Newsletter of the St. Louis Triumph Owners
Association
www.SLTOA.org
September 2002
Greetings!
Thanks to the membership and especially to Jason
for covering for me these last two meetings while I was at the VTR National and
then on vacation. Reports I've received
indicate that the meetings were well attended and that important topics were
covered. I had no doubt that things
would go well, as the membership really is great in taking on responsibility
for organizing our activities.
Our October meeting draws near, and we were not
overly pleased with Joe Hanon's as our indoor venue. In our last meeting, a place named Danny O'Toole's was suggested
as an alternative. Danny O'Toole's is
in McNulty's old spot at Westport. I'll
contact the manager, Mishbah Jamal, concerning the authenticity of the Irish
experience. Those with other
suggestions please bring them to the September meeting. Also, it seems that a Friday or Saturday
date for our Christmas party is most important. Bevo Mill was outstanding last year, but week-ends were
booked. Next Tuesday is the soonest
they can tell me about availability. I'll bring my findings to the next
meeting.
Creig will be tutoring me on the scanning of VTR
photos for the web-site. An unfortunate computer crash has temporarily rendered
my system a mess! I'll bring the photos
to the meeting for those who can't wait to see them. I'll also bring my twenty rolls of vacation photos for those
interested! Anice is quite a travel
enthusiast, and I had one window of opportunity for a vacation of a decent
length. We went to San Francisco and
had a great time. The only Triumphs I
saw were in the Haight Ashbury area, the epicenter of Hippiedom. One was a TR6 parked on the street under a
torn cover. Another was a TR4 parked in front of a Haight Street head-shop. A homeless man was lying in front of the car
and would have wanted money if I had taken a picture, so there is no
documentation of this particular Triumph sighting. There is no evidence to suggest that Triumph ownership and
homelessness are related. Anyway, San
Francisco is a great place to visit.
Those willing to endure a lengthy description of our exploits in
excruciating detail are encouraged to ask us about our trip!
Don't forget to volunteer to help at the British
Car Show and at the Scottish Games.
Respectively, Joe and Dave will be heading these activities: we should
pitch in!
I look forward to seeing our members at the
upcoming meeting.
SLTOA Meeting Minutes – August 20th, 2002 – Chuck-A-Burger, Creig Houghtaling
The Allgood’s were not at our last meeting, so as
far as I know, no one took notes to write the minutes. So, here is my two-bit remembrance of what
happened. Jason Bucheck conducted the
meeting in the absence of Richard Etz who was on vacation. There were lots of Triumphs in attendance
and a very good turnout of members too.
We have the British car show coming up the weekend of September 21st
and 22nd. Plans for vending
are going well. Please be prepared to
help out on Sunday at Creve Coeur Park.
Check
on our web site for details and registration. //www.sltoa.org/events/2002/09/BCS2002c.gif
All British Cars are invited. They will fall into
the Some Other British class (SOB). 8~)
Registration form and information can be found on
the Gateway web site. http://geocities.com/hursts_2000/index.html
If you have questions call Steve Hurst at (314) 849-2879 or e-mail him at mailto:hursts92@earthlink.net
HELLO: Hope
to see you and your British Car at our 19th Annual All British Sports Car and
Cycle Fest...OCT. 4th-5th-6th-2002.
AGRI CENTER INTERNATIONAL ON GERMANTOWN RD. IN
MEMPHIS,TN.
CELEBRATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF AUSTIN HEALEY
PROCEEDS BENEFITING: VARIETY CHILDREN'S HEART HOUSE
VISIT OUR WEB SITE: www.memphisbritishcars.org get
all the information and registration form, Join us for a Fun Rally, Door
Prizes, Hospitality Supper, Tech Sessions, Vendors, Swap Meet, Concours Judging,
Awards Banquet and Greeting and Meeting New and Old Friends...
Ya'll Come, Ya Hearrrrrr.....Zoom Zoom, Baroom,,,,
Sylvia Rose, Publicity BSCC of Memphis
-- email ( sharrisrose@aol.com)
OR CONTACT : JIM DUKE , CAR SHOW CHAIRMAN 3432
Northwood Dr. Memphis,TN 38111 Ph. home: 901-324-0909 work: 901-544-0407 email:
jduke002@midsouth.rr.com or jimduke@noaa.gov
Announcing the Second Annual Scottish Games British Car Show
Like last year, the St. Louis Scottish Games and
Cultural Festival will be hosting the Games and Cultural festival on Friday
evening, October 11 and Saturday, October 12.
