Landracing Forum
Bonneville Salt Flats Discussion => Build Diaries => Topic started by: Rex Schimmer on December 05, 2016, 02:47:25 PM
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Well I have finally admitted to myself that at my age I will probably never get the small lakester built that I have been planing on for the last 10 years but I have been very fortunate to have been able to purchase, in partnership with my son, Duke, a very nice "I" class wing tank lakester that is extremely well built and has never been run. The car was originally built by Ralph Lindey and was first at Bonneville around 2002, plus or minus a couple of years. I was at the salt the very first time that Ralph had the car there and was very impressed with the quality of the construction. He had some problems with being able to see properly and had to abort it's only run at the salt the next time I saw the car was when a friend of mine, David Best, purchased it and as it turned out it proved not to be the car that Dave really wanted and as I said my son and I were able to purchase it from Dave. The present engine is a Kawasaki 900 cc Ninja of about 2000 heritage and has Kinsler constant flow injection set up for methanol, there is also a complete full 1000 cc engine for a spare. The car has full suspension and is quite long (24 1/2 feet!) and as you can see from the pics it has a narrow track, which is on the list for being changed! Our plan is to make some small changes that we fell will help performance and also make the car easier to work on then show up a Bonneville next year and beat it like a "rented mule"! Get my son licensed and find out the traits of the car so that the next year we can show up with a car that "may" be competitive with Stainless's car. At least that is the "plan"!
Rex
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Congrats on the acquisition. Now get to work! Get Harry over for a consult!
vic
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Rex, is the car set up such that you could run the present narrow suspension and then your new wider set-up? It would be interesting to see which aerodynamic theories, as far as the wheels being close to the body or not, hold water.
That's a really nice looking car. Good luck with it.
Pete
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Rex, Very nice car. It will be fun to have another small cc lakester running. Best if luck. I think that the I/FL lakester is only 221.183. Hope to see you and your son on good salt in 2017. :cheers:
John
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COOL. Good lookin' car.
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you guys have fun :cheers:
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Rex:
Nice, looking forward to watching your progress.
BR
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Anything over 1000 cc is just insecurity. :wink:
That's a slick lookin' tank. Keep us posted!
Chris
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Nice tank Rex... I remember seeing it on the salt before, but didn't know if it ever ran... I will have to look through my old pictures. It looks great... vision could be a minor issue, but it always is in small cars. I'm sure you are already thinking about it, but I'll suggest... might want to put a fin on it.
We look forward to your runs and hope we have to throw N20 at our 1 liter Suzuki to try to take the record back. I think Johnboy has held that one for about 21 years or so now... it would be a good entry into the 200 MPH Club
:cheers:
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Rex - Nice Tank.
Nathan - you won't fit!
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Rex, you're a dark horse brother. :-D
Awesome build. I'm subscribed. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
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I can see where there might be a vision problem. You might have to do a couple of mods.
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Rex, where have you been hiding this beauty?! I sure would not worry about narrow front and rear track. If weight distribution is good and Cp is well enough behind Cg, you are good to go. Also, to help put that Cp back as far as you can get it, follow Stainless' advice and sprout a rear fin. Gorgeous tank, Rex.
John
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One of the mods that is on the list is to shorten the rear of the car and make the chute exit from the top of the car. My present thinking is to make a new body for the rear (wheels back) to conform to a NACA 66018 profile from about the 45% line back. If we do this then I will construct a tail fin that extends from the bottom of the body. Peter it would certainly be informative to test the narrow track vs a wider track but right now the goal is to get it running, make sure the vision forward is acceptable and as I said:"beat it like a rented mule!" Lots of things to do and I am lucky that my son fits well and is also a great fabricator/welder.
We pick it up on the 17th and then "let the fun begin!!!" I'll keep everyone posted as we get things done.
Rex
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Rex,
Like everybody else, I think that is a really nice car. However, I have some reservations about your planned modifications. I think you just need to put some wheel discs on the rears, like the fronts, and just run it before getting involved with a lot of changes. Fabrication has bogged you down once already, why bite off more than may be needed? Better to dyno/iron out the operation of the engine and systems.
The nice long tail gives more leverage to the chute and should help with lateral stability during shutdown. Why shorten it?
Why raise the chute to the top of the body? That would increase its pitch leverage and tend to lighten the front (steering) end.
It is a very simple body, get out the lathe and make a wooden model, stick on some wheels and hang it out the car window and locate the CP. Maybe add a fin and see what happens. A 66018 can’t be all that much better than what you have.
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Rexy, Good on ya mate. Do just as you plan, and get the kid involved and it will go fast. (the construction) No need for an I class car to be that long. Saltosaurus Goes in a 20 ft. trailer with the nose off. So happy for you. George
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Looks great rex!
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Picked up the lakerster yesterday and got it in the shop. Next some disassembly, make some stands to get it off the ground and then start some serious work.
Rex
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Very nice looking shop.
Great looking ride, also .
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I agree with Saltwheels. That shop looks really neat.
Great enviroment to work in. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
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Who says a 'man-cave" needs a flat screen?
Completely equipped, well lighted - I'd throw a cot in the corner and never leave except for pizza and beer - and I'd probably just have the pizza delivered.
:cheers:
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Rex, I'm jealous. You must have a separate area where you do welding and grinding or else you clean and paint every six months. :-D :-D :-D
That's a really nice machine shop. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
Pete
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Congrats Rex...looks like a first rate shop too. JB
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Rex, lots of room on the right wall for nudie pictures or of the Saltosaurus if you really need inspiration. truly an excellent shop.
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A little update just to show you that we have not been setting on our hands for the last few weeks. We have it partially disassembled and have the rear axle removed and a new, wider one on order from Winters Performance and I plan to be ordering a set of funny car front spindles from Strange Eng next week to start on the new, wider front axle. When we install the new front axle we will be moving the axle forward whihc will increasing the wheel base about 20 inches. Hopefully we will get the axles done in the next couple of months and then we can also work on the new body panels and tail which will shorten the car by about 4 feet. Good to do the disassemble as it gets you more familiar with the car which should make it easier to work on at the Salt. The guy that built the car, Ralph Linde (Lynde?) must have had a lot of aircraft experience as his favorite fastener for the body panels are 10-32 flat head screws into riveted in nut plates. This is nice if you don't ever want to work on the car but a bit of a drag if you need to!
We are making these modifications because we feel that running the car as we received it would be a waste of time and money. With the way the car was configured with the close mounted wheels we feel that there was no way that it would be able to approach what we feel is its potential. We received the car with plenty of time to make the chassis and body mods before next August. As I originally stated our plan for Bonneville is to run the "stock" Ninja engine that came in the car and as they are typically pretty reliable we hope to be able to get my son comfortable in it and maybe get him licensed for over 175 and just get some experience running the car. Then if Wednesday or Thursday rolls around and we haven't "blowed her up" we may add a certain percentage of some "soda pop" and see what she will do. As of right now that is all just wishful thinking I have been involved with racing long enough to know that the best laid plans usually don't mean much!
A couple of pics to show some progress.
Rex
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By moving the front wheels forward where does this place the wheels in regards to the nose of the body?
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bearing burner,
The wheels will be approx 20 inches behind the very tip of the nose, I have actually considered moving it far enough forward such that the leading edge of the wing section I am going to build to cover the front axle would align with the nose tip. This would make the transition as low drag as can be made but I am planning some fairly long root lead in fairings so that may work out almost as good.
Rex
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http://www.ridelust.com/death-wish-nitrous-huffing-lakester-will-give-you-a-plexiglass-and-salt-facelift/
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Photo-Ralph-Lynde-Garage-Building-Land-Speed-Belly-Tanker-Black-White-/112224797030?hash=item1a211e8166:g:jvcAAOSwvzRXxNUw
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-markley-bros-belly-tank-%C2%96-a-pictorial-history.384897/page-5
look for the 502 tank.. next to the Markley tank
Ralph was friends with the Markleys, Ernie Pereria, Bob Herda, Dan Gurney, Dennis Varni and I was lucking to meet him also..
A true gentleman and fabricator.. and racer..
bob
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Bob, thanks for the info and photos of the car that my son and I now own, I saw it the very first time Ralph took it to the salt in 2003 and admired its construction then. It has been offered several times for sale and as I have previously said we were very fortunate to have gotten the car and after our changes we hope that we can make it a record holder.
The 502 car is one that Ralph built back in the late 60s early 70s I think. It is now owned by a friend of mine Jimmy Yreberry and Jim did run the car for a number of years and held several lakester records. It is, as all of Ralph's cars seem to be, beautifully constructed and state of the art engineering. Jim has pretty much got the car almost "race ready" but due to money and time it may be a while before it sees the salt again.
Thanks again!!
Rex
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Rex, you'se guys are getting a lot of flooding according to the news. Hopefully you are OK.
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Thanks for the concern, our winter creek was running pretty full yesterday but it is about 150 feet from the shop and probably 10 feet lower so we are saved any flooding. I even worked on the car yesterday! and got a heater set up in the shop!
Rex
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Car looks great Rex. I suppose the water is welcome in your part of the world as long as it doesn't do damage to your property. :cheers:
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I made a big FU but by having a smart son and partner I was saved! I like to use spools to make removable structural parts for our car. We are completely redoing the rear of the car and I need a number of spools to build some braces that are strong and removable. Spools are, in my case, 1 inch dia steel rod about 3 inches long that I drill a 1/2 inch hole through and then counter bore one end to 3/4 in. dia so that I can bolt the spool to the chassis with 1/2 inch SHCS (socket head cap screws). Well I just pulled out a length of 1 dia steel that I had and made some spools. Fortunately my son checked the alloy of the metal and it was "stress proof" alloy 1144, which is really great to machine but my son said not good to weld! and proceeded to weld some to a piece of 1/8 x 1 strip and almost literally broke it by hand!! I should have known this but better! but convenience some times wins out. Duke , my son, says that the extra sulfur that is alloyed in the steel, and which makes it great to machine, also makes it a non weldable alloy. So saved by my partner which is good as he is going to be the driver and we want it as safe as possible.
Learn something new every day!!
Rex
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Rex, sounds like the kid has it all together. Good for him and you. Keep us all posted. The Vesco Turbinator II is still in the rebuild and repair area, We were working o
the body fits doing a lot of little but time consuming stuff. Still waiting on the drive line parts etc. Have a great day and tell your son he is going in the right direction in his life.
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Rex,
Did you guys make any progress lately?
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Rob,
We are making progress daily! I try to do something on our list every day but most of the things are not something that I can photograph and put on the web site. I spent (wasted is a better word) about a month trying to work with Winters to get a new and wider rear axle made for the car, it had a Winters springcar/midget rear axle in it but I wanted the same thing just wider, well after several drawings and phone conversations and a month of time they came back with a price that our budget would not accept! So I redesigned the axle, bought a piece of 2-1/2 inch x 3/8 wall 4130 tubing and am having a friend of mine that has a large machine shop make it. Should be done in a couple of weeks, it does require new hubs and mounts for the sprocket and brake disc but I have the material on order and will machine myself. We have gotten the front axle widened and the basic axle is fabricated, had to wait a while for the spindle bosses and then they needed some machining but got that done and my son, and partner and driver, Duke has it all welded together and I will post pics as soon as we get the steering rack mounted and the locating brackest done. Duke's welds are like art work! I have some aluminum over at New Metal Customs to be rolled which will make new panels to go under and over the engine area. Next is to make a form buck for the new tail section, which I am planning to also have New Metal Customs make as they are exceptionally good and the price is right. Today I am making drawings of a new type of front axle locater/suspension rocker that Duke and I discussed yesterday and decided it would be a better design than our original. So we are plugging away at it and are still planning to make the August meet.
