The Wishbone Alley Gazette
April, 2003
Rally
News
*April 27: Raindrop- One of
the rare opportunities for a Sunday Afternoon TSD rally, remember to get the
word out to all your friends.
Steve Willey, Rallymaster, says:
"Raindrop will be
twisting and turning on scenic roads scrolling through the valleys and
foothills that run up to Mt Rainier. The
silent volcano speaks only with frequent blue and white 'Volcano Evacuation Route' signs along the
course. Sometimes we'll be tempting fate
by following, not the evacuation route but the potential mud slide route, then
sometimes we'll be heeding sound advice and heading for the hills.
Look forward to four hours
and some minutes of rally fun covering about a hundred and ten miles. With copious bathroom stops and a snack break
you'll be able to enjoy the scenery and pleasurable driving in comfort. With challenges for both novice and veteran
competitors and both drivers and navigators; all will get their fill of fun."
The finish is at Godfather's
Pizza in Spanaway,
*The March issue of Northwest
Region, SCCA's newspaper, "Northwest Sports Car News" includes
minutes from the Region Board meetings.
To quote, "Rally workers will have license numbers in 2003 from the
National office."
* The clash is coming- SCCA National office
wants the Club Rally series to follow all the National series rules. This would exclude some perfectly fine cars
that don't quite fit into the rules. This would be OK, except that organizers need
those extra cars to make it profitable to put on stage rallys.
This could lead to a 3rd
"structure", at the local level, for those "oddball"
cars. There are probably 10 such cars in
the NW, plus 4-5 more, just needing some TLC to get them on the road. (see Ed Storer's car For Sale)
Trivia
* Corroded electrical contacts revisited:
Nolte's Jeep has a block of exposed buss fuses. The tube-type fuses are nested
in an old Mazda RX2 fuse block, with a fabricated bracket, under the hood, but
as exposed to the elements as can be. The brass parts of the block corroded
over the years (1988). The thin layer of corrosion builds up heat, which is a
waste of good electricity, but doesn't burn off the corrosion. But the fuses
consist of a glass tube with the fusing element soldered to the end caps.
Solder melts when it gets hot. Do you see where this leads to?
This may be yet another reason why the
tube-type fuses are out of favor, and blade-type fuses are in vogue.
This knowledge brought to by a bad
experience when leaving the Brooklyn Stage in the dark. Flick the lights to
high beam got darkness! Field repair consisted of knife blade cleaning contacts
and WD40 on all the connections.
* The long anticipated Mitsubishi EVO has
arrived. With only 4500 due to be imported, these are going to be rare cars.
What is the dealer reaction to such a state of affairs? Tack $5000 on the sticker!
Meeting
General Meeting, March 10th,
2003
Treasurer's report: Paid
annual insurance of $653. Bank balance $1339.81
Alcan report: Entries: 15
Winter and 4 summer. Summer motorcycle guys are tracking down a cycle TSD rally
computer.
Raindrop report: Flyers will
be passed out at March Friday Niter. Now planning to go to the South.
Basically reusing 1997. Checkout is April 13.
Old business: Thunderbird: Results passed
around. Ed Millman didn't make it, but now has an entry credit for Totem.
DooWop: Garden variety
rally. Propane tank fire was the highlight. Cops were good with the
spectators.
New business: Announce:
Dryad/Shitepoke in June. WAG has a good list of the upcoming events.
Announce: NW Alfa club high
performance driving school coming up. See http://home.att.net/~borrani/ for
info and forms.
WAG news: Plan is for
paid members to get paper copy. Web person will put on web in full
color. More on this as it develops.
Ed on stickers: It would
be quite a lot easier in this modern age to do a new batch of stickers. A
sheet of stickers like the current ones but edge cut would be about $10 per
sheet. We need only provide an EPS file from software like Illustrator or
Freehand. Most people like the idea of new stickers but no pressing
need. Steve Willey has an interest and is willing to work with Ed and
others over the next six months to come up with a plan for future stickers.
Input is welcome.
FOR SALE
/ Wanted:
* Lucas' 1994 Ford Explorer XLT is for
sale. It's a 4WD 4-door with brand new
automatic trans & brakes, looks & runs great. Factory alloy wheels, tow package, tinted glass $4400, J. Hines 425-823-6343.
* '79 Plymouth
Arrow (made by Mitsubishi) - The Fire Arrow version was the hot rod with a 2.6L
4-cylinder engine. It was a favorite on the ProRally circuit for years
because of its great torque-to-weight ratio and straightforward
construction. It also came standard with 4-wheel disk brakes - nice for
rallying and fairly uncommon in an inexpensive car.
My Fire Arrow became a
carport queen when I attempted to change it from an automatic to 5-speed
transmission. I knew that the engines were transmission-specific.
