[DeTomaso] RRORR vs. Mangusta 8MA898 Report... The Rest of the Story....

[Mad Dog Antenucci]

Excellent reading  Gary.... Having Michael and Jim there to lend a hand on wrenching and providing moral support to all your effortst is allot of what the 'team' is all about......okay, your expense report is late...get-to-gettin! ;-]>
   
  Proud of ya!
   
  md

Gary Bartley <G.Bartley at cebridge.net> wrote:
  OK, MD asked for it.... This could get l-o-n-g but I'll try to make it 
the Reader's Digest version.

First, If my earlier report made it sound like we just got back from 
walking on the moon, that's the way we felt, but the truth of the matter 
is we were in the 85 mph class which had only two cars and we got beat 
by a '95 Chevy Caprice station wagon with no navigator, cough, cough...

So much for honesty, let's move on....

I'll get some pics up in another day or two. Asa Jay has offered to 
help. In the meantime there are a few pics here:
http://www.rrorr.net/2007/lgoldwire.html

And we are in the news video here:
http://cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=2589

Preparation etc....

I had only driven the Mangusta a hundred miles or so when we decided to 
give this a try so it was and still is an unknown quantity. However 
after reading this list, observing the Houston guys and knowing at least 
a little I started to check out some areas. Mangustas have a bad 
reputation for handling and some research I did indicated that the 
original shocks were the primary culprit so I changed the shocks and 
springs, QA1 single adjustable, 275#/400# springs. I installed new 
tires, H rated Toyo Proxes, 225/60 front and 275/60 rear. The oil pan 
that was on the car when I got it was smashed and lacked the oil temp 
sender so I replaced the pan with an Armando 10 qt model with skid plate 
and installed a temp sender sourced from Germany. On our early test 
drives it seemed to run pretty warm, 200° F, so I pulled the radiator 
and had it flushed etc. This was when I discovered the front water 
pipes were corroded out. I ordered a new set in SS with a long delivery, 
borrowed a set of pipes from the owner of the other Mangusta in town and 
put it back together with Gates Green Stripe hose using Water Wetter and 
~15% antifreeze. The car also showed signs of vapor lock so I replaced 
the electric Facet cube type fuel pump with a Holley Red, insulated the 
fuel lines with Thermo-Tech Thermo-Sleeve and installed a new Holley 
fuel filter ahead of the fuel pump. This car does not have a mechanical 
fuel pump. I also borrowed a set of header heat shields and installed 
them. It wouldn't idle right so I had the carburetor rebuilt by local 
Holley wizard, Sonny Hall. He found some things and made some changes. 
It now works fine. I repacked the front wheel bearings and changed the 
brake fluid, ATE - Blue. The clutch seemed to have a mind of it's own, 
sticking to the flywheel or pressure plate after setting a few days and 
dragging at other times. After driving a several miles it would get 
better. The next day it would be dragging again???? I adjusted it 
several times but the dragging problem always came back. I ran out of 
time and decided I could live with it for 80 miles. Oops!

We decided our primary objectives were to finish and learn about Open 
Road Racing and the car so we entered the 85 mph class. No point in 
over reaching on our first try.

Day 1 - Bad Omens...

We packed up and started to load the Mangusta onto the trailer for the 
500 mile journey to Fort Stockton. The clutch was dragging so bad I had 
to adjust it again in order to drive it on the trailer. I was concerned 
that if I adjusted it too far it would start to slip and that would be 
worse than having to crank up in gear etc. Anyway, we loaded up and 
made the drive without any other incidents. We pulled up in front of 
the hotel to check in and when we went to leave, our tow truck, a '01 
Ford F150 Super Crew, wouldn't come out of park! It had done this once 
before but finally came loose. It came loose this time too but it 
learned a whole new language in the process. Not a good sign!

Day 2 - Check In, Tech, etc...

