The Howmet Turbine race car

I was looking for stuff to load onto the Classic Car Racers Forum, thats run by people from the WPMC here in Cape Town.

I then remembered a trip to Oulton Park, a very (really) nice race car circuit in Cheshire, England in 1968, the same year I emigrated to South Africa. Seems I made the right choice that day, the Howmet Turbine was new and to me very exciting, it was fast, the engine turned at 57,500 rpm but weighed just 170 pounds, thats about  70kgs only, to give you an idea what that means, the Hillman Imps alloy engine and transaxle weighs 76 kgs!

Now what would a V6 or V8 pushing out around 360bhp weigh?

I wonder how many viewers of this blog ever saw or heard this car?

Try this and you will soon know http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4PMalIwoo0

You knew when it was about to arrive by the sound of its motor as it can be heard from at least three corners away! It is now 46 years since I saw it racing, looks rather good I think.

More on this car can be found here http://website.lineone.net/~pete.stowe/pete_howmet.htm

What a car, I am so pleased that it still exists after all these years.

Roy

Click on the picture to enlarge it. My thanks to Wikipedia for the pictures and the information below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howmet_TX

Interest in the use of gas turbines as an alternative to the piston engine had been gaining support in the automobile industry during the 1960s. Chrysler had begun testing in the 1950s and began leasing their Turbine Car to the public in 1963,^[3] while British manufacturer Rover and racing team BRM combined to build a racing car for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1963 and 1965.^[4] Both cars showed reliability but were unable to win over the public or to win at Le Mans respectively.^[5] By 1967, team owner and car developer Andy Granatelli had created the STP-Paxton Turbocar for the Indianapolis 500. The car nearly won the race driven by Parnelli Jones, but suffered a mechanical failure after leading over two-thirds of the event.^[6] A similar attempt with a Lotus 56 in 1968 also led to retirement after showing winning potential.^[5]

The Howmet TX was built on the McKee Mk.9 chassis. This is the first example of two built in period.

At the same time as Granatelli's turbine debut at Indy, racer Ray Heppenstall began to conceive a design for his own sports car to make use of a gas turbine, improving in some areas where the Rover-BRM had failed several years before. Heppenstall felt that a more simplified design for the chassis could make a turbine-powered car more competitive. Heppenstall originally proposed the car to Allison Engine Company and later to Williams Research.^[7] He eventually turned to fellow racer Tom Fleming for aid. Fleming was at the time vice-president of Howmet Corporation, which provided castings for turbines in the aerospace industry. Heppenstall and Fleming were able to convince Howmet that their backing of a competitive and unique sports car could promote public awareness of the company. Howmet agreed to fund the project, lending their name to the car.^[1]

Chassis[edit]

Heppenstall began the project by purchasing a Cooper Monaco sports car, but later decided it was not the best choice for a turbine and the car was sold off.^[7] Bob McKee, owner of McKee Engineering, was then contracted by Heppenstall to build two cars brand new. The first space frame chassis was actually built from an older McKee car initially built for the Can Am series in 1966, but adapted to house the turbine engine.^[5][8] The second car #GTP2 was built from scratch, allowing it to be purposely designed around the use of a turbine engine, including a chassis 2.25 inches (57 mm) longer.^[1] The chassis were known as the Mk.9 to McKee, but only ever raced as turbines under the Howmet TX guise.^[8]

The Camping Club Youth in 1964

Was this in Wales? I tend to think so as two of the girls are from Wrexham in North Wales.

My dad took the picture and checking the back of the photo I notice its marked Garth 1964 and a CCY weekend, so Wales it was!

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Whats special about this picture you may ask?

Well for starters its now fifty years old (50)  this was the period when teenagers such as we were, could look after themselves and prooved it by camping as a group on a regular basis. We came from all sorts of  backgrounds, from engineers, coal delivery men, joiners and a whole host of other trades and proffesions the club made us all equal in a way.

Names, left to right:

Robert ,Liverpool (Tysons apprentice Joiner like myself) Ian McEvoy, Liverpool, Trish Williams (Wrexham,Wales) Pam Salthouse, Crosby, Liverpool and  later married to Ken Galletley, Roy McBride (me) also Tysons and from Maghull, behind me with his arms outstretched is Les French, (Liverpool and later Maghull, it was his Fordson van, was it 45 Pounds he paid for it?  Carman, (Wrexham,Wales) in the van Peter Hignet, Walton, Liverpool (yes with a tie on) the two guys next are the brothers Marthinson and I cannot remember their first names right now.

Long time ago and we are all around sixty five years old now!

The clubs name back then was The Camping Club of Great Britain and Ireland, it still continues to this day and many of my fathers photographs were sent to Barry Rook the clubs archivist, can you imagine, Barry told me he knew my parents from camping, a small world/

The club is now named The Camping and Caravanning Club, they are based in Coventry CV4 8JH, England.

www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk 

Roy

Laying out our first Mirrior Dinghy kit after CNC machining

The picture sure shows what a lot of cutting the CNC machine had to do and should prove the worth in you buying our kit.

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

We used five sheets of okoume marine plywood made to BS1088, the wastage factor was around 15% so very little left over with this kit.

