Well folks I am back. For those of you that do not know me I am Andy Stark .
I first became involved with STLOA when I was just 17 years old 16 years ago
. Funny to realize that I have been fooling with these bastard little cars
this long . Well if you are wondering what I have been up to and why I am
back here it is . These are pictures of my 72 Gt-6 . It started out as a
$100.00 wreck I bought back in 1990. I had been trying to buy it since 1986
but the gas station it was sitting at would not let me know the name of the
owner . A notice from the city for the gas station to move its junk cars and
the dumb luck of working in the same building of the owners ex wife , I
bought it in July of 1990 . I did this when my first wife was out of town
visiting friends . I should say she was not happy with me doing this . She
did not realise that since I have been trying to buy the car since before I
knew her it was alright . That was my warped way of justifying my rusty new
toy . Well I firmly believe my divorce in 1995 started with the purchase of
that car .
Once I finally bought my little rusty Gt-6 I was in love . It had what the
Spit did not . A six cylinder engine !! The only thing I did not like about
a Spit was the wimpy little engine . Yes it could be made to run like Stink
but there was always the sacrafice of drivability . The six was different .
Power out of the hole , nice rpm's at cruise and one heck of a great sound
out of the tail pipe. Nothing sounds like a Triumph six !
It took me about a month to get the car running and stopping and safe enough
to drive . It really was a mess to start with . But once all of the basics
were worked out I started using it as my daily driver . Kept a tool box and
spares in the back and never really had any major problems with the car for
over a year .
Once a year was up the car started to have age problems . Mostly from
sitting so long at that gas station . The engine needed head work and new
bearings, the tranny was only three speeds , suspesion really did not exist
and the body really needed work . So I spent the winter of 1991 working all
of the big stuff out . By spring I had every thing done except the paint . I
drove it for the most part with until Sept.  1993 with little or no trouble
from it . Used it as my work horse while my 72 Spit lived the pampered life
. Well I sold the Spit and another that I restored in early 1993 . I used
the Gt-6 for every thing . Finally after buying a house in Sept. it gave out
on me . Apparently I put poor quality thrust washers in the engine when I
put bearings in it back in 1991 . Pulling into the driveway of my house the
engine quit with an abrupt thump ! That was it I did not drive it for over
two years after that . I drove my race car Spit for a couple of months then
bought a truck before I did serious damage to my ears. That is when I pretty
much dissapeared from the Triumph club scene . I tried several times to stay
active but just could not find the time . I still had Spits . I restored
three from 1993 to 1995 but it became more of a bussiness than a hobby . It
was not that fun . All the while the Gt-6 and the SpitAutocrosser sat in the
corner of the garage or barn or Hanger . Basically anywhere I could keep
them out of the weather .
Finally in the Summer of 1994 my wife and I had it with each other and we
split . This was a good thing for the Gt-6 . Instead of going out and being
a wild single divorced guy I locked myself in the garage and set about to
restoring my little red coupe . At that point who needed women . Well by the
Spring of 1996 I had it done . Out of my garage rolled a bright red Gt-6
that was darn near better than new . It could have been done a little
quicker but with limited funds I had to alot of the time barter and trade
labor to get the parts and supplies that were required to finish it . But it
was finally done after six and a half years .
Then I went about showing it and driving it . 1996 was one of the most fun
years I have ever had . My Gt-6 was a winner . Every show I entered it won a
trophy . At the Kansas show I thought it would be fun to run it on some old
race tires in the Autocross . That was good mistake . Once I ran it I
realised I was missing a big part of the hobby . I at one time autocrossed a
white Spit . But because of marriage , divorce and multiple job changes I
had all but forgotten racing . The Spit eventually died and donated parts to
multiple other cars .
Once I ran the GT-6 for fun I realised this is a pretty hot car . granted I
only had one serious racer to run against but he only beat me by a hundreth
of a second and his car was a fully prepared racer.
I only raced it once or twice a year on seven year old tires until the
winter of 1999-2000 . During that winter I decided that I was settled enough
to have the time and money to make the Gt-6 a racer . I made the decision
that this is what this car is meant to do and I was the nut to do it .
This was big job . The Gt was fine on small slow tracks but on larger faster
ones it was  beast to drive . That is why I had only raced a couple times a
year up to this point . The car was actually a bit scary at high speed . I
did alot of research and called alot of ex racers and found out what to do .
I completely reworked the suspension. I used all I found out and put some of
my shade tree elbow grease into it . I had to make alot of my own parts
because no one made alot of it any more . Come spring 2000 it was ready . I
had spent over 200hrs and around $3,000 dollars to make this car handle .
Handle it does . Once I got used to it I started beating cars in much faster
classes . By mid year I was getting to be the one to beat . This car was
really one heck of a great race car !! By years end I had gone undefeated in
my class and won a SCCA regional event . I also attended the SCCA nationals
and placed mid field . The car was actually better than the driver at the
nationals . First time jitters . So at years end I was the St. Louis Region
points champ and a regional winner .
Not bad for a 28 year old british rust bucket that almost died in a gas
station ten years earlier .
That is where I am at now . It is the beginning of 2001 and taking the year
off from racing so I can take the Gt-6 to the next level . Hopefully by next
spring I will have a Gt-6 out at Gateway International Raceway running
E-prodution .
It is good to be getting back to the club . Hope to see you all at the next
meeting .