Interesting reading from Philo 2002

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Rabbit Farmer
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Interesting reading from Philo 2002

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From an SCCV newsletter from December 2002
I remember taking my engine and transmission out of my car in March to get ready for the Ascutney Hillclimb in May. Endless
nights adjusting valves, finding out the head bolts and new valves were too long, fighting with new engine mounts, broken
or rusty bolts, pistons marked wrong (luckily we noticed that the piston was backwards before I put the head on and tried to start it).

Getting ready for the first SLMP, the Thursday before the event I found out that the transmission was leaking again. I wasn’t having fun at
this point so I decided to leave it alone… something about the sledgehammer was looking pretty good. Finally, we figured out what the
problem was and got it fixed and came back to compete with a purpose I was finally able to enjoy the fruits of my labors. This
is how I look at organizing the Mt. Philo Hillclimb for 2002. We had problems, found solutions (just enough to get by) and then
were able to enjoy the event.

Saturday at Philo will go down in history as the longest FAM run since it was raining all day. Allan Dennis (#96 Eagle Talon
U2) had FTD at the close of the day. Don Peaslee (#51 VW Rabbit GTI P4) was the only person to go off…. by backing up.
Instructions from Frank Colegnon (#01 Honda Civic S4) to back up 2-feet were interpreted as backup as fast as you can into the
trees and get your car stuck. Most drivers did not have the tires to combat the wet leaf covered road so the times to the top of
the hill were rather high and very few drivers actually attempted a run.

Then there was Sunday…

Sunday started out moist and cold and then changed to just cold. I noticed that all the turbocharged
cars headed down the hill to be included in run group A to take advantage of the extra boost’.
Jim Ricker (#13 Chevy Corvair Turbo U2) enjoyed the extra horsepower, but remarked that the cold weather didn’t
help with gripping the asphalt. Charlie North’s (#19 Stradale SSZ P1) tires were just as cold after a run up the hill as they were
before the run. Richard VonSneidern (Formula V [aka VW powered open wheel roll cage with tires] P1) had the best aim of the
day with his attempts to add a small Maple tree as a new hood ornament. Following his lead were Charles Holt (#40 VW Fox U4)
with a 90-degree rollover, Kevin Gale #6 Cavalier Modified P1) with “I hit all the soft stuff” and Rick Young (#31 Dodge Neon ACR
S4) “I can’t believe I missed all those trees”.

Notable achievements: Allan Dennis and Don Taylor battled it out and both were in the 1:10’s, Dan Rutan (#81 VAB [VW-Audi-
Busch] P1) was FTD with a 1:02.44 (his/the hill record is 1:00+) but the weather did not cooperate to help him beat the record,
John Reed’s (#151 Dodge PT Cruiser P1) crowd pleasing 1st & 2nd gear tire warm-up, and some interesting dizzying [and surprisingly,
no profanity] in-car footage supplied by Nathan and Justin Hayes in Nathan’s over-sprung VW Rabbit GTI.

Meals… Thanks to Dave E. Dennis for co-chairing. His responsibility was to make the meals for both days for all the drivers
and workers. A definite FTD (finest tasting dishes) for this event. Coming in at a close second was Dave C. Dennis with his “I
only used three sticks of butter per cake” with strawberries. I believe that this was Dave’s attempt to slow the rest of us down
by clogging our arteries.

Thanks to ALL the workers who were willing (forced?) to stick it out all weekend in the rain and cold. Thanks to Andy Jones
for stepping up to the plate to do Control for the first time. The event seemed to run great and we were able to get five
runs on Saturday and 4 runs on Sunday (even with all the incidents) and Don/Jeff/Rick didn’t have to beg to get their
runs. I look forward to Philo in 2003 with a couple of necessary changes.

- Stephen Jones (#702 VW GTI S4)
Mt. Philo Hillclimb co-chair (2002)
Go Fast VW & Audi parts at FastAddiction.com
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