Triumph Sports Cars

Hello it's me Mr. Ahlstrom after a seven-year wait I finally got my TR six passed the tech guys and went dragracing yesterday onindaga dragway re-open yesterday with a brand-new surface the track closed in 1978 but it was reborn yesterday they had about 8000 people and 400 cars and I was one of them we went with the whole family had a great day I did not know if the car would run or not I changed it over to 112 race fuel Friday night I had to pump up 4 jet sizes 2 power valve sizes and 8° of timing all just a guess I have not lost my touch my tune was off maybe one degree of timing the track was brand-new it had only about 50 test passes on it my first pass really sucked the launchpad just would not hook up I didn't feel bad of all the cars there 80% full-time drag cars only two cars could even get the front end off you would think that would be a big disadvantage to me being an IRS British car I made some adjustments change the toe and tire pressure and off we went my goal still stands the same today I'm very close 5.90 93 mph yesterday with the air in the tires down to where they were rotating on the rim one quarter turn per pass the old triumph ran 6.60 at 96 mph 1/8 mile I had one of the best cars there after the first 15 feet the launchpad was too new for my car but the rest of the track it stuck like glue I don't know how many passes made I went through four bottles of nitrous and 8 gallons of fuel by my third pass my plan was simple run what you Brung use what God gave you I was launching the car on the low side rev limiter at 5800 rpm's nitrous on the guys in the staging lanes said it was perfectly consistent maybe 20 tire rotations in 10 feet after that it stuck all the way out the back I made one pass without ever touching the steering wheel

you would all of been very proud half the racers there laughed when I showed up I got beat by some dragsters but I beat every door slamming car I raced drag cars streetcars alike Ford Motor Company sent one of their factory cars there a brand-new supercharged GT 500 I beat it by six car lengths Chevrolet had their own tent with two cars their fastest Corvette and Camaro I raced Corvette beat that by three cars my best races of the day were actually against bikes full-time drag bikes at mid-track it looked like I was in control and then they would beat me by 2 feet out the backend it was absolutely a ball by the end of the day I sat in the pits by my car totally exhausted and talk to the people the most asked question was what is that thing and what would it cost to build another one I'm sorry I have no video my camera would not work the car came home fine I just need to fix the camera and my 60 amp alternator did not keep up fans switches and solenoids very well today I'm driving to Detroit with the wife and son to a car show called Battle of the Britts I'm hoping to see one more time the only all original never touched AC Bristol I've ever seen my next trip to the dragstrip I will go 5.90 at 93 mph 1/8 mile signed British racing green

With those kind of times how long do you think the IRS will last? You sure are getting it done.

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hello I'm sorry I have no good video I did buy new video camera today next time you'll see what it looks like to drive my car like this video is one that my daughter got on her phone the car that I'm running here is a Chevy2 I believe 64 it is a bracket racer he is running a 572 big block Chevy he is spraying 125 shot of nitrous he is running Hoosier wrinkle walls he said the car 10.20 dial in bracket car I am spraying a 100 shot launching the car at 6000 rpm's and then paddling the first 15 feet this will give you some idea how fast my car really is down the track I do remember on this pass the guy was a very good driver he spake me on reaction time we were facing a Pro 5.0 tree I had never seen one before it was a learning experience I had no problem driving around him like he was a tree on the side of the road I'm not positive but I believe this run was 92 miles an hour I can't remember for sure their timing equipment was temporary putting in the dark the night before and Timeslips were very hard to come by they were just announcing the miles per hour and time each pass the old British piece of junk shocked a lot of people yesterday I was not surprised at all for that is what my car is built to do

signed adrenaline junkie

Hello Dale the IRS in my car is anything but triumph is built and engineered by me for me the only part that might break are those junk Porsche inner CV joints I all ready have another company working on shafts so I can go back to Nissan I know from experience they last two or three years if my IRS does not work out and I have to go to a Ford nine I am first coming to your house I know dragracing I know suspension you're for link TR six is the best one ever built personally I believe the only good one ever built if there are others I have not seen it most of them the link bars are so short they do not allow movement or adjustment let alone most important axle rotation if I ever have to put a four link in a TR six you will be the first person I call I think your car is the perfect balance between horsepower torque and weight in a TR six

it's funny you would ask about breaking the IRS I believe I do have some parts going bad I have had to adjust my spring height twice this summer and after the beating the car took on Saturday they seem to need again my springs are 15 years old and have over 100,000 miles on them so I do think it's time for a new set of springs I love my IRS it is a lot of work but it is smooth the man running the staging lanes at the dragstrip told me at the end of the day on Saturday told me my car was clearly the smoothest most consistent car on the track the track was brand-new and very inconsistent he told me IRS cobras sure do not run like that

That car is nuts. I can't believe the R200 lives through it.
Are you taking it to the TRials this year? I'd love to see it in the flesh.

