@Former Member posted:Meanwhile, this past Saturday on the Tail of the Dragon:
Chill on the negative vibes bro.
Awesome, Marty. I haven't seen a "Big Boy" in decades. Ours nearby was a "Ted's Big Boy" and kind-of faded into the scenery.
Several of my local Hot Rod or bicycling friends have places in/around Naples or Marco Island. Haven't been over there in years, but it's beautiful. Someday, I'll get back!
As others have said, a FINE weekend was had by all.
We had great weather, cars, food, drink, people, roads, and drivers. In no particular order.
I think the only way to make it better would be if one particular car didn't break.
And I FINALLY saw Lane NOT bring a BMW. His car is pretty awesome on the twisty roads.
Oh, and Tom Boney let me drive his C8 Vette. What a ride! Definitely NOT like the C7 or before, as I've driven them and NOT been impressed. The C8 is playing an entirely different sport, not even playing the same game.
Carlos graciously let me(forced?) lead the Rattler run. I have been there a couple times before, but don't KNOW the road. It is about a half-hour of twisty each way. Pretty much all 2nd and 3rd, and only one spot where you'll hit 4th. That's about a mile long straight. I'm not going to publicly announce speed, but yeah, it was WAY up there. As in above where most cars get light in the front.
The Vred Sportracs that we keep talking about? They really ARE all that. They stick. No sliding. Much faster, much harder braking. I'll just let the others tell you how good they are. Same road, same car, same driver, same weather. Yeah, I've got injection, but total power is basically the same.
EDIT:
Pro tip: Use a GPS moving map when leading rides. It is VERY convenient to enable corner judgement. Almost as good as having rally notes and a co-driver. Maybe better, no weight penalty LOL!
As the "offending menace" of broken cars, I was carless for 2/3 of the weekend. Thankfully, my friends didn't leave me hanging. I drove Tom's C8 on the way to Hot Springs and rode in Danny's Spyder on the way back. On Saturday, Ron and Maddie Mullis let me use their 997.2, which was sublime.
I'll bear witness to Danny's observations: Tom's car is just ridiculous. Power everywhere. It's as close as I'll ever come to piloting an F15
... and Danny's car is the fastest, most violent replica I've ever been in - my twin-plug 2276 and Rich Drewek's old 2.6L Raby T4 included. The car is also about 3/4 scale for me. I'm comically oversized.
I'm sure somebody somewhere has a shot of the bear on the tricycle.
My car is up at Mike Fincher's shop (I've got zero time to make the repairs). It's going to be better than it was before. Better. Stronger. Faster.
I'm not saying I'll never break again, but it'll never be the same kind of breaking.
@Stan Galat, what broke on your car?
Inboard rear torsion bar adjuster that IM used. The very same reason a 5 speed can't be fitted. It looked like non-penetrating weld to Stan and Mike Fincher. I didn't get under the car.
I, for one had a miserable time. The roads littered with debris, the food was awful and not one person asked me about James Dean.
All of you that are considering your first trip should just stay home. I'm totally going again but that is because I am a glutton for punishment. I am sure that is why the others who went this year will go again too.
Let us continue the horror show in Brevard year over year.
I am pretty sure I found out who my real dad was though. I'll be expecting that back child support Phil
NOW I know what's wrong with you! You are a glutton for gluten! And Phil is your father!
Don't worry Chris, the armchair quarterbacks will never leave their internet connections and venture out into the really big and scary world. They'll just sit there and keyboard warrior us(but secretly wish they could go).
Damn autocorrect.
I am a glutton for gluten though. That's why I'm a chubby fella
@DannyP posted:Inboard rear torsion bar adjuster that IM used. The very same reason a 5 speed can't be fitted. It looked like non-penetrating weld to Stan and Mike Fincher. I didn't get under the car.
Correct. It's specific to IM, and a neat bit of kit. To my knowledge, nobody has ever broken one before. But then again, I'm pretty sure nobody ever thought anybody would use it as I have. I'm getting away from the entire thing and going to coilovers.
The roads on the Deliverance Run were sublime, but they were choppy in the extreme. Manufacturers should pay me to hammer cars for them on that road in lieu of a more traditional "proving ground" testing regime - I'll give them an eighth of a ton of ham-fisted man, running harder than the designers of the parts or roads ever thought possible.
If I can't break 'em, they can't be broken.
The Stanistanburg Ring
Trying to picture this part.
You say it's "inboard," and it adjusts the rear torsion bars?
Why? What trouble arose with the stock outer caps/adjustment system to inspire such innovation?