Mirror Dinghy sets are only available world wide from licenced kit suppliers, until now they were all cut out by hand!

Now we know why they were expensive and took so long to manufacture.

A comment from a friend in the UK:

By the way, I think I counted 29 parts in the laid out kit?

 

Notty.


Roy
 

A customers boat

We sometimes supply the materials only and the customer buys in his own plans, this craft was one such order.

Thanks Roy. It’s a Chesapeake Light Craft, Annapolis Wherry Tandem. Lovely classic lines!

 

 

This boat was cut by hand and from plans, what a lot of work!

 

 

As long as the customer has paid for the plans and has permission, we would probably be able to CNC this for you, think of the time you will save!

 

Roy

 

The worlds first CNC Mirror Dinghy kit has been cut

This is Mirror kit number one as far as CKD Boats cc is concerned, a milestone for us and I am told a world first in Mirror Dinghy history?

News just in today on the subject:

Hi Roy,

yes, you are the 1st to CNC cut a kit.

 

Click the picture to enlarge it.

We are very pleased to be selected to offer and build the Mirror Dinghy kits, this first kit has a buyer and once we have it built, then measured we will be offering the design as a kit.

Fully built boats to any standard are possible.

Roy
 

Cruising in Brasil, Peters Place, on Ilha Grande

This has to be what its all about, your own yacht anchored of a perfect beach in Brasil and you have been invited ashore for drinks.

Pictures were  taken by Roy McBride using a Canon FT film camera and Kodak  Ektacrome slide film. Click on the images to enlarge them.

Peter is on the left and listening to a local who had some problem or other?

Peter was a licenced ham radio man, his call sign was PY 1 ZAK (now a silent key) he could  recieve from his home in this picture but to transmit used to drive in his GRP  VW wagon to the top of a hill at the rear of the house and transmit from there, he used a spare battery up there as there as no AC power on his part of the island?

Check the link to see Peters QSL card.

http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2012/09/py-1-zak-qsl-card-to-roy-and-alan-on.html

Ocean Cloud at anchor in Brasil, the boat is an Endurance 37, next stop was Cape Town, South Africa, the crew of two took 32 days to sail the South Atlantic Ocean.

Roy

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=696865986115363040#editor/target=post;postID=6713716444442695973;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=6;src=postname

Metalastic Jaguar 3.8S type rubber mounts

These are the genuine thing, not copies, original and taken from a 1965 S type, they will fit the Jaguar 420 as well?

Bead blasted clean, they look very good, click on the pictures for a larger image.

The one on the left is used at the front of the car and on the chassis, the two round ones are used on the rear bumpers.

Spray painted with  DTM (direct to metal) black, they are ready to fit.

For sale, contact me before they go onto Gumtree.

Roy

Marina in Hout Bay habour for rent or sale

Available soon, this week I am told? Number 80 and suitable for a 45ft yacht.

There is a tap right at the dock, with 220v power close by, rubbish bins are well maintained and cleared on a regular basis, HBYC membership is required as part of the marina berth rental or ownership.

The marina dock is one of the best, as access is easy from the wide water space behind it. The local winds are normally SE which is then on the bow of the boat, when the easterly winds blow the yacht is blown off the marina finger, saving fenders and the like. Yachts are expected to tie up to the marina rules ( posted at the notice board) , note the fenders on the other yacht, that's good practice and seamanship.

http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2013/11/yacht-marina-berth-in-hout-bay-for-rent.html

Contact the HBYC on 021 7907095 (alan) or myself for details.

Roy

African classic car rally preparation

 We have been asked to rally prepare a 1966 Jaguar 3.8ltr S type to do a 26 day tour around Southern Africa.

We started with the engine rebuild.

 

New pistons and 0.030" over size with new 0.020"crank bearings were installed.

 

This was a quality rebore and rebuild

 

 

The 3.8 liter Jaguar engine.

 

 

The suspensions were rebuilt in 2005, this included all brakes, servo and hoses, note the new stainless exhaust system.

 

 

The splines are as new.

 

 

 

 

We have a long list of tasks to complete before the car is ready, this includes mounting the two new wire wheels inside the back of the car once we remove the all leather seats and trims.

There will be a Terratrip Meter, which may also have a GPS function, plus an EPIRB and Satellite Phone.

 

Busy days ahead?

 

Roy

 

The Mk2 hard spray dodger, a great idea to dry assembly

The customer collected his kit yesterday, he was probably not at all sure what the parts were supposed to assemble like and in which order? We do supply a building instruction guide but Andre came up with a great idea.

Hi Roy,

Thanks for the instructions.

I cut the panels out of their frames which cleared up the puzzle assembly in my mind, significantly. I will assemble them as soon as the weather allows using hinges between the panels. This will allow me to position the assembly on the boat and fine tune the arrangement.

This is  CNC cut panel one of two, there are five shapes in all, what the customer will do is to dry assemble the cut outs and fasten hinges to them to enable him to then fit them in place on his boat to be able to
sort out fitting and check things like the hight, width and depth.

What a great idea, why did I not think of that?

