Great report Baxter!!! Can we assume they bumped you to a higher class
because you were leading the pack for a while last year.
Sorry about your coolant/mechanical problems...
OK now...what is a Peerless Ambro....Peerless with Ambro body?
Below...further commentary from Kurt Oblinger (thanks again, Kurt):
Joe,
I did indeed neglect to mention Baxter Culver and the amazing Peyote Spl.,
probably because he is a regular at the races and the other cars were
something new and different. They pulled a dirty trick on him this time and
put him up a class and had him run with the Testa Rosas, D-Jags and Listers.
They were probably afraid he would stomp the RSKs and Spyders and that
wouldn't do since they were honoring Porsche. Brian Redman drove away from
everyone in the 2L sports class Baxter usually runs in but I am sure he
would have been in the top 5.
Cheers,
Kurt
Subject: Monterey Historics--Peyote Report
1998 Monterey Historics
Porsche's 50 Jahre Celebration brought out many wonderous
works--including
some German stuff. Really, the factory and museum brought out the
best
and did a good job displaying and running the artifacts. Porsche
folk
abounded and the crowds were larger than normal. Weather very
cooperative. I find it a hoot when a heavy German speaking person
is
crouched under the Peyote bonnet and, when asked, in German, are you
"German", he says, No, Swiss!". Truly an intenational event.
peyote once again disappointed. I should say it more accurately.
I must
have screwed it up during assembly cause it sure didn't work well at
all.
A couple of hours in the garage at various engine speeds, heat
cycles
and adjustments showed no sign of coolant loss problems. (That was
the
reason for the major engine rebuild) A delay in obtaining a new
exhaust
system, press of legislative business (the California Legislature
didn't
break for summer vacation as planned), and a crushing "honey-do"
list
relating to selling estate property left me with no time to check
out all
systems on the local chassis dyno. The result was, at Monterey,
another
episode of boiling under extreme pressure. But I did have some
fun,
anyway.
This year Peyote was grouped with the big dogs of the 50's. Ol'
Yeller
mk III, three Devin SS's, two D-Type Jag's, a couple of Lotus
15's
(one an admitted 2.5 ltr Climax), a 5.4 ltr. Lister-Corvette, a
Lister
Jag, a passle of Ferrari Testa-Rosa 250's, and Bob Akin's Cooper
Monaco
2.5 ltr. Oh, yeh, and the original Scarab Mk I, owned and driven
by Rob
Walton--he of family Wal-Mart.
In such company was the Peyote MkII supposed to run? Heh, heh!
On Friday, after setting up camp with all the observation deck,
flamingo
flags, ice chests, and bar-b-q, practice session began at a
moderate pace.
I took two laps at a reasonable speed, holding the revs under 5.5k
and
taking a bit of time between gear selection. First, I had to
remember the
track. One year had passed since my last event. Second, I had to
find
out if the engine was going to work at all--remember no time on the
dyno.
So, after two laps of leisurly warm-up, I found myself staring at
the
rather near rear end of Oll' Yeller III. Right in front of him
was a
D-Jag. They appeared to be having a go, as it is known. So, what
else,
I joined in. Yeller's brakes are frightening. When applied
vigourously, the entire car jumps about laterally. I later asked if
that
was known--yes it is just a quirk that Balchovskie tried to
eliminate in
Yeller IV. TheD-Jag could stay ahead between the turns but both
Yeller
and Peyote were able to close in the turns and had to back out to
keep from
scraping paint. So it went for several laps, Peyote left in the
dust on
the straight sections, tucked directly under Yeller's trunk from
Turn 2
thru 5 and again down thru the corkscrew through 11--where the
front
straight begins again. So it went for 5 laps.
I dove under Yeller at the entrance to T2, a decreasing radius 180o
and
was under the trunk of the D-Jag in the middle of T3 when he decided
to try
duplicating the Triumph reputation for fine tractor work in the
agricultural area immediately adjacent to our line of travel. I
could
not tighten my line without duplicating his move so I opted to swing
wide
around him to his outside--a path directly into what has become
known as
"kitty-litter". Somewhere in that cloud of dust and grit I recall
wondering where the wall really was. Thankfully, I didn't find it.
Instead, I gathered it up, gave the spectators a rooster tail or two
and
re-entered the paved surface. Whereupon I discovered the many
particles
of sand and K-Litter imbedded in my Dunlop Racers through T4 and T5.
All
in all, an exciting "opposite-lock" lap.
I then knew, however, that both the Yeller and D-Jag were fair game
and I
could run ahead of them if the opportunity arrived. At just that
moment
of knowledge, however, the catch tank started spewing forth 220o
water
and the flag was out for end of session.
The rest of the weekend was spent fiddling with settings, and
adjustments
and inconsequential stuff--none of which improved the cooling
problem,
only made it worse. Much worse!
So,Peyote started the race and was pitted by the end of the first
lap.
The Mk I Scarab won--probably only because Bob Akin didn't show up
to the
grid. The Lotus 15 of Don Orasco (the 2.5 liter model)
gave the
Scarab a run for it but retired early--interesting because Orasco
restored
the Scarab and has been very successful in it. (Orasco also runs
the
Scarab FI car--Offenhouser powered).
So, back to the drawing boards, I think, based on all of stuff
I tried
at the track, that i screwed up the cam-ignition timing. Since the
rear-main seal is seeping a bit, I have to take the engine back out
of the
car anyway, so another set of gaskets and check and recheck
everything and
it will then be ok! OK?
The Morgan, listed as a 1964 Morgan +4SLR is a very nice bit of
aluminum.
The shape is much like the early 240 Z cars of Datsun origin.
Also,
the TR-5 rebodied "Kastner Triumph 250" was a treat to see.
The
Wilburn Bros. had their Peerless Ambro there in the 2 ltr. class.
With
Peyote, which always causes some grins, Triumph was well
represented
(better than in past years)
Monterey is always a great weekend--one in which overload easily
occurs
even when the car works. There is so much to see and so many new
vehicles, displays and people. I would have preferred to have
played
with the big dogs (and bitten a couple) but the weekend was worth
it
anyway.
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