds of other stuff
SirAndy O: were there any competitiors that stuck out and gave you a hard time? and if so, what car(s) were they driving?
stevelimbert the REPLIKAR is due back from paint by weeks end we have most of the parts ready to go
Ralph_M. all of the reinforcing kits. use them.
SirAndy yes. lot's of work. Rich Johnson motor mount. full cage, etc. ...
Ralph_M. so the 3.6 should be good
Ralph_M. i am going to turn the typing over to Jeff for a few minutes.
stevelimbert most all the aftermarket motor mounts suck, didnt the org 914-6 mount work just fine
Eric_Shea I heard it had stress issues
Eric_Shea Even saw some factory cars that were stiffened
Ralph_M. I added a strap around the front mount to help keep the mount from breaking
stevelimbert we stiffen but not over killed
ClayPerrine What do you think of the Rich Johnson motor mount? is it better than the factory mount?
rdauenhauer Ok Ill ask what about Oil! Good ol dino or the newfangled slippery stuff! Whats your preferance
Ralph_M. froont strap added because it broke at sebring
Ralph_M. not familiar with it
Ralph_M. Kendal GT-1 the best
iamchappy Could your explain the strap on the front mount a little better i know its hard without pictures. I am running a 3.1 turbo twin plug engine using the stock mount.
stevelimbert dino oil forever even nascar only uses syn for qual kendal gt 1 is great
Ralph_M. 1-11/2 x6inch long horizontal to bolt wrapped around front of mount and weleded
Eric_Shea Ralph, can you take us back to 1970 and describe the events that led up to you winning Daytona?
iamchappy Thanks i think i can picture that
mcmark Ralph, so you were strengthening the bolt, not the attachment to the body.
So.Cal.914 Went fast finishede first
Ralph_M. ya, ok thanksgiving got invited to run 24 hr after winning the new england scca b sedan championship, with 65 911
Ralph_M. had 6 weeeks to rebuild the car
Ralph_M. lots of spares
Eric_Shea You won in 70 with a SWB 911???
aaron_cox that had to be twitchy!
Ralph_M. had to replace a front strut, was 2hrs ahead so had time to fix and finish,took 65 mins. tor eplace front strut.
Ralph_M. nightimew replaced exhaust
aaron_cox what happened to the front strut?
rdauenhauer Were ther any specific chassi changes to handle the banking @ Daytona?
Ralph_M. Told drivers gary wright and dave bean to stay 2 sec. behind that way we wernt the rabbit
Ralph_M. Front strut broke from bad metal
ClayPerrine Why so long to change it?
So.Cal.914 Were talking the whole strut or just the insert?
Ralph_M. came in the pits with it dragging under the car after 1 full lap it was a bit more then just a shock
Eric_Shea If it was like any strut I've tried to change the ball joint was stuck in the bottom LOL biggrin.gif
Ralph_M. insert broke and tore off the a arm
aaron_cox ouch!
Eric_Shea 65 minutes be good...
ClayPerrine How much structural damage was done?
911quest The SWB have a different ball joint all together
Eric_Shea So just to clarify, it was a short wheelbase 911 that you won with?
Ralph_M. no body damage , just strut, spindle,ball joint, all tore apart
SirAndy anybody in particular you had some good "battles" with in the 914?
aaron_cox yes! early early 911's had the balljoint that had two bolts holding it onto/into the a arm
Ralph_M. Cobras and corvettes
Eric_Shea How did the GT fair against those cars?
davep How did you come to acquire the car from Max Moritz?
So.Cal.914 Was it their hourse power that made they competative
Ralph_M. #19 914-6 1.11.7 cobra 1.11.9 lola1.06.6
Ralph_M. times at a national event in 1971
were talking about milt, no i didnt cc him to your pm
SirAndy damm. the cobra's had what? twice the HP ???
Ralph_M. special factory contact in germany
stevelimbert Ralph need to know who was Forry Laucks
rdauenhauer Do you still maintain contacts with Porsche Factory?
Ralph_M. Forry was a school teacher who raced and was a customer of mine
Ralph_M. No at this time
stevelimbert Ralph did you deal with Frau Behr at the factory
twystd1 This is seriously fun fellas
Ralph_M. reseach center gives me special treatment
Eric_Shea Steve, can you weigh in on the condition of #19 today? When Patrick commission the restoration it was supposed to be one of the finest GT endeavors of it's time. How does it look today?
