Projects Track Roadster 16 yrs in the making

Hey Tom,

Please, not to worry; your wife's sanity and her father's well-being are far more important. This is a hobby and the goal is fun. When she has time and the inclination to dabble in the hot rod world her efforts will be greatly appreciated.

Please tell her thanks and give her my kind regards.

charlie

 

Charlie

If I may ask what is Brett main type of employment?
And is he into the Fart Cars? If so, you might win him
over from the Dark Side.....

 

All is well in Raytown Charlie. We got the camera, the card, the cable and burned some CDs.
Steve is home from the hospital and all is fine.

Here is proof you were out and about and hanging with new and old (cars) alike!

 

LB+1

Brett works at Aeromotive, the high end fuel delivery components company. Aeromotive is a local Lenexa KS business. On weekends Brett works mostly with local drag racers who need an expert in solving electronic tuning problems. I learned about Brett from Jack Luther, a local HAMBer, who in turn heard about Brett's skills from Don Cane one of the Deans of the KC hot rod/drag racing scene.

Brett is has a wealth of practical EFI tuning knowledge, a great guy and a real pleasure to work with.

We are likely going to do some more "on the road tuning" this evening. The weather is fantastic in KC right now. Hooray!

Stay tuned,

charlie

 

Tom,

Great news on all fronts. Please thank Stephanie for me and give her Dad an attaboy. It was a pleasure to meet your family. The photos are excellent (of the TR), I seem to be really slinging the BS in the first photo....typical.

This is a great record of my maiden "voyage" in the Maserodi, thanks for the documentation. It was gratifying that so many seasoned hot rodders enjoyed checking out the TR.

Charlie

 

Well - you are blessed, to find all of these talented people, Charlie.
How bout a video of it running?

 

LB+1

How right you are about the kind and talented people. I very lucky. Even the great encouraging buddies on the HAMB.

I know you've asked about video of the TR before. I guess I need a friend with a camera and another friend to drive the "camera" car....I'll see what I can do. A video of the car from the side of the road doesn't seem too worthwhile. I guess a sound recording of the little Hemi throttling up would be fun even from the side of the road.

I had no idea how much throttle response one experiences with straight stacks (Hilborn); the power comes on so fast that I feel like the old fuel altered drag races must have felt. Man'o man.

charlie

 

You remember the old pilot leather's catalog I sent you.
Dig it out, even being nippy, is not going to keep you out
of the M/TR

Have you found, the center sweet spot in the steering?

 

I used your suggestion and bought a nice replica of an old leather aviator's "helmet" and WWII goggles.

I'm not sure if I have the cojones to wear this stuff though; the idea sounded good but it seem's pretty weird in the real world....maybe at a festival or ??

I have made a bit of progress on the steering, a dry film lubricant (teflon) helped, so I'm thinking that the plain brass bushings might be upgraded. Also, I think that I should wait until I have some radial tires mounted before I start working hard on the steering.

To be honest I have been traveling and away from KC. I will address the steering when I return in a week.

I know that I promised you a sight and sound video....Ill work on that when I return too.

Cheers

 

While you are motoring in plutonian. I am sure you have enough Cojones, to have fun!
Some little kid will point at you and have a happy laugh. He looks like Snoopy!
Now a bigger kid called a H.A.M.B would say after falling down laughing! Were in the hell did you get those - I got to have some of those! Have a little fun old man!!

 

Had my track roadster pickup out today and the leather helmet felt good on the old noggin.

Let's see, there I was just riding around on a cool 55 dgree fall day, comfortable with my warm ears, driving down some TLBT, blowing up dead leaves behind me and just generally not giving a rats butt what the civilians thought. Don't wanna miss many roadster days at my age, anyway. At 67 one gets to be goofy/silly and otherwise...

Charlie

 

I can't believe with all the time I spend on the HAMB that today was the first time I've seen this.

Congratulations on a fine build, I'm with the ones who agree that the architect gets the credit, the guy that pays the bills gets the credit.