In addition to the usual Scottish games activities such as caber
tossing, sheep dog trials, bag piping, highland dancing and folklore, there
will be a British car show on Saturday.
This is a great family event with diverse attractions for the entire
family, and you might win an award for your British car, too. For more information check out the web site:
http://www.sltoa.org/events/2002/10/Scots.htm
Please pass the word around to others who may be
interested.
We have started getting pre-registrations already
and the scary thing is that they are almost all from someplace besides around
here. Combined with the verbal support
we have received from many clubs and individuals we are becoming,
simultaneously, excited, gratified, and frightened!
To help cut down on the fright aspect we are asking
that anybody strongly considering coming please pre-register. Since this is our first effort at this,
pre-registrations are the only way for us to get some idea of the turnout to
expect. There is a small discount for
pre-registration, if $5.00 counts as an incentive these days. We would really appreciate if you would
please encourage your interested members to pre-register. We will, of course, happily accept anyone who,
like most of us, doesn't make plans until the last minute and registers the day
of the show. Our registration forms can
be printed off of the web site: http://www.geocities.com/britishironark
Thanks for the help. We really are getting pretty pumped up about this. We have some great sponsorship (cash and
goods) lined up and feel like we can really raise some good $ for MDA and have
fun in the process. - Bill Watkins
#1 Press release:
"On
behalf of all Buckeye TRIUMPHS club members, I am honored to invite you to an
"Ohio Homecoming" The 2002
6-Pack TRials to be held in Granvill, Ohio, on September 26 - 29th. We are planning a Grand Alumni Gathering for
all 6-Pack members. Many Seniors will
remember the first TRials held in nearby Columbus, Ohio in 1982! If you are a Freshman to TRials, then come
prepared. This quaint college town in
central Ohio, home to Denison University, will rock to the thunder of your
Triumphs and roll to the cheers of contestants representing teams from all
6-Pack Chapters. Attend the Homecoming
Reception, Pep Rally, Keg Party, Big Game and Homecoming Dinner. Note: Lab Sessions and Field Trips will be
required.
The
Granville Inn and Buxton Inn will be your Home away from home. The activities will be challanging and your
rewards will be memorable – if you're there!
We
want you and your team to join us for a great Homecoming - 2002 6-Pack TRials
event. See you there!
Bob
Mains President, Buckeye
TRIUMPHS"
For
more info: http://www.buckeyetriumphs.org/2002Trials/index.htm
Phone:
Murry Mercier, (614) 888 0838
BuckeyeTRIUMPHS@ameritech.net
#2 Indy British Motor Days, featuring Austin
Healey will be Sept 20-22 it Monument Circle, located in the heart of
downtown Indianapolis. This multiday
car show and swap meet opens with a reception Friday evening, follows with tech
session, rally/tour, banquet and pajama party on Saturday and a people's choice
car show on Sunday.
For
more information, contact Tom Beaver, 1580 E. 101st St. Indianapolis, IN
46280. Or call Don Hayman at (317) 887
3867 - mgdr@quicknet.net.
Hi all news from the pits here. Actually it
is news from the garage this month. We are busy getting Franks car ready for
the SCCA Runoffs Sept. 18th thru the
21st. This will be a week of racing heaven. We have to get there first though.
Really there is not much to do on Franks car. It is really just a matter of
cleaning off the grime and looking for possible things to break. We have to
check everything over very carefully! We will be running his current engine
during practices and then install a brand new race engine that is a monster
compared to what he has now just before qualifying and the race. We have to
shave a little weight off the car and fix some body damage also. Then hopefully
we will be ready to go. My car is going
through some changes for the next local race that will be held in Oct. For one
I have bought and installed new tires that will help quite bit in the turns. To
handle these new tires I have had to upgrade my springs fron and rear and also
add harder suspension bushings up front and higher quality shocks. I will reset
the chamber and toe out front and rear and see how it does. I also have to
flair the rear fenders. Something I am not looking forward to. I will also
activate my overdrive for the next race so I don't run out of gear on the front
straight like the last race.
