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Note the New
Meeting
Location for
June
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WHATZIS?
Answer to last month's whatzis: Rolls 1920 armored car
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At the April meeting we had only nine of the
faithful in attendance, and in May that number was
reduced to six. Where did everybody go? Is it
vacationtime for most? Is the Miller'sLake House
venue too hot, too buggy,too remote? Are people
becoming less interested in the club meetings?
A lot of questions which we will try to find the
answers to. For starters, we are going to the idea
we tried a while back, that of holding the meetings
at a local restaurant. For the June meeting we will
be at Los Compadres, located at 2102 West
Pensacola. In the July issue we will include a
questionnaire to allow you to voice your preferences as to just what you want the club to offer.
~I
Temple of Triumph Meeting Minutes,
May 10, 2000
Most Exalted High Potentate Joe Carter called the meeting to order at 8:00 p.m. whereupon we unanimouslyvoted
to accept the minutes of the last meeting as published in
the last edition of The Temple Tablet.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Baker reported
that our coffers held the impressive sum of$1653.59. She
further reported that the joint event, British Car & Bike
Day at Pebble Hill, that we co-hosted with Big Bend MGs
raised $227.00for Hospice. The Boy ScoutTroopmade
$120.00 selling us hamburgers and hotdogs.
We rapidly moved along to OLD BUSINESS. We thoroughly discussed the answer to last months trivia quiz & if
you missed the meeting, you may never know "why the
new Ford Mustang Cobra R mightbe a loser in autocross?"
Those of us who braved the heat & were locked out of our
meeting place once again will never part with the secret.
[ Editor's Note: In deference to those Temple members
who live out of state, we are publishingthe answer to the
"Tricky Question" in this issue; however, those of you
who could have attended our last meeting but didn't, are
expressly forbidden ITomreading that answer!]
~
With attendance at a low six British-C41rNuts-we-quickly' .~
shifted gears and moved on to the NEW BUSINESS. Attendance waning was our topic du jour. Suggestions ranged
ITom rotating the meeting site to various people's garages,
to sending out a questionnaire to see why no one seems to
remember to show up, to switching to a restaurant for a
Calendar
S.C.C.A. SEDIV Solo 2
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This event has been cancelled for June 9-11, due
to the planned venue being used to stage
firefightingequipmentto cope with the threatsand
realities of fires in the Lake City area.
2
dinner meeting, to inviting people who we see driving or
tinkering with old British cars along the side of the road
(after all, these are British cars!), to planning some short
runs for breakfast or lunch or dinnerperhaps once a month,
to accosting any and every one that we know & strongarming them into attending. Our current tactic of bribery
with promises of liquid reITeshmentis not working.
Recruitment of new members & retaining old ones is
definitely high on our priority list. To that end, we decided to meet at a restaurant next month. We wil~gather
at Los Compadres Mexican Restaurant at 6:30 p.m. for
dinner with the meeting to commence at 7:30 p.m. We are
still banking on the promise of liquid refreshment ...as
they have awesome margaritas there along with access to
beer which seems to be the "official beverage" of this illustrious organization. We all agreed to think about questions for a "survey/questionnaire" and bring them to the
next meeting in hopes that more people will attend.' News
of note was that Jody sold his TR-6 & Brian has not been
seen autocrossing for several months. Maybe they will
show up at the next meeting & tell us "the rest of the
story "
With"rio filrt~r"'15asihess O'F'Iiquid libations available
1-- -----
for consumption,the meetingwas adjournedat 8:40p.m.
Triumphantly Yours,
Terry Hamrick, Scribe
of Events
Temple Beach Party
Chris and lK.'s Beach House
Date and details to be announced
.
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Tricky Question
Answered
The question in April was: "Whydo you think the
new F9rd Mustang Cobra R (without modification)
might be a loser in Solo II?'" A hint was given, to
look on page 67 of April'sRoad & Track which tested
the new car. Below is the revealing portion of the
picture on that page.
The British Military
Mind
Nevil Shute, author of "On the Beach" has written
many accounts of the various strategies and ploys attempted by the Allies during World War II. Perhaps
one of the most interesting(and funny) stratagems employed reallygivesa peek intothe uniquelyBritish way
of thinking:
The German V-I buzz bombs were terrorizing London. Citizens would hear the awful sound of the pilotless bombs as they droned above. Then suddenly the
sound would stop, and they knew the bomb, having
spent its fuel, would dive to the ground nearby to explode.