Progress pics are coming.
Rex
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I did check through a few of the pics I have taken and am attaching a couple of the new axle and also a new rear bulk head that will mount the new engine covers and also the new rear body section. It is made from 1/8 alum plate with flanges on both sides that will have the Dzus fastener springs mounted on them.
Rex
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You guys are making great progress :cheers: :cheers:
Sumner
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Go Rex (and Duke) Go! Looking forward to seeing this on the Salt.
vic
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More progress! I have a couple of hours of screwing and gluing to do and the buck for the new rear body work will be off to New Metal Kustoms for some of the great tin work they do. Basic shape in plan view is a NACA 66021 wing section but the side view is a rectangle so it gives us some "tali fin" effect although we do plan to run a tail fin but it will probably consist of a piece of 3/16 th aluminum plate cut to the shape of a vortex wing with a fairly sharp leading edge. Also picked up the new rear axle from my machinist friends at Dynamic Machine in So. Cal. I did the hubs and will start assembly after the buck sent out. Doing something every day gets the goal closer.
Rex
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Beautiful work, Rex. Your car was already a stunner but these additions and changes will make it even better. Looking forward to seeing you and the car this year.
John
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Looks great Rex. Awesome progress. I love it. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
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:cheers: :cheers:
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Still making progress! Just did final assembly of the rear axle, all of the bearings, hubs, brake caliper, etc completely assembled for good. I did a trial fit in the car and had to make some adjustments to the location of the sprocket and brake disc not a big deal just some additional machined spacers. Next assemble into car and then get on the front axle and steering.
Rex
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Looks great.... :cheers:,
Sumner
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What's the pinion look like? :|
Sid.
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Hope it looks better than this one! :-o :-o :-D :-D
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The "pinion" does look better than Woody's! It has all of its' 17 teeth, axle sprocket is 34 teeth so 2:1 ratio. With the 24.5 rear tires and the engine/trans ratios it works out to just about 200 mph at 10,000 rpm, hope we make it there!
Rex
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Hope it looks better than this one! :-o :-o :-D :-D
Wow, someone got everything out of that one. :evil: :evil: :evil:
Pete
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Rex
Can you change the rear sprocket without removing the rear axle?
I have seen sprockets cut in half so they can be changed easily.
Chains draw more HP the smaller the sprocket gets. If you have the clearence, 18 or 19 on the countershaft
would be good.
cheers Bones
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Bones,
You are so right about chains, I do have an 18 tooth counter shaft sprocket but no 36 tooth axle sprocket. I did not cut the rear sprocket in two but have seen that done. Our plan it to run pretty much what we have just to get experience with the car and then next year part of the plan it to try to convert to HDP cog belt drive.
Rex
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It's been a long time but I remember that you can buy them already cut. I had to do that in Industry or tear a machine completely to change speed. Production wanted to speed it up regularly,only to change it back because the product wasn't right.
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Sprocket Specialists can make 7
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Dang! Up
Sprocket Specialists can make custom sprockets and saw cut them for easy installation.
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Getting our SCTA entry ready and thought I would include a pic for the program and since I don't have a picture of the finished car I made a sketch of what we are thinking it will look like. Looks like Sparky's with a small engine! Hope I can make the scoop look that good!
Rex
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Getting our SCTA entry ready and thought I would include a pic for the program and since I don't have a picture of the finished car I made a sketch of what we are thinking it will look like. Looks like Sparky's with a small engine! Hope I can make the scoop look that good!
Rex
I'm willing to bet you CAN make the scoop look that good.....
I KNOW I can't. :-(
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Rex --
PM sent.
Stan
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I just wish I could sketch like that!. 8-)
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Sketch looks neat. Happy for you Rex.
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Summit Racing has several hood scoops Harwood #3164 or #3153 might be something you could cut and fit and there are others but I didn't look at all 43 pgs.
We used a Harwood scoop from Summit and just used the front 4 inches. Bought mainly for radius opening.
JL222
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John,
Lot more fun to beat it out of aluminum, besides I have the buck half done.
Rex
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John,
Lot more fun to beat it out of aluminum, besides I have the buck half done.
Rex
Why does this not surprise me?
Rex, I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see you on this project. It's been a long time coming.
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That's a skill I wish I had.
Would love to try but I've seen the tools required
and I don't have any.
Rex, I think there's way more pleasure in making
than buying. I can't wait to see what you create. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
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Still making some progress. Duke and I completed all of the locating linkages for the front axle and should have the thing on the ground tomorrow or Sunday. The front suspension will be by coil overs that are mounted below and parallel to the frame rails and activated by the lower section of the lower locating rocker, and it looks like everything will be inside the body! How did that happen on the first try?? Blind luck is my guess.
Couple of pics to look at, also included a pic of the rear axle in the car.
Rex
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Nice work, getting all suspension pieces "out of the air"! I can't quite see where the front coilovers mount- will they work in extension (like late H-D rear spring)?
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Awesome fab work Rex. It looks great.
Take all the lucky breaks you get. :-D :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
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Jack,
Hope to have the shock mounting pretty well at least tacked into the car today or tomorrow and will send pic then.
Rex
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Rex:
Unique and elegant design for front suspension. I really like what you have done and how you have done it. I also like the mono shock (damper) for this application. What do you reckon front corner weight to be?
John
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I like that front suspension Rex, been toying with the idea of springs instead of rigid in mine.
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T man,
The car came with coil overs and I thought that I would try to integrate them into some sort of front suspension that was totally inside the body. I hope to have the coil over setup tacked into the car in the next couple of days, a couple of links, a rocker and I think I can make it work. Right now I am planning to run some shock snubbers on the shock shaft and have them about 1/2 inch from the end of travel so that any real axle movement will be against the snubbers. Anyway that is my plan.
Rex
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Sounds good
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Agreed!. :cheers:
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wow Rex ---we will be following closely on the axel fairings ---then maybe we can say "they look just like Rex's---also waiting to see what you do with the exhaust---
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Sparky,
We may not have any axle fairings this time around as we have plenty to keep us busy until speed week. I may cobble up some "vortex disruptors" for the axles but probably not full fairings this year. Exhaust is going low and out the left side and pointed to the rear. Even 10 lbs of exhaust boost at 200 mph (doubt we will make that) is about 5 hp and when you are limited like my little Kawasaki you need everything you can get!
Rex
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Got one side of the suspension pretty well mocked up, it looks like everything will work, lots of rockers and links but I was in my best "Rube Goldberg" thinking when I came up with this,but it does get the shocks out of the way and the motion ratio between the axle and the shock is about 1.7:1, 1.7 inches of axle travel at the mount is equal to 1 inch of shock travel. As you can see from the pics I have a pretty long snubber on the shock and initially I will preload the spring until the shock has about 1/2 inch travel before the snubber is touched, I may eventually go to heavier springs. Now to get my "welder" (Duke) to get everything fully welded, I just can't lay on the floor with the TIG pedal under my knee and holding myself steady and get any kind of good weld. Duke is as strong as the proverbial ox and can weld like that all day. Oh to be young again!!!
Rex
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Rex:
Now I know why I run a SBC in a Camaro... you guys have way more engineering brain capacity than I could ever hope for. Looks great.
Very impressed, can't wait to see it on the salt.
BR
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Visited Paul and the guys at New Metal Kustoms, he is building the new rear body work for the lakester. He has one side of one piece roughed out and hopes to have both done by the end of next week, then I have to make sure that I don't screw them up mounting them on the car! Sure does nice work.
Rex
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I respect that forming skill. I miss it.
I would get a weekly fix when Target 550
was being built.
FREUD
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Look good. But the skill that I envy is the guys who can create shapes that have compound curves.
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Look good. But the skill that I envy is the guys who can create shapes that have compound curves.
X2 :cheers:
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What about the female compound curves :?
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What about the female compound curves :?
Hammers, heat and English Wheels only goes so far . . . Now you're talking Divine Intelligence.
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It sure looks to me like there are some really nice subtle compound curves in that tail piece. That's nice work. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
Pete
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Top Shelf. Experts of a dying art at work here.
Skip Pipes
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Much to my surprise there are a few "youngsters" learning this skill.
Industry has a place for them also.
It isn't all done with programmed machines.
FREUD
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Paul, the owner of New Metal Kustomz, is a very talented guy, in talking with him the last time I was there we were discussing one of my old metal beater friends, now passed away, Don Borth and I was telling Paul that Don had 3 Yoder hammers and never used an English wheel and Paul said that he has almost stopped using the English wheel and uses the hammer for almost everything. Now that is real old school, a lot like the young guy that worked on the Target 555 car, learning the old ways and keeping them fresh. Anyway as soon as Paul has one of the sections complete I will have some pics.
Rex
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All of the tail section of the Target 550 streamliner
was done at Steve's Auto Restoration in Portland,OR
with a Yoder hammer. Coulton Hardison had many
years of experience with that piece of equipment.
When the Yoder is at work, everyone in the shop
knows for it is impactful. The multitude of dies that
are available, or the new ones that the operator makes,
allows shapes that an English Wheel can not do.
FREUD
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Looks good Rex. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
That's skill for sure. I think guys are born with it. 8-)
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Still making progress, got the tail sections from New Metal Kustoms today. I plan to get them fitted and all of the Dzus fasteners located and then back to NMK for some final touching up. Probably will run as bare aluminum this year, painted next year.
Rex
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Looking good Rex!
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
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Your're getting it done, Rex! If you leave the aluminum natural (as we have on the 1429 RMR for 9 years), check into using Gibbs Lubricant as the surface treatment. We prep the metal with 220 on a 6" DA sander at a medium/low speed, clean it with PrepSol, rub in the Gibbs, and wipe it dry. The nice thing about Gibbs is that it has no silicones in it, so painting over it (with normal paint prep) doesn't create fish eyes, as many other treatments might.
Hope to have time to check out your car this SpeedWeek.
vic
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Rex, you have one slick little lakester and I like the modifications you have made. Watch out all you I-class lakesters.
John
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Rex when it comes time to cover the metal, consider a wrap.
It was much cheaper on Target 550 and removal is no problem.
FREUD
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Vic, Thanks for the advice on using Gibbs oil on the aluminum, I have used it on steel with great results it will definitely be on the bare aluminum at the salt!
Freud, My son, Duke, also my partner in the car! has a friend that does wraps and that is probably what we will do but not until next year.
Rex
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Still hammering away, I have stopped looking at the "Days till Speed Week" on the first page of the web site, it makes me anxious and keeps me motivated which I don't need assistance with! Any way a couple more pics of progress. Got the front suspension bolted in, for the last time I hope!!, and then clearanced the body work and had to make some bubbles to clears some parts that were going to interfere with the front suspension. Next fabing the mounting frame for the rear body work, chute mount and push bar. Still have engine cover and lower body work to fit and mount and then rewire, build a new water tank, new water plumbing then get the engine running and after seeing the way the engine plenum was fabricated I HAD to change it also. Any way time is slipping away and I am still flat out!!
