974 Update at b'ville for 2005

[1FATGMC]

Hi everyone,

I got back last night and John and Hooley should be getting home today.

I had a great time with everyone who came to Blanding and want to thank all of you for coming.  We all went up to b'ville on Thursday the long way as our normal route up 6 had a huge hole in the road.  Hooley and John and their wifes went to SLC Wed. and on to the salt Thursday, but had to wait until Fri. to set-up the pits with the rest of us.

Setting up the pits and safety car inspection went good.  They would like us to make a couple minor safety related changes to the car for next year.  We spent the rest of Friday going over the car and I think we fired it (the 4 days is now a long blur in my memory   ).

Sat. after drivers meeting they wanted us all to drive the course to see how rough it was and we were suppose to make our own call  on running or not.  It was ROUGH.  Worse than I've ever seen it and the old timers said the same thing.  The pits were rough and also the road from the pavement to the pits.  

We decided to make the first run an easy one so we could also collect air/fuel data and check the plugs.  We were really worried about hurting the car with the blown-gas combination, which runs much hotter than the fuel motor we ran last year.  Hooley still ran 173.310 in the first quarter of the 3rd mile.  He averaged 181.183 in the 3rd mile and ran 198.043 in the 4th mile.  This was all with very little throttle input.  He didn't run the last mile since we wanted to check the plugs and so forth.  He reported that the course was terrible.  Last year the car hunted a little over 200, but now it just jumped all over the course and was "real scary" to drive.

We went to the pits and tried to check things out the best we could.  We got funny air/fuel readings from our data collector and the plugs looked a little on the lean side, so we changed the "pill" on the injection to make it a little fatter.  When we checked things over we found that the new front springs had settled and the car was riding bottomed out on the stops.  Not good on a rough course.  We cranked the coilovers up to get some clearance and suspension travel back.

We went back and got in line, which was real short as a lot of cars decided not to run.  On the second run he ran 194.174 in the first quarter of the 3rd mile and 201.803 average for the 3rd mile.  The car went sideways and he pulled the chute. Racing was over by then and we quit for the day.  Our days were long from about 6:30 am to 7:00 pm usually.

Sunday morning after looking at the rear suspension if was discovered that the back suspension was also down on the stops.  He has coil overs back there, but they are not adjustable.  We pulled the stops out, but there was still only about 1/2 inch of travel before it bottomed on the top of the shock housing.  We took some square tubing and welded it to the top shock/spring mounts and put a hole in it so that the top shock mount was higher up and that gave us about 1 1/2 inches of travel before it would bottom out.

We had reports that the 4th and 5th mile were a little smoother, so decided to take it easy in the 3rd and try harder in the last 2 miles.  He ran an easy 163.426 in the 1st quarter of the 3rd mile with an average of 171.426 for that mile.  He averaged 185.810 in the 4th mile and  202.100 in the 5th mile with an exit speed of 212.311 at the end of the 5th mile.  If the course was any smoother down there it wasn't very evident.

At the end of the run Hooley heard a "pop".  Getting back to the pits there was oil on the front two plugs and a bad smell like rear-end grease which is used in the blower to lube the front gears.  

Monday morning we decide to add weight to the car and mounted about 100 lbs of lead to the car.  Then when we tried to start the car it "hydrauliced".  We found that more oil had leaked down into the cylinders over night.  We pulled the top off the blower and found oil on the rotors and pulled the front.  We feel it lost the seal on the blower that seperates the gears from the rotors.  A call to BDS and it was determined that the blower had to be sent in to them and was non-fixable on the salt.  Our meet was over and hopefully the motor was not damaged.

It was probably a good thing we were done.  There was not going to be a record set on the course as bad as it was this year and we didn't want to see Hooley get hurt trying.  You have probably all heard by now that John Beckett lost his life there.  Our thoughts and condolences to his family and friends.  

I feel we have the horsepower to run past the current 231 record on a good track.  I had a throttle position sensor on the throttle and was data logging it for all of the runs.  Hooley was never over 25% throttle on any of the runs.  The pill change never made any difference in the the air/fuel mixture, so it appears he was running on the barrel valve, which is like the idle and transition circuit on a carb.  Belive me this car will run much faster than the 212 he ran on the one run.  The most boost he ever saw was 3 to 5 lbs. and the motor was running 16 lbs. on the dyno.  This is a good motor and I'm sure it will get him a record next year if the track is good and we get out there before someone else up's it.

We had a great time, although the tragic accident for John put a sobering effect on the event.  We left Tuesday in the rain for home.  That was also the last day of racing on the salt as a bigger storm moved in that night.  There were very few records set and very few cars and/or bikes over 220 and no one over 300.  More spins than I have ever seen and it was lucky no one else was hurt.  In reality there was no way to set up a car no matter what the spring/shock combo to run high speeds on the course this year safely.

Besides the pictures of the car there are more on the  SCTA site on Friday's page 2, Sat's page 2 and Monday's page 2 (which is a picture of the car being pushed off on Sunday).

