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April 2007
TheTach
Kingston: Where CASC began
Tony Polivka at Mosport in his Sports Car Special..
More pictures on Pages 16, 17, 18.
Competition Schedules
Club and Provincial Competition Events on Pages 6-9
Page 1
President’s Message
and Other Comments
Eric Brunner
Welcome to the Spring ’07 issue of the TACH. With
the weather becoming milder now, no doubt a lot of
us are spending more time in our garages preparing
the competition cars for the upcoming season.
In terms of St. LAC getting our series of club events
ready for you, a lot of time has been spent sorting out A list of our events as well as the Solo I Series and
schedules for slaloms at the Picton Air Field (PAF) Road Race Schedule is elsewhere in the TACH.
and Shannonville Motorsport Park (SMP). Conflicts
with the Provincial Series and the need to avoid Paul Myers is planning to hold his lapping sessions at
weekends already with Solo I events, forced us to SMP again this year and I assume a lot of us will
move some dates around. One was the combined Su- want to support his events.
baru and St. LAC Provincial Double Header. No
way could we find a date in early May that was free. STEAM LOCOMOTIVES:
Therefore, it was moved to September. Originally, There have been some concerns in the Kingston
the Series was to have 6 events finishing in July, with Whig Standard lately about what to do with the steam
the best 4 events counting for championship stand- locomotive at the park across from City Hall. Fix it
ings. The new schedule is given in the Competition up or scrap it. I find this a bit of deja vu as the same
report. I think the Picton venue will still be a suffi- dilemma happened at my hometown of Kamloops BC
cient draw that we will have a large entry. The many years ago. They had an engine that was in the
Scooby Doo guys are great to work with and we city park and needed somebody to do something with
should therefore have a great weekend. it. However, Kamloops was in the enviable position
of being an old railroad town with major junction
The Region has a new Solo II Director in Peter Mills points for both the CN and CP, and now with many
who has taken over from Wes Tanney and he was retired railroad men with all the restoration skills
very helpful and supportive in our date change. The imaginable. In 1961, being the last steam locomo-
opening round of the Provincial Series will be mid- tive retired in BC, the City of Kamloops bought her
May (13th) at Milton and hosted by the Region. for $2000. For 34 years she was a passenger and
Hence, we had to move our Test & Tune to the next freight locomotive for the CN in the Prairie Prov-
weekend to avoid any conflict with club members inces, and in 1948 was converted from coal to oil and
who want to compete in the series. One unfortunate transferred to service on Vancouver Island for the
cancellation was the Provincial Slalom that was to next 10 years. Her range was 50 miles between water
occur on the lower Mosport parking lot on a race fills with 125- mile fuel intervals! Many years later,
weekend due to concerns about adequate parking. the KHR (Kamloops Heritage Railway) enthusiasts
Pity as that would have been a great coming- together were formed and transferred # 2141 and her oil car to
of the race & solo competitors. a City workshop in 1995, and began their labour of
love with the engine running again blowing its great
With the large and enthusiastic participation in our whistle and ringing its brass bell in 2001! Multi-
club events last year, and at the recommendation of thousands of man-hours and over $500,000 were
some of the club members, we’ve lengthened our spent in materials and labour. An organization was
club series to 11 events, with the last in mid-October established and with the backing of the city, as well
at Picton. as both the CN and CP, the engine was brought back
to full service and now operates vintage runs
Page 2
Well, it seems that since these tests
(both in Canada and the US) are done
statically on a treadmill with the A/C
turned off, using conservative speeds
and without any fast starts, the Public
began asking the same question. In
the US, it apparently came to a head
as Prius owners complained that they
were only getting consumption in the
40’s miles/US gallon range rather
than the claimed 60/51 mpg city/
highway ratings.
For 2008, new US standards will fac-
tor in higher speeds, stop-and-go
to nearby towns. It has its own storage building and driving, more aggressive acceleration, use of A/C and
an expanding number of refurbished passenger driving in colder weather. City values will probably
coaches (including open types) and a caboose. The be decreased by 12% and Highway rates by 8%. In-
train is quite a tourist draw. As the last train robbery terestingly, hybrids could see mpg ratings lowered
in Canada was near Kamloops by Bill Miner in 1906, even more by 30% for city and 20% for highway use.
at the end of each run on return to the restored Kam- Not sure what will happen to Canadian testing and
loops train station, actors portraying Miner and his whether automatic and manual transmission vehicles
gang with horses and in cowboy regalia, stop the train will continue to rate differently.
and recreate the robbery. Good fun.
TIRE VALVE STEMS:
If you can imagine the problems restoring vintage As Rob and I get our tire/wheel combinations set up
cars, you can expand that by a factor of at least 100 for the coming slalom season, one question was what
getting a steam-powered engine going with all the to use for valve stems on a new set of wheels. The
boiler and other approvals required. Every time, I normal rubber arrangement could be used but we
visited my Mother & Sister in Kamloops, we would thought metal stems would be more robust. How-
go and see how the work was progressing. There is a ever, tire specialists say that those stems could be
neat connection to Kingston here as # 2141 is the subject to internal corrosion. Also, as they rely on a
only survivor of 25 units built in Kingston at the Ca- double nut arrangement to keep the stem in place
nadian Locomotive Works in 1912. Pity that King- (could a nut come undone?) we had a quandary. The
ston doesn’t have the same resources to restore its local Firestone dealer (Fielding) suggested the solid
steam locomotive. brass stem configuration with a rubber sleeve as used
in trucks. (Refer to photo). They look like the best
As I think most of us have some sort of railroad con- and will be used to see how they work out. Surprise,
nection in our families, I thought this Kamloops- surprise, the brass stems are actually made in Ger-
Kingston connection would be interesting. For more many so the combination will be Australian wheels,
information, the Kamloops Railway web site is Japanese tires
<www.kamloopsheritagerailway.com > and German
valve stems ---a
real interna-
NEW VEHICLE FUEL ECONMY CALCULA- tional mixture.
TIONS:
I’ve always wondered why the fuel consumption val-
ues quoted for new cars show very little difference
between automatic and manual transmission cars and
how relative these values are to actual driving results.
Page 3
BEWARE of LED BULBS: CASC-OR PRESIDENT’S SPRING MEETING:
I thought I would be real smart and substitute con- John Kinnear and I attended the meeting in Toronto
ventional bulbs with some of those neat new LED on Thursday 22 March.
bulbs that you can now get at Princess Auto. They The region is expected to make a small profit this
should exhibit a brighter light, use less power and last year, and will continue the policy of buying the gate
longer due to their multi- lens design even thought at Mosport and Shannonville so that complimentary
they are expensive tickets are available to anyone who wants to spectate.
at approx. $10 This also allows competitors to have an unrestricted
each. Well, I tried crew number (entry fee used to allow only two crew
an amber one to members). Spectator attendance was increased last
replace the 1156 year and CASC-OR expects that to continue this
type in one of the year. Tickets can be down loaded from the CASC-
front signal lights OR web site. Good PR for the sport.
for the Lotus
Cortina. The ex- Much discussion was on the new anti-street racing
isting bulb sits in Bill C19 that had been unexpectedly quickly passed
a reflective ar- thorough Parliament and the Senate at the beginning
rangement so that of the year. Our region as well as representatives
its clear light fully from Targa Newfoundland, Toronto Indy, and Rally
illuminates an am- Canada gave briefs to make them aware of our con-
ber lens, quite nicely yielding a fairly bright light trolled conditions for racing. The fear is that over
over a 2” x 2” area. However, the LED bulb directs zealous Police Officers might lay charges at races,
its light forward and there is no sideways dispersion slaloms or rallies! The contents of the Bill were un-
of the light to bounce off the reflector. Consequently, fortunately not changed, but the Senate insisted that
all you see is a beam of light through the centre por- the Department of Justice monitor police actions to
tion of the amber lens. Not good enough for oncom- ensure that legitimate motor racing activities are not
ing drivers. targeted.
