Tom Bagguley: Part One
Preface: I met Tom Bagguley through Facebook like most of you. This guy is awesome and is an inspiration to all of us that have it great living here in the US!
In 2023, Tom had a great time in the US. Remarkably, he purchased the Mustang he talks about here without ever seeing it in person, all the way from across the Atlantic Ocean!
I asked that he write a few pieces to help document his journey, which you can also watch on his Facebook page (TB Racing) or his Youtube Channel (Bagz96).
Tom Bagguley Rocky Mountain Race Week 2024 Part One
So I got done with Street Weekend Sunday night, pushed my clothes into the washer and dryers, spent a couple of hours organizing footage and pictures from the event, took the
clothes out of the dryer and stuffed them back in the suitcase ready for 2 weeks in the land of the free!
I arrived in LA late Monday afternoon, 3.5 hours late courtesy of British Airways... Thanks guys! Danny Grubaugh was patiently waiting for me (Total legend) and took me to see my car... The first time I had seen it in 8 months! With a fresh battery, it fired right up! Before RMRW 1.0 I knew I had to fix some issues, I had a brake line break 2 miles from Ace Racing Engines where I was leaving the car. So out came the pliers and a couple of hose clamps to fix that. I replaced the front brake lines with braided lines, dropped the steering rack and replaced with a new power rack, even though I lack power steering pump due to a turbo being in its place (Turbo is much more fun than power steering).
Danny & Brad had already had the rear gears swapped for me (Thanks guys!) so it was off to the alignment shop to get all buttoned up! The car ran okay but drove straight. It still didn't stop well, so that was the next task, a new wheel cylinder was needed on one rear wheel and also a complete bleed, It was not ideal but it works, something to look at in the future!
Now to fix the rough running and idle problem, what's the best solution? Haltech of course! The installation was a breeze, everything was labeled perfectly and sub harnesses so it made it so nice to install. I made some new battery cables for it and it came to life, I graciously had Matt Whiting on the phone from Haltech to help me set it all up which was super helpful!
By that point I had to hit the road for RMRW, I had a new turbo sat on the bench at Rob Lepenske’s shop so it was a nice little 1000-mile trip from LA to Denver for that! I started to foul
a plug on number 7 probably an hour from Robs' place, Once I checked it, it was BAD. But that wasn't really an issue I was going to solve this time around so I threw in a new plug and we fit the turbo! A new Forced Performance 76/75 will do the trick nicely! It was a really nice bolt-on install which was good, because we had to load Rob's car and race/camper trailer and drive 700 miles. By this time it was 11 pm Friday night, and I had been driving basically since 4 am, and Rob had had a long day at work, so once loaded I slept on the couch and we hit the road early the next morning.
It was short-lived though... Pulled into the planned gas station about 2 blocks from Rob's house and was followed by a plume of smoke out from under the hood... The oil feed to the turbo had touched the exhaust long enough to melt through and was shooting oil onto the header... Thankfully Rob had a line on Old Yeller he wasn't using right then and there since it was on the trailer and the right fittings in his toolbox to get me back on the road and motoring for Tulsa, a whole 700 miles away... It was good going, I even got the chance to join in on the Drag Drive Repeat podcast Saturday morning!
Was really nice to be on the podcast (Drag Drive Repeat News for 6/22/2024 - https://youtube.com/live/AkDPln91LxA?feature=share), watching it back I realize the audio was so much better than I thought but the connection sucked. I wish I was in a position to pull over and properly have a conversation. But this was way more real, true to me cramming everything I possibly can while enjoying life to the max!
That evening I pulled into Tulsa, worn out, the car misfiring and being totally delirious, having driven 1700 miles, Found a pit spot, Unloaded the car, got the wheels and tyres changed over and set the tent up with help from Skylar and Makenna, Then it was time to get some sleep ready for RMRW 1.0 2024, Or at least try and sleep... it was FAR too hot for sleeping but it was nice to rest...
That is how I got to RMRW! I wouldn't change a thing about it!
Postface: I love this story and Tom’s determination! I hope you enjoyed this part of the story and look forward to the next piece as much as I do. If you’d like to support Tom’s adventure, you can purchase a Napsack Mustang decal and a TB Racing shirt directly from Tom at https://www.tbracing.shop/category/all-products
