About Carlisle

After a long 1300 mile trip (coming back from Carlisle) in one day,and I am finally home. It was my first speedster event ever,I would like to thank all of you for making this event a great experience for me.
I would like to thank Cory for letting me drive his "rocket" (Hoopty),man your car is INSANE fast. I really enjoyed driving it,Mickey can tell you, he was there.
Also,thanks to Mickey,Lane and his awesome Beck,Nicholas with his "high" end Intermeccanica (btw that car was THE car) for letting me drive your cars,Dan for giving me a ride in his bad #$$ spyder. Sorry if I left somebody out.

Last but not least,I would like to thank Steven O'brien for being his Co-drver for 2100 mies. Man,I do not know what to say, but Thanks for putting up with me for soooo long.
I would like to say few words about his car since this was my first time driving a watercooled powered speedsters. I am so impressed with the power the car has. The power is there,the only thing you got to do...just step on the gas pedal and you should be able to GO. Our cruise speed was 75-80mph for 16+ hours straight.No overheating problems,no issues what so ever. The steering was a bit "sticky" for my taste but it was acceptable. The body is very good,but not 100% perfect. There are 2 waves on each side (NOT noticable behind the doors),the builer could have done a better job there).More things I didn't like about the car? The rear end sits too high,I wish he could drop it few inches (do not know if it is possible). Now,the biggest disappointment were the brakes.I am not sure what the problem is,but something is not right there. The car has way too much power than what the brakes can handle.
Over all it is a great car to have and drive and I am very pleased spending 2100+ with it.
Again I would like to thank all of you and hope to see you soon again.
I will post pictures soon.

Lambros - was that trip to Carlisle COOL or WHAT?!! You gottta have some pics you can share! Glad to hear you made it home safe and sound.

It was one great time. As a first timer, I was overwhelmed by the warm welcome I received. You guys are all great people. I can't wait to do it again. Thanks to Gordon, Alan, Bill, Bruce and all that made Carlisle such an incredible experience.

Hey, can't we get some other events together somewhere in the east. Once a year is too long to wait.

Lambros,
It was great meeting you! I wish I could have stayed and hung out more but the Mrs. was calling and I had work to do. The night I got back I pulled right into my garage and adjusted my clutch and today I adjusted my doors to sit a little tighter as well as ordered new pads and rotors, my front brakes spent there last few mills on the PA Turnpike.

Brian split off to take another route home and we both got soaked! There was some pretty good rain on the way home but apparently it stayed clear of Carlisle. Even though I pulled over and put the top up I was drenched when I got home, oh the joys of owning a Speedster.

I'm gonna look into the F1 race at Indy, if I can fit it in I'll let you know, no doubt it would be awesome!

Good luck with your speedster transaction, let me know how it works out. Post some pics when you get a chance.

Jim
It was the best,I had a great time.

Mickey
It may be hard to get a hotel room for indy but you can try. Too bad my room is full otherwise I would have asked you to stay with me.We can still hook up on Sunday for the race. Keep me posted. I haven't forgotten about the "other" thing.

Steven,
Good to finally meet up with you....Based on what you are saying about the steering, I am wondering if ( after 10k miles) it's an alignment issue? ........Well worth checking into. ~Alan

It was a great drive. I loved the show and had a great time. Unfortunately, I kind of fell in love with the Volvo 1800S. They had one there that was the Guiness Book Records highest mileage car (2.5 million miles). The first rebuild on the engine was at 650,000, as the owner felt it had lost some power....WOW!!

After sitting in my car for some 34 hours of driving, Lambros has pretty much nailed my remaining issues. I have always had brakes that just don't perform to the expectation of the rest of the car. In the beginning miles I did the usual required brake bleeding which helped. At about 3000 miles, I adjusted the brakes to try and make the back more effective and therefore increase the effectiveness and hoped it would make the amount of pedal pressure required less, and it did help. After feeling the brakes on John's car at the show, I could see that I still had some other issue, as his pedal feels much more solid and I suspect are working better then mine. I'm going to start working on that instead of just living with it, since I know how much better they could be and would like them to be more effective with less required foot pressure.

