August 2010 - Okanagan British Car Club

The Exhaust
Newsletter of the
Okanagan British
Car Club
Box 346, Suite 101, 1865 Dilworth Drive, Kelowna B.C. V1Y 9T1
www.obcc.ca email obcc@obcc.ca
August 2010
volume eighteen issue #5
2010 RITV at Peachland
2010 RITV
The 2010 edition of RITV was held in one of the best setting we have ever had for this show. The
town of Peachland opened their park on the lake to us and the backdrop of Okanagan Lake made for
some spectacular views. Fortunately the weather reports were wrong again and the weather was
perfect. Not too hot and just a bit of a breeze with no sign of rain. There were 25 drivers who showed
up to display their cars, and although the non British members were invited, 23 of the cars were
British. Apparently there was a national sanctioned autocross event down at the coast so most of our
racing members were out of town.
It was nice to see some of the past presidents and previous members who showed up to display their
cars. There was no voting for any car but just by listening to the spectators I think Harvey Stocknow’s
Triumph Stag would have won best in show. The first reaction is always “what the hell is that” and
then everyone comments on the great paint job and the interior work. PP Hugh Simpson not only had
his Austin truck in the show, he donated his deck and several bottles of wine from the Duck & Pug for
our lunch. PP Kate Martin and Tom were there but driving something mundane since the TR8 was up
on the hoist for some sort of repair. Lunch was catered by the Carrot Top Café from Summerland and
they did their usual great job.
According to Bruce Stevenson the RITV organizer there were a total of 24 cars with four from Alberta
and two from the Vancouver area. Bruce has indicated that he is willing to put on a bigger and better
version next year in the same location.
Thanks to John Gallant for the report and the pictures. There are more pictures on the website.
LETTER FROM THE PREZ.
The TR6 RUNS!!! Perfect time to test drive your summer car, the last day of summer. A marriage of British
chassis and American grunt is time consuming. I’m looking forward to fall driving with a large grin!! The RITV
event went very well, lots of new to us cars. Some old members attended, and some new faces. 26 cars, 2
Healy’s, a Stag, a Morgan, 2 MGC's, a Rover 2000TC,a Super Seven, MGA, GT6, 2 TR8's, a Midget, MGB's,TR6's
a Honda, the Austin pickup. A large THANX to Hugh and Irene Simpson for their hospitality. Hugh is hosting a
new event/tour for us. The Ex Presidents Tour. We gather at the IGA in Peachland at 9:30 AM on Sept 25 for a
day tour south. We’ll have a good time!!! And once again Bring a Friend!! The Prez
SUN VALLEY CRUISE 2010
On August 6/7 the Sun Valley Cruise was held in Vernon. On the Saturday there was a poker run in
the morning followed by a BBQ and then there was a Show and Shine in downtown Vernon. Five
blocks of the main street were blocked off and around 100 cars were parked. Of course most of them
were American Muscle Cars and Hot Rods but there were a few British ones. From the Club Terry
Muir had his TR7, Al Auguston his V6 powered MGB and I had the Lotus Elan +2. There was also a
Standard sedan, a Sunbeam Tiger and a V8 powered Alpine.
On the Sunday the main show was held at Polson Park and had an even larger turnout. I had to work
so I don’t have many details but Lynn Fletcher was there with his Studebaker and mentioned seeing a
modified XKE.
Tom
UPCOMING EVENTS
September 10 – Friday – Tour to the Observatory at Big White – organized by Archie Christie –
inclement weather date is Friday 17
September 17, 18, 19 – Brits in the Sticks – this is a non club event in Tappan – for details contact
Chris Gill – cegill@gmail.ca
September 25 – Saturday – Ex Presidents Tour – led by Hugh Simpson – meet at the IGA in Peachland
at 9:30 AM for a tour south to the model railway in Osoyoos – this will be the Club meeting for
September – RSVP to Lynn Fletcher at lynn_fletch@hotmail.com
October - possible tour to Ken Helms in Keremos on Oct 17 – meeting date and location TBA
DIRTY AIR 4
Gordo
One of the drivers for Colin Hine Racing was Gord Cullen. Gord had been a real prospect for
professional hockey until he blew out a knee. He was about 5’11” and around 200 pounds. It was
always fun watching Gord insert himself into a Formula Ford; of course he ended up with a huge
weight penalty. At a FF race at Quebec City Gord was running in practice and his lap times were right
at the top of the chart and then his times started to slip. This was Gord’s first time at Quebec and so he
stayed on track as long as possible. I happened to be in Gord’s pit at the end of the session. When he
came in he said that his brakes had started to go away. The boys took Gord’s car back to the truck, put
it on jack stands and pulled the wheels. It looked like several pounds of brake dust dropped from each
wheel. The brake problems were revealed. The brake pads on all four corners were totally worn away.
