[Nobbc] Marin Concours...5/15/2011

[marcus]

If it is the same as a TR6, I believe I have an extra clutch master.  Or you 
can try British Parts Northwest, if you order tomorrow should have it by 
Friday.

Marcus
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "G. Mugele" <mewgull at sonic.net>
To: "North Bay British Car Club" <nobbc at autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2011 2:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Nobbc] Marin Concours...5/15/2011


> Thanks for the photo sharing Al.   I wish you'd gotten a few more
> shots of that TR4A... like under the hood.  And on that subject, does
> anyone know of a local source for a TR4 clutch master cylinder?   Moss
> and TRF are both back-ordered on those.  What about an upper radiator
> hose?
>
> While Wendell was having fun with the exotic euro art work, I was
> judging the pre-war American class.   We gave the honors to an
> immaculate 39 LaSalle.  The V12 was so smooth and quiet it was hard to
> believe that it was running.  It's a gorgeous car and lovingly
> maintained.
>
> While I was working the Concours (with the rain and hail for added
> interest) I had an opportunity to ogle some of the stuff for sale from
> local dealers.  I rather like the Ferrari California so if you're
> starting your gift list for Christmas....
>
> But the one that has me scratching my head is the Roller.   There was
> a very tasteful, stratospherically priced and imposingly huge Rolls
> Phantom that they put out on the lawn by the lagoon.   They actually
> allowed the masses to climb into it ... so of course I waited my turn
> and sat in the driver's seat where I admired the wood, leather and
> (I'm not kidding here) fluffy wool carpet.  What was consternating was
> the instrumentation.... the thing has the speedo right where you
> expect, in a very tasteful black on white.  But where the rev-counter
> SHOULD be there's a matching gauge labeled "power reserve."   I don't
> know what the heck that's supposed to mean so of course I asked the
> sales rep.... who looked every bit the part, was cloyingly 'pleasant'
> and not even vaguely helpful.  He explained that the gauge "helpfully
> allows the driver to use the remaining power judiciously and with
> confidence by assuring that he knows that there's plenty left."  Huh
> what?   So I asked him how it determines this valuable information.
> His response: "I'm not an engineer."
>
> Okay, I'll buy that but still... shouldn't he have a clue?
>
> So I've just spent some google time trying to learn more and have
> found nothing that explains what the hell that thing does.   How does
> it work?
> I did learn that at idle the gauge indicates 100%   Is this something
> more useful for autobox cars than a tach?  And really, what does this
> information do for you?
> But actually, I want to know how it ascertains this critical driving
> information.  Does it examine manifold vacuum and compare it to fuel
> flow at various rev levels?  What the heck?
>
> It's all so mysterious.   And if it's so dang wonderful why aren't
> they bragging about it?  I considered the possibility that it's a
> hybrid but given that it has a V12 under the hood, that seems
> preposterous.   Still , the people who fork over that kind of loot
> probably want to look as though they give a crap about their use of
> natural resources.    I understand Mercedes is about to roll out some
> sort of hybrid... but I'm willing to bet that they won't be doing that
> at the upscale end of their line;  a Maybach hybrid seems pretty
> unlikely.
>
> As I've thought more about the "how" this thing works and ignoring the
> utility of it, I recalled something I came across recently.  I was
> poking around on the net and found an accessory you can get for $80
> from Garmin that taps the output of the OBD socket and sends it to the
> screen of your GPS.  That just makes us techno geek types all warm and
> fuzzy.   It would seem like a reasonable stance for the marketing
> department; they'd feel like that's a fair use of that kind of
> information: to display it, for the brain dead, on an analog gauge.
> Hmmm... may hafta look into that.
>
> Gerry
>
>
> On May 17, 2011, at 11:44 AM, Al Garber wrote:
>
>> http://albums.phanfare.com/isolated/zskcgGLp/1/5121858
>>
>> Some photos from Sunday. Except for a brief ten minute shower, a
>> nice day.
>
> G. Mugele
> mewgull at mugele.net
>
> *** Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars
> and buildings and start wars etc., and all that dolphins do is swim in
> the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are
> smarter for exactly the same reasons.  -- Douglas Adams
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