[TPR] Oh! that hurts.

Mad Dog Antenucci teampantera at yahoo.com
Mon May 30 10:33:35 PDT 2011


AutoX is work man.....don't you have a job? ;-)

Seriously agree with your suggestion.....anything that helps you as a driver 
experience at what points you are bringing the ass end of the Pantera or any car 
around and driving with your rear view mirror is a good thing. A man has got to 
know his limits ;-)>

No doubt Michael's driving skills in Circle Track competition  is worth 
listening to carefully.....but on handling my Pantera the best and cheapest 
'seat of the pants' improvement to handling was adding Drenske's offset delrin 
bushings and getting 3-4 degrees of added caster (5 total) to front end and 
going back to a narrow 285 wide tire (aka; less surprises on hard 
turns)..........a close second improvement would be loosening up the front end 
with a smaller (stock) sway bar and lighter springs and slowing down over  dips 
on H-318 (aka bending rear quarter panels and blowing out shocks)  ;-)
 
Mad Dawg Antenucci 
Team Pantera Racing 
The 1st & still the only vintage race team in open road racing 
www.teampanteraracing.com




________________________________
From: David in Durango <adin at frontier.net>
To: Asa Jay Laughton <asajay at asajay.com>; tpr at teampanteraracing.com
Sent: Sun, May 29, 2011 7:50:48 AM
Subject: Re: [TPR] Oh! that hurts.

 
All,
I seem to remember the collective thoughts for order of upgrades was:  tires, 
shocks/springs/alignment?
 
I've always liked big sway bars - necessary for autox and don't hurt in  other 
venues.
 
Your level of enjoyment should go up as the car gets closer to the  magic 
"dialed in" setup.
 
IMO, autox is the hardest to master . . .maybe you are smarter than  *ahemcough* 
others.
 
One tip: try to keep it on the black part.
 
RSD (rubber side down)
----- Original Message ----- 
>From: Asa Jay    Laughton 
>To: tpr at teampanteraracing.com 
>Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2011 8:20 AM
>Subject: Re: [TPR] Oh! that hurts.
>
>Agreed.
>I have a line on some new shocks, I just need to    wait a little longer for the 
>budget money.  Unfortunately I'm not living    a "stimulus plan" kind of life.  
>:)  Once I have those, I have a    local shop who offered to help set up the 
>corner weighting and new    alignment.  Feedback on here has also indicated a 1" 
>sway bar both front    and rear might benefit me, but those will be farther into 
>the future.     What I have now works pretty well, even if not optimum.
>
>Asa Jay
>
>
>Asa Jay Laughton, MSgt, USAFR, Retired & Shelley Marie Spokane, WA 
>******************************      http://www.racingagainstautism.com 
>http://www.teampanteraracing.com http://facebook.com/racingagainstautism
>On    5/29/2011 3:28 AM, michael at michaelshortt.com wrote: 
>what I meant was,  is that any little thing cause lead to problems      that get 
>much bigger when you add in all the physics of speed,      Momentum,  weight 
>transfer,  etc
>>Just having cold tires didn't put you in the ditch all by themselves.
>>I always get a kick out of watching some well meaning racer try to fix a      
>>problem by adjusting ten things at once. to solve an issue.  How do you      
>>know which thing was the problem if you do it that way?  change      adjustments 
>>one at a time and if what you just did doesn't fix it, put it      back where it 
>>was and change something else.
>>not remembering if You braked or not is good I think, you were in the      
>>moment and I'm sure you did, otherwise the damage would have been      worse.  
>>sounds like you were trying to save it the whole way, unlike      some novice 
>>who might have braked hard,  been rear ended, stirred up a      lot of debris 
>>and used stiffened arms to brace themselves for a nice big      thud.
>>nothing wrong with trying to drive it of trouble until the bitter  end.
>>I personally like a car that is "loose" with maybe 52% rear weight bias,      
>>that way you can usually induce a slide with a little extra throttle if you      
>>meed too.  nothing gives me the willies more than being a passenger      when a 
>>car is tight or pushes so hard that driver input is      meaningless,  it like 
>>just being along for the ride, except your * gets      real tight and eventually 
>>your wallet gets real loose. 
>>
>>it didn't get real cold often in NC where i grew up, but when we did have      
>>ice storms, i used to find big empty parking lots to play on to try and      
>>learn car control, that was fun.  
>>
>>aside from letting the tires warm up, I'd look into some adjustable      shocks 
>>and get your weights set up, it will feel like another car.
>>thanks for sharing.
>>michael
>>
>>
>>
>>On May 29, 2011 12:26 AM, "Asa Jay Laughton" <asajay at asajay.com> wrote:
>>> On 5/28/2011 6:33 PM, michael at michaelshortt.com wrote:
>>>>
>>>> glad that you and the car faired so well.      sounds like min damage 
>>>> that could have been much      worse.
>>>>
>>>> can we surmise the cause?
>>>>
>>>      Yes, it was a loose nut between the steering wheel and the      seat.
>>>>
>>>> you drove in nose first, was that by      choice?
>>>>
>>> No, however if I had been thinking faster, maybe      10 times faster, I 
>>> could have cranked the front to the opposite      lock and perhaps swung the 

