Lipstick Red, Part IV
Deja vous; all over again.
The plan was to drive to Autumn Mog by way of the Autocross event in New Lebanon. This would be our third longish trip in the new Roadster. MogWest went fine except for some A/C problems but the trip to Lobster Mog was wet and a blown fuse in the final miles forced us to hail the services of Bill Alexander and his trailer. The cause of the blown fuse had yet to be determined so for the Autumn Mog trip I was ready.
Instead of relying on the gorilla grip allen-wrench set that Dennis sent to all his Roadster customers I replaced the button head screws on the fuse box with thumb screws. Inside the box I had a collection of spare fuses, a fuse tester and puller. I was ready!
Good thing too; I exited the Massachusetts Turnpike after two hours at 70mph in pouring rain and the @#!@$ Roadster died at the first stop sign. DAMN! It was the exact same scenario as the trip to Lobster Mog except that there was no one to call for a rescue.
David Manuel stationed his DHC on my rear quarter and within five minutes the offending fuse was replaced and we were on our way again but I was not a happy camper.
The rain was light but still coming down when we arrived at New Lebanon. Lunch beckoned so rather than going directly to the track we stopped at nearby restaurant where we ran into Bill and Sheila Alexander. They were on a mission of mercy fetching grub for Scott Willoughby and the crew setting up the autocross (yes, in the rain) but were able to dally a bit and join us. The weather almost cooperated. The rain finally stopped by the time we finished lunch but the wind increased. When we arrived at the autocross the wind was rearranging the course cones faster than the corner workers could replace them. Scott put me in the first heat and I waited while people chased cones around. Eventually someone came up with the idea of sticking the cones to the asphalt with; what else? Duct Tape. It should not have worked but it did and we were racing.
This was a first for the Roadster. I have been driving it gently because of severe axel tramp. For those unfamiliar with the term, axel tramp is a banging and/or grinding that happens when a solid rear axel on leaf springs (that's all traditional Morgans) twists when power is applied on acceleration. In my Roadster the axel rotates enough for the drive shaft to grind, just aft of the seats, on the cast aluminum driveshaft tunnel. For now my race strategy was to bring the rpms up and use the clutch to keep traction at the rear. Hey; it worked fine for the +4 last year and this car has these wide Yokohama sneakers. Should be a piece-o-cake; just ignore the noise from the grinding driveshaft.
Lesson 1: The roadster is not a +4. That 225 BHP comes on really quick and I immediately felt the rear come free and start drifting to port. Steering with the drift worked fine to keep control but that first cone came on mighty quick. I got off the power racked the wheel over and back to get through the first gates but found myself on the wide side of the course power steering to stay inside the cones. The Roadster responded instantaneously to my inept handling but I was soon off course ending my first run DNF.
I made a better start on the second run and stayed on course until near the end. A bit of overconfidence (mismanaged power?) got me so far off the final line that I had to stop while a cone was dragged out from under middle of the car. The last, more timid run, was clean..
Weeks earlier I teased Scott when he did not list a Roadster Class for the autocross. "If Roadsters are lumped in with the Plus 8s shouldn't there be a handicap; after all, Roadsters have 75% fewer cylinders and an engine displacement 20% smaller than even the smallest Plus 8."
So rather than listen to my whining a Roadster class was added and I beat Kathi (no other roadsters showed). She made it easy by going off course on all of her runs. So OK; there was no one in second place but a win is a win and I still got an award. But, for the record, my only qualifying run was better than some of those +8 types. Based on this experience I think that the Roadsters and Plus 8s are fairly well matched on an autocross course and probably should run together, at least until the Plus 8s start complaining.
The Roadster is a great car and I love it but its but not without its irritations. After one season and only 3000 miles there is a shopping list of issues. Some are trivial; some, like the fuses that blow and the axel tramp, are serious. I wish I could say that the MMC is doing its bit but that has not been the case. Their responses so far have been less than stellar; in fact I'm tempted to say they have been petty, slow and reluctant. Can you say "obfuscation"?
In an effort to get things resolved without getting the lawyers involved I called Larry at Morgan Motors of New England to schedule warranty repairs and asked: "What are we going to do about these problems?" "WE'LL FIX 'EM." was his instant response. So there is hope yet. I'll let you know soon enough.
After word:
HE DID! We picked the car up from Morgan Motors of New England on Saturday the 12th of December. Kathi drove it the three hours and a half hours home and waxed euphoric about the difference. Larry installed the Mulberry tramp bar kit that Dennis supplied, resolved the electrical issues and cured the leaks and the dozen other petty problems in addition to the routine first service and we now have the car we expected when we first took delivery. Hats off to the Ecklers for great service! The only question that remains now is whether or not MMC is going to honor the warranty claim. On that same optimistic note that I previously ended: Ill let you know soon enough.