A surprise on the #974

[WZ JUNK]

I started to repair the front air dam today on the 974 53 Studebaker that we run at Bonneville.  Somebody ran over some trash at about 250 MPH last year and knocked a small hole in the air dam .  When I turned it over to start drilling out the rivets, I noticed the autographs of many of you and of other famous people.  If you stroll through the pits this year, make sure you sign in.  Something of yours could go for a ride on a very fast car.

I thought it was funny when I noticed the names as I forgot we did this.

John

[Beck]

The bottom of the air dam is full. There will have to be another place on the car to dedicate to more signatures. How about the inner trunk lid?

If I tie wrap (don't want it blowing around) a plain red baseball hat in the back of the #974 and Hooley goes over 200 mph can I get by with telling everyone it is a "200 mph hat"? That will be the only way I could ever get one. I can't peddle my junk that fast.

[bucketmouth]

Does it still have that that Goodfellas HRC sticker on the back window?
Unfortunately I had to cancell this years trip to the US so won't be able to see for myself
I'll be watching from home to see how you guys are going.

[wayne petty]

is there going to be a GPS in the car that records and also displays speeds...  so you know how fast you were actually going out there...
moved over from the tow rig???


onboard camera???

big ON letters on the switch board for the switches have have to be ON for the run..   no thinking.. just a quick glance...

just ideas....

[WZ JUNK]

is there going to be a GPS in the car that records and also displays speeds...  so you know how fast you were actually going out there...
moved over from the tow rig???


onboard camera???

big ON letters on the switch board for the switches have have to be ON for the run..   no thinking.. just a quick glance...

just ideas....

The switches are labeled and there is checkoff sheets for the crew chief to double check everything.  Especially the electric water pump.

We tried to put a Garmen in the car once but we did not have it mounted solid and so we took it out.  It was an aborted run but we found out that Hooley shifts out of second gear at 160 MPH.  We get pretty good data from the onboard data loger and the time slip breaks things down on the speed

Mark just made and installed some additional camera mounts for some new cameras.

Hooley redid the head restraints today.  He is going to do a test fit this evening.  I think the heat index today is about 120 degrees F so he is going to be pretty hot in his driving suit.

I painted the doors this morning.

It is all coming together.

John

[wayne petty]

a bunch of decades ago... i spent the weekend with a AA/FC team...  nobody would remember them... so they shall remain name less...

one of my ideas that weekend was to build a new layer to the back of the air box on the back of the body...  so the air flow over the tip of the rear of the air box siphons the air out from under the body...


until i mentioned that if the motor blew.. it would make a beautiful peacock tail of flames from under the body... so we might want to ceramic coat the inner sides... to prevent it from melting..


that idea was going good until i mentioned the second part.. and that went over like a thermite painted helium filled balloon..

[bowtietillidie]

I don't know if this will work or not .  But if the rules allow I would do it.
I would build an air conditioning unit and use a Aluminum crank cased single cylinder engine.   Blow the cool air into a airbox  then use flexhoses to Hooley's helmet and driving suite.  I think this could be built to weigh around sixty lbs or maybe a little more . From all I have read weight is a friend fo this type of racing if use correctly.   Making this a win win  game .....  weight helps with traction and cool air keeps  Hooley's * cool      

[wayne petty]

cool air for the driver...

anybody got a old intercooler... like one of the small ones found on saabs...  that in the bottom of an ice chest that can be strapped down with seat belts.. with a 12 volt blower pushing air through to  supply cool air for the helmet.. or into the firesuit......


the ice chest will need to have a seal so it won't slosh out...  water and ice should work just fine to cool the air... perhaps too much..

that is... if anybody takes bags of ice cubes....   sitting in a big ice chest  on top of some dry ice to keep it totally frozen...

only problem i might see is the airflow through the intercooler freezing up.. as the humidity condenses in the intercooler...

just an idea...

the nascar guys run a filters to absorb Carbon dioxide from the drivers air... i don't think this would be necessary...  except at  drag race staging lanes.. where the cars around you are started to move forward...


i am thinking blowers like this one...  with duct adaptors made for it..

http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/CF-371/12VDC-50MM-BLOWER/1.html     6 bucks

or this one... which is set up for the use

http://www.atomicmall.com/view.php?id=15820

[WZ JUNK]

Good ideas Wayne, I know I can always count on you to be thinking.

We saw a home made cool suit once.  They had taken a vest and attached plastic tubing to the vest in a zig zag pattern all over the vest front and back.  This was plumbed with quick disconnects to a pump and and to an ice chest with ice and water in the chest.  This was simple and seemed to work good.  

On the salt, Hooley is not in the car for a long time unless someone spins or crashes just ahead of us.  The run only takes a couple of minuets and he is all suited up about 10 minuets or so before the run.  So his total time completely suited up is about 15 minuets or so on average.  Prior to the time I get him fully ready we have been placing zip lock bags filled with crushed ice inside his suit to help keep him cool.  Although it is not a comfortable situation it is tolerable.  He does not need to be in a situation where the heat is an irritation or a distraction as he has lots of other things to concentrate on.  Last year it was much cooler at Bonneville.  The mornings were so cool that I had to buy a sweatshirt.

John

[jaybee]

Interesting concept of the air box siphon, it reminds me of the "double diffuser" that became a controversy in F1 last year.  I couldn't find a link that explains it really clearly, but looking back at Wayne's drawing will work.  The high speed air over the top of the spoiler would serve to draw lower speed air through the slot in the spoiler, increasing the effectiveness by lowering the pressure just outside the slot

[Hooley]

BucketMouth , The sticker is still on the back glass and on the shed window.  Thank you and we will miss you at Bonneville