Seeking advise for Vintage Racing a 914-4 in So Cal, Vintage Racing in So Cal Options

[leety]

Is anyone out there actively vintage racing a 914-4 in So Cal?

[Bill's Racing 914]

In deference to our friend who lives in Colorado....I live in SOCAL...I run both SCCA and VARA.

VARA is your best bet for vintage racing in SOCAL. We run Willow Springs, Pahrump, and Buttonwillow. In fact the VARA Rennsport is Aug 27-28 at Buttonwillow. Come out. You will see 914-4's and 914-6's.

You will not see and 914's running in Cal Club SCCA. Half the production field is Miatas. The rest are cars from the 80's and later. RX-7's etc.

The majority of 914's in VARA are 2.0L cars that run in D production. Mine is a 1.7 that I would run in E Production. I finished it this year and have not raced it yet. Your 2270 would run in a GT class with the big bores and 914-6's.

VARA is racing, not parading around the track. They have passing rules about slower cars holding the line and avoidance of metal to metal contact etc. Also, you can run in the back if you want to come and drive and not compete. It is also not a concourse'd'elegance car show, however you will see some really cool cars from the 20's up through the 80's.

Get the rules from vararacing.com and read up on what you need for your car.

VARA also makes it easy to get your competition license back if yours has expired. You can either do it by showing up and driving on the weekends using their 3-6-9 plan or you can go to their driver's school in January.

email Jeanette at VARA and she will get you started. Regarding your 2270, VARA will find a run group to put you in to get you on the track and racing. In fact, you will want to be put in a class, most likely a GT class that will put you in a run group that matches your speed. If you start out in a run group that is too slow for your comfort, you can ask to switch to a faster group. That is certainly allowed. VARA is a lot more flexible than other race organizations.

I have spent the 2016 season racing my 1991 Mazda Miata in the newly formed VARA class called Club Racer. This is a catch all class that pretty much lets any car not yet considered vintage to race.

[leety]

Fantastic reply thanks much!!!

I'll be at the historics in Monterey the weekend of Aug 19th but will try my best to come out and spectate at the VARA event at the end of August. That sounds like a great one to check out the teens in VARA.

I haven't acquired a car yet. I'm in pursuit now. I may have to build one as I'm not finding what I want all ready to play.

The machine I end up with will have to be modified to comply with the rule either way so study away I will.

In deference to our friend who lives in Colorado....I live in SOCAL...I run both SCCA and VARA.

VARA is your best bet for vintage racing in SOCAL. We run Willow Springs, Pahrump, and Buttonwillow. In fact the VARA Rennsport is Aug 27-28 at Buttonwillow. Come out. You will see 914-4's and 914-6's.

You will not see and 914's running in Cal Club SCCA. Half the production field is Miatas. The rest are cars from the 80's and later. RX-7's etc.

The majority of 914's in VARA are 2.0L cars that run in D production. Mine is a 1.7 that I would run in E Production. I finished it this year and have not raced it yet. Your 2270 would run in a GT class with the big bores and 914-6's.

VARA is racing, not parading around the track. They have passing rules about slower cars holding the line and avoidance of metal to metal contact etc. Also, you can run in the back if you want to come and drive and not compete. It is also not a concourse'd'elegance car show, however you will see some really cool cars from the 20's up through the 80's.

Get the rules from vararacing.com and read up on what you need for your car.

VARA also makes it easy to get your competition license back if yours has expired. You can either do it by showing up and driving on the weekends using their 3-6-9 plan or you can go to their driver's school in January.

email Jeanette at VARA and she will get you started. Regarding your 2270, VARA will find a run group to put you in to get you on the track and racing. In fact, you will want to be put in a class, most likely a GT class that will put you in a run group that matches your speed. If you start out in a run group that is too slow for your comfort, you can ask to switch to a faster group. That is certainly allowed. VARA is a lot more flexible than other race organizations.

