The Roaring Season

Grant Sprague wrote:Ok my turn again , was at Ruapuna with some mates I was running XU1 in super car races about 1972..73 probably 18 yrs old [ex Allen Owes] ... ?? Anyway after the meeting we were having a beers or 2 [light beer] lol, I had fitted a megaphone seemed to work ok but was very loud & a pain in bum to take off & put muffler on after a couple of light beers , I drove to the exit gate after meeting & walked up to the NICE traffic cop & mentioned I had a real problem converting mufflers [after a couple beer hehe]!! & needed to get back to Timaru , he said QUOTE " dont you worry a thing about it Grant I will radio ahead & you will be all good to get back home & will explain to the others you are coming through " Beauty I thought a free pass to race on the way home with some more light beer [not] lol , I look back & think wellll I was a cheeky little bugger ......such fun days but did no harm , after a few months I paid it off gave Leo his slicks back & headed to Uk

Had a couple of brushes with the boys in blue myself whilst driving Dads cars home. (Around our stomping ground) Although they never said, I was sure they knew exactly who's cars they were. Always told to proceed home quietly.............

Ok my turn again , was at Ruapuna with some mates I was running XU1 in super car races about 1974 75 probably 19 yrs old [ex Allen Owes] ... ?? Anyway after the meeting we were having a beers or 2 [light beer] lol, I had fitted a megaphone seemed to work ok but was very loud & a pain in bum to take off & put muffler on after a couple of light beers , I drove to the exit gate after meeting & walked up to the NICE traffic cop & mentioned I had a real problem converting mufflers [after a couple beer hehe]!! & needed to get back to Timaru , he said QUOTE " dont you worry a thing about it Grant I will radio ahead & you will be all good to get back home & will explain to the others you are coming through " Beauty I thought a free pass to race on the way home with some more light beer [not] lol , I look back & think wellll I was a cheeky little bugger ......such fun days but did no harm , after a few months I paid it off gave Leo his slicks back & headed to Uk

Jac Mac wrote:[color="#0000CD"]Quick story with a lot left out... One journey to Ruapuna circa 1982? for Southern 200 with Derek MacRae Torana V8 being towed by his brothers HQ? Holden, mufflers/exh finished under rear seat with angle cut pipe ends, over railway crossing at turn off from Main Road Sth to Ruapuna, mufflers snag the railway lines, pulled pipes out of collectors & ends punch two neat 2" holes in fuel tank, virtually full after top up at Ashburton. Car now 'stuck' on railway line with very large puddle of fuel under car, loud /frantic discussion as to whether to restart car & risk spark from open headers starting a fire!!, then I look sideways down railway line & catch glimpse of very large headlight on front of goods train which I now remember passing a few minutes ago, F*** the sparks, pax leap out, lift car at rear wheel arches & driver says his last goodbyes & fires up the HQ, gets about 150 meters up road before it runs out of gas & goods train shoots thru, thanks to the big fella upstairs no flames, just elevated heart rates! Rest of weekend fuel line was length of plastic tube from front of HQ to race car fuel tank. [/color]

Wooow Jac , that sounds more like a bad dream......... but yep I know this sort of thing went on lucky move ??

Not really a road trip but I was assisting a couple of well known people on a rally when at a roadside service the driver felt the call of nature and ducked off behind a small wall of to the side of the road and went about his business. A person arrived on the scene looking for the driver and was directed by the drivers brother as to where he was located behind said wall. As the driver was to later say one does become slightly distracted when ones trousers are down around your ankles while you are contemplating the world around you then someone you can't see arrives behind you and starts asking questions about the event. Which of course is why he inadvertently gathered a large handful of stinging nettle with which proceeded to do his wipe ups with.

paul lancaster wrote:Haha, what a great yarn rob, especially the piece of kfc.and the bonnet pins.

They were are hard case lot to go away with.

Haha, what a great yarn rob, especially the piece of kfc.and the bonnet pins.

Ross Hollings wrote:Great reading the above stories,when I was racing my mini and the Minimax in the 60,s if we were heading for a meeting out of town [grass track racing or hillclimbs]we would all get together outside Reidrubber in the Great South
Rd Ak, seem to remember Ralph Emson being there along with John Lawton in their Simcas,we usually finished up with 10 or so cars then head off to the event,actually the trip there was usually more fun than the event some times !! The thing is we were not going super fast in speed but travelling quickly in a group,remember cars were a little less powerful then.Good memories though.Rosco

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They were great events, (Grass track racing NZ style) Here is a photo of Dad in the Simca.