The executive expressed some concern as to whether
So, if you are thinking of trying one of these bulbs be or not club events (in our case, our club Solo II se-
careful what the existing arrangement is in your car. ries) follow the rules of the region series so if any
insurance issues arise, we are not in jeopardy. There
RACING IMPROVES the BREED: was some discussion as to whether Stewards should
Watching SPEED’s excellent program “Autoline De- be appointed, but so far no further action was taken.
troit” recently, I was intrigued by a guest who was Therefore for our events we have to ensure confor-
promoting a Hydrogen-Electric Racing Federation mance. That hasn’t been a problem for us in the past
(HERF) with a 500 mile race at Indy in May 2009, but we will have to be vigilant to keep within the re-
and another oval track race later in the year. He has gion rules.
GM, Honda, Nissan, Bridgestone and Michelin on
board at present. Interestingly, St. LAC’s proposed Pro-Solo event in
mid-July with the MR2 club at Picton has caused a
As racing improves the breed, he expects advances in problem! ASN Canada FIA from who we obtain our
hydrogen fuel cells and whatever other similar power competition insurance, does not know anything about
plants are developed, to happen quickly in a racing Pro-Solo and rather than investigate, simply threw it
environment. Racecars would weigh 900 kg mini- back at our region! I have volunteered that St. LAC
mum and have enclosed bodies. will be involved in any special rules that have to be
developed. Frankly, I am surprised that this topic has
What a great way for racing to demonstrate its useful- not come up sooner. Probably the best will be to dis-
ness to the public. More information available at < cuss this with SCCA in order to benefit from their
http://wardsauto.com/ar/hydrogen_racing_series/ > experience.
Page 4
CLUB RACERS: will have fellow club members to cheer for. Visit
Although St. LAC’s main activity is auto slaloms, we them in the pits and see if they need any help crew-
shouldn’t forget that we have a solid core of members ing.
who race. As mentioned above, entry to the races at
Mosport & SMP is free, courtesy the Region, so you Our racing members, in no particular order, are:
Members Road Racing: Members Vintage Racing:
Paul Myers Porsche 968 Ron Wanless Lotus Elan
Roger Bowes Nissan Sentra John Kinnear MGB
Mark Durant Porsche 924 Turbo Frank Harnden Mini Cooper S
Claude Legget Formula Vee Dave Shannon TVR Vixen
Barry Mitchell Chev Cavalier (RWD) Dick Odgers Morgan (US Vintage)
Steve Pickering Formula Ford
Mark Baun Porsche 944-Chev
Dan Corcoran Corvette
Members with race cars currently inactive
but with intention: Steve Muller’s
Formula 4
Mike McLaughlin Dutton-Ford
Serge Bidinost Fiat X1/9
Steve Muller Formula 4 X/pit
Tom Konvolina Porsche
Page 5
As the Cone Tumbles
Rob Brunner – Competition Director
So who is getting eager to get the cars back on the
road or switching over to the summer tires? Are you
spending more and more time in the garage just look-
ing at your car dreaming of swerving around cones
and hitting apexes? The season is almost here!
This season looks like it can be as good as last year,
even better. There will be more club events (11), a
new Provincial series (previously known as the Re-
gional series), and the possibility of more lapping with stations to test your setup and cycle your tires.
nights at SMP. Add in the new Calabogie track and Unlike previous years though, there will not be an
there can be some serious miles had by all. official event in the afternoon. With all the new
St LAC Championship Series members that have joined the club we will concen-
Count them… 11 events. That’s a lot. trate on instruction. Like last year, there will be an
We will be starting with our usual Test & Tune event. area for the racers in the club to test as well. More
The format is approximately what we have had before details will follow on this event.
St LAC Schedule
20 May (Sun) - Test & Tune @ Picton
25 May (Fri) - Z-Car Club Lapping @ SMP
27 May (Sun) - Club event #1 @ Picton
14 June (Thu) - Club event #2 @ SMP
12 July (Thu) - Club event #3 @ SMP
20 July (Fri) - MR2 Clubs Lapping @ SMP (evening) (need St. LAC Instructors)
21 July (Sat) - Club event #4 @ Picton (with MR2 Clubs + MR2 Car Show)
22 July (Sun) - Pro-Solo (Kinky Drags) @ Picton (with MR2 Clubs) (Not a point scoring event)
31 July (Tue) - Club event #5 @ SMP (note Tuesday evening, not usual Thursday evening)
16 Aug (Thur) - Club event #6 @ SMP
9 Sept (Sun) - Club event #7 @ SMP
15 Sept (Sat) - Provincial Event #5 by SPDA @ Picton (St. LAC Club event # 8)
16 Sept (Sun) - Provincial Event #6 by St. LAC @ Picton (St. LAC Club event #9)
30 Sept (Sun) - Club event # 10 @ Picton
14 Oct (Sun) - Club event #11 @ Picton
Pro Solo though their course first wins that round. At Picton
We are going to try a Pro Solo type event on the Sun- we would have courses that start at one end of a strip
day of the July weekend. I’ve always thought that and work their ways to the other end, with a combi-
Picton Airfield would be a great place for this style of nation of drag and solo2. The test is to make the
event. For those of you who don’t know, a Pro Solo course fair and safe. At the Test & Tune we may try
event is where two parallel solo2 courses are set up. a course. More details on that to follow.
Two cars start at the same time, and who navigates
Page 6
CASC-OR 2007 Mobil 1 Ontario Provincial Autoslalom Championship Series Schedule
April 1 - Solo Ontario Open House - CSC Racing, Newmarket
April 28-29 - CASC-OR Autoslalom School – SPDA – BCS&E, Brampton
May 12 – Reserved for a non championship community awareness event – Details to follow
May 13 – Event #1 - CASC-OR - Mohawk Race Track, Milton
June 16 - Event #2 - HADA – Bronte GO Station, Oakville
June 17 - Event #3 - COMP – Bronte GO Station, Oakville
July 22 - Event #4 - WOSCA – Hiawatha Horse Park, Sarnia
September 15 - Event #5 - SPDA – Picton Airport, Picton
September 16 - Event #6 - St. LAC. – Picton Airport, Picton
Legend
CASC-OR - Canadian Automobile Sports Clubs - Ontario Region
COMP – Competition Corvette Club
HADA – HADA Motorsport Club
SPDA - Subaru Performance Driving Association
St. LAC. - St Lawrence Auto Club
WOSCA - Western Ontario Sports Cars Association
So you want to drive the Provincial Series?
This year the championship has a different name and I know Bill, Dad and I will campaign this year and I
different director. hope others will join in. A good strong St LAC con-
tingent would be a great thing to have.
The series is now called the Ontario Provincial
Autoslalom Championship Series instead of a Re- Autoslalom School run by SPDA
gional Series. Also, Wes Tanny has decided to step If you can’t wait for our informal Autoslalom school,
aside after three years serving as the Solo2/ then SPDA will be running a school over the 29-29
Autoslalom Director. Stepping up to the plate is Pe- April weekend. This is a well run school with lots of
ter Mills. Peter worked with Wes last year. experienced instructors. It will be at the Powerade
Center in Brampton Ontario. Cost is $60.00 for the
Another big change is the move of our event to the first day and $40.00 on the second.
end of the season from the traditional first event. More info can be found at the SPDA web site
There were several reasons for this such as conflicts www.SPDA-online.ca in the news section.
with dates, and availability of the Picton Airfield.
