3B alignment settings

[Brian C]

I’ve done some research on this topic and information is very scarce! Or maybe closely guarded by race teams. I’m running the period correct wheels and tires, which are the bias ply Avons on 10.5” fronts and 17” rears. My car is mostly a street/show car although I also plan to do non-competitive track days for fun as well (no wheel to wheel racing). The info I’ve found seems to center around these specs with minor variations:

Front camber: -0.5 degrees
Rear camber: Neutral

Front caster: 5.5 degrees
Rear caster: 5.5 degrees
(minimum bump steer)

Front toe: Neutral
Rear toe: 3/16” toe in

Front toe seems the most inconsistent, and perhaps it’s just down to what the driver prefers. For a street car I’ll probably run it with a smidge of toe in for stability.

I’ve also seen positive rear camber suggested before, but I’m not sure how that would be good for a racing car. If anything I think I’d run just a smidge of negative (like 0.1 degrees) just due to how wide the rears are combined with the rather tall sidewalls.

Any thoughts from those with access to the real or continuation cars?

 

[Brian Kissel]

Hi Brian. I was looking for the same information the other day. In the following link you can see where Ron started his original settings on his RCR T70 spyder. He was not running original size tires however. Go to the next page and there’s some info from a couple guys in England that give a little information on period tires. Also there is another on the forum that is mostly done on proper tires also.

Build Diary - RCR Lola T70 Spider

Ron Earp Build Diary - RCR Lola T70 Spider Well the Lola arrived this morning at about 645am - mighty early! Fran from RCR hooked me up with Rich's Classic Transport to bring the Lola from Detroit to Raleigh NC. These guys are fantastic, and do nice work. I've worked with two transport...

www.gt40s.com

.

Regards Brian

 

[Brian C]

Thanks fellow Brian. Yeah, the two posts from Johan (I assume he runs a real Mk2? Not sure…) and Darren (worked on the continuation 3Bs) are good info.

Ron did a lot of track time to get his ideal settings but I’m not sure how analogous they might be considering he ran modern radial tires and the RCR suspension geometry is likely different (probably better than the 60s design!)

 

[Brian Kissel]

Brian. If memory serves me correctly, Johan has 3 real Lolas. I seen him at Riad America a few years back and he has some extremely nice cars. I think he had 2 coupes and 1 spyder at that time. If you search for posts by https://www.gt40s.com/members/john-woerheide.10804/
I think you can find info about his cars. From there, perhaps you can find out how to contact him. Perhaps on Facebook.
Best of luck with your research and please let us know what you find out.

Regards Brian

 

[Brian Kissel]

Brian, you might check these two out on Facebook also.

https://www.facebook.com/GibsonMSport/photos/a.455405764642977/633426200174265

McClendon International

McClendon International. 352 likes. Lola race cars: Mac McClendon – the worlds most renowned Lola historian and restorer.

www.facebook.com

Mac has anything Lola and is a expert on anything Lola.
I’m sure either of them know Johan as well.

I don’t do Facebook, so I can’t tell you much more.

Regards Brian

 

[Brian C]

Thanks for the leads! My car actually came out of Mac’s shop. I do have some specs from him which are very close to what I posted above. I’ll follow up on the other lead as well.

I guess part of what I’m looking for is how the setup might change for a road car with occasional light track duty vs full race car. It’s a possibility that this use case is so limited I may have to be the Guinea pig and figure it out.

I think I’m going to get a laser alignment to the above specs and see how it goes. Then probably invest in a professional string setup to see how accurately I can reproduce the laser alignment on my less than perfect garage floor. I did do a string setup already, but I doubt my result (even though the car feels fine on the road).