For you FOT-ers who are interested, following is an article I have just
written for the Vintage Triumphs of Wisconsin newsletter:
TR3 Race Car Update
As I reported in the last newsletter, my son, Neal, and I have purchased a
1960 TR3A fully equipped for racing. We bought the car thinking there was
“Zero Time” on the engine so we were quite surprised when Bob Dempsey of
Wunderwerks removed the valve cover and we found a cracked rocker arm with a
disconnected push rod. Bob removed the other push rods and found a number of
them bent. So he went deeper, removing the head and here we found that the
valves were hitting the piston sleeves and that the lifters were worn
unevenly. The cam, however looked in good shape.
We found out that the head had been shaved to give higher compression for
racing. But it appears that whomever put the engine back together, didn’t get
everything right. We’ve ordered a new, thicker (.093) head gasket will lower
the compression, but should at least solve the problems. We hope to have the
car running for
our driver training and the Blackhawk Classic at Blackhawk Farms (near South
Beloit) on June 18 – 21.
And if everything continues to go right, we will be appearing at the Brian
Redman International Classics (formerly the “Chicago Historics”) at Road
America on July 16 –19.
“It doesn’t matter!” Joe Alexander, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, has organized a
“club” of Triumph racers around the country. Joe’s rules are to keep it
simple. No dues, no president, no minutes . . . no nothing . . . except a
chat group on the Internet.
I was introduced to Joe after purchasing the TR3 racer and being hooked up to
the chat group. Joe has been a “racing mentor” to Neal and me and has been
very helpful in showing us the ropes of vintage racing.
I accompanied Joe this past week (Wednesday May 27 through Sunday May 31) to
MoSport racetrack, which is about 60 miles northeast of Toronto, Ontario,
Canada. We arrange to meet Wednesday afternoon at a friend of Joe’s in north
central Illinois where I left my car for the weekend and join Joe in his Chevy
S10, hauling a trailer his beautiful Signal Red TR4. We headed around the
Chicago area and through Michigan, crossing the border at Port Huron, Michigan
and Sarnia, Ontario. The drive over took about 14 hours, but that includes
about two hours in Benton Harbor, Michigan where “we” accidentally locked the
truck. (I’m being kind to Joe by saying we”.) The driver’s door had latched
but not fully closed which allowed us to snake a coat hanger in. After lose
to two hours of struggling to flip the electric door lock strip with no
success and also with the help of local
police officer (who had previously race Formulas) also with no success, we
were getting pretty frustrated. Joe
continued to utter his trademark, “It doesn’t matter” a number of times before
a fellow, stopping for gas, asked if he could give it a try. Well, before we
could say, “It doesn’t matter” one more time this guy had the car unlocked.
We suspected he was quite experienced in opening locked cars.
The next, “It doesn’t matter” came after we unloaded the car at MoSport. “We”
had left the ignition key and shut off switch in the “on” position”. But a
quick charge had the car running in a short time. Joe uttered, “It doesn’t
matter!” quite a few times during the weekend, but I won’t go into that here.
MoSport Track is a fascinating place. It appears to have been beamed right
out of the ‘50s into the ‘90s. An ancient concrete wall surrounds much of the
outside of the grounds along the main access road. The false grid and pit
areas are quite small and crowded and lined with storage sheds next to the
false grid and stands lining the pits that look like they could easily be
converted to hot dog stands.
At noon touring on Sunday, Joe let me take his TR4 out on the track to see
what it looked like. I was somewhat comprehensive, as this was Joe’s pride
and joy. I knew that if anything happened to the car while I was driving, Joe
would just say, “It doesn’t matter!” but would immediately be calling New
Jersey Guido’s to put a hit on me. As it turned out, the powers-that-be at
MoSport are as liberal as those at Road America, where just a couple of weeks
before my son, Neal and I had been out on the track at speeds in my street
TR4A exceeding 90 mph. At MoSport, they only sent out about a dozen cars,
which were blocked, front and back with pace cars. Average speed was about 30
mph not exceeding 50 mph on a sort of straightaway.
But all did not go well. Just as I was moving around Turn 1 on the third lap,
the accelerator pedal refused to respond and the car slowly rolled to a stop.
I knew help would shortly be on the way, but I was a bit nervous as to what
the problem was . . . and I didn't want a visit from New Jersey Guido. I
popped open the bonnet and it was apparent that a pin had sheared in the
linkage, so it didn’t appear to be too serious. In a few minutes the tow
truck arrived, wrapped a rope around the role bar and towed me back to the
pits at a speed far exceeding that I experienced during the touring. With the
help of “Uncle Jack” Drews, Joe had the repair done in a few minutes . . .
just in time for the feature race. Joe was actually thankful that the pin
broke while I was driving it on the touring laps. Otherwise it probably would
have snapped shortly after Joe started the feature race in which Joe ended up
third in his class. Looks like to call to Guido this trip.
The track itself is really a joy! Approximately two miles in length, it has
no real straight-aways, always twisting and turning, rising and dropping,
making it a joy to drive. I’m looking forward to next year when I hope to
haul our TR3 over there to take on the MoSport Track. And, if I don’t make
it, well, “It doesn’t matter!”
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