Joe mentions something very important here! Bob, after his engine blew
and he got the car off the track, made an extraordinary effort to warn
the other drivers from the side of the track that there was an oil and
debris field by signaling them to move to the off side. It's likely his
actions saved other racers in his session from additional mishaps and
potential injury. My hat's off to Bob! His concern for his fellow racers
is what Vintage Racing is all about.
The teamwork that weekend among the Triumph racers was of the highest
caliber with everyone assisting where they could when a need developed.
This has been noted to me in e-mailed comments I have received from some
of the spectators of the event. Impressive was a common term used.
My compliments to you all.
Russ Moore
Spitfire #49
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-fot@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-fot@autox.team.net]On
Behalf Of N197TR4@cs.com
Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2003 10:16 AM
To: BillDentin@aol.com; rkramer3@austin.rr.com; fot@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Post mortem on my see thru engine
Yes, there was a large flash fire out the back. I saw a few flaming
parts
scatter out the bottom, thinking they may be pieces of exhaust wrap or
something,
not large pieces of aging cast iron.
Then I felt my car skew just a bit.
Bob made like a debris flag, from the side of the track, for a few laps
while
we figured out there was some Triumph Roadkill on the track.
> In a message dated 07/07/2003 10:35:35 PM Central Daylight Time,
> rkramer3@austin.rr.com writes:
>
>
> > For those that weren't there, I had the misfortune of breaking a rod
in
> > turn
> > one at Mosport. The guys behind me tell a story of a couple of
fireballs
> and
> > parts flying about. It's a sad tale. I tore the engine down to the
short
> > block
> > tonight in situ. The number 3 rod broke at the oiling hole at about
6000
> > rpm,
> > ventilating the block on both sides. No signs of heat damage or spun
> > bearings.
> > The piston did not hit the head as the rod cracked the liner all the
way to
> > the top and the piston wedged itself in place. The blowup removed
the oil
> > galley and I think the instantaneous loss of oil pressure may have
saved
> > some
> > parts by keeping metal particles from the oilways. The rod was a
stock TR
> > rod
> > that was magnafluxed, lightened and polished. The big end still
spins
> > perfectly on the crank and the small end is just as free on the
remains of
> > the
> > piston. I'm hoping the crank is OK, but I'm not sure. It appears to
me that
> > the rod broke, caught the camshaft and broke it, then took out one
side of
> > the
> > block and rebounded to take out the other. Anyhow, that's my tale of
woe.
> >
>
> Amici:
>
> On purpose, or not, Bob Kramer choose to have this incident occur
> immediately
> across from the TRIUMPH Competition Paddock, which was just down the
road
> from Turn ONE. It was spectacular. To say, "...a couple of fire
balls" is
> just
> not very descriptive. For about three seconds, the entire bottom of
the
> car,
> and thirty feet to the rear was engulfed in flame. Too bad someone
did not
> catch this on tape, as it was SPECTACULAR. Bob was sharing a stall in
my
> tent
> for the week end. So we had lots of visitors rushing down to see the
red
> TR4
> with holes in both sides of the block. All but Kas, that is. Kas
didn't
> rush
> down to see it. He said, "I've seen these holes before!" Bob's got a
great
> attitude, and his enthusiasm was not diminished.
>
> Bill Dentinger
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