So.Cal.914 Agreed
Ralph_M. Fra yes , she is from Tacoma Washington in fact
stevelimbert car still looks good starting to show a little wear from running in vintage event she is not a garage queen
rdauenhauer Perhaps you can rekindal those relationships and get us some Windshild to targa seals (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)
Ralph_M. I thnik I got some
ClayPerrine YOu have a market here if you want to sell them!
aaron_cox worth some money
Eric_Shea Ralph, can you finish the Daytona piece by "attempting" to explain the feeling as your crew pulled off the GT2 win?
smg914 Do you have an extra 916-6-VW-PORSCHE emblem?
smg914 914-6-VW-PORSCHE type
smg914 typo
yes, more daytona please ...
Ralph_M. Wore out, tired and happy as hell, quite a challenge
Eric_Shea You went back the following year correct?
Eric_Shea This time in #19?
iamchappy Why do you think the 914 did so well in the IMSA Camel gt series against the american cars and other imports of that era. What was it's advantage.
Ralph_M. problem I wouldnt let anyone else touch the cars as i couldnt trust anyone else couldnt afford to loose because of a mistake
Eric_Shea So Daytona meant you were quite a busy man... day and night
Ralph_M. 18 and 19
Ralph_M. 172 miles an hour
Eric_Shea HUH?
Eric_Shea In what?
stevelimbert what fith gear were you running
rdauenhauer that musts been after a slingshot draft!!
aaron_cox 2.0 twin plug could put out 220 horse in 906 trim....
aaron_cox but man, that seems insanely fast
Ralph_M. will have to check records
Rleog Were there any specific chassis or suspension weaknesses that Daytona exposed?
iamchappy my car gets pretty light at speed how did you keep it down
Ralph_M. no troubles at daytona
Ralph_M. balance and banking
asked the gears I was going to reply Stock... the same ones all 917's came with!
Eric_Shea Steve, how does she do on the vintage circuit
Rleog still strong points of the 914
stevelimbert at rensport II not sure how fast i was going but the hood buckled the rubber hood straps held i have pictures as i went by start finish it " got my attention"
aaron_cox at what speed does the 914 hit the "aero wall", where it takes exponentially more horsepower to overcome thr drag?
Ralph_M. in 71 a ferrari passed me on the high side at Daytona. As soon as he passed me, the body work exploded in front of me. that was fun
stevelimbert she runns very well but not runnig at the limit because of current value
Eric_Shea davep Q: How did you come to acquire the car from Max Moritz?
Ralph_M. both hoods will concave under wind pressure.
SirAndy well, thanks to you guys who ran the car when it was new, it's a lot easier for us today to setup and race ...
Ralph_M. I don't know. that is kinda hard to estimate
SirAndy i really apprechiate all the input ...
rdauenhauer but those are the "Balsa" hoods correct?
Ralph_M. on the drag question
stevelimbert the hoods are balsa reinforced
Eric_Shea <<the body work exploded in front of me>> Yours or his?
stevelimbert we made our fiberglass hoods with balsa renforcement
Ralph_M. your very welcome. lots of development work went into it. twin plug and all that came about because of it.
Ralph_M. fiberglass with Balso reinforements. they are autographed by the guy who made them for the factory\
Ralph_M. his body work. it was the the pensky 512
Ralph_M. I lapped perter gregg 3 times in 8 hours. so I had to be doing 170 +
Eric_Shea I never thought a 914 was capable
Rleog A pic of that would be worth framing (Ferrari disintegrating next to a 914)
stevelimbert eric and Ralph thanks for haveing me on it was informitave and fun hope to see any or all of you at a vintage race in the future
aaron_cox very cool!
Eric_Shea Steve MANY, MANY tahnks for preserving that piece if 914 history. We'll meet someday
Ralph_M. there probably is a pictrue. it was on the bank before the pits.
SirAndy thank you steve!
rdauenhauer Wht about Sebring I think you mentioned that it was Extreamly rough trak and hard on equpment
ClayPerrine Steve.. thanks for coming here and participating. We would love to have you on the board on a regular basis. Your knowledge is a wonderful assett.
Eric_Shea Steve... come to Miller Motorsport Park!
Ralph_M. Yes, that is when the motor mount broke. I happend to have a spare.
stevelimbert thats a long tow
Eric_Shea so... biggrin.gif
rdauenhauer Did anything else break from the bumps at Sebring?
Ralph_M. It seemed like every race that I went to, I had just the right part that needed to be replaeced
Ralph_M. the exaust broke.
So.Cal.914 You had a 2.0 engine and a 901 trans, if you were building the same car 'Today' What would you run?
