Exhaust
Notes
Newsletter of the St. Louis Triumph Owners Association
www.SLTOA.org July 2004
July Meeting, Tuesday July 20th, 2004, 7:00 PM, at John Lamberg’s,
14148 Cross Trails Drive, Chesterfield MO 63017-3309, Phone, (314) 434-4467
Arrive anytime after 6:00 p.m.; meeting will be at 7:00 p.m. The club will provide grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. Attendees should bring a dish or dessert to share, your beverage of choice and lawn chairs. At the conclusion of the July 20 meeting, Chris and Kathy Kresser will show their Laos/Vietnam vacation digital slide show.
President’s Epistle, By Dave Massey
As I write this we have just returned from the season's first impromptu drive. Those of you on the E-mail distribution list should have seen the notice we sent out earlier in the week. We all met at John Lamberg's house and headed out to parts yet to be determined (we ended up in Hermann). Since this club is a democracy (more like an anarchy) and there is no hierarchy. You don't have to get approval to set up a drive. Got the urge to go somewhere, pick a date, time and starting point and let the rest of us know. If you're thinking "Boy, we haven't run down Bluff Road to St. Genevieve for lunch in a long time" just tell everyone "Hey! I'm going down Bluff Road to St. Genevieve for lunch, come on along!" and I'll bet someone will be there. We all live busy lives and if the club organizes one formal drive each month and it falls on a busy weekend then you are out of luck until the next month. But if we all jump in and leads an activity there could be something each and every weekend which improves the odds of something falling on a free weekend for everyone.
Our drive was announced via the E-mail distribution list but that reaches only a limited number of club members. It was also posted on the website but only those who happened to visit the website. OK, so some of you do not have E-mail capabilities. We need to find some whay to get the word out to everyone. There is no sure-fire way to get 100% coverage but we sure can do better. If you are one of those who would like to be notified of these drives by a means other than E-mail, let me know. Let John know. Let Cathy know and we'll give you a ring when something comes to our attention. Another thing we all can do is when you hear of something interesting, call someone else and say "I was thinking this breakfast drive to the Whitmond Hotel in Brussels sounds like it could be fun, wanna go?" This could be the little push to get someone who is feeling ambivalent to decide to go. And he'll be glad he did. So will you.
Enjoy the drive. Dave
June 9th 2004
Picnic Meeting Notes, By
Chris Kresser
If you wish to remain a member of SLTOA, pay your membership dues to Bonnie David. Members who have not paid will be dropped from the roster.
Once again, Chief Grill Chef Karl Schmitt prepared a great SLTOA picnic feast. Thank you, Karl and Barbara, for your efforts.
John Lamberg will lead the June 13 drive to Campsville for lunch.
A driving tour of the Portland Place mansions is set for Tuesday, July 6. Ken Dahman has graciously offered to lead this drive. Meet at the Galleria Shopping Center (Highway 40 and Brentwood Boulevard) in the South parking lot near Famous Barr at 6:45 p.m., departing promptly at 7:00 p.m. Enjoy a treat at Ted Drewes at the end of the drive.
John Lamberg will host the July 20 SLTOA meeting. His address is: 14148 Cross Trails, Chesterfield, MO 63017. Arrive anytime after 6:00 p.m.; meeting will be at 7:00 p.m. The club will provide grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. Attendees should bring a dish or dessert to share, your beverage of choice and lawn chairs. At the conclusion of the July 20 meeting, Chris and Kathy Kresser will show their Laos/Vietnam vacation digital slide show. The club thanks Jack and Bonnie David for hosting the May meeting at their home.
The Champagne British Car Fest in Champaign, Illinois was well attended by SLTOA club members. The highlights of the event included: the Governor’s Trophy and 1st place in the TR2/3 Class to Chris and Kathy Kresser for their TR3A; 1st place in the TR8 Class to Dave and Linda Massey for their TR8 and 2nd place for Diamond in the Rough to Paul Schuessler for his TR250. Congratulations to all.
2004 VTR
National Convention Update
July 14 through 17, 2004 Richmond, Virginia Check out the website at www.vtr2004.com
2004 Grand Lake Tour
August 12-13, 2004 and beginning/ending in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Contact Rick Verhey and Rick Ingram at mowog1@aol.com.
