Posted in: AHX12 A Very Special Healey

More on Preparing AHX12 for TN ’07

I decided that I had better do some more checking on the root causes of the handling problems we experienced with AHX12 that I described in my previous post. I got out the old Alemite Portable Model 3064 Cross Sight Alignment System that I got from Aurora Cars way back in 1986. This is the front page of the instruction manual. alignment-system.jpg

You can tell from the picture that the 3064 has a few years on it…I think that is a ’63 Nova or something like it in the picture. Anyway I hung the gauges on the front of AHX12 and it seemed quite apparent that they were way out of calibration. I don’t have any setup instructions for the gauges but I figured that if I put them on to a pair of wheels which were mounted on the ends of the rear axle which by this time was lying on the floor next to the car and which hopefully will be straight, I should be able to “zero them in” so that is what I did.

Next I put the gauges back on the front of AHX12 and they appeared still to be out by a country mile. Well …to cut a long story short they weren’t out…it was AHX12 which was out. In our rush to get to Watkins Glen…and that is another story… we had decided to lower the front suspension a bit for track use. We only took time to do an eyeball alignment after lowering the car and as I recall thought things were toed out a bit, only to be expected after lowering the car, so we cranked the alignment in a couple of turns and off we went to The Glen.

When we got to the track things were somewhat damp during practice and both  Dick and I felt the car was a little “loose” down the straights.

In our infinite wisdom we figured that we hadn’t added enough toe in so we did our best, with no equipment, to correct this by adding a little more. This didn’t seem to change things in the wet but when the track dried up a bit the car was decidedly “twitchy” to say the least. Watch this and you will see what I mean.

 

Comments (4)

  1.  Hi Howard,

    Many thanks for your comment.

    I was still in short pants when the ’64 GP was run but I did have the honour of driving in a race at Watkins Glen during the GT40 reunion which must have been around 1989 in which Jackie Ickx and a bunch of others were driving GT40’s very quickly.

    I was in my Sprite (seen below racing at Shannonville) and it would be something of an understatement to say I was seriously outclassed.

     Sprite Racing 

  2. Great web site I was at the Glen grand Prix 1964 to see Dan Gurney and the new Ford GT40 wow what a sound !!
    Great pictures a lot of hard work on your part to keep the site. I’m Currently restoring a AH BT7 Mark I 1961 Tri-Carb. Wow great restoration pictures.

    Retired British Iron Lover
    1969 A50 Bsa Royal Star
    1965 A65 Lightning Rocket
    1970 Triunph T120R Bonnie
    1961 Austin Healey BT7 mark I (under construction)
    Medina Motorsports 7 miles away

    Looking for restoration video’s/books or CD’s
    Thanks
    Howard Morris
    20 miles south of Akron Ohio (missed the Akron Conclave)

  3. Love the blog. Being old fashioned, I also appreciate that it’s so well written. Forgive me!
    re. the traffic rant and the witches hats:
    1) Our local police used to fill the occasional cone, as we call them, with concrete. Nobody kicked them twice.
    2) I was on a flyover in London years ago. There were roadworks ahead and the whole issue was jammed solid. All the smart/rude types drove down the hard shoulder and got through. Sadly, with the reduced access, we polite types were going nowhere. Then the boys in blue appeared. They had a grotty old bus crammed full of plod. They eased this thing onto the hard shoulder and stopped it. Doors opened and about 40 plod got out, each one carrying his little book of traffic tickets. 40 tickets were duly issued and the miscreants allowed through (to thunderous applause.) Wait 10 seconds and repeat! Wonderful to watch!
    All the best, Simon

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