The Franklin/McDowell car.. AKA Mike's race car

[RCMike]

So, as my brother and I are racing, and prepping for racing, we somehow seem to spend time looking around as well..

So a couple weeks ago, I woke up to an email...

"Interesting"

It had a link to an eBay auction. So I looked at the ad, checked out everything I could find about the car, and decided to make a couple calls.

After some research, we decided to reach out to the seller.. All of the answers made sense based on the story of the car. We decided to make a run at the car.

After the weekend, with 20 seconds left in the auction, we fired a bid..

And won.

Oh boy.. Here we go again.. I hooked up the trailer, and headed east. Kevin would fly out, and..

IMG_20190411_133426_499.jpg

.

After a couple days, I made it to Nashville, for a rest day.

Screen Shot 2019-04-20 at 11.47.42 PM.png

.

Kevin had about 48 hours he could spare, so he flew out overnight. Before dawn, we left Nashville for Cincinnati, OH..

Screen Shot 2019-04-20 at 11.48.08 PM.png

.

So what did we get?

[RCMike]

So this car was delivered new at Macon Georgia, to Col. George Franklin. Originally a 1968 SRL, it was immediately modified for racing. It was originally Silver Beige Metallic..

Screen Shot 2019-04-20 at 11.30.42 PM.png

.

Some of the earliest history of the car included a 5th place finish at the 1969 Daytona race won by Jack Scoville.. The Colonel eventually painted the car red, and in 1975 went looking for a new racer for this car.

The Colonel found the man he was looking for, in a familiar face. The car was sold to his stepson, David McDowell.

Dave started with the stock steel body, in red. In short order, the car became silver, and then began a transformation, as the car got faster, wider, faster, wider, and faster.

Screen Shot 2019-04-20 at 11.33.28 PM.png

.

The car ran in D production, GT3, and finally E production.

Screen Shot 2019-04-20 at 11.33.46 PM.png

.

Screen Shot 2019-04-20 at 11.34.04 PM.png

.

Screen Shot 2019-04-20 at 11.34.27 PM.png

.

By 1987, the car set several track records, numerous wins, appearances at nationals, you name it.. It was continuously raced, modified, and updated until 2000, when it was decided to do a complete overhaul.

IMG_20190415_224747_681.jpg

.

IMG_20190415_224747_683.jpg

.

During the overhaul, it was decided to update the cage structure to a more modern scientifically designed cage. The suspension was updated, and the car was built to take advantage of changes in the rules.

After the overhaul, Dave decided to paint the car single color yellow, to make repairs easier. At the end of the work, the car came out swinging..

IMG_20190415_225646_575.jpg

.

IMG_20190415_225646_579.jpg

.

Screen Shot 2019-04-14 at 12.44.00 AM.png

.

Screen Shot 2019-04-14 at 12.42.46 AM.png

.

Eventually, she was put away. The engine was refreshed, the car was made ready to run, and then it waited.

Screen Shot 2019-04-14 at 12.45.54 AM.png

.

Screen Shot 2019-04-14 at 12.44.59 AM.png

.

So, we will bring it home, and see what we have..

[RCMike]

http://vimeo.com/331638186

[ACote]

Wow wow wow! What a cool car and story. What a very exciting post to wake up to. I can't wait to see where you go with your Datsun racing team.

[spl310]

The throttle response on that engine is unreal!

[RCMike]

Some of the backstory...

1969 runoffs..

Screenshot_20190421-091201_Drive.jpg

.

The McDowell years at Nationals..

Screenshot_20190421-091258_Drive.jpg

.

2 time regional driver of the year, 2 time national driver of the year..

Screenshot_20190421-091343_Drive.jpg

.

D production small flares (1983)

pd-73-L-Mid Ohio 1983 National.jpg

.

pd-73-Mid Ohio 1983 National.jpg

.

GT3 full flares (1984)

GT3-73-L-Mid Ohio 1984 National .jpg

.

[GeoffM]

cool!!

[RCMike]

Making sure it is going to be happy to run.. Kevin spun the oil pump with his drill to move oil.

http://vimeo.com/331908790

[MicVelo]

Anxiously following!

[onsight512]

The throttle response on that engine is unreal!

Yeah, that sounds amazing!

[RCMike]

So, moving forward, we decided to try to just drive the car a little. Dave said it was ready to go.

So at the SVRA race at Auto Club Speedway, we got parade lap tickets, and decided to go for a 10 mile (4 lap) drive..

No high speeds, probably limited to about 80 on the banking..

But it was a chance to spin the things that spin, move the oil around, and feel if the suspension works.

It all works.

Screenshot_20190529-005838_Gallery.jpg

.

This also gave us some clarity about what we would need to do to put this car on the track for real. We need to do some work, but it's all doable..

[RCMike]

So we need to make the car fit.

First the steering wheel needs to come up. Of course. The brakes are kinda in the way.

Screenshot_20190529-010308_Gallery.jpg

.

So out came the cutoff wheel, some allen keys, and some other tools like the bfh..

Screenshot_20190529-010415_Gallery.jpg

.

All the sudden, the wheel moves up and closer to the driver. NICE!!

Screenshot_20190529-010504_Gallery.jpg

.

Unfortunately, this meant the dash would no longer fit under the windshield. So I got a sheet of aluminum and the saw..

Screenshot_20190529-010550_Gallery.jpg

.

We are now waiting for gauges, so we can lay everything out. In the mean time, I can think about fitting a seat..

Screenshot_20190529-010609_Gallery.jpg

[RCMike]

So we took our first shot at the dash.. it really was pretty good..

Screenshot_20190625-224749_Gallery.jpg

.

We were pretty happy. Video..

http://vimeo.com/344404479

.

Then we got the seat..

Screenshot_20190625-223037_Gallery.jpg

.

Once I got in the car, knees hit the bottom of the dash. It would be round 2..

[RCMike]

So we decided that since we do not have any upcoming dates with this car, now made sense.

When we talked to Dave, he said his favorite livery was the silver 3 color. Since the car made so much history in those colors, and Dave liked it, and frankly, I think it just looks cool, simple decision. Plus, the rear fenders were pretty beat, so..

Let's paint it..

That said, we decided to preserve the body as it was last raced. Since Dave had designed his own flares, and we got the molds with the car, we decided to pop out parts and see how they came out..

So I brought the new glass back to compare it to what is here..

Screenshot_20190627-005335_Gallery.jpg

.

It all looked pretty good!

So once we were happy with the interior, and I took the car down to my brother so he could do a test fit, it was time to finish safety and prep the car for paint. Complete color change, so...

Harness bar going in.

Screenshot_20190625-223607_Gallery.jpg

.

We weighed the car, with me in it. If we get close to this weight, we have it back together right..

Screenshot_20190625-223817_Gallery.jpg

.

And here we go...

Screenshot_20190625-223833_Gallery.jpg

[RCMike]

We got to the right corner and found the ballast.. Over 120 pounds of weight in this corner.. Over 75 pounds of lead plates..

Screenshot_20190625-223849_Gallery.jpg

.

We had started when Kevin got off work. I was doing prep, but when we are dealing with a puzzle without a map, Kevin has to be there to set it in his head. My attention will not get it put back together..

So we decided to quit when we got the basics done. Sunday would be a big day as Kevin has some projects that need some straight days to work through. If we could get this car disassembled, it would be out for work for a while, and Kevin can get some other stuff done.

End of the day..

Screenshot_20190625-223948_Gallery.jpg