My steering problem is a phantom problem that I just can't seem to nail down. This problem didn't develop until I had about 10,000 miles on the car and is a hard one to diagnose. As the outside temperature approaches 90 degrees or hotter, the steering becomes heavier, and when after driving for a little while without moving the steering wheel it feels like it is sticking or resisting you initially and then releases. This makes the small corrections that you would constantly make during Interstate driving annoying and jerky. I know the problem isn't in the column as I have unhooked the column when it is hot out and it doesn't bind at all. That leave me with the possiblity that the U joint is binding when it gets hotter or it could be in the rack in pinion, or a ball joint that is tight and becomes too tight as it gets hotter outside. I was hoping the problem would go away with some mileage and wear, but it came back when it got hot on the way home. It is really annoying, but I can't seem to isolate the problem, and replacing everything it could be would get very costly, I'm going to talk to my builder some more about it and see what he thinks needs to be changed out first. I suspect changing out the upper ball joints is the place to start and if that doesn't do it the rack and pinion.

Dropping the rear end is a trade off situation. I have the rear end as low as it can go with my current shocks and springs. If I go any lower, when you hit a large pot hole, the shock will hit the bump stop, but if I increase the shock or spring resistance then I would have a rougher riding car, and for my normal driving I like the better ride. But for the lowered look, you would have to go one step up in spring tension and make it lower and maybe a stiffer shock....I'm just not sure I want to go through all of that trouble for a lower look. I also need to raise my front about 1/4" since the car now has 18000 miles on it and I have never adjusted them. This would give the car a more even stance, but I'm lazy, so that proably isn't going to happen....LOL.

Great observations and post. It's nice having someone who can be objective drive these car's and point out where the improvements can be made, and how nice it is to own a car you can get into and drive across the country without worrying. The car definitely has it's strengths and a few weaknesses that could be improved upon. I'm definitely going to get to the bottom of the sticky steering issue, it's like having a fly that keeps landing on you and annoying you.

I thought so to originally, but my alignment is 1/16" tow in on the front and 1/8" tow in on the back. I also have perfectly even tire wear with this setup. I have had it checked several times and it is spot on. It's the fact that it comes on only when it gets hot out that is wierd to me? Literally at 80 it is normal, as you approach 90 it starts doing this?

Lane....
Your boss is now looking over your shoulder at all your posts! :-)

Just a thought, but have you checked the grease in the rack? I had the same issue with an MG, and found the rack was dry inside.

Lambros, it was great to meet you and I really hope this business venture works out so that you can get back into a Speedster real soon.

As for my experience that past week - INCREDIBLE!!! The previous two years were fun, but having your own car to drive on the three evening cruises was spectacular. The car ran flawlessly (except for an intermittent mystery squeak) for 1612.74 miles with an average of 28.1 mpg. I used less than a quart of oil, most of which was lost due to pressure-related blowby because of the wimpy breather I have. That's my next project.

Thanks to Gordon, Chris, Bill, Alan, and everybody who worked to make it such an incredible weekend. Thanks to Cory for letting me drive the Hoopty (I told you it'd be the hit of the show). Thanks to Hoss for the company on the drive to/from. Thanks to the weather gods for some really nice conditions. And thanks to everyone who attended for us all having such a good time.

Hoss and I have been talking about getting something going in the fall up in the mountains - perhaps doing the "Tail of the Dragon" run. Stay tuned...

I'm not at work today. Told him I needed a day to "decompress". Heh heh.

Wait a minute - how'd you post your's before mine? That's weird.

Your post was there, I guess the time is out of sync.

Steve, it's basic, but how's your tire pressure? Still got 'winter air' in there, perchance?
BTW -- I added to the bottom of the event information thread with my Chuck and Hoopty-sharing experiences. There's a bit of reading there y'all might enjoy.
https://www.speedsterowners.com/forum/readmsg.asp?t=11114#BOTTOM
SoCal Jim (and anybody else for that matter), if you CAN make '08, you really want to. It was a screaming good time.

