Jensen Healey Shakedown at VIR.....

Ron, John Hansis has several of these Jensen's in his yard and may have what you need to put it back together. His # is 781 449 0866. He is a British car guru and may have some insight to the blowup. Anyway, glad to see the driveshaft did not remove your arm in its hurry to depart from your car. We seriously were looking at them for a PROD car project. Don't give up. Looks like you have come to far to throw in the towel.
Chris Howard
 
Who was the driver that got out of the car on a HOT track and stood there waving his arms warning oncoming drivers about the parts laying in the track??? :unsure: Not a good idea!
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Sorrry about that, too busy trying to run early, then after that too dejected to do anything else!

I wasn't on the hot track at all with cars around, just beside it and trying to make people aware of the parts. Better than being near the car that was pissing all the fuel out of the tank into the grass!

In the non-passing Touring Lights group with cars going by at 50mph I definitely didn't feel my life was threatened. Unfortunately, someone still ran over the muffler and pipe despite me waving at it when they drove up the hill. I think they were following too closely to the car in front of them and didn't dodge when the car in front did. I do hope it didn't damage their car. Once all the cars were gone, and none were coming through 10 either, I went and kicked it off track but it was still too hot to fool with. Not a fun day all told.

R
 
>> Unfortunately, someone still ran over the muffler and pipe despite me waving at it when they drove up the hill.

That was our car :D
I couldn't remember which session it was. Yah in the "follow the pace car" sessions you are right it was no big deal. But our driver freaked out anyway... we are not used to "guided" sessions which as you say are relatively safe. Hope you get that all back together.
 
Chris,

For a Prod car they'd be okay. Judson Manning in Atlanta, my engine builder for this car, is building a JH for Prod. There you could do all the things you'd need to do - replace the suspension, transmission, and beef up the engine to address a number of Lotus 9XX specific issues. He's got his front suspension done alrready, tubular stuff, and done the rear coilovers as well and transmission/axle conversion. Still a lot more to do but he's making progress.

In IT of course you are limited to fixing all the issues. Huffaker still has some Prod parts and drawings available when I last talked to their outfit, and their winning Prod car is now owned by someone else I thought, someone in the Midwest maybe? Can't remember. Fiberglass moulds were for sale not too long ago either, I remember seeing them. Anyhow, for Prod, sure, I think it'd be a cool car.

R

>> Unfortunately, someone still ran over the muffler and pipe despite me waving at it when they drove up the hill.

That was our car :D
I couldn't remember which session it was. Yah in the "follow the pace car" sessions you are right it was no big deal.
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I remember your VW, it grazed it, but one that came around just a bit later really whacked it - it pushed it my way and closer to the edge which helped in my decision to come get it. Hope it didn't do anything to yours either, I do remember the VW tapping it but not trampling it like the other.

We'll see how she goes, thanks for the good wishes! :D

R
 
I can work on cars just fine, and know that is part of racing, but my ratio with this thing is really, really, really skewed to too much work, not enough racing.
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Oddball=more work than play, at least initially. Oh well, good luck with it, whatever you do!
 
Oddball=more work than play, at least initially. Oh well, good luck with it, whatever you do!
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I'll say. Maybe that's why I have no desire to go out into the garage and work (either that or the 0 deg temperatures we've been having...)
 
Jeeeeeeeeeeeeez! WTF! That's more like a JH "teardown" than a shakedown. GLAD you are OK.

My first gen had a vibration too and I hunted and hunted. Changed this bearing and that, and finally bit the bullet and bought a new driveshaft (mucho dinero) from Mazda ....now I feel very lucky that I got away with running it for as long as I did.

I know all the work you've put into that car, and you've fought the good fight. Nobody will think any the less of you for bailing on it, either temporarily or permanently, just don't go to the dark side and drive the SM too much! ;)

I feel for you, and I'd love to see you get it back on the track and take a trophy. Thanks for posting the saga, I wish it had a better outcome..... hopefully this won't be the last chapter.
 
SM sold. We'll fix the Jensen, but at our own pace. Meanwhile, Z car racing it is. Too easy -- the car is "there" and ready.
 
I can also agree that racing an "oddball" can be very hard at times. See my burnout thread.

For me I just needed some time away from the Opel. After it melted the engine I dusted off the MR2. Just last week I got wind in my sails to start fooling around with the car again. Just take a rest from it and the same reasons you decided to build it in the first place will all come back to you.
 
Thanks for the support fellows! :D

I was thinking, I might owe my legs and or life to the exhaust pipe. When it was lying in the track after the accident I remember looking at the shape of it and thinking "hmm, that's odd". It was all intact, but about 1 foot from the attachment to the header it was COMPLETELY flat - like it'd been run over with a steel wheel loaded with a LOT of weight. And it was not run over with the JH or by other cars at that point.

On the JH the header colllector comes out on the drivers side right at your knee. The exhaust joins there, and runs in the tunnel parallel to the transmission and driveshaft all the way to the back. That pipe is what kept the rotating bits from cutting the tunnel in two on my side. Further inspection of the car shows the drivers' side tunnel blown out about 3" all the way down the length, with penetration in a couple spots but not like the passenger side. I think the pipe got whacked hard by whatever cut the tunnel and ended up with that super flat shape in that one area.

Should have kept that piece as another offering to the Gods of Speed. Could have joined the driveshaft, differential, transmission bits, the oil adapter plate from last year that blew off, and the spun bearings. Sure hope I don't add to the collection any time soon!

R
 
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