Auto Sports show 2012 - David Vizard experiences!!
Discussion
Well it's Jan 19th and I am back in Charlotte from my trip to the UK National Exhibition Center in Birmingham for the Auto Sports show. I have not been to one of these shows since about 2002 or so. I was surprised to find that the show had quite a different air about it compared to PRI in Orlando Florida. Can't quite put my finger on it but it was most certainly different. In all it looked like a great show to me but there again, since I eat, sleep, dream and work race cars I could be construed as possibly being biased.
From a personal point of view I want to thank David Mountain - the boss at Mountune - for being nothing short of an outstanding host - thanks Dave - I had a blast! I suppose it could be said that Dave is really into doing things top knotch - that's why his competition engines do so well not just nationally but worldwide.
The Mountune team on the stand were worth their weight in entertainment gold. Thanks guys and gals for doing an outstanding job of keeping my ribs in near continuous pain from laughing. (I will hopefully get my revenge next year!!!)
Also thanks to Haymarket's (www.Pistonheads.com) Dan Trent for giving me a considerable chunk of his valuable time to bounce a few project idea's off him.
Also I want to thank all those of you that came to get a book autographed and patiently waited for me to have a free moment. I realize that you primarily came to see a show not to burn up time standing in line for some old guys autograph so thanks for your patience.
When you get to my age (actually quite a bit before that) one of the things that you have to deal with is the passing of some of those people special to you before you go. Unless you die young it's inevitable and often a difficult pill to swallow. I am always very cognizant of the fact that some of the special people that I have high regard for are at the wrong end of their lives. I say this because I got to spend time with three such people at the show. Paul Ivey, George Polly and Barrie 'Wizzo' Williams. Not only were they in good shape but also full of vim and vinegar. Was really good to see you guys again. And Paul - the news that Elizabeth was doing well was very gratifying - she's truly a lovely lady. As for Barry 'ever-the-showman' Lee you may look a tad older Barry but we both know that deep down you still have to have your 30th birthday. (so who was the best Hot Rod racer - Barry, George or --??)
Had some interesting conversations with the guys at UKs premier cams companies (Piper and Kent) - all very interesting - thanks fella's. Also must not forget PR lady Gill Leeds - thanks for volunteering your 10 cents of valuable insights in many directions - much appreciated and all the best with the Barry Lee book.
Also got to spend some time with Nick Swift of Swiftune fame. Nick had his new 2012 Mini racer at the show on the Kent stand. What a beaut! If it goes as good as it looks then the competition needs to prepare for hard times.
Oh yes - before I forget thanks Nick for volunteering to help out with my daughter Jacque and her road racing lessons. Right now she is a hot commodity in the drag race community but has yet (at 16 years old) to make her mind up exactly what type of racing she wants to do and where her driving skills are best directed.
Dave Mountain and I skipped the last day of the show to go and check out the venue for the seminar later this year at Swansea Metropolitan University. That was the Sunday. On the way Dave and I stopped off at the 'Kings Head' pub in Bishops Cleeve where I used to live in the UK (Bishops Cleeve that is - not the pub!) As I had hopped a bunch of my friends that I had not seen for a long time (was it really 35 years Phil?) showed up. I only had an hour and a half so it all went a bit quick. Norman, Tim, Phil, Mush, Pete's all, Suzie, Ida, Daphne, Chris, Mike, Alex - and the list goes on, great to see you all - really great.
Also a bonus surprise, my niece Kelly, and her family, made a 3 hour drive from Plymouth just to see me for 30 minutes. Kelly - guys I was really touched - and it was so nice to see you and the family. I really will make a super effort for us to get together during my Swansea Seminar trip later this year.
Later Sunday afternoon after our GPS system got Dave Mountain and I well lost (even a main frame computer gets confused with the Welsh language) Dave Mountain and I met up with my life long friend Mike Lane (my seminar event manager) and Roger Dowden, my king pin contact at the university. Mike and I had a VIP tour of the venue we will be using in September. It all looked good and between Mike and Roger a viable game plan emerged to handle the expected number of seminar attendees in an entertaining manner. In other words dyno and workshop time are now well sorted.