Rex
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If it is any consolation, Rex, I am going through exactly the same fire drill.
John
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I like what I see- especially the front suspension!
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Never to many Clecos!! I had two 1/8 in. Cleco left after I clipped on the engine cover and the rear body support plate.
Rex
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Never to many Clecos!! I had two 1/8 in. Cleco left after I clipped on the engine cover and the rear body support plate.
Rex
Rex,
Clecos are like closet or garage space- you never have enough.
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
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Rex, it's looking awesome brother!!!!!!!.
I'm inspired. :cheers: :cheers:
Speaking of Clecos. I bought another 20 the other day.
Cost me 15 bucks each. In your money that's about $1.50. Worth every cent IMO.
I have a lot but they take strain because I use them mainly on composites.
They live in glass jars filled with thinner or acetone to help dissolve the resin.
My new supplier Avex Aviation has some unbelievable tools that left me weak at the knees. :-D :-D :-D
Where would we be without the aircraft industry?. :wink:
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Finally got all of the new body panels mounted, 90 Dzus' later!! Turned out pretty well, I have a few spots that need some massaging but certainly acceptable for this year. Now on to getting the chute tube built and installed and then install the new water tank and then, $hit the list is getting longer!!!! Gota keep the pressure on!.
Rex
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Surely looks "slippery" so far! :-)
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Rex, who formed your polycarbonate windscreen. Looks like it was vacuum blow formed but I know little about working this material.
John
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John,
Not sure who made the canopy as this car was built around 2000 and first tried to run in 2003 and then again (second owner) in 2015 at the Mojave Mile. Did not make a complete run either time! So this is almost like a new car, hopefully my son, Duke, and I will be more successful!
I actually have a spare that is dark plastic which was originally on the car. Both nice pieces.
Rex
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90 Dzus' here in my country would cost more than a new car!!!!!!!!. :-D
Talk about the list getting longer the further you go???.
I'm on Valium. :x
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Regarding windscreens I can't speak highly enough about Aircraft Windshield in Los Alamitos, California. :cheers:
Wayno
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You are so right about Aircraft Windshield, Elmo. Great people and they always make a first class part. They were the people that Steve Nelson finally went to for the canopy on his lakester and it was perfect and that was after Steve tried several other "fabricators" that just made junk, took extra time and wasted Steve's money!
Rex
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This is kind of an evil thing to ask but has anyone had Aircraft Windshield give them a quote for a polycarbonate windscreen of any size and what was the price? I submitted a quote request with them in case my efforts failed. No word back in over a week but I suspect they will be a bit over my financial threshold.
John
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Ask Dave Mariani. They made his canopy. Maybe you could make one like that fit?.
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Mike, I don't know Dave and his name did not come up on a site search. Do you know him?
John
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Mariani Farms in CA.
I have his email address.
I'll PM it to you. :cheers:
Just checked and it's Dennis and not Dave.
Sorry I sent you on a wid goose chase. :oops:
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Still grinding forward! Got the rear tail support structure completed with the push bar and then painted and mounted again, completed the parachute box and mounted, completed the water tank and also mounted it and ran all of the water lines. Next is a new electrical system! Should have most of the parts early next week so should be wired around the end of the week, then it is time to make some noise!!!
Rex
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Looking great Rex. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
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Looking great!
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Getting down to the "short strokes" around here, working on the wiring and as I said in my last post we are planning to fire up the engine on Saturday. Waiting for some important parts required for the wiring so knocked up an air box as the old one was a disaster to work on. I bought a hard rivet kit from Aircraft Spruce a while back to work on some bomber seats in a friends roadster so thought I would try my had a making an air box that was riveted together. Didn't turn out to bad, I wish it had more volume but I will try to make that up with volume in the air scoop. The scoop will be next weeks project, lots of ideas but nothing that I am absolutely stuck on. I was thinking about making a big bubble and then cut a NACA duct into it also still thinking about a scoop like the one in my sketch which could easily provide the additional volume I need. Any way back to the task at hand!! No rest for the wicked or the Bonneville racer!!!
Rex
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Looks good to me, Rex. Love those rivets!
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
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John Spease, my "motor man" dropped by yesterday and we fired the engine up. Once we finally figured out which direction the fuel shut off valve needed to be it fired instantaneously! Instant throttle response! sounds like an old F1 motor I still can't get the smile off my face! Next time I fire it I will record it and see if I can get it on you-tube. This takes a lot of pressure off of Duke and me, so now clean up a few last to-dos, get the truck and trailer tuned up and we may actually make it!!! Next highlight will be the first time I push Duke off the line on the Rookie course, can't hardly wait!!
Rex
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The first fire-up is a great feeling, Rex. :cheers:
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
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Hey guys, Duke here, I'm the "Son" portion of the Schimmer and Son Racing Team. I was able to capture our first start up on video for a little ear candy. Gets me excited every time I watch it. I can't wait to have it singing behind me while blasting down the salt. Enjoy...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQjr3jAduCI
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"It's alive!" "It's alive!" :cheers: :cheers:
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
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You guys have done a lot of work in a short period of time, congrats and have fun and be safe :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
Sumner
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Sum,
Do I get the impression that you may not make the salt this year??
Rex
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Sum,
Do I get the impression that you may not make the salt this year??
Rex
Hooley is laying off for the year to see what the salt is like. Not much use in us going back with the car as it is now if the salt is the same. Also Dottie and I have a lot of fun stuff going on now and into the fall and further....
Take lots of pictures of the car. You have done a great job on it and I'll bet a record will be in your future at some point :-D,
Sumner
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Sum, I want to see YOUR lakester out there. Beautiful car that needs to be raced.
John
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Just finished the last real "fab" job on the lakester. Built an airscoop for the car. The basic plan shape is a NACA 0024 shape, it has a large width to length ratio so it keeps the scoop fairly short but wide so that the entry hole to the air box can be fairly large. Knocked up a buck and then slaughtered a bunch of aluminum sheet and came up with something that looks acceptable, needs a bit more finishing but is good enough for this year. Next the trailer and my truck need some attention. I really think we are going to make it!! Probably should have gone to the World of Speed like John (ggl205) as we would have had a little more time but it is someones law that says "work expands to fill the time allotted! "
Rex
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Rex, your car gets better with every addition. Very slippery.
John
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Looks great... hope I can learn how to slaughter aluminum like that...
Sum
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Nice, Rex. 3003?
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
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How many hours in the scoop Rex??? :-)
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Neil, Yes 3003 and I anneal before butchering.
Mike: Well I started on the buck Monday morning and got some of the pieces made then pretty much the next 3 days. Got it pretty much done Thursday morning and then finished some internal flow guiding parts this morning and mounted to the body. My guess is at least 30 hours sheet metal to finish, lots of small detail like trying to get the air to flow somewhat toward the engine inlets and making the mounting hardware, etc. and it still needs at least 4 or 5 more to get it smooth enough to paint but it will do for this year! Got some good training on my little English wheel too. Not "Don Borth quality" but I think he would approve.
Rex
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Wrapped and ready to put on the trailer!! Loading up tomorrow and heading east Thursday!
See everyone at the salt!
Rex
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Very nice work on the scoop. Good luck next week.
Skip Pipes
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Skip,
Are you going to be there with your roadster?
Rex
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Great build Rex. That scoop is a work of art.
Wish you guys a safe and successful SW. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
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Rex
Roadster is staying home as its currently configured for ElMo, and not easily changed over. It has one more goal to achieve at El Mirage, then it goes to Bonneville.
Skip Pipes
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You certainly can't be accused of going for a "soft" record. SCTA record is, what, 220-something? Omigosh... :-o It makes the record in my F/BFL class sound relatively soft at only 263- with three times the displacement and a huge blower! :-)
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WOW---that is just amazing to see---in metal no less!!!!!!!!! here is to you two!! :cheers:
Francis and I have a lot to do but we hope to have a back end that will look similar the main body shape does look very similar we went with a round opening
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Caught up with Rex yesterday - they'd made a few passes and were chasing tune - but OH, MY GOD . . .
This is what a 21st century Lakester is supposed to look like.
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Chris, thank you for your kind words but I do need to give credit where it is due. Our car was originally built by Ralph Lynde, so the chassis and body selection was made by Ralph. As you may know the original car had the tires mounted very close to the body, this goes completely against my thinking for a lakester as the turbulence of the rotating tire completely destroys the air flow of the hopefully aerodynamic body. This is why Duke and I made new axles both front and rear to get the tires away from the body. A secondary affect of doing this is that the car, having a wider track, becomes much more stable in lateral movement, such as a spin. Duke tested this theory on Wednesday on the short course at about 125 when because of the track conditions and Duke having difficulty with the shifter he did a 180 degree spin. Had the car been in the original narrow configuration it most certainly would have been on its top, we believe the wider track prevented this.
One of the real advantages that I think we had was that Ralph designed the car with suspension, although we did change the front configuration we did nothing to the rear which provides a very supple suspension movement which worked great on the rough salt. Luckily for us Duke talked me out of my original design for the front suspension, which was a "sliding pillar" configuration using Strange Engineering funny car spindles. I had done a layout of the configuration that we have in the car and Duke was of the opinion that this was a much superior design so luckily we went with it. Our car is very light, 1000 lbs without fluids and driver which a rough course would knock around pretty badly if it was not suspended. Our car proved to be very stable on the rough track and the supple rear suspension provide great traction.
Our motor is an absolutely stock (internally) 1998 Kawasaki KZ9R, which is 900 cc, it does have Kinsler constant flow fuel injection, 2 inch throttle bodies, and set up for methanol. To say that we "beat it like a rented mule" would be an understatement. After Duke got some runs in and became more comfortable with the car he became much more aggressive with the throttle and was not concerned about taking it to 11,000 rpm+. On our 171 mph at the 2 1/4 mile mark Duke's in-car camera showed over 11,000 in fourth gear before he had to back off and pull the chute before the 3. That works out to be over 180 mph! which absolutely surprised us and if we had not developed a rear axle bearing problem (which was probably a result of the rough course and possibly a cause of the spin) I believe that there could have been a potential for 190 if we had gotten to the long course! This if from an engine that is factory rated at 143 hp and maybe with the injection and methanol was good for 150 hp. I think that it shows the potential of our combination of chassis, suspension and aero package. We are planning a pretty major engine program for next year that will include an up sizing to a full 1000 cc's higher compression, better breathing and the potential for a possible diet of 25 to 50% nitro. This along with several aero improvements (maybe, we hope, if our stars are right, if we are damn lucky, etc) get us close to Stainless's record.
A couple of things about the meet in general: I had the real pleasure to put faces on people to some of the guys here on the forum, I meet Neil (Manta 22) and found out that he is much taller than I thought but his car is one of the most menacing cars I have ever seen! Regretfully Neil had some inspections challenges and was not able to run but I am sure he will next year and it will be fun to watch. Also meet Jack Illif and checked out his 2 liter Pontiac four banger with a Nissan IRL four valve head that he adapted to it. Talk about some engineering. Chris, aka Milwaukee Midget, stopped buy and I have not seen him since he set his record in 2014. Kiwi Sid from Idaho stopped by as we were loading to go home and we talked for quite a while about the streamliner he is building and I can tell you it will be a very innovative and interesting car when he turns it loose. I don't think I am giving anything away when he told me he expects to be at the salt next year with his new piece. Keep an eye out for it as it will be a great build.
