Memphis Euro Car Show 2015

The Memphis Euro Car Fest was a great event again. Unfortunately early morning rain held a few people back from coming (in my estimation) but turnout was still pretty good.

I ended up again with a 2nd place in the TR category, placing behind my buddy Dave and his great looking TR250.

Here are some photos.

New Wheels For The Old Girl!

I grew up with Dad telling me about the Group 44 TR6's and seeing TR6's with Minilites and Panasports on them. I've always wanted to put the same wheels on my car, but costs prohibited that....

Well, in the past few years, a wheel was introduced which mimics fairly closely the look of the original Minilite, but with a modern spin. It is also much more economical than a set of Panasports. Despite the low cost, I've seen enough sets on other owners cars that appear to have served them well and given no problems.

With cost out of the way, I decided to get a set. Father's day helped fund the project and off I went.

One major detail about the Konig Rewind and any 15x7 wheel on a TR6 is that they normally require spacers on the front to prevent the wheel from rubbing the suspension where the upright hits the upper ball joint and upper A-arms. A 15x6 will not do this, but I've not found a 15x6 Konig Rewind. There are two problems with running spacers - you need longer studs, and you will get outer fender rub!

My friend Keith has a set of the 15x7 Konigs on his car, and he had already gone through the modifications necessary to make his car eliminate the rubbing. He gave me some photos which showed what needed to be done and helped out with parts too.

Basically, the upper suspension area needs some heavy mods to eliminate the rub points, and you need a larger steering turn stop. The larger steering turn stop reduces your turn circle slightly, but I really have not been bothered by it too much yet.

For the upper ball joint area, I used my angle grinder and simply ground away anything that rubbed. After the work was done, I repainted everything to prevent rust and considered it done. This really took 3 tries on the driver's side, and 1 try on the passenger. As you can see, at full stop in reverse, there still is not a lot of room. This photo was taken before the oversized steering stop was fitted though.

The Steering stop is pretty simple. Unbolt the old one and bolt in the new one. Sourcing one is not so easy though. Keith had gotten two sets and gave me the largest set he got as he had not used it. Its to the far right in this photo (photos below are Keith's photos)

With all that work done, I'm very happy. The car drives extremely well. I'm a firm believer in the idea that you don't know how bad something is until you have something better- well, my old wheels must have been nearly egg shaped. Gone completely are the interstate vibrations and shakes that I felt at certain speeds. Everything is smooth as can be.

I'll get more 'good' photos later.

Triumph TR6 Sill Plates

I saw these on sale at TRF a number of months ago. Apparently everyone else did too as they went on backorder. Well, they finally came in and I was able to install them pretty quickly.

Some 3M body molding tape and #6 stainless screws did the job.

They cover nicely the scratched up sills that had survived years of abuse from passengers that hopped out without thinking about their safety belts.

TR6 Autocross Video

This vid was shot the same day that the photo in my avatar was taken. I really enjoyed autocrossing the TR6 and would like to do some more.

Wiring a TRiumph or other British Car

One of the tasks that you'll face as you work on a British car is the need to solder on a new bullet connector. Its an easy task, but it helps to use the right technique.

I documented my technique below. Maybe this video will help you or someone you know.

Videos from 2015 Mitty!

Here are some vids I shot at the Mitty!

First off, my touring laps.

 

 

Some awesome racing shot at turn 5 and 7.

 



 

And finally, the Coker Tour to get there.

 



2015 Walter Mitty at Road America

This year I was able to attend 'The Mitty' at Road Atlanta for the 3rd time. Again it was an absolutely awesome time. This year was made even more fun by the fact that my father was able to join me with his own TR6.

Before getting out to the Mitty, we spent time at Coker Tire and participated in the Coker Tire Tour which was put on by Classic Motorsports Magazine. The tour at Coker was great, and the drive down to Road Atlanta from Chattanooga was an awesome tour as well.

At the Mitty, we camped out and watched countless awesome races. The big bore stuff was a lot of fun to watch this year, as were the small bore stuff that included the Triumphs, Alfas, MG's and small Porsches.

We topped off the weekend by getting to tour the track several times in our cars. In total I got about 8 laps around the track. That was an absolute blast!

If you get the chance to go to the Mitty, you have to go. It has become one of the highlights of my year!