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'dn,..k
the
wa',,' ;,ft.
Thos~.side-exittwin pipes on either side put out a
lot of pressure. Enough to blow a cone down? I emailed that question to autox.team.net and the answers were divided, but the majority said yes, they
had seen such an incident with other cars. Mark Sipe
saw it happen to a Viper at the Petersburg ProSolo,
and Bryan Williamshad seen a video of Turbo Toddie
Farris where he was penalized for a cone, yet the car
never touched it..only the exhaust gas. Phil Currin
modified the pipes on his '68 'Vettewhen they were
blowing cones over. All those that responded agreed
that the 2-second penalty would still be charged
against the driver even though there was no actual
contact with the car.
So... there was no winner from the Temple! I will
get to keep my quart of oiL..which is perhaps for the
best since my Spitfire won the Exxon Valdez award.
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With no technology to actually make it a guided
missile, the Germans relied on the simple method of
launching it towards England with just enough fuel to
make it there before it careened to the ground. Not
very accurate, but perhaps the very randomness of it
was even more unnerving to the British, and the psychological impact ofthe buzz bomb was awful. It was
time for Britain to retaliate in kind!
One afternoon a German soldier was wandering
through a field outside of Berlin when he spotted what
lookedlikea wingedbomb...almostlikethe buzzbomb,
but with the British flag painted on the side. It had
apparentlybeen a dud since it seemed fairly intact. He
rushed to his headquarters with the news and soon
Germany'stop bomb expertswere on the sceneto study
this weapon. Oddly,it had a small plastic window near
the front! Theycarefullyopenedthe singleaccesspanel
and found the following: There were tiny piloting levers in the compartment behind the window, pigeon
(now dead of course), and an small aerial map ofGermany, with an "X" over Berlin. An English joke?
Perhaps, but one that would keep the Germans wondering for quite some time.
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A Spitfire Camber
Compensator
By Andy Prevelig
1970 and earlier Spitfires are great little cars with
one serious failing: their rear suspension. The swing
axles/transverse leafspring system is fme for street driving, but is treacherous in autocross. When you make a
hard turn the inside rear lifts and the wheel tucks under,
givingyou extreme positive camber. When the car settles
back, that wheel takes a car-length or two of movement
before it spirals back to its nomial camber. Now if the
car goes through a tight slalom or hard right-left turn for
example, that wheel doesn't come back to normal camber and is now the loaded wheel as the other rear wheel
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",tucksunder~to0.,4Wh~you get is.severeand.unmediate
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oversteer... no warning - just a pirouette as the back
end breaks loose 1
I tri~d limiting the dista..1Jcethe. unloaded wheel could
drop by installing a cable from top to bottom on each
rear shock. This gave me great negative camber and
vituallynotuck-under,buttheunloadedwheelwouldlift
in each corner. Withno limited-slipdifferential,I was
gettingnopowerto theasphaltuntilthecar settledagain
(notthe best situationfor lowautocrosstimes).
I could swap the rear leafspring system for a later
Spitfiremodel,butthosesystemshada pivotingleafspring
which reduced roll stiffness. What was needed was a
systemthat onlyallowedthe unloadedwheelto qropas
much as the loaded wheel rose... a sort of see-sawarrangement. Youcan buy such a system which uses a
heavysteel bar connected to each radius arm and pivoted at a bracketthat attachesto.yourdifferential. But
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that puts stress on the differential housing, reduces ground
clearance and can interfere with some exhaust systems.
The ideal systemuses the see-sawprinciple also,but
employsa pulleyarrangementto linkeachaxle. Intheory
on a smooth autocrosssurface,the cablewill alwaysbe
in tension as one axle moves downandthe othermoves
up... but on uneven surfaces if one wheel is unaffected
and the other ridesover a bump,there willbe a momentary slackeningofthe cable. Youthus needsomewayto
keep the cableon the pulleysevenwhenit is slack.
