Monthly Archives: October 2011

Senna Documentary

I finally got a chance to watch the highly acclaimed documentary of Aytron Senna on the big screen.  The local Lotus dealership had a special viewing at a local theater and I quickly jumped at the opportunity.

The documentary is amazing.  Period footage makes the film and fortunately has very little commentary to color the true meaning of the film.  Basically the images speak for themselves and there is plenty to watch.

The years since Senna’s death have brought a number of changes to F1 cars.  Watching this film really puts these changes into perspective.  The feel is certainly not the one that you get from modern F1 race coverage.  The race is the same, but the cars are so different.

One of the things that stood out for me was a very quick “demo” of active suspension on the  Williams FW14.  This car ran during the 91 and 92 seasons.  Designed by none other than Adrian Newey, but I digress…  They show footage of the FW14 parked in a garage with all body work removed.  It is sitting on all four tyres and it appears to be going through a set of self-tests:  the monocoque floats as the active suspension raises and lowers each corner.  Pretty cool.

From the film one can appreciate the driving force behind Senna.  He basically had a balls-to-the-wall attitude and second was just not an option for him.  The rivalry between him and Alain Prost is certainly visible not only on track footage but also on interviews.  Then, once Prost retires from the sport they become close.  So close that Prost is a trustee of the Senna Foundation.

If you get a chance to watch this, don’t miss it.  Highly recommend this film – it is awesome.  Can’t wait for the American spec DVD to be released…

bowtie6 is Back Home

Fall has arrived.  Today’s weather was gloomy and rainy here in the Upstate of South Carolina.  I decided to take a few days off from work and do some work on bowtie6.  Today, after a year’s worth of work I had a chance to finally driver her home from my cousin’s shop. All I can say is the Ecotec is something else.  The 3.4 V6 is so passe it is pitiful.  The 2.4 Ecotec is so far superior!!  This engine’s power band is amazing.  The torque is amazing. I only had a chance to put a few miles on bowtie6, but I can certainly tell the difference:

  • The new frame is stiff.  I mean Viagra stiff.  There is no flex, the car feels extremely solid.  With the original frame, with no hard top…  I could feel the body flex.  Not so now.  It is (as Bob Seger would say), “like a rock”.  Amazing.
  • Solid axle with PosiTraction – once you get a chance to feel what this is like, you will never go back to IRS.  This thing is amazing.  The “bite” is so different.  There is not “squatting”.  You hit the gas and there is no hesitation.  It gets the job done.
  • Coilovers – OMG!!!  Now we have coilovers on all four corners.  The rears are quite amazing, but the fronts have transformed the whole driving experience:  at parking-lot-speed it almost feels like power steering.  The effort to turn the wheels is almost non-existent.  And…  Remember, I am running 205/55-16’s up front.  At speed, this thing is lightning quick.  Point-and-shoot, baby!!  This and the Ecotec has been the best money spent so far.

I’ll have pictures soon.  I have to work on the interior, do some work under the hood and do a lot of “detailing”.  There is still a lot of work to be done but in a few days I hope to have things back together soon…  Stay tuned!

2011 Euro Car Festival – Greenville SC

Another great Euro Car Festival has come and gone.  bowtie6 did not have a chance to attend this year, still putting the finishing touches.  Hopefully soon, she will be back on the road.

At any rate, there were many very nice cars to see.  There was a Lamborghini Espada that sure looked sweet.  Talk about a “grand touring” car!  Awesome and impressive.  There were plenty of other awesome machines but two of special mention.

These two cars came from Charlotte NC.  The first is a Volvo 242 with a Ford 5.0L V8.  This car has been detailed in a very impressive fashion and is quick to boot.  Take a look:

There was also an MG Midget with a Ford Duratec 2.0 engine – lot of work has gone into this car and it is very impressive.  The EFI is controlled with a MegaSquirt.  Very impressive:

If you like to read more about the “Midgetec”, there is a link in the left of this post…  Look for “Duratec Powered Midget”.

bowtie6 and ECOTEC vs 3.4L V6

I put some 15,000 trouble free miles on bowtie6 powered by the V6 conversion we did several years ago.  The car performed flawlessly, surpassed my expectations and not once was it ever a disappointment.  Not even from the start, on the contrary:  from day-one I have been very proud of my car.