SirAndy i know the feeling. thank god for portable welders!
Ralph_M. the headers. I always brought two or three sets of headers. they seemed to burn themselves off the car at night
stevelimbert ralph last question before i go did you know martin steager?
Ralph_M. I would keep the car original. I know it works up to a certain point.
Ralph_M. re 2.0 and 901 questoin
Eric_Shea Ralph... Did you get Steve's last Q: ralph last question before i go did you know martin steager?
Ralph_M. Martin Steager worked for me. I brought him into the country. Nice factory mechanic.
Ralph_M. He live down in georga now i think
Eric_Shea So... if you were to build a 914-6/GT type clone today, you'd keep with the 901 and the 2.0 twin plug?
ClayPerrine Ralph.. are you doing any current racing? Something that we could watch?
Ralph_M. Yes I would. especilly with the horsepower that I know I can get out of it
stevelimbert martin worked in the albany ny area has reired to fla selling boats spoke to him a wile ago he is comeing to rensport he also worked on the 917 holomogation progam
aaron_cox I may have missed it earlier, but what was the estimated HP output of your 2.0 twin plug motor?
Eric_Shea Is it a balance thing?
rdauenhauer So Ralph I understand you do some selective "tuning" still today, is it exlusively on Aircooled cars are have to switched to Wasser's as well
Ralph_M. I am not racing, but I am working (help maintain) a couple of race cars. you could see Scott taylors car 914/6 2.7 in the northwest
Ralph_M. the HP on the twin plug was 265. I could pull a 427 Cobra. my fastes lap was 6 seconds faster than the cobras. I was spinning 9500 RPM
Ralph_M. I rebuilt the motor every 40 hours or less.
So.Cal.914 Do you think it was the low torque high RPM's that made the car reliable?
Eric_Shea What did you find when you tore them down?
Ralph_M. mostly aircoold
Ralph_M. as far as tuning
Ralph_M. yes. low torque and high rpm made it reliable. torque tears things up.
rdauenhauer Being an native NW'erner are you involved at all with the SOVREN club in any capacity?
Ralph_M. that is what kept the car reliable.
So.Cal.914 Thanks
Ralph_M. I am originally for Mass, but have been here for 30 years. as far as Sovren, not reall
Ralph_M. y
ClayPerrine Ralph.. what did you find in the motors aft 40 hours of running 9500 rpm?
Eric_Shea Is there a path a young hot-shoe should/could follow that might lead him or her to Daytona and beyond?
SirAndy that ought to be hard on the internals. 9500 rpm ...
rdauenhauer go Karting
Ralph_M. rods where no good. If we went longer than that the rods would sometimes break. i kept the oil between 180 and 195 that helpeed and used Kendel GT1
Eric_Shea even at those rpm's you could keep it that cool?
ClayPerrine How did you keep the oil temps down?
Ralph_M. yes, go karting and money. lots of money
Ralph_M. yes, huge oil cooler and stock tank
Ralph_M. I wouldn't use the thermostats in the engine for racing
Eric_Shea Explain
Dave_Darling Too bad the Kendall oil isn't the same formulation any more. sad.gif
SirAndy they open too late, i presume ...
davep You had to carefully warm up the engine before racing?
Ralph_M. the theromstat is only for warming it up. once it is at temp, you don't use it. I didn't need it with the cooler
So.Cal.914 Did you find the factory brakes were enough? Or would you change them today?
Ralph_M. that is true on formulation of oil.
Ralph_M. on the warm up, you got two or three pace laps and then you where racing. at Daytona, they don't let you warm up your car in the pits
Eric_Shea What brakes did your cars have on them? 908?
aaron_cox i assume this car had the aluminum S calipers? or something larger like the 908 brakes?
aaron_cox eric beat me
Eric_Shea (as usual)
Ralph_M. thanks Eric, all the 14/6 had 908 brakes and 911 rears
Eric_Shea Did you have a handbrake in those cars?
aaron_cox did your car have the 911 drum parking brake setup?
davep So no parking brake on the race car?
Ralph_M. they wehre aluminum calipers
Eric_Shea How did they perform over the course of the race?
davep What size master cylinder? Did you have to brace it to the cross member?

[KaptKaos]

Like I wanna read what you lunk heads said. Here are Ralph's comments:


Ralph_M. #19 914-6 1.11.7 cobra 1.11.9 lola1.06.6
Ralph_M. 1-11/2 x6inch long horizontal to bolt wrapped around front of mount and weleded
Ralph_M. 172 miles an hour
Ralph_M. 18 and 19
Ralph_M. 26 gallon furel tank
Ralph_M. 914/6 sucess. short answer YES. it was beating the pants off of the flagship 911's
Ralph_M. A full cage definatly stiffens the car up. I had an aluminum cage in #19 originally.