On a very sad note I am (was) a personal friend of 3 of the 4 guys that were involved in the big accident on the salt. Rick McCambridge, Eric Burns and Chris Clay are all members of a loose group of salt racers from Napa-Sonoma county area. We meet every Wednesday night at a local Mexican eatery to talk cars, racing and solve the worlds problems. Rick and Eric are both car owners and racers and former record holders, regretfully Chris was killed in the accident but was a great friend and shooting buddy to me and he will be missed by all. Both Rick and Eric are at the U of Utah hospital in SLC and although in pretty rough shape will pull through.
Rex
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Great write-up and I'd say your first run with the car has to be considered a total success, especially considering how fast you guys put the effort together regardless of if you had a car that had run before or not. You made major changes.
Sounds like you have a good plan for the future and remember that Stainless and crew have been running and refining their car for years so their records are very substantial and beating one will take some doing. It will be interesting to see this unfold. Knowing him I'm sure he would like to see you take one of their records so they have something to go back after :wink:,
Sumner
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Rex --
I guess I'm not that memorable. Sorry.
Stan
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Jim, aka Stan Back,
I knew that I would miss some one and you were the guy!! It was great talking to you especially about your roadster and your many records. And as before thanks for all of the help with getting a number and getting a pic in the program.
As long as we are talking about people I meet and have forgotten to mentions I really need to mention Ed Fenn, race car fabricator, SCTA official and most important "the" Fire Safe guy. We had a disaster happen with our new Fire Safe bottle that almost kept us from racing. I seems that the guy we bought it from, regardless of how great he is (self proclaimed) forgot to figure out that the .055 diameter wire that is used to lock the firing device, will not go through a .05 hole! We thought we had the wire through but when we pulled the safety pin on the bottle it went off!!! $HIT!!! Luckily I had meet Ed the day before in tech, we have a mutual friend, Alan Bricke, and Ed said that he was selling Fire Safe equipment for race cars and could refill them at the track and he gave me his card. So it was on the phone with Ed and he stopped buy picked up our bottle and returned with it full and charged! Duke fixed the firing mechanism so that the .055 wire now could go through and actually function. So Ed really saved us what could have been a long and sad drive home. So to "Stan Back" and Ed Fenn really great to meet you both!
Rex
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to a great first outing :cheers:
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Putting a face to a very savvy person from the forum was a pleasure Rex! Too bad you were all covered up & ready to hit the road so I didn't get to eyeball your stuff but at least we got to talk. That's how it goes when you have your face buried in a race car on the salt, when you finally take a breath & look around, everybody's gone home.
I thrashed with Burton Brown on his F/DS (3 Liter Mercedes junkyard engine) that arrived unfinished at the salt & he eventually clicked off the record getting into the two club. It ran 220 in the quarter but the worst conditions in the history of Bonneville kept it far from it's 300+ capability.
I'm guessing every bolt in my trusty-rusty van that's not rusted in place is ready to fall out & all the shocks ended up sounding like machine guns but HEY..... there's no change in the SALT!!!! :roll:
Sid.
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It was a pleasure to meet you too, Rex.
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
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Nice write-up Rex. Sorry about your friend :cry:
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A few notes from the driver:
The car handled very well (until the rear axle bearing problem). People kept talking about how rough the courses were. With nothing to compare it to I never really had a problem with this. On our third run (161 mph) I remember thinking "Man, this thing is so easy to drive!" It tracked very true and straight.
Every run got easier. As a new driver and crew, we improved every run. From belting me in to shutting down after a run we learned something each pass and were able to improve on it. I also got much more comfortable and confident driving the car. We still have A LOT to learn, but this give me high hopes for next year.
The people are awesome. I met so many friendly people out on the salt, always willing to lend a hand or give a word of advice, it made for an awesome experience.
Here is the video from our 4th and fastest run. We did 171 through the 2 1/4 and 165 out the 3 dragging the laundry. Before I pulled the chute due to insatiability (likely caused by the rear axle bearing starting to fail) the tach indicates approx. 11,000 RPM, equating to a top speed of around 180 mph.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS1OmxZlDvA
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I stated back in early July after inspecting the salt that the short course is always going to have better salt now due to it's closer proximity to the drain going to the plant. That's the first video I've seen from over there & it's a $hit-pile better than the long course.
Sid.
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A few notes from the driver:
The car handled very well (until the rear axle bearing problem). People kept talking about how rough the courses were. With nothing to compare it to I never really had a problem with this. On our third run (161 mph) I remember thinking "Man, this thing is so easy to drive!" It tracked very true and straight.
Every run got easier. As a new driver and crew, we improved every run. From belting me in to shutting down after a run we learned something each pass and were able to improve on it. I also got much more comfortable and confident driving the car. We still have A LOT to learn, but this give me high hopes for next year.
The people are awesome. I met so many friendly people out on the salt, always willing to lend a hand or give a word of advice, it made for an awesome experience.
Here is the video from our 4th and fastest run. We did 171 through the 2 1/4 and 165 out the 3 dragging the laundry. Before I pulled the chute due to insatiability (likely caused by the rear axle bearing starting to fail) the tach indicates approx. 11,000 RPM, equating to a top speed of around 180 mph.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS1OmxZlDvA
I'll never whine about visibilty after watching your video. Awesome job guys. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
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Rex- Great to meet you and Duke. Thanks for your advice. So sorry about your friends. :cry:
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Wow - those site lines make the Midget feel like I'm driving the Popemobile!
Good job of keeping your wits about you, Duke.
I recall Rex saying you were chasing tune. I don't know if you were reading plugs or not, and this was clearly not the run to do this on, but you'll get the most accurate read by clutching it and shutting it down the second you hit the marker.
But you can worry about that next year.
Well played! :cheers:
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Well we are back home and unloaded and pretty much cleaned up but still trying to get enough drive to start on our "to do" list which gets longer every day. I just did some pretty simple calculations on CG and CP and really feel even better about our little car. The CG is about 66 inches in front of the rear wheels and the CP is approx. 25 inches behind that, so our little car is pretty much a lawn dart! I really feel that stretching the wheel base 24 inches and widening the track by about the same was really worth all of the work and made the car faster and much more stable than the old narrow track concept that it was originally built with. Next I am going to do some numbers to get a good estimate of what the CdA (coefficient of drag x frontal area) based upon the know frontal area, known top speed and a good estimation of available horse power. Many of our plans for next year involve aero mods that could have the potential to reduce the Cd of the car by as much as 15-20% which is like free horse power. This is the kind of stuff that keeps me in the shop!
I have attached a couple of interesting pics.
Rex
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I don't know who "them" are? :?
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The "Them" car doesn't look quite like that today. Ask Johnboy for the story of the Bockscar. :roll:
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The "Them" car doesn't look quite like that today. Ask Johnboy for the story of the Bockscar. :roll:
Slim, It just needs a little bondo :roll:
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Rex.
Thanks for sharing the comparison and to Duke for post - morteming(?) his runs.
"THEM" has 8 or 9 records on the salt IIRC. (Hope that Mr Gifford was being sarcastic) .
Thanks for acknowledging my pal Stan too - he's pretty sensitive!
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These lakester guys - true masters of understatement -
It just needs a little bondo :roll:
Stopped going straight :roll: :-o
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... Hope that Mr Gifford was being sarcastic.
I wasn't. :? What engine class is the "them" car?
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Jack, I have intimate knowledge of the THEM.... IIRC, the car holds 9 records over 200 with motor sizes 45ci to 99.5ci, 3 records are blown, the other 6 NA. The car was destroyed in an accident at SpeedWeek. There has been a plan to rebuild it new since 2011 when it went 246 with an 84ci blown motor. The frame was first at the salt in 1976 as a Streamliner, crashed in 78 and 79, then resurrected as a Lakester in 1984. Many old Bonneville cars rust from the inside out... that was our concern... running a 30 year old salt car 250 MPH... there have been older car crashes that did not turn out well. So we began the planning stage to build the car again. Those plans will be coming together now and the rebuild is beginning. The frame held up well, although it is tweaked, lakesters do not roll well. The 1.5 x .250 chromoly axle is bent in a U on the right side and the spindle was ripped off. Shocks/suspension broken, bent, and cracked on all 4 corners. The battery came out... and 2 cells came out of the battery.... the hold down J-hooks ripped out of a 1/4 inch of .125 steel... I guess the next one will require .187 to .250 steel.
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Stainless,
The Bockscar is a real tribute to good engineering and fabrication. Your short history of the car is very interesting, it has been a lakester longer than Duke has been alive!!! Your list of records is also impressive and certainly represent a real challenge for Duke and me. If we are able to "steal" even one of your many records we will fill great. Obviously now is the time for us to get with it, since you guys are in the rebuilding mode. Really looking forward to seeing the Bockscar on the salt again and soon! Keep us informed.
Rex
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Rex, was going to suggest ditching that MFI and going back to modern EFI but if your plans are to run nitro then perhaps MFI is the right choice. Do you at least have a good data logger on the car?
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Nathan,
At the present we do not have a data logger in the car but it is one of our "to do's" for next year! If we were running gas I would definitely have electronic injection but with methanol and maybe nitro constant flow injection is my preferred injection. Getting good engine data is really a big requirement if we want to start "tipping the can". My thinking is that exhaust temp, and especially fuel pressure, as that is the function that is controlled by the return jet system and controls the amount of fuel delivered to the engine, and some sort of O2 sensor would be the minimum things that we should monitor. I will need to do some research on the significance of the O2 reading when running fuel especially nitro. Our little mule motor that we ran at Speed Week was set up with a special Kinsler constant flow injection system that was originally set up by Kinsler and the original builder, Ralph Lynde. To my knowledge that setup was never changed since Ralph attempted to run the car in 2003. We did go one jet size leaner but the engine ran like a stripped a$$ mule! I can tell you I was really impressed with both the engine and the injection. I have several complete sets of injectors recommended by Kinsler, that are specifically sized for various percentages of nitro, with the great success that we have had with the original tune up I certainly plan to follow Kinsler's recommendations for running nitro.
Got any good suggestions for a small and not to expensive data logger?
Rex
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Rex, try AEM, they have some really good stuff.... I put one of their loggers on Max's liner... it kept telling us it was too lean for blown alcohol... all the way to the point where it was leaned enough to burn some aluminum.... :-o
Rex, if you earn (can't steal) one of our records I will be in the group congratulating you... and maybe Dan will let me present you or Duke with your Red Hat. Our goal has always been to help make new 200 MPH Club members....
:cheers:
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Thanks for the info on "them".
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Got any good suggestions for a small and not to expensive data logger?
Well not to turn this into an advertisement, but like Stainless says, I'd suggest the AEM AQ-1: http://www.aemelectronics.com/?q=products/data-loggers/aq-1-data-logger
Very affordable and very expandable as well. The CAN receive functionality allows it to grow way beyond it's native 8 analog inputs. AEM also has a 4 channel wideband O2 controller that's CAN and we will soon have a multichannel EGT module that's CAN as well. We have GPS and "vehicle dynamics" modules which are handy for speed and accelerometer/gyroscope data that again are CAN based. All these CAN devices get daisy chained together in a 2 wire communications network so you can just keep adding in more CAN data devices as you need them. Basic stuff like temps and pressure would come in on an analog. The AQ-1 gives you a lot of bang for the buck.
