[DeTomaso] NPC - Processed some vintage race in-car footage

Thu Jun 9 16:15:58 EDT 2016

Thanks Charles.  Love your TD.  Mine was red for a long time as well.  
They are really quite basic but great fun to drive.

Larry, I will most certainly be racing at Pittsburgh.  It is the 
highlight of my summer.  Hope you can make it.

It is a fantastic car to race.  Even if you go beyond it's limits, it 
almost never goes terribly wrong.

So here's what's been done:
Modern billet crank, rods and pistons.  Compression ratio is about 
10.5:1.  I run a full race cam, light weight lifters and valve springs 
out of England.  Although lots of guys run an aluminum "Laystall" head, 
I still have a ported and shaved cast iron head. Carbs are TF 1 1/2" vs 
stock 1 1/4".  Stock red line was 5200, I try to shift around 6500 now.  
I run an external, belt driven single stage wet sump oil pump and the 
oil pan has been baffled. The stock oil pumps fail at higher rpms.  It's 
quite loud, open exhaust through a stainless header.  Stock, they made 
56bhp.  I'm probably making 120-130bhp now.

I added a big MGB swaybar in the front as well as shorter, stiffer front 
springs and some shims under the a-arms to correct steering geometry.  
In the back I have 1" lowering blocks and MG-TF leaf springs which drop 
it another 1/2" or so.  I have 5.11 and 4.83 rear ends for short or long 
tracks.

I always thought the brakes were pretty good.  I raced for years on 
stock shoes but switched to Porterfield linings last year.  The biggest 
difference I see is significantly less brake dust.  I've always been 
able to lock the brakes.

I'm one of the last guys to still run full fenders instead of the cycle 
fenders.  There's definitely weight and aerodynamics disadvantages but I 
like the way it looks.  I can't get the top speed some of the other guys 
get but I know I've gotten close to 120MPH in a car made with wood.

Here's a lap and spin at PVGP from 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDSHmbGokoE

Kurt

On 6/9/2016 2:58 PM, Charles McCall wrote:
> The NPC may get more NPC....
>
> Kurt, I've spent a fair amount of time behind the wheel of my folks' '52
> MG-TD and I have to say that I am amazed at your video.
>
> I find it my parents' car a fascinating and fun car to drive - everything is
> so mechanical and manual... makes all kind of nice noises and lots of
> sensations.
>
> That being said, I have commented to my wife on several occasions that I
> find it amazing that this car was used as a RACE car. I have been
> out-accelerated by local kids on their bicycles, and I begin planning
> several hours in advance before braking to make sure that I can brake on
> time. Fun? Definitely. Fast? Well...
>
> So I was blown away by your video. How much of that car is stock? It sure
> doesn't sound like my parents' car, and it looks like your brakes actually
> work. Acceleration looks more than respectable.
>
> Is this like the difference between a bone-stock '72 on Arriva tires and a
> GT4 Le Mans racer? Is your '51 heavily heavily modified, or is it just
> well-tuned?
>
> Curious because there is a world of difference between the two nominally
> similar cars...
>
> Thanks!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: DeTomaso [mailto:detomaso-bounces at server.detomasolist.com] On Behalf
> Of Kurt Byrnes
> Sent: miércoles, 8 de junio de 2016 20:07
> To: detomaso at server.detomasolist.com
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] NPC - Processed some vintage race in-car footage
>
> Thanks everyone.  I'm driving my 1951 MG TD.  This was the second
> feature race for our group.  The first race was won by an Elva Mk II.  I
> took second place.  They handicapped the Elva back to fourth place so I
> was on the pole for the second race.  Everyone, including me, expected
> him to overtake me in the first lap so I had made plans to swap
> positions a few times with a friend as long as we held the Elva off.
> Put on a show and all that.  The Elva passed him almost immediately so I
> was just trying to stay in front.  Fortunately for me, every time he
> would get close to me, we would be lapping traffic and I was able to
> pass at full throttle and he would have to wait to get through a corner.
>
> Larry, I'll be at the event again this year so come on out.
>
> Another event any east coast folks should really consider is the
> Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix at Schenley Park.  In addition to being
> the only U.S. vintage race held on city streets, there is a HUGE car
> show all around the race course.  This year's marque for the Italian
> section is DeTomaso!  See http://www.pvgp.org/
>
> Kurt
>
> On 6/8/2016 12:30 AM, Mike Drew wrote:
>> Kurt,
>>
>> Looks to me like there was a race and somebody forgot to tell everyone
> else they were in it!!!
>> Well done!
>>
>> What is it you're driving? Looks like a Morgan maybe?
>>
>> Mike
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>>> On Jun 7, 2016, at 9:00 PM, Kurt Byrnes <kdb at kbyrnes.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Here's a few bits of a race I did last summer at Put-In-Bay Ohio.  Back
> in the 50's, there were road races on the island.  A few years ago, some
> friends wanted to honor the old races and restart racing on the island.
> Put-In-Bay Road Race Reunion was born.  There are round table discussions
> with old racers who raced back in the day, a re-enactment of the old course,
> rocker cover races, etc.  The website is http://pibroadrace.com/
>>>
>>> The races are now run at the airport.  For two days, they close it down
> in the morning, build the course with hay bales, we race, and they tear it
> all back down so planes can land by evening.
>>>
>>> They have an exhibition class that may let Pantera's in so if you're
> looking for something to do in late August, come on out.  Races are held
> during the week since PIB is supposed to be the adult version of spring
> break every weekend in the summer.
>>>
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JerjbkhmBCU
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