Some photos for John McMechnie

[khyndart in CA]

Geez John,
If you have Mike on a spoiler quest do you need me as well ?
I think I know the answer. LOL.

(Ken Hyndman )

[John McKechnie]

Always sad when a senior moment catches up........damn.

[Milan Fistonic]

Some more from NZFMR Sunday

[Grant Sprague]

It can happen to any one John , it is fixable dont be hard on yr self , just a bit of back burner stuff & $$$ elcchhhh

[Spgeti]

Ouch.....bad luck John and not the way you wanted to end a great festival for and your group. It can be fixed. Cheers, Bruce

[John McKechnie]

Yep, Rod has said he will make this happen-thanks mate.
we all really feel for him on this his first run with us

[AMCO72]

Needs to go to 'The Best Damn Body Shop in Town'......... theres some serious bodywork damage there.

[John McKechnie]

their chassis machine is busy for more than one month....checked yesterday.

[ERC]

Sad that it involved a non-series car. Feel sorry for Grimmie too. He won't be feeling too good about it.

It merely emphasises the importance of the Series convenors controlling the invitation to their grids. If a race organiser accepts a series into a meeting, that is an Invitation series only, then it has to be to series rules.

If the organisers don't want to lose that control, then they don't invite the series, but run an open class instead. It might be tough on out of towners or those only racing a couple of times a year, not having a race at a specific meeting, but that is the decision an organiser must make. We have seen some very small grids in the past which isn't good for organisers or spectators.

Where a series only has a few cars, (an uneconomic grid) then they have to decide to be part of a meeting and maybe pay a higher entry fee, or share the track. Thankfully, this class is still growing, thanks mainly to John's efforts.

On a separate note, this is why we allow fibreglass panels... You never know when you are going to get dinged. I know John is now frantically trying to source panels, but racing rarer cars carries a risk and finding panels for some of the cars out there, is nigh on impossible. Forget any perceived weight advantage, it is minimal in the overall scheme of things and negated in handicap races anyway.

[khyndart in CA]

Sorry to see the damage to a fine looking machine.
What happened and was Rod G driving at the time ?

[khyndart in CA]

Don't worry lads it could have been worse. Even the great ones have their moments.
Dale Earnhardt after rolling at Pocono track in the mid 1980s.

[khyndart in CA]

John's XA Falcon Coupe today.
Well done lads, it looks better than new. May it always look this grand.

[Rod Grimwood]

Sorry to see the damage to a fine looking machine.
What happened and was Rod G driving at the time ?

Yep he was. Loved it until final 10 metres.
PM me some time for catch up Ken. Hope to be going to 50 year anniversary F5000 La Guna 2018.

[John McKechnie]

Rod-
Huge thanks for you arranging and taking care of the Surgeon that was needed, also grille, bonnet moulding and rf indicator lamp

Lex Greer at LG Panel and Paint, Manukau, for his Traction machine,and skills to make it better than it looks...and also to let a Ford be in his Lions Den and not have a Commodore sticker slapped on it

Also thanks to Cam Crawford donating a steel XAGT right front guard from his XA Coupe parts. There is now a Chillex racing sticker solely occupying the advertising boot space of the XU1 Torana.

Not forgetting Mark Powell for giving correct dimensions for badges- hes been watching this car since I first started building it.
Front and rear bumpers came from Invercargill,
chassis rail, inner guard and radiator support panel from Inglewood
These cars may be tough, but its tougher being the owner trying to find replacement panels when the time comes.
If it was a Camaro or Mustang, no probs- get new,clean replacement part from local supplier- Dale ,for instance. Aussie cars- no way ,everything is old and usually rusty
Bonnet I got 2 years ago, same as the lower valance panel.
Front screen still to be replaced, rear bumper seen on the car is also to be replaced.
Rare Spares had rear side lamps, rear honeycombes, badges and driving light rings for the grille.
Front air dam, being plastic, just need gluing back together

Marsh personally groomed the 633 horses living under the bonnet at the same time

[mark powell]

I have a spare front screen

[John McKechnie]

Mark- thanks for the offer, but Windscreenman Barry already has a new one here ready to go.

[Ray Bell]

Maybe now the car's fixed Steve can fix the name at the head of the thread?

What date is the F5000 50th on?

[John McKechnie]

Ray- F-5000 Grand Prix is January 21st weekend at Taupo- are you coming to visit us?

[John McKechnie]

Save the best till last-

A HUGE thanks to Angus Fogg for his side.-
Picking up car- stripping the smashed front, pulling the engine out, delivering the stranded auto to LG Panelbeaters, motor to Marsh.
Later-Collecting said rip roaring, ready to go motor and not so stranded limo from Lex , and reuniting aforementioned mechanical items in his workshop and delivering to me as a running, driving car for the final assembly..............saved me a ton of running round ,I know that he definitely looked after me, as i am sure his bill did not reflect the amount of work this took .


It was a thoroughly professional effort on the whole project and sure as hell hope it doesnt happen again !!!!!!

[Rod Grimwood]

Maybe now the car's fixed Steve can fix the name at the head of the thread?

What date is the F5000 50th on?

Ray it is at La Guna Seca Rolex August 2018. 2 weekends with Re-Union the 1st and Rolex the 2nd.