In this video we explore a Formula Ford Hawke from 1976, the DL19 is explained from the bottom to the top and back to front. It is at the same time an analysis of the work that needs to be done prior to its next race
I raced a 19 back in 1980/81 and the side pods had no openings at the front. Air was pulled from the sides through the radiator into an area of low pressure behind them. The rear suspension was a disaster due to the fact the lower arms were parallel and not linked so moved under load. The front rockers bent easily and the ratio they gave meant you had very high spring rates. It is easy to see where the designer, David Lazenby, got the idea from having worked at Lotus. I remember visiting the factory after the Keegans took over the company and I was amazed at the amount of stock they carried considering the cars were not very competitive. The front rack casing was fabricated by Hawke. Not a great car and a big disappointment against other marques that were available at the time. I learned so much from racing the car that I ended up designing and building my own Formula Fords in later years.
Hey, good post. My Brother in Law invested in Hawke when he moved over from the US in the early 70's. I think they went skint pretty quickly. (Wasn't the DL21 ok?) He then went to work with Royale, near Bedford. I duly bought an RP24 with a Scholar engine after a shocking season in a very ugly Crossle. Stayed with Royale until I ran out of money in 1982. Last race grid I took part in was Silverstone Club, which included David Hunt - James' brother. He was a bit of a nutter too! How did your own design fare?
I 'crewed' for a friend in the late 70's, though he owned a different brand. It was interesting to see the differences and similarities. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
Dear sir, in 1976 I worked at Hawke Racing Cars at Southend airport in the factory with David Lazenby and Vic Holman. The DL15 was used in GB and Europe in several championships, with great success. In October at the famous FF1600 Festival, (180 plus entries). Hawke finished in the Final; First, Second, Third and Tenth, I prepared and ran the winning car with our works driver Derek Daly, Derek Warwick was 2nd, Rick morris 3th and Jan Lammers 10th. The car you showing is a DL15, why? Because in the winter of 76/77 Lazenby designed the DL19 which had a longer chassis because there was a 6 or 8 inch, (can't remember 6 or 8 long time ago!) spacer between engine and bellhouse of the gearbox. So this configuration we used for 1977. During that year we noticed that this spacer was not rigid enough, my driver that year Bernard Devaney was never happy, so after some testing we removed de spacer and that improved our performance. So the DL19 never raced in 1976. Graham Millar is right about the sidepods, the air went round the side into the rads at the side of the engine. On an other point you mentioned that the engine has 140 horsepower, well that is for sure not, (if that is so your engine is illegal), average power depending on which tuners, was around 104 to 107. Also Hawke started around 1970 with the DL2.
I wouldn't let that guy touch setting up my car, he knows just enough just enough to be dangerous. He's talking about suspension setups with no load in the car. And I don't think he knew that back in the day you had to able to enter and exit the car with the steering in place, quick release wheels were a convenience/safety item. All that talk about Ackerman, he was just trying to overly impress. And your right, 140hp, with the stock carbs...riiiiight, in your dreams. If I was doing a video on an older race car that I was getting ready to race again, I'd be describing how I'd be preparing to tear it down to every last nut and bolt to do an inspection. And if I was planning on doing serious track days or racing, I'd rebuild the engine, avoid blowing it and ending up with a bigger bill. And you might want to have someone knowledgeable take a look at the trans. I posted all this earlier but I guess he deleted it, the truth hurts. ETA: I noticed further down he says the engine has a Piper 360 race camshaft fitted, and it used to have the DCOE's. That might get 140 horse, and the cam would make it illegal for FF.
@@larkhill2119 He seems to fallen off the radar with this car lately after the track day. Perhaps his ''setup'' work didn't bring the results he imagined.
Lovely Video. I used to drive a Royale Rp21 in the South African Championships and this brings back fond memories. Kinda like I want to go racing again.😄
I am not really a racing car enthusiast, but I would never miss any of your videos as you have the unique ability to make any subject interesting, logical and entertaining. Can't wait for the next one, whatever it is.
I was co-owner and mechanic on a Hawke DL21 here in Canada for many years in the 1980s. The main Visual difference from your car was the side pods. They had a front opening to admit air to the radiators, and top openings to let the air out. What a wonderful, honest, well-built and quick car that was. Thanks for a great memory. I will share your video with a couple of my former team mates.
