1974 Spa 24 Hours - Butch Racing Dolomite Sprint (Group 1)

[soe8m]

Hi Jeroen,

I would have to politely disagree with this statement, as we are actually restoring the car to be as close to its original specification as possible when it was first built and raced, although with a few additions such as the modern brake cylinders to allow it to be safe and competitive enough to race in current FIA Group 1 races.

The cars history was that it was raced by the Butch Tailors team through the first few years of its life including the Spa 24 Hour races in 1974 and 1975, and then after that seems to be handed around and raced by other various small teams in club motorsport up until the 90's and gained much of the bodged paintwork and other 'additions' during this time.

We are undoing all of the substandard work over the last 40 years to bring it back to its original Group 1 Touring Car specification.

That's exactly what I mean. The undoing. All the 70's smell is gone from that car. The three layers of paint do tell the story and the history. Restoring it to how it was new when raced first it's just becomes a track Dolomite. All the history has gone, no traces at all. Modernising to have it up to date to this era is nothing wrong with as it's another chapter of the car but erasing the past is taking the soul from that car. Classic rally and racecars tell their stories and adventures by their scars, the modifications tell the stories of their past owners. Taking those away is taking the cars identity.

Jeroen

[Carledo]

Hi Jeroen,

I would have to politely disagree with this statement, as we are actually restoring the car to be as close to its original specification as possible when it was first built and raced, although with a few additions such as the modern brake cylinders to allow it to be safe and competitive enough to race in current FIA Group 1 races.

The cars history was that it was raced by the Butch Tailors team through the first few years of its life including the Spa 24 Hour races in 1974 and 1975, and then after that seems to be handed around and raced by other various small teams in club motorsport up until the 90's and gained much of the bodged paintwork and other 'additions' during this time.

We are undoing all of the substandard work over the last 40 years to bring it back to its original Group 1 Touring Car specification.

That's exactly what I mean. The undoing. All the 70's smell is gone from that car. The three layers of paint do tell the story and the history. Restoring it to how it was new when raced first it's just becomes a track Dolomite. All the history has gone, no traces at all. Modernising to have it up to date to this era is nothing wrong with as it's another chapter of the car but erasing the past is taking the soul from that car. Classic rally and racecars tell their stories and adventures by their scars, the modifications tell the stories of their past owners. Taking those away is taking the cars identity.

Jeroen

I can see your point Jeroen, but I suspect you are in a minority of one! From appearances and pictures put up earlier, it's not only the paint that had been bodged on this car but also most of the safety critical and performance gear too! Up to a point I agree about history, but you also have to consider what it will be used for after restoration, ie things like the Goodwood festival of speed and the Spa and Silverstone classics. The owners will get a lot more invites to this sort of prestige event with the car thoroughly restored to it's original Butch livery than if it still has 3 or more coats of poorly applied, chipped and peeling paint from owners nobody has heard of! It'll actually be more competitive too.

In any case, it's not really down to us to criticize just how Wobbs spends (lots of) his hard earned dosh! I'm just grateful that this epic and famous car will still have a life and a future! I look forward to seeing it at FOS in future!

Steve

[wobbs]

Our new aluminium tank has just arrived and I am very happy with it! Baffled and foam filled with a central fuel pickup to avoid fuel starvation, with a modern AN-6 outlet fuel fitting and sender unit removed. It fits perfectly and doesn't look out of place in the boot. The car ran in period with a standard tank so wanted to avoid changing to the large aluminium cube fuel cells that most are fitted with. Unfortunately the old tank has had the top cut off to fit baffles, then was fibre glassed back together! Not safe nor worth saving. If anyone is interested, the aluminium tank is also just over 3kg lighter as well.

I have specified the new tank without the fuel sender as it would not have fitted with the foam tank filling, and with all of our race cars we calculate fuel usage and drain the tank after every track session so a gauge is unnecessary, plus adds an extra potential leak point.