The super builders who have spent a lifetime acquiring their skills and are patronized by guys such as you are very grateful to be able to ply their craft in exchange for compensation. Without the patrons, these guys would not be able to reach the levels that they do. I occasionaly help at a one-man shop run by an old builder/fabricator/machinist, I consider it an honor to be able to help him and learn. And he is very grateful for the customers that support him with projects.

I've been getting the bugs out of my roadster for about 3 years now. Everytime I think it's about perfect, something else pops up, or falls off

I too wear an Aviator helmet. Cloth for the warmer weather and lined leather for the winter. Shades for the daytime and goggles for the night to keep the bugs out of the eyes. Leather jacket helps the wind chill. I've done long trips in temps down into the 30's. Rain sucks, but is worse at slow speeds, up to about 25 mph. Then the air blows the water off the tires faster than the rooster tails can form.

Oh, the color is fine, as is the not color-sanded, not perfect paint. It's a HOT ROD, hello.

Two words, Jalopy Showdown. Coming up in May.

Frank

 

LB+1

OK if you say so, we'll see. I agree with you about the kids, they are great they instinctively "get it". It's like my HAMB buddy Jack Luther says..." when you're crusin down the street the little kids point and break out in a big smile, but most times the parent is just brain dead. OH well.

I guess I need a billowing white silk scarf too...right??

Hang in there...

charlie

A cruise is coming up this weekend. I'll bring my aviator's helmet along...maybe if my big ears get cold enough...

I hope you have a few more nice crusin' days before the weather gets really cold.

Thanks for the feedback.

trakrodstr
aka charlie

 

Frank

Your kind words and perspective are very much appreciated. It seem you live in both worlds...that of a fabricator and an enthusiast. Do you have a top for your roadster? I put a heater in my TR, but the heater core is higher than the radiator cap so I much have an air bubble trapped as the heater doesn't work. I'll reach up in there, loosen a clamp and bleed the air, but I want to make damn sure that I don't have any water leaks before I fool with the heater/cooling system.

The Maserodi has about 700 miles on the odometer now. We still have some cold start issues, but Brett and I have re-done the throttle linkage a bit and now have WOT using the foot pedal.

I'm finally starting to settle down and enjoy driving the TR instead of "analyzing" every sound a rattle. So far at the local cruise in's the comments have been very complimentry; but I guess not many people are going to come up to an owner and tell him/her that their hot rod sucks.

The older crowd gets a kick out of the car; I've had several elderly ladies in their 80s come up and tell me they like the roadster, especially the color.

I've just acquired some new stainless steel mesh "filters" that will fit over each of the eight Hilborn stacks, I'll send a photo of the new look when I get back to KC.

Where is the Jalopy Showdown held?

Thanks again for the kind words. Your comments mean a lot as they come from someone who understands all the hard work that Jack put into this roadster.

kind regads,

charlie

 

White Silk - No Sir, it is checkers for #1 With the Red Yellow Blue MASERODI Logo right in the center! Let's put it to a vote?

 

A long silk scarf caught in the rear wheel could cause serious injury or worse.Thats my vote.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isadora_Duncan

 

Charlie,
No, no heater, no top. the windshield is only 9 inches tall and I look over the top of it. Just barely. But the wind is deflected enough to just clear the top of my head. But raindrops are not deflected. Some physics rule at work there.

My little car gets a lot of thumbs up and cell phone pictures, too. And smiles from the kiddies. They get it.

The Jalopy Showdown is in the middle of PA. Every year in May. Scary Larry runs the best show in the east. It's at an old fairgrounds racetrack that has survived and is now the Eastern Museum of Motoracing. About 600 cars show up, most of them HAMB quality. Larry lets 2 laps at a time on the 1/2 mile flat dirt track.

"I'm finally starting to settle down and enjoy driving the TR instead of "analyzing" every sound a rattle."
This is the best, when you can just enjoy the drive. Effortless cruising.

Once again, congrats for perservering thru the years to build your dream!