Hello alan I've been planning on going to the trials all year since I heard it was in Michigan my first road trip when I bought my car 17 years ago was a weekend in that same part of Michigan I had only had the car for days it's just beautiful up there perfect place for the six pack trials my problem is this coming weekend I sponsor a team that does a walk for the American Cancer Society so my coming weekend is shot which means if I go dragracing my wife will put me on the couch that following weekend is the trials I hope to race on Friday night I think my wife has plans for me on Saturday night if I make it to the trials it would have to be a redeye express which means I would have to leave at 5 o'clock in the morning it is normally about a three-hour drive I'm pretty sure I could cut it to an hour and a half I don't know exactly when the show times are I have not even looked at the information if you post on here when the show is I will see if I can zip up there and spend a few hours the day of the show I always love those people they make me laugh they walk around talking about cars by their vin number and tell you approximately what month it was built my plan was to fix them this year I dug out an old Ford Vin tag that I was going to rivet on the car some of those guys would think that's evil some of them would grab another beer and laugh for 20 minutes either way it's all a good time

not all those people like me there is an old guy they are that has a Inca yellow 76 TR six all stock my last trials he told me I had to stop destroying these cars with my stupid modifications leaving the show we drove by him on the highway broke down on the side of the road maybe he was just thinking about needing some modifications signed I hope to be there

[www.6-pack.org]

That should do it. I'm guessing the show will start around 9.

From what I'm told the car shows about 30 miles from the hotel.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/2013 12:15PM by alana.

Tom, Instead of Nissan check out the 97-03 F150 inner CV joint. Same axle spline as Porsche 930 but 6 bolt flange like Nissan. May be different bolt circle and require adapter plate to mate up with Nissan R200. I actually have a R230,3.67 Viscous LSD out of 300ZX Turbo I would sell if you blow up your R200. It has a 9" ring gear compared to 8" in the R200. Here is a picture of the inner CV and entire axle. I was planning to use the entire axle with Dodge Intrepid hub(Ford 5X4.5 lug pattern)which happens to have the same splines as the F150 axle.

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the car in this video is running in r200 differential with the s13 axles outer hubs CV joints all stock Nissan the differential is liquid viscous 438 gear that car is 11 or 12 hundred horsepower Nissan has never changed those rear end parts since 1990 they are all the same part today they do not change them because they do not break they no longer run ther230 four it is unnecessary all the Nissan guys with older cars pull out the r230 and throat away the Ford axle idea is a very good idea but the inner CV is still steal machined not forged like the Nissan I found another place that will spline my stock axles are now my little tiny Porsche ones are still running I have not looked to see if last Saturday loosen them up anymore I'm going to concentrate my effort on dialing the car in different tires a pro stock style line lock staging system my car all ready has all the parts on it I'm going to run my shifter button to control it and let the computers control the nitrous and launch the car I'm also going back to the tires that my car was designed for not street tires this should buy me a full second I'm not going to worry about the half shafts right now if they break they break I give my right arm to be able crawl underneath that particular IRS r200 car and see what they did to put movement in the differential that thing flat gets it and it is smooth

signed to close to my goal to think about anything else

I appreciate all the input you guys have my goal is not a superfast British car my goal is to have the fastest daily driver anywhere. It just happens to be a beautiful British car



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/2013 04:20PM by tomsbad6.

i hello it's me again I still have not made up my mind on what to do this weekend I would love to go to Traverse City to the six pack trials I talked to Ted Lathrop and he is going up there I always enjoy talking to Ted I like Ted because he is a thinker and he remembers everything he's ever thought about he's my kind of tinkerer my problem is the dragstrip is open Friday noon till dark Saturday all day it's supposed to rain all day Friday so I would have to go on Saturday where they are running a streetcar drag radial shoot out $200 buy-in winner takes home $7000 I would be the only car actually driven on the street but that means I can cheat if I win my first round they said we would get 35 minutes cooldown time I will go back to the pits and remove my hood bumper headlights grill windshield wipers convertible top and frame and go back for round two I have made a lot of adjustments this week all untested but the car should rock I would clearly be the underdog and if I start pulling parts all the other racers would say that's illegal and I will tell them prove to me your car ever drives down the street because the fans would be on my side as the underdog I don't think they could throw me out I pulled this trick years ago at Norwalk Raceway Park and it got me all the way to the final round where I red lighted the car and loss to a much faster car I would have to skip all that fun and controversy to go to six pack at this point all I can do is pray and hope he shows me what to do

signed 5.90 ET is so close I can taste it

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Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2013 09:36AM by tomsbad6.

