Quick Fix!!

November 2009

Off for a ride goes the Pinepac Mustang, taking a wee ride up in the air on the hoist

It was the diff & not the axel!

Bri pulled out the axel & it was in perfect condition, pleased now we didn’t ring to get one of the boys to bring up the spare axel off the bench! & bring it to Noosa

The Mechanic, aka Bri found a pile of metal shavings at the bottom of the axel housing!

A broken Spool was the culprit!

& for people like me with a bit less knowledge on how this works, It effectively locks the diff, so both wheels turn at the same speed all the time
So it seems my Bri tore the spline that turns the axel & if the terminology isn’t quite right for you Rev heads reading this out there, get over it, this is my blog!
Will I ever get my head around all this car stuff?

It seems he tore that sucker right out the middle of the spool!
How on earth? Yes you may very well ask, as I did
“I could have been running to much negative camber on the back axel or just too many hill climbs with sharp corners which in turn put to much strain on the spool”
ARG! I see!!!

“Just pop down the street & buy a new spool now”! says I
Not that easy to find I can tell you
Now the phone calls, internet searches, the head scratching begins, because the diff is an Atlas, out of a 3 ltr GT Capri made in the late 70’s, not an easy task to find

Finally he rings Ken Hooper in NZ, the Group A Mustang expert & ex Pine Pac Racing Mechanic, who built the car in 1985 & rebuilt in 2006 & upon asking where he got the spools from Ken replied, he had made them
I can see the next thing will be the old spool & spare axel will be taking a wee holiday across the pond to NZ, so Ken can make us a new one!!
& yes I was right
that is just where it is heading, all wrapped in bubble wrap

In the interim, as a quick fix, Bri took the spool out of the spare diff & took it to Ozzie diffs to set up. Four hours later & another $50 of diff oil, Bri has the new spool in place
Hopefully this baby holds together, as yet to try!

"You Play, you Pay"

Friday the 13th Nov 2009, 6am & we are on road heading for “The Hill” to the 12th annual running of Historic Noosa Hill Climb
Off to the National Park, up the picturesque, Gyndier Drive at, Tewantin, regarded is one of Australia’s premier hill climb courses & after walking the 1.5 ks up this baby, I agree wholeheartedly, 14 right, left, right, left, turns, I can see the weekend is going to be loaded with lots of thrills and spills!

Even though we were doing the speed limit towards town
I could hear the longgggg line of cars say behind us, “Joy of joys” as we come to the 2 lane part of the highway
Engines racing, tyres screeching & so the hordes rushed past us!

All too early we hit the Gateway congestion of traffic & we come to a halt!
So much so for leaving early enough to escape this, not early enough it seems!
Luckily within 15mins, we are again rolling happily along with no more hold ups

The day looks very overcast!
Radio forecaster says, a mainly fine weekend, wonderful
But wait they have now changed their minds!
Showers expected, with storms!!!
ahh discussion ensures

But fear not we are prepared; we have the wet weather tyres at the ready on the tyre rack, if needed
The sky looks very like the dust storm of last month!
The radio reports “A smoke haze over the city from small fires around Noosa!!”
Yeah right! just where we are heading!
“Visibility is down from 8ks from 20ks”
Yea Gods & little fishes!!
We arrive, set up camp & familiarise ourselves with our surroundings, then head for the air-conditioned comfort of our Unit

Saturday dawned bright & sunny & warm, ohhh soooo warm
More than 165 cars were entered & nearly 10,000 spectators lined the road over the two days to see some of the world’s oldest & most valuable cars do battle
Thrills & Spills were right with more than a few crashes, but after all it’s a professional motorsport event,” so what more do you expect
It wasn’t all smooth sailing though with a couple of the vintage cars coming off second best after accidents, thankfully no one badly hurt
A Ferrari & a jag, & a RX7 to just name a few, either took a detour off the side of the mountain!!! or into the wall

Bri was running with number 18 so was one of the first starters, he managed to get in 4 runs, the sighting run was 75 & the last run of the day was 72

Ohh this is looking pretty good!

“Darling you need to be not quite so much the crowd pleaser at take off, with all that smok’in, sreetch’n tyre shit, you lost valuable seconds with that ” I tell him

The Mustang, being a race car & not road registered, had to wait up the top of the mountain until there were 20 or so cars ready to come back down the track together

During the last run down of the day he thought he heard 2 loud bangs!!

He backs into our pit area with some difficulty, on his return down the mountain, wheel spinning with one tyre!!
He's head down bum up under the rear end of the car for some time, BUT!! all seemed well!

Oh & did I mention the Group A Pinepac Mustang Touring car! in that total of, Thrills & Spills, previously?

No??

Well add it to that total! now!!
The big bang was something after all

The weekend came to a depressing conclusión!

She wheel spun on the way to fuel up, for the first run of Sunday morning!
I had to climb out & help push her up an incline, 2 Gallant Gentleman rushed to my assistance

Bri just said a few choice words! & drove straight back to our pit!!

Either a broken Axel or a broken diff!!!
Thus cancelling out another good days racing!