As far as October is concerned. I would again
like to invite all of you out for the weekend. This time it will be much cooler
and we will be able to take laps on the track at lunch time with the club cars.
I would like to make a bit of a party/ Triumph Octoberfest out of it. On Sat
after racing is done we will bring out grills and beverages and have a dinner.
I would like to make it a bit of a pot luck dinner besides the bratwurst. This
could be a really good time if we get a good turn out. I could use some
volunteers to help with the planning and set up. Please contact me at
636-978-9128. The date of the event is
Oct 26th. Andy
Well
the TR8 was running with the new intake and 500 cfm four barrel carb. I thought
it a good idea to test the car before taking it on the rally so, I took the car on a 150 mile run just for
testing, it did fine. The predawn rally was coming up and we would be there;
(this would be a good test of hard driving on back roads). It was four am and
off we went into the darkness looking for answers to questions and up coming
turns. This event was put on by the MG Club and is always a good rally. The
early morning air felt good with the top down, the roads were great driving, no
traffic, some of the clues were hard to spot but that’s the fun. The TR8 was
running great, the car handles winding roads better than you think it could
going thru tight turns like it is glued to the road. I found out later while
driving a turbo Porsche 911 that the TR8 takes turns so much better, the
Porsche lost some of it’s turning ability in fast tight turns while the TR8
just does them with no slippage. We tied for second place. I knew the TR8 was
ready for the Lakes Rally.
We
left on Wednesday afternoon, I picked up my teammate/co-driver, Renee, and off
we went. The plan was to get to Michigan by 10:30 or 11:00 that night but
Mother Nature had a surprise for us at Kankakee Il. when we got into some of
the worst fog I had seen in a while.
Was this a sign of things to come? We stopped for the night. Early
morning, back on the road, a beautiful day and we didn’t have to be there until
that night, it was time for some sightseeing. What a great place to see some
terrific sights, stopped at Mt Baldie, this is a very large sand dune on the
shore of lake Michigan, we climbed to the top and were greeted by a
breathtaking view of Lake Michigan. Just had to do it, went down the other side
to the shore and waded in the water, then climb back to the top. Now for some
simple un-expected fun, running down the side of a sand dune, it’s like jumping
ten feet at a time and coming down into the soft sand up to your knees, what
fun. Stopped at some very quaint lake shore towns and just took our time
getting to Grand Rapids.
After
checking into the hotel the party in the parking lot was on. Renewed old
friendships and talked about the events of the next day. Then for some sleep.
It was 8:00 am, the cars were in the ready, drivers still scraping the sleep
out of our eyes and trying to get into the correct frame of mind for the event.
We took off together for the odometer check, it was a twenty one mile treck to
a golf course. The rally directions that were given us at the start of the odo
run were than changed by removing several of the checkpoints. All was now even
for the start. Renee and I looked over the maps, she was doing the navigation
at this point and I don’t think either of us were awake when we turned the
wrong way out of the parking lot but we caught it right away and corrected our
route. We made it to the second checkpoint and had gotten there before the
other competitors, were we doing it that good or did we get to the wrong place?
That’s the type question you ask yourself when you’re ahead. It was some ten minutes
later and another car came in. We were OK.
There
were some nine checkpoints to make, most were in Michigan, and what a wonderful
place for this rally. Making our way along the coast we stopped at Point Bensie
lighthouse, there were four other cars there. An MGB was backing out of the
dead end road, about a 3/4 mile back up job, remember you must keep the mileage
down. The beach was sprinkled with morning sunbathers , swimmers, and
beachcombers. We gathered the answers to the questions and backed downed the
road a little way to save the miles. Continuing along the coast to Mackinaw,
across the bridge into the U P. This was our problem area, coming off the
bridge the road went two ways, we followed the sign for the route we wanted but
we noticed the setting sun wasn’t in the right place, or could it be we weren’t
going the right way? Oh No. Somewhere the road we thought we were on went west
and we were going north, there were no signs on the road so we had to go to the
next exit, 20 miles, this was going to destroy our chance to win. We got off
and charted a route to recover, it was my turn to navigate, Renee had given up
map reading for now. (This is not an easy job for navigator or driver) I laid
out a route thru the national forest to get back on route, this error only cost
us about 9 or 10 miles, not out yet. The roads thru the woods were unexpectedly
in good condition, Renee drove them at 65 and 70 mph, she is a good driver only
concern here was it was dusk and the deer and bears start moving at this time.
