[Fot] Thanks For The Memories

Wed Sep 18 20:35:04 MDT 2013

Bravo Barry :). 

From: barry at penybryn.ca
To: fot at autox.team.net
Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 19:28:31 -0600
Subject: [Fot] Thanks For The Memories

 Amici – For the past two years there’s been a yellow sticky attached to the wall at eye level that I see every time that I sit at my desk, it says “Kastner Cup – Road America – Elkhart Lake – Sept. 04-08, 2013, Leave 0600 Sept. 01” This is a very condensed version of the trip of a derelict primrose ( yes Bobby, I call it puke yellow for similar reasons that you do) yellow 1959 TR3A rescued from a barn in New Mexico to a participant in the Kastner Cup. This is also a story of a trip that many of you have been on or are currently on. Every Triumph on the grid for that race has a similar story – one based on blood, sweat, tears, persistence, dedication, commitment to history and tradition, the odd bit of colorful language and above all laughter. And help from your friends. I call Barney (my family named it and it has kinda stuck) the FOT Triumph because every single aspect of the build process has been based on advice, help, and direction from this group. Right from the getgo Barney had to serve and number of functions which dictated the overall direction of the build process – he had to be competent enough to participate in a Kastner Cup race but he also had to be able to take my girl (long suffering wife of 45 years) out on a date. As of today he has accomplished both goals. Joe Alexander introduced me to FOT and I need to thank my friend for that. The build process took me through Kas’ four books, Uncle Jack’s engine building tips, Tony Drews advice on rear end ratios, gearbox selection and the do’s and don’ts of surviving Road America, Dave Hogue’s pictures of how to setup and plumb in an oil cooler, etc. Barney showed up at Road America with exactly 45 minutes of run time for a shake down with same amount of time for the driver in an open car where your elbows are barely a foot off the pavement. Gees that took some getting use to…. As a testament to the quality of the advice that went into the build process, Barney ran 4 half hour sessions on Thursday, 2 half hour practice sessions on Friday, a qualifying session and 2 races on Saturday, one wet, and 2 races on Sunday. And a trip into Elkhart Lake for the re-enactment of the 1950’s race. The wheels were off Thursday night to do a complete bolt and brake check and other than fluid checks, wheel nut torques and tire pressure checks it was a race experience that one can only dream of. Barney turned a best lap of 3:14. Road America – Impressions of a western Canadian prairie boy who’s previous definition of an elevation change was an 8 degree banked turn. 14 turns over 4 miles where all the hype coming in was how to handle, or more appropriately, how not to handle the kink. Well from my humble seat the following characteristics of the race course more than got my attention - the downhill braking into turn 3 which turned out to be a decreasing radius turn on exit, braking from over 100 mph for downhill entry into Turn 5, the blind uphill under bridge acute left entry for the Turn 6, the 4th gear right hand turn 7- my personal goal for the weekend was to be able to take the turn flat in 4th (never made it), another fast downhill heavy braking entry to the acute left hand turn 8, followed by the carousel which actually a sweeping downhill 180 deg, turn followed by the kink and a very high speed ( for me over 100 mph) heavy braking entry to Canada Corner. From a grassroots racers perspective what a challenge and what an absolute euphoric experience when you  get it right. It is my sincere hope that all racers get a chance to experience it. Visions that I will remember:-        20+ Triumphs all under one roof;-        At any one time over the 4 days half of them up on jack stands with parts and bodies lying all over the place;-        Everybody helping everybody;-        Sharing a garage stall with Ken Knight – as a total package, well done man;-        The infectiousness of Mike and Becky Moore;-        Chuck Arnold to see a smile on his face at the end of a weekend from hell;-        Chris Marx gently telling me, after a particularly challenging practice session – use the whole road you’ve paid for it;-        The center 2 stalls of the garage plum full of cases of wine;-        My friend Bryan Kemper perched on the roll bar, clutching the dash handle, ball cap on backwards as we blasted down the old road course around Elkhart Lake at 60 mph;-        Joe Alexander walking towards me when we arrived on Wed. pm with 2 weber heat shields and a huge hug;-        Starting 18th on the grid for the Kastner Cup. For the gear heads here’s what’s in Barney:-        89 mm Wiecso pistons, LA liners, h-beam rods, stock nitirded crank, 270 deg. Cam, roller rockers with alloy pedestals,10:1 compression, 45 DCOE webers, aluminum 3 row rad with electric fan;-        Complete TR6 front end, alloy hubs, adjustable heim jointed upper a-arms, 16P calipers, slotted and drilled rotors, Porterfield R4-1 pads, Wilwood 600 brake fluid;-        TR6 J-type overdrive transmission, Redline MTL-        Southwick axel conversion, 4.11 rear gears, Quaife LSD, finned aluminum rear drums;-        Pretty much stock…….. Thanks for the memories Amici.Barry.            
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