[Fot] MOTRAH - Another View Part 1

[Robert M. Lang]

Hi,

Still getting re-settled to the work thing. Yuck. But it pays the bills!

My MOTRAH-007 experience was interesting to say the least. Starting in
FEB., it was fairly evident that getting the car and driver "ready" for
MOTRAH would be a real challenge. The initial thrust was to get Khartu
into "vintage trim" and the driver a shiney new competition license.

But first off - special thanks to Henry Frye (for getting us crew passes),
Dean Tetterton (for providing the passes), Marty and Jason Sukey (for
providing an awesome TR6 to drive) and to the rest of the FOT for all the
fun. WOW.

Blow #1 was the rotten windows and siding on the house. That pretty much
used up available funds for driver school, so the comp. license was out of
the question before March. Darn.

Plan two was to get the red car ready for the drive. I mean it's a TRIUMPH
event, you gotta show up in a Triumph, right? Things seemed to be in good
shape and with the assistance of able-mechanic Ned Sparrow the car was
deemed ready. I even had spares ready for the tranny and diff in case
something happened in the interim. Early April and I'm ready.

Well, not quite. Turns out that the oil filter spin-on housing was not
sealing against the block properly and unfiltered oil was circulating. The
motor isn't toast, but an in-place bearing check/change may be in order. I
didn't have time to build another motor to drop in. Bottom line - red car
was out too.

Oh well. Plan three was the daily driver. But it goes naught to 60 in a
tad over 6 seconds, so it should be a fun haul. Plus it gets 30+ mpg on
the motorway. Owing to the blow to plan 1, camping was in order, so we
dusted off the tents and bags and stuff and headed to RA early on Tuesday
with a goal of arriving at RA in time to help early arrivals some
assistance for the open practice. The trip out went without incident
although fuel prices were quite high in the mid-west. We didn't see $4
premium, but we did see $3.99.9 - so it was close. Seeing that the
"driver" has a smart computer, we opted for mid-grade fuel. It really does
make a difference in the performance.

To be continued...

rml
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