We have had a slight set back with the shell however, as during assembly we kept noticing more and more paint defects, to the point that the shell is going back to the paint shop at the beginning of January to have all of these rectified. In the meantime we can get all of the smaller sub assemblies refurbished and the loom made though.

[Awaiting Repair]

Thanks for the update wobbs, love your updates.. please keep them coming!

[soe8m]

I have a new PC and when sorting out all data and pics what to transfer from the old to the new I found some pics .












I have also a lot of pics of the yellow livery.

Jeroen

[lazeruspete]

Hi Wobbs,

Loving the work here, ultimately it couldn't have been used in anger at the meetings where it should be getting used(Goodwood Members Meeting, Revival etc), in it's previous state.

Looking forward to seeing it at Goodwood etc.

[wobbs]

I have a new PC and when sorting out all data and pics what to transfer from the old to the new I found some pics .

I have also a lot of pics of the yellow livery.

Jeroen

Hi Jeroen,

Those are great pictures, and if you have any more from when it was yellow that would be great! Do you know what happened to the other car?

[wobbs]

The doors are now almost complete and the engine is finally back in the car. The windows are polycarbonate but we are retaining the winder mechanisms so they work as normal. All of the rubbers and weather strips are new.

Due to the location of the roll cage I have had to notch out the wooden door trims on the rear doors to clear it. The rear doors will rarely be opened anyways and I think this was the neatest solution. I have new vinyl door cards being made so that we can also relocate the door pulls on the front doors to clear the roll cage door bars.













Refurbished headlights fitted





Before and after shots of the tail lights

[soe8m]

I'm not sure about the brake pipes. Normally you avoid running these above the reservoir.

Jeroen

[B8WLY]

Wobbs

I love my Sprint and am always spending far to much on it, but your in another universe with this resto.

Its not what they are worth as they begin to appreciate, its what they mean to you as the custodian.

I have a fairly new 911, but when out in the Sprint, thats the car that everyone stops and looks at.

They are just great !!

[GlenM]

I wrongly assumed that this was the Butch Tailors Sprint at this years Members' Meeting at Goodwood. Is it a possibility that it might be there in the future?

[lazeruspete]

superb standard of work.

we also had to cut/sand the door capping to get around the roll cage, although we didnt have to go as far as cutting the door away.

looking forward to more updates!

(and hopefully seeing it at Goodwood?)

[wobbs]

I wrongly assumed that this was the Butch Tailors Sprint at this years Members' Meeting at Goodwood. Is it a possibility that it might be there in the future?

We very much hope so!

[wobbs]

Some more large and overdue updates which should hopefully bring you all up to date on where we are with the car. As the race season draws to an end it has meant more time available in the workshop to crack on with the Dolomite

The biggest news is that all four corners are now complete, every bolt has been torqued / marked and the brakes are bled and working. The original overdrive gearbox is still away being refreshed, so in the meantime I have fitted a spare non overdrive gearbox as the car needed one fitting before the exhaust system could be fabricated (the exhaust was a fixed appointment for this week so we couldn't wait any longer)

This means the freshly refurbished wheels could be fitted and the car lowered and left on the ground which is a great milestone for us.

[wobbs]

Last week the car went to Aldridge Trimming for its new vinyl roof to be fitted. I've got to say the standard of work is amazing and i'm really glad its not something we tried to do ourselves. They turned the car around in less than 3 days as well so overall a big thumbs up







The car went straight from Aldridge Trimming to Simpson race exhausts, who will be building a new side exit system for us like the car would have had originally at Spa. We will be keeping the cast manifold as this will be necessary for the FIA paperwork. Pictures are scarce but you can just make out the side exit exhaust in the #48 car here



Once we get the dashboard, gauges and interior finishing done the Dolomite will be very close to being sent away for wiring. The fuel system has also been completed and we have a custom oil cooler made, but that will have to wait for a future post.

We are aiming to get the car out for testing in Spring 2023