Here is what we envisage for some of the tech demo's for the seminar:-
Firstly we are rounding up a test engine. This is most likely to be an 'A' Series engine and you may well ask why use a technologically outdated test unit. If you thought this then good question. Here is why. Because of the 'A' series engines siamese intake ports there are a jumble of pressure waves which have never (to my knowledge been effectively unraveled. The work that Dave Mountain, David Anton and I did on scatter pattern cams was an attempt at countering the negative issues of a siamese intake port design. All this was done way back in the 1985 - 86 time scale. What we did then was to get a rough (and I mean rough) idea what was going on by virtue on by what can best be described as response testing. This is how it worked. Starting with a supposition you run a tests that if you supposition is any where near right the effect of one test is to improve the output and reversing it decreases it. We did this for every situation that was different. For instance the center pair of exhausts dump into a common port. So did that pair of cylinders need more or less exhaust duration on the cam. Did it need to have a different center line did the LCA need to be tighter or looser for that pair etc. I picked the exhaust here because it was the easiest to use as an example. The intake situation with the robbing of one cylinder by another 180 degrees later is far more complex. Indeed it is more complex than an F1 intake system by far. What we are planning here is to show the value of in-cylinder and port pressure measurement. If we can reveal what is really going on in an 'A' Series intake port feeding two cylinders we will be able to handle F1 stuff with ease.
So we need an engine. It looks like Mike Parry of Race Techniques in Cheltenham is going to supply a tricked out 'A' Series engine situation permitting. Mike's engine won the Mini Miglia championship this year by taking 198 points of a possible 200 for a near clean sweep.
With the gear they have at Swansea plus the motor sports staff in-house tech know how the stuff we are going to detail in the seminar will be of real interest to all and sundry whether it is a two valve iron headed siamesed port 'A' Series or a killer N/A 2 litre BTCC engine like Dave Mountain builds (That guys torque per liter figures are world standard, beating even the specific torque numbers of 17/1 CR ProStock drag trace engines on trick petrol) or for that matter a 1400 hp 1100 lbs-ft torque carburated, gas burning, relatively cheap 715 incher (11.72 litre) big block Chevy such as I build with my friend Terry Walters.
After leaving Swansea I rode back to Mike's place (not that far from Janspeeds shop) and hung out with him on the last day of my trip. Mike - after a very hectic 6 days I really did need that lay back and relax day. Thanks
Tuesday the 17th I flew back and though it was a smooth flight I was well and truly exhausted and jet lagged out - but none-the-less a happy camper.
So thanks to all for making my visit a really great experience.
DV
From a personal point of view I want to thank David Mountain - the boss at Mountune - for being nothing short of an outstanding host - thanks Dave - I had a blast! I suppose it could be said that Dave is really into doing things top knotch - that's why his competition engines do so well not just nationally but worldwide.
The Mountune team on the stand were worth their weight in entertainment gold. Thanks guys and gals for doing an outstanding job of keeping my ribs in near continuous pain from laughing. (I will hopefully get my revenge next year!!!)
Also thanks to Haymarket's (www.Pistonheads.com) Dan Trent for giving me a considerable chunk of his valuable time to bounce a few project idea's off him.
Also I want to thank all those of you that came to get a book autographed and patiently waited for me to have a free moment. I realize that you primarily came to see a show not to burn up time standing in line for some old guys autograph so thanks for your patience.
When you get to my age (actually quite a bit before that) one of the things that you have to deal with is the passing of some of those people special to you before you go. Unless you die young it's inevitable and often a difficult pill to swallow. I am always very cognizant of the fact that some of the special people that I have high regard for are at the wrong end of their lives. I say this because I got to spend time with three such people at the show. Paul Ivey, George Polly and Barrie 'Wizzo' Williams. Not only were they in good shape but also full of vim and vinegar. Was really good to see you guys again. And Paul - the news that Elizabeth was doing well was very gratifying - she's truly a lovely lady. As for Barry 'ever-the-showman' Lee you may look a tad older Barry but we both know that deep down you still have to have your 30th birthday. (so who was the best Hot Rod racer - Barry, George or --??)
Had some interesting conversations with the guys at UKs premier cams companies (Piper and Kent) - all very interesting - thanks fella's. Also must not forget PR lady Gill Leeds - thanks for volunteering your 10 cents of valuable insights in many directions - much appreciated and all the best with the Barry Lee book.