The same pothole that disabled Stan's car was hit by me in the Coupe and my buddy Kelly Arnold in his C5 Z06 Corvette. Neither of us appear to have any damage, but it sounded like I broke something big. I hit so hard that the horn button popped out of the steering wheel and dangled, causing it to honk non-stop. Fincher and I were trying to get it back in the steering wheel while managing the curves of the Deliverance Run.
Remind me to straighten it out.
Anyway, I'll crawl under the car soon and make sure nothing is bent, but so far all seems fine. I probably just bottomed out - hard.
@edsnova posted:Trying to picture this part.
You say it's "inboard," and it adjusts the rear torsion bars?
Why? What trouble arose with the stock outer caps/adjustment system to inspire such innovation?
Welds into the center of the torsion tube. Gives the benefit of adjustable spring plates without all the unsprung weight.
Attachments
Images (1)
Oh that is cool. I want that.
@edsnova posted:Oh that is cool. I want that.
It's like the part @LI-Rick linked (in execution), but looks different. This piece is heavier, made of 1/2" steel about 4" x 2", with a grub-screw on the lever end of it. The piece was plenty heavy enough, but the strength is limited by the strength of the weld to the splined collar.
.
@Lane Anderson posted:....The same pothole that disabled Stan's car was hit by me in the Coupe and my buddy Kelly Arnold in his C5 Z06 Corvette. ... it sounded like I broke something big. I hit so hard that the horn button popped out of the steering wheel and dangled, causing it to honk non-stop. Fincher and I were trying to get it back in the steering wheel while managing the curves of the Deliverance Run....
That must have been one magic pothole...
Ok, now that's funny! 
I saw it, and missed it. It was huge and EXACTLY at the apex, but hard to see due to sun/shadows/trees.
I think my entire car would have been swallowed up.
We would never have seen Danny again.
@Stan Galat posted:Correct. It's specific to IM, and a neat bit of kit. To my knowledge, nobody has ever broken one before. But then again, I'm pretty sure nobody ever thought anybody would use it as I have. I'm getting away from the entire thing and going to coilovers.
The roads on the Deliverance Run were sublime, but they were choppy in the extreme. Manufacturers should pay me to hammer cars for them on that road in lieu of a more traditional "proving ground" testing regime - I'll give them an eighth of a ton of ham-fisted man, running harder than the designers of the parts or roads ever thought possible.
If I can't break 'em, they can't be broken.
Exactly. Stan. A few of us REALLY use our cars. We go out and cruise to get ice cream like everyone else. But sometimes, we take them on ultra twisty roads and drive them with purpose. Lots of purpose.
P.S.: My arms and shoulders are tired! Still. From Thursday and Friday.
@Former Member posted:https://www.google.com/maps/di...5654982!2d35.3804629
SAturday 9/24: British & German Car Show at Mills River Brewing, Mills River, NC (15 miles from Brevard)
We keep hearing about this. We don't go. I'm 100% positive we never will. We didn't come hundreds of miles to park and look for somebody's approval.
I'm not sure that it was the pothole that broke it, but it surely could have been. All I know for certain is that it's broken. I know how it broke, even if I'm not 100% sure where it happened - and it isn't really a concern for 95% of the class, because 95% of the class does not have the part that broke installed on their car. I guess I feel like we're focusing on the wrong thing here.
To belabor the point that apparently interests folks here - a tube-frame IM set up for a T1 engine and transaxle does not have a single torsion tube. It's got two torsion tube halves in the back, with the nosecone of the transaxle nestled between. The adjuster is a simple lever on the inboard end of the torsion tubes, which preloads the torsion bar to adjust ride height independently side to side. The levers nestle up very closely to the nosecone of the transaxle, which is why (without redoing the entire rear suspension) a Berg 5 speed has been out of the question until now.
Since I'm (well, Mike Fincher, really) going to redo the rear suspension with heim joints and coilovers, rather than torsion bars and shocks - a Berg 5 is becoming a possibility. There's still cutting and welding that would need to be done to make that a possibility. But in making the changes, I'm making - the car is one step closer to a 5-speed, which would be excellent.
I'm in DC. The car is in Breman, so there are no pictures.
Sorry, team.
@Stan Galat posted:
...Since I'm (well, Mike Fincher, really) going to redo the rear suspension with heim joints and coilovers, rather than torsion bars and shocks - a Berg 5 is becoming a possibility. There's still cutting and welding that would need to be done to make that a possibility. But in making the changes, I'm making - the car is one step closer to a 5-speed, which would be excellent.
...
