Classic Le Mans 2012

[Sumov8]

Well we did it, some said we were mad, it turns out we were just lucky! 

You recall a while back we asked if anyone was interested in going to the Classic Le Mans 2012, Alan had this as his target to get his Dutton Phaeton back on the road. I have put together a few words and picture's to wet your appetite and let you know what a great time we had.

After a mate left this car parked on our nephew's drive for some 5 years letting the engine fill with water, he eventually gave it as a parting gift for the nephew to dream about putting back on the road.

After about a month of doing nothing his girlfriend advised him to let Alan have it, we borrowed Walnut's trailer (many thanks again) and then set about fixing the car while parked in Alan's drive

After many months of wind and rain Alan was able to secure the use of a local lock up that helped speed the rebuild along, engine stripped down, and rebuilt after clearing a blocked oil way, new high pressure oil pump, recon  head and new  twin choke weber,  re wire, new seats, carpeted,  Hi Fi it was time for the MOT, flew through first attempt (it pays to know the garage owner ,who pointed a few minor pieces of work out), but now Alan had the paper work to Tax the car and start putting some miles on it.



That was about the middle of May, and following constant rain and limited miles to proof the car, he bought a roof and we fitted it the week before the off.

Car fully loaded with a few tools and spares, insurance documents, passports and Euro's we were ready, deciding to leave late Wednesday evening (23:00) to catch the 07:30 ferry from Portsmouth to Caen. Nice and dry, ish so no roof on. 120 miles from Bristol to Portsmouth, land at Caen and 100 miles down to Le Mans!
"What could go wrong?"

First thing was whilst blasting up a hill and flicking on the main beam and spot lights we were plummeted into darkness, ALL THE LIGHTS WENT OUT,
Alan pulled into a fortunately placed lay by, out with the torch and when we inspected the fuse box, to find a lighting fuse that was not securely clipped into place.
No problem panic over, loads of time to get to Portsmouth, onwards  we go, music blasting out, smile's a plenty.

Hit Portsmouth around 03:00, join the queue right by the front some cars had already beaten us to the ferry, pull the cover over the car and we get some sleep, and up early lots more cars in the queue



Car's start pulling forward to the registry box where a nice young lady asks for the paperwork, we pass everything over where we hear those dreaded words "This Passport is out of date" I look at Alan and think "PLONKER"  when the not so nice lady points at me and say's "You're not going to LE Man's this week unless you get this Authorised", it ran out in March, my heart sank as I walked the walk of shame, over to the help desk where a heart stopping 25 minutes passed before agreement was faxed through to allow me into the country, Yes we are on the way again "What could go wrong now".



Just made the ferry, one of the last on, straight up to the restaurant, where some of our friends had already boarded 45 minutes before, where we get breakfast, coffee and look for the bar.
Nice crossing, get off the ferry and wait to all join up and blast down the main roads with about 300 other cars, all heading in the same direction, no need for a Sat nav.
Pull into a station for a break and check over the car, fan belt had gone loose so we quickly adjusted it, and carried on 85 ish most of the time, going deaf in my left ear as the exhaust was on my side and was doing little to quieten the rant of the Ford 1600 push rod engine at full tilt.



Blast the final leg to Le Mans town, all going well,  and spend 30 minutes trying to get on the correct road into the circuit, we had a camp site booked in the circuit right by the side of the track, so as we pass through a small town Alan decides to fill right up with fuel, we knew the gauge was not very accurate and were estimating the consumption, pulled out of the garage to notice NO SPEEDO, no problem nearly at the site and we won't be going fast in all of the queue's.



At last we are in, erect the tent and flag pole so that we can find the tent late at night when our vision may be blurred, first problem is that the Classic is not as well supported by the trade as the full 24 hour Le Mans as such nothing is open on the Thursday evening,  so we decide to open the bonnet to find the fan belt was about 5mm wide, it had stretched to its maximum length and would need replacing, oil was all over the place and the reason I was going deaf was the exhaust manifold had worked loose, we adjusted the fan belt but it looked like it was about to snap so would need replacing (not one of the spares Alan had in the boot as it was brand new) tightened the manifold, started the engine up only to find gases escaping from the rear nearside cylinder head bolt!!
To me that indicated a possible head gasket failing, checked the water in case it was contaminated, all seemed clear so I recommended no dough nuts in Arnargh town this year, we will leave the car at the circuit all week and walk everywhere and limp back to England a bit slower, we scrounge a bottle of wine cover over the car and settle down for an early night