Well - I had a great time!
As the only Non- Speedster guy in the speedster group I want to thank you all for letting me hang out w/ you all and checking out your cars. I got lots of pictures and idea's for my build when it happens. Hopefully I will be there next year w/ my own tub.
I know it was strange seeing the one MG TD in the middle of all those speedsters, but thanks for letting me ride along as I don't get to do that often in my area.
I am looking for a unfinished project or something I and my sons can finish up or rebuild ourselves. Please let me know if you come accross one ( better on the east coast ).
Again - had a great time and look forward to more
Dale

I have tried everything from lower tire pressure to max...I'm currently running 42psi. I averaged 35mpg on the trip from PA to IA.

Lambros where is the picture of the GPS???

I haven't gotten to that point yet. I will post them soon.

I did add grease to the rack, but the manufacturer claims that this unit doesn't actually need serviced with grease. I find that a bit odd, especially since there is a fill hole at the top of the pinion.

Next time it gets up to 90 I am going to jack the car up from the front suspension to keep the load on the front, then disconnect the tie rods one at a time, if I can get it to go away while one side is disconnected, I will know it is a ball joint and which side it is on. I think that's the only way I will ever figure it out, but man I hate working on the car when it is that hot.

Update, my brakes are fixed!!!!!!!! I had last year adjusted my balance beam to balance the brakes for more braking in the back and less in the front. I have dual master cylinders with a balance beam connection/adjustment to the pedal. What I didn't realize is that when you do that you are changing the amount of engagement to the master cylinder. So in reality I had increased the braking power of the rear (less front end dip), which is what I wanted but since I didn't then adjust the arm of the front it effectively left too much play and gave me slop in the pedal before the fronts engaged. Steve explained it all to me, and 10 minutes later, I had great working brakes.

Tricky little unit to adjust until you fully understand everything you are doing in the changes and adjustments and how they effect each other.

Great news Steven.

When I first installed my brakes, I inadvertantly, in a Guinness-induced state, installed the calipers left-for-right, which puts the bleed valves on the bottom. Bubbles don't like going downhill, so all my braking effort was at the rear. THAT's when I found that only 20% of the brakeing power is in the rear. Maybe that's why it seemed weak to you, with your proportioning artificially favoring the rear.

Anyway, I overcame the Guinness influence, and YOU overcame your rear-ward bias. Winners all around!

Congrats!

Dale!

Your young son was a trooper, joining in amongst all those Speedsters, but you have a terrific, very well finished MG TD replica and he was absolutely beaming when I wandered over in the Ramada parking lot to take a close look. Glad you came along and joined us on all of our Cruises to dinner. We all had a great time and we were thrilled to have all Y'all along.....

Next year, too!

Yeah, I know.....I don't look (or sound) Southern, but that's where my heart is these days!

Dale, I said several times how nice your car looked, but I gotta say it again. I don't care if you did "build it out of bits from here and there", it looks great. The paint is incredible, and all the parts look "right". Nice job. Maybe next year we can trade some stick time.

Lane and Gordon,
Thanks for the compliments - is was fun building the car w/ my boys and hope to follow up the MG w/ a Speedster. Maybe by next year, but that's pushing it a bit.
Lane- anytime you want to trade stick time - your good to go.

Thanks to everyone for letting me hang along - it was important to me and my son.
I got lots of pictures of all your rides - just have to pick what I like the best and put it all together.

Still on the lookout for a partial built or unstarted Speedster on the east coast - please let me know if anyone catches wind of one around.

Dale

Dale,

I'm sure you and your son enjoyed being part of a larger group. For a number of years my wife and I attended Carlisle as a single car and it was pretty lonely driving to dinner and staying at the hotel. The cruises with the Speedster group has been fantastic and the cruises and camaraderie is alot of fun. Glad you two could join us, we're looking forward to you joining the group again next year.

ECB

Forgot to mention: For those of you who left early, our group got 1st place again this year for the most kit/replica registrations - 35 official! Once again we beat out the Cobra group - now that's an accomplishment! Congratulations Gordon, Alan, Bill and everyone else who had a hand in making this a fun/successful weekend.

ECB

who won the Z? My first car was 72 240Z. I loved that car, but it was not a good car for a 16 year old

A member of the Central Pa Triumph Club from Harrisburg won the car.