Making it a double header with the Subaru Perform- Victoria BC Autoslalom
ance Driving Association (SPDA) will be great part- Some of you may know that I spent the winter out on
nership. the left coast again with the Navy driving ships
around. I didn’t bring my WRX with me to save
There is only six events set for this season with four some money and because I wasn’t going to be along-
counting to your points. Since two of the weekends side Victoria much. Last time I was out here I
are double headers, you could compete in the series brought the car out and was able to compete in the
over only two weekends. For us in StLAC that first event of the season in March. When I checked
means we only have to go away for a minimum of out their website, what did I see? They have 17
one weekend. Nice for us. events divided into three different series (Winter,
Spring, Summer) with a trophy for each. Total points
Hopefully, less events with several grouped together go towards the overall championship. And you think
in a weekend will increase the turn out. Last year 11 event is a lot. I really regret not bring the WRX
there was 10 events and it took the full summer to out now.
compete. With local club events there were conflicts
and some decided to skip the provincial series. Page 7
Annual New Marshall’s School
The Canadian Race Communication Assoc. will be holding their new marshall’s school at Shannon-
ville Motorsports Park on Saturday April 21. Marshalling is a great way to get involved with racing.
Upon completing the course and gaining experience you qualify for a CASC licence and can work
race events at Mosport including ALMS or NASCAR. It can also put you trackside for the G.P of
Toronto or even the F.1 G.P. in Montreal. It is even recommended for people who are planning to go
racing as it gives you insights into how the races are handled. After doing some marshalling and
then seeing the flags waving, one has a much better idea of what may be happening around the track
and thus be better prepared to react.
If interested you should call CRCA President Marty Cooper at 613-372-1892 for more details.
Motorsports Events of Interest
Compiled by John Kinnear
Mar. 17 – Sebring 12 Hrs. Sebring Florida
April 28/29 – Race School - MCO – SMP
May 12/13 – Regional Races – BEMC – Spring Trophy - Mosport
May 19/20 – Victoria Day Wkend Speedfest, Mosport Int.
- American GT Challenge
- Sundown GP
- USERA Porsche GT3
- Cooper Tire FF 2000
June 2/3 – Regional Races - Shootout at Shannonville – CRCA - SMP
June 08/10 – Canadian GP – Montreal
June 15/17 – Fathers Day Wkend , Mosport Int.
- NASCAR Canada
- Grand Am
- Ontario Form. Ford
June 22/24 – Vintage Festival – VARAC – Formula 1 Re- union – Mosport
June 30/July01 – Regional Races – BARC - Mosport
July 01 – Champcar at Mt. Tremblant/St. Jovite
July 08 – Toronto GP. Champcar
July 14/15 – Regional Races – Trillium Trophy Races – DAC – SMP
July 22 – Champcar at Edmonton
July 28/29 – Regional Races – Ted Powell Memorial Trophy – Calabogie - MCO
Aug. 11/12 – Regional Races – BARC - Mosport
Aug 24/26 – GP of Mosport
- ALMS
- SPEED World Challenge GT & Touring
Sept. 01/02 – Regional Races – CRCA – Mosport
Sept. 15/16 – Regional Races – BEMC – Indian Summer Trophy - Mosport
Sept. 29/30 – Regional Races – CASC – Mosport
Page 8
COMPETITION CALENDAR : Rev #3 (21st Mar'07)---changes shown in ital-
ics
(V) indicates vintage grids at road races
SOLO II SOLO I ROAD RACES
MAY
Sat 12 BEMC @ Mosport(V)
CASC-OR Provincial #1 @ Mil-
Sun 13 ton OMSC School @ MDDT BEMC @ Mosport(V)
Sat 19
Sun 20 St. LAC Club Test & Tune
Fri 25 TIZCC Lapping Day @ SMP
Sat 26 OMSC Regional #1 @ MDDT
Sun 27 St. LAC Club #1 @ Picton OMSC Regional #2 @ MDDT
JUNE
Sat 2 CRDA @ SMP (V)
Sun 3 CRDA @ SMP (V)
Sat 9 Regional #3 @ SMP -Fabi
Sun 10 Regional #4 @ SMP -Fabi
Thu 14 St. LAC Club #2 @ SMP
HADA Prov. #2 @ Bronte Go
Sat 16 Stn
COMP Prov. #3 @ Bronte Go
Sun 17 Stn
Sat 23 MCO Solo School @ Calabogie VARAC @ Mosport(V)
Sun 24 Regional #5 @ Calabogie VARAC @ Mosport(V)
Sat 30 BARC @ Mosport
JULY
Sun 1 BARC @Mosport
Sun 8 Molson Indy Toronto
Thu 12 St. LAC Club #3 @ SMP
Sat 14 DAC @ SMP
Sun 15 DAC @ SMP
Fri 20 MR2 Club Lapping @ SMP -F (> 6PM)
MR2 & St. LAC Club #4 @
Sat 21 Picton
Sun 22 WOSCA Prov. #4 @ Sarnia MR2 & St. LAC "Kinky Drags" @ Picton
Sat 28 MCO @ Calabogie(V)
Sun 29 MCO @ Calabogie(V)
Tue 31 St. LAC Club #5 @ SMP
AUG
Sat 11 BARC @ Mosport (V)
Sun 12 BARC @ Mosport (V)
Thur 16 St. LAC Club #6 @ SMP
Sat 18 Regional #6 @ TMP
Sun 19 Regional #7 @ TMP
Sun 26 ALMS @ Mosport
SEPT
Sat 1 CRDA @ Mosport
Sun 2 CRDA @ Mosport
Sun 9 St. LAC Club #7 @ Picton
SPDA Prov. #5 @ Picton (St.
Sat 15 LAC Club #8) BEMC @ Mosport
St. LAC Prov. #6 @ Picton (St.
Sun 16 LAC Club #9) BEMC @ Mosport
Sat 22 Regional #8 @ SMP -Pro
Sun 23 Regional #9 @ SMP -Pro
Sat 29 CASC @ Mosport (V)
Sun 30 St. LAC Club #10 @ Picton CASC @ Mosport (V)
OCT
Sat 6 Nationals @ Mosport
Sun 7 Nationals @ Mosport
Sun 14 St. LAC Club #11 @ Picton
Page 9
ship with competition privileges is $35.00, the asso-
ciate is $25.00 and the student is $15.00.
Membership Report
John Kinnear Please take note of the business cards dis-
played by some of our members in the Tach and keep
As of this date (16 April) we have 32 renewed them in mind when you are looking for the goods and
members in the fold. Two of these being corporate services that they may be able to provide.
members. As the season is now just around the cor-
ner, I would suggest that renewing members get in Full details of all member classifications are given in
touch with me sooner rather then later. The rates re- our website <www.stlac.ca>, and are also listed on
main the same as in recent years. The full member- the back cover of this newsletter.
tery in the driver’s compartment without a marine
Scrutineers Corner container or to move any battery to any other location
John Kinnear and not use the container. In the past, the regs called
for the use of a container if the battery was moved
It has been brought to my attention that there from its original location.
have been several changes made in the CASC rules Further on in App. P, we note that sect. 20.0.4
for 2007 that our members should be aware of. states that if a dry sump tank is located in the driver’s
In Appendix. N, sect. 1.0, in regards to safety compartment, then it must have a metal bulkhead be-
harnesses, they state that the acceptable belts are tween it and the driver.