Ralph_M. a lot of the stuff on the /6 was design work. bushings, the sway bar. I wouldn't use a rear sway bar as it would cas the car to oversteer
Ralph_M. aaron, you are correct
Ralph_M. all factory GT tanks. there was one I designed later that I have drawings of
Ralph_M. all he did was smile and say he already had a girl. his wife to be (at the time)
Ralph_M. all of the Factory GT's ran twin plugged 2.0 ltr /6 motors
Ralph_M. all of the reinforcing kits. use them.
Ralph_M. Andy, you are welcome
Ralph_M. Andy, you did other work to the chassis like the motor mounts and all kinds of other stuff
Ralph_M. as far as the cars after the 71 season. the cars where kept around for a couple of years then sold off. obsolete. back to 911's
Ralph_M. as far as tuning
Ralph_M. at night.
Ralph_M. at the time there where no such thing as side shifters.
Ralph_M. back then it was only /6s
Ralph_M. balance and banking
Ralph_M. both hoods will concave under wind pressure.
Ralph_M. bracing on innerfender well. It is very necessary if you are going to run big engines with big HP
Ralph_M. came in the pits with it dragging under the car after 1 full lap it was a bit more then just a shock
Ralph_M. Chris Williams was a huge typing help, thanks to him also.
Ralph_M. click on the yellow bar and type to post. hit return or send to post
Ralph_M. clutch cable or somethign broke. we still drove it with no clutch pedel.
Ralph_M. Cobras and corvettes
Ralph_M. completly netural. just like a go kart. anything I wanted to do with the car, at whatever spped, I could do it
Ralph_M. CR was 13.5:1 and I ran what ever they had at the track. the track supplied the gas
Ralph_M. didn't have any problem. I had all of the GT parts on it and brough extra headers when they ate themselves at night
Ralph_M. don't lose it. that is a lot of history and progress there
Ralph_M. engine combo for 18 and 19 where twin plug two ltr.
Ralph_M. fiberglass with Balso reinforements. they are autographed by the guy who made them for the factory\
Ralph_M. Forry was a school teacher who raced and was a customer of mine
Ralph_M. Fra yes , she is from Tacoma Washington in fact
Ralph_M. fragile car.
Ralph_M. Fragile. hmm
Ralph_M. Front strut broke from bad metal
Ralph_M. froont strap added because it broke at sebring
Ralph_M. future of the 914 quesion. A lot of people want to build a GT car to race if they allow it.
Ralph_M. GT kit question. I was running B sports with my car in N.H. and another racer asked about "rear stearing" and the problem was that the chassis had split on both sides. boy did it handle.
Ralph_M. GT Kit. Yest I did. I ended up making a lot of my own parts for the GT car
Ralph_M. had 6 weeeks to rebuild the car
Ralph_M. had to replace a front strut, was 2hrs ahead so had time to fix and finish,took 65 mins. tor eplace front strut.
Ralph_M. He live down in georga now i think
Ralph_M. header q. after about 4pm, the motor would lean out.
Ralph_M. his body work. it was the the pensky 512
Ralph_M. hmmm
Ralph_M. hold 1 sec let me answer some questions
Ralph_M. hold up 1 sec. let me answer some of these quesions
Ralph_M. I added a strap around the front mount to help keep the mount from breaking
Ralph_M. i am going to turn the typing over to Jeff for a few minutes.
Ralph_M. I am not familiar with the Raby /4.
Ralph_M. I am not racing, but I am working (help maintain) a couple of race cars. you could see Scott taylors car 914/6 2.7 in the northwest
Ralph_M. I am originally for Mass, but have been here for 30 years. as far as Sovren, not reall

Ralph_M. I did drive both 18 and 19 at times

Ralph_M. I didn't do much racing after 1971. new family, business....
Ralph_M. I didn't get my 14/6 until he won the 1970 daytona
Ralph_M. I didn't really need to box the trailing arms, but I did do tha t on my 3rd car
Ralph_M. I don';t know really
Ralph_M. I don't know. that is kinda hard to estimate

Ralph_M. I lapped perter gregg 3 times in 8 hours. so I had to be doing 170 +

Ralph_M. I missed typed. Ralph used the 308 calipers on the rear
Ralph_M. I owned 3 of them. #18 was the first GT car in the country
Ralph_M. I rebuilt the motor every 40 hours or less.