The roads were gravel but a hard surface, they kept getting more narrow, weeds
were brushing both sides of the car at the same time. Renee maintained 65 mph,
it was exciting. Coming out of the forest
we were back on track, came into a small town and in the gas station was
another car from St. Louis, Dennis had no front brake pads left and was cutting
into the rotors in his MGA. We talked for a bit and gassed up. Off we went into
the night, this area was a no brianer, follow the highway . Well, remember that
fog on the way up, it was so thick you could not see the exits off the highway
at all. We kept going and I noticed the lights were getting dimmer all the
time, the battery was discharging, we had a problem. Moving down the edge of
the road we found an exit, getting off the highway the fog lessoned and we saw
a Mobile station. It was about 3 am, the battery was all but dead and you will
never find a Lucas alternator at the local parts store. The parts house may open at 7:30 but not to
sure, I was told. So I removed the unit, took it apart and ran some checks, I
found that the connectors were insulated with corrosion, took apart all
connections and cleaned them, coated all with dielectric grease and assembled
the unit. Back on the car, I used my jumper pack and started the engine,
nothing happened right away but then it came to life, it was charging. Hooray!
Back on the road in two hours. We came into a town, it was time for breakfast
and coffee. Renee and I agreed we needed a place on the water with a view to
enjoy, it would help. We found the place, on a harbor, sitting on a screened
porch watching the sunrise, having excellent food like none other. This was
what we needed. Back on the road to another checkpoint. then to the last
checkpoint, Wriggly Field, bad timing for us, we arrived there just before a
home game, had some problems with the crowd. Renee got out to retrieve the
answers about Harry Carry at the field, I took over driving. Driving in traffic
up there is no fun at all. Got out of south end of town and on the toll way
back to Michigan. Did we have a chance now? We had no idea. Back up along the
coast of the lake taking all the short cuts we could find. We had a lot of time
before the deadline so we took every little mile saver we could find. Back into
Grand Rapids some 35 hours later to the finish. We were the last to arrive but
we learned at the awards we finished in eighth place. The TR8 was a great car
to use in this rally and will no doubt see much more road time in rallies. Charlie Key
The following story about
“what I have been doing Triumph-related” will be a miscellaneous rambling,
because I can’t figure out any logical order to write all that I have been
involved in lately.
About three months ago I
finished a major project on Craig Ingraham’s TR6. This spring he and I tried to drive the Missouri Endurance
Rally. To make a long story short we
were driving his car and we didn't make it.
The clutch throw-out bearing decided to seize up. We could still drive, but every time we used
the clutch we were chewing metal on the clutch tines. So we managed to drive about 120 miles with only about a half
dozen clutch uses. So I had him leave
his car at my house and I replaced the clutch, throw-out bearing, throw-out
bearing carrier, clutch shaft, clutch fork, and clutch shaft to transmission
housing bushings. While I had
everything apart I discovered that the fly-wheel ring gear was chewed in a few
places. Replacing the ring gear was interesting. I got the old one off by cutting a notch down close to the
fly-wheel and then cutting it the rest of the way with a cold chisel. The ring gear fits around the outside
diameter of the fly-wheel and at the same temperature the ID of the ring gear
is smaller than the OD of the fly wheel.
So to put it together the ring gear has to be hotter than the
fly-wheel. On my first attempt to put
the two together I heated the ring gear to 400°F in an oven and cooled the fly
wheel to 0°F in the freezer. When I
pulled the fly-wheel out of the freezer it immediately got covered with a thick
layer of frost. I had some welders
gloves and pulled the ring gear out of the oven. The gloves were thick and made it difficult to handle the gear
precisely. When I got close to the fly-wheel
the frost started snapping and sizzling on the ring gear. When I tried to put the gear on, it went on
crooked and immediately seized in place.