Great reading the above stories,when I was racing my mini and the Minimax in the 60,s if we were heading for a meeting out of town [grass track racing or hillclimbs]we would all get together outside Reidrubber in the Great South
Rd Ak, seem to remember Ralph Emson being there along with John Lawton in their Simcas,we usually finished up with 10 or so cars then head off to the event,actually the trip there was usually more fun than the event some times !! The thing is we were not going super fast in speed but travelling quickly in a group,remember cars were a little less powerful then.Good memories though.Rosco

OK, in 1973 my girlfriend and I were on our way to the Maramarua Rally. It was extremely wet and muddy, we were in her Mini Cooper S[Brutus]. On the gravel road leading there, and we were late, I got a flat tyre. We stopped on the side of this back road, I got out my jack wheel brace and tools. Jacked up the car , removed wheel nuts , then felt the car falling- road was muddy with gravel, not a flat stable surface. Quickly told her to get out of the car, stand back to the car , arms stiff by her side, both hands securing the wheel arches and hold the car vertical so it wouldnt fall off the jack. She did, complaining that it was difficult. I told her to shut up, I was doing my bit changing wheels and I was not interested in ANY thing else- never been a sensitive new age guy.
I finished my job, noting that her eyes were bulging with the exertion and she was praying- good touch. She was still standing there after I put everything away, so I opened her door, pulled her in and took off. She was pale and shaking. As we accelerated away hard, she ducked her head. Silence. A few minutes later I complimented on her imput and how our team work stopped the car falling over.
She then proceeded to tell me that there was a large bull behind the fence- about a yard from us . I couldnt see it. She was looking right into its eyes. And as I was facing the car I missed it all. Apparently Ferdinand took exception to my girlfriends lavender jersey , got agitated and started trying to rip the fence out of the ground with his horns. Seems her eyes were bulging from fear, praying for our skins and she was so frozen with terror I had to drag her into the car.
Rally was fun, no spare tyres.

Had a group of hard case guy's who used to 'help' me out with the car and come on trips with me to meetings. Well The 'Molloy Boys' from the North Shore were/are well known brothers, and I was (un)fortunate to have them as 'helpers' back in early 80s. Well one trip to the original Taupo track in my Holden ute with us 3 in front, spares and wheels etc. on back and car on trailer off we head from North Shore on Thursday with plan to stop in Matamata for quick catch up with a mate we all knew who had a car yard and then to Taupo so we can be at track first thing Friday to do mileage on new engine. Well we make good time and are in Matamata just after lunch time and drop in to see friend. Well we have lunch and a quick beer to wash it down, when another mate from Matamata arrives. Then another and another, and we discover that the phone is ringing around town that we are at the well known (to most motor racing people in the area) meeting place. Well when we leave at about 8:30am on Friday the plans had changed about running the engine in. one boy sits in car (low) and runs it and watch's guages as we trailer it south. South of Tokoroa the car is slipped of the trailer and a plan put in place for me to follow them and we take a wheel and hub off trailer (tandem) so if any one queries we are just going down the road to repair it. Well we get not far from Wairakei and pull over, start putting hub back on when a traffic man comes along. We explain that we have car off trailer so we can sort out the trailer. After a good old chat the officer say's 'well if you get stuck, just be sensible and follow the trailer into town where you can sort it out'. Well we put car back on trailer and off we go, still giggling about the chat with the nice man.
We get into Taupo and I stop at the first intersection to turn left and go up to the track when 2 rather biggish girls are walking down the footpath when the older of my 2 'helpers' leans out the window and says "hey you will know, where is Kentucky Fried Chicken" I just looked straight ahead and drove off as fast as I could, well after a lot of laughter we finally made it to the track and ran a few laps to finish engine run in and changed the oil/filters etc. and then I said I will do a couple of reasonable laps to make sure its all ok. Well out of the (old) pits and into sweeper and I think 'gees that bonnet moved' and then it did, straight up and gone. well I trundle around to pit area and pull in and I see them standing with the bonnet and I stop, hop out and the older 'helper' walks to front of my ute and bends right over in front of me and say's 'here do it now'. I just look, but am tempted to slipper him. He puts his hand in his pocket and says ' I got the pins at least they are not lost' I just look and he goes on 'they were safe in my pocket'. Well the bonnet has done a couple of loops and landed dead flat on the soft grass next to the track with not a mark. At this stage I am ready for a drink so we find some locals and relax with them (as you did in Taupo back then) and others that where playing with their cars as well.
The famous 'tent' at Taupo was our finish off on Sunday evening/night and home on Monday.
Thank god the meeting went better than the 'warm up'

paul lancaster wrote:Just checking up on my roadtrip thread, come on dudes, get them old stories on for US to read, I'm sure there are plenty of good yarns out there

May need to use 'non-de-plumes' and false names, may be some still married or have children who could read it.