Ralph_M. I saw no advantage. I turned the same laptimes open or closed. empty or full of gas
Ralph_M. I think they had them for sale and you could buy them
Ralph_M. I thnik I got some
Ralph_M. I was going to be in the movie. Steve McAQueen and I were teamed together at 12 hour sebring
Ralph_M. I was invited to drive at lemans with Steve McQueen (1970) but I couldn't leave my business for 6 months
Ralph_M. I was proud of the conversion.
Ralph_M. I would keep the car original. I know it works up to a certain point.
Ralph_M. I would not use Ti rods. I used them once and won't ever use them again. 1 defect and they explode
Ralph_M. I wouldn't use the thermostats in the engine for racing
Ralph_M. if support continued for the 914, I don't know. the 914 was already out dated.
Ralph_M. in 1970 Steve McQueen and I where teameed together. He had the 908 and I had the 911 S. we where pitted next to each other
Ralph_M. in 1971 i didn't have time to go.
Ralph_M. in 71 a ferrari passed me on the high side at Daytona. As soon as he passed me, the body work exploded in front of me. that was fun
Ralph_M. In the early days of the car, I even used my 911 koni adjustable shocks modified to fit the 914
Ralph_M. in the early day's, my first 6 hour endurance race in watkins glen in 1968
Ralph_M. insert broke and tore off the a arm
Ralph_M. it cost's money.
Ralph_M. it is kinda hard to say when everybody is behind you. Probably from other carsz i built
Ralph_M. It is my understanding that Bruoumbos has a collection of GT cars and one of the cars is one that I built from a 914/4 into a 914/6 GT
Ralph_M. It seemed like every race that I went to, I had just the right part that needed to be replaeced
Ralph_M. It was a factory cage
Ralph_M. Jeffs sitting on the chair. chris is typing.
Ralph_M. Kendal GT-1 the best
Ralph_M. lots of spares
Ralph_M. Martin Steager worked for me. I brought him into the country. Nice factory mechanic.
Ralph_M. mostly aircoold
Ralph_M. motors
Ralph_M. My father picked up his wife at the airport. thats how close we where
Ralph_M. nightimew replaced exhaust
Ralph_M. No at this time
Ralph_M. no body damage , just strut, spindle,ball joint, all tore apart
Ralph_M. no troubles at daytona
Ralph_M. no, I couldn't adjust it without replacing the main jet. so, rather burn the header than take the time. you richen up the engine when you set it up
Ralph_M. not familiar with it
Ralph_M. on the 20 year question. we will have to check back in20 years
Ralph_M. on the drag question
Ralph_M. on the warm up, you got two or three pace laps and then you where racing. at Daytona, they don't let you warm up your car in the pits
Ralph_M. only the rules. the scca rules. now they have the GT rules and have outclassed it again
Ralph_M. Platform question: Yes, I think so. It is a really good car
Ralph_M. problem I wouldnt let anyone else touch the cars as i couldnt trust anyone else couldnt afford to loose because of a mistake
Ralph_M. Ralph shared his photoalbum with us. lots of great pictures.
Ralph_M. Ralphs son is scanning and getting ready to redesign the web site so you can all see them. I think that the cooles one is where a piece of paper shows the lap times. a 1970 lola is only going 6 seconds faster a lap than his 914/6
Ralph_M. re 2.0 and 901 questoin
Ralph_M. reseach center gives me special treatment
Ralph_M. rods where no good. If we went longer than that the rods would sometimes break. i kept the oil between 180 and 195 that helpeed and used Kendel GT1
Ralph_M. settings and tires. I forgottne wat the rear spring was (180?) all of the suspension parts had delrin bushing and I designed my multi adjustable sway bar ( H&H marketed the for me)
Ralph_M. shifting quesiont. Yes there was. where the shift rod comes out of the chassis, and there is a plastic copuling. I converted it to a stearing coupling. when the plastic got hot it would get play in it. but the stearing couplings wher made to use guide pins to line it up.
Ralph_M. similar to 906 spec motors. shimmed valves, none adj. rockers and stuff
Ralph_M. so he could turn high RPM
Ralph_M. so the 3.6 should be good
Ralph_M. sorry. typist fat fingers
Ralph_M. sorry. what was the last question?
