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Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2017 6:21 pm
by Llew Kinst
You may have seen it at Werks Reunion this past August. Here is the back story.
Back in the 1980's Don Bell asked John Gilbert and myself to help set up his '60 B Roadster for SCCA racing. The car had been raced in Southern California before Don bought but needed major re-design before becoming competitive. We moved the eng and trans up in the chassis, went to coil over springs and built much more powerful engines, the result was two PCRRC championships, the Nor Pac championship and a 6th the one year we decided to go back to Atlanta. Don moved onto pro racing the the old 356 sat until de-tuning it for vintage.

Two years ago Don and I decided to put it back on the street as a real canyon carver. Adam Johnson and his crew did all the steel work, body and paint. Just imagine how rough an old SCCA race car could get and add a factor of 10 and you will get some idea of what they faced. I suggested we remove all the trim, hood handle, name badges, side moldings etc. Remove the upper horn grills and turn signals (they have been relocated into the headlights) and add a Speedster windshield. The rear bumper cut outs were filled all bumper attachment holes filled and a GT deck lid added. The GT inspired head faring was the final touch. Adam suggested the color and I then found German square weave carpet and leather that complemented the paint. Autos International stitched it all up.

I rebuilt the racing gearbox with Speedster gears BBAB, but left the limited slip in. The engine is a pure Super 90 with a bit of head work and Elgin cam plus a Sebring exhaust. A bigger engine is planned for the future. Front brakes are fully ventilated rotors with calipers off an Alfa that bolt directly to the C spindles. The wheels are the same ones we raced on back in the day.

Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2017 6:29 pm
by Llew Kinst
Here is what it looked like as a vintage racer and taking a victory lap at Laguna Seca.

Don was very much a part of the build, helping to pick engine and trans configurations, paint and interior colors and trim and much much more. The result is very much his vision of what an AZ canyon carver should be, light fast, and cool.

Look out all you guys in the Sedona area...

Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2017 10:13 pm
by Martin Benade
As part of the old race modifications, was the rear torsion tube raised too, or just the engine and trans? It looks great. That is the only non-stock color I considered several years ago for my B Cab, before ending up with the usual - Ruby red.

Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2017 10:45 pm
by Llew Kinst
As per SCCA rules at the time you could not move suspension pickup points. You could argue that moving the trans/engine up was moving a pick up point for the swing axle. But by the the early 80's cut hoops were OK. The car was white from the factory.. not enough bling for this car.

Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2017 6:50 pm
by Paul Lima
BTW, if you like the look of that fairing, check out my ad: https://porsche356registry.org/classifieds/17171

Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:15 am
by dennis kazmerowski
who makes the fairing --is it fiberglass or alum.---can anyone help --thanks

Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 1:47 pm
by Llew Kinst
The one on Don's car is from GT weeks and is Aluminum

Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2018 7:35 am
by Ronald Sieber
Fashion News Alert: Ultraviolet is the pantone for 2018. Just goes to show how up to date we old fogies are!

Very nice color scheme for the car!

Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 11:07 am
by Michael Moss
Llew how did yo get the vented rotors in the front. Later 911 hubs? Mike

Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 11:44 am
by Llew Kinst
The rotors bolt directly to the hubs as on any early 911 but the calipers are Brimbos from an Alfa. Aluminum and bolt directly to the spindle without any modification. The spacing is perfect too.

Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 12:53 pm
by John Brooks
Don was at Rennsport with his old Roadster parked with the outlaws. He raced his speedster, I was lucky enough to walk through the Pits and help him out. Still a good driver and a Great Guy.

Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 12:56 pm
by John Brooks
The old roadster Toneau I did not touch it or ask, but I think it was glass

Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 3:05 pm
by Llew Kinst
We did end up going with a glass toneau. We took the mold off a aluminum one and then modified it to be a bit cleaner around the passenger.

Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 7:10 pm
by Trevor Gates
Llew - I remember your car from the 2017 Werks Reunion. The paint really looks fantastic in direct sunlight.

Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 7:32 pm
by Llew Kinst
Thanks for the sharing the great shots. That was our first event with the car. It now lives in AZ with Don