Well all, BCW 3 was a hollow victory for me. My GT6 which was garaged
last fall after that nasty vintage race accident (and also my only anywhere
near ready car) wihtout much hope of a return this summer. I feel that -
on my own - to have stripped it of the tub, blasted and re-prepped the frame
and flip front, and re-assembled it all into a sort of runnign beast inside
one month was a real feat and should get "some" credit.
That said, it's first highway voyage was back to the track, and it didn;t
like that at all. electrical fire ensuing, only the kill switch saved
thingsfrom getting very warm... I had not replaced the extinguisher and will
NEVER again leave ANYTHING unfused - even ifthe coimp book says to do so
because there is "no danger". Trust me, a 10 ga wire can create a lot of
heat and it cost me an Alpine pullout deck and some things near to it!.
I managed 1,000 miles before my tags expired, but by then the car was
handling like a sack of decomposed organic matter from the bovine family.
Diagnosis, a seized Koni at the front. Stripped the threads right of the
shaft and left me with 3 corners sticking to the pavement. No wonder. The
beast lived in my single car garae over the frigid Manitoba winter as I
tried in vain to keep things warm enough to do bodywork on the well-beaten
spare hood I had blasted.
After spending many hours reading auto shops texts on how to "properly" do
things like shrink metal,etc, I decided that this car should be a racer,
not a show car, and as such I was wasting my time. Well, that and my daily
driver was protesting about the outdoor treatment. Actually, it killed my
VW, but that's another story.
I hosted a TDC spring rally two weeks ago and had made my best efforts to
have the car running, at least, so I could save face with my fellow
clubbers. The dead short in the battery caused whenever, caused another
electrical fire. I connected the jumpers to the Honda and the TR and went
inside to get a coke. I return to find the cables - and the big brown wires
on the GT - puddling themselves into oxydized copper. So much for saving
face.
Since that battery was borrowed anyway, Dad replaced it. After taping back
the bare copper (so much for my 20 or so hours of re-hand wrapping the
previously bastardized harness) I heard the rumble of a well rested 2 liter
for the first time since October!
Now the fun. Assuming that I would not be licensing the car this summer, I
dug around and found a stock spare GT shock and substituted for the granaded
Koni. I removed the bald race rubber and refitted the 185/70 I normally
would run. Both front tires rub on the "new" bonnett and I can see I will
have some massaging to do to the fender arches as I suspected.
BUT I DID DRIVE THE CAR DOWN THE LANE, UNLICENSED AND ILLEGAL AS HELL, BUT I
DID PARTICIPATE!!!!
Now that I remember how bad the car is when it is not set up correctly, I
have more incentive to finish the mechanicals. Sadly it will come nowhere
near the VTR this summer due to finances more than time, but if plans gel, I
may trailer it to the other Portland. Y'know, it'll run sometime next
century.
I hope you all are enjoying your LBC 3 - you don;t know what you've got till
its gone.
Dave T
Winnipeg
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