FIA/ISO Standard No. 8853 as well as SFI 16.1 & Another change is seen in sect. 10.15.2 con-
16.5. There is no mention of a required minimum cerning replacement windshields. Alternate wind-
width. This would seem to open the door to the use shields must be of 6.0 mm thickness and have 3 inner
of 2 inch. belts. There is also a listing of harnesses supports to prevent inward collapse. These are to
that the FIA has removed from their approved list. be .75" x .125" of alum., with minimum spacing be-
In App. P, sect. 17.0.1 & 17.0.2, there is a tween them of 8.0".
change in battery installation requirements. If a As most of you already know, Snell 95 SA
‘flooded lead acid type’ is mounted in the drivers/ helmets are not to be accepted after Jan. 01/07.
passenger compartment then it must be in a non- This is of course, just a brief review and I
conductive marine container. Battery location is free would suggest that you visit the CASC website to
within the bodywork. As before, all batteries must be read these sections and any others that may be of in-
mounted securely to the frame or chassis of the car. terest, in their entirety, in the section called ‘Race
This would allow us to use a modern ‘jell cell’ bat- Regulations’.
Talbot Lago,
from the days when men were men,
and regulations were few.
Page 10
Building a Trailer for Transportation of Solo 2 Equipment
Your three loyal and hard working servants
(Eric Brunner, Paul Jeffrey and John Kin-
near) built this trailer box over 4 afternoons
this winter.
The trailer will carry the Solo 2 equipment
to events. It is sized to take a table, py-
lons, timer, fire extinguishers, and portable
cover.
Box is 6 feet long, 4 feet wide, 2 feet high,
constructed of plywood, painted white, and
fitted with top and rear hatches capable of
being locked.
Trailer is light weight and can be
pulled with any car with a Class 1
hitch (2000 lbs maximum for load +
trailer) or stronger (classes 2, 3, 4).
The low profile increases stability
while also minimizing air drag.
The ball location on Rob’s Subaru,
shown here, is a little high which
caused the nose- up attitude to the
trailer.
Ball diameter is 1 7/8 inch.
Page 11
Changing the Miata’s Timing Belt
And
How a retired metallurgist can be ham-fisted and break two aluminum castings.
Paul Jeffrey
When I bought the ’99 Miata there were no records of gency brake set. Careful examination of all the tim-
past maintenance, so I just assumed that the timing ing marks with No 1 cylinder at TDC, and compari-
belt had not been changed, although the car had son with the literature, make it clear how the timing
passed the 100 K Km advisory limit and was now 7 is achieved. No problem was encountered removing
years old. I drove the car last summer and bounced or installing the belt. I also replaced the idler and
the engine off the 7200 RPM limiter many times dur- tensioner pulleys. The old belt appeared to still be in
ing Solo 2 events, all without any fear of impending fine shape with no evidence of cracking, and the
doom because the engine was a non- interference de- bearings in the old idler and tensioner were still
smooth. Work slowly, be sure that you understand
what you are doing, and all will go well, or so I
thought!
The basic job did in fact go well, but I was caught out
in some of the details. My first ham- fisted move was
when removing the upper radiator hose from the ther-
mostat cover. The hose was well and truly stuck, and
not appreciating the fragility of the thermostat hous-
ing I managed to break it off. Now, the location
where it broke was hidden and for a short time I was
concerned that the housing was an integral part of the
head, if so I was in deep trouble. However, once I
removed the camshaft sprockets and the inside covers
for the belt, I could see, much to my relief, that the
housing was a separate piece. Off I went to the local
sign. What I mean is that even if the belt breaks, and Mazda dealer who were able to supply a new part in
the synchronization of the camshafts and crankshaft 3 days. So, now I was able to install the belt and
is lost, the valves will have sufficient clearance that reasemble all the covers, and with many checks I was
they will not contact the top of the pistons. Conse- satisfied that all was well.
quently, breakage of the timing belt just results in But there was another hazard lurking. One of the fi-
stoppage of the engine, and a tow home. Engines nal operations was to install the new thermostat
with interference design, which are the majority, will
suffer bent valves and possibly holed pistons, and a
much thinner pocket book.
After study of the procedure of changing the belt on
Miata internet sites, and reading of the pages in a CD
Workshop Manual I bought over web, I felt confident
to proceed. The job is straight forward and the dis-
mantling is logical and access to all fittings is possi-
ble without removing the radiator or fan. The hardest
task is removing the large bolt which holds the crank-
shaft pulley in place, accomplished with a 3 foot
breaker bar with the car in 5th gear and the emer- Two pieces that
became four!
Page 12
which is simple, but s_ _ _ happens. The thermostat next moment of tension was to start the engine, but
stands on edge in its housing, when I installed the miraculously it fired immediately and ran well. The
gasket and cover the thermostat slipped from position belt change was a success!
such that its flange lay between the housing and the
cover, resulting in a massive leak upon replacing the I am still puzzled that I could have broken the two
antifreeze. Moving quickly while the antifreeze was castings. I have overhauled many engines, including
pouring out onto the garage floor, and thinking that two Porsche and a VW beetle engine, which are full
perhaps I had inadequately tightened the cover bolts, of aluminum castings and never broke a thing, and
I gave each another twist which caused one of the my career as an aluminum metallurgist made me well
bolt lugs on the cover to crack. Damn. Back to the aware of the fragility of the metal if abused. Maybe I
Mazda dealer again, and this time it only took two am just becoming stronger as I age, or I am losing my
days for a replacement part. With infinite care I in- patience, or perhaps it is simply a case of being more
stalled the new cover and all was well, no leaks. The ham- fisted!
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Miscellaneous Comments design of Windstar, but which still looked and be-
Paul Jeffrey haved the same as before), and would buy another
Ford if they came out with something interesting.
Well actually, the current Mustang does looks good
(1) Sure, we are guilty of “Ford Bashing”,
and goes well, maybe I do need to take a closer look.
but they deserve it.
The Taurus is dead announced Ford. But no,
(2) Warmups
three months later they changed their mind.
It seems that whenever I go to see a sporting event, I
find that the contestants show more skill during war-
In the last issue of The Tach, both Eric and I took a
mup than they do during the event itself. Maybe it is
swipe at Ford for their mismanagement of the Taurus
that I can watch the athletes individually, and there is
line of cars which became best sellers, but were still
less distraction with what else is going on. At pro-
allowed to wither. This issue Alex Kilpatrick has
level baseball games I am astonished at the power
picked up the cudgel to bash Ford, and has added his
and ease at which the ball is thrown and caught with
opinions on the neglect of the Lincoln Mark series.
seemingly little effort. At NHL hockey games it is
the grace with which the players skate and strength of
I thought that I would be able to take a breather this
their shots, which the goalie effortlessly kicks aside.
issue, but no such luck, the list of flip- flops keeps
At a motorcycle race warmup (not race day) I was in
coming from Ford in a flood. After announcing late
struck by the fun and skill the riders showed, doing
last year that the Taurus was dead, they have had sec-
wheelies and stoppies at ease, and instantly transi-
ond thoughts and have decided to rename the Ford
tioning to a knee-down full power surge through the
500, which has been totally anonymous to date, as the
first corner after the pit. At a formula Atlantic team
Taurus! At the same time they will also rename the
practice I watched 3 drivers with their team, pitting
Ford Freestyle (no, I don’t mean Freestar), another
and returning to the track in a continuous fashion,
vehicle which no one has ever seen, as the Taurus
trying the latest chassis adjustment. The engines
Wagon. For the several dozen people in North Amer-
sounded crisp and powerful. Their driving was ag-
ica that have already bought 500s and Freestyles, this
gressive, skilled and without a mis-step. My thought
will just cause confusion, and cause their vehicles to
at the time was that no other cars, even F1, could pos-
depreciate even faster. The other 99% of the popula-
sibly match their pace.