Roy

Names of the SABC radio broardcasters in 1985?

This is the advert in the  1985 World Radio TV Handbook, you will find it on page nine (9)

Click on the picture to make it larger.

Who can put names to those faces?

They will have been active of South African radio services in 1984/85?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springbok_Radio

Roy

Hard spray dodger Mk2 kit parts set.

Have you ever wondered what we may supply with the Hard Spray Dodger kit we supply?
This one is ready for collection by the customer today.

Click on the picture for a large image.

In this case its an extended roof version, the standard hard dodger roof will extend and cover the boats entire cockpit and steering wheel position. The rolled up sheet of 8mm Superform plywood becomes the roofs center core and between a top and bottom skin of 4mm okoume marine ply to BS 1088, laminated with epoxy it becomes very durable.

The rebates to take the toughened 6mm thick glass are machined as well. The two triangles fit to the front of the pair of panels right of the plywood sheet.

The epoxy, glass tapes, fumed silica , micro balloons and Dow Corning glazing sealant, plus teak grab rails are all supplied with the kit.

There are another eight sheets of plys that are not in the picture, the 6mm tempered glass will be supplied later, the templates to the glass are those brown MDF panels.

We also supply a detailed builders guide with each kit and in the case of this kit have recommended a local boat builder to do the assembly, as the boats owner does not have the time to do the work himself.

Roy

http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-new-hard-dodger-for-your-boat.html

 A typical Mk 1 hard dodger made from the same CNC cut files and on a 43ft yacht., check the protection and volume it offers! The Mk2 version has a larger rear side window shape.

Shipping world wide should not be a problem as we have sent these kits to New Zealand and the USA so far.

A 1985 World Radio TV Handbook

These were part of the purchase pack when you bought a Barlow Wadley, I know this as its
listed in the user manual I have that came with my own set.

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

I have a copy, dated 1985, it would be nice to find a 1975 copy which will be more the date of the Barlow Wadley?

The SABC advert in the 1985 issue.


Sold here in Cape Town and by Technical Books (r.i.p) the cover price was R37.50 which was quite a lot back then. This copy was a year old when Dick of Hamrad gave me his old copy in 1986, thanks Dick!

Roy

The Barlow Wadley radio with FM arrives

This took some five years since I posted a request to find and buy such a set, check it out, what a find!

As it arrived and before I cleaned the set up, note the original station cards and user manual. The set was also sold with various pin plugs and a world wide radio station guide.

 

Cleaned up and listening to the BBC World Service on 15,450

 

 

Now in use and listening to FM radio, note the glass pane is now fitted back where the tuning indicators are.

Well it took five years to find one but it was well worth the wait, seems I am the second owner family.

Roy

Roy

 

 

Frans remembers his arrival to the coast of South Africa

This is nothing to do with our CNC cut boat kits but does have a great deal to do with South African sailing and our nasty weather systems, plus the use of a Barlow Wadley radio as an RDF, please read on about a true real life yachting story that happened thirty two (32) years ago.

Roy

That actual Barlow Wadley and its still working today!


Morning Roy,

The BW radio which I have is a XCR30. It also has FM.

Regarding the question about using it as a direction finder.

It was April 1982 and I was on a solo passage from Punta Del Este in Uruguay, heading for Port Elizabeth, our home port.

At the time I was some 40 miles South of Cape Point. I had been about 4 days without a sextant sight because of low cloud and was lying a-hull for the best part of a day in a South Easterly gale. My plan was to stay far south and head straight up the coast to Port Elizabeth.

I was unsure about my position relative to Cape Point and was getting concerned about being blown onto a lee shore. Earlier I had thrown toilet paper into the water to determine the direction and speed of my drift. The toilet paper was rather appropriate as at one stage a massive whale had breeched right next to the boat.

I was receiving Radio Good Hope very faintly, so I simply took the radio off its bracket and turned the pull-out aerial until I got the best reception. And that relative bearing was taken to the ship's compass. Over such a great distance the bearing was very useful. (if you have no bearing, even a vague bearing is good). Later that night the wind dropped and I resumed sailing. At one stage I came up on deck to find a vessel approaching from the South. It was a trawler the Southern Maid. By the time I got to the radio the master was already calling me for a chat. My first question was "can you give me a fix please?". He gave me Lat and Long which put Cape Point 39 miles North West of me. My dead reckoning was out by 17 miles! Not bad for pre-satnav or gps?

Late the following evening just when I had Cape Agulhas off the bows, the South Easter returned. When it peaked at 50kts I threw in the towel and ran for the protection of False Bay and secured in Gordon's Bay harbour.

 

The boat I sailed was a Petersen 33 called Checkers Hyper. Four of us had earlier raced it to 3rd in Class Three in the 1982 South Atlantic Race to Punta del Este. The others had to get straight home so I used the opportunity to do a solo passage across the Atlantic.

To this day the adventure brings back great memories.

 

Frans.


http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2012/07/frans-loots-remembers-his-barlow-wadley.html

Note, Frans took his Barlow Wadley on a second South Atlantic race and on the boat Wings, proving that they really are tough sets and fit for purpose!

Roy