The zero-hour rebuilt engine
is in the engine bay, I spent $2500 having the engine rebuilt - it has new
0.020 over pistons and a new oil pump in addition to full overhaul. The
car does not run/can't be driven because the rear cross-member doesn't line
up with the transmission mounts. This is where the project stalled.
Much to my surprise and dismay, I discovered that the chassis for a car with an
automatic is not the same as the chassis for a 5-speed. I've had a cross
member fabricated, but can't bolt it in. About the same time I got hooked
on golf.
The car would make a great
back-road TSD machine if you like doing gravel with rear-wheel--drive open
differential car. Here's a list of what would need doing: 1)
drill and reinforce frame to accept crossmember. 2) Have driveshaft
lengthened. 3) drain gas tank. 4) check
carburetor. 5) Hook everything up.
There are 3 sets of
wheels: 13-inch stock aluminum, 13-inch aluminum "minilite"
look-alikes, 14-inch aluminum from a Plymouth Sapporo. The shocks/struts are
Tokiko "Sport" and were in really good shape when the project took
the vehicle off-road. I had the rear springs recurved and a leaf
added.
There is a rebuildable engine
and automatic transmission that would be included as well (worth taking to have
the spare head which is in very good usable condition. 3
carburetors, two stock Mikuni-Solex, one Weber 32DGAV with adapter.
The body is straight and in good shape. All of the
stock seats have been removed and the front buckets are from a mid-80's Mercury
Capri. Very nice for somebody 5'-8" or less, but too high for
anybody taller.
No reasonable offer refused. Ed Storer,
206-282-3145; edstorer@attbi.com
* Future Classic
: TSD rally-ready 1983 Audi Turbo Quattro Coupe. Mars red.
170K miles. Lots of goodies, well maintained by owner (retired mechanic) $ 7,500.00). e-mail Peter Linde at pjnconn@yahoo.com.
RASC Calendar
• Call the NWRC
Hotline (206) 256-9627 for latest info on Puget Sound TSD events. NWRC Friday Niters start at the Eastgate (Bellevue) Park and Ride.
Reg opens at 6:45, FCO 7:31.
NW Rallys- TSD & stage
- April
12
Reno I,
Reno,
NV
- April
13-
Reno II,
Reno,
NV
- Apr. 18 Friday
Niter (Cascade,
Portland)
- April 27-Raindrop
, RASC
- Apr. 26-27- Heart of Darkness,TSD, Hope, B.C.
- May 9-Friday
Nighter (ORCA)
- May 10-11- Rim of
The World, PRO-Rally,
California
- May 16- Friday
Nighter (Cascade/Portland)
- May 31-June 1 -
No Alibi, RASC (eastern Washington)
- June
7- Dryad Quest,
Shelton,
WA
- June
8- Shitepoke,
Shelton,
WA
- June
7/8 - Susquehannock, PRO-Rally
- June 13-Friday
Nighter (ORCA)
- June 13-14 -
Pacific Forest Rally (stage), Merritt, B.C.
- June 20-Friday
Nighter (Cascade/Portland)
- June 28-29 -
Coast to Coast,
Vancouver
Isl., B.C.
- July 11 - Friday
Nighter (NWRC)
- July
12- Oregon Trail,
Hillsboro,
OR
- July
13- Trail's End.
Hillsboro,
OR
- July 18 - Friday
Nighter (Cascade/Portland)
- July 19-20 Gold Digger,TSD, Pemberton, B.C.
- July 20 -
Mountains to the Sea, Cascade SCC,
Portland
- Aug
2 ORV Rallysprint I,
McCleary,
WA
- Aug
3- ORV Rallysprint II,
McCleary,
WA
- Aug
2-3
Maine
Forest PRO-Rally
- Aug 8 - Friday
Nighter (ORCA)
- August 9-10 - The
Road Not Taken (SCCA Nat'l) Grand
Ronde,
OR.
- Aug 15 - Friday
Nighter (Cascade/Portland)
- Sept
6- Sou'Wester,
Olympia,
WA
- Sept
7- Simpson Stages,
Shelton,
WA
- Sept 12 - Friday
Nighter (RASC)
- Sept. 19 - Friday
Niter (Cascade/Portland)
- Sept.
26-27 Mountain Trials (stage), Merritt,
B.C.
- Oct. 4 - Night on
Bald Mountain (ORCA)
- Oct 10 - Friday
Nighter (Torque Steerers)
- Oct. 17-18 - SCCA
National TSD championship,
Portland,
OR
- Oct 25-26 -
Midnite Rally,TSD,
Victoria,
B.C.
- Nov. 1 -
Armageddon, Chuckanut,
Bellingham
- Nov. 15-16 Totem,
Cache,TSD, Creek, B.C.
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