There was no material at all left and the backing plates had machined 1/8” deep grooves in the rotors.
No wonder the brakes felt bad it was metal to metal. Gord was one strong boy! Of course, brawn over
brains cost him almost $1000 for all new rotors and harder pads. Drivers! The next day Gord finished
2nd in the race.
Another example of Gord’s strength; working on Formula Fords they are normally set up on a pair low
trestles. The common way to accomplish this is for 2 mechanics lift on the front corners and a 3rd
mechanic places a trestle under the car at the mid point, then the 2 push down on the front which raises
the back. The 3rd then places a trestle under the gearbox. The 2 at the front lift again and the 3rd moves
the 1st trestle front the center to the front of the frame. With Gord as the driver he would do all the
lifting. He could quite easily lift the front by himself so it took only one mechanic and Gord to raise
the car. At least drivers are good for something.
Can Am at Le Circuit – Brian Redman
The 2nd edition of the Can Am which was single seaters, having been converted from Formula 5000
cars came to Le Circuit at Mont Tremblant along with Trans Am series. This 1977 and was the first
time that big race cars had been to the track in many years, back to the days of the original Can Am
and Trans Am series.
On the Friday practice the Trans Am cars went out first and other then a couple spins all went well.
Then Can Am cars went out. They made a couple of exploratory laps, as few of the drivers had any
experience on this very fast and difficult track and then they started to turn up the wick. Le Circuit has
a very long back straight which climbs from the lowest point of the track. The elevation change is
gradual for the first part then start to climb seriously. At the point where the grade changes there is a
hump in the track. This is known as Dibblee Dip, named after Hugh Dibblee who competed in the
original Can Am and had a serious crash at this point.
I was in Race Control when a call came from the marshal station that Elliot Forbes Robinson’s Lola
car had taken flight at the hump, the nose had gone up, the car had left the ground, going almost
vertical and then it had crashed back down landing on the back wheels and exhaust and then falling
forward on to it’s wheels and slid off the track. The track was red flagged while the car was towed
back to the pits. Sure enough the back wing was destroyed, the 2 exhaust pipes were completely
flattened and both back tires were flattened with one of the wheels shattered. EFR was not sure what
had happened but thought maybe one of the rear tires had blown. The track was cleaned and the
session was restarted. A couple of laps later Brian Redman who was driving for Team VDS took flight
at the hump. Brian was not as lucky as EFR. This time the car flipped completely over landing upside
down on the track and sliding off into the grass. At this point Brian’s luck changed for the better. The
lead marshal at the flag station was guy named Frank Rodriques who was one of the best in Canada.
Frank ran to the car and managed to crawl under it. The roll bar had collapsed and there was very little
room. Frank realized that during the slide across the grass Brian’s visor had been ripped off and the
opening in his helmet was filled with grass and dirt. Frank managed to clear enough dirt out so that
Brian was able to breath. Frank then stayed with Brian stabilizing him in the cockpit while the rest of
the emergency personnel gently turned the car back over so that Brian could be removed and placed in
the ambulance. Brian had broken a leg and smashed one of his shoulders. He had also cracked his
sternum and several ribs. The Doctor at the track stabilized Brian and then he was transported to a
hospital in Montreal. The ride to hospital had its moments as the ambulance blew a tire and a 2nd
ambulance had to finish the trip. Brian made a complete recovery and returned to International racing
the next year.