Incredible insight, this was amazing to watch, I learned so much. You got yourself a new subscriber. I'm amazed by how simple but effective are so many features of this entry level Formula Ford
I'm yet to see a manufactured car which doesn't have ackermann steering. The easiest way to determine its presence is the horizontal trapezoidal relationship between the steering pivot points and control linkage. Maybe some very clunky pickup trucks or tractors may be parallel synchronized. But, I've always seen the trapezoid in effect. There are other dimensions to consider, but that's the most basic way to view it. As for the chassis you're presenting here, it does appear to be parallel synch. Looking at the front shot of the frame at 4:20 I can see expected geometry. Forming a vertical trapezoid, the upper links are the most narrow, lower links most wide, and steering links coinciding with a virtual line in between. Kind of an A----A in appearance. With a leading steering rack like it has, the steering linkage would have to be relatively wider. Typical street cars have trailing linkage with relatively narrow steering linkage. There are other ways to achieve the geometry, but, this is a RU-vid comment which is probably already too wordy as-is.
I wish you were my technical instructor explaining all these different systems and setups. This is just awesome information. I don't care how old or common the tech is. It's amazing and inspiring how engineers were able to dream up and refine these systems before electronics and 3D modeling surpassed everything.
Nice video. Can't wait to see the inside of that gear box now. You do have quite the collection of cars I must say. Impressive! Enjoy them to the fullest!
One of the added advantages of a dry sump system is that it allows the engine to sit lower in the chassis thus enhancing the center of gravity of the chassis as you referenced. I raced a Royale FF for a couple of years here in the US under a Rent-a-Race Car program. A very forgiving car when balanced well. And yes, the Hewland gear box is very well built to take the stresses put on it. Another interesting project you have Steve.👍
@@derekvinci4072 Check with any track in Florida for a driving school program or Arrive and Drive program. They will tell you what requirements you must meet and availability of cars to rent. Good Luck.
This takes me back! My father raced FF (with an Alexis Mk15) in the 70’s, finishing at the end of the 76 season. I was only a kid, I was born in 65, but I remember learning how to change the gear rations when I was about nine years old :)
Thanks for that little trip down memory lane. Very enjoyable video. I used to crew on a Crossle 35F before I went to college. Your Hawke is only a couple of years older than that car was. All the systems are very similar, except the Crossle had no sidepods because the radiator was mounted in the nose. Fun times, those years.
I watched all your videos since #1 with great joy, but this time it is more than interesting for me. Since 25 years I am familiar with the Kent and Lotus TwinCam engines and I am using a dry sumped one, twin DCOE and Burtons full race head with my Lotus seven - that´s Formule Ford road legal. I hope for the next video to come out soon...
This was fascinating I went on a track day at Castle Combe once and drove one of these! It was great fun. I learned a lot from this video about how the chassis works! One thing I did pick up though... These things are called 'Hawke' spelled with an 'E' on the end, but it said as 'Hawk' like the bird. 'E' is silent
5:35 I just love your ’garage’! 😁 29:35 that’s nice plumbing! Overall it looks like a very nice and well maintained car until it was stored or maybe displayed somewhere. Thank you for the video. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it!
I think a vintage Oliveoil tin would be fine to collect the spill ... just as a reference to the old days of racing . thank you for the calm and measured ways doing the video :)
I enjoyed the presentation and your accent very much. This is my first exposure to the intricacies of the Hewland Gearbox. I very much look forward to more encounters.
Very interesting. Thank you for taking the time to explain how that old lady works. My old Caterham has nearly the same engine. I've a lot of things to learn in your future videos.😉
great video and presentation. love the way you explain the details.... its really great to see and get into the details of older racing machines this is gear head gold! my only suggestion is that you make many more of these videos at a break neck pace ,wide open throttle the production department please ... ;-)
I knew about straight cut gears and heard of dog boxes but up til now I did not know HOW they worked. Great technical video as usual. Thank you from Australia
Great walk through. Most motorcycles have a dog box with the selector forks that move the dogs operated off a drum cam that steps round or back , hence the straight push pull action that the foot pedal produces.
Great video. Super cool to see this broken down and explained very well. A "Dog" is a pretty widely used mechanical term for a tab or bar that engages something else to either move it or hold it in place. There are bench dogs on woodworking benches, drive dogs on metal working lathes, pinch dogs in machinery etc.
