Landar R7 - October 11, 1999
My son Ryan and I took the freshly restored Landar to the track for shake-down the first time October 8th to 10th at Indianapolis Raceway Park, just west of Indianapolis.
Preparation
The last three weeks were strenuous as I tried to get the Landar ready for the last race of the VSCDA 1999 schedule.
It came down to working
from early in the morning until after midnight. My wife Karol Sue
supported me and never complained even though she didn’t see much of me.
I slipped into bed each night well after she was asleep.
Son Ryan working on car prior to technical
inspection at Indianapolis
Thursday, October 8th - Tow the Car to Indianapolis
Thursday was challenging. I told Ryan I would meet him at Davenport, Iowa at 5:30 P.M.. From there we would drive to Indianapolis, hopefully arriving between before midnight. Ryan was coming from Iowa City, Iowa.
However, Thursday morning there still was a lot to do. I was just getting started about 7:30 A.M., when Larry Collins came to help. Larry knew the fiberglass panels needed to be fastened to the car with the Dzus fasteners, and this isn’t a one-person job. First however, we needed to go to St. Donatus to pick up my car trailer. By 11 AM, when Larry left to go fishing, nearly all of the body panels were mounted. Larry’s help was a lifesaver.
After Larry left I cut out two aluminum taillight brackets and fastened them to the tube frame with pop rivets. Then I cut and bent a fire extinguisher bracket, which is mounted, between the seats. I also modified the aluminum firewall between the back of the seat and the engine. From time-to-time Karol Sue would check to see if I was on schedule and could be out of town by 4 P.M. When it became obvious I would be late she called Ryan. Meanwhile I kept working … and my sweet wife packed a cooler of beer and made lunch for the road.
At 3 PM the car was ready to be put on the trailer for the first time. Since I couldn’t do it alone, Karol Sue helped. After positioning the trailer, we checked to see if the ramps I borrowed from Dan Neuhaus would work. They did after drilling four holes in the trailer. Karol guided me as I drove the racecar up our steep driveway and directing me to the right and left as I neared the ramps. She worried about getting the car on the trailer safely, or without running off the ramp. Time after time she backed me up for better alignment. Finally I surmised we were lined up well enough and drove the car on trailer to her surprise. Although the incline was steep the engine pulled steady and did not stall. This was a little surprising because the camshaft doesn’t develop peak power until 7400 rpm. We had spectators. The neighbor lady and her daughter watched with fingers in their ears to block the noise from the open exhaust (no muffler). When I was positioned on the trailer K. S. slipped a block behind the wheel. We proceeded to secure the axle straps, which hold the car on the trailer. The front of the trailer had adequate holes for the hooks, but the rear did not. I cut two holes in the back of the trailer with a gas torch, and soon the car was nice and snug on the trailer.
All that was left to do now was to pack the tools and spare parts. Unfortunately the tools were in the lower garage and the car was in the street. If you get the impression I was “just a little late” your are wrong, I was very late! After getting the car packed and a well-needed shower I left the house at 5:20 PM.
On the highway to Davenport the trailer towed well. Gas mileage was 22 mpg at 60 mph, decreasing to 14 mpg at 80 mph. I probably averaged 14 to Davenport. Ryan pulled into the Davenport factory parking lot about 3 minutes before I did … and soon we were on I-80 headed east.
Everything went well until
50 miles west of Indianapolis. Ryan was pulled over by an Indiana Highway
patrolman. We couldn’t figure why because we were the slowest car around
"when the patrol saw us". We didn’t know the taillights had stopped
working. After discussion the nice officer said to turn on the four-way-flashers
and continue on to Indianapolis. We were in the motel room at 12:03
AM. Not bad!
Friday - The First Race Day
It rained all night and was still raining hard when we left for the track at 7 AM the Friday morning. A little early rain didn’t concern me because I knew we needed a day to finish the car before safety inspection. My race friend, Paul Fitzsimmons, had arrived Thursday afternoon and pitched his 10’ x 20’ overhead canopy, under which his bug eye Sprite and the Landar would be paddocked.
Ryan and I tied a couple of six by eight foot blue plastic tarps to the roof to act as walls and started working on the car.
It rained all day Friday
as we worked. Friday evening there was a free dinner that was sponsored
by Victory Lane Magazine, and after that Ryan participated in the 150-minute
go-cart race which was held inside a dome in town.
There were nine teams all composed of vintage race drivers, with five racers
on each team. Each driver raced in 15-minute stints before coming in
to change drivers. This all started at 8:30 PM and finished at midnight!
Saturday – The Second Day
Saturday morning the first sessions were scheduled to start at 8:15 AM, but it continued to rain. Ryan and I worked on the car, perhaps a little slower than normal because of the rain. We went into town several times for parts. At 5 PM we were ready for Bill Dalton, chief technical inspector, and Jon Forsberg to check the car. It passed! In fact Jon praised the quality of the car. That made me feel great.
