Montana Cross Country T Assn.
2001 Officers and Directors: |
General News
The 2001 endurance run is over. It was won by Ron Miller.
Ron is my kind of model T guy. I
understand that he had his head off his
motor 17 times, the last time in the
parking lot at the hotel before the race.
I on the other hand broke my seal from
the year before only because I couldn't
get my car to go onto the trailer. I have
vowed to be better prepared for next
year!
Normally the number after your name
indicates through what year your dues are
paid. I have not updated after the race,
so some people's numbers may be out of
date. I will try to get synched up with
Janet by the next newsletter.
The people from ESPN were there at the
race, video taping. The show is scheduled
to air August 13th on a show called
"Car Crazy". If you have cable,
you might want to check your listings to
find out when it will be shown.
This month, I have two more driver's
profiles, including one written by the
cast-iron champ, Rich Armstrong. Rich is
not made of cast-iron, but his T had
pistons made of cast-iron for many years.
If anyone has photographs of past years
that they can scan and e-mail to me, I
would love to put them on the web page
for all to enjoy. Speaking of the
webpage, I still don't have complete
results for 1971. If anyone has this
information, please let me know.
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Compression Ratios
Here is some
information that might be of interest to
people. Thanks to Larry Young of
Tulsa, Oklahoma for this. Larry cc'd
various heads. These are the results he
got. The total volume of the cylinder is
44.2 cubic inches. The total volume of
the part of the piston that sticks up
above the bore is 2.86 cubic inches. The
head gasket holds .92 cubic inches. The
total combustion chamber is the head
volume minus the volume of the part of
the piston that sticks above the bore,
plus the volume of the head gasket. Using
the stock head as an example: 17.9 minus
2.86 plus .92 = 15.96 cubic inches for
the total volume of the combustion
chamber. Cylinder volume plus combustion
chamber volume divided by combustion
chamber volume equals the compression
ratio. (44.2 + 15.96)/15.96 = 3.77:1
The first number will be the head volume,
the second will be the calculated
compression ratio.
Stock head 17.9 = 3.77
Stock (milled 1/8") 15.6 = 4.24
Waukesha-Ricardo 16.6 = 4.02
Z-head 13.7 = 4.76
Z-head (milled .050") 12.8 = 5.07
Reeder 12.2 = 5.31
Now the same figures for an engine bored
.060" over.
Stock head 3.86
Stock (milled 1/8") 4.34
Waukesha-Ricardo 4.11
Z-head 4.88
Z-head (milled .050") 5.2
Reeder 5.44
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Summary of 2001
Montana 500 Endurance Run
by Tom Carnegie
Sunday was inspection day. Somehow the
local newspaper had printed an article
saying that the run proper began on
Sunday, a misapprehension shared by some
of the T drivers. Better too early than
too late I guess. After we had inspected
all the cars, we had our evening meeting
and drew numbers. Rick Carnegie, last
year's winner was number one, and Rob
Flesner, a newcomer this year, was the
last car (a position he held the entire
way) with number 18. We had four more or
less touring cars. Peter Proschold from
Las Vegas with his brass touring car,
David Lingle with the roadster his dad
Melvin drove, Keith Painter from
Bountiful, Utah and Simon Nickol with his
touring car. David and Simon had a little
trouble, and didn't tour with us too
much, but Keith and especially Peter
drove a lot of miles. I wouldn't be
surprised to see Peter back next year
with a racer. Simon helped out with the
trouble unit throughout the run. Monday
morning in the rain, we headed out for
Whitefish to flag out. The first leg saw
the first T break down. It was Ted
Ballard with rear axle troubles. Ted was
driving a car that used to belong to
Orrin Culross of Culver City, California.
Orrin used to race in the mid '70's. The
next casualty was on leg three when Tom
Carnegie's crankshaft broke. Tom was in
second place at the time. The rest of the
first day was uneventful, until after the
last leg, Nan Robison's rear axle started
making funny noises. Since Tom's car was
dead in the water it was
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(Continued from page 5)
decided to
cannibalize it. The rear axle assembly
got put into Nan's car, the radiator was
put into Mike Robison's car, as he had
had radiator trouble all day, and the
coils went into Rob Flesner's car, as he
had had coil trouble.
Day two saw the
next catastrophe. Nan Robison's car lost
a magnet, which seized up the motor, just
as she was attempting to pass a truck.
Josh Billmayer was right on her tail, but
managed to somehow avoid hitting her as
she skidded to a stop along side of the
road. Nan was in sixth place at the time.
About noon, the crew from ESPN showed up
and began to record the action. They
stayed and taped until the end of day
three. At the end of day two, Ron Miller
was out in front followed by Doug Langel,
then Steve Coniff.
Day three saw the last break down. Mike
Robison's borrowed radiator couldn't take
the stress, and blew up. Mike had to quit
with just two legs of the run left to go.
Mike was in tenth place at the time. Also
on the third day, Harold Mann withdrew to
tour Glacier Park. Harold was in
fourteenth place at the time. During the
course of day three, Steve Coniff and
Doug Langel swapped places. After
all the times were compiled, we had a
driver's meeting where we decided against
having a post-race tear down. President
Sam Nickol presented Ron Miller with the
first place trophy. Dave Huson
generously donated a trophy for the best
place finish by a female. It was awarded
to Anna Marx. Anna finished tenth
overall.
All in all, it was a great run, with good
weather, a superb route and excellent
timing and flagging. We had more entrants
this year than we've had since the
1980's. Next year we look forward to an
even better Montana 500!
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by Tom Carnegie
Grant was quite involved in Model Ts as he owned the Antique Auto Ranch.
In the late 1960s his friend of his named Dick Bergan decide to enter the Montana 500.
Grant went along as pit crew. By 1970, Grant had his own car, but on the third day broke
his crank and did not finish. He came back in 1971 and finished 14th in the aluminum division.
That was the last year he raced, but that is not the end of the story. In 1972 his hired man
built a car and came to Montana. In 1975 another one of his employees came over. Their names
were Rick Carnegie and Tom Carnegie. That is not the end of the story. In 2000 his daughter
Carla Carnegie came over and drove. The next year his grand-daughter
Anna Marx took a stab at T racing. Grant still lives in Spokane and is active in the local Model T club.
Grant flags out in the 1971 run.
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John Foos
by Rich Armstrong
John
Foos was reared in Laurel, Montana, but
now resides in Helena. John entered his
first race in 1961. He competed in the
last two days of the Missoula to Circle
race promoting Highway 200 through
Montana. After the Montana
Cross-Country "T" Assoc.
was organized, John joined and
participated in thirteen races through
the 1980's.
John was a fierce competitor! His motto-" I
CHEAT". This was more bluff than
anything, as his generosity was very
evident in that he never refused to
assist anyone-
whether it is the need for a coil or EVEN
the loan of a complete engine!
John served as President in 1966 and
1967. His wife, Donna, was Sec.-Treasurer.
Spontaneous response was one of John's
characteristics. During a race in the
Flathead country, the weather was cold
and very rainy. After two days of driving
with no top on his roadster, and while
stopped for coffee and trying to find
shelter from the elements,
a young man driving a Model A Sedan
stopped. He leaned out the window and asked John
if he would trade. John jumped up and
said, "Get your junk out and you
have a trade".
Five minutes later, John was a proud
owner of the A. John's comment when asked
why he did it; "At least I'll be
dry"!
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