I boughttwo snatch-blocks;the kind ofpulley-blocks
usedto makehoists,ITomNorthernmailorder(itemnum~
ber 14296-CI46). The pulleys available locally were
thosetinycastingswitha smallpin/rivetasanaxleandno
weightcapacityindicated. The snatch-blocksfgot ITom
Northern are rated at 4,000 lbs...a bit of overkill, but I
wanted pulleys with a large diameter axle. The blocks
came with a heavy-duty hook (not used) and two side
platesofl/4" steel. Boththe pulleyandthehookrodeon
1/2"axles that were cottered to the side plates for easy
removal. TwoHome Depot 1"pulleyswerepurchased,
'.>y buFonlyas'%pacers'f~"ShbWn
below
The hubs were
drilled out to fit 1/4"threaded shafts. These pulleysdo
not turn, but act as keepers to ensure the cable doesn't
comeoffthe workingpulleys.
1/4.
THREADED
SHAFT
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BOLT
Use 3/16" steel cable with a thimble and clamps at
eachend. Thethimbleslipsoverthe lowershockmountingshaftontheverticalmemberbeforetheshockisadded.
Fromthere,the cablegoesup betweenthetwopulleysin
the block, across the rear ofthe transverse leafspring,
and through the other pulleysdownto the other shock
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shaft. The pulley assembly mounts on a 5" bolt which
replaces the original bolt on the top shock bracket. You
may have to shim the 1/2"bolt to get a good fit through
the upper shock bushing. Make this from a small length
ofEW (conduit) ,with a 3/8" section removed along its
length to reduce the diameter. A consideration in selecting the small pulley is that its width should be slightly
bigger than the large Northern pulley so that when the
side plates are'held tightly against it, the large pulley can
turn freely; barring this, you can use washers.
Assemblyof the pulleyblock is a matter of inserting
the 1/4"threaded shaftthroughthe side plates withthe
smallpulleyin"between,heldbyflatwashers,lockwashers and nuts. Note thatthe 1/4"shaftallowsfor adjustmentin the 1/2"holesinth~sideplates. Movethesmall
pulleyasclosem;youcanto the largepulleybefore[mal
tightening. The5"boItisinsertedthroughtheremaining
holesofthesideplateswiththelargepulleyinbetween.
Based on whatbrand of rear shockyou have, you may
haveto grinda flat spotalongthe loweredgeof one side
plateto allowtheblockassemblyto fit abovethe shock
tube shoulder and against the bracket. Trial fit the
assembly onto the top
shock bracket, add the
nut and snug this up
against'"the bracket.
Mark both the nut
location and the far
side plate position on
the bolt. With the assembly off the bracket,
0011118"hole~through
the nut and bolt, and
through the bolt at the
locationof the far side
plate.Corlerpinsthrough
thesewillholdeverything
in place.
The completed assembly as installed.
Pulley block assembled
on top eye of shock
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Add the cable, looping one end around the thimble
andclampingabout6"ofcableto itselfwithat leastthree
cable clamps. Slip the thimble onto the lower shock
mountingshaft Pushthethimbleagainsttheverticalmember and replace the lower end of the shock and replace
thewasher/nut.Attachthepulleyblockassemblybyrunning the 5"bolt throughthe top bracket with the shock
inserted and add the nut and cotter pins. Now run the
cable up between the two pulleys and thread itjust behind the leafspring until it comes out under the other
wheelwell. Threadthe cablebetweenthosepulleysand
downto be thimbled aroundthe lowershockmounting
shaft. Put the cableclampson now,but do not tighten
themyet.
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Oncethe caris settledback on its wheels, loosen the
clamps at that end and adjust the cable length so that
there isjust a bit of slackin the systembeforetightening
all clamps. Leaveabout10"of cablelengthat one sidein
casethe systemneedsadjustingafter somehard comeringtests; i.e.,iftheinsidewheellifts,youneedto slacken
the cable.
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5
British Car and
Bike Day
Participants' Choice:
Best Car:
1954 MG-TF
Pierre Moreau
Best Bike:
1959 Triumph
Mark Sawicki
Exxon Valdez Award:
by Rachel Baker
The day started out with a pleasant run through
the rolling hills between Tallahassee and Thomasville
- top down weather to bring a smile to the face of any
LBC driver (not to mention the kids along the way
who begged to wash my car because they liked it so
much).