That was the end of Can Am for the day. Overnight the organizers built a chicane of old tires banded
together. This slowed the cars enough at the hump so that there no further low flying race cars. The
chicane worked fine for Can Am but the Trans Am race was another matter and another story.
The Can Am and the Trans Am were run under SCCA jurisdiction and so had their own SCCA
scrutineers. The Chief SCCA official was John Timanus and since we had worked together many
times over the years I was his assistant and helped do the accident investigation and report. The root
cause was the hump on the track that was not suitable for flat bottom cars. This should have been
noticed during the SCCA track inspection. The collapse of the roll bar was very serious. One side had
bent but was still attached, the other side, the weld between the bar and the chassis had failed. There
was less than perfect penetration, a cold weld in other words. As a result of this accident all the Lola
T333 chassis had have all the welds associated with the roll bar Magnafluxed and certified before the
next race. According to John they found at least one other faulty weld. I am sure that some English
fabricator at Lola had some explaining to do.
1977 MGB ROADSTER restomod
$24000 0BO
This is a rust free California car that has been completely disassembled and restored. It was in storage from 1991 until
its restoration began in 2004. It presently has less than 47,000 miles on the odometer and 3,000 miles since restoration.
In 2006 prior to completion, it finished 2nd in the modified class in the Okanagan British Car Club - Rally in the Valley
car show.
This is not a ‘correct’ MGB. It has been lowered and substantially modified and improved upon to bring it into the 21st
century in terms of both reliability and; more importantly, performance. It is a rocket!!
Listed below is an overview of the changes that have been made to the car;
- the engine is a 2.8-liter Ford V6 that has been bored .030 over and completely rebuilt with all new parts. It has been
balanced and has a street cam. The original manifolds have been port matched, internally polished and machined to fit
tight to the block. The heads have pocketed oversized valves. It produces in the range of 170 + horsepower; the car
weighs slightly more than 2000 lbs.
- the transmission is from a 1990 mustang (world class T-5). The differential is from an MGC (3.08:1 ratio). This
combination results in a seventy MPH cruise speed at slightly less than 2000 RPM in 5th gear.
Following is a partial list of the parts used during the restoration;
new interior panels, new carpeting and leather seats, full sunfast tonneau cover and new sunfast convertible top,
carpeted and detailed trunk, fresh base/clear paint (2008), new prothane suspension bushings and 550 rate front springs,
front and rear stabilizers, new door and window seals, brakes completely rebuilt, ‘special tuning’ front air dam, rebuilt
radiator and heater core, Pioneer radio with remote and power antenna, new battery, new alternator, rebuilt starter,
rebuilt carburetor, new dual exhaust system, new front and rear wheel bearings, new Michelin ‘hydro edge’ tires,
vintage American racing mags, early MGB tail lights, custom steering wheel, new driving lights and much, much
more!
The car comes with a spare unmodified Ford V-6 engine, the original MGB 4.10:1 differential and numerous other
Ford power train parts. A photo CD of the work done in the restoration and modifications is included.
Contact Al at daaugie@shaw.ca for further information and more photos.
Meetings are held the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7:00 PM. Check our web site for locations as
we drive to a different venue each month.
Executive
President
P. President
V President
Treasurer
Secretary
Lynn Fletcher
Bill Sinclair
Rick Appleby
Doug Long
Tom Wimperis
250-494-1699
250-868-0408
250-764-7386
250-764-8801
250-545-6694
South
Central
North
Directors
Ken Barron
Heinz Smirmaul
Chris Palmer
Bruce Stevenson
Nick Ciupka
Terry Muir
250-490-3012
250-494-5487
250-492-2250
250-868-3693
250-542-9772
250 -542-0437
Coordinators
Events
Archie Christie
250-762-5623
Web Page
Membership
Autocross
John Gallant
Andy McDonald
Bruce Stevenson
Mat Scaife
Brian Fleeton
250-549-2182
250-765-2533
250-868-3693
250-717-6784
250-764-5177
Communication
You can contact any executive or board member by
email at obcc@obcc.ca. or by the listed phone numbers.
.
From the Editor:
Thanks to John Gallant for the report on the
RITV. The newsletter needs input from the
membership. Send any submissions to
vuzapu@shaw.ca