I thought I might end up having to cut this one off and buy another new
one. But I took the old gear and placed
it behind the new one for protection and started hitting it off with a
hammer. Surprisingly it came off. The next time I kept the fly-wheel at room
temperature and cranked my oven up to as high as it would go (550°F). This time I got a hold of the ring-gear with
a pair of vice grips. This gave me much
better control and placement. This time
it went in place easily and I even turned it a little to make sure it was in
place and then it shrank into place. It
worked perfectly. In the end after I
got everything back together, the clutch never worked better. I replaced everything because all the parts
get worn and add up to difficult clutch operation. Now it works like new. So
next year, we'll be able to do the drive without any difficulties. (Maybe!)
Another thing I have been
having a lot of fun with is Andy Stark and his racing GT6. I have had the privilege to watch Andy build
his GT6 into a genuine racecar. As you
have read from Andy’s writings, he has put a lot of time and effort into this
car. Several club members and myself
were able to attend Andy’s GT6 debut race down at Gateway International last
month. Now I am beginning to learn what
the term “Club Racing” means. Andy and
I have talked about what we might do so that he does not have to bear the
expense alone. It would be wonderful if
he could find a sponsors who would pay money to have their name associated with
his racing effort. But how do you find
people who would benefit from such an association and would be willing to pay to
help sponsor his race effort? I don’t
know. Is there anyone in the club who
has any ideas? If so, drop me a note or
give me a ring: oldtoys@brick.net or
636-305-1143. In the mean time Andy
does have some minor support from some SLTOA members. Jack Fansher has been his largest supporter by helping build the
car and prepare it for racing. He also
does a lot of work at the track. A few
other people have helped with parts that he has needed, so I have recently
pitched in by donating a pair of TR6 axels.
Evidently there is a conversion that uses TR6 axels and 240Z hubs to
replace the GT6 units. The conversion
should be lighter and more durable.
Less weight and better performance is the name of the game in racing.
While Andy was taking the
TR6 axels apart I read some more about the TR6 hubs. Ken Rankenberger wrote and article about how to make a tool to
pull a TR6 hub to replace the rear wheel bearing. It seems that the hub requires an extreme amount of pressure to
be separated from the axel. Triumph
made a special tool for this job. Ken
tells how to fabricate a tool for the job.
So I’ve collected some parts and I’ve talked to Karl Schmitt about the
possibility of making a tool. I’ll let
you know later how this project progresses.
Ken Rankenberger also tells how to add grease fittings to the rear hubs
to add grease to the bearings to extend the life of the hubs. I might experiment with the spare hubs that
I have. (Another project to fill you in
on later.)
I noticed that Andy was
hauling his GT6 on a different trailer.
He got a dual axel trailer to replace his single axel trailer that he
was pulling. I asked him what he was
going to do with his single axel trailer.
When he said he was going to sell it, I told him that I would buy it so
that it would stay in town. I have
borrowed his trailer twice and Frank Axelrod’s once to move Triumph parts. I figured I owed it to Andy to buy his
trailer from him. So, now if any club
member needs a trailer to haul a Triumph on, let me know.
A few weeks ago I got a note
from Craig Ingraham that his TR6 was pumping fuel all over the top of his
carbon canister. Since Craig doesn’t
like to wrench his own car, I help out whenever I can. That also gives me a decent car to drive
when he and I team up to drive the Missouri Endurance Rally. When Craig told me about his fuel problem I
went over to his house and ran his car for a few minutes in his drive way and
did not find any problems. So I decided
to drive it to our last club meeting. I
got a mile down the road and smelled gasoline and decided to return the car
home. When I got back I saw fuel
spilling out of the tube to the carbon canister. I removed the air filter and saw fuel spilling out a vent hole on
the front carburetor. When I got the
meeting, Dave Massey told me that the float valve must be stuck open. I have a spare pair of carburetors that I
began rebuilding several years ago.
They have been to two club carburetor technical sessions and still were
not finished. So I used this as an
excuse to finish rebuilding the carbs.
Over several nights I figured out where I had left off. I figured out how to repair a shaft that was
too tight in a new seal that I had installed.
