| Gene Gibson describes his efforts at
the Monterey Historics:
"Yes I was swamped trying to run the
show and work the car. Here is a little more info on the 2 weeks. I have
been trying to catch-up at work due to the 3 week vacation. It's always
just work delayed if I'm gone.
The Historics were great fun. I got 5
of the original Townsend crew at the track for the race weekend. Had a
wonderful time in the paddock and was amazed at the reception the car got
. What a time all the guys had. Good food, great memories, and lots
of rare race cars Ernie (Nagamatsu) kept trying to hire away my crew as
I was the only guy with a vintage car and the original crew.
The pre-Historics went well as we were
able to identify several problems with the setup on the car. Had an axle
contact with frame on hard turns. Wouldn't hit on a banked corner only
off camber hard turn. also needed more cast for high speed. Chris Wickersham
help sort the AlFin brakes and got the grab fixed. Used several drivers
including Don, Chris and Ernie to get varying input on the car.
Finally came to the conclusion that I
had restored the car so accurately that it drives just the same as it did
in 1959 at Laguna Seca. The best way around a corner is still throttle
steer and cross steer. Have to fix that! The corner workers and other drivers
get unsettled when you start drifting the car around the corners.
Took the car to Genoa Racing in Novato
CA (Sears Point) during the week between races and fixed the interference
and the cast . Test drove the car at the track and decided to lower the
roll center in the rear and zero out the positive Ackerman. The Typhoon
is a very fast and quick reacting car. The 400 plus FtLbs of torque will
break the tires loose at 120 mph if you get heavy on the throttle.
Since I have returned I have been getting
ready for the (Coronado) Speed Festival and doing lots more testing on
the road at the ranch. I think I have got the weight transfer about as
good as possible with the design of the car. Funny, I guess I never considered
the fact that the second car was built to fix the issues found on
the first." |
