Landracing Forum
Bonneville Salt Flats Discussion => Build Diaries => Topic started by: TheHardOne on October 26, 2017, 10:28:46 PM
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Hey all, this is the first post for my buddy and I's entry into land speed racing. We bought an '88 S-10 from the classifieds section in this forum. Buickracer69 had it but a daytrip to St. Louis and the truck was ours. We're currently in the process of finishing up cancer removal and repainting my '71 K5 Blazer and once that's clear of the shop bay, in comes the S-10. I've read and re-read several threads on here (brickster's Dakota comes to mind) as well as constantly flipping through the 2017 SCTA rule book in anticipation lol.
The truck ran at Bonneville back in 2004. It's currently set-up up for a small block chevy and powerglide. Has a Ford 9" with either a 2.90 or 2.75 gear (can't remember). Our plan with it is to swap in the driveline from a 2001 Chevy 2500HD donor truck (6.0L LQ4, 4L80), get the safety equipment up to snuff, paint it up, throw a few bolt-ons at it, and go racing. If only it were as easy to do as it is to type haha...
As far as racing, the plan is to bring a mild C/MMP truck for our first outing (hoping for 2019 if work allows us time to work on it) and in subsequent years, turn up the heat and see what we can coax out of it as a C/BMMP or more serious MMP. The focus will be LSR but most anything straight line goes. As to the "working" name.. my buddy and I went into the Corps within a couple months of each other straight out of high school, served our time in different parts of the world, and made it back home with all our fingers and toes. It's just something I threw at it and we both liked it.
Hope the pics work...
(https://i.imgur.com/uFSyL46.jpg)
Loading it up in St. Louis
(https://i.imgur.com/4suFzY9.jpg)
Quick pit stop for some grub a celebratory brew before the haul home... had to snag a photo
(https://i.imgur.com/q9DuKIb.jpg)
S-10's original (?) drivers
(https://i.imgur.com/AlyRB6u.jpg)
Not-so-current pic of my K5's surgery... It's getting there. Slowly.
Can't wait to get it going... in the meantime, I'll be reading/researching/daydreaming. Thanks for looking!
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I remember when Buickracer69 picked up this project - as I recall, "life got in the way". Not the first time - for any of us. Hope he's well.
Good to see it going to a good home. Kansas seems to be a hotbed for LSR.
It's never easy, but it's early in the ball game, and your already at second with nobody out.
And it helps to have a team name that references a John Wayne movie. :cheers:
See it through - you can do a lot with a simple, straightforward and proven chassis like that.
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I can see your enthusiasm from way over here in Idaho! My crystal ball shows heaps of fun in your future.
Sid.
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I know we're ready to get the ball rolling... Do you guys have any suggestions as far as picture hosting? I figure I'll probably get trigger happy with a camera once this gets underway. Photobucket is already keeping the pics from displaying so I'd like to figure something else out.
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Looking forward to seeing what happens with this truck. At one time it seemed like there would be multiple c/bmmp's but at speedweek there was only one. Mine is still under construction.
Brick
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I know we're ready to get the ball rolling... Do you guys have any suggestions as far as picture hosting? I figure I'll probably get trigger happy with a camera once this gets underway. Photobucket is already keeping the pics from displaying so I'd like to figure something else out.
Imgur works and is free for now at least?
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Tyler, you can resize them to fit the parameters in the additional options area at the bottom of the posting block. Email the pics you posted earlier to me, I will put them back in your post.
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You also have a venue that you can test n tune at, about 8 hours away.
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Imgur works and is free for now at least?
AH HA! Forgot about that site. Had to try and remember my login info but it works! Hopefully there isn't a bandwith limit there...
You also have a venue that you can test n tune at, about 8 hours away.
Where might that be?
Tyler, you can resize them to fit the parameters in the additional options area at the bottom of the posting block. Email the pics you posted earlier to me, I will put them back in your post.
I fired the e-mail to ya. I'll have to see how imgur works out though. It seems to be working for the time being.
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ECTA's new home at Blytheville, AR.
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Hey folks! Been a good bit since I've posted anything. Not much to update, however... Mostly lots of daydreaming. Acquiring parts and pieces for the S-10 where we can and trying to get my old K5 off to the body shop to free up the bay it's been in. I've been caught up working out of town too much to get anything significant accomplished and my partner isn't much better off. He's currently working somewhere in Louisiana and when he returns, I'll be taking off to Missouri for a good bit. As I've always been told, you've either got the time or the money but never both. :wink:
Not too long after acquiring the S-10, my partner and I happened across a screaming deal on a running '01 Chevy 2500HD pickup. Snatched that up as the powertrain donor for our salt truck... Fairly fresh 6.0L LQ4 engine and a 4L80E in need of a little attention. We know a trans guy so no worries there. Don't much care about the rest as it'll likely be off to the scrapper after selling off anything usable on it.
I also happened across a mud truck recently that, after considering the parts that were used in the build, was way too sweet on price to pass up. It, too, has a 6.0L LQ4. It dyno'd 380 hp to the ground it's current habitat, though. I call that habitat Big Ugly. PO just called it Frank. My partner and I are thinking that engine will probably work it's way into the S-10 in the name of time. I know the builder and trust the work. The rest of Big Ugly, though... well, it just might stick around for some local mud pit terrorizing with a different heartbeat. We'll see...
(https://i.imgur.com/TjDi8ak.jpg)
Hopefully we'll have a chance to check out a few vendors at the NHRA Nationals in Topeka in May. Try to get that fire-suit hurdle jumped while there and if not, at least know what size to order when I get home.