One of the last things I did was replace the oil seal in the metering
needle. Usually pushing on the needle
can push the unit up the shaft. Well on
one carb that did not work. I bent the
needle and sheared the retaining pin that holds the needle in. I learned that if the unit does not push
easily, the needle can be removed out the end and a sturdier rod can be used to
push the needle retainer up the shaft.
It is a good thing I had a spare set of carburetors. I scavenged the parts that I ruined from the
spares and finished building them. When
scavenging parts from the spare carbs I had trouble removing several of the
screws. The problem is the steel screws
in aluminum carb bodies. Corrosion
between the different metals causes the screws to stick. So when I was completely done building my
new carbs I removed each and every screw one at a time and coated the threads
with antiseize grease and replaced them.
Then I took these carbs over to Craig’s car and put them in place of the
ones that he had on his car. Then I
brought his home to fix the float valve.
It would have been easier to just fix his carbs and replace them, but
this gave me an excuse to finish a project that I had started a long time
ago. It also gave me a chance to prove
that they were fully functional when I was done. Yes, they do run just fine!
I got a chance to open Craig’s carbs up and I found a piece of trash in
the float valve. I suspect that the
trash (whatever it was) got dislodged when I had to work on his fuel pump. A few months ago his car wouldn’t
start. It turned out that the fuel pump
was never assembled correctly when it was built. The check-valves should have been burred so that they could not
move. They weren’t. Back to the trash. The fuel pump is down stream from the fuel filter, so the filter
could not catch this piece. Now that I
have successfully rebuilt some carbs and I am currently working on Craig’s I
decided to rebuild a set of TR7 carbs for my friend Tom Jones. I had to order some retainer clips for
Craig’s carbs so I decided to make one order slightly larger and get the parts
Tom needed too. I can’t stand spending
$5 to $10 to ship $1 to $2 worth of parts.
That
brings me up to date with this writing.
More to come… Creig
Quick detailers are spray “waxes” suspended in quick evaporating carriers. They are very lubricating therefore safe to use to wipe off dust and light dirt between washes and without water. They are not meant as a replacement for wax but do give the surface an added boost of shine between wax jobs. Not only do they add shine to the surface they also can add additional protection from the elements. Some quick detailers contain traces of carnuba that can rejuvenate the surface wax. Detailer is safe to use on all paints and chrome. Quick detailer is applied by spraying on and wiping off immediately. It is best applied/removed with a microfiber towel.
Quick detailers are a show-car
owners dream! Get some!
The best way to pull out embedded
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Claying is just like it sounds. A
small, moldable, synthetic bar of clay is lubricated with quick detailer and
rubbed in a back and forth motion directly on the paint surface. As the clay glides over the surface it sucks
and pulls debris that is literally stuck into and adhered to your paint. Even abrasives sometimes have little effect
on embedded debris. It is amazing the
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Claying is also an
excellent way to clean fallout and contamination out of your windshield. It will cure many a squeaky wiper and poor
wet see-through. Audi recommends
this procedure twice yearly as a safety precaution.
Prep work is everything. Do not waste valuable time or quality car care products over a contaminated, oxidized swirled or rough finish. Even a brand new car will benefit from proper paint prep. Most cars are transported by railcar and raildust (fine metallic particles caused by train wheels on the train tracks) gets embedded in the paint.
Dawn Dishwashing Liquid is an excellent way to remove old wax and dirt prior to final waxing or prepping. It is safe alkaline base and will not harm the paint.
Paint Cleansers are made from very fine solvents and light abrasives, which remove dirt, old wax and can help remove very mild swirls.
Glazes are coatings that contain fillers which help hide swirls and light scratches. Most glazes are a temporary fix. The fillers contain oil, which migrate and dissipate.
Compounds are
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surrounding paint. These products are
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carefully since they are removing micro-thin layers of paint/clearcoat. You must apply sealant or wax over all of
these. Brad Bloomquist
Classified Ads: Contact Creig Houghtaling at the address listed below, or oldtoys@brick.net or 636-305-1143 to place a free ad in this newsletter.
St. Louis Triumph Owners
Association
Creig Houghtaling
36 Copper Mountain Court
Fenton, MO 63026-5682