Hey Guys,
I want to thank all of the BACC for their help in my "predicament" off the road. Herman got it right ... I simply entered the sweeper too hot.
The car gently slid the tail out and I could not catch it even with full opposite lock. I landed pretty gently, all things considered. Fortunately, there wasn't much damage. Herman's pictures show it pretty well. Side pipe, the body next to the side pipe, front
oil cooler intake (no
oil cooler damage, I don't have one) and a crack in the right rear fender. Most of the rest was just dirt. Inspection later showed scrapes on the frame rails and the
oil pan.
I'd like to set the record straight. There's only one person to blame for this ... me! I was following the fast group but had laid back a bit to create a gap. I was driving completely on my own when it happened.
Sorry about the fall-out with your co-pilot. I now wish mine had been along to "moderate" my right foot.
It's amazing what can be done when you line up 15 or 20 guys around a Cobra and lift! We got the car back on the road with minimal aditional damage and quite a story to tell. After a quick check-out, I simply drove on to Tahoe.
The next day I brought it into the Midas shop in S. Tahoe. The guys were thrilled to have a Cobra on their rack. We looked it over thoroughly and couldn't find any bent or broken parts. No leaks (that weren't already there) either. The alignment wasn't disturbed either. The car drove pretty straight with maybe a hint of wanting to pull to the left.
The weekend proceeded without a hitch. The car performed flawlessly the rest of the trip. Dennis S. and I did the trip back the east bay together without incident. I even got 20mpg on the way home. There's a lot of down hill.
The next step is repair. Russ has an extra side pipe he has offered and I'll take the car up to Ken Pike for the body work. While I have it up there, I'm going to have him paint the aluminum fuel cell black, install bear claw door latches and spray clear plastic paint protection on the nose and rear fender fronts. If I had that protection on the nose, it might have prevented the damage off road, don't you think?
Best Regards and a million thanks,
Pete