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Rex, Both my Honda Cx ComStar wheels and my Center Line dragster wheels measure EXACTLY the same. Noticeable Diff. in bead shape. Mc wheel has a bit of a radius that is less vertical. I used about a 1/4 in. bead of Right Stuff when I put Mc tires on my dragster wheels and put 80lbs of nitrogen in them. They were good to 275.
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Oh, by the way, I hope this creates a great deal of confusion. I thrive on confusion. George
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Just got the head, valves, cams and assorted parts of to our motor builder, John Spease. Intakes and exhaust valves are both about 1.5 mm larger, the cam is a Webb with more lift and duration, pistons are 13.5 C.R., a set of beautiful Carillo rods, plus a new set of barrels that will make us a full 1000 ccs this year. All of this along with one of John's great port massages will give us a step up in HP and I am getting the suggested tune up and parts from Kinsler for a 25% shot of "soda pop" if we need it.
Re-doing the rear axle bearing set up along with a completely different panard rod set up. Fabing a new fuel tank from stainless, completely re-design on the shifting linkage, new rear wheels and tires to raise the back of the car about 1 inch and give us a bit more gear plus some aero work on both axles plus a list of "minor" things that need to be done. Sounds like we had better get going! which we are. Should keep me out of the bars for a while.
Rex
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Rex I have read that you need to go up to around 35% to off set the volume differences ---coming from some one who has never run alky or pop----but pondering HARD about it==--lol
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Sparky,
I am really in the dark regarding running nitro but I am a great believer that methanol is probably one of the very best fuels for a race engine. It has a very wide tuning range, i.e. it is still pretty good if you are to rich in your tune up and also you can control engine temp with the amount of methanol you feed the engine. We would set for 10 min+ with our engine running at the starting line and it never went above 150 deg F even after a run it would still be at the 150 area. Actually going to increase the thermostat setting next year to 180 just to have a little more heat in the engine. The data and injector parts that we received with car included Kinsler's recommendations for running both 50 and 75% nitro which required different injectors and also a high speed lean out circuit. Both of these percentages are above what we would like to run. As I said before we hope that the new engine and the aero tweaks will be enough to get us the record with out relying on nitro.
Rex
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Just a quick note here, I live very close to Santa Rosa, CA and we are having some pretty horrendous fires here. I have been very lucky and have not had to evacuate my home, but many people have completely lost everything that they have every had. A very sorry thing to think about. Fires still burning and people still being evacuated and no real guess as to when all of the fires will be under control.
Rex
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Clear a perimeter around your house with nothing flammable. Put a own sprinkler or two on your roof and turn them on when things start to get warm.
There wuz some guys at the speed trials with a Ducati twin. I asked "What is this, there is no radiator and this is a water cooled engine." They sez "The cooling passages are filled with concrete. We are running nitro methane with a high nitro percentage. We do not need any water."
They went on to explain the finer points of the cement or concrete mixture and how it had to be just right. What they said went in one of my ears and out the other. It is something worth looking into.
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Thanks for posting up, Rex.
The video news feeds we're seeing are frightening - I can't imagine what it would be like being close enough to smell it.
Thoughts and prayers are with you from Beerhaven.
Chris
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Rex---get those sprinklers set up before hand thinking about---- your situation
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Rex,
If you have a wooden shake roof, as a lot of Californians do, get it soaked NOW, and keep it wet. Same for wooden siding. After event Fire reports list the main difference for "flying ember" started home fires was the difference between wooden roofs Vs "fire retardant" composite roofs. There was a small percentage of homes spared from flying embers by smart home owners "soaking" their shake roofs and siding. If you have ever tried to start a "wet wood" campfire, you know what I mean.
One of my high school chum's wife and daughter were rescued from their fire surrounded home by helicopter. Their home perished, but they are only singed. My understanding is that they resided in Sonoma county.
Hoping for the best for you. As Chris stated, the news videos are frightening.
Mark
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Rex,
Everyone is wondering how you are doing, while keeping our fingers crossed.
Please update us if you are able.
M
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Thoughts and prayers for Rex and family. Be safe and God Bless.
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My family and I are doing well, the fires decided to go to the east and south of us. Regretfully I have many Bonneville friends that are in the present areas of the fires and am hoping that they are OK. I am in my shop doing some updates on the suspension of our lakester.
Thank you for your concern.
Rex
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My Dad has been out of town but I have been making some progress in his absence.
One of the things on the "must fix before next year" list was the shift mechanism. When we bought the car the shifter was a piece of bar stock that operated a push/pull cable. The throw was LONG, imprecise, and sloppy. Also, the shift action was reversed from a typical sequential shifter, which took some getting used to. It lead to multiple missed shifts during the event.
To remedy this I am in the process of making a new mechanism which uses a solid linkage as well as incorporating a rocker to provide the proper "pull back to up shift" motion. It should offer much more precise and shorter shifts, hopefully allowing us to get through the gears in a more timely fashion. Pictures to follow...
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Duke and Rex, have you considered air shift... it is an easy solution for shifting. We started with cable shift, tried rod shifting, all the mechanical had to pass through the firewall and was a PITA... Switched to air shifting, up and down, it works very well.
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Stainless, who's air shift system did you use or did you make it yourself? Duke and I are pretty much mechanical guys so we always start out that way. What Duke has done so far is pretty nice, the shifting shaft goes through a oilite self aligning bearing mounted in the fire wall and then the shaft from the shift lever will have a small U joint in to provide enough flex to keep the shafts aligned. We will provide pics as progress is made. I have been off deer hunting in AZ for the last two weeks to my rear axle modification is at a halt.
Rex
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We made it... they are really easy and reliable. We shift up and down with one button, one switch, one solenoid, one air cylinder actuator and a couple feet of plastic line from the storage bottle.
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Stainless, I did briefly consider it, but like my dad said we are both very mechanical people and this was ultimately what I felt more comfortable with. I also have a bit of experience working on vintage mid-engined sports racer and open wheel cars which use a very similar linkage to what we will have. The linkages are very reliable in those applications and they do many more shifts than we will ever do. It also keeps it a bit more simple...and I like simple.
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Just a little update on what we are doing to our lakester right now. We decided that we should have a stronger bearing on the side of the rear axle that has the panard rod as we do not feel that a single ball bearing is satisfactory when an axial (thrust) load is applied off set to the bearings axis. A single row ball bearing does not carry this load well so we have gone to a double row angular contact bearing. To accommodate this wider bearing we needed to lengthen the diameter on the axle that the bearing mounts by about 1 inch. Duke did an over lay weld and I just finished machining it. Came out pretty good the run out is +or- .001. Next the axle and assorted steel parts are off to the electroless nickel platers to get a good rust preventative coating.
Lots of things to do, just have to do something every day.
Rex
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I meant to show Duke's overlay welding also.
Rex
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That is a really nice job on the overlay. He has a really good hand and an eye to match. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
Pete
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A quick update on the progress of the Schimmer and Son IF/L. We have taken the engine and all of the new race parts to Engine Dynamics to be assembled. Should be back early June hopefully with some extra HPs included! We had all of the aluminum parts for the rear axle assembly black anodized and the axle itself has be electroless nickel plated, looks great! We are waiting on one bearing then we will assemble the axle and install in chassis. Waiting for feedback from Burns Stainless regarding a new header design, once we have it I will turn Duke loose with a bunch of stainless tubing and we will have a new stainless exhaust system. We have drawings out to the water jet shop for our new 17 inch wheel center fabrication so should have them ready for welding soon. We installed a new 3 gallon fuel cell to replace the 4 gallon cell we originally had, it gives us more room around the axle for the new panard rod installation we are doing. I am working on drawings for the mounting of the airfoils over the front and rear axles and have started to make the forming bucks for the ribs. Plenty to do but keeping at it every day gets it done. As we make some "seeable" progress I will attach pictures.
Rex and Duke
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Making progress on the new wheel/tire combo. Got the centers for the new rear 17 inch wheels back from water jet cutting and then machined to be a .01 to .015 shrink fit in to rims. The team welding specialist (Duke) is now welding the centers into the rims. Ordering new tires next week,hope that the big reduction in width and a little increase in diameter will work out as we are hoping!
Rex
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Good looking wheels Rex with really pretty welding! :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
Pete
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Well while everyone is at the salt Duke and I have been hammering on our little lakester to get ready for the World of Speed meet. Quick pic of the new headers that Duke is almost done with.
Rex
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Beautiful and well thought out work, you guys. That little tank is going to rock in September. Wish I was there to see it.
John
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Rex, just awesome craftmanship.
Very impressive. Wish you guys all the best.
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WOS is getting close and Duke and I have been hammering on getting the car ready. Started the engine last Saturday, man does it sound stout! I have attached some pics showing our new front spindle fairing and new, narrower front tires, also a pic showing the new rear tires that are 1 1/2 inch narrower than the old ones plus 1 1/2 inches taller which gets us a little more ground clearance. You can also see the axle fairing, not quite as much as I would like but that is for next year. Still may do some front axle fairing if I can get the trailer squared away next week. Got the chassis squared and corner weights done and re did the sealing on the air box to the scoop. Lots of things but all good. Working with Kinsler on injection set up for new engine and possible "soda pop" use. Duke is getting his "office" squared away, new shifter linkage, better linkage to brake master cylinder, getting belts installed etc.
12 days till I leave better get back to it!!
Rex
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These pics did not get on previous post.
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I really dig the unified and measured approach you've taken with making this lakester your own. Best of luck this year.
Save a little salt for me - I'm looking at October.
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The changes look great and weld work is beautiful! See you guys on the salt.
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Best wishes for a successful WoS, Rex. Sorry I won't be there (and I wasn't at Speedweek, either). Love the car and your improvements. PM me after WoS if you want a closeup or 2 on the front axle fairings on the RMR.
vic
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Vick,
Consider it done.your axle fairings are really the best I have ever seen!! Not sure I have the talent to make them as nice but I sure got the balls to try.
Thanks for the best wishes too.
Rex
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Good luck - go fast.
Skip
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Ready and wrapped! Hitting the road at 4:00 AM tomorrow!
Rex
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Most motor sports are 99% good management & 1% good luck, it looks like you've got the management down Rex so good luck with the 1%.
Sid.
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Ready and wrapped! Hitting the road at 4:00 AM tomorrow!
Rex
Good Racing Rex.
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:cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
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I knew you'd like it Sparky! :-D
Sid.
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Rex, how long are your ramps to get your car on and off the trailer?
John
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Good luck at the race. that sure is a nice looking car.
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Good luck Rex.
God Bless. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
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John, Regarding the ramps I really don't think that they are long enough! Have not unloaded car as I would like Duke to be there when we get it off of the new trailer. I loaded it at home and with the new winch it was not bad but still had to jack up the rear end to keep the push bar from ploughing the ground or my shop floor.
Got to the salt last evening, went out this morning set up our pits, I am pitting with my good friend Steve Nelson, F/FL 221. Then pretty much no problems at inspection which was great, did some small things but should be ready to get some runs in tomorrow, hopefully at least 3, need to get some time on the new motor. Forcast is showing wind for Saturday so my be a slack day.
