A day at Hershey

Wow, what a nice day, not a cloud in the sky. When I first get there, I stop at 3 vendors who might have F5000 race programs and photos. My main race program guy was going out of business and this was going to be his last show. He had already disposed of 22,000 race programs to one person. His booth was basically empty. This is starting to be the same story over and over again. Most of the guys selling this stuff are 70+ years old. There's no one to pass the torch too, so they just end up quiting. The other 2 vendors had nothing. Spent the day, but went home empty.

One of those "what is it" cars.

Saw this guy while I was in the parking lot eating my lunch. I don't think he's looking for a starter motor for his "39" Plymouth.

Hershey next week

Back to the old car meet/flea market located in Hershey, PA next week. This is the big one, got to have a good pair of walking shoes to shop this one. The pickin's are very slim for race stuff, but I might just get lucky this year.

Need a headlight for your Model "T"? He's probably got it.

http://www.hersheyaaca.org/fallmeet.html

F5000 Photo Book

A very nice book of F5000 photos and race results on the Mitty and Road America events this past summer. The book and photos are designed by Linda Kramer, a photographer with the zest for racing. It's a hard cover book with 36 pages produced by http://www.shutterfly.com/

Radiator

Eric found another source for radiators, a California outfit. The radiator in the Lola T190 is the same as a T192. Eric also has one that is damaged and is planning on having it repaired by this company. I guess I'll wait for the results.
The aluminium radiator support will be coming via a race team that's in Easton, PA. They race prep a F5000 car and are in California for the last F5000 event next weekend. I expect they should be back the second week of October. Easton is less than 40 miles from me so it's a close pickup.

A Tinsmith I'm not

Started to tackle the rad. support. First used the hydraulic press for the big creases, then switch to a hammer and block for the rest.

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Looking better, but still a lot more work is needed.

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On another subject, the antique show went well, lots of sales.

Antiques

We have another antique show this weekend. Then next week I hope to spend a little more time on the car.
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Had mentioned this before. Here's one of the aluminum pieces from the shroud with "Waco" written on it. Mark Waco drove the car in 1973. Another case of the radiator shroud being repaired. When trying to confirm a cars history, always like to find evidence like this.

More rivets removed

Drilled out the rivets that hold the 4 directional pieces that control the air flow into the radiator. I will straightened them, but I might make new ones anyway.

The 4 pieces are in the middle of the radiator support.
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Not the first time the nose has been repaired. This photo is from 1975 taken by Ed Justice Jr. The damage to the front appears not to be to bad, until you look at the right suspension and see some parts have been torn off.

Up on stands

Had a couple of spare hours today and placed the car back on the stands and removed the wheels. Also do a little more work on the radiator support drilling out rivets.

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I've been looking on eBay for the past 3 years in search of Justice Bros. fender covers. At last I found one, it's never been used and was still in the original bag. I date these from the 1970's of 80's. Now I just need one more for the other side.

Watkins Glen

Spent Saturday at Watkins Glen for the vintage race weekend. The weather was perfect and the cars were many. I think about 500 vintage racers. I did find Paul Dudiak working on his F5000 McKee getting it ready for his late afternoon race. His was the only F5000 car there. Had a chance to talk to him about tires. Most everyone is using Avons and he mentioned that the F5000 series is considering mandating that all competitors in the series use ONLY Avon tires for 2011. I will be very disappointed if this ruling goes in effect for next year. Historically my car with the majority of all F5000 cars used Goodyears back in the day. Avon started to make race tires in 1985. Nine years after the F5000 series ended in the US. Plus a set of Avons cost more.

Update

Still planning on heading up to Watkins Glen this weekend. Looks like one F5000 car will be there along with 400+ other cars.
Heard from Eric, he ran into problems with his clutch and then found a crack in his brake caliper causing it to leak brake fluid. So the car never left his garage. Said he has another event in 2 weeks, hopes to be ready by then.
The past antique show wasn't to bad, sold some stuff, made some money and will hope the next show is as good.

More spares

Added 2 new dog rings to the spares box. Got these on eBay. In fact Eric, who has the Lola T190 and Reto, who is rebuilding a Lola T142 in Switzerland both pointed me to the eBay listing. Their new old stock at half the price. I should be in good shape for next year with 2 spares and the one in the gear box only has a few laps on it from Road America.

Ok, just a little bit of work.

Needed a break from the prep for the antique show. Did a little more rivet removal on the nose. Last week I was talking to my airplane mechanic, John. He said he would help me re-rivet the aluminium structure once I got it all straightened out. He's semi- retired and goes to Florida for the winter, so this I can't put off.

The more I remove the worst it gets.

Right side


Left side.

U.S. Vintage Grand Prix September 9-12

I've attended as a spectator the last 3 years. Great event and probably the largest historic gathering on the East coast. I had hoped the F5000 series would return to this event this year. But that was not to be. I might consider participating in this race next year, even if the F5000 cars don't come, it's a great track and it's close.

We have a antique show over labor day weekend, a week off, then another show the following weekend. If I get the time, sure would like to go up to Watkins Glen for this event. I belong to the club that organizes it, so my ticket is free. We'll see what happens.

The race car, still under the cover. I did work a little on the aluminum shroud that holds the nose and radiator. Starting to drill out the many rivets that it's assembled with. Still hoping the one from Eric is a good match, but I know it's not a perfect match.

Update

I did contact the race shop to see about a radiator and nose. He said he might have the radiator and a mold for the nose. It's large warehouse and might be a week or two before in can take a look. These guys are still busy, it's just the middle of the race season for them.
The next couple of months will be focused on business and home. I think the car will turn into a winter project.

Radiator

Certainly at top of the parts list is the radiator. The choices are, replace with a used one, replace with a new one or repair what I have. The easiest would replace with a used one. I called a race shop that carries a few Lola T192 parts in Michigan. Should hear from them Monday, but I think they sold their last one last year. Option 2, have one custom made. Haven't explored this idea yet, but keeping it in mind. Last would be repair it. Think I will give Brian a call next week to see what he thinks.

Having time on my side, leaves a lot of options. I'll move slowly on this one.