Also got to spend some time with Nick Swift of Swiftune fame. Nick had his new 2012 Mini racer at the show on the Kent stand. What a beaut! If it goes as good as it looks then the competition needs to prepare for hard times.
Oh yes - before I forget thanks Nick for volunteering to help out with my daughter Jacque and her road racing lessons. Right now she is a hot commodity in the drag race community but has yet (at 16 years old) to make her mind up exactly what type of racing she wants to do and where her driving skills are best directed.
Dave Mountain and I skipped the last day of the show to go and check out the venue for the seminar later this year at Swansea Metropolitan University. That was the Sunday. On the way Dave and I stopped off at the 'Kings Head' pub in Bishops Cleeve where I used to live in the UK (Bishops Cleeve that is - not the pub!) As I had hopped a bunch of my friends that I had not seen for a long time (was it really 35 years Phil?) showed up. I only had an hour and a half so it all went a bit quick. Norman, Tim, Phil, Mush, Pete's all, Suzie, Ida, Daphne, Chris, Mike, Alex - and the list goes on, great to see you all - really great.
Also a bonus surprise, my niece Kelly, and her family, made a 3 hour drive from Plymouth just to see me for 30 minutes. Kelly - guys I was really touched - and it was so nice to see you and the family. I really will make a super effort for us to get together during my Swansea Seminar trip later this year.
Later Sunday afternoon after our GPS system got Dave Mountain and I well lost (even a main frame computer gets confused with the Welsh language) Dave Mountain and I met up with my life long friend Mike Lane (my seminar event manager) and Roger Dowden, my king pin contact at the university. Mike and I had a VIP tour of the venue we will be using in September. It all looked good and between Mike and Roger a viable game plan emerged to handle the expected number of seminar attendees in an entertaining manner. In other words dyno and workshop time are now well sorted.
Here is what we envisage for some of the tech demo's for the seminar:-
Firstly we are rounding up a test engine. This is most likely to be an 'A' Series engine and you may well ask why use a technologically outdated test unit. If you thought this then good question. Here is why. Because of the 'A' series engines siamese intake ports there are a jumble of pressure waves which have never (to my knowledge been effectively unraveled. The work that Dave Mountain, David Anton and I did on scatter pattern cams was an attempt at countering the negative issues of a siamese intake port design. All this was done way back in the 1985 - 86 time scale. What we did then was to get a rough (and I mean rough) idea what was going on by virtue on by what can best be described as response testing. This is how it worked. Starting with a supposition you run a tests that if you supposition is any where near right the effect of one test is to improve the output and reversing it decreases it. We did this for every situation that was different. For instance the center pair of exhausts dump into a common port. So did that pair of cylinders need more or less exhaust duration on the cam. Did it need to have a different center line did the LCA need to be tighter or looser for that pair etc. I picked the exhaust here because it was the easiest to use as an example. The intake situation with the robbing of one cylinder by another 180 degrees later is far more complex. Indeed it is more complex than an F1 intake system by far. What we are planning here is to show the value of in-cylinder and port pressure measurement. If we can reveal what is really going on in an 'A' Series intake port feeding two cylinders we will be able to handle F1 stuff with ease.
So we need an engine. It looks like Mike Parry of Race Techniques in Cheltenham is going to supply a tricked out 'A' Series engine situation permitting. Mike's engine won the Mini Miglia championship this year by taking 198 points of a possible 200 for a near clean sweep.
With the gear they have at Swansea plus the motor sports staff in-house tech know how the stuff we are going to detail in the seminar will be of real interest to all and sundry whether it is a two valve iron headed siamesed port 'A' Series or a killer N/A 2 litre BTCC engine like Dave Mountain builds (That guys torque per liter figures are world standard, beating even the specific torque numbers of 17/1 CR ProStock drag trace engines on trick petrol) or for that matter a 1400 hp 1100 lbs-ft torque carburated, gas burning, relatively cheap 715 incher (11.72 litre) big block Chevy such as I build with my friend Terry Walters.
After leaving Swansea I rode back to Mike's place (not that far from Janspeeds shop) and hung out with him on the last day of my trip. Mike - after a very hectic 6 days I really did need that lay back and relax day. Thanks
Tuesday the 17th I flew back and though it was a smooth flight I was well and truly exhausted and jet lagged out - but none-the-less a happy camper.