Our friends took us into the Le Mans town where we buy the essentials, food, beer wine and a couple of fan belts, when we get back we open the boot only to find the excess petrol had seeped out of a rotten seal and was now all in the boot, Alan took of the float plate in the tank as this sits on the top and he tries to lower the fuel level, do you think the float plate would go back on? After a few frantic minutes and loads of smart engineers saying "Think you have a leak there mate" whilst they all were lighting Bar B  , we found an old shoe lace and made a temporary gasket, clamped the float plate on as best as we could and start  on the next list of repairs, "What else could go wrong"  we fit the new fan belt, test the engine carefully, and decide yes we will leave it on site and walk into Arnagh for the start of the racing, loads of people bring their cars through this small town to show off their pride and joy, you can have a beer and food out on the road as people parade up and down.







Back at the circuit we decide to have a look around the pit's any one not been to Le Mans before this is to go on your "Bucket List" as the pits are like Goodwood Festival of Speed where you can get up close and dirty to the car's and driver's, for the practising/ qualifying sessions were timed but there was no radio commentary so it was hard to know what was happening,







If you pre booked you could take your car around the track, where we spotted the Blue and White AK Cobra from our club (we were to bump in to each other a few times over the weekend, and we were told a 360 degree spin in a new Cobra on a damp track is good for bump starting the heart rate) 



The Classic event is not one long race but 18 small ones, 6 classes' based on age racing for one hour each, maths tells me this will be 18 hours of racing, Not So! My main gripe for the Classic event was the time it was taking to start each race, in the end I think they were racing for 45 minutes, then you had a parade of BMW and Nisan's blasting over paid VIP's about, the Le Mans style starts looked good but the car's re grouped out around the track and after 10 minutes they would come back as a rolling start.





Then it rained and rained and rained, we were lucky as our pitch was draining well but we heard of people being flooded (see the Piston Heads site) when the sun came out you burnt, but everywhere you went you had to take a brolley.
When we queued up for food on the main race day we were told at the Pizza hut NO PIZA they had ran out, next gripe, great lack in trade stands, queues everywhere, so we headed out to look at the static displays of cars that were driven to the track, this was awe inspiring, I have never seen so many car's in groups









From red Italian super cars to Lotus Sevens it was a great day, we were in the middle of the track watching vintage cars blasting around as best as they could, whilst we were walking through display on display of cars I would love to have in my garage.
Typical British supporter, brings his car and gazebo and parks his pride and joy under cover





Through the night we even managed sleep, something to do with the quantities of sleeping liquids we drank "Vin Rouge" and a belly full of "All Day Breakfast"
Got up early next day, we had to as we could hear the V8's of the Cobra's out on the track mixing it with the GT40's what a site and sound and this was just 50 yards from our tent, sun was out, all was well, we had booked a stand seat which is recommended as it is a long weekend and loads of walking, especially if you have a Dutton



Then it rained again, and again and again, then the sun came out and all was well again, all in all this was a great weekends racing, but for me it will be the 24 Hr. race next year, with no radio and limited commentary you did not know who was winning what, there are mandatory pit stops in each race, and once this happens it is very hard to see who is winning, but if you are after looking at car's and hearing proper engines gunning down the straights this is the one, well worth the weather and worry.





After a good night's sleep, again helped by that Red Sleeping pill stuff the French seem to have on tap, we got up early packed the tent away and told our small group of friends, we will leave early and limp back at a steady 50 to get to Caen,



we think it's a steady 50 as the speedo is still broken and we don't have a Sat Nav, so as long as others are over taking us and we keep the revs around 2500 all will be well! We had put the roof up as this would also make sure we kept the weight off the go faster pedal, we had not brought the side screens as this would allow us to put essentials in the very small boot, but it was a dry day so we would not need them.

Caen was a very welcome site, no problems, car going well so we decide to have a last meal on French soil, a few small beers and queue up to get back on the ferry, isn't it strange that it does not matter which queue you are in, they always let the others on first, we end up right at the back out in the open, but we don't care we are on the boat and no problems with my out of date passport.





