After I removed the bent TR-4 Axle Housing from my TR-3 this past spring
(from last year's crash), and welding up gears and installing another axle
housing; I started taking track measurements again. Both the front and the
back were
0.6 of an inch short of my allowable track. I figured that I can stack
another 1/4" spacer plate behind all four wheels. I will then be only 0.1 of
an
inch short front and back.
This plan worked very well on the back of the car with three inch long 7/16"
wheel studs. There are (what they call) three inch long 1/2" wheel studs on
the front of the car, which are not threaded clear to the end of the studs. By
the time they pass through the fat Ken G. aluminum hubs and another one inch
spacer on both sides of the car, the additional quarter inch spacers will
cause only one half of the lug nut threads to catch the wheel stud threads.
Does anyone know a source of 1/2" wheel studs longer than 3"? I have heard
that Grade-8 bolts can be used in place of wheel studs, but could I be missing
something? Do they also have to have gone through a special hardening process
so that they do not stretch, as outlined in Kas's flywheel bolt seminar? Of
course you run into other problems, such as no knurl to prevent the studs from
turning in the hubs.
My season turned out a little better this past year. After shearing off
flywheel bolts and tearing up a Tilton flywheel this past spring, I managed to
run
all races and all practice sessions for two double regionals and the final
Great Pumpkin Race at Nelson Ledges. Much to my surprise, the car is still
running at the end of the season, which is very unusual. Maybe some of the
Greg/Ken trinkets are paying off. Of course, I have been afraid to wind the
engine
up extremely high as of yet.
I followed Jack Wheeler's recommendations of installing two 3/4" dial pins
and used locking tabs for the flywheel bolts. Maybe tying the flywheel bolts
together also provides a little more strength.
I even managed to win the EP Nelson Ledges Kryder Regional Championship this
year -- through default. One guy had more points than I did, but he did not
have the five required events for the trophy. Everybody else broke.
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