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Story by Jim Russell
Ernie and Elaine Nagamatsu, the owners of Old Yeller II, were again invited to bring their famous old race car to Australia for the 2008 Tasman Revival Meeting at Eastern Creek Raceway on November 27 – 30. As I volunteered to be part of his pit crew the last time Old Yeller II came out here, Ernie
invited me to help again, but this time as Crew Chief. This was quite a surprise as I have never been involved with race pit crewing before; only watching their hectic action on race day TV broadcasts. Ernie must have seen some unknown talent in me the last time I helped his American crew.
Thursday 27th November
Old Yeller II obviously arrived at the track and had been unpacked from its shipping container and was waiting in our pit area when I arrived at Eastern Creek Raceway. It had been sent from England where Ernie had raced it at the famous Goodwood Revival Race Meeting. Lucky for me, Old Yeller II
roared into life after connecting the battery and filling the fuel tank. In the morning warm up/practice, the car had to retire due to overheating problems caused by the fan belt coming off. Checked all pulley alignment and reinstalled the belt which seemed to work fine. We refuelled the car and were ready for the afternoon practice session.
Friday 28th
As I had limited race car maintenance experience, I asked a friend, Graeme who has his own race car, to assist me in the pit area. We checked the car and had it ready for the morning qualifying session where Ernie won Position 9 on the Starting Grid. Unfortunately it poured rain in the afternoon and
the Dunlop tyres had no wet weather traction. We had a set of AVON radials fitted which we had to turn into white wall tyres for Saturday morning. Have you ever tried to apply masking tape to a tyre?
Saturday 29th
In the morning races the car had a burst of flame come out of the bonnet around the carbys on the 3rd lap. We couldn’t find any reason for this; no fuel leaks at 6 PSI pressure, not electrical shorts, so decided it was probably a back fire from the carbys. In the afternoon race, Ernie started position 9 and by lap 3 was in 3rd place with times improving at about 1 1/2 seconds per lap. Fastest lap was 1.55 minutes. Then disaster; on the 4th lap at the same bend as the morning race, another flame burst out but larger this time. At “Scrutineering” we could still not determine the cause but this time there was soot around the rear left hand tappet cover and rear LH carby. Track Officials said the car couldn’t race unless the cause of the fire was located and rectified. Back in the Pit Area, Graeme noticed that where the choke shafts fit (no chokes fitted in carbys) there was a 1/4” hole on each side of each carby. We decided to plug these with self tapping screws in case vapour was coming out through these holes and accumulating under the bonnet. Then the car was ready to race the next day; Sunday.
Sunday 30th
When Ernie took the car for a test drive before the race there was a bit of noise coming from the clutch and the car was hard to get into gear when stationary. It was decided that there was a problem with the pressure plate fingers and it was better to withdraw from the race. It was a big disappointment for all of us as the car was really starting to perform on Saturday afternoon. As the car was not racing there was a non stop stream of enthusiasts, young and old, interested in the car. Ernie and Elaine were kept busy the whole weekend meeting Old Yeller II enthusiasts.
We decided to present an autographed white wall tyre to the TAFE college students and teachers who were working all weekend on cars that needed repairs and tried to assist us to get the car back on the track. On behalf of the Buick Club we would like to thank Ernie and Elaine for the “Hollywood Motors” sign and autographed white wall tyre which he presented to me for the BUICK CAR Club. On behalf of our Club, Allan Adams presented Ernie and Elaine with a Buick Club car badge as a memento of their visit down under in 2008.”
Posted 01/2009 |
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