Being ORR rookies we had to go to Rookie School and Kenda Furman, Race 
Coordinator, had suggested we be in Sanderson first thing so we could 
get checked in and make the first class at 10 AM. We got there and off 
loaded. No major problems but the clutch was still dragging so I was 
starting the engine with the transaxle in first, or reverse or 
whatever. It wasn't so bad I couldn't live with it for 80 miles. Check 
in went smoothly and we had no problems at Tech. Earlier Mike Drew had 
filled me in on a Mangusta successfully raced in England by Freddie Moss 
wearing # 12. We requested #12 but it was not available so we selected 
#112 as a sort of tribute to the racing history of Mangustas. We got 
"stickered up" and prepared for class. The Rookie School was 
interesting and probably worth it. Then it was time for Qualifying 
which was a round trip on the last 10 miles of the course with an 
instructor. I had never gone over 95 mph in the car but the instructor 
wanted me to go 110 mph so we did. No problems and I passed. By this 
time the clutch was acting like it should! I drove the car back to Fort 
Stockton and the coolant temps stayed below 195° F in the 95° F heat. 
So far so good.

Day 3 - Party Time....

Nothing was scheduled for us this day other than the Welcome Party in 
Marathon at 5:00 PM followed by a Party on the Patio back at the hotel 
in Fort Stockton. I knew I should do something about the clutch but I 
was afraid to mess with it. So far the "live with it" plan was working 
so we spent the day checking out Highway 285 to Sanderson; the Big Bend 
ORR road. About 4:00 PM the heavens open up and it rained... hard! We 
took the PU and drove over the RRORR road to Marathon. There were 
several inches of water OVER the road in a number of places. So much 
for racing in the desert! We made it to the party and it was very nice 
and well done. We enjoyed it and drove back to Fort Stockton for the 
Party on the Patio which had moved in doors. It was pretty nice too but 
the beer wasn't free like in Marathon! We met some nice people and had 
some interesting conversation.

Day 4 - More Meetings, Car Show and Parade.

We attended the Navigators and Drivers meetings. Both went pretty 
smoothly. Michael Frazier and Jim Cooper showed up and we brought them 
up to date on the clutch problem etc. Then we drove the Mangusta to the 
park on Main Street for the Car Show. There were many nice cars and 
there was a lot of interest in the Mangusta. After that all the cars 
formed a line and paraded through town. A good number of local people 
turned out to cheer us on. We did find out it is almost impossible to 
throw candy out the window of a Mangusta as the windows only roll half 
way down! But we made it and the coolant temperature stayed around 195° 
F. We thought we just might make it....

Day 5 - Race Day - Disaster Strikes

Up at 4:45 AM, Grrr..... We cranked up and drove to the pre-grid area 
about 5 miles from the hotel using the headlights for the first time. 
The clutch was still dragging but there was nothing new about that. Our 
designated pre-grid spot was one I needed to back up into so I killed 
the engine, shifted into reverse and tried to start the engine. The 
ignition key would only go to the "On" position. It would not turn to 
the "Start" position! I tried the language trick that worked on the PU 
to no avail. We were dead in the water.... Wait! The Mangusta has a 
push button on the starter solenoid that can be used to crank the 
engine. And it worked! So we backed into position. Phew! More head 
scratching and pondering but we decided we would just use the push 
button and make the best of it. So we cranked up and proceeded single 
file to the starting grid about 17 miles away. No headlights for me as 
I had read about the Pantera's experience in this area and was thinking 
that maybe the Mangusta had similar problems. About half way to the 
starting grid it just shrugged a couple of times and died! We coasted 
over to the side of the road and the rest of the grid passed us by. 
Then Mike and Jim showed up and we discovered the electric fuel pump 
motor was hotter than we thought it should be. But it finally cranked 
up and Michael worked some magic with the organizers to get us back into 
our grid spot. At this point we had about an hour and a half until it 
would be our time to start and the way the grid was laid out we would 
only have to start one more time for the first leg. Mike and Jim put 
their heads together and decided to disassemble the fuel pump motor! 
They brought out the wrenches and parts of MY car started flying. Jim 
determined that the motor brushes weren't seating properly and got that 
squared away. The only problem was holding the brushes back while the 
motor end cap was reinstalled. My singular contribution to this effort 
was to hustle up a couple of twist ties, like on a bread sack, from the 
concession stand to use to hold the brushes back while the end cover was 
re-positioned. Jim and Mike again worked their DeTomaso magic and got 
the pump back together. We were as ready as we were going to get and 
our time was coming right up. I put the car in gear and turned the key 
to "ON", Michael or Jim hit the button and closed the wing and we moved 
to the start line. My nerves were frayed! But we were sooooo close....