tion will be totally unaware of any of these changes
and will continue to gravitate to Toyota and Honda
where there is constancy of model line. But hey, lets
wish Ford well. I presently own a Ford Windstar
(renamed Freestar when they did a so-called total re- Page 13
Of Possible Interest Iskendarian profile and it is on its way for the same
treatment.
by John Kinnear
After an initial break- in with basic CTC regular oil,
I then switched to AmsOil 20W50 synthetic racing
Sometimes it is fun to look back and see what
oil and used their filters. I didn’t change the oil at all
people in motorsports have been quoted as saying in
and only needed a couple of top- ups while changing
the distant past. Here’s one that really goes back and
the filter twice. Unfortunately, it looks like a small
is hard to reconcile with todays scene. No less au-
foreign particle got into the engine and scored the
thority than Barney Oldfield, boss of the dare-devils,
bearing and left a small mark on the journal of #1
is authority for the statement that the track race car
rod. I’ll replace the bearings and the small mark,
will buried in oblivion. “Hereafter racing will be con-
smaller then the head of a pin, was easily buffed out.
fined to stock cars, capable of being used after they
Got to take more care during assembly!
are through racing” says Oldfield. “We let the for-
———————————————-
eigners come over here and show us that stockcars,
Just turned off the TV after watching the
properly built, could accomplish more than our racing
grand finale of the Daytona 500. NASCAR really
cars built especially for one event. We learned the
outdid themselves on this one. In addition to a mar-
lesson at last. I am through with the circular tracks
gin of victory of about 3 feet (1 metre for you young
and hereafter will confine myself to the road races
guys), the 07 car crossed the finish line spinning, up-
and cars that will not have to go to the junk pile after
side down and on fire! What in hell do you do for an
each event”. San Diego newspaper clipping, 1908.
encore? And then to add to the ‘cheating contro-
———————————————
versy’ was the lack of the yellow flag (light) at the
A year or so ago, Ron Rogers and I decided
end of the race. Under the same conditions at a race
that it would be interesting to find out firsthand, how
last year, the flag came out. This time it didn’t.
useful the modern low-friction coatings that are ap-
————————————————
plied to engine parts might be. I had disassembled
And now, on to the great motor oil contro-
my MG engine after the season and found some wear
versy! It appears that this started with a demand by
on both the cam and rocker shafts. Worse yet, some
the automakers that the oil industry reduce some of
stray material had made its way to the crankshaft
the additives that they use in their motor oils. It
bearings, causing us to send the crank for a re- grind
seems that in some of them, zinc dialkyl dithiophos-
and then fitting oversize bearings. The design of the
phate (ZDDP) in particular, cause problems with
MG’s valve train also seemed to us to be a source of
catalytic converters. Also problematic are manga-
concern. I sent the camshaft to Canada Chrome &
nese and phosphates. As you may have heard, the
Crank in Toronto for repair as they had re-ground the
governments have demanded that the cats have a
stock MG cam to a more agressive profile a couple of
longer life in the interest of reducing emissions. Just
years earlier and their work was first rate. The worn
one little problem. These are the additives that re-
rocker shaft was replaced with a new item sourced
duce friction in your engine. Now, it is my under-
from Christian Hollum in Montreal. We then shipped
standing that this is not too big a problem with en-
them along with several items belonging to Ron to
gines built after about 1990 and in particular over-
Oerlikon Balzers in Amherst N.Y. for the application
head cam engines. Where the problem seems to be-
of the coating. The procedure involves ionization in
come really noticeable is with the older engines and
a vacuum chamber and does not have any effect on
in particular, engines with flat tappets (cam follow-
dimensions. Ron was informed that most of their
ers). Some of the engines mentioned in articles that I
automotive work was for NASCAR teams. They also
have read are BMC, British Leyland, early Volvo,
do a lot of industrial work with machine tools. This
and American Hi-Performance pushrod engines. The
winter I finally got around to tearing down the engine
owners of vintage motorcycles are also concerned.
and removed the cam and rocker shafts for inspec-
The oils being complained about are API (American
tion. I was suitably impressed! It was hard to see
Petroleum Institue) SJ and SM rating. The American
any signs that they had even been in an engine, let
Engine Rebuilders Assoc. (AERA) has a bulletin
alone done a season of 5 race weekends plus a couple
#2333, out on this.
of lapping days and a couple of Solo II events. I have
——————————————
since had a second MG cam re- ground to a full- race Page 14
You hear of ‘unintended acceleration’ inci- issues and now with criminal laws. Any of them that
dents from time to time. Usually, it is someone eld- are caught and prosecuted under this law will not de-
erly who does something strange with their car with serve our sympathy.
serious consequences. Recently, while I was work- ————————————————-
ing out in the local gym, there was this almighty Ford Motor Co. has just sold Aston Martin.
crash behind me. When I got my feet back on the Over the last few years this niche company has be-
floor and turned around, the wall beneath and on ei- come something of a success story. Back in 1992
ther side of one window was bashed inward and the they built only 46 cars. Last year they were up to
large window was laying shattered on the floor. It over 7000! And they were making a profit. Some
had been struck by a car! A guy on a treadmill just in wags suggest that Ford just don’t know what to do
front of the window wearing a headphone continued with profits!? The new owners are a consortium led
blithely on his way as we all rushed over. Out in the by David Richards of Prodrive, a British racing and
parking lot a young lady was getting sheepishly out technology company. He is joined by David Sinders
of a 6 series BMW. She had mounted the curb, of Houston and Dubai, who is described as an Aston
crossed the sidewalk and punched in the side of the Martin collector and racing backer. Also on board is
building. Someone mentioned that they thought that the Dar & Adeem Investment Co. of Kuwait. The
she had been talking on her cell phone, of which I deal is said to involve over $900 million. Richards is
had no knowledge, but I couldn’t help but notice her quoted as saying that the iconic British firm will re-
high spike heels. Now, I like high heels on women as main true to its background as a luxery sports car. I
much as any guy around, but not when driving a car. was at Mosport last year the weekend before the
They typically have thin leather soles that have about ALMS race and witnessed the arrival of the Aston
as much grip as a cows hoof on ice. So, I’d suggest Martin team. Two big Man transporters, painted pale
that you try and influence the ladies in your lives to green pulled in and the team poured out, all dressed
drive in flat shoes with decent soles and then change in green rugby shirts with white numbers on the
into those sexy high heels when they get to their des- backs. How to make an entrance a week before the
tination. actual event. Got my attention!
———————————————— ————————————————
Last fall at CASC’s 42nd Annual Awards And this late note. This year the G.P of To-
Gala, a St.LAC member, Ralph Frisken of Napanee, ronto will have Steelback Brewery as their title spon-
along with 8 others, received the Region’s ‘rock’ sor. Therefore, the race will be known as ‘The Steel-
award for volunteers. Ralph has been involved in back Grand Prix of Toronto’.
motorsport since the 1960's as a mechanic, marshall, ————————————————
scrutineer and organizer. He is one of the people that Last year at SMP several of us had the pleas-
has helped make motorsport here in Ontario happen. ure of a close-up look at the Multimatic designed and
I’m just sorry that I wasn’t there to join in the ap- built FR500GT Mustang, aka ‘The Man Racer’.
plause. Shortly thereafter a mechanic took the car out for a
———————————————— little warmup run. Its performance was impressive!
