Concourse and Poker Run

What is it with the rain? How many years have we consistently had wet concours events? I am getting tired of the wetness! Maybe next year we will have a backup location with a roof!

Other than the wet weather we had another excellent concours this year! The turnout was still acceptable even though the rain made for many no shows. Let’s see. We had my spider. We had the Durning’s spider. We had the Broussard’s spider. And we had a brand new car!!

No it was not a brand spanking new car freshly arrived from Europe. It was a new car to the group. While driving around town the day before, several of us stumbled upon a Giulia Super just like Mike Hemsley’s! It was almost identical in trim, engine, condition, etc. The biggest difference was color! And the even better news, the owner lives in the area! Now if only we can get him to join the club…

Hey maybe we can get this fellow to join if we give him a trophy! In what seems like a new tradition, the new guy took first prize. I seem to remember a 164LS doing that a few years ago. But hey, based on the competition the right car won both times! This blue Super was just fantastic. Of course having Mike Hemsley as a judge probably helps too.

Our other judge was a member who not only loves Alfas, but he also loves BMWs. He is the local BMW club’s president of all things!! So to take advantage of this joint member we invited the BMW club to our concours and the rally the day before. No one stuck around for the concours, but the door has been opened for joint events in the future! Perhaps one day this event will be as big as our annual rally in Jackson.

Speaking of rallying, we had one. A poker rally. on the day before the concours. Oh yeah, it rained. The day started off with so much rain we almost called off the poker rally for safety reasons! On the course were two low water bridges that could have been flooded! And of course debris is always an issue on back roads in the woods. Despite the weather we managed to get everyone underway. And we even had a few guests! Jeff Cobb joined us in his Lamborghini Espada. Chappy and Mickey came in a hot little miata. And finally, we had a new comer in a wonder Sunbeam Alpine. He was the bravest of them all. Some of the parts to the top and weather seals are still missing from his restoration. Among the actual club members we had the Broussards in their immaculate spider. Trying to keep Jeff from running him over was Marshal and son in his spider.

The winner was Chappy and Mickey. I have no idea what their time was. But I do know they had the better hand. Was there a big prize? Nope. Did everyone have a great time? Yes!! I think next year we will invite more groups, hold the rally earlier in the morning, and have a big prize for the winner. How does that sound? Yeah, I like it too! Not only that, but Ed wants to do the same for the concours. We want more cars, more clubs, more judges, and bigger prizes. So if you have any suggestions for how to make these events bigger and better for next year, let me know!! Till then, keep your car shiny and your tires warm.

Lemons Race

On May 1^st and 2^nd I got to go racing for the first time. I thought racing was about going around the track as fast as possible. Turns out it is really about tracing electrical faults, and watching for mechanical failures. Track time is only half of the story.

There is a new racing series in town: 24 Hours of Lemons. The concept is simple. You get a bunch of racers together and you put them in beaters and you send them out onto the track and see who it still running at the end of the day. The details are important but simple. Your racecar must cost $500 or less. The price must include purchasing the car and all the race prep except for safety. You would be amazed at what is considered a “safety item.” Unfortunately safety upgrades will only make you so fast.

I was lucky enough to be a part of “Team Danger Ranger.” We had a ’95 Ford Ranger pickup with a tiny little 2.3 liter four. It had a nice five speed but was so slow we only used first through third. Lets just say the truck was well seasoned. This was its fifth or sixth lemons race. Previous to this weekend the truck had been a flawless performer. At the last race there was metal bending incident and the truck decided not to run so well as a result. A light freshening of the engine ensued and that is where the trouble began.

The people who took the engine out of the truck and the people who put it back were not the same people. On top of that, there was no labeling of any component and no service manual to speak of. I was not able to be on either team, but I know things must have worked out because the truck was ready just in time for Friday practice.

Practice went well. It was the second time I had driven the track and the first time I had been out with other cars. Talk about nervous! The number one rule for me was not to go fast. It was to not bend any metal on or off the track! I think it was a success!!

Saturday came bright and early and we were ready to race! On day one the race went for a bit over 6 hours. On day two the race would continue for another 7 hours or so. We fueled up the truck, went to the drivers meeting, and got the truck onto the grid. I was not scheduled to run until much later in the day, and was dying of anticipation.

Our first troubles came in the form of charging issues and a dead battery. A dead battery can be dealt with using a push start, but a lack of charging will leave you dead in the water.

The truck came in and we dove into the electricals trying to find an answer. We found two things. First there was a wire that had been cut through on one of the frame rails. The second problem was a missing tickler wire for the alternator. Some time in the morning, after running through several batteries, we finally found a temporary fix for the missing wire and were back in business. Of course full power is not always a blessing.