All around a very informative video, learned quite some stuff here, fascinating race series, the Ford 1600, didn't know much about it before. RU-vid is full of so much junk, this video is another one of those gems & the reason why I'm still browsing around here. IMO some of these videos should be mirrored / hosted by another - maybe governmental - provider, it's just very valuable knowledge, we HAVE to preserve that. Thanks for that great content. Subscribed, for sure.
Excellent video; very educational. Back in the day I used to go to races at Upper Marlboro, Maryland and VIR (Virginia International Raceway). I loved to watch the Formula Fords race. It was also very entertaining and exciting to watch the Shelby Cobras racing; no one had any idea (well, at least I didn't) that those Cobras would later sell for a million dollars, give or take a few thousand.
Indeed Daryl, those Cobra's are gold today.... I have been many tines at the VIR while I was living on the East Coast.. I believe there were always great races on Friday Nights, but I could be wrong . After-all that is many moons ago
Another good one. One other advantage of the dry sump is that the crankshaft can dip into the pool of oil in a conventional sump, which also robs power, and at racing rpm, the crankshaft can act like a blender, and whip oil into a thick air filled foam. (Think mayonaise) needless to say, this neither pumps or lubricates well. One other thing with your dry sump tank, besides as you mentioned having the return high on the tank, they have a bunch of baffles that the returned oil passes over in order to give time for any air picked up by the scavenge pump time to separate. Most motorcycle transmissions are a variant on a dog box. A helical gear can actually transmit a lot of power, as they can have more than one tooth face in contact, but they turn some power into side force, which is also problem. This can fixed with herringbone gears, which can counter the forces, but they are a lot more expensive to make, and especially to assemble, as you can't just slide them along the shaft. About the only place I have seen them is in places like the reduction gearing for submarines, where you have a lot of power, noise counts, and budgets aren't an issue.
We didn't see Hawke much here in the states, or at least that is my opinion. I am impressed to see the inboard suspension on the front and that sharp nose. Those Hewland gearboxes are easy to take apart and reset up. I worked in a race prep shop in about 1980. The Weber carburetor was specified by the rules. You could not run a DCOE. The carburetor was a bit of a restriction, in my opinion, therefore keeping the power of the competitors even. I lot if time and effort was devoted to hand porting and polishing the intake and exhaust ports. Every detail was examined to see if a fractional horsepower could be gained. I was surprised to see the fiberglass fuel tank as well. All that I have seen were aluminum with a bladder. Good job on the description of everything. And I really enjoyed the close up views of the cars.
I really enjoyed watching this video ! Very informative and very well explained, Thank you very much and I will watch your other videos !... also, I just subscribed :)
Great video, I’ve recently bought a Van Diemen ff1600 that I’m rebuilding to get race ready. I was advised to get the gearbox checked which turned out to be worthwhile (bent lay shaft. Also recommended to get the crank shaft crack tested if you have time, it’s seemingly a weak point. If the cars been sat a long time it might be worth checking the master cylinder seals haven’t perished. The only other thing I noticed was your quick release steering boss, a couple of friends have that style and their steering wheel appears to come off very easily/ has a lot of play. Might be worth checking/ replacing with a multi spline type. Good luck with the rebuild, looking forward to seeing you on track with the cars.
Thank you for the comments, and maybe we race together one day. The Van Diemen is a great racer.. Indeed , there are many small items that I will rebuild and replace as you rightfully noticed
You have a great and interesting project again..💜 If I remember correctly, the rules limited that the engine could only be used with a Weber DGV carburetor and other internal tuning of the engine was prohibited. It would be just cool for your project to have a pair of Weber DCOE carburetors and a racing camshaft.💜
Mika, It has a Piper 360 race camshaft fitted, and it used to have the DCOE's on it , But the previuos owner took the DCOE's of .... Not sure why that was.
Lovely car. . Would love to drive her....the biggest mistake is to try a clutched change with a dog box...and to try and be gentle with the shifter. Once you have got the hang of heel and toe, left foot braking then the dog box is great fun 😁
Steve ,a lot more work went into those engines than you think they were fully blue printed ,every individual component in the motor has been lightened and balanced to perfection to obtain max power without breaking any other power increase modifications which were not allowed . Eg ,they must retain the single carb that is fitted to your car .
Indeed Gerald, I forget to mention several things like flowed heads, tuffed cranckshaft, balanced big ends etc..... That will all come in a special video on the engine. But yes you are right a lot went in
I use to race a 1975 Winkelman WD6 back when. The car's was mostly mostly titanium Chassis and its nickname was the Hawk Nose" because of the nose intake.
