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

[John Bentley (jab)]

Gary,

Congrats on a great effort.  Nice report.  I think you'll find that this is a typical experience at an ORR.  Its always a good time and there are always people around to help you out if you get in trouble.

JB



-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] On Behalf Of Gary Bartley
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2007 12:54 PM
To: Mad Dog Antenucci
Cc: List - SCPOCA; List, DeTomaso
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] RRORR vs. Mangusta 8MA898 Report... The Rest of the Story....

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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