Gordon Dobie

One of the main reasons I retired from racing was due to the sport being run by a group of people who were, and still are, out of touch with the essence of the sport and this is no more so than in historic racing. The rules cars are forced to run under are entirely different to the rules which were applied when the cars were new. Who ever heard of racing cars being forced to use induction system supplied as standard equipment? Under the original rule induction was free. Unfortunately nothing has happened to change my view that " the sport is run by idiots"!

The Datsun Racing Team 260 2+2 Bathurst car was excluded from the results due to insufficient leg room int the rear passenger area. This means they don't comply as a touring car. How Porsche got away with it is a bit of a mystery. In any event the Datsun is ineligible. The 2+2 is heavy and too long in the wheel base. The best choice would be the 1975 280Z as sold in the USA and Japan. This was basically the 240 body with the 280ZX injected engine and being injected, under the rules at the time you could run any available injection system. Two of my friends have recently imported race prepared 280Zs from the US and they should appear at historic events in the coming months.

You don't need to worry about diff and gearbox coolers. I would suggest the high volume oil pump as used on later 280 engines and baffled sump. The sump isn't absolutely essential but as it is such an inexpensive mod I would do it anyway. An engine oil cooler would be worth considering but not essentiall on a standard engine, I had one on my race car but it was very far from standard producing 295 bhp at 7.200rpm from 2.7 litres. I never suffered from any heat related problems in the transition department. Good luck with the project, it should be bullet proof.

I had Russell Stuckey groove the tyres on my hillclimb cars and it worked quite well but if the tyres have been cycled to often ( got hot then cooled down) you will be chasing your tail. Each time the tyre is cycled it cures the rubber and if this is the cause of your problem grooving the tyres can cause the tread to chunk ie tear chunks of rubber off the tread. The ultimate solution is to buy the correct tyre to suit the car.

The photo shows the building after I converted it to domestic use.Cheers Gordon datcar54@hotmail.com

Hi LurchThe email format shown in your post will not work. Anyone wishing to contact me should use: datcar54@hotmail.com Phone: 0409028181 Cheers Gordon Dobie

Hi Alan The email address you quoted is incorrect. My email address is : datcar54@hotmail.com Sorry about the confusion all I can do is claim innocence. Some websites will not allow email addresses, websites etc to be posted and I suspect you have been given incorrect information for that reason. Cheers Gordon Dobie

HI AlanSorry about the delayed response. I have only been made aware of the problem in the last 24 hours. My email address is: datcar54@hotmail.com I will be in the UK in late July and August. I will be staying in Kent, Norfolk and Cheshire if that is any help. The cost of the book is $30. If you wish me to post a book let me know and I will check the cost of postage. Regards Gordon Dobie

The sydney cars ran under a different set of rules. They didn't comply with group D due to having oversize engines. They also had wider wheels and guard flairs than allowed under the group D rules. Never the less when I took our car to Warwick Farm in the late 60s Doug was able to beat them in our group D car.

Hi Alan Sorry about that. I don't know what happened there, I have no record of your email. The cost of the book is $30. I will check the cost of postage. Please contact me again by email: datcar54@hotmail.com and I will let you know the total cost. I will be in the UK in late July and August in Kent, Norfolk and Cheshire. I could take some books with me and save you the postage cost if that suits. Best regards Gordon Dobie

There seems to be some confusion as to what was allowed under the group D improved production rule in place during the 1960s and 70s. The eligible cars were listed in the CAMS manual and the allowable modifications were limited. The bore could be increased by 1.5 mm providing the capacity increase did not take the car out of it's original class ie under 2000cc, under 3000cc. Increase in stroke was not allowed. A number of cars ran in NSW with oversize engines which were bored and stroked. This practice was tolerated in NSW but the cars were only legal under the rules layed down by CAMS if they ran in group A (unlimited sports car) category. The claims of 240 plus bhp out of a U20 engine refer to an engine which was bored and stroked to 2.4 litres and in any case the claim is grossly exaggerated. When I took the factory 2000 to Warwick Farm in the late 60s it was significantly faster than the illegal NSW cars in spite of having 163bhp. This figure was measured on the engine dyno used by the majority of Melbourne based engine builders. But if a bit of bullshit is repeated often enough it becomes folk law and people actually start to believe it and I am afraid that is what has happened in a lot of cases in historic racing categories.

Yes the photo was taken in front of my original workshop at 54 Beach Road Hampton

Thank you for the interest in my book "Racing For Fun". I am genuinely surprised at the enthusiasm shown. As you know the idea of writing a book came from this forum. I have received quite bit of feedback. The era covered in the book has been little written about from the participants perspective and I think this must be the reason for it's popularity. Due to the cost of publication there was a limit to the number I could have printed but there are still some remaining and if the demand warrants it I may order a reprint. Thanks once again Gordon Dobie datcar54@hotmail.com

Thanks for the tip I'll give them a try.

I'll be seeing a publisher next week then I'll have a better idea of the cost. I want to keep it as low as possible, but that depends on the numbers.

Good suggestion Lurch. I'll look into it. I have had some feedback from people who want a copy to add to their collection of motoring books so I would like produce hard copies. It's just a matter of finding out whether the demand is likely to be, 100 or 1000??? i would like to keep the cost down to 25 or 30 dollars.

Not many Zeds raced in Australia. The car I built for Peter Tobin and subsequently raced by myself was the most highly developed group D car in the 1970 and 80s. Fernando Delberto also had a very fast Group D car. One or two fast road cars ran in group D from time to time but the cost of building and running in the category became very expensive and the class was eventually replaced by the GT category which was even more expensive. The Datsun Racing Team entered a 260Z 2+2 at Bathurst but it was excluded due to the rear seats having insufficient leg room. The other 240Z of note was is the rally car driven by Ross Dunkerton with great success.

Some time ago there was a discussion about the whereabouts of Gordon Dobie and it was suggested that "This Gordon Dobie guy should write a book". I have enough material to write several books but as publishing is such an expensive exercise I am interested to know whether there is sufficient interest to make it worthwhile. Gordon Dobie

Hi Demitri Can you send me copies of these photo's please. datcar54@hotmail.com Cheers Gordon

The Datsun Racing Team was the brainchild of Datsun Motor Co Mr George Denner. Sponsored by Nissan it operated from John Roxburg Motors in Grant Street South Melbourne

Hi Ash This is a photo of the recently imported 432Z I told you about. I thought it may be of interest to Auszcar members. The car is absolutely immaculate but unfortunately the files of the engine bay pic's are to large to attach. Cheers Gordon

Galderdi Have you removed the selector shafts? If so the loose balls will be the detent balls which engage in the grooves in the selector rods. When reassembling the box these balls and their accompanying springs should be fitted after removing the 3 screw-in plugs in the sandwich plate. If the balls are not fitted it will be possible to engage two gears at the same time and either tearing the centre out of the clutch or blowing up the gearbox. Cheers Gordon Dobie

Torque can be increased without sacrificing power by any of the following: (a) increase bore size (b) increase stroke © raise compression (d) fit a supercharger or turbocharger. Cheers Gordon Dobie