Frank

 

Wattabout a short silk scarf?

Your concern for my neck's well being is appreciated.

What do you think about LB+1's scarf suggestion?

I'm not sure about a scarf but as a flag or banner I think he's spot on.

charlie

 

Frank,

I have field tested my seat heaters...ahhh the joy of a warm butt!

Jack insisted that I go with a serviceable windshield. The laid-back look is great but not very useful for deflecting wind unless you sit way down in the car and very cumbersome when getting in and out of the roadster, particularly if the top is up.

The two laps on the dirt sounds very cool. I will keep the Jalopy Showdown in mind as I have made a solemn promise to drive the TR to Virginia to visit old friends.

I hope to get some more fuel/RPM curves established this weekend with Brett's help. The weather is getting colder.

Keep your handsome TR on the road and thanks for your kind message.

charlie

 

Hi Charlie. I noticed the TR is going to be at the Revolution. Cool!

 

HAMBers,

It's been a while since I posted any photos.

Here are some pics of the velocity stack filters I ordered from Bill Hirsch.

I measured my Hilborn stacks and Bill did the rest. His filters are very well made and fit like a glove. He offered to make the silicone rubber retaining ring green in color, but I opted for black rubber. There appear to be two layers of stainless steel "square" screen, which are positioned at 45 degrees out of register. He sells the filters to racers mostly, and he has the tooling for Weber, Dellorto and other carb stacks.

He was a delight to work with and delivered the filters exactly as promised. I give Bill 5 stars on a 4 star scale for service, knowledge and promptness. His web address is:

www.bbrfilters.com

In my opinion the filters are attractive but still have a racing equipment look.

trakrodstr
aka charlie

 

Yeah, that's the plan...I'm spooked about making plans to attend HAMB functions though as I've weenied out twice already.

Keep your fingers crossed.

charlie

 

My last post proved to be prophetic. It's a sad day in Mudville.

I took the TR out for a quick spin last Sat to enjoy the Indian Summer and noticed the Hemi was running a bit rough. I went back home and could tell that the driver's side had a dropped cylinder. I checked the plugs and # 1 was fouled....checked out the ignition and EFI and found no problems. The guy helping me, Brett, brought over his compression tester and #1 was at 50psi, #3 was at 155, #5 was 115 and #7 was 155; all the cylinders on the other bank were fine. Last night I pulled the valve cover... the valve springs, pushrods and rocker arms look fine.

I guess next week Brett will do a leak down test. Probably not a holed piston as there was no pressure or smoke build up in the oil pan. No unwanted mechanical noises. Probably a burnt valve(s), a wiped cam or possibly piston rings.

If I have to pull the engine that will be major surgery including removal of the nose and radiator so it can clear the master cylinders on the firewall.

I'm pretty bummed as I had thought that the engine was the most solid part of the build. I certainly did my homework and bought nice parts.

So much for driving the TR to the HAMB Revolution at Austin , I will not "promise" to attend any HAMB gatherings until I am at the site; this is getting to be ridiculous. What can I say?

At least this didn't happen just as the weather was getting nice or I was out in the middle of nowhere.

charlie
aka trakroadstr

 

I think it is a burnt valve - after I thought about it - Damn shame

 

LB+1

I hope you're correct. Otherwise it's going to be major surgery and engine removal.

Know anyone lookin' for a puke green track roadster...cheap?

I'll keep you and my other buddies posted.

trakrodstr

 

You make some good points, as much as I hate to think about changing the steering I may have to.

I wonder if a corvair steering box will "fit" inside a Schroeder housing?? The damn thing looks big enough.

As you can see above I have more pressing issues...

Thanks for your thoughts.

trakrodstr

 

Bummer Charlie. Let me know if I can lend a hand.

-mike-

 

Thank Mike,

I might take you up on your offer if I have to hank the engine...

boohoo....

 

Very sorry to hear this. After all the effort you deserve to have that beauty on the road. Hope it is not too serious.