As you make have heard, the Federal Gov. Lots of handling and gobs of go. I don’t know a lot
has passed a Bill C-19 that criminalizes street racing about the engine but it was an overhead cammer with
in Canada. There is some concern that overzealous a ‘Robt. Yates Racing Engines’ plaque rivetted to a
police officers may try to enforce it against properly cam cover. The latest edition of Inside Track maga-
sanctioned events in spite of a senate rider that men- zine informs us that this car was not accepted by the
tions that this law should not apply to sanctioned Grand Am series and that Multimatic has now en-
events. Hopefully, this will never come to pass. I tered it in the FIA GT3 Series in Europe. Scott Max-
would observe that the ‘street racer’ faction in this well recently ran the car in an FIA test session at
country has caused organized motorsport consider- Monza, Italy.
able problems in recent years, starting with insurance
Page 15
Tony Polivka
The January 2007 issue of The Tach contained reminiscences by four people who were familiar with
Tony’s activities in motorsports and with his motorcycle business. However, at the time, no pictures
were available. In the meantime, Tony and Edna’s daughter, Mrs Janet Ostapuk, has kindly supplied
me with many pictures and newspaper clipping, a sample of which are reproduced here. These pic-
ture reinforce the respect we all have for the unique talents which Tony possessed.
The Editor
Cars 78 and 717 are sports car spe-
cials built by Tony Polivka and
Vince Murray with Mercury 2-stroke
power.
Chassis were home built and cars
were essentially identical.
These specials made the Coopers and
Lotus of the same vintage look like
trucks.
Vince is in the car, Jack and Sue Hughes look on
Mercury 2-stroke outboard engine modified
by Tony with 6 carburetors, water pump,
ignition, semi-automatic multi-disc clutch.
Weight 102 lbs without exhaust and starter.
Engine connected to 5-speed gearbox.
Page 16
Newspaper clipping reports
the end of Car 153 at Green-
acres Race near London
Formula Car Special # 153
built by Tony Polivka was
powered by Olds 215 cu in
V-8.
Race Car Tow Car
1952 VW with 215 cu inch
Olds Aluminum V8 engine.
1958 Ferrari 250 GT with
Farina Body
3 liter V-12 engine
240 HP@7000 RPM
Car contained many custom
modifications by Tony, see
January 2007 issue of The
Tach for details.
Page 17
Ahead of his time.
Tony uses wind power to heat
his Motorcycle Business
“Tony’s Cycle”
Tony built his own truck for his motor-
cycle business.
Just look at these specifications and
wonder!
Powered by 5 cylinder air cooled
DEUTZ diesel driving a Toronado front
wheel drive transmission with a 2-speed
Indy car differential.
Page 18
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Page 19
Peabrain's Big Adventure widgewock through to Bangor. After that it cleared
and began to warm up a bit with heavy slush and icy
Alex Kilpatrick, Blacks Harbour, NB.
patches through to the border. By the time I got to
Canada, it was melting fast and I came home on wet
I say Peabrain's (not PeeWee's) Big Adventure as
pavement to find Wanda out with her shovel clearing
weather wise, this was the worst 1000 km trip in
the driveway entrance. Go figure, the next day there
memory. Had I known how severe conditions would
was no sign of any recent snowfall.
be, I may not have left when I did. However, I rea-
soned that fresh snow beating on my fresh paint for
My fuel mileage suffered greatly while plowing
half a day would be much better than sand, salt and
through snow all night, but it also made clear to me
fine gravel that would be thrown all over the road
that traction control on a rear wheel drive car should
within the next day or so. So the car came home
be compulsory for any vehicle selected for winter
without so much as a chip.
driving. I ran dry on fuel at about 2:20 am, called
AAA. But a good Samaritan, a young man named
It was a 15 hour trip from Kingston with snow up to
Nick, came along before the AAA in a pick-up with
the rocker panels by 2:30 in the morning in the area
plow and asked if he could help. I told him I was dry
north of Farmington, Maine. The big knobby snow
and that AAA said they may be and hour and a half.
tires and traction control made the car unbelieveable
Nick said that's too long with no heat, I'll be right
all through the night. Good thing too, as there were
back. He went for gas about 2:40, returning in 5 min-
just 3 plows seen from Sherbrooke through to Farm-
utes, he dumped 5 gallons into the tank and refused
ington.
payment. He earned himself a hearty thanks and a
I went from light snow at Cornwall to near whiteout
night at the Harbour Tide Inn. I asked him if he was
before Sherbrooke, to all out blizzard in the area
married. He said no! Did he have a girlfriend? He
around Sugarloaf Mountain. Then, heavy wet snow
said, "no, I'm a Christian and am waiting for the right
followed by freezing rain and ice pellets from Nor-
one. I want to do it right!"
I backed out of the snowbank I had dived
into when the car quit and pulled up under a
street lamp to clear my windows, as the AAA
truck pulled up behind me. He dumped an-
other 3 gallons into the tank and gave me a
pair of gloves. I had lost mine somewhere in
Sherbrooke. Two thumbs up for AAA.
Let’s back up a bit. I was in Ontario to pick
up my new car, a 1993 Mark VIII Lincoln. I
found the car in London last week (8th
My newly-minted 1993 Mark 8 March) on the web at Kijiji. It was a shot in
Resplendent again! the dark but I wanted one in that colour (one
of the rarest) paint "Amethyst Clearcoat". A
friend checked it out on Thursday (9th), I flew up on
Friday (10th), took delivery on Saturday (11th) and
was back in Kingston on Sunday night (12th). I
made the run to Kingston from St. Thomas in 3:45
with a fuel stop at the Flying J, just east of London.
Monday I went to MAACO and felt fairly good
about the shop and owner so in it went. I reasoned
that a 3 day overhaul in Kingston (in on Tuesday af-
ternoon; out on Friday), would be better than a
lengthy stay in a shop here in NB. Also con-
Page 20
lowed closely by the usual casual approach Ford
gives to the value of any of it's fine cars. Always
worth the highest price when you buy it, then worth
nothing close to reason when you go to trade it
in. Fact is, you can't afford to trade your Ford in at a
Ford dealer. This benefit died with the advent of
"The Plan" (but don't get me started on that one).
Safe it is to say that if you do decide that you like a
Ford product today, you better grab it and hang onto
In the shop getting a
new coat. it, as it may not be there tomorrow. Funny how when
many people are getting into the sports sedan market,
Ford feels it has too many with only 3 available (in
sidered was the prospect of many people seeing it in Canada) and kills the brainchild (Taurus) and the new
it's conversion which would have taken weeks instead 500 that started the whole transformation. And don't
of days. Small towns have no secrets. The car even go there with the Zephyr. So what is it now? A
needed rockers and door work so I decided to go the Mark Zee or a Mark Zed?
extra mile. Incidentally, I would recommend
MAACO Kingston for a decent job. Truth is, I've come so close to getting an Impala, it
would cause Mr. Ford himself to reassess life as he
Some History knows it. Not to mention all those who know me and
The 1993 Mark 8 went through initial rejection from that for better or worse, I have always been predomi-
prospective Lincoln owners as many of the luxury nately a Ford man (Someone has to hold the NA
touches like heavy padding and wood- grain appliques economy together). Again, it's funny how it seems
were left off when Ford made the decision to stream- Ford's good things from the past are now in more de-
line the interior and make everything hard plastic. As mand than their current offerings. So who wants to
much as I love the performance and unique styling of buy a vehicle that few people can afford and even
the car (although in the beginning I hated the radical fewer will remember just a few years down the road?