SLTOA EVENTS CALENDAR AND VARIOUS BRITISH CAR SHOWS/MEETS
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July 6th, 2004 Tuesday |
Portland Place Mansion Driving Tour Led by Ken and Sue Dahman Meet at Galleria Shopping Center (Highway 40 and Brentwood Boulevard) in the South parking lot near Famous-Barr. Meeting time is 6:45 p.m., departure time 7:00 p.m. Enjoy Ted Drewes ice cream at the end of the drive. |
|
July 14th – 17th, 2004 Wednesday – Saturday |
Vintage Triumph Register 2004 National Convention Location: Richmond, Virginia Website: www.vtr.org or http://www.vtr2004.com Contact: Ken Nachman Telephone: 804-272-7523 Email: kmntr6@hotmail.com |
|
July 17th, 2004 |
Southern Indiana London to Brighton Run |
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July 18th, 2004 Sunday |
British Car Day |
|
July 20th, 2004 Tuesday |
SLTOA Summer Meeting hosted by John Lamberg Address: 14148 Cross Trails, Chesterfield, 63017 Telephone: 314-434-4467 Home 314-496-4278 Cell Time: Anytime after 6:00 p.m., meeting at 7:00 p.m. Bring: Side Dish, Beverages, Lawn Chairs |
|
August 17th, 2004 Tuesday |
SLTOA Summer Meeting hosted by Steve & Sandy Street |
COLIN WINS GOVERNOR'S TROPHY
Photo
courtesy of Howard Bauges
Chris Kresser, on his first time out, takes the Chanmpaign Car Show by storm winning first in class for TR3's and taking the Governor's trophy.
2004 St. Louis European
Car Show, Story and
photos by Dave Massey
Plaza Frontenac, June 6, 2004
We've all been to British car shows. There's hardly a weekend that goes by without one this time of year. And we see quite a few rare and interesting cars at these shows. But for a change of pace the European car show reveals another side to the exotic car world. And there were many cars of British origin that we don't typically see and the annual British car show.
Porsche, Mercedes and BMW's were well represented. But the most remarkable turnout was from the Ferrari crowd. By some accounts there were 40 Ferrari's in attendance. Could be true if you count the Maseratti's (which was recently acquired by Ferrari). Ferrari's from the 60's up to the present were there to delight the eye and the imagination.
Just a sampling of the Ferrari's at the show.
Whilst there were plenty of rear engined models there were quite a few nice examples of Ferrari's with the engine up front (as God intended).
After recovering from a sensory overload of the red color receptors in the eyeballs, my attention was caught by the Bugatti brought by Mark Hyman. This is the first Bugatti I have ever seen in St. Louis (although a tour of the Schlumph Museau in Mulhouse, France will pretty much satiate anyone's desire to see Bugatti's).
Lots of Lotus's (Lotii?) were displayed including a nice Lotus 7, an Europa and quite a few V8 powered Esprit's.
What turned out to be my favorite car at the whole show (and, as it turns out, the favorite of all in attendance) a 1913 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost owned by Mermie Karger. This car received a recent thorough overhaul and Mermie was on a cross-country trip from Pennsylvania to California. Its nice to see a truly worthy road car being used for its intended purpose.
Owner servicing her engine
Some interesting bits about this car is the dual sparking plugs per cylinder. Each plug in each cylinder is fired by a separate, redundant distributor. The cockpit is mighty small for a car this large.
Cozy, yet elegant. Twelve plugs, six cylinders.
Note the familiar four speed shift pattern. A little knowledge of engine technology will come in handy
Stories About Those Triumph Cars,
By Kathy Kresser
Gail, you and Mel have taken several road trips with your Little British Cars. I always laugh when you tell about the Champagne Car Show drive in the rain. Would you share it with our readers?
Certainly, Kathy, I would be glad to share the story. During an Annual Champagne British Car Festival in Champaign, Illinois, the usual two-hour Saturday afternoon drive was scheduled. The line of 50 or better British Cars was, and is always, a wonderful sight. It was not a topless drive as the weather looked ominous. In fact, Roy Matteson and Joan Carroll passed on this drive because of the weather conditions. Well, about 45 minutes into the drive, everyone fully agreed with Roy and Joan’s decision, but it was too late for us.
First, the rain poured and poured. It was nearly impossible to see because the small windshield wipers were no match for the rain. Then, the spare tire compartment cover on Ken and Sue Dahman’s TR3 fell out and they were hurriedly retrieving the car parts and their belongings from the roadway in the storm. The side curtains on Steve and Robin Hurst’s Austin Healey blew out. Robin was totally and completely sopping wet at the end of the drive. And, she didn’t complain at all, being a great British Car sports fan! The situation worsened when the hail arrived. Every LBC owner is paralyzed when it comes to a hailstorm. Fortunately, we were stopped at the park area when the hail hit, there seemed to be nowhere to hide. The question on everyone’s mind, should we sprawl ourselves over the cars or what? Drivers quickly moved their cars under the trees to seek some refuge.
Somehow, we survived the rain and hail, but it was the drive from hell and one that we still have not forgotten. Thanks Gail for relating this story, I am certain Roy and Joan are happier than ever about deciding not to go. I understand you previously owned a Triumph TR6, then a TR4 and now you own the car of Mel’s dreams, a 1967 British Racing Green Austin Healey. Mel, tell me how the Austin Healey became a member of your automobile collection.
