Posts in the 'Fun stuff' Category
Photos from July 2008 outing are posted
Check out the weather!
More photos are in the gallery. Click on the album thumbnails to view each set of photos. 
Healey at Le Mans 2008
Skip and Tom Monaco’s friend sent the following note and photos regarding racing his Healey at Le Mans
Dear Skip and Tom,
Finally got a view minutes to send you a message. The last view months it was like a madhouse overhere but the event is behind us and it was a big success for everybody. The hospitality tent on the campsite worked fine and the weather was also good. On the inner field we made a hospitality tent where the people got to pick up paper coins for free drinks and the track lap tickets next to a lot of goodies.
There where about 5000 classic cars on the Le Mans grounds and over 350 racecars on the track competing in six different Grids.
I raced in grid 3 and we did very well and became 7th out of the 69 cars. If you go to this link you can look what we left behind us. I want to thank you for the shirts I received from you.
Have a look at the Le Mans website for the results, some pictures and small movies.
Regards Hans van de Kerkhof
AHCO Members Gone to the Races
The weekend of July 11-13, 2008 held the Historic Races at the Portland International Raceway. Two members of the Austin Healey Club of Oregon presented race ready Healeys.
Steve Rux had set up his pit area on the grass west of the larger pits. I found Steve’s 1962 Sprite in amongst a group of Sprites with their owners all wrenching away and preparing for qualification runs and eventually competition.
When I took the first shots of Steve’s car he had just found a broken Panhard rod and was making plans to get it up to Richard Mayer’s shop to do a little welding. From the picture of Steve sitting in the cockpit trying to keep cool under his bumbershoot and later exiting Turn 2 of the “Carousel” he must have gotten the suspension repaired.
Click the “read more” link to see the other Healey…
Read more »
The latest word on the August Redmond outing
From Gary Jackson:
August 16 meeting in Redmond
The meeting will be at Gary Jackson house at Eagle Crest Resort (588 Widgeon Rd, Redmond OR, Phone 541-923-9766). The day will start at 10:30 with a tour led by John Wilson. We will gather at the Safeway
store in down town Silverton and proceed from there. Please be filled up with gas and ready to depart prior to 10:30.
There is a planned stop along the way for a picnic, so bring a light lunch. You can call John at
541-221-9213 if you have questions. The tour should arrive at Eagle Crest around 2:00 with the meeting around 3:00 followed by a Mexican Fiesta with all of the timings.
Lodging has been arranged at the Redmond Inn Motel (541-548-1091) for August 16 at a Rate of $65.00 +Tax. Be sure to say you are with the Austin Healey Group. Any room not reserved by August 4 will be released, so be sure to call early.
There will also be a Sunday brunch, location yet to be determined, before everyone takes off for home. So come on over to the sunny side of Oregon for a great weekend in the sun.
The Smoke Theory of Electric Circuits
Electrical Theory by Joseph Lucas
Positive ground depends upon proper circuit functioning, the transmission of negative ions by retention of the visible spectral manifestation known as “smoke”. Smoke is the thing that makes electrical circuits work; we know this to be true because every time one lets the smoke out of the electrical system, it stops working. This can be verified repeatedly through empirical testing.
When, for example, the smoke escapes from an electrical component (i.e., say, a Lucas voltage regulator), it will be observed that the component stops working. The function of the wire harness is to carry the smoke from one device to another; when the wire harness “springs a leak”, and lets all the smoke out of the system, nothing works afterwards. Starter motors were frowned upon in British Automobiles for some time, largely because they consume large quantities of smoke, requiring very large wires.
It has been noted that Lucas components are possibly more prone to electrical leakage than Bosch or generic Japanese electrics. Experts point out that this is because Lucas is British and all things British leak. British engines leak oil, shock absorbers, hydraulic forks and disk brakes leak fluid, British tyres leak air and the British defense establishment leaks secrets…so, naturally, British electrics leak smoke.
Carburetor Classics: The Humble SU
Ask many former owners of 1960s British sports cars about problem areas on their steeds, and they will likely digress into horror stories concerning the dreaded SU carburetors. In most cases though, they’d be wrong.
The SU carburetor, far from being high maintenance or temperamental, is one of the best designed carburetors of all time, and it simply thrives on neglect. In fact, the principal reason it is blamed for so many maladies is that it is conveniently perched beside the engine where it can be easily misadjusted by ham-fisted mechanics often unaware that the real gremlins usually live in the worrisome Lucas “Prince of Darkness” electrical systems common in older British iron. Those in the know realize that the humble SU can be made to feed anything from economical grocery-getters to fire-breathing racing cars. Some lemon!
First registered Austin Healey Sprite Silverstone Test Video
From youtube. For the Sprite owners in the club.