Just a comment on one particular car that showed up, Vesco's Turbinator. Man do they sound serious!! They did some mods to the fuel system which they feel is good for an additional 800 hps!!! and when I was talking to Glen I mentioned that if they had a 6 mile course they could easily go 500, his comment: "It may not take 6 miles"!!!! We will see. I missed the SCTA meet and kick myself for missing all of the 400 mph runs but if I am on the salt for the first 500 it will be so special! I wish them a lot of luck.
Wobbly, thanks for the complement, we are planning a nice paint job or wrap for next year to try to get it to look like it should.
Rex
Rex
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Rex, above all, make it a safe meet. The car looks great and you and Duke are prepared. Looking forward to hearing how things go for you so post often.
Talk to Stainless about just how serious Rick and crew are with the Turbonator. These guys pulled off a miracle in less than a week that would have taken mere mortals several months. I hope they make history with the first wheel driven pass at or above 500 mph. Now, what color hat is reserved for the 500 mph chapter?
John
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Fuchsia? :? :-o :-D
Or first one there gets to choose? :?
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Fuchsia? :? :-o :-D
Or first one there gets to choose? :?
If fuchsia, then the hat must be a wide brim fedora. Gold front teeth are optional.
John
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We had that problem of short ramps with some construction equipment many years ago. Some 2 x 12 boards were nailed together to make pyramids. They were It about 8 feet long at the base and three or four boards high. These were put behind the front wheels to elevate them when grader was rolled off of the trailer. We took the cut ends left over from making the pyramids and made elevated extensions at the end of the ramps to keep the back wheels elevated. It took six or eight 2 x 12 x 8-foot planks to do all of this. A cheap solution.
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Not our best day! Chased an ignition gremlin all day and didn't get to make a single pass!!! Not really sure we have it fixed but changing a little wiring in the AM and we had to change the oil as all of this attempted starting really washed some methanol into the crank case.
Big thing for the day was the Turbinator knocking off a 482!! They ran 388 in the 2-1/4!!! The timing slip I saw gave them a 460 something out the back but their data showed them at 489!! What ever! it was really fast.
More tomorrow.
Rex
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Good luck chasing the gremlins!
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We fought with the ignition gremlins until about 1:00 PM then for what ever we had done they decided to leave. Engine starts perfect, sounds great OK get in line. Wind comes up and the meet is over for the day!!! So out early tomorrow and make sure it starts then into line and get some miles on the new engine, then pull the pin and see what happens.
The Vesco Turbinater backed up its' 482 run with a 483 which gave them an over 483 average so that was pretty special. Great going!!
More tomorrow,
Rex and Duke
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Fingers crossed Rex and Duke. :cheers:
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Good luck Sunday - Really like to see you two in impound!
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:cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
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Rex, can't wait for a report of what happened. Hope it was good.
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Rex it was good to see and talk after all these years good to see the car and Duke out on the salt.
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Glen, It was great seeing you and especially great to hear you announcing from the timing stand. Sounds like the meets for old.
OK now for the "real" story
We finally got the ignition to work, maybe, but the car would fire up and sounded pretty good. We made 6 runs (I think) each one just a little bit faster but none of them close enough to get John and Stainless,the Bockcar boys , to concerned about their I fuel lakester record. Our best speed was in the low 160 range, it would pull to 8000 and then just lay down and we needed to be seeing 11,000. It did seem to respond some what to main return jet changes which has started me to thinking that we may have a fuel pump problem. Which goes along with our plan for next year which is to send all of the Kinsler injection stuff back for an over haul. I am thinking that maybe the pump is laying down on us. Our other thinking is to up date the ignition, probably with new, and different coils and moving it from its present position, mounted in the "dark hole" on top the the transmission case, and move it to some place back on the chassis. It cannot be good for the ignition box to be bolted directly to the vibrating and hot engine. Also with the ignition mounted on Lord mounts and out in the open we might actually be able to work on it! We are also going to a new coil set up probably the Ford coils that are popular and mostly more rugged. We are also going to pull the motor and send it back to Engine Dynamics to have them just do a good look through as we did run a little lean one time. Then we are going to run it on some sort of dyno, don't know exactly were or what kind of dyno, I would prefer a real engine dyno Duke really doesn't care, but we want to be close on both the barrel valve and the main jet and ignition timing before we run again next year. Duke and I are both making lists of "things to do for 2019" and we will discuss and combine the lists over the next few weeks.
Some things we learned at the WOS:
1. Many people have said this and it is SOOO TRUE: It ain't as easy as it looks!! and that is a real "No $hit" saying. We thought we were ready and we weren't even close.
2. Be ready when you get there. Spending 2 days of only 4 race days chasing an electric gremlin is not the plan.
3. We thought we brought every thing and if it wasn't for our good friend, Steve Nelson, we would literally not have been able to run. More pre meet planning is needed especially for pit operation.
4. Having Duke for my partner is so special as he is smart, detail oriented, and works like a dog!! Even after what we both would have called a not very successful meet we still can still say we had a great time!
Duke and I talked this morning before he left for work and he thinks that we should do both the SCTA and the WOS meets so we will get a chance to redeem ourselves
It was a great time, meet Tom Borcher, AKA the Koncretekid, what a great guy but I think that he needs to change is name to Mr. 149.99. His class record is 150.17 and he ran 149.991! So close.
I saw Neil's (manta22) black beast there and think he got a run but I never got time to go over and talk him. Next time I saw it was on the trailer in the hotel parking lot. Sorry I missed you Neil!
Time to get things cleaned up and the car unloaded. The salt was so hard that my truck hardly has anything on it!!
Rex
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Rex, one thing I have learned about LSR; you ALWAYS have a list of things to do or change no matter how well prepared you think you are and that list continues until you hang up,your driving shoes.
One question; how did the car handle compare to the year before?
John
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One question; how did the car handle compare to the year before?
John
This was one of the positive things from the meet. As we were running on the long course, I had a chance to get quite a bit more seat time in the car as compared to Speed Week last year. The handling was VERY stable. So much so that when we blew a front tire on our last run, I wouldn't have known if I hadn't looked at the wheel and seen that the tire was off the bead! I'm bet that some of this can be attributed to the better salt as compared to last year, but I am sure that most of the improvement has to do with the work that my dad did on the rear axle over the winter.
Another thing that worked well was the new shift linkage. Last year the shifter used a morse cable, and pretty much felt like you were shifting through mud. I was surprised every time I caught a gear on the first try. I also had to use the clutch to shift, which made them pretty slow. With the new linkage that I made over the winter I was able to bang gears with a little lift off the throttle and no clutch...such a nice feeling compared to how it was before.
As my dad said, we have a solid list of "to do's" before next year. I hope that we can get done what needs to get done and actually be able to get somewhere near the record.
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Duke you and your dad can do it, Happy to see and announce your runs. :-)
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Great report guys-- this is so typical of the salt experience much like we had with new drive train issues we could run 260-265 we "think" we had trans issues
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It was great to see you out there. I didn't have time to stop and say HI as we were chasing our own issues, but thanks for reporting how you guys did.
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Just a quick update: I have designed all of the parts to adapt an MSD "Midget" ignition system to our motor and now I am machining the parts. Once I have it completed I will post some pics. Hope to get the motor over to Dynamic Engines for a check over, we have the injection system at Kinsler for a freshening. I have some work to do on the rear axle plus some trailer and truck things and with the roadster that we (Duke mostly) are working on we will not be spending much time in the "bars"!
Rex
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Got all of the parts made to adapt the MSD "Midget" ignition to our little screamer. I have completed the assembly and drill and reamed the "dutch pins" to connect the magnet wheel to the engine crank. I installed with 30 degrees of initial advance, as the MSD changes the timing by retarding from the base (30 degrees in my case). I have also made the plate that the pickups are on with +or - 10 degrees of adjustment. That plate pilots around the mounting plate for the ball bearing that carries the shaft so it should be concentric. The 8mm cap screw holds every thing together on the crank snout. The original ignition mounted on this end of the crank and had a special spline coupling which I have incorporated into the shaft that carries the magnet wheel. Just as a precaution I made the shaft from 7075-T651 as it is almost 2x as strong as 6061-T651. I will drill all of the caps screws for safety wire and once the timing is set they will all be loctited and locked wired. We are looking for a much stronger spark than our original ignition system and this set up is made for engines that have lots of compression, run on methanol and turn lots of rpm.
Rex
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Rex;
Isn't 7075-T6 nice to machine? Happiness is drilling 7075-T6 with a brand new sharp drill :-)
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
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We bought 6082 but they were out of stock so gave us 7075 instead. What a win.
It machined great.
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Is the MSD trigger the common inductive type? Or a Hall effect transistor?
I like the position-sensing of the Hall effect, versus velocity-sensing of inductive. It allows static timing settings, in the same manner as breaker points do. If anyone wants to put their own sensor together, I found an off-shore source of Hall effect units for $2 each!
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Hi Rex & Duke
Thanks for your exultant information about your cars.
I am building a small J or K BG BF lakester for 2021 Speed week. My biggest problem is that I live on the Isle of Man UK. You may have seen the Isle of Man TT Road Races on the TV. I have to rely on Google for inspiration. My friend and I have competed at Speed week in 2012, 14 (flooded), 16, and 18 on motorcycles. So a Motorcycle engine lakester is perfect for us.
Richard broke 2 records in 2012 on a 500cc APS BG 203mph and BF at 188mph. In 2016 I broke a record on the Saturday then broke my Leg on the Sunday. Richard got 2 moor records in 2018 but my bike handled very bad so nothing for me in 18.
My Lakester will be based on a Tornado Jet fuel tank and the Engines from a Yamaha yzf 600. we can alter the engines from 500cc to 660cc. with a Motec M400 ECU and a Garrett T25
Richard and I do all our own work and relay enjoy the challenge at Bonneville
Rex please can you help me with the size of your water tank and the caster on your front axle
Thanks Chris
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Jack,
I think the MSD system uses inductive pick ups as there is a magnet in the "timing" wheel which I assume provides an inductive signal to the pick ups. (All a guess on my part!)
Chris,
Your new lakester project sounds great! Lots of things you can do with the 600 cc motors. They make really good power. The J/FS of Brant/Speranza/Wright us a 660 cc Honda in their streamliner and have the record at around 220 mph. Lots of RPM!!!
Our water tank is 10 gallons and our caster is 12 degrees. I would think that you need at least this size tank if you are going to run gas and a turbo. We run methanol and last year at the WOS meet we made 4 runs in about 2 hours and the water never got over 150 deg F. Methanol is really great for keeping the engine cool.
Looking forward to seeing you at the 2021 meet!
Rex
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Pre race update: Fired the engine today and after a little head scratchen about exactly what plug wire goes to which plug it fired up with a vengence. If nothing else the new MSD Midget box really helped the starting, once it got a little heat into it never had to prime it. Some small leaks, oil and fuel, to fix and a quick trip to a local dyno just to make sure it will pull 11,000 plus in gear and then complete assembly and ready for Speedweek!! Sure hope we are in "KILL" mode when we get there. See you all soon!
Rex and Duke
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:cheers:
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Spent a couple of hours on the dyno at TFB Motor Sports at the Sonoma race track and pretty much had a re-run of last year at the World of Speed, it didn't like anything over 8500. So Duke and I drug it home and called Kinsler and talked to Brad in the tech support group. After describing what was happening, Brad went through our system with us on the phone and I am sure that he found our (my) FU. Some idiot (I qualify for this position) had the fuel inlet and the secondary return lines connected backwards on the barrel valve. So off to the dyno tomorrow to verify the set up and hopefully get back on schedule for Speed Week. Better here than at the salt!!