Saturday evening the Team
Thicko group sponsored a dinner and party. Everyone brought food to
share. Ryan and I took 3 pounds of shrimp and cocktail sauce.
Jim Donato brought 450 meatballs for Italian meatball sandwiches.
The Team Thicko flounder, Wm. Thompson, and Mustang Bill Dalton hooked their
guitars into their amps and started playing. They are quite good!
Before long they had a drummer from the crowd, and Jon Forsberg playing
harmonica. The four made great music until after 10 PM … and it was
still raining when we went back to the motel.
Sunday – Will it Stop Raining Please?
Sunday morning it cleared and about 9 AM the public address call came for our group to get ready to go out on the track to practice. I fired up the Landar and went to the grid with the other cars to wait the announcement to enter the track. I don’t know if everyone was there in our group, but if they were there would be 62 cars. This is heavy traffic for a 2.4-mile track and it worried me. I told the grid worker I wanted to go onto the track last because this was the first time on the track for this car since rebuild. I shut the engine off so it didn’t overheat while we waited … I knew I had it made now. In a few minutes I would be on the track with the Landar for the first time.
When it came time to go out on the track the engine wouldn’t start. It had always fired right off before. After grinding the starter awhile the pinion gear on the starter jammed into the flywheel. I got a flat tow back to the paddock and Ryan and I pushed the car under the canopy. In a few minutes I had it running, but it was too late to get on the track for the practice session.
The next track opportunity was at 12:00 noon, for the touring session which lasts about an hour. We decided both Ryan and I should both go touring since it isn’t racing and a passenger is allowed in the car. As I pulled onto the track the Landar revved nicely to about 6000 rpm in 1st and 2nd before coming to turn one. I backed off ... and the engine immediately seemed to die. After fighting the dying engine for perhaps a half mile, I learned it would only run with about a ¼ inch of throttle. This was about 4000 rpm in 2nd and 2000 rpm in 4th. We decided to stay out running slow laps. After perhaps eight laps we came in. During this time I focused on keeping the engine running and feeling out the steering and brake systems. Then guess what, yea as we came off the track and back into the paddock the engine started running fine again. Seems this damn horse just doesn’t like the track!
That engine problem acted like a fuel starvation problem, but there were no more track sessions to try a fix, only the race … and that’s no place to be with an unsorted car and sick engine. Ryan and I put the car on the trailer, and after saying goodbye to our friends, we left Indianapolis about 4:30 PM Sunday evening.
Driving home we felt terrific that we finally had the Landar on the track, and somewhat let down also. We felt the brakes, steering and suspension adjustments were ready for the next higher test, and we knew something wasn’t right with fuel system and the shift lever. We had learned several things that need to be improved, and the Landar passed technical inspection. Not bad!
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Postscript
After returning home the
fuel system problem was diagnosed and fixed. It was a failed electric
fuel pump. When the hard shifting problem is improved I plan
to test the fixes locally; perhaps at a large parking lot, or on a rural road.
The Landar Race Team
has grown … and I want to thank several people who have helped:
Track Engineer (and “relief driver” if he begs enough!) - My son Ryan spent two days in the rain at IRP wrenching on the Landar and also developing engineering solutions for the master electrical cutoff, suspension and body panels. At one point this electrical engineer even used his calculator for trigonometry to design the angles and legs of electrical disconnect bracket (Impressive for me since I'm a mechanical and didn't know electricals could design linkage - ha!). I saved the piece of cardboard he sketched the design on as a keepsake, a reminder of the good time we had getting the Landar on the track.Chief Financial Officer / Director of Trailer Loading / and Manager of Food and Beverages – Karol Sue,my wife, has remained loving throughout the seven months since I started constructing the car, and this past Thursday she really pitched in to help me get off to IRP. Thanks, love, for everything!
Head of the Engine Development -- Larry Collins has worked with me this summer on the engine and powertrain. Thanks Larry!
Larry ( on the left) helping get ready for the first road tripHead of Chassis Development – Tom Gust has helping me with both the chassis and body panels. During the summer of 1999 he worked with me a night a week. Together we pop riveted 120 square feet of new aluminum panels onto the tube frame. Tom also helped fix cracks in the fiberglass panels and install the Dzus body fasteners. Thanks a lot Tom!Paddock Crew Chief -- My vintage racing mentor has been Paul Fitzsimmons. He took me to my first vintage races, helped me find the Landar, and provided his trailer and truck to haul the disassembled Landar from Chicago to Dubuque. I paddock with Paul’s group. He has been a huge help. He races a Bugeye Sprite. Thanks Paul!
Technical Consultant -- Dan Neuhaus races a Formula Vee and has provided good council and advice during the rebuild, as well as loaned tools. Thanks Dan!
Yours truly,
Carl Braun - October, 1999
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