transformation from Mk 7 to Mk 8), the armrests are
too hard for even my young elbows. The early com- Ford's habitual juggling, then phasing out of it's
plaints and slow sales caused Ford to review their nameplates, just when they begin doing well, con-
design and by 1995 they were offering 2 tone interi- trasts with the GM practice which benefits from it's
ors with the entire console and centre panel, along historical past, with Gran Prix, GTO, Impala, Malibu
with door panel inserts, in the traditional woodgrain. and many more. Anyone remember the Contour/
My car has all options except the built in cellular Mystique? How about Thunderbird/Cougar? Oh yes,
phone with voice activated microphone. Yes, the gas we're finally seeing more of the 2002 T-Bird style on
gauge works but unlike many Ford gauges, this one the streets than we are on the dealer's lots. Probably
does not lie. The style of the gas tank (very flat) is due to the fact that production ceased in 2005. Many
the culprit here. That, and the fact that I used an esti- of these however, you'll find in eBay Motors taking
mated 30% more fuel while plowing snow all night, up lots of webspace due to limited demand and mis-
with every gasbar closed along the way, was what led speculation on what the future value of this or-
made me short by about 15 miles of getting back on phan may be. Wrong car, too pricey with limited
the main line (route 2) where gas was available. utility and questionable appeal. Way to go Ford!
Even better, they killed the 4 seater T-Bird and Cou-
In 1997, the Mk 8 took on a new look with body and gar to do it.
trim changes and 5- level heated seats. This however
was still not enough to boost interest or sales and so Opposing views are sometimes welcome and always
as always for Ford, having a great product with po- expected.
tential to build on isn't good enough, so this meant
after 1998 the end of the Mark series as we know it.
In my opinion, poor marketing was # 1 problem, fol-
Page 21
Ready for 2007? size, fuel pressure, fuel octane, fuel and ignition map-
ping while ensuring we do not encounter knock. Cur-
Paul Myers
rently we are running the fuel system that came with
the car. The only modifications over the OEM sys-
By the time you read this we will be close to comple- tem is increased injector size and modified ignition
tion of our shakedown of the car and possibly the first map.
race weekend of the 2007 season. Testing will hap-
pen May 4th and 5th at Mosport. Hopefully it will We don't have a lot of information about how well
have gone well because the race weekend is the very the combination works together and have been very
next weekend which does not leave a lot of time for conservative picking fuel octane levels to compensate
changes. We are picking away at the remaining items for this. Higher octane is only beneficial if it is being
on the to-do list. Material is ordered to rework the used to allow increased compression or more ad-
exhaust, a long outstanding item required as a result vanced ignition timing. When increasing compression
of trying a new line through one of the back corners and advancing timing two problems can be encoun-
at Shannonville while chasing the leader. The fuel tered.
injectors are out for rebuilding, flowing and balanc- Pre-ignition occurs when compression and residual
cylinder heat increases the
temperature of the mixture
in the combustion chamber
enough to ignite prior to the
ignition system firing the
spark plug. This is not en-
gine damaging but means
less power and lack of com-
bustion control. It is not as
common as knock.
Knock or ping occurs when
the ignition system properly
ignites the mixture at the top
of the combustion cham-
ber. The expansion of the
combusted mixture forces
Paul Myer’s 968 Porsche the unburnt portion of the
mixture against the rising
piston. The temperature
ing. Heating elements have been added to the wind- increase at the piston surface due to compression ig-
shield defogging system. An attempt to use a simple nites the remaining mixture at the piston surface. The
blower to move air over the windshield slowed fog- two flame fronts (top of chamber and at piston sur-
ging in wet weather but not enough to allow good face) burn towards each other. When they meet the
visibility. The rear spring rate and front sway bar local pressure rise is much higher than normal com-
have been increased slightly. A front splitter has also bustion. This is very engine damaging when sus-
been added to try improve front traction in some of tained.
the faster corners.
In both cases the cause is a fuel which will combust
This year we have added a wide band oxygen sensor at a lower ignition energy (temperature) than desir-
and a 5 channel datalogger. Initially we will be using able. Additives are added to raise the amount of en-
it to monitor and adjust engine performance. Rpm, ergy it takes to ignite the mixture. Octane rating is
manifold pressure, injector useage, knock indication, effectively a measure of the gasoline’s resistance to
exhaust O2 and linear acceleration parameters will be combust. It also follows that as the flame
measured. With these we want to optimize injector Page 22
front is burning it must take fractionally longer to wear rates. They are offered in widths that should
raise the energy level of the adjacent mixture to cause suit our car but the aspect ratio is less that desirable.
ignition then a mixture with lower resistance. This There will be a significant diameter difference be-
slows combustion fractionally. Increasing Octane in tween front and rear. The ride height of the car will
itself does not increase performance. It can actually be set up specifically for these tires. Using other tires
reduce performance. The higher the octane rating the will affect ride height. We use Yokohama A048 for
more resistive the fuel is to combustion. The octane our rain tires as they have reasonable wet traction and
rating of a fuel should only be high enough, with a impressive dry traction if standing water can be used
small margin, to prevent knock. Any more than this to cool them periodically during the lap to prevent
you are wasting your money and slowing combus- overheating.
tion. We are currently running 102 Octane by mixing
94 and 110 Octane fuel. We have found this to be the There are a few other odds and ends on our list to
most economical way to run intermediate octanes. complete before racing starts including some im-
Once we have completed this driver performance will provements to the trailer. The rear ramp needs to be
be the next target. extended to reduce the angle to clear the new splitter.
We have also added a workbench and shelves to im-
For 2007 we are trying Hoosiers. It is a constant bat- prove storage. Eventually a 120 and 12 V electrical
tle trying to find improved traction in suitable tire system will be installed. One of the additions we are
sizes. We previously used Toyo RA 1s but the sizing most excited about is the addition of a video camera
increments are not ideal for the 968. Picking the to the car. This will be both entertaining and helpful.
width above ideal made it difficult to get the tires up We will use the footage to help analyze performance
to operating temperature on days that track tempera- and consistency on the track. The speed and line can
ture was under 28 C. Tires narrower then ideal meant be monitored on the video to assess each corner
that they would start to overheat on hotter days to- based on visual cues and time between corner mark-
wards the end of a 20 minute session. On the plus ers.
side the cost of the Toyos was more reasonable and
they wore well. The Toyos delivered good grip right I have included a schedule for the CASC Ontario GT
to the point of cording if kept in their best operating Challenge Cup. There are several St. LAC members
temperature range. Hoosier’s improved traction actively participating in CASC racing either in the
should contribute to lower lap times but it remains to regional sprints, G70 or vintage. Come out and see
be seen if it is enough to offset the higher cost and them in action. Get involved!