Not wanting to keep the engine ‘stock’, I started doing some research into performance improvements.  Don’t take me wrong, the engine had plenty of power and torque but I just wondered “what if?”  After all, what fun is there in leaving things alone?

This is no “mid-life” attempt to produce a firebreathing monster – if that were my wish then I would be building something else altogether.  I have the ability and resources to do it, but I decided to take a well preserved TR6 and improve it.  It has been a very fun project that I plan to continue to work on and improve.

bowtie6‘s 3.4 V6 came from a ’95 Camaro so out of the box it is a few years old.  I had it dynoe’d the first time and it produced 150hp at the rear wheels.  Not bad for a ‘stock’ V6 with fifty-some thousand miles on it.  I could have left it there and just driven the thing forever putzing around town like an old fart, but that would be no fun at all.  I had proven the concept was sound:  I had an extremely reliable TR6 that did not leak, had no “issue” to speak of and in which I could drive anywhere, anytime with no second thoughts and no assortment of spare parts in the trunk.

Modifications started with a hot cam and roller rockers.  I already had headers so we modified the intake in order to let the engine breathe as well as it let exhaust gases exit.  The car went to the dyno again, this time producing roughly 170hp at the rear wheels.  Then, we found a brand new set of heads which I had ported, polished and flowed.  I also ported the upper intake manifold and bolted an LT1 throttle body.  It was expensive but I wanted to break the 200hp mark.  Along with the ported heads came an adjustable fuel pressure regulator that helped fine tune the already larger injectors.

Third time to the dyno:  this time we produced slightly above the 200hp at the wheels mark.  I had achieved what I set my goals for.  The difference was indeed palpable and made for an even more fun TR6.  However, this proved to be too much for the tired factory Triumph frame made of 10 gauge materials.  This resulted in a frame failure (which I have discussed previously) and forced a review of the foundation beneath bowtie6.

I did not want to ditch the car because I have quite an investment in it.  The frame was un-repairable so we made the decision to make a new frame.  My cousin Jim’s TR4 was nearing completion with a similar frame.  Soon after I had a chance to drive it and see what a new frame and ECOTEC power would be like we had more data to allow a good decision to be made.

So what was it like?  No, it did not “blow the doors off” my V6 powered TR6.  Jim’s TR4 is lighter than my TR6 giving it an edge.  The ECOTEC is a fantastic engine and has way too many advantages over the V6, even with all the improvements we made.  For starters the ECOTEC is lighter and incorporates much more modern features.  The engine has a huge rev range and offers fully tunable ECM vs the opposite for the V6.  Power wise my fully tweaked V6 is matched by the stock 2.4 ECOTEC.

Back to the frame.  Again.  At first, I had a notion to use the V6 in the new frame.  Add that to a solid rear axle with positraction and a robust frame and I would have been in business back on the road.  But no.  The V6 had reached the end of what I could do with it.  Furthermore, I found an ECOTEC with only 4 miles on it (I’ve written about this here before) so using that over the V6 was a mute point.  There is no compelling reason to go with the V6.  Also, supply of V6’s in junkyards getting smaller yet I am told new crate V6’s can be had for $1980 delivered to my house.  Point taken.  Then again, I have $2000 in a 4 mile 2.4 ECOTEC and that includes a 4 mile AISIN five speed gearbox (last time I checked, crate engines don’t come with gearboxes).  I also own a 2.2 ECOTEC that I paid $500 for and will be in my next project.  Truth be known, Jim’s car was initially powered by  a 2.2 ECOTEC but we realized the 2.4 would be a better choice.  So no matter how you slice it, the ECOTEC proved to be my best choice.

