Speedster Reprise- ready to roll

Driver Jim Menneto gives the Speedster a last walk around before loading up for Joplin.

I have posted numerous times about the improvements and repairs we completed on the Hemmings Speedster over the long cold Vermont months (which may be over by Memorial Day). Bloggers and subscribers alike have been asking for more information about our road rally entry, so much so that we included a story about it in the June issue of Hemmings Motor News. Now in its final preparations, we recently converted the headlights and turn signals into one complete headlight assembly with clear lenses and yellow LED lights mounted to the top of the housing. Final adjustments have been made including putting the finish torque on the rear axle nuts, tighten a few drain plugs and adjusting our Timewise 825 rally speedometer to compensate for the new Coker tires we installed.

825 photo courtesy of Timewise speedometers

Adjusting the speedometer was merely a matter of rolling the car ahead 10 rotations of the tire and measuring the distance covered in those ten rotations. In our case 946 inches. Then we divided that length by the number of magnets on the rear brake drum (2) for the electronic speedometer sensor and programmed that number (473.0) into the back of the speedo with the use of a mini-screwdriver. The zero will be changed daily on the road as the car goes through routine timing tests and final adjustments will be based on the differential between the official race speedometer and ours (there is a formula for figuring this out but we won’t bore you with the math).

We feel confident we are ready for the upcoming rally season. Pilot/Publisher Jim Menneto and his new co-pilot/navigator Mari Parizo have been diligently practicing following rally instructions, keeping accurate timing through turns, and establishing some time tables of their own (0-40, 15-55, 40-0 etc.). They have been out in the Speedster’s open cockpit in temperatures in the 30s and have used state highways and a closed airport landing strip to get their game down.

Their first challenge will be the Mother Road Rally in Joplin, Missouri, this weekend, so stay tuned to the Hemmings Blogs for updates on their results. To access more information about this event you can check at www.vintagecarrally.com or better yet, if you live in the Joplin area, stop by and see the car and race team in person. They will be traveling historic Route 66 through Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma during this 3-day event with lunch stops in various cities along the way.

After this tune-up race, the Speedster will be onto our own Hemmings Challenge in Springfield, Missouri, on June 21-26. More information on that event on our website at http://www.hemmings.com/events/hmn_rally.html and in future blog postings.