Ralph_M. special factory contact in germany
Ralph_M. Steve Bahr and I had clutch problems at the first IMSA race. We drove almost 1/2 the race with no clutch
Ralph_M. Steve McQ was an excellent driver
Ralph_M. t need no stinkin wax. paint your dam car
Ralph_M. thank you all very much. we are going to sign off now and scan some images to post here. maybe we can get Ralph back later this year for another session
Ralph_M. thanks Eric, all the 14/6 had 908 brakes and 911 rears
Ralph_M. that is correct on the CG, but I can drive at the same pace and that really donsn't effect me.
Ralph_M. that is correct. I bought one from Moritz and built the others.
Ralph_M. that is correct. I took third in the first IMSA race. Peter Gregg took first, a covett second and I was third. (with no clutch pedel) overall
Ralph_M. that is correct. that is for C production only
Ralph_M. that is true on formulation of oil.
Ralph_M. that is what kept the car reliable.
Ralph_M. the 14 where running 2. ltr and the 911 where 2.2 and 2.4.
Ralph_M. the 911 teams got much better support. there where only a couple of 914 teams.
Ralph_M. the air gets cooler and heavier and this makes it leaner.
Ralph_M. the album is here in the room with Jeff, ralph and I
Ralph_M. the bleeder was in the wrong spot, but Porsche corrected that
Ralph_M. the brakes performed trouble free and had no issues. I went deeper in the corners than Peter gregg (about 20mph faster)
Ralph_M. the car felt the same. the aluminum cage was to meet the rules
Ralph_M. the car was not designed at the time to handle the larger engines without breakeing apart.
Ralph_M. the car was outlawed in SCCA because the factory didn't make enough cars. the main reason is that the corvetts, cobras and mustangs complained about them. they couldn't stomach a 2.0 ltr car beating them
Ralph_M. the cars were so fast that they were disqualified (outlawed) in B production
Ralph_M. the cars where strong.
Ralph_M. the conversion quesition. you can put the engines in, and get special gear box for the hp,
Ralph_M. the exaust broke.
Ralph_M. the GT (19) had a full cage. 18 only had a roll bar.
Ralph_M. The GT kit fixed the problem
Ralph_M. the headers. I always brought two or three sets of headers. they seemed to burn themselves off the car at night
Ralph_M. the HP on the twin plug was 265. I could pull a 427 Cobra. my fastes lap was 6 seconds faster than the cobras. I was spinning 9500 RPM
Ralph_M. the M&M car i was not involved with
Ralph_M. the most competition...hmm
Ralph_M. the next biggest challange was 1970 daytona 24 hour
Ralph_M. the one with the Ginther windshield was the first gt car. there were variations of paint on the cars and windshields through the years
Ralph_M. the original gt's the rules stated that you had to use the 911T heads and they got converetd to carrera /6 heads
Ralph_M. the other racers laughed at it until they saw the tailights. then they got pissed.
Ralph_M. the theromstat is only for warming it up. once it is at temp, you don't use it. I didn't need it with the cooler
Ralph_M. then you would run a little rich in the day and a little lean at night
Ralph_M. there probably is a pictrue. it was on the bank before the pits.
Ralph_M. they wehre aluminum calipers
Ralph_M. this was to fit the rules.
Ralph_M. time will tell.
Ralph_M. times at a national event in 1971
Ralph_M. Told drivers gary wright and dave bean to stay 2 sec. behind that way we wernt the rabbit
Ralph_M. wax, we don'
Ralph_M. were
Ralph_M. will have to check records
Ralph_M. will it break apart? it depends on how he reinforced it. again. money answeres the question
Ralph_M. winning both was a lot of fun. you have to race and pick the best car for the time and style of racing
Ralph_M. Wore out, tired and happy as hell, quite a challenge
Ralph_M. y
Ralph_M. ya, ok thanksgiving got invited to run 24 hr after winning the new england scca b sedan championship, with 65 911
Ralph_M. Yes I would. especilly with the horsepower that I know I can get out of it
Ralph_M. yes, 18 was rebuilt with a Ginther windscreen
Ralph_M. yes, go karting and money. lots of money
Ralph_M. yes, huge oil cooler and stock tank
Ralph_M. Yes, that is when the motor mount broke. I happend to have a spare.
Ralph_M. Yes. #18 (John Buffum) crashed it at Sebring during the last lap
Ralph_M. yes. but being self employeed you can't jsut close shop and go to france for 6 months
Ralph_M. yes. low torque and high rpm made it reliable. torque tears things up.
Ralph_M. your very welcome. lots of development work went into it. twin plug and all that came about because of it.


:-D