Just checking up on my roadtrip thread, come on dudes, get them old stories on for US to read, I'm sure there are plenty of good yarns out there

What a magic story Steve, keep them comin fellas, ahh, the good old days.

Many years ago while growing up in Wanganui me and two mates headed off to Thunder Park in my mates HD Premier. We were about 18-19.We were coming down the hill bout to take the Feilding turnoff when we came across a white van.I was in the back seat so as we passed i mooned the white van then heard my mates yelling at me,i had just mooned a van load of Black Power members,we took off,my mate who owned the car was sure they would see it one day and beat him up.We got to Thunder Park and about two hours later two Black Power members came up to me and said are you the honky with the white a$@hole in the blue Holden,i said no sorry we came in a red Vailant,they then precided to tell me what they were goin to do to me if they ever found out.The rest off the day was spent looking over my shoulder instead of watching the racing.

C'mon guys - this is too good a thread to let sink!

Michael Clark wrote:What a great thread - Howard Wood is out of town at the moment so won't see this for another few hours - but there is a story about him and his late brother, the Desert Road, and the truck carrying their Cheetah FFs which had me doubled up when I first heard it...

Most of my memories of "interesting" motor racing road trips involve heroic efforts to keep old/ unsuitable/ unreliable tow vehicles running. Looking back, I suspect we spent more time and effort on tow cars than the race cars.

As my brother Donald and I were running a FF each for the '73-'74 season we built a "transporter" from an 1952 Bedford K model truck, complete with "accommodation". I would like to say that it served us well but that would be lying, its final road trip was returning from a Manfeild round late in the season. Donald was to drive back to our Hamilton base alone, a trip which of course didn't begin until all the post race festivities had ended.

Some time in the very early hours of the morning, along the desert road, the thing ran a big end bearing. Deciding there was little to be done until daylight, Donald retired to the "accommodation", actually the cockpit of a FF. At first light, he got to work on the side of the road, removing the sump (still full of oil as he did not have a suitable container), pulling out the offending bearing,con rod and piston before bolting it all up again. Of course, while cleaning up the area as all good mechanics do, he discovered the hose clip that he had intended to use to cover the oil supply hole on the crank so had to repeat the whole process all over again.

Finally back on the road, the now 5 cylinder Bedford had lost a little of its previous 40 mph performance and of course was vibrating something fierce but mobile, sort of. Of course, the run bearing hadn't done anything to improve the engine which was now using oil at an alarming rate so over the course of the day and next night Donald drained first the engine oil from both the FFs then the gearbox oil to keep the old girl going.

As he was travelling so slowly, keeping as far left as possible it was only a matter of time before both left rear wheels were punctured so one flat left was swapped with the right giving one inflated and one flat tyre per side and the trip continued. Finally, 36 hours after leaving Manfeild the outskirts of Hamilton were appearing and for the first time Donald felt that he might actually make it home when a elderly gent on a bicycle passed (!) him pointing out that both the remaining rear tyres were deflating.

At this point there was nothing left to do but complete the trip (triumphantly?) on foot.

Needless to say, we sold the truck soon after to a hippie who wanted to convert it into a house bus for a life on the road. Good luck with that!

Right again Rod, fit the Mk3 diff head to the Transit and then take the 5.1 crown wheel & pinion from the Transit and fit it into the Escort Atlas axle.

Great photos, they were good. As Carlo mentioned a larger tank was the call. Pretty sure the Mazda Dealer one had a Mk3 Zephyr diff head which went into the transit housing fitted to give it better highway cruise and not so many revs with the V8 and auto.

[quote="Rod Grimwood"]Peter Davidson and the Masport guys had a transit V6 and the Mazda Dealer Team guys had a Transit with V8 thanks to Ron Kendall, John Butler and boys both with the big roof racks that Carlo mentioned.

I have seen this restored transit around - great original rego plate.
It looks a bit smarter than it did in the 70's.