Heim joints can be pretty noisy - enough so that I replaced all the heims in my rear suspension with Teflon-lined ones. I still hear some rattling, but not as bad as I used to. If you're interested I can send you and Mike the part numbers for the ones I used.
I'm not sure of brand or specs on my Vintage heims.
I've never had noise from them, and they are a single pivot point where the torsion bar would have been, just like Stan's will now be. I or anyone else can call Greg and get an answer on what they use if needed.
The coilovers I use have a rubber bushing at the top, and a heim joint at the bottom. The bottom heim is because the swingaxle suspension scribes an arc in two planes. I think Stan will be OK with bushings at both ends, the IRS suspension arcs in one plane.
@WOLFGANG posted:I'll come next year and bring an old corroded magnesium VW engine case. The space station should see the light from that baby burning!
Having been around a magnesium engine case half (or 2) being burned in a fire over the years, may I suggest cutting it in half (and maybe 1 part into even smaller pieces) for starters? It takes a while in a pretty big fire to get a full case half going, and then there's no turning back. I could be worrying needlessly, but I wonder what a case half on full burn would do to that nice fire pit (remember, with temps over 2,000° F you won't be able to put it out without the proper fire extinguisher or maybe a lot of very dry sand. Make sunglasses mandatory for all those in attendance that evening. And if you're thinking it's a little tamer than expected and you need to liven it up a weeeee bit- throw a little (start with maybe ¼ cup) water on it...
@Stan Galat- Sorry to hear about the rear torsion adjuster letting go. Too soon to start the conversation about 5 speed gearing?
I remember being on scene at a few car fires that had the old mag wheels, we had to let them burn and went right through the asphalt.
@DannyP posted:I'm not sure of brand or specs on my Vintage heims.
I've never had noise from them, and they are a single pivot point where the torsion bar would have been, just like Stan's will now be. I or anyone else can call Greg and get an answer on what they use if needed.
The coilovers I use have a rubber bushing at the top, and a heim joint at the bottom. The bottom heim is because the swingaxle suspension scribes an arc in two planes. I think Stan will be OK with bushings at both ends, the IRS suspension arcs in one plane.
If he's only going to have heims on the coilers then you're right, he shouldn't need to worry about noise. My rear suspension has 8 heim joints besides the ones on the shocks. Two of those are on the frame right on the other side of the firewall and two more on the upper control areas not far from your ears, so you can hear (and sometimes feel) those.
But boy does it do well in the corners, even in the hands of an amateur like me. 
Congratulations on another great trip!
I put Stan's torsion bar adjuster failure right up there with my snapping a rocker arm shaft in two. It ain't supposed to happen, I've never heard of another one fail like that, but it did.
$#!+ happens.....
Usually at the worst possible time.
And it sounds like it didn't put too much of a damper on the weekend.
Videos are done and ready. I broke them into three because one would be too long and there were some good footage for all. Each is about 12 minutes and the pictures are different each video. Most of them you have likely seen already but some you have not. I am not suggesting you only watch one but Day II, Part I has some good driving shots and Day III has some really neat pictures at the end.
Thanks to Carlos again for the great trip. I know there was a lot of planning in that. Thanks to everyone who passed pictures to me as well. I just posted the third video so give it a minute for HD.
https://youtu.be/oPs7V-B_RhQ
@ALB posted:@Stan Galat- Sorry to hear about the rear torsion adjuster letting go. Too soon to start the conversation about 5 speed gearing?
I believe the gearing is already set and the transmission is almost finished.
I am pretty sure I found out who my real dad was though. I'll be expecting that back child support Phil
I sold lots of sperm in med school for artificial insemination. It could happen. But I think you’re a little too pretty to be mine Chris.
@550 Phil posted:I sold lots of sperm in med school for artificial insemination. It could happen. But I think you’re a little too pretty to be mine Chris.
Don't try and get out of child support now Phil.
Do you know what they do to deadbeat dads in Virginia? I don't but I am pretty sure it's at least mildly annoying
@Chris MacDonald posted:Don't try and get out of child support now Phil.
Do you know what they do to deadbeat dads in Virginia? I don't but I am pretty sure it's at least mildly annoying
He knows you. I've heard that you can be pretty annoying.
That, folks, was a joke!
I got it, all that matters
WOW! It looks and sounds like Tour de Smo' 2022 was another success. 
Thanks for sharing those cool pics and videos. Glad you all had a great time and everyone got home safe and sound!
@DannyP posted:I believe the gearing is already set and the transmission is almost finished.
Stan and, Danny and I have had a few conversations about gear ratios and spacing in both 4 and 5 speeds over the years- if it's already a done deal, I'm curious to hear what he put in it.