>>> ass end enough to stay on the      track.
>>>>
>>>> understeer or "push"      involved?
>>>>
>>> probably some trailing throttle oversteer,      brought the ass end around on 
>
>>> me and I couldn't correct myself back      into line.
>>>>
>>>> did your brakes do all that they      could?
>>>>
>>> Funny I can't even remember using the brakes      until I knew I was going 
>>> off the track.
>>>>
>>>>      sand on the track?
>>>>
>>> Nope.
>>>>
>>>> cold      tires?
>>>>
>>> Most definately.
>>>>
>>>> wrong      pressures?
>>>>
>>> No
>>>>
>>>> what size sway      bars front and rear?
>>>>
>>> Front = stock (3/4" I      think)
>>> Rear = 7/8"
>>>>
>>>> ride height front and      rear?
>>>>
>>> That's anybody's guess with my wacked      shocks.
>>>>
>>>> have you done your corner weights ( with the      car wet and your weight 
>>>> in the drivers      seat?
>>>>
>>> Nope
>>>>
>>>> what ties at what if      any tread depth?
>>>>
>>> Toyo Proxes R888, one season already on      them, I'm between a 1/16" and 
>>> 1/8" from the wear      bars.
>>>>
>>>> every boo-boo is an opportunity to learn, some      lessons ( like broken 
>>>> rockers sometimes) just cost more than      others.
>>>>
>>> This one had to do with getting excited early in      the morning on a cold 
>>> track. I was -not- the first to spin on the      track today. They were 
>>> even warning all the drivers to take the      first run slow. I thought I 
>>> was until I got to that one      cone.
>>>>
>>>> I was reading about Senna again today, gone      too soon, killed by 
>>>> suspension parts directly, but all caused      by a broken steering 
>>>> column. Every little part counts, they're      all ultimately connected to 
>>>> each other.
>>>>
>>> 
>>> Now you lost me.
>>> Asa Jay
>>>>
>>>> Michael      Shortt
>>>>
>>>> On May 28, 2011 8:48 PM, "Asa Jay Laughton"      <asajay at asajay.com 
>>>> <mailto:asajay at asajay.com>> wrote:
>>>> >      Autocross today at Spokane County Raceway, not the usual course at      
>>>>Deer
>>>> > Park airport. They've just finished re-routing the      road course and 
>our
>>>> > local autocross club managed to get a      big chunk of it today for us 
to
>>>> > try out our driver skills.      This makes for a faster course as all the
>>>> > autocross      elements are laid out in-line with the road coarse.
>>>>      >
>>>> > This can also be deceptive, challenging and dangerous      if you're not
>>>> > paying attention. Such unlucky fortune found      it my way today.
>>>> >
>>>> > First run of the day,      cold track, cold tires. Didn't take it easy
>>>> > enough. Ran OFF      track and nosed my Pantera into a ditch when I 
failed
>>>> > to      negotiate a slalom. The previously dented front valance now is
>>>>      > dented severely to include new creases. Well, I -was- going to      
>>>>replace
>>>> > that anyway. And as further luck would have it, as      I inspected and
>>>> > hammered it out just a tad, I found where      that funny warm coolant 
>odor
>>>> > was coming from. <sigh>      Looks like the Fluidyne radiator is weeping
>>>> > just a tad on      the drivers side from some tube (I haven't found 
>exactly
>>>> >      where yet). Not enough to leave drops on the garage floor yet,      
>>but
>>>> > we'll need to get that fixed.
>>>>      >
>>>> > Second and third runs went much better and by the end      of the day we 
>>>> were
>>>> > spanking the course pretty      darn hard.
>>>> >
>>>> > Sooo....
>>>>      >
>>>> > - Glad I've not started a restoration project      yet
>>>> > - She's still pulling hard and driving fine (though the      driver needs 
>a
>>>> > bit more experience)
>>>> > -      Having fun despite the tiny setbacks.
>>>> >
>>>> >      :)
>>>> > Asa Jay
>>>> >
>>>> > --
>>>>      > Asa Jay Laughton, MSgt, USAFR, Retired
>>>> > & Shelley      Marie
>>>> > Spokane, WA
>>>> >      ******************************
>>>> > http://www.racingagainstautism.com
>>>>      > http://www.teampanteraracing.com
>>>> > http://facebook.com/racingagainstautism
>>>>      >
>>>> >      _______________________________________________
>>>> > TPR mailing      list
>>>> > TPR at teampanteraracing.com <mailto:TPR at teampanteraracing.com>
>>>> > http://lists.teampanteraracing.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tpr
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>      _______________________________________________
>>>> TPR mailing      list
>>>> TPR at teampanteraracing.com
>>>> http://lists.teampanteraracing.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tpr
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>      No virus found in this message.
>>>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com <http://www.avg.com>
>>>> Version:      10.0.1375 / Virus Database: 1509/3666 - Release Date:      
>>>>05/28/11
>>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________ TPR mailing list 
>>TPR at teampanteraracing.com 
>>http://lists.teampanteraracing.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tpr 
>>
>>
>>
>>No virus found in this      message.
>>Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
>>Version: 10.0.1375 / Virus      Database: 1509/3666 - Release Date:    
05/28/11

__________ Information from ESET Smart    Security, version of virus signature 
database 6162 (20110529)    __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

________________________________
 _______________________________________________
TPR mailing    list
TPR at teampanteraracing.com
http://lists.teampanteraracing.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tpr



__________    Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature 
database 6162    (20110529) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart    Security.

http://www.eset.com



__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature 
database 6162 (20110529) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://teampanteraracing.com/pipermail/tpr_teampanteraracing.com/attachments/20110530/eff0d25b/attachment-0003.html>


More information about the TPR mailing list