This is a long file so I will send it in parts on different days
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My perspective as a driver is very narrow focus I'm sure I missed a lot of what
was happening elsewhere in the race as well as what was happening in the pits
and
paddock.
If Andy, Jack, Jeffie or Eric want to add any observations from the perspective
of hot pit or paddock or as fellow race drivers, I for one would be very
interested to read it.
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RE: Nov 1992 SCCA Enduro, Sears Point
Message sent on Nov 10:
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| | Well, it has gotten very busy here so it may be quite a while befor
| | anyone will here any details of the enduro from me. However:
| |
| | I couldn't let another day pass without saying something.
| | WE HAD A GREAT TIME .....and wrecked both cars........
| |
| | it was fun to pit with Larry and Sam. And what a stellar crew we had.
| | Thankyou every one who gave good wishes and made lunch and dinner.
| | Special thanks go to Jeffie, Eric, Jack and Rosie each of whom contributed
| | mightily til all hours on the car. And Most of all to Andy for his
|invaluable experiance
| | and skill in organizing every one and knowing what needed to happen next and
| | to Chris Blanchfield who has put in weeks of late nights helping get the car
| | together, running and to the track with all the tools.
| |
| | I'm told that every one had a great time in the pits. I almost wish I had
| | been there more to join in. It was impressive to see how smoothly everyone
| | worked together.
| |
| | regards to all/dick
| |
New Nov 18:
Well I guess I had better write it up while I still can remember any of it.
Last spring Larry who had been Rochelle's
instructor in some CapriClub events convinced Rochelle and I to get our SCCA
novice permits. I drove Victor's MGB for some of the classes and Larry loaned
me
FooCar for the others. Rochelle drove FooCar in all her classes.
After drivers school we started looking for a car.
The Car:
an old Triumph GT6 which had been raced in the 1970s as D-Production car.
Since then it had been used in drivers school once and spent the rest of
the time in various peoples garages. We wanted to get going this season and
save major repairs for next winter. We did the minimum needed to make the car
legal, safe and driveable. The car had been grandfathered into GT3 when
D-Production was killed.
Our first outings was a Solo1 event at LagunaSeca. We learned that old
slicks were bad slicks. We also blew the rearend and replaced various other
bits that were just too old to stay together. Our next Solo1 event was at
SearsPt.
We were running a new set of used slicks in the front and a new pair of new
slicks
in the rear. (OK so we are slow learners)
Rochelle who had no experiance on slicks got a little hot in a 180 degree
hairpin
(turn11) befor the tires had warmed up. She made it into a 179 degree turn.
In the process she reshaped the hood and front suspension. Chris Blanchfield
and I worked on the car for several weeks to get it back together. While it
was apart we decided to make a few of the improvements that we had been puting
off 'til winter. We slapped on a grungy old set of Webbers. Since we were going
to enter a 4 hour race we also added an alternator and some guages.
Early in the week of the race we got the wheels aligned. Then we took it down
to
Charlie Rockwell's and put it on the dyno to see how bad the jetting was.
We had slapped on the 3 old webbers without much thought. Charlie thought the
jetting wasn't bad but he pointed out some ignition point float problems we
were having just below 6K rpm. He had a set of TRS points that he was kind
enough to give us at a very low price. They gave us an extra 700 or 800 rpm,
but it still looked a bit ragged on the scope., and didn't run well in the
midrange. We decided to sort out the rest on the track. Because we had made
changes in swaybars, springs and shocks as well as carbs, we decided to go
up to the track a day early and take advantage of the open track sesion on
Friday.
By the time we got the car on the trailer Thursday night it was midnight and
the list of things to sort out at the track had gotten a lot longer.
Friday:
Chris B and I got to SearsPoint about 9:00. The first of the four track
sessions
was already underway. We unloaded and I signed up for the remaining 3 sessions.
I changed and Chris staked out some space for Larry, Sam, FooCar as well as
all the
folks who were coming up to help us( Andy, Jeffie, Jack, Rosie, Chris and more)
The car was running fairly poorly and Joe Huffacker said he would take a look
at
our plugs if we came of the track with a "clean shut off". While I was at
Huffacker Racing I picked up a big new fuel pump as a spare. I got back to
our paddock area in plenty of time for the second track session. The car
wouldn't
start and the battery seemed to be going down. Chris Blanchfield pushed the
car
all over the paddock in a vain attempt to bump start it. Then we pulled it
around
with a rope from the back of my bus. It acted like the ignition timing was way
wrong. I popped the distibutor cap and low and behold the inside of the rotor
had stripped and the rotor now pointed anywhere it wanted. By now the second
session was well under way... After trying several shops around the track for
a new rotor I gave up and drove 10 miles to the nearest auto supply. While I
was there I picked up a spare set of points and some other small spares that
we should have had. They had been in a couple of tool boxes which had been
stolen from my house earlier and I had forgotten to replace them. Back at the
track with a new rotor the car started right up and I made it out on track
for the third session. The car ran strongly at 6k rpm but unpredictably at
midrange. Stepping on the gas in the middle of a corner was a sporting
proposition. Half way around the track on my third lap I was moving fast on
the straight going from the Carrousel to turn 7. The car just stopped running.
I pulled off track at turn 7. A quick check showed no spark but not the
reason why. After being towed in at the end of the session I checked the new
TRS point only to find that the contact was now missing.
Every cloud has a silver lining; we has a very clean shutoff at the end of
a hot straight. I pulled the plugs and took them over to Joe Huffacker.
Then I put a spare set of stock points in and drove the car over to his shop.
He said they didn't look bad but he made some suggestions. I got back on track
in time for the fourth and final session of the day. The car was running
significantly better though the stock points had me limited to ~6K rpm.
The final session was cut short by a black flag after a couple of laps.
We knew we were there to shake out bugs and we were. On a scale of 1 to 10
the car had gone from a 2 to a 7. I now began to think we had a car that
might participate in the race. We reported back to Joe H he had a few more
suggestions. We bought a few more parts from him and settled up. Then I went
looking in some of the other shops around the track for some jets he had
recomended but didn't stock. One of the other shops offered to let me drill
mine out in the morning.
Back at the paddock Andy and Jeffie and others had arrived and set up cooking
gear and a small but effective space heater. The evening was spent watching
Andy
cook up an excellent spagetti, telling lies, and drinking. Predictably
Rochelle
arrived in time to participate in these pastimes. It was a fine evening.
That night Chris B, Rochelle and I stayed at our daughter's house in SanRafael
and left Andy the bed in the bus.
to be continued........
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