Very soon I’ll have bowtie6 back on the road.  It has evolved through the years.  It has been featured in magazines, won awards and I have received a huge amount of compliments which I am very grateful for and I graciously accept.  bowtie6.com has been hit from every state of the Union as well as from many countries around the world which shows me there are some folks that find this collection of words somewhat entertaining.  Along with the good, I have also had many negative comments ranging from “why did you do it?”, “it is ugly”, “it is not original”, to “your car is a complete abomination”.  I am very grateful for those too.  I fully accept this is not everyone’s cup of tea (that seems to come up a lot too, I guess it is a polite way to say “I really don’t like it”) and that is all good.  Bottom line, latter comments are the ones that make me grin and reinforce the fact that I did the right thing!!!

It is funny though, that I have taken my TR6 to non-LBC events (read street rod events) and not once has it ever been looked down upon.  Matter of fact, folks not only know what they are looking at but also compliment our efforts.  The LBC folks though are something else:  many turn their noses up and walk away, others shrug their shoulders and walk away and others give me strange looks and walk away.  But, in fairness there are some that do appreciate the work, don’t walk away and ask questions.  I’ve met many folks that way that have been very gracious.  The ones that are not gracious, well…  They are fun to meet too.

The truth is in the pudding.  My friend Mike likes to restore TR’s back to stock form.  We have a nice “agreement to disagree” thing going on, but it is all in good fun.  I’ve driven his stock TR’s and see why folks would want to keep them that way.  But then, when I get behind the wheel of one of ours…

…and suddenly I get a big grin on my face and know this is the only way to go.  If only folks could ride in our cars before they make “remarks”, they would see why we like them so much.

For what I have in bowtie6 in time, resources and effort probably I could have a newer car (I’ve been told that too, “why didn’t you just go buy an brand-x or brand-y car?”) but that would not have given me the chance to experience all that I have written about bowtie6.  I know the answer is a bit of a cliché:  it is priceless!

Before You Buy…

Hi folks!  Quick update on bowtie6:  All wiring in the engine compartment has been done, the inside of the cab has been completed and now the only remaining thing left is the trunk.  Since my wiring harness is all home-brew and actually quite simple, the trunk area will have three relays and two circuit breakers.  This will control the stop lights, reverse lights and fuel pump.  Confused?  I can understand that – I’ll have a full writeup after all this is put together and the car fully operational.

bowtie6 will be ready to drive very soon.

So what is this “Before You Buy” title on today’s post?

This past week, over at my cousin’s shop somebody brought a classic Mini Cooper.  The owner bought the car and along with it came a rear subframe assembly.  Seems he was told the subframe needed replacing and “here is one along with the purchase price”.

This Mini looks nice and solid!  Cosmetically it is in great shape.  Paint is shiny.  Interior is clean.  Carpet is new.  Seats are comfy as all get-out.  Has cool wheels and Yokohama R008’s.  Chrome fender flares.  Right-hand drive – DAYUM!  How can this get any better?

Take a look:

Nice car huh?  How can anyone want anything better, right?  Another picture?  Sure…

Beauty is only skin deep folks.  Seems the owner got a hard-on for this little beauty and never bothered to put the thing on a lift.  When buying “classic” cars, this is cardinal law number one.  Put the thing on a lift, take a look at the bottom of the car and if there is any rot…  WALK AWAY.  I can’t tell you how many good looking “classics” I have seen on a lift where I just ran away from…

Turns out that after lifting the ass-end of this little gem, we found the following nightmare:

The above is the rear subframe on a classic Mini.  This is where the rubber dampers and rear trailing arms mount onto.  Basically, this is the rear suspension.  Here is another shot of this affair…

Another closeup:

This is only the beginning.  Once we took the subframe out from underneath the car we found a lot of rot along the mounting points for the subframe.  Unfortunately this is what happens when folks don’t really pay attention to the parts that are not “shiny”.  We looked at the front subframe (the one that holds the front suspension and engine) and it looks bad too.  Furthermore, the body has quite a bit of rot behind the front wheels.

Not trying to preach…  It’s your money.  But people… Put a car on a lift and take a look before you buy!!  This owner is now facing quite an ‘spensive bill in repairs.  The rear subframe needs to be replaced – the rust damage is too severe.  The unit body needs to repaired, after all the mounting points for the rear subrame have holes in them where you can see the inside of the cab. And, the front suspension needs attention.