Good for you!! Sounds like you have all the most importnt good bits
in the car. Have a great time with it.
On Sep 21, 2006, at 5:18 PM, Tim Murphy wrote:
> Seven years after dragging it out of a pole barn in Sheboygan, WI,
> where it
> had sat for 15 years, and 4-1/2 years after starting to work on it
> in earnest
> and about a man-year each in labor for my partner (son Ryan) and I
> we got 1961
> TR-4 CT511 back on a race track at Blackhawk Farms Raceway last
> weekend. The
> event was the Midwestern Council of Sports Car Clubs (MCSCC)
> Drivers School
> which I entered and for which Ryan crewed. There were 6 practice
> sessions and
> a 5 lap student race on Saturday. We didn't do the Vintage/Historic
> race on
> Sunday as we were both beat and the car had some cooling, brake and
> tire
> issues. But we did make all 7 sessions on Saturday and I successfully
> completed the school which was our goal. Overall the car ran well.
>
> We think the car was raced from new and the almost total lack of
> rust on body
> and frame when we got it seems to bear that out. We do not have any
> documentation from 1961 to 1981 but we do have a MCSCC log book for
> the car
> which shows that it was raced at Elkhart Lake and Blackhawk from
> 1981 to 1984
> when it was sold to a gentleman in Elkhart Lake who stored it in
> the pole barn
> until we bought it in the Fall of 1999. (MCSCC used this log book
> at the tech
> inspection last weekend after assigning a new number to it.) That
> it was raced
> for over 20 years was evident by the hard life it led. We found
> that it was
> pretty beat up when we got into it. It was pretty rough and not
> exactly
> meticulously maintained. The brake pads were held in by large nails
> that were
> bent over at the ends. That's pretty indicative of how the whole
> car was. We
> had thought we would just do some cosmetic clean up and bring it up
> to current
> regulations and go. Wrong!! Probably a pretty typical restoration
> project in
> hindsight.
>
> We now have the Southwick rear axle, front aluminum hubs and light
> weight
> steel flywheel as well as the Mark Weathers front axles, Ken
> Gilanders damper,
> small belt pulley and water pump kit and Justin Wagner's valve
> cover gasket. I
> mention this because none of this would have been possible had I
> not had the
> privilege to belong to FOT. Without this group we'd still be
> fumbling our way
> around trying to restore the car. And when we got it done it
> probably wouldn't
> have worked very well or for very long.
>
> Thanks to all of you who have offered advice and encouragement,
> both on line
> and off line, over the years. You made it possible. Special thanks
> to Bill
> "Damdinger" for nominating me to the group about 7 years ago. And a
> very
> special thanks to Tony Drews and Uncle Jack. We've been pestering
> them with
> questions off list for at least 5 years and they have always
> graciously,
> kindly and promptly answered our questions.
>
> Ryan and I are looking forward to the next phase, learning how to
> drive, run
> and maintain the car. We found out last weekend just how much we
> have to
> learn, especially me.
>
> Thanks again, this is one heck of a group. And I really like the
> rules too -
> none!!
>
> Tim and Ryan Murphy
>
> "Murphy's Law" Racing Team
>
> 1961 TR-4 CT511
>
>
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