Yo! I'm back,
Just had a great weekend at the Heartland British Autofest in Davenport,
IA, and Moline, IL, and East Moline, IL, and on Arsenal Island, and ......
Well you get the idea, it was spread around some.
I took the MGA down Saturday morning so as to arrive early to help them set
up for the All British autocross. They didn't need much help setting up,
and they didn't need another safety steward, so I had plenty of time to
prep the car. I got the race tires on it, and the magic magnetic numbers
and all that, and signed it in for the 0-1500 cc four cylinder class.
And since there could have been a slight shortage of entries, I also signed
up one Jeff Meyer as the second driver for the car. I used to compete
against him when he was racing a VW Rabbit Cabriolet a few years ago. And
he drives an MGB occasionally, so he thought this was as good an
opportunity as ever to try out the MGA with an attitude. By the time the
first car was off we had 21 drivers logged in. No problem. We were
assured there was time enough for us all to have four runs on the track.
I was last car out in the first heat, about the tenth driver. First run
went down as two short laps on a simple track layout, no problem, 40.5
something seconds. When I got another shot at it, I let it all hang out,
made a little more noise, left a little more tire rubber on the track,
turned in a 39.243. For the time being that was FTD, by a couple of
seconds. Would have to wait for my other two runs later.
Then I tucked Jeff into the car, dropped a few helpful hints, pointed him
in the general direction of the track, and stood by to watch. This fellow
is another veteran SCCA Solo-II driver, so I had high hopes that I might
get to watch my car go through the proper paces in high style. Well, it
was fun to watch, if not just a little disappointing. He got it a little
tail happy once or twice, let up way too early for the corners, didn't
quite get a handle on the quick steering, but turned in a 42.819. At least
he came back with a big grin and let me know that my time was probably
safe. He also said something about gaining a whole new respect for having
been trounced by this car in the past.
For his second run on the track he was looking much better, a bit smoother,
a little deeper into the corners before braking, and not so much tail
wagging. It was beginning to look promising, until the last half of the
last lap, when he brought it around running on three cylinders. He said it
was going pretty well, just one last turn and a short hop across the finish
line, it just didn't sound right heading back to the paddock. And the lap
time was about 1/4 second longer.
Turns out that the top part of #4 piston in my old engine had decided that
it had done enough trips in 100,000 miles and it was time to park it
permanently at the top of stroke. Otherwise it was running pretty well on
the other three cylinders, just a little out of balance, so I guess the
rest of the #4 piston skirt and wrist pin were still attached to the con
rod and still doing all the right things. Well, not being a lot of fun
racing with only three cylinders for power, we called it a day and put the
street tires back on the car, having only gotten in two runs each for the day.
When it was all over, the MGA with an attitude had taken both First and
Second place in Class A (0-1500cc) out of six drivers. And, out of the
total of 21 drivers, only one had topped my best time by about 1/2 second,
that car being a MG Midget in full race prep, stripped for weight, lowered
within an inch or two of the pavement, running on slick blacktop race
tires, and powered by a Toyota 1600cc Hemi-head engine. This was the same
car that beat my time two years ago, and one of the prime reasons for my
car wanting to be at this event. Unfortunately, without the opportunty for
the last two runs, the MGA with an attitude came up just a bit short.
Well, there's always next year.
And for further interest, Class B was topped by one MGB in 1st and 2nd
place, where Randy Tone borrowed the car from Tim Spear and proceed to beat
Tim best run by 0.010 second. Sorry Randy. Guess you won't be driving
that car again. In Class-C, Ed Young turned in a 45.298 for first place in
his Lotis Espri.
And as I was getting the MGA back together, Marcus Tooze came by to say
"Hi" and drop off a handshake. Nice going Marcus! He was driving his TVR
in the autocross, turned in a 44.541 for second place in Class-D, which as
I recall would be the 6-cylinder class. He just got edged out by one Duane
Plymale driving a Healy 3000 and turning in a 44.352 second lap. And just
for good measure, Nicole Tooze turned in a 49.914 to take first place in
Class-E, the Ladies class. Yes! Two trophies for the Tooze in one day.