Worst Leak:
1970 Spitfire
Andy Prevelig
The above winners received a British Car & Bike Day wall
clock.
Other AwardsJDoor Prizes:
MG Belt:
Friend of J P Brown (Harrel?)
Wllld Sock:
The location at Pebble Hill was great, overlo~king
the lake, plenty of shade and plenty of room to li!leup
the cars. All in all we had 24 British Cars and 2 Motorcycles, divided as follows:MGs - 7 MGBs,2 MGBGTs, 2 MGAs, 1 MG-TD, 2 MG-TFs and 1 MG
Midget; Triumphs - 3 TR-6s, 2 TR-3s and 2 Spitfires;
other British cars - an Austin Healey 3000 and a Lotus Europa Special; the bikes - a rare 1959 Triumph
and a 1969BSA;plus,afew other non-Britishveqicles.
We had a total of 56 people in attendance.
When all the accounting was done, we raised a total of $227.00 for Big Bend Hospice and the Boy
Scoutstook in about $120.00.The Participants Choice
for Best Bike went to Mark Sawicki for his '59 Triumph; Participants Choice for Best Car went to Pierre
Moreau for his MG-TF; and the prestigious Exxon
Valdez award to Andy Prevelig's leaky Spitfire, with
Chris Moore's TR-6 a close second. The MG club
had collected quite a variety of goodies for door prizes
(see the listing in the next column).
On May 23rd, Prime Minister Conners and MEHP
Carter presented the check to Elaine Bartelt, Director
of Big Bend Hospice.
Thanks to all who helped, and all of you who came
out and made it a success!
~
Jan Whatley
Hemmings Almanac:
Rachel Baker
2000 CarlPrice Book:
Friend of Lee Cohee
Lucas Lamps P-oster:
Joe Gardner
Knock Off Hammer:
Brian Watts
Ball Cap:
Mary Kay Hamm
~~~-
Tire Gauge:
1. Andy Prevelig
$25 Coupon (Apple Hydraulics)
Kathy Schmidt
Amy Gilleon
Spoke Wrenches:
$25 Coupon (Apple Hydraulics):
Don Hamm
Video - Romance of Restoration:
Marilyn Hamrick
Poster:
Mary Kay Hamm
Chamois & Pen Knife:
Amy Harrel
Dash Duster:
Jon Gardner
$25 Coupon (Apple Hydraulics):
Amy Gilleon
Poncho:
Don Schmidt
MG Umbrella:
Phil Grice
Spoke Wrench:
Joe Kaiser
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WI!': W.emple Wahlet
Jlune,
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AUTO - CROSS
By Andy Prevelig
1
4
5
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6
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DIAGONAL
Classified Ads
1 He'd sell you any color car, as long as it was black
ACROSS
Ads are free to members and $15.00 for non-members
(includes membership). NOTE: Ads will runfor six months
and then be deleted unless you contact the editor to
renew them.
Where are the classified7\dS? Theyhave
expired,havingrun at leastsixmonths.
If yo~have a car, car parts, tools or equipment to
sell, or if you are looking for that special part or car,
the ads are free to members.
3 Russian fIghterjet
7 Heir to the French throne
13 The "bowtie" auto
16 Auto named after an explorer
18 Major auto parts supplier
21 "What's up _?"
23 Spee
25 Man without a country
26 Herb for pickles
27 It hugs the pulleys (2 words)
30 Baby piano or race car
32 Elevation (abbrev.)
33
34
35
36
Yellowbugle
Helmet brand
Lock of hair
Mad magazine's mascot (init.)
37 Trailing38 Type of tire
suspension
DOWN
2 Motorsports club (init.)
3 Who supports 2 down
4 Half of VIII
5 "The SpitfIre -"
(fIlm)
6 Math course (abbrev.)
7 British military award
8 Internet service provider
9 The salt flats are here
10 Car named after a chief
11 Motorcycle "Chief'
12 Unsophisticated
14 Unit of energy
15 Tangy
17 A string has two of these
19 Plot
20 One of the Unsers
22 "- Thee I Sing"
24 Not close by
28 Hoop group (init.)
29 "Nightmare" street
31 Compass point
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Some ofthe cars at British Car & Bike Day
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Answers to last month's puzzle
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