British V8 2008 Valve Cover Racing Results
Congratulations to our New Champion - Paul Schils!

British V8 2008 Valve Cover Racing Results

as published in BritishV8 Magazine, Volume XVI Issue 2, October 2008

by: Curtis Jacobson

Valve cover racing is a GREAT SPECTATOR SPORT - and not just for men - the races seem to be equally popular with women and youngsters too.

This year's BritishV8 valve cover races saw a two hundred percent increase in participation from 2007. A loud cheering crowd witnessed thrills, spills, and wipe-outs normally more associated with NASCAR than with drag racing. And this was nothing like that sissy-boy, wannabe "sport" they call "bracket racing". Our BritishV8 competitors run all-in and mano-a-mano like they're racing for pink-slips. You won't find an automatic tranny under our valve cover racers!

Frankly, I forgot to take notes about the actual races. Paul Schils won convincingly. Paul and Bill were both real good sports. The kids had fun. The cars were diverse. Here are the basic specs of the three cars:

DRIVER FROM ENGINE LBS TRACK WHEELS Wheelbase
Paul SchilsFredonia WIBMC (B-Series)12.06.375" 2.5" 10.25"
Bill Young Kansas City MO BMC (A-Series) 9.8 7.0" 2.0" 8.75"
Curtis Jacobson Longmont CO Oldsmobile V8 12.0 11.5"/0.25" (F/R) 3.75"/4" (F/R) 16.375"


Hmmmm. Thinking about it... Maybe it's the sheer brute machismo of the sport that has deterred "some" from competing in the BritishV8 valve cover racing arena. Maybe you, dear reader, are afraid of a little competition? Chic-chic-chic-chic chicken...! I'm sure more than a few of our spectators were shaking in their boots thinking "I just wish I could screw up the courage to be a real man like Paul Schils, Bill Young, or Curtis Jacobson." Well, you'll get another chance. The rules are so simple. The costs are so low. You have all winter to build a car. Once you build it, you can mail it off to next year's meet organizers (Max Fulton and Emily Turner) - so you don't even need to pull a trailer all the way to North Carolina to compete. Our competition rules are listed below.


Paul Schils's winning racecar was built from an MGB engine (BMC "B-Series 1.8L 4-cylinder) valve cover.
It seemed to benefit very greatly from spring-suspension!

Bill Young's Advice About Building a Valve Cover Racer

What You Need

Valve cover - It doesn’t make any difference what type, as long as it's not too big to fit the rules: less than 24" long and less than 18" wide. Inline 6 cylinder covers and Chrysler "Hemi" covers start pushing the limits. Most of us either have an old valve cover laying around the shop or know where we can get one from a friend on the cheap. If you want to go "top drawer" it's up to you. I once saw a valve cover racer made from a Lotus "Twin Cam" cover. Now that's getting rare and probably expensive! Incidentally, all sorts of classic car valve covers are available on eBay, and they often sell for less than $15 each.

Wheels - Less than 6" in diameter. That's it, nothing special needed, but the better the bearings the better the car will roll. Here's a case where wide rubber may not be the best, but let the builder decide what works for his car. All sorts of suitable wheels are available on eBay or at your local big-box or sporting goods store. "Inline skate" wheels are popular, as are somewhat larger diameter scooter wheels. Visit "www.skates.com" to see literally hundreds of high quality rubber wheels from 44mm to over 100mm in diameter. (Note that they offer different "rubber" materials and hardnesses!)

Weight - This is a trade off, more weight equals more energy for the (downhill) launch area, but also more friction on the wheels. (The track has a long level section!) Test and balance the weight-to-friction for your car, because it may run better with a little less than maximum weight of 12 pounds. Weight and its placement will effect the car's stability. Where to find weight? Steel or lead shot for reloading shotgun shells will work nicely. Steel shot is also available for media tumbling, from tool sources such as Harbor Freight Tools. (Expect to pay about $25 for 25 pounds.) Add a plastic bottle or cloth bag that will fit inside the cover and fill to the required level. You can put marks on the bottle to correlate fill level to weight level. Your local post office has an accurate scale in their lobby upon which you can verify that your car is under the legal weight limit. Note: your excess shot will also works great in "shot bags" for sheet metal forming.


 Please support the sponsoring companies who make BritishV8 possible, including:

Design Advice

Do you need to have suspension or other high tech elements? Your call. It really depends on the smoothness of the area where you are racing. I learned something this year and I will look into suspension for my car for future events. One bounce, and you may wind up off-line and run out of your lane or hit the opponent resulting in a loss. Paul Schils, the 2008 winner, had a nice spring suspension. It worked great! Paul's car went straight-as-an-arrow, despite the abrupt transition from launch area to flat ground.




Bill Young's low-slung racer featured chrome radiator surround, side exhaust, and a driver!
Valve covers come in all sizes. Bill's cover fits a BMC "A-Series" (803-1275cc 4-cylinder) engine.

Enjoying this article? Our magazine is funded through the generous support of readers like you!
To contribute to our operating budget,  please click here and follow the instructions.
(Suggested contribution is twenty bucks per year. Feel free to give more!)


photo by Ken Hiebert
Notice: Valve Cover Racing provides kids a nice way to PARTICIPATE in our meets.
Why not build a valve cover racecar to share? Then, let somebody's kid race it for you.
Hint: you can bring a valve cover racer even if you don't bring your "real" car. Bill did!




Last year's winning entry, the "Retro Rocket" was built with a "spooled" single-bearing rear axle to reduce
friction. It was very quick, but too fragile. It was pulling away from the competition in the first heat, running
straight and true, but before it got clear it was clipped and spun-out by the other car. Like NASCAR, valve
cover racing is a rough sport! The Retro Rocket never ran quite straight enough after that heat!
Will we see a more robust development of the design next year?

Rules for BritishV8's Valve Cover Races

(other clubs will differ)

The Cars The Course The Races
Photos by Curtis Jacobson, Brian Kraus (autocross background) and Ken Hiebert (cars at the starting gate),
for BritishV8 Magazine. All rights reserved.

British V8 Home:        Read the Magazine        Photo Gallery        Web Forum        Annual Meets        Contact Us        Site Map