The FV Ad Hoc Committee met on July 25.
Members attending: Steve Oseth, Stevan Davis, John Petillo, Bruce Livermore, Alex Bertolucci, Bruce Livermore, Barrett Hendricks, Stephen Saslow, Dietmar Bauerle
Guest: Fred Clark
FYI:
The FV 50th Anniversary Event is scheduled for the first weekend in April (4th through 7th), 2013 at Roebling Raceway in Georgia (same location as the 45th ). Further information will be forthcoming in the next few months once things are finalized with SCCA.
A group of competitors is trying to stage a special FV event to be held at Blackhawk Farms Raceway October 13 and 14. Sponsors have been contacted and there is a planned raffle to be held at the event. Anyone interested in participating either as a competitor or just wanting to help with organizing the event may contact Alex Bertolucci directly at abertolu81-at-gmail-dot-com or go to the Interchange “EVENT” section and look for the 2012 Fall Round-Up post.
Pistons:
The Committee, in an attempt to clarify the terms “same material" and "dimensionally Identical” in the FV rules today, has put together a proposal which should clarify the requirements for the piston(s) used in FV today. This proposal, stated below, was first sent for review to the major engine builders in the U.S and Canada in order to receive their input either for or against this rule clarification proposal . A clear majority of those who responded were in favor of clarifying the rules as we propose. The FSR Committee will be discussing our proposal at their next meeting for possible inclusion in the GCR. The legality of AA ( Chinese) pistons was not directly addressed in this discussion, and our proposal does not address that specific issue or any other that would require a rules change. However, a committee member has submitted a letter to SCCA requesting that 2mm ring grooves be allowed. This change, if passed through the system and approved, would bring the AA (Chinese) pistons into compliance.
The Committee proposes the following wording for GCR section C.5.C:
C.5.C. (unchanged)
C.5.C.4. Pistons and wrist pins minimum combined weight without clips
or piston rings = 330.0 grams
As clarification of the definition of “same material” and “dimensionally identical” regarding pistons, at minimum, the following shall be observed:
a. Piston material shall be cast aluminum with steel inserts.
b. Maximum distance from bottom of wrist pin bore to top of #1 (top) compression ring groove: 1.655 inches (20 mm wrist pin bore assumed).
c. Width of #1 and #2 (compression) ring grooves: .100 +/- .003 inches (2.5mm nominal)
d. Width of #3 (oil) ring groove: .158 +/- .003 inches (4.0mm nominal)
e. Wrist pin offset from centerline: .059 +/- .005 inches
The proposal also includes the word “cast” since there is nothing in the current piston wording which specifically disallows someone from having forged pistons made to their own specifications. VW never had forged pistons for the 1200 series, but it might be argued that since the GCR does not specify “cast”, a forged piston would still qualify under the current wording.
No other topics were presented or discussed.
Next meeting scheduled for August 22
July Minutes
Re: July Minutes
Thanks to the Committee for you work.