Rex
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Rex, the diff. between finding something wrong and "not" are like the difference between night and day. Now your in the light.
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Duke and I have just returned from the dyno and both of us have really big smiles on our faces!! Got to the dyno about 9:30 got the car strapped down and warming up about 10:00, once the water got to 125 deg F (doesn't get much hotter no matter how long you wait, it's the methanol) made three runs, 10,000, 11,000 and 12,000 rpms done! Back on the trailer by 10:30 and home by noon. Engine ran perfect, made some very respectful horse power. We plan not to disclose the hp numbers but let the "Big White Dyno" tell the real story. We both regret that neither of us took a video, the sound alone would have been impressive. I cannot recommend the guys at TFB Racing enough, they at at the Sonoma Raceway and their dyno is state of the art for a "rolling road" inertia style dyno.
Now to get all of the things done that we have had to let slide in the last couple of weeks so I can be out of here in 7 days. See you at the salt!!!
Rex and Duke
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:cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
Mike
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Success in spite of your efforts! :-o :-P
See youse guys there! :cheers:
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Way to go guys!!! :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
We'll be waiting for those large numbers.
Pete
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Good luck... you have a truly beautiful 'car'. :wink: :cheers:
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Stick777, Thanks for the complement. If (and that is a big IF) we survive this year without a major challenge we plan to make the car all one color next year and maybe better looking. Thinking about the new Chrysler/Fiat solid grey for color.
Thanks again,
Rex and Duke
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Since you seem to have the bugs sorted out with the injection we all can only hope that
--> the salt will be as good as last year
--> weather will be holding for the week
--> and your engine will pull to 11.000rpm!
Thumbs up! Hope you guys can go for the record.
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Truck is loaded, car on the trailer, point it all east at 4:30 tomorrow morning. Wrapped and ready!!
Rex
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Good luck, Rex. Be safe.
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
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Good luck, Rex. Be safe.
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
:cheers: :cheers:
Sumner
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:cheers:
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Gook Luck - Skip Pipes
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:police: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: GITTERRR DONE!!
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Have a safe trip! :cheers:
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You and Duke - give it hell. :cheers:
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Good luck, Rex. Be safe.
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
good luck and good racing Rex.
BR
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Go Fast, be safe, and have fun!
Go get that record guys.
f/b
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... we plan to make the car all one color next year and maybe better looking. Thinking about the new Chrysler/Fiat solid grey for color.
Well... racing starts any minute as it seems. Keeping my fingers crossed!
Also I played in Photoshop a little bit... to distract myself from regular work... and picked up on the idea mentioned above.
So how would your Lakester look in some dark solid grey?
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And from there you have all the options... red snorkel or actually any color you fancy... or a belly stripe...
Cheers!
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That is a big accomplishment to get there with that nice car. Go fast.
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Why can't I see my own attachments anymore? :-(
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Something's going on. I can't see most of the avatars either.
Pete
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The attachments should be there now. If there's an avatar missing, let me know who or where, ok?
BtWE
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It looks like you've had a successful day of hunting and restoration. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
Pete
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Yep, all my attachments are back! Thanks! :cheers:
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STICK777,
Thanks for the paint job concept, now to just make it happen. looks great!
Rex
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My pleasure... :-)
-Oliver
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After the disaster of Speed Week, ( I have never spent so much money to be so miserable!) Duke and I have gotten everything ready to try the WOS. Looking for a good, smooth and dry course. We have repaired the burn damage and cleaned outall of the fire extinguisher dust, with Duke doing a great job of wiring and he has the AEM data acquisition system up and running so we will know fuel mixture, fuel pressure and inlet plenum pressure. I have knocked up some aero fairing for the front axle and I hope we can get in as many runs as we did last year except about 50 mph faster!! Positive thought about NO RAIN!!! Be there early Thursday AM. Hope to see many of you there.
Rex
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Rex, see you there. Hope I get to announce your record.
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Rex, see you there. Hope I get to announce your record.
I hope you get to also :clap :clap
Sumner
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If you think you spent money and were miserable think how the people from the east coast
or further felt.
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A quick report of our trip to the WOS meet. We ran our fastest ever speed, 195.75 but we were fighting an engine oil blow by problem on every run. We would get back to the pits and drain about a pint or more oil from our new catch tank and we would have a lot of oil that found its way into the bottom of the car. So the motor has a date with the guys at Engine Dynamics for a freshening and a look at what the case pressure problem might be. Duke also could not get into 6th gear so that is another item for John and Mike at ED. I was pretty sure that we needed less gear so we installed a 15 tooth primary sprocket in place of the 16 tooth sprocket and even just using the first 5 gears the 15 tooth would give us a 200+ number if we could get the motor to 12,000 in fifth. The run started well but Duke said the car had a strong pull to the right so he shut it off at the 2 1/2. We did go 185 at the 2 1/4 which was our best time for that clock. So it was pulling great.
Things that we did that worked well: MSD ignition: This modification worked really great, it never missed a beat and made starting so easy because of the great spark. It took a little work to get it to fit the engine but was really worth the effort.
AEM AQ-1 data logger: Duke wired in the data logger and programmed his lap top to down load the data into. We only were looking at the AFR from an 02 sensor in the exhaust, fuel pressure, and air box pressure. The 02 info was great, we could see the results of each jet change and now we are starting to log this data to give us information for future set ups. The fuel pressure info is going to require some additional analysis but good info to know. The air box pressure data was the only one that I was disappointed with , not because it was wrong but because it was showing that my air scoop was not doing its job! Even at almost 200 mph we were not seeing any additional inlet air pressure for the engine inlet. Back to the drawing board!!
We already have started out "things to do for next year" list and are starting our planning and design.
We had a great time!!!
Rex and Duke
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After the disaster of Speed Week, ( I have never spent so much money to be so miserable!)
Rex
Jeez Rex, I would have thought you'd been involved in motorsport long enough to know that most of the dates don't get past buying dinner :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
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We are famous!!! In the CBS bit about the vanishing salt at about 6min 30 sec they show Duke booking it!!!
Rex
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNqeRt1Rltc
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We are famous!!! In the CBS bit about the vanishing salt at about 6min 30 sec they show Duke booking it!!!
Rex
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNqeRt1Rltc
That video opens with a quick shot of the other Rex (Svoboda), too!
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I told the wife, "I know the Chico State dude driving that car!" And that older dude, too! :-P :clap :clap
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Just a quick note about our handling problem on our last attempted run at the WOS meet. We changed from a 16 tooth primary sprocket to a 15 tooth sprocket so we had to adjust the rear axle back to get the chain tension correct and after getting home and removing all of the body panels I could see that the shock mounting bolt on the left rear shock was impinging on the territory of one of our tubular balk heads, binding the suspension. Duke did the right thing by turning off.
Rex
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I am attaching some pics of the cage that Duke is building for a friend that is building a XXO competition coupe. I love to brag about my son and especially his welding which is so nice. It is the reason that I do not do any welding in our shop any more!!
Especially on our lakester!
Wait till you see the new front axle we are building! Pics as soon as Duke gets the welding done.
Rex
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Beautiful, Rex.
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Yeah, really nice work :cheers:
JL222
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Indeed..very nice.
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Rex:
I am convinced there is a small percent of welders that can weld like Duke and then there is the rest of us! Beautiful work.
BR
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Hey... I can weld like that.... :?... ok except for the penetration and evenness.... OK Dammit... and the bead spacing.... Well crap... and the weld appearance.... :?
OK I'm a hack... lol8
Nice welds Duke :cheers:
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Nice to meet you Rex.
Oh, you are an artist; what do you paint?
I don't paint, I weld.
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Rex, how did Duke become such an artist welder in steel and aluminum? My goodness those are beautiful welds.
John
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I worked with a couple of guys that welded like that. Absolutely amazing hand skills and flexibility. It always gave me something to shoot for and the odd time I could look kind of similar.
Those guys ended up moving to Indy and making their living with those skills.
Pete
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This is an update on our plans for 2020. With the cancellation of the World of Speed and the increase of the Covid 19 virus we are not going to attend Speed Week in August. Duke has strong and valid "social responsibility" feelings regarding the virus and I am just to damn old to chance it so we will see you all next year!
I will be sending some updated pics of things we have done to the car to up date it, Duke is just putting the finishing touches to our new "aero" front axle and I am working on a new "Woody designed" air scoop. Maybe with the extra time I can pull my roadster out of storage and get the new engine assembled and fitted.
Rex And Duke
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Hi Rex,I think you just put a nail in my reason for going to Speed Week coffin. :-( George
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I think reality is finally starting to set in here in the US. I have three friends here in Idaho who have it & the least likely one I expected to take a beating is/was a healthy 26 yr old female, it's been kicking her a$$ for weeks now. I'm more interested in having a long term.
Sid.
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I think reality is finally starting to set in here in the US. I have three friends here in Idaho who have it & the least likely one I expected to take a beating is/was a healthy 26 yr old female, it's been kicking her a$$ for weeks now. I'm more interested in having a long term.
Sid.
As of Mon 07/13 Orange County, CA. Confirmed COVID19 cases: 24,430. Deceased: 421. That's more than some states.
I went to the phone store the other day. You had to wear a mask?they also took your temperature before you stepped through the door. There was a limit of three customers. Some businesses are taking this seriously.
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They are and I'm glad. The real statistics for the OC lie in the ages. The OC Register shows them daily and we just had our first death in the 1-24 age group. It's almost 80% in the over 65 which have three groupings and where all my friends are.
One statistic that is now being shown is the total death for all causes in the US and just one for the China virus (that one may be padded) and that rate is still very small but without the virus many would be alive today.
My wife and I have rally restricted our selves since March and have only gone to dinner out once 2 weeks ago. Only the basics are ventured out for.
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We get our own spin here in the UK and its interesting that the most reliable data (?????) is probably the office for national statistics (independent of government I think) showing totals deaths compared to the 5 year average for the same week / month. It doesn't match the governments figures for Covid 19 but in fairness not everyone who is sick is tested. :roll: Once they start publishing total deaths (which is a staggering number) it inures you to the covid numbers. I guess that is the plan. Go about your normal business, nothing to see here.
We also get a version of US news - I saw a few days ago that Fauci and someone from the CDC was not allowed to go on a CBS program - I guess no news is better than bad news.
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Just a couple of pics of our new "aero" front axle. The shapes are 4130 aero tubing and the base axle is a piece of 1-3/8 inch dia 4130. Woody is telling us we need more front weight so this should add 10-15 lbs. Duke finished this while I was elk hunting. His usual impeccable workmanship.
Rex
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Looks nice... so... should we be planning an elk steak feed? I'll bring the wine...
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Very nice work.
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Rex:
In reviewing the front end suspension photos in reply #289 it is apparent that you have utilized 5 rod end bearings to both suspend and locate the front axle. ALL of them make the threaded shank of the bearings subject to bending loads--something they are not intended to carry. Have you really evaluated the wisdom of this application or the consequences if one of those shanks should fail?