So thanks to all for making my visit a really great experience.
DV
Hi David , I enjoyed the show even though many seemed to find it a bit pricey and same-old , for me it satisfies many different aspects of motorsports and performance cars and you have never seen it all or stop learning. Being into old school Ford motor cars I am very familiar with your work and the Burton/Kent stands are a natural draw for me , the staff were all very helpful and friendly, all in all it was a great day out. It sounds like your feet never touched the ground with all the other networking going on. Glad you enjoyed the trip and I hope Gill handed out the Cadburys mini-eggs to you as well 
regards Rob
regards RobRedexR said:
Hi David , I enjoyed the show even though many seemed to find it a bit pricey and same-old , for me it satisfies many different aspects of motorsports and performance cars and you have never seen it all or stop learning. Being into old school Ford motor cars I am very familiar with your work and the Burton/Kent stands are a natural draw for me , the staff were all very helpful and friendly, all in all it was a great day out. It sounds like your feet never touched the ground with all the other networking going on. Glad you enjoyed the trip and I hope Gill handed out the Cadburys mini-eggs to you as well regards Rob
The mini eggs are off limits for me but the advice Gill handed out was worth about a half a ton of them so I don't feel to bad about missing out on them. regards RobDV
redvictor said:
Good to meet you and shake your hand David.
I could see you were busy so i didn't want to hang around too long...
btw,i did post about your seminar on my site,and FB.
I hope it goes well.
It was good talking to you also but the show and it's many attendees do cramp conversational time scales.I could see you were busy so i didn't want to hang around too long...
btw,i did post about your seminar on my site,and FB.
I hope it goes well.
Let me know when you hit the double century with your car!!
DV
Hi David ,
Was good to meet up with you at the Autosports show and chat about the 'Mini Tech News' days in the early '80's, etc, glad you enjoyed your UK visit and the show and that you had a smooth flight back to the US. Thanks again for signing my 'How to Modify your Mini' book and am looking forward to your Swansea 'A' Series Seminar later this year!
Martin Bell
Nick Swift's new 2012 Mini racer on the Kent Cams stand at the show
Was good to meet up with you at the Autosports show and chat about the 'Mini Tech News' days in the early '80's, etc, glad you enjoyed your UK visit and the show and that you had a smooth flight back to the US. Thanks again for signing my 'How to Modify your Mini' book and am looking forward to your Swansea 'A' Series Seminar later this year!
Martin Bell
Nick Swift's new 2012 Mini racer on the Kent Cams stand at the show
mab01uk said:
Hi David ,
Was good to meet up with you at the Autosports show and chat about the 'Mini Tech News' days in the early '80's, etc, glad you enjoyed your UK visit and the show and that you had a smooth flight back to the US. Thanks again for signing my 'How to Modify your Mini' book and am looking forward to your Swansea 'A' Series Seminar later this year!
Martin Bell
Nick Swift's new 2012 Mini racer on the Kent Cams stand at the show
Fab picture of my Toyboy's car but a shame you only got half of his face in your picture!!Was good to meet up with you at the Autosports show and chat about the 'Mini Tech News' days in the early '80's, etc, glad you enjoyed your UK visit and the show and that you had a smooth flight back to the US. Thanks again for signing my 'How to Modify your Mini' book and am looking forward to your Swansea 'A' Series Seminar later this year!
Martin Bell
Nick Swift's new 2012 Mini racer on the Kent Cams stand at the show
David your daughter will have a truly very special time with Nick as I did in the mid 1990s on the Brands Hatch GP circuit in my beloved Swiftune 1380 Clubman. Even now on track days I hear his voice in my head and even more scary I hear his father Glynn saying keep it in, keep it in!!
Mrs Muttleysnoop said:
David your daughter will have a truly very special time with Nick as I did in the mid 1990s on the Brands Hatch GP circuit in my beloved Swiftune 1380 Clubman. Even now on track days I hear his voice in my head and even more scary I hear his father Glynn saying keep it in, keep it in!!
Tell me more - tell me more (you have to imagine the music that goes with these words - and I guess be old enough to remember)DV
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