Gail’s brother-in-law bought the Healey new and we actually cruised around town in the car in 1967. When the nephew turned 16 years of age, the brother-in-law gave him the Healey. The nephew pretty much trashed it. The car was eventually left in a horse pasture and literally had a tree growing through it. Many years later, when more financially able, the nephew had it professionally restored. The Healey had been restored about five years when we bought it, but only had 4,000 miles. Now, it has 22,000 miles. We truly enjoy the car with every drive!
Mel and Gail Parentin
A Puzzling Puzzle, By Creig Houghtaling
As an engineer, I can’t resist a good puzzle challenge. I am not a “game” type of person. I don’t like the element of luck required to win in most games. For example, most card games are games. With skill you might be able to win more games then you lose, but to win any individual game requires luck. Some games, no matter how you play you will lose. But there is one card game that with persistence can be won every time. Some of you might know the game of FreeCell. It is a standard game with most Microsoft computer operating systems. With this game, you can play the cards wrong and make it where you cannot continue. (IE, you lose.) But the computer allows you to play the exact same game again from the beginning. With patience, a person can eventually win. That is what I call a puzzle, more than a game.
Triumphs are a mechanical puzzle. If something does not work right, if you keep working at the problem, eventually you can find the solution. With patience and persistence, eventually the car can be running like new again. The fun part is working with other people who also enjoy the puzzle.
I have a Triumph puzzle I’d like to share here. Mike Mason has been having trouble with his TR6 engine running poorly. So I asked him to describe the problem that he had. Below is his description:
It
was running fine (but always very rich) before the teardown of the body. While
everything was out I had the valves redone, since there was a bit lower
compression on one cylinder with a burned valve.
I
diagnosed three problems with the carbs (Joe Curto said not to buy a lottery
ticket, since the probability of all three things going wrong was
astronomically low!) and fixed them. I
didn't redo the bottom of the engine or change the timing.
I
haven't done a compression check since putting it back together, but the dwell
and timing seem to right on. (I say
"seem to be" a lot lately, since I am beginning to doubt my
diagnostic abilities. I have always
been able to get everything else to run.)
Not it acts like it is running on about four or five cylinders. It is very hard to start and it doesn't want
to pull itself up a hill.
I
put in a Pertronix electronic ignition a couple of years ago and it only lasted
about six months. When I tried to put a
new one in, I got no spark at all. So
it is back to points.
Any ideas greatly appreciated. Kate and Nell are in tech week next week for the summer theater production, so no one will be around in the evenings. All my weekends in July are open, so any time you could get someone to come over, it would be great. Michael
If anyone would like to join in the quest for a solution to this puzzle, give Mike or myself a call or e-mail: Mike Mason: (636) 240-0757 katemike@charter.net - Creig Houghtaling 636-305-1143 or oldtoys@brick.net
Dues The following 2003 members have been dropped
from the roster for 2004. John Bickford,
Dale & Carol Boggs, Thomas M & Gayle T. Culbertson, Matt & Wendy
Finch, Larry & Sue Gipson, Kevin L. & Teresa Kenney, Sam Lawson,
Katherine Cuba/Michael Mason, Gary & Linda Mazzaola, David & Mary
Meadows, Patrick Michael & Anne Murphy, Tom & Maureen Neusel, James
& Jeanine Orr, Jerry L. & Margaret A. Sanders, Mark, Lucas & Ashley
Schmidt, Jerry & Mary Standley, Andrew Stark If you know of someone on this list who might have forgotten,
please let them know they can sign up again by putting a $20 check (made out to
SLTOA) in the mail today to Bonnie David, 500 Marie Drive, St. Charles, MO
63301-0500. If you have any questions,
call (636) 949-0825
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.
SLTOA Shirts, $25, Call Bonnie David for delivery to out next meeting. (636) 949-0825
1967 Austin Healey Sprite - red convertible, rebuilt engine, new gas tank, fuel pump, tires, timing chain, battery, and lots more! Professionally done. A great car. Call 314-713-9327 anytime and leave a message. Asking $4200. Thanks - Jeff Weintrop ('72 blue/white spit driver)
1974 Red Triumph TR6, in Peoria, Illinois Purchased in 1998, Weymouth, Massachusetts. Completely rebuilt and restored. It has a 1973 block, a new engine, transmission, oil, water and fuel pumps, 4 new tires and a new top. Needs very minor chipped paint touch up. All records of what has been done are available with it. We're asking $17,500, OBO. (309-674-8688 or email 4edmonds@ameritech.net)
76 Triumph Spitfire 1500 Green w/black top 71,927 miles Not running at present time - needs work $1500 Peggy Shores 636-527-8320
St.
Louis Triumph Owners Association
Creig Houghtaling, Editor
36 Copper Mountain Court
Fenton, MO 63026