Manufacturers do not give a rated bending load on rod end shanks because they recognize the difficulty of accounting for all the possible loading situations that may arise as well as the problem of stress concentrations due to thread roots and dynamic loading. In addition, you don?t know the material type or condition or its susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking (salt environment).
This is not to say it won?t work, but that it puts it in a ?we might get away with it? category as compared to a competently engineered solution.
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The only one I'd really worry about is the one at the top of the "V".
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Hmm...With limited travel that top link/track locator is just along for the ride.
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...With limited travel that top link/track locator is just along for the ride.
...until one wheel or the other encounters a bump or depression, which at speed amounts to shock loading wanting to jerk the nose of the car sideways and possibly induce some strange steering effects.
Same bump type of loading applies to the suspension links which, due to the various bearings and damper may well approximate a rigid connection and consequently large loading.
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IO,
Your comments are always appreciated as they usually cause me to check my initial calculations to insure that we have not gone down a potentially dangerous path.
First, our car has a front end weight of slightly less than 400 lbs static, which would make each the load on the two rod ends that support the front of the car 200 lbs. The rod ends are 7/16 inch diameter with 7/16 shanks. This makes the thread root diameter of .390 inches. Using these loads and dimensions and the dimension from the C/L of the ball to the back of the lock nut is 1 inch, the maximum bending stress is 33,460 psi and using a material yield strength of 67,000 psi and tensile strength of 100,000 psi gives a safety factor to yield of 2:1 and to the material tensile strength of 3:1. This is based upon the normalized properties of 4130 at yield of 67,000 psi and tensile strength of 100,000 psi. Pretty standard material properties. Rough salt, pot holes etc could certainly provide the potential for these components to see loads possibly in excess of our estimated loads and possibly cause bending or in the worst case complete failure but these are not the typical conditions that we see at Bonneville.
We also keep a close eye on the rod ends for any corrosion, and keep them coated with Gibbs oil for protection. We also keep the extended length of the rod end to the back of the lock nut as short as possible to minimize the bending moment and we periodically change the rod ends to keep them fresh. We also only use rod ends that are of the highest quality and constructed from 4130 and have rolled threads. I do agree that using a rod end in the load configuration we are is not optimal but by using quality parts and sizing them to provide sufficient safety along with the proper cleaning and protection from corrosion and periodical replacement the application will work.
IO,
In response to your last post, the function of the upper triangular link is to proved lateral location of the axle and provide the upper link of a parallelogram (in side view) to located the axle and set caster. This link also sets the roll center height for the axle which is pretty meaningless, in my opinion, for a car designed to run in a straight line on a smooth surface. Maximum suspension travel is approx 3 inches which also limits any possible side motion of the axle on one wheel deflections.
Rex
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So then......Other than being a pivot point...With the travel being limited...The link is basically just along for the ride.
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Speed Week is two weeks away and Duke and I have been thrashing in the shop but should make it. I have attached a pic of the car less most of the body work as it is out being PAINTED!! She will be all one color this year, semi gloss black, should look good from a distance but better than the black and raw aluminum we have been running. Excuse the clutter in the shop as getting the car ready to go to the dyno has taken precedence over cleaning up the clutter. Still have a pretty good list and a big family party before Speed Week plus the day at the dyno but we will be there. Some good changes plus (we hope) some more horsepower should get us well over 200 and closer to the Bockscars IF/L record. Hope to see lots of our Landracing friends there, stop by our pits for a little BS racing.
Rex and Duke
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Rex, looking forward to seeing you, Duke and our mutual friend Jameson on the salt. Good luck with the dyno, we just finished the dyno on the Bockscar and now in assembly mode. Hope we both get to do some celebrating :clap
See ya on the salt :cheers:
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Looking good Rex - wish I could see it in person this year ....... Presidential decrees and all that - no to the Shengen Area, no to the UK, no to Lemmings.
It is probably the perspective in the pic but it looks like the cockpit fire bottle is foot activated direct discharge - make sure the fire suit ankle elastic is in good shape or you will get a cold blast to the nether regions.... :-D
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We are "wrapped and ready"! Got it on the trailer and I have more $hit in my truck than I have ever had, hope I can pull the trailer too. Leaving in the AM and hopefully have pits set up and car inspected before sun down on Friday. Looking forward to seeing everyone and hopefully enjoying the salt.
Rex and Duke
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Big Jamey and I will see you there :cheers:
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That paint job is conducive to big MPH. Read that some where :|
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Rex- was great to see you and chat at SW. Sorry to hear about the head gasket issue and hope you can come up with a good fix and get back out. Thanks for your nice comments and support.
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Jack,
Great to see you at Speed Week and I love your engine, two strokes rule!!! You should do a build page on it as it is so unique.
We had a little more than just a head gasket, no. 4 went lean burned a hole in the head between the exhaust valve and if it had run, literally, 2 more seconds the piston would have collapsed! Won't be making WOS. Engine is at the builders and we are already making plans for next year.
Rex
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Well Crap Rex... I was hoping with you that it just pushed out the gasket a little and WoS was a possibility.... finals maybe? Was it still collecting crap on the top of the injectors? Did you figure out what caused the issue. Your advice and filter help fixed my electronic injection issue. Jon and James appreciated you help as well.
It was good talking to you... We made a good dent in the bottle :cheers:
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Stainless,
After talking to Kinsler and my engine building friend, Stu Van Dyne, the conclusion is that we could have one or both of two things. Old methanol that is in some part of the injector system that has turned into the junk we see on the top of the injector or possibly corrosion of one of the aluminum parts in our fuel system, which would only be the outlet side of our fuel filter or the barrel valve, both of which I am inspecting. I will be making an extra effort to insure that there are no areas that the fuel could stagnate in and will also be making changes to the plumbing to enable us to flush everything more easily.
The motor is at Engine Dynamics right now with our spare head being ported and over sized valves being installed and we will be ordering new pistons from J&E or CP and as long as we are doing that we intend to up the compression ratio to around 14:1 plus we are modifying our ign curve to take out a little more lead in the 12,000 to 13,000 range.
A quick note that my wife and I have made a pretty good dent in the bottle you gave me. Good stuff!
Rex
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Rex, when you're through racing for any period of time the methanol has to be flushed out. The easiest way is to disconnect the line from the alcohol tank and set up a small tank with gasoline. Start the engine at idle. When the idle picks up that means the alcohol is flushed from the system and replaced with non corrosive gasoline. Aluminum and methanol combine to form a nasty white corrosive deposit which screws up the whole system.
Good luck.
Pete
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Peter Jack said: "Aluminum and methanol combine to form a nasty white corrosive deposit which screws up the whole system." Boy are we learning this the hard (and expensive) way. We will be back! It's the fever!
Rex
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Rex, is that EnDyn in Texas you are referencing?
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John,
Engine Dynamics is in Petaluma, CA which is about 25 miles from my house. They specialize in motorcycle engines. Mike Crowther is a countryman of yours, he was head of the experimental engine development testing at Triumph before it closed its' doors. John Spease works for him and does the head work on our engine. Great guys and they do fantastic work. They have done many R&D projects for Honda and KTM, they know their stuff.
Rex
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Nicely done Sir!
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Due to a last minute engine problem I regret to say that Schimmer and Son IF/L will not be attending this years Speed Week. The problem just happen and as we were already in somewhat of a thrash this was the final item that put "paid" to our visit to Speed Week this year. We have the engine at the motor builders and "should" have it for the World of Speed event in early September.
I do plan to go to Speed Week for a couple of days to get our extinguisher bottles recertified and also buy some methanol from VP for the WOS meet in September.
Sid, if you happen to read this and need someone to clean your wheels or wax your streamliner I am available.
Rex
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Hi Rex, would you pick up some Nitro also?? Just for a little cushion, say 20mph or so.
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George,
I have 10 gallons of VP M-5 which is about 5-7% "soda pop". We plan to give it a try on the dyno when we get the engine back.
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Pretty much have the car back together as we were planning on the WOS but that is now canceled so we are going to finish the details and then put it on the dyno at Chuckle's Garage to get a basic tune and maybe try some M-5 VP. Then home, clean up the shop, put a cover over it and maybe think about a weekend at El Mo.
About time I drag out my old roadster and start reviving it again. Lots of ideas for some changes but just sketches right now. Something to keep me out of the bars this winter!
Rex
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Yeah I really figured you for pi$$ing your money away at the bar! :roll:
Sid.
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Now that is a trick lil roadster!
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Always dug your "roaster"!
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My "partner" Duke and I spent Friday on the dyno at the place he works, Chuckle's Garage. We made 9 pulls and we probably saved 2-3 days of running time at the salt. Got a pretty good tune up and should be able to correct it for the air density at Bonneville. Made the most HP we ever have and if you take the SAE correction factor for air density/temp and a little additional for being in second gear, chain drive and tire deflection my "guess" is that crank shaft HP is around 210.
We tested on straight methanol but I had some VP M5, which is supposed to be oxygenated so we drained the tank and poured some in. The results were not impressive, maybe 1 HP but it took out our O2 sensor. It could be that because the fuel was old, I have had it for 2 years, it my have lost some "zip". It was in a standard VP 5 gallon can and had the factory seal. Maybe it needed a slightly different tune,but with only showing a 1 hp increase we decided not to screw with it.
So we are in good shape for Speed Week now lets' all pray for good salt.
Rex and Duke
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That hotrod is spot-on..Bravo.
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Just a note regarding Speed Week, Duke and I after a lot of discussion have decided not to attend. To us is sounds like 2019 all over again and our little car needs a hard, smooth track to even come close to our class record and driving thru 5 miles of ruts, bumps and salt slush won't help us toward that goal. We are planning to run the World of Speed event, which we did in 2019 with good results. Long range weather reports "appear" to be positive and most of all dry.
Hope to see you all there.
Rex and Duke
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My "partner" Duke and I spent Friday on the dyno at the place he works, Chuckle's Garage. We made 9 pulls and we probably saved 2-3 days of running time at the salt. Got a pretty good tune up and should be able to correct it for the air density at Bonneville. Made the most HP we ever have and if you take the SAE correction factor for air density/temp and a little additional for being in second gear, chain drive and tire deflection my "guess" is that crank shaft HP is around 210.
We tested on straight methanol but I had some VP M5, which is supposed to be oxygenated so we drained the tank and poured some in. The results were not impressive, maybe 1 HP but it took out our O2 sensor. It could be that because the fuel was old, I have had it for 2 years, it my have lost some "zip". It was in a standard VP 5 gallon can and had the factory seal. Maybe it needed a slightly different tune,but with only showing a 1 hp increase we decided not to screw with it.
So we are in good shape for Speed Week now lets' all pray for good salt.
Rex and Duke
A note on Alky vs. gas. My old Flex Fuel ranger would do the same switching between E85 and normal unleaded. Usually after some miles and a couple tanks the computer would relearn and be OK
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Just a note regarding Speed Week, Duke and I after a lot of discussion have decided not to attend. To us is sounds like 2019 all over again and our little car needs a hard, smooth track to even come close to our class record and driving thru 5 miles of ruts, bumps and salt slush won't help us toward that goal. We are planning to run the World of Speed event, which we did in 2019 with good results. Long range weather reports "appear" to be positive and most of all dry.
Hope to see you all there.
Rex and Duke
Rex and Duke,
Better to be safe, then sorry. IMO you made the right decision. Good luck at WOS as it is a great event.
Tom G.