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hello we decided to go dragracing on Saturday it was one rough day I made a lot of changes to the car I bought good Hoosier tires they were a quarter of an inch too wide and would not fit I do how those Pro stock guys run a pushbutton staging system and the clutch I don't know I felt like an idiot trying to do it they had some monster cars show up for their streetcar shoot out what streetcars had to do with it I have no idea it was very educational my car still ran about 6.60 at 96 miles an hour the cars that were real streetcars they made us line up not in the groove so we would not disturb the rubber for the big shots my car is so narrow I could not straddle the rubber so my car bit right bit left o my lord was it a handful I added 17% to the rate of my rear springs and my shock rebound could not handle it it was jumpy to say the least the good news I did not hit the wall met lots of cool people I would love to know where they get their money but I felt good running with some big boys it took a 510 ET to win the streetcar shoot out I made it to the final 10 cars and got my butt kicked real bad by a car that went to the final round all in all I learned a lot my car has just a little ways to go in set up I have a long ways to go as a driver after 10 years not at the dragstrip I'm a little rusty to say the least those guys were good I will show you a picture of the winning so-called streetcar I was the only real streetcar to make it to the final 10 they said I should feel good getting that far but in my book losing is losing




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2013 10:12AM by tomsbad6.

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this one is embarrassing I got my butt kicked in around one of the final 10 that Mustang lost in the finals with a 525 ET you can hear my wife in the video saying I got a bad draw I didn't have the heart to tell her all the other nine cars would have been a bad draw I talked to most the people in the finals they spend more money on racing in a month than I've spent on my car in 15 years I think I need a bigger wallet I also think brains can beat money you'll see in this round I red lighted the car and just about stalled it trying to keep it from rolling in the lights then clutched it to hard and blue the tires off I had no chance of winning anyway I slept very well last night knowing that I gave it my all but me in my old British car just were not enough I kind of felt bad for the old car on the way home while the other cars get a nice quiet trailer ride home my old triumph had to drive home the good news were all in one piece and smarter than we were on Friday



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2013 01:08PM by tomsbad6.

Never had anyone tell me where in the lane to stage. That is crazy. You paid to race just like everyone else.

Wow, you certainly didn't hold back on that. Really squirrelly in the stage. You'd have needed a solid axle with one wheel in the grip and one in the slip.
Agree they had no right to make you sit in the mud.

Ivor

Hello I understand why the owner track did not want Street radio cars in the center of his launchpad this is only the third week of that dragstrip and the owner is a guy like me he's a cement contractor works his butt off try to pay bills he is a half $1 million in debt on the dragstrip he ran this thing on Saturday to draw fans to see that show with big money cars they came from a long ways and expected a good track the week before Street radial tires took all the rubber off his launchpad he worked hard all week on the track repairs for the big money cars that Road Runner in the picture is all fiberglass except the roof it weighs 2720 pounds the owner of the track call me night before told me if I get in that race I probably would not have a chance but he said he would appreciate me running my car anyway he told me the locals all comment on that little green Fiat that comes out there we both laugh I tell them that it is a triumph they think that must be some kind of Fiat yes this track is in a very small town I gained a lot of respect at least trying to race cars that I could not beat I spent $260 in entry fees and admission for my family I made back 2 hundred in racing side bets so it only cost me 60 bucks the things I learned about my car and the fun I had were worth 10 times that I will be better next week using what I learned the most important lesson that I learned was not to try to make my car like the other drag cars my car is different it's British it's IRS it's a completely different set up one-of-a-kind in the beginning of the day I was trying to run my new staging system that is not going to work I have driven this car for 15 years old habits die hard I need to just drive the car naturally by feel the way I always have

I never quit I never give up I have a lot of tricks up my sleeve I have got to get the dial in right in the rear suspension I have the differential mounts perfect I made little shim pieces that allow my spring rate to change as it compresses I'll have to show you guys some pictures of that I have to find a drag slick that fits under the car that will be this week that will get the car to launch as good or better than it does on the street oh oh oh wait a minute I almost forgot once the car is comfortable launching I have another 200 hp in spray just waiting to go sitting in the trunk saying let me out I have already tested the car with the 300 hp shot on the street and after the car rolls 5 feet it takes all of it with nothing more than a small chirp when you shift it. I have waited nine or 10 years to find the dragstrip that will allow me to run this thing least I can do is smile appreciate it and play the game their way there were a couple of drivers that threw a fit about not using the center of the launchpad they were politely asked to leave they had no fun on Saturday I had a ball and so did my family if there's anybody out there that has tried the new BFG GForce TA drag radial not the old one please let me know I don't feel like spending 350 bucks not knowing the characteristics of the tire