Enjoy reading through all you guys' build threads, hopefully one day we'll get to contributing a little more. Next time I post, I'll load down on some pictures of the truck as it sits for a solid documentation of our starting point. Until then... :cheers:
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It's update time!
We've actually managed to move forward a little on our project. But first...
My girlfriend and I spent a few days up in NW Nebraska visiting family and made a run up to South Dakota for a little sight-seeing. Our return trip home had us shooting straight down 35 and as I came through Concordia, KS I spied a little something peeking at me through the window...
(https://i.imgur.com/F6SqkVY.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Pmh41c2.jpg)
Woke the girlfriend up when I hit the brakes and turned off so I could go look a little closer. Little research shows this truck is the record holder in AA/MP. Short YouTube video up of one of his passes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gF2mU48xgs
Nice bit of motivation. On to Leatherneck Express...
Firstly,
(https://i.imgur.com/MUHnYLY.jpg)
It's in the shop! For the time being... The '71 K5 that has lived in that bay has been sent off to get coated in epoxy primer due to being media blasted recently.
Prior to the S10 being in the shop, we had the mud truck in yanking the engine out to get it cleaned up and ready to sit down in the S10. The mud truck will be stripped of anything of value and hauled off to the scrapper before too long.
(https://i.imgur.com/CHTmNS8.jpg)
In the name of time we are planning on using a power glide for the trans in the S10. The truck ran with one before and is still set up and ready for one. I know we're losing top end not having an OD gear but my partner and I both have crazy work schedules so anywhere we can save time is worth considering. Eventually we'll probably go T-56, but that trans currently resides in another vehicle. Still sorting forced induction ideas but that is a ways off yet. Goal for the end of the week is to have the engine and trans married and sitting in the truck to start checking fitment and ride height.
I'll wrap this update with a few more pictures
(https://i.imgur.com/RLf1XGY.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/smFclzV.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Jp9AFPI.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/9Ui6VJx.jpg)
Thanks for looking and until next time... :cheers:
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What part of Wichita are you from?
John
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I'm just SE, outside of Rose Hill. My partner is from the Augusta area.
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Got the engine and trans dropped in last night. If only it were as easy to do as it was to type it... Gonna have some clearancing to do on the engine cross member and maybe a bit on the firewall just for peace of mind.
(https://i.imgur.com/zx7HIVy.jpg)
Front clip installed. Headers will be fun to source and/or make.
(https://i.imgur.com/kuTXQK9.jpg)
Ride height (ish). There's still a bit of weight to throw at the nose of the truck just yet but at least we have an idea.
(https://i.imgur.com/fldZmtA.jpg)
That's all for now!
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(https://i.imgur.com/F6SqkVY.jpg)
Norris Andersen is a great Kansas racer with lots of dirt track and drag racing experience, and now - salt racing.
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Not to mention one of the 3 200 MPH Club members living in Kansas :cheers:
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What a crack up. I bought this from a guy in Spokane Wa. about 10 years ago and I'm in Olympia. After not doing anything with it (record got bumped up) I sold it and last I saw it was on a car hauler going somewhere? Now it's in Kansas. LOL I was trying to get a few guys to go to WOS and run up to 159 in 150 club but no takers. Land racing is a small community. Yes it has 2.90 gears. George
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We hope to be joining that 200 mph club with this little S10. Be we know we have a long road ahead of us.
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Hope you get there as well... it ain't easy but it is rewarding. :cheers:
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What a crack up. I bought this from a guy in Spokane Wa. about 10 years ago and I'm in Olympia. After not doing anything with it (record got bumped up) I sold it and last I saw it was on a car hauler going somewhere? Now it's in Kansas. LOL I was trying to get a few guys to go to WOS and run up to 159 in 150 club but no takers. Land racing is a small community. Yes it has 2.90 gears. George
Seemed like a semi-inexpensive entry into this form of racing, had to snatch it up. Thanks for that bit of info, though... we're hoping to give it a return to the salt soon, albeit with a facelift and a little angrier than it was almost a decade and a half ago.
Hope you get there as well... it ain't easy but it is rewarding. :cheers:
So is it you, Mr. Andersen, and John (ggl205) red hatting it?
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In Kansas... so far... you could be next 8-) :cheers:
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(https://i.imgur.com/qsVDSAL.jpg)
Brown truck dropped this off the other day... Getting the safety ball rolling so when we're looking at modifying the existing cage we'll have some stuff to check fit/clearance. Looking for advice on a helmet now. When I was at Topeka for the NHRA Nationals last month I tried on a Simpson Bandit and a Devil Ray. Loved the fit of the Bandit. Are there any recommendations or anything else I should look at or concern myself with? It'll have the SA2015 cert, and the Super Bandit is pre-drilled for the SFI 38.1 hardware along with a Nomex liner (helmet I'm leaning towards at the moment). Anybody have any feedback/experience with the Zamp Z-Tech Series 4a head restraint systems while we're at it?
Also, a question in regards to Section 3.W - Brakes... What constitutes an "adequate" braking system? Our truck has been converted to manual brakes and we discovered (while installing engine mounts) that there are no front brakes present. The rotor and caliper bracket are there but no hard lines, soft lines, calipers, or pads. We DO have drum brakes on the rear end that function fine (will be rebuilt eventually). I understand the parachute will be our main decelerating force so didn't know how much more we needed for the braking system, if anything.
:cheers:
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On a "Bonneville only" vehicle, brakes are to get it on and off the trailer. :-D Chute, rear brakes and lots of room are sufficient.
Ron
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Hey Ron, I see you are on the pre entry list for SW.
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Hi Gary, yep, maybe wishfull thinking. Got my eyes fixed so I can see and a doctors weight restriction lifted so can now get after it. Not much time left and a lot to do.
Ron