Date Event Location
57th Annual BEMC Spring Tro-
May 12-13 Mosport International Raceway
phy
June 2-3 CRDA Shootout at Shannonville Shannonville Motorsport Park
June 30-July 1 BARC Grand Prix of Ontario Mosport International Raceway
MCO Ted Powell Memorial Tro-
July 28-29 Calabogie Motorsports Park
phy
August 11-12 BARC Touring Trophy Mosport International Raceway
September 1-2 CRDA Presidents' Trophy Mosport International Raceway
September 15-16 BEMC Indian Summer Mosport International Raceway
September 29/30 Celebration of Motorsport Mosport International Raceway Page 23
Porsche is more than just fast. doing this, it may look at first that they are simply
Paul Jeffrey buying a loser. But no, they are doing this so that
they can take even more advantage of high volume
Sure, we all know that Porsche cars are fast and de- component production, to increase their profit mar-
sirable, but the company is much more than that to gins even further on the Porsche line of cars.
the commercial world, they are the most profitable
car company on the planet. Now I am sure that most How have Porsche managed to land in such a favour-
Porsche owners are not surprised by this news, if able market position? The Porsche image is honed
their experience with servicing and parts prices is any by a long history of design of high performance street
guide. But seriously, Porsche has, through clever and and customer race cars positioned to dominate their
focused marketing, managed to build a company of a classes. At the same time they market their street
size that can benefit from the economies of size while cars very cleverly; for example, which other manu-
still maintaining the exclusiveness and desirability facturer is able to sell the hardtop version (Cayman)
that enables them to sell their cars at exotic prices. of a car for more than the already inflated price of the
No other company has found that magic formula. convertible (Boxster)? Another point, Porsche al-
Other companies, such as Ferrari and Lamborghini, ways has a “Base” and an “S” version of their car
which may return as much per car, are very limited in lines, they give the S model a bit more power and up-
production numbers at less than 5000/year. grade the interior, modifications which might cost
them $1-2,000 at most, but they sell the cars at a mar-
Porsche sold 97,000 cars last year with an average gin between $10-20,000 more. More specifically, it
profit across the model line of $33,000 (cdn) per car, cost no more to build a slightly larger engine. Cast-
this gave them a profit of $3.2 billion. This is 10 ing costs will be the same, the components will all be
times as much profit per car as any other company machined in the same way and in the same time, and
and puts all other to shame; the profits of other com- construction will be the same. The two lines of cars
panies per car were relatively pathetic, for example: will also go down the final assembly line at the same
BMW $3800, Toyota $2600, Audi $2400, Daimler- time with the same assemblers.
Chyrsler (DC) $1100, VW $500. These are the
companies making a profit, the figures for Ford and Finally, Porsches took a big risk in deciding to sell a
GM are typically less than zero, in other words they truck, the Cayenne. But it paid off, Big Time. It is
lose money on each car they sell. To put these num- manufactured in the same plant as the VW Touareg,
bers in a different perspective, BMW, DC and VW but the Cayenne is sold at a premium of $11K-18K
need to sell approximately 1, 3 & 6 million cars re- for the equivalent 6 and 8 cylinder models. This is all
spectively to earn the same profit. profit. Further, Porsche adds a Turbo version which
adds $46K to the V8 price. Again, this is largely
Now we know how Porsche is able to buy VW. No profit.
this is not a mis-statement, Porsche is buying VW,
not the other way around! Porsche is in the process I look forward to a spate of books detailing the Por-
of purchasing over 30% of the VW group which will sche Formula for success. Such books will put the
give them control of the company. Why is Porsche present line of books extolling the virtues of Toyota
into the bargain bins.
Porsche is the only company which can charge more ($6K) for the coupe than the convertible. They also
charge $14K more for the “S” version than the “Base” model. Page 24
The Kensai/Compass 360 Team,
Based in Toronto. Winner of the ‘07 Daytona Grand Am Koni ST Challenge Race.
————————————————————————————————————————————————
For Sale/Wanted
For Sale: 1996 Honda Del Sol DOHC V-TEC, 105,000 KMS.
17" wheels and new yokohama's, Stainless exhaust, Momo short shift kit, Ractive lowering kit, carbon fibre taillights, CD/MP3
player and 12 disc changer. $11,500 o/b offer. phone 613-966-1861. Doug Beale. dandabeale@sympatico.ca
For Sale. 1990 Honda CRX-SI. 148,000 Kms. Black. Excellent mechanical condition. Runs strong. Body very sound but
small amount of rust in rear fenders. Requires paint and some body work to look like new. Interior good. Will credit $400 towards
new tires of your choice. Will certify and e-test. $3500. Call Paul Jeffrey, 613-389-0714, or email paul.jeffrey@sympatico.ca
Crew Wanted. Myers Motorsports is a small team running a Porsche 968 in Ontario Regional Races. We are currently looking
for knowledgable and energetic volunteer crew for 2007. Typically we run a schedule of 8 to 12 events during the summer season
and perform car prep 1 to 2 evenings a week. If interested call Paul Myers @ (613) 376-1540.
Free. Haynes Repair manual for Ford Windstar 1995-2001. Call Paul, 613-389-0714, or email paul.jeffrey@sympatico.ca
FOR SALE: ROAD/RACE AUSTIN HEALEY BT7 3000
$50,000.00 Canadian. 1960, RHD red with white hardtop.
Vintage scrutineered and certified at Mosport in 2003, race registration was #100. Triple webers [with access shroud panel], Rini
Racing Engines professionally rebuilt the 3000 engine with new J and E forged aluminium race pistons, new lightweight Crower
conn rods, balanced crank, lightened flywheel, new street tires on 60 spoke Dunlop wire wheels in excellent condition, heavy duty
clutch, fuel cell, A1 white hardtop with side windows. Professionally appraised in 2003. Frame is in very good original condi-
tion with no sign of previous accident or corrosive damage. The inner body is also in very good condition”. Factory passenger
seat, race driver’s seat, black vinyl&carpets, factory ‘rally style’ grill. New in 2003,was a windshield, rev limiter, transponder, oil
cooler, mirrors and steering box. Also has,an extra diff, soft top, log book, street or race exhaust. ‘ Safety’ done in 2003 and now
street licenced. Jim Reid, Harrowsmith [Kingston] Ontario, Canada jreid@kos.net
Page 25
Page 26
Page 27
The Tach is the newsletter of the St. Lawrence Auto Club, 829 Norwest Road, Suite 302, Kingston, ON,
K7P 2N3. Back copies are posted on our website (www.stlac.ca).
Submissions of articles related to automobiles or motorsport are encouraged. Advertising is also available.
Contact the Editor. The St. Lawrence Auto Club (St. LAC) is affiliated with the Canadian Automobile
Sport Clubs, Ontario Region (CASC-OR), 416-667-9500. Club meetings are held at 7:30 PM on the 3rd
Thursday of every month at the RCAFA Club, Kingston Norman Rogers Airport.
Executives:
President : Eric Brunner, 613-376-1538, ebrunner@personainternet.com
Vice-President and Past President: Rob Switzer, 613-384-3375, rswitzer@cogeco.ca
Membership Chairmen and Past President: John Kinnear, 613-389-3566, jkinnear@kingston.net
Treasurer: Chris Peck, 613-384-8442, cp@post.queens.ca
Competition Chairmen: Rob Brunner, 613-546-8895, dredpirate@gmail.com
Newsletter Editor and Past President : Paul Jeffrey, 613-389-0714, paul.jeffrey@sympatico.ca
Membership Application or Renewal Form
Name
Mailing Address
Phone (Home)
Phone (work)
FAX
Email
Other CASC-OR club memberships:______________________
Do you wish to receive CASC-OR sponsor email offers?_________________
2007 Membership Dues:
$35 Full; $25 Associate. $5 Additional Family. $15 Student. $100 Corporate.
See our website www.stlac.ca for full details.
(Note: For those who join via the CASC-OR website the fees are 5% higher. For example, Full mem-
bership becomes $36.75. This compensates for the revenue loss we would otherwise incur.)
Please fill out this form (or facsimile) and return it with dues (cheques made payable to “The St. Law-
rence Automobile Club”) to our Membership Chairman.
St. LAC Membership Chairman
C/O John Kinnear
1163 Bentley Terrace
Kingston, ON, K7P 2L8
613-389-3566
jkinnear@kingston.net
Page 28
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