Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

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Llew Kinst
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Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

#1 Post 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.
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Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

#2 Post 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...
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Martin Benade
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Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

#3 Post 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.
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Llew Kinst
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Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

#4 Post 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.
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Paul Lima
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Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

#5 Post by Paul Lima »

BTW, if you like the look of that fairing, check out my ad: https://porsche356registry.org/classifieds/17171

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Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

#6 Post by dennis kazmerowski »

who makes the fairing --is it fiberglass or alum.---can anyone help --thanks

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Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

#7 Post by Llew Kinst »

The one on Don's car is from GT weeks and is Aluminum
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Ronald Sieber
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Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

#8 Post 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!

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Michael Moss
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Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

#9 Post by Michael Moss »

Llew how did yo get the vented rotors in the front. Later 911 hubs? Mike

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Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

#10 Post 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.
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John Brooks
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Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

#11 Post 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.
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Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

#12 Post by John Brooks »

The old roadster Toneau I did not touch it or ask, but I think it was glass
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62 Roadster
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getting pushed around in porsches since 1965

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Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

#13 Post 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.
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Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

#14 Post by Trevor Gates »

Llew - I remember your car from the 2017 Werks Reunion. The paint really looks fantastic in direct sunlight.
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Re: Don Bell SCCA Champion B Roadster hits the street

#15 Post 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
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