Woohoo! Garagmahal on the way

Things have been quiet as I have been planning my new garage/workshop. Rags has been dormant in a lock-up in town as I have no place to store it and work on it. But that will change with the new garagmahal. Stay tuned as we build this monument, and Rags will have a new home.

"JR" comes home

Here is the new truck. Good for hauling us through the mountains, hauling us out of snow, and hauling the Triumph. Picked up today a 2008 Chevy 2500HD Silverado 4x4, with 6.6L Duramax diesel and 6-speed Allison transmission.

We have decided to call it "JR", after my folks Jack and Rona. Maybe it also stands for "JR Ewing", from the 80's TV series "Dallas", about Texas oilmen. JR will certainly be keeping the oil industry going.

Here it is at the dealer in Socorro, NM. Looks clean, eh?

Big smile from the captain's chair.

Heading home to the Magdalenas. Still looks clean, eh?

Uh-oh, here we are at home. It was a warm day and what is left of the snow is melting leaving the dirt roads muddy.


The happy couple in their new truck. Don't they look sweet?


Here is a picture of Pam by the monster. Maybe next I'll buy an elevator for her.

At home in Magdalena, New Mexico

Yeah, yeah, I know, the rear camber has not been set. It's task #337 of about 5,000 or so more jobs to finish. One step at a time though, eh?

A word about lousy vendors

When I wrote the previous post, I thought about how long it has taken me to build the brakes. Some folks have been extraordinarily helpful, while some folk are downright thieves. Let me discuss one of the crooks.

Chris at Performance Research Industries (www.prirace.com) in Sutherlin, OR, is one of them. 3 years ago I gave him a $500 deposit for him to complete the development of the "big brake kit" for TR6 that he had been advertising on his website. 12 months later, nothing had materialized, though I had been phoning every 2 months for a status update. After 12 months, I asked for my deposit back, which he refused to return. When I tried to get the money back through my credit card company, Visa was useless as they offer only 6 months protection.

I have heard many others complain about PRIRACE. Avoid this jerk.

Nearly there.
Here are some pictures of where we stand today. I am still working on the brakes and electrics, but aside from the other zillion little jobs that need to be done, when those two larger jobs are completed the car will be ready for tech inspection and the road.

Here is an old video of Lenny Renkenberger straightening my alloy Surrey top, using another TR6 as a jig. No, this was not my car (though I used to joke with folk that this is how Rags started out). The Surrey top is an original alloy piece, that had been run over by a car - a common occurance when TR4 owners would put the top on of a night and forget to latch it down.

New little toy

OSSA road racer, first startup in many years. AFAICS, it is a 1973 250 Stilleto 5-speed stuffed into a 175 Wildfire chassis. Early Honda CB350 brakes. Frankenstein's motorcycle. This should be fun. Last raced on the west coast in 1989.

Fuel Safe

This was completed last year, but I'd not posted any pictures of it. You can see the 15 gallon Fuel Safe, fuel filter and pump. At some stage in the future I'd like to use braided lines, but the rubber hoses look workmanlike for now.

What you don't see is the impact switch which cuts power to the pump in an emergency. It works as a great ant-theft device as a slap with a hand in the appropriate place trips the switch disabling the pump until I reset it.

The drilled brace supporting the pump (on rubber blocks to cut down on noise from vibration) and filter saves a couple of ounces in weight; big deal. But it's intimidation factor to the competition is palpable. :)

Wilwood Calipers

Recent updates include Wilwood Forged Billet Superlite calipers and 11.75" vented rotors.To fit the Southwick alloy hub and uprated axle, a custom hat had to be made. This combo weighs exactly the same as the stock hub/caliper/hat set-up, so I am not adding to unsprung weight.

You can also see the 1" hollow sway bar. It is currently set to it's stiffest setting, and is easily adjusted by screwing out the bolt through the lower rod-end. Clearly it awaits track time for tuning, so I figured I will start at the stiffest setting and softening as required. Spring are pretty soft at 420 lbs/in. They are also suprisingly tall. These springs were on the car before it went on it's diet, and the car sat very low. I've dumped so much weight that the ride height is now an inch higher, almost stock.

Now I know why parts are often labelled "For Racing Use Only"; it's just another way of saying "Guaranteed Not To Fit"!