We docked at Portsmouth and guess what? Yes it's raining, we have the roof up so we drive down to the passport control, Mr Job's worth was on our line as expected, and he did not have the authority to let me into the country, so he closed his window and went on the phone for 20 minutes, Sorry if you were in the queue behind us as we were tired as well, admittedly he was only doing his job but saying I could be an illegal immigrant was pushing it,  once he re-opened his window and threw the passports at me I took that as the signal to go.

We stopped at the first garage, worked out that the 100 miles we had travelled from Le Mans to Caen and the inch and a half of petrol rolling around the boot meant that at 25 miles per gallon we would need a quick splash and dash, added two galleons and hit the road home, where yes it was raining, and dark, but the lights, wipers  and music was working well, no side panels so the left of my side was getting a pasting but I was smiling we were on the way home, nothing could go wrong now. 

Spoke to soon, south of Salisbury the wipers decided to park mid screen and were not going to budge, we were too tired to look for the cause, we were tired, wet and if we kept at a certain speed, not sure what that was (did I tell you the speedo had already stopped working) the screen would clear itself and if you concentrated you could see out, just! 

We were nearly home now, last stretch around the bottom of Bath I could tell Alan was getting excited as he changed down for a roundabout his arm came up in the air, problem was a gear stick was in his hand and he was screaming "What the Hell can go wrong now!!"  Well if I wasn't already wet I would have wet myself as I was crying with laughter at the same time as trying to convince Alan not to throw the stick out of the window as we would need it to get home. 

Out came the torch again and we managed to get the first few parts of the gear stick threaded into place, enough to get us home, as long as Alan held onto the gear stick and concentrated looking out through a windswept screen, and ignored the water coming in.

Bristol was a welcome sight, we had made it there and back where others had failed, (surprising the number of Super cars coming back on the Relay Trailers) this was an event to remember and learn from, great fun was had by all and I still chuckle when I remember Alan's face south of Bath, many thanks for a great weekend Alan and you will have to open the garage door at some time and repair the Dutton!
Names changed to protect the innocent: Steve (Aka Sumov8) 

[Hairy Santa]

Great write up, sounds like you did have your moments, where would you like your medals pinned 

[paintman]

Take it you won't be going again then.....lol        Nice write up.

[stupott901]

Sounds like fun thats what road trips are about

['The Gaffer']

Great write up, thanks for sharing

Fantastic road trip by the sound of it that should provide some memories for years to come.

Personally? the strange lack of trade stands, pouring rain (knowing my luck my tent would have floated away) not to mention parts falling off my car or stopping working on a dark rainy road would have been enough for me to say Never Again!!! Fair play to you guys for seeing the funny side and really pleased you had a great time.

A few lessons learnt ready for next year no doubt.

[WALNUT]

When I first saw that Dutton I thought you would never get it back on the road never mind Le Mans and back
                                                                                                                                                                      Well done
                                                                                                                                                                                     Tony

[Krazyken]

Fantastic write up, thanks for taking the time and effort to do it, I know how long these things take.  I chuckled a number of times whilst reading this and it reminded me of a number of trips/track days/experiences I have had with Dave Doom.

I think the cause of all your troubles is Wallnuts trailer, it seems that everyone who borrows it has a tale of woe to tell so it must be cursed. 

Keep smiling and look forward to seeing the Dutton on the road again soon.

[WALNUT]

Ken
      you will be glad to hear that im selling my trailer, Iv only used it once since iv had it.

[WALNUT]

Oh yes I nearly forgot, that one time I put petrol in my dev. tank, so perhaps your right.

Tony

[dave_bence]

Really enjoyed reading that - thanks for taking the time to write and post it

[Dixie]

Ditto.

I am definately doing it in 2014.  But not in a tent, had enough of that at the Silverstone classic.

Hopefully we can find some nice accomodation with a proper roof.

M

[Almondsburyhills]

Opened the garage today for a couple of repairs since le mans... new fan belt, new fuel pump plate + seal, temp repair on fuel tank and gear stick tighted up.. just the wiper motor gears to reset and a new speedo cable to connect and exhaust gasket replacement then hopefully will attend easter compton weekend, this was an enjoyable social event last year.... 

[danwilko]

great story, i was going to try le mans this year as well but other things came up

will definatly be trying it in 2014 though and good to hear some feedback about the track as you usually never get that from people