Surprisingly we made a pretty good start and I managed to get it into 
5th gear without destroying the ZF. The run went well and we were 
hitting our pace markers within a second or two. We finished the first 
leg about 3 seconds fast and proceeded to Marathon for the turnaround. 
We made the time adjustments to our leg 2 pace notes and got ready to 
re-grid. We repeated the wing up, in gear, "contact", wing down 
procedure and headed for the Leg 2 starting grid. At first it looked 
like we were going to be at the end of the line and have to start and 
restart about 40 times before our turn but the automotive racing gods 
must have decided we had suffered enough and the organizers shifted us 
to the same position used for leg 1. I moved from the end of the line 
to what would be row 1, position 2 in an ordinary race grid. At least I 
can say I passed every Corvette out there! And a GT40! We parked and 
had another hour and a half to sweat it out, Literally and 
figuratively.... 1 more start... 40 miles..... 28 turns... 28 
minutes and 17 seconds.... Soooooo close....

Sylvia cut a deal with a starting line EMT to push the button and close 
the hatch and we moved to the starting line. 10... 5-4-3-2-1 and we 
were off! The clutch was working better but the GPS was still searching 
for satellites! I was on my 3rd nervous breakdown in 5 days! The GPS 
hooked up and we had speed indication but the odometer was off meaning 
the average speed calculation was probably off too. Whatever.... 30 
miles to go. Sylvia was finding the pace markers OK and we were 
consistently fast. But we were running and things seem as normal as we 
could have expected. We passed our last pace marker still a second or 
two fast and I had the finish line in sight. I tried to judge our 
crossing time and slowed down... too much! By the time I realized we 
were going to be late it was too late to make it up and we crossed 4.5 
seconds slow. But we made it! Michael and Jim were at the end of the 
shutdown area and were clearly as excited as we were! Wow!

At the awards banquet that evening we were presented our 2nd place 
trophies and we got as much applause as anybody. Even the Vette crowd 
was cheering for us! Through all our trials and tribulations we never 
heard a discouraging word. Everyone was just as helpful and supportive 
as they could be. It was an awesome time!

Summary - Reflections - Afterthoughts.

86 cars entered and 85 showed up. There were no disqualifications and 
only 2 that didn't complete the course. My qualification instructor, 
Stan Martin from AK, took a buzzard strike on his '99 Lightning PU in 
the 140 mph class. Stan survived without injury, the buzzard didn't. 
The second DNF was an '06 Honda that stopped about a half mile into leg 
1. The rumor was he over-reved it and the car's computer shut him 
down. The event ran very smoothly with only a minor hitch or two. Very 
impressive for a mostly volunteer effort. The road was in very good 
condition especially considering the flooding two nights before. The 
state and local agencies did a great job of getting it ready. The folks 
in Marathon and Fort Stockton were Super! A professional event all around.

Lots of folks asked about the Panteras. TPR has made an impression!

The best time had an error of 0.009 seconds. That's inside the margin 
of error for the timing equipment! The largest error was 1 minute 
15.331 seconds. Charlie Friend set an new course record of 161.498 in 
his Chevy powered Corvair. Team Ford took the team honors with a score 
of 0.891. Corvettes took 5 firsts, Mustangs took 4 firsts, Mazdas took 
2 firsts, Lambo, Other Chevrolet, Buick and Studebaker each took 1 first.

As we were checking out of the hotel the next day, Sylvia made 
reservations for April. I guess we will be back for the BBORR but I 
have a lot of work to do. As soon as I get out of the mental hospital, 
I'll get right on it. 

Now I need to work on my expense report..... ;-)

Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Respectfully submitted,

Gary Bartley





Mad Dog Antenucci wrote:

> Gary,
> 
> All of us could not be prouder of your accomplishments....you 
> definately made all of us pretty proud. Job well done....Okay where's 
> the race report?! ;-]>
> 
> MD
>
>
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Mad Dawg Antenucci 
Team Pantera Racing 
  The 1st & still the only vintage race team in open road racing 
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