When I got into the truck the plan was to run until we needed to refuel. While there was a fuel gauge, I was told the truck would let me know when we needed to refuel by stumbling and sputtering. The first thing I noticed out on the track is a massive set of invisible bumps in turn five. I tried going tight, going wide, going down the middle, decreasing radius, increasing radius. Nothing seemed to help. Since there was no smooth way around the corner, the fast way was best.

Our truck was slow. Crazy slow. A touch over 100 horses slow. The scary part was not watching myself get passed by all the fast cars. The scary part was finding safe ways to pass all the cars slower than the truck! It looks so easy on TV. In real life it is not so simple. When I get it figured out I will let you know!

The next set of troubles was a flaky oil pressure sensor wire. Every time I went around the corner four the oil pressure would drop to zero and sit there for a few seconds. It was consistent and slowing down seemed to make it go away. I figured we must be burning some oil and it had dropped to a level that missed the pump pick up under high cornering loads. I pulled into the pits and the crew checked it out. The level was fine. They wiggled the wires a bit and sent me back out. I know they had faith everything would be ok, but I was really nervous about destroying a “newish” engine. A few laps later and the fuel stumbling started so I came in for real and we did a driver change and fuel stop.

If I remember correctly the truck had to be towed back to the pits the next time. It was dead. We found a blown fuse and sent the truck back out. I cannot remember how long we were back out before there was another blown fuse. This time it was a fuse we could not find many replacements for. Ever heard of a “maxi” fuse? It is a huge blade type fuse. We blew our last one and sent a driver to the store for some fuses and a shop manual. Meanwhile the competition kept making laps.

After consulting with a track mechanic and friend we decided the problem was in all the left over wiring from when the truck was turned into a race vehicle. Apparently part of the race prep was to start the truck and begin unplugging things in the engine compartment until the truck died. If something was not necessary it was unplugged and removed. The end result is a huge mess of dangling wires and connectors. Combining to make things worse was a leaking power steering pump reservoir drenching everything with oil and gunk. A couple frayed wires in the mix caused an immediate short.

To solve the problem we very carefully started clipping off connectors and taping up the ends. Not only did we eliminate the blown fuse but, we cleaned up the engine bay of all the loose junk. By this time the competition the racing was over for the day. We took the opportunity to refuel for the morning, change the tires, and make our temporary repairs more permanent. When racing started in the morning we were ready!!! Unfortunately, the track was not. Just like our concours this year, there was rain. It was only a little drizzle so they started the race behind the pace car. Around the same time we figured out one of the fuses we cannibalized the day before was for the wipers!!! Rain-x is awesome, but Marshal is a brave man for staying out as long as he did.

When his stint was done we fixed the wipers and sent out the next driver. This day was much easier to deal with. The rain was the only thing slowing us down. And the rain would not have been so bad if it had actually rained. Or maybe it would have been better if the rain had stopped. In reality the rain fluctuated from drizzle to storm to drying all day long.

When I got in the truck towards the end the track was drying rapidly. A few laps in the rain started to come down harder. Later a fellow driver suggested I had the worst situation to deal with. If you go out in the wet and it dries, you can go faster and faster and typically the corner has more grip than you expect. When things are getting wetter each time around, the track becomes unpredictable. The grip you had just one lap ago is sometimes there and sometimes gone. It can be frustrating and exciting at the same time.

But in the end it was not the rain or the electricals or the fuel that brought me into the pits. There are some things that are not meant to fail on a vehicle. I have heard of bolts shearing. I have seen pistons go through blocks. I have seen vehicles catch on fire or spin end over end. What stopped the truck was new to us all!!

Remember turn five? The one with the invisible bumps? I asked Marshal about the bumps. He said, “if you hit the bumps you are doing it right.” After those words I drove right over them and gave it no thought. I am assuming all my more experienced teammates did the same. Over the course of two days of bumps the truck finally cried out for mercy. At first the problem showed up as a vibration. Then it started to crunch going into third. And finally the steering was not right and the truck would go in whichever direction it wanted. We are talking full lock just to go straight!

I pulled into the pits to a confused crew and shut off the truck. I explained the problem and we started looking for an answer. One look under the bed and we knew our day was done. One of the leaf springs had sheared off at the axle. Yes, sheared off! At the axle! We did not rip a mount or bushing off the frame. We did not twist anything. We ripped a ¼” thick piece of spring steel into two! And later when we changed the leaf springs as a pair, we discovered the other side was sheared in the exact same place! The only thing keeping the axle on the truck was the limiting chains, and the shocks. Oh yeah, the gas tank helped keep the axle centered. A few more laps and it would have been a hot truck!

In the end we finished 23^rd out of 36. The guys behind us must have been really slow or broken down more than we did! With a new set of springs and some revised wiring, the truck is ready and waiting for its next race!!!