> Susan and FOT,
> We missed you at the Marvelous May races at TWS. It was very, very
hot.
> Hotter than anything I've been at before. I feel very fortunate to
have
> completed every lap of each of the 6 sessions, but I did so
constantly
> watching the gauges. Water temps ran into the 230's with oil temps
not
> far behind. I found myself pushing hard early in the races until the
> temps ran up (can't say crept because it was too fast), backing off
for
> the middle and then pushing at the end. Every time I backed off, the
> temp went down to 210. Everyone was in the same boat, with lap times
> up, lots of cooling problems, and a few bent up car incidents. The
> track got slick with the heat and the a couple of MGB's got together
> when one spun in front of the other. A Healey also was the victim of
a
> spin in front of him. I got lucky. An Abarth spun right in front of
me,
> be I was close enough that I was able to slide right while it spun
> left. As I passed it by I saw it coming back the other way into my
> trail.
>
> The USRRC race was dominated start to finish by a mid 60's McLaren
M1B,
> which outclassed the Shelbys, Porches and Loti. It was a 23 lap race,
> with 15 of the 18 registered USRRC cars making the start. Only 2
didn't
> make it to the end, so it was fun to watch.
>
> FWIW, I tried to get the pieces of metal out of the oil cooler that
was
> on the car when #2 let go a few years ago. I ran it in a parts washer
> at the machine shop with the outlet running full steam ahead through
> the cooler for over two hours. Little flecks were still coming out.
> You can get new oil coolers at Racer Wholesale pretty cheap, and take
> your old hoses to a local hydraulic hose house and have them
duplicate
> them (or improve on them). I think most SS hoses have some sort of
> thinwall aluminum core, surrounded by rubber and finally the
sheathing.
> These will clean up if there are no kinks (if you bend the hose too
> severely it will kink), but I myself wouldn't trust rubber hoses not
to
> trap small particles which may come free later.
>
> My oil cooler gave out with 2 laps left in the last race on Sunday.
> Since I was watching the temp gauges so closely, I got off the gas
> quickly when I saw the oil pressure start to go away (as low as 20
> lbs.). It cooled quickly and the pressure went back up to 60 lbs., so
I
> was working under the assumption that I had overheated/fried the oil.
> As I coasted around the track (loosing 2 track positions....boo), I
> decided to complete the race. Never saw any oil smoke or any other
> indicator of trouble. When I pulled into the paddock and had a look,
> the problem was obvious. Oil was dripping out of the bottom seam of
the
> oil cooler. I was down to 3 quarts, so I think I'm OK. What happened
> was that I didn't mount the cooler on rubber mounts. I made 2
brackets
> on each side and mounted the cooler to the frame. I'm thinking that
the
> solid mount on a somewhat flexible TR3 frame put enough stress on the
> seam that it pulled apart. New cooler, rubber mounts.
>
> FOT, thanks for the info on front suspension, it will come in handy
> when and if I go to make my mods. I'm thinking of building a car from
> the ground up. Do the last TR4A's have the same suspension as a TR6?
If
> so, wouldn't a straight axle TR4A be the best choice for a wet sleeve
> TR vintage racer? What about radiators? After this past weekend, I'm
> thinking I need more than a stock radiator. Anyone know of a
> bigger/better core that fits the shell or a better solution? I'm not
> real happy about the temps I was running, has anyone else run at
those
> temps?
> TIA
>
>
> Bob Kramer, Austin TX
> Hill Country Triumph Club
> TR6's, TR250's, TR3A vintage race
> rgk@flash.net
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