The LAST LOGGHE ALTERED - restore it or race it?

Also if ya go on the pics I posted on the thread there’s a couple from your runs. I can’t upload them on this thread for some reason I keep getting an error message..I’ll try to PM them to you now

 

I saw your pics on the other DD thread, and turned some other participants on to the H.A.M.B.
Thank you and stay safe. I did spend a lot of time sitting in my car in an effort to be distant from others. This stuff ain't no joke. I'm hearing of other local racers and motorsports guys who've contracted it.

 

I ended my 2020 season last weekend by taking The Last Logghe altered and two other cars to the Milan Dragway Nostalgia drags. My neighbor drove my RPU and my son, visiting from CA, wanted to drive his Anglia but we didn't have enough trailers to schlep three cars to the track so I let him race my streetable '33 Willys coupe.

The LL altered ran in Nostalgia Comp Eliminator, where we had a field of 15 cars. I lost in the finals late Saturday night. Sunday was a separate race and I lost in the second round. Won enough to pay entry fees for the weekend - always a good objective. Lots of interested fans stopped by to chat Logghe, inline sixes, and vintage racing and the "good old days". (These are the good old days.) What fun.

 

You're making me very envious having so much fun. My last run was November last year.

 

Save your funds and let the next owner rebuild it to their standards. Hang it from your rafters and tell people this is what a race car looks after meeting up with a concrete wall. Race cars are only interesting when they are on the track.

 

I have the mangled front wing and other assorted hardware hanging on my barn wall - just to remind me I'm not the boss.

 

A friend sent me an early photo of The Last Logghe in action. Some period features include the 3-point roll cage - later updated to a 5-point, then a 6-point, then a 6-point with helmet bars, Cragar funny car front wheels, Bell Star helmet, and a 243 ci engine. Look close and you'll see the front wheels off the track. Back then I had a Liberty 4-speed toploader in the car (later a Clutchflite, then a Powerglide) and apparently it was pulling the wheels on a gear change. I later added a front wing which helped keep the front end down and also tripped the beams. The body is the same, the chassis back half is original. Astute observers will also see I was running in the D/Econo Dragster class. The next year IHRA added a rule that said dragsters had to be over 125" wheelbase, effectively outlawing me from running in that class [mine was 110"].
Man, that seems like an eternity ago.

Allen Tracy photo

 

Since I've rebuilt the Logghe I've had a nagging handling problem - front wheel shimmy, aka "death wobble" on launch. I have tried making adjustments - corner weights, caster and toe and tire pressure but I cannot get rid of it completely. I decided to install a steering damper.
After an internet search and talking with other racers who use them I decided on a VW bug. It is compact and should work OK with my light front end components.
One thing - it has metric ends, so I had to make some changes to fit my English based system. I started with a bolt I machined down to 10 mm (.390") for the first inch, then another 3/8" (.375") shoulder 1/2" long for a Heim end then a 3/8-NF stud so the end of the stabilizer can articulate as it moves through its range.

 

To attach to the tie rod side I made this clamp. The stud on the end of the damper rod will be removed and this female Heim joint welded on in its place. That will allow the damper to cycle unconstrained by side loading.

 

So here it is ready to get installed. I will have to wedge a screwdriver into the slot to expand the hole a bit to get it over the tie rod end weld.

 

I installed the steering damper on The Last Logghe. If this does not cure the issue I will upsize the tie rod.
I will wait until next year to try it out. My abbreviated racing season is over for the year.

 

You know there will be the time someone taps you on the shoulder and says "Hey mate, you know your steering damper has a bend in it".
Probably not applicable to your front end shimmy but my HAMBster gets a nasty shimmy if I reverse too quickly after a burnout. Scared the shit out of me first time it happened. I run 7 degree lean back on the kingpins.

 

LOL spanners I'll just tell them it musta bent from backing up too quickly.

The bend keeps the Heim ends in an happy place.

 

Just been going through your whole thread ....... it's a great story, please keep it going.
I too had 6 cylinder powered altereds (HOLDEN, Aussie GM) through the 70's and early 80's and it was interesting seeing that you went through the same transmission evolutions as I did then (Clutchflite & Liberty Top Loader). I even had the early Mallory two piece cap distributor as well ....... your story has brought back some great memories.
BTW: On Altered and FC type chassis +12 degrees caster with 3/16" toe in is a good setting, you still need to hang on tight when reversing and keep it at a conservative speed.

 

Thanks for the props 31 Coupe. Once you've driven one of these rascals you never forget the thrill. I hope some of my racing exploits will inspire others out there to get in one sometime and feel what it feels like to live.

 

FTF, did you run the Logghe this year?

 

Hi Justin,
We actually did race The Last Logghe twice this year. The first race was a stupid format that was fun but not fruitful. We went to the NHRA E.T. Finals at Indy in mid-September with my Super Pro (avatar) car. Talk about futile - in the very first round I cut a spectacular .001 light only to break out by .004 at the other end. On the same weekend there was a nostalgia race at Milan MI. So I suggested to my sweetie that if we loaded up and returned home, unloaded the S/P car and loaded up the Logghe altered, got a few hours of sleep, we could make the last race on the last day of the Nostalgia Drags weekend.
I should mention that the format for the Nostalgia Comp class was to race off a .400 Pro tree with an assigned index for the whole race. Pro Tree is difficult for me to master. The Logghe has a hand brake, so staging is done with my right hand on the brake, my left hand on the wheel, with my left finger on the trans brake. I do not have enough time to set the car in the lights with the hand brake, set the trans brake with my left hand then move my dominant right hand off the hand brake to the trans brake button on the steering wheel before the lights flash on. I had been planning a change in my routine that I was anxious to try. To my delight it worked well and I was able to win the trophy.
Once again the car performed well and I put it to bed for the winter.

 

I neglected to mention that the VW steering damper I installed worked well. It eliminated the front end shimmy "death wobble". Steering effort was a little higher but nothing that isn't manageable.

 

Here's a mostly HAMB friendly nostalgia drag race at Milan I recently came across. The Last Logghe is featured at 7:49.Enjoy.