I have spent the 2016 season racing my 1991 Mazda Miata in the newly formed VARA class called Club Racer. This is a catch all class that pretty much lets any car not yet considered vintage to race.

[Bill's Racing 914]

Fantastic reply thanks much!!!

I'll be at the historics in Monterey the weekend of Aug 19th but will try my best to come out and spectate at the VARA event at the end of August. That sounds like a great one to check out the teens in VARA.

I haven't acquired a car yet. I'm in pursuit now. I may have to build one as I'm not finding what I want all ready to play.

The machine I end up with will have to be modified to comply with the rule either way so study away I will.

In deference to our friend who lives in Colorado....I live in SOCAL...I run both SCCA and VARA.

VARA is your best bet for vintage racing in SOCAL. We run Willow Springs, Pahrump, and Buttonwillow. In fact the VARA Rennsport is Aug 27-28 at Buttonwillow. Come out. You will see 914-4's and 914-6's.

You will not see and 914's running in Cal Club SCCA. Half the production field is Miatas. The rest are cars from the 80's and later. RX-7's etc.

The majority of 914's in VARA are 2.0L cars that run in D production. Mine is a 1.7 that I would run in E Production. I finished it this year and have not raced it yet. Your 2270 would run in a GT class with the big bores and 914-6's.

VARA is racing, not parading around the track. They have passing rules about slower cars holding the line and avoidance of metal to metal contact etc. Also, you can run in the back if you want to come and drive and not compete. It is also not a concourse'd'elegance car show, however you will see some really cool cars from the 20's up through the 80's.

Get the rules from vararacing.com and read up on what you need for your car.

VARA also makes it easy to get your competition license back if yours has expired. You can either do it by showing up and driving on the weekends using their 3-6-9 plan or you can go to their driver's school in January.

email Jeanette at VARA and she will get you started. Regarding your 2270, VARA will find a run group to put you in to get you on the track and racing. In fact, you will want to be put in a class, most likely a GT class that will put you in a run group that matches your speed. If you start out in a run group that is too slow for your comfort, you can ask to switch to a faster group. That is certainly allowed. VARA is a lot more flexible than other race organizations.

I have spent the 2016 season racing my 1991 Mazda Miata in the newly formed VARA class called Club Racer. This is a catch all class that pretty much lets any car not yet considered vintage to race.

Leety , I suggest that in the first year your build your engine for reliability not so much for winning the races. You will want to spend more time learning the track and the other drivers and how VARA works, and you can't do that with a car that breaks down a lot. If you have the money, get a 2.0L and put in a racing cam and forged pistons and have the thing balanced. Also lighten the flywheel to reduce the stress on the crank. But I would avoid increasing the compression ratio. You will want a side shift tranny. The tail shift is a miserable piece of junk.

To be legal for VARA you will need New 5 or 6 point harness, full roll cage, racing seat, fuel cell and fire system. There are other specific regarding compression ratio and having to run Webers etc. so read the rules.

I strongly urge you to pay close attention to how you seal the valve covers on your air cooled heads. Oil on the track, is especially dangerous at turn 8 and 9 at Willow Springs....and they always point to the aircooled 914's and FV's when there is an oiling situation since the oil can collect in the heads in high G turns. If the seals are not done properly, they will leak and smoke....and if I am behind you, I will not be too happy.

Two race weekends ago, I was behind a Porsche 944 going over Phil Hill at Buttonwillow when he threw a rod and dumped his crankcase all over the backside. No sooner that the corner worker threw the oil flag, I and an Opel GT were sliding backwards into the dirt at very high speed.

If you have not yest decided on a 914, I strongly suggest you get a Miata. You will spend more time driving that than working on it. It has self tuning EFI which is a lot more friendlier than trying to balance a pair of dual downdraft Webers.

I will be at the VARA race in August. I will be racing the black Miata #54. I will introduce you to some of the 914 drivers.