I'll try and have more info along with pictures, etc. on my site over the next week or so.  We also had more video cameras this year in the car and down course and on the starting line.  I'll try and mix all of those into one tape when I get copies from the various owners over the next month. We will have that tape available again this year for those who would like it and who would like to support the car.  Thanks to everyone who sent in a donation last year, they helped   .

We all enjoyed meeting friends again this year on the salt and we are sorry if we were short on time to visit as things got pretty hectic.

If anyone has any questions just ask away and I'll try and answer them.

c ya, Sum

[Cword]

Due to the coarse(pun) conditions dad and I were pretty releived to be tourists and not participants this year.

Checking up on you guys now and then reminded us of what we missed.  The upside is you've got more data and experience to add to your tool box.  Running is the only way to collect those.  

That ignition problem I was experiencing between Blanding and Wendover turned out to be a flaky fuse.  I replaced it Monday morning and haven't had a hiccup since.

Mom, Susan and everyone else who have seen the pictures want to visit Blanding next summer.

Mike

[Slick 50]

Thanks for the info Sum.

It's too bad you guys popped the blower, but it may have been a blessing in disguise due to the course conditions. Now with a few minor tweaks Hooley should be in great shape for a hard charge next summer.

[WZ JUNK]

I got home about 1:30 this morning and I got about 3 1/2 hours sleep.   We drove in from Farmington, New Mexico yesterday.  Now I am up and about to leave to drive the school bus.  I think I will take a nap this afternoon.

Tomorrow I am going to get organized.

[flt-blk]

Regardless of the problems it sounds like a fun trip.

What upgrades did Tech want to see, inquiring minds want to know?

I have been following the ornage Stude as well as my friend
Bob Wilson who was out for the first time in a ratty 32 roadster
with a hemi (#4600 C/STR).

I hope you bring the car over to the HAMB drags again, I would like to
see the updates and drool on it again.
TZ

[purplepickup]

Tomorrow I am going to get organized.

I say that all the time

Congratulations on what sounds like a really sucessful trip.  You guys learned that you made some really good changes and maybe stand a good chance at getting the record next year.   I'm planning to be there to see that.

Just from reading the posts and talking to you guys on the phone I'm impressed with the effort you, Sum, and Hooley put out to make it all happen.  It sounds like Sumner's data gathering setup is especially beneficial, giving you specific information that allowed you to know exactly what was going on in the engine and tweak things with control and knowledge of what you are doing.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Tomorrow I am going to get organized.

There is a saying : " tomorrow is always the busiest day"


Data acquisition systems are neat. We use these on our dragsters. Records engine RPM , shift points , suspension travel & what ever you hook  a sensor to.

Kinda like a weather station if ya know what I mean...    

[av8]

Interesting report, Sum. This year's "worst-case" situation will certainly work to your advantage in incorporating upgrades for next year and beyond.

Indications are that we will be back in '06 with the roadster after this year's hiatus.

Mike

[sodbuster]

I have a handful of pix that I will email you also. I posted one of them on the HAMB.

Chris Nelson
Kansas

[1FATGMC]

What upgrades did Tech want to see, inquiring minds want to know?

I hope you bring the car over to the HAMB drags again, I would like to
see the updates and drool on it again.
TZ

They would like to see the seat top bolted to the top of the roll cage.  Now it is secured at the floor and up on the shoulder bar of the cage.  The other item was to seal a hole in the firewall a little better and I think we did that there.

I haven't talked to Hooley to see if he is taking the car to the drags, but would imagine there might be a good chance of that happening.

Mike

Mom, Susan and everyone else who have seen the pictures want to visit Blanding next summer.

We got lucky on the weather.  Next year we will go to a new site or two.  You need to bring them down a couple days early and I'll send you out in some good directions.  I'm trying to get a surprise package ready for Annette.  Hopefully I'll get it mailed over the next couple days.

c ya, Sum

[1FATGMC]

I have a handful of pix that I will email you also. I posted one of them on the HAMB.

Chris Nelson
Kansas

Chris that is a nice picture and I'd like to see the other ones.  Good to see you there   .

c ya, Sum

[tomslik]

don't spose you got a bigger pic of that?
sure would look good on my desktop....

[sodbuster]

send me your email via PM's. I have it in 3 meg. I had to downscale it for the web. I have a messload of pix on "photobucket.com" under the username "saltflats1948".

Chris Nelson
Kansas

[WZ JUNK]

Regardless of the problems it sounds like a fun trip.

What upgrades did Tech want to see, inquiring minds want to know?

I have been following the ornage Stude as well as my friend
Bob Wilson who was out for the first time in a ratty 32 roadster
with a hemi (#4600 C/STR).

I hope you bring the car over to the HAMB drags again, I would like to
see the updates and drool on it again.
TZ

Hooley said on the way home that he planned to bring the car to the HAMB Drags.  See you then.

[1FATGMC]

Hooley said on the way home that he planned to bring the car to the HAMB Drags.  See you then.

I think we should take it to the NSRA show in Springfield next May.  It isn't pre-49, but I could push it in with my truck and say that they are stuck together  :? .

BTW John I couldn't get Charlie on his cell, just the message service.  Maybe that means he is home??? Hope so, I'll try again tomorrow.

c ya, Sum