The other Ladies class entry was one Julie Heizel, easily the distance
award winner, from Germany, driving an MGA 1600 to a 54.827 finish time,
the car being loaned by a helpful local club member.
Class F was the modified class with that infurnal Toyota engine disguised
as an MG, and some big block aluminum GM V6 disguised as a TR3. That TR3
showed up with only two lug nuts on the RF wheel, and a dead battery. By
the time he ran to a parts shop for lug nuts and got the car jump started,
the game was all over, and he didn't get to run, so the MG Midget come
Toyota had a cake walk.
Shortly thereafter I drove my slightly disheveled MGA off the island and
parked it at a Best Western hotel in Davenport where I landed a room on
short notice. A bit after 5 pm I walked across the street to the Quad
Cities Times Building parking lot where the evening scenic tour was to
start with 30 cars ready to go, and looked for an empty seat. As fate
would have it, I hitched a ride as navigator in a Truimph TR8 roadster with
a "slightly" modified engine, bearing a 4-bbl Holly carb and a hot cam.
Well, being as the TR8 was somewhat larger than my MGA, and making those
funny V8 noises, it reminded me too much of the Firebird Trans Am that I
occasionally get to thrash, so I wasn't overly enthused. Although, I
suspect with the proper suspension tuning this car could give the Firebird
a serious run for the money.
A little later in the evening we had this delightful catered picnic buffet
at Riverside Park in Moline (almost in East Moline). On the menu was
barbecued beef, fried chicken, butterfly pork chops, a few different
salads, and all the soda we could drink. Chow was good, we all ate and
drank heartily, and afterwards there were lots of door prizes to go around.
And just for good measure, about a dozen of the cars took an impromptu
tour of some back streets up on the hill in Moline to group up at Whitey's
Ice Cream shop for a little desert session. Of course being a nicely
lighted parking lot at an ice cream shop on a warm summer evening there
were plenty of tire kickers asking questions about the LBCs on hand. Then
it was late enough and we all headed back to the hotel(s) to retire for the
night.
Sunday I took the three cylinder MGA over to the Village of East Davenport
about 6:30 am to help with the site set up, blocking streets, staging cars,
etc. I didn't ask or count, but I'm guessing over 150 nice examples of
British Iron showed up for the show. As for something unusual, there was a
nice example of a MG Midget/Arkley conversion on hand, an MG YT drop head
tourer, 3 TVR, and I think six 6-cylinger Healeys, and 5 MGAs (strange
count). Counting of the exhibiter's choice ballots was finished a bit
ahead of schedule, and all the awards had been handed out by around 3:30pm
so we could all hit the road and head out of town.
The MGA with an attitude (slightly dampened) took to the side roads on the
way home, puttered along on 3 cylinders with the trailer in tow at about
45-50 mph and easily made the 140 miles back to Naperville in about 3-1/4
hours. So now I get to put the new engine back in the car again and take
this old relic apart for inspection. Need to do that in short order, as
there's a Friday night rally in Champaign, a Saturday autocross at Utica,
and Sunday autocrosses at Peoria, IL and Peru, IN, and the British car
festival here in DesPlaines, IL, on the 13th.
Anyone in the region in the mood for more fun and games? Don't forget MG
Abingdon weekend in Abingdon, Illinois (near Galesburg), the last weekend
in September. This year we have the Abingdon Trials double-12, 1000 mile
endurance rally on the 24th and 25th, the fish fry on the evening of the
25th, the car show in the morning of the 26th with awards imediately
following, and the MG autocross in the streets of Abingdon on the afternoon
of the 26th. And for what it's worth, I may be autocrossing with SCCA in
Danville, IL, on the 27th.
Cheers y'all,
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude
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