SUNDAY - Confidant that today would indeed be our day, we slept in, had a
wonderful B&B breakfast, and still made it to the track in plenty of time for
my 10:15 practice session. I told Kerry, "I don't intend to run the full
session, I just want to get a few laps in, make sure everything is all right,
and get ready for the all-Morgan race at 1:00 pm." Car was running great for
"my few laps" and then it started to lose power and run very rough. Felt like
a fuel starvation problem. Ah! When did I check my fuel level last? Came in
and Kerry asked how everything went. "Car isn't running for sh*t ", I replied.
New round of poking and probing. Plenty of fuel. My SU double pumper was
merrily ticking away and fuel pressure was right-on between 2.5 and 3. But
Moggy would not idle, had no power and sounded AWFUL, like a worn-out diesel.
Checked the timing and (after cooldown) checked the plugs. Dave Kirby (4/4)
sent his mechanic up, likewise Dave Spiwak, and many others stopped by with
advice or sympathy. Conclusions ran from a broken rocker shaft, big-end
bearings, broken piston, etc and I was rapidly sinking into a major funk
accompanied by wheezing sounds from my VISA card. I resigned myself to the
roll of spectator, started packing up odds and ends, and visited with my
Porsche neighbors (their ranks reduced by one) informing them of my fate and
leaving the honor of defending the neighborhood up to them. Immediate neighbor
Bill Lightfoot would also by a DNS as he had had a little fender-bender
(literally) in his +4. We were literally just ready to walk to a vantage point
when up strolled the aforementioned Don Griemel. I gave Don the quick picture
and told him what I had and had not checked and offered to start it up. Don
looked and listened for a moment (background noise - 5 minute whistle to Morgan
race) and said it didn't sound terminal, he thought one carb was not working.
We removed the RH air cleaner (50-50 chance) and Don worked the throttle,
worked the carb piston, and held his hand over the
suction. "All of a sudden" (used in a good context here" the carb took a big
"gulp" sucked Don's palm half into the carb and as Don removed his hand, Moggy
was again running sweetly on all 8 cyl, idling imperceptibly at 700 rpms. It
was a miracle. St. Morgan in the form of Don Griemel. (Background noise - 3
minute whistle to Morgan race). Don said, "Hurry-up, get dressed, I'll button
everything up, even if you're late, you can still make the show". Kerry dug
out all my gear (previously packed) and I headed slowly through the paddock
towards the grid. (1 minute whistle) Cars were all gone when I got there
but I checked-in with the steward, he gave my gear the once over, and they
enthusiastically waved me onto the track to the roaring adulation of the Morgan
crowd (in my mind anyway!). Good news was that I had gotten out on the lead
lap, bad news was that I was dead last with not another car in sight.
Digression: there were only eight Morgans in attendance so Win went about
inviting others to fill up our race. We implored upon him to invite slow and
evil-handling cars thus assuring a Morgan win, in fact, one wag suggested we
only invite tow vehicles to run with us. In the end, we had 6 Morgans and 8
invited guests. My immediate goal was to just catch up to somebody, anybody so
I wasn't just riding around by myself. I gathered up a Jag SS100, then a
Dellow, a TC, and I saw my first Morgan, Carl Shriver's Series I. Carl's car
looked very smart in the twisty bits but Carl admits he doesn't have a lot of
power and he graciously waved me by. I came upon Peter Dunn (fellow MOP) in
his 62 4/4 and knew this would be a bit more difficult! Luckily I used some of
my extra oomph to get by on a straight. I then got by a TR3 and Doretti before
getting caught (and lapped ) by those pesky TR4s of Bill Thumel and Geo.
Wright. Man they're fast (around 1:30). Dave Kirby ran a great race in his 62
4/4 to finish as 1st Morgan and 3rd OA with yours truly 2nd Morgan and 5th OA.
Regrettably, Hank Giffin (58 +4) was
(he would have been right up there) and race-favorite Greg Miller in his
lightning-quick 62 4/4 was also a DNF. Win Sharples awarded suitable trophies
at a post-race ceremony at his tent and with a sigh of relief, I headed back to
my paddock. FINALLY, a session which was clean, exciting, and trouble-free!
After a well-deserved lunch break, I could only wait with eager anticipation
for my regular 3:45 feature race (where I would have to face those pesky TR4s
again). The way the weekend HAD been going, I looked upon this final session
as a positive "gift" I had never expected to see.
End of Part 3
Part 4 (Closing arguments and the usual suspects/participants)
Cheers, Craig 1968 +8 #611
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