Author Topic: Need to build Lakester  (Read 6141 times)

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Offline freepistol

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Need to build Lakester
« on: January 14, 2013, 01:15:27 PM »
I am sorry to be basically an idiot where all this comes together, but as a child I was taken to the museum of science and industry in Chicago and saw the first Spirit of America, and when attending the All American Soap Box Derby in Akron Ohio I saw the Blue Flame.  Ever since then I have wanted to build a land speed car.  I have no delusions of breaking any records, but I would like to join the 200MPH club someday.  I am retired now and I have some time to do things and I have a very good friend who welds like Rembrandt and has made 3 dragsters from scratch.  What I would like to build is a Lakester with a Mopar 8 cylinder engine.  Let me make a list and it will be easier to follow.

Tubular Steel Frame
Aluminum panel body work
Proper land speed tires and wheels
Engine behind driver
Solid rear suspension (NONE)
Ford 9 inch rear end
Disc brakes on rear wheels only
Full suspension on front

I am not sure what kind of transmission to use or to not have one at all (just a clutch)

2 Parachutes (redundancy is good thing)
Open cockpit with roll cage and harnesses conforming to rule book
Fairly long car with a vertical tail to keep us headed in the correct directions.  The tail should move the center of pressure rearward giving stability just as a fin stabilized rocket gets it.


Please feel free to tell me I'm an idiot and need to go in a completely different direction.

This project will take a few years, but if you don't follow your dreams you don't have much.

Are there any books about building lakesters, or any plans for building the frame for one.  I am in a small town in Texas and my son and I are going to the Texas Mile to watch and learn as much as we can.

Respectfully,

Dwight L. Brown
So I'm a violin teacher who wants to go to Salt Flats.  At least I have small motor control :-)

Offline Captthundarr

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Re: Need to build Lakester
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2013, 01:31:20 PM »
Your an idiot... feel better? Just kidding  :-D. First things first, go to this sites home page and get a rule book. read it 2 to 10 times to understand then lay out your plans for what ever you what to build. This forum has an unequaled amount of knowledge. study the build diaries and by all means, ask questions. Most important, have fun.
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Offline fredvance

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Re: Need to build Lakester
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2013, 01:40:50 PM »
Where are you in Texas?? There are lots of us Texans who run at Bonneville. Most are more than happy to help in advice and maybe even help with your build. :-D
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Online Seldom Seen Slim

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Re: Need to build Lakester
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2013, 01:47:59 PM »
Howdy, Dwight -- and welcome to the Forum.  First things first:  Please go back to the registration page and your Profile -- and enter your town and state in the "location" blank.  That way we'll know where you are each time you post.  It helps other forum folk figure out if you're near enough to visit, for instance, or maybe to estimate shipping hassles when you're trying to sell something -- and on and on.

Second -- and not to be too snooty sounding -- to get into a 200 MPH Club you need to set a record.  It isn't "just" going 200 mph -- that's sorta (well, relatively) easy.  It's going fast enough to break the existing record in your class (or exceed the minimum, if that's the case).

Okay -- basic stuff out of the way, I'll second thundarr's comment about a rulebook.  My suggestion is to get at least three for each member of your crew:  One for the shop, one for the coffee table, and one for the back of the toilet.  Another important thing for you to do is spend lots of time here on the forum looking and learning and yes, asking questions.  Within reason we won't treat you too harshly (as the new guy, you know), and will do what we can to keep you headed in the right direction.

A very important thing for you to do - is to go to as many LSR events as you can.  Lots of 'em - before you start building, for sure, so you can see what's done and what you'll need to know, and so you can ask lots of questions and make some plans before cutting that first section of tube.

Welcome -- and have fun.
Jon E. Wennerberg
 a/k/a Seldom Seen Slim
 Skandia, Michigan
 (that's way up north)
2 Club member x2
Owner of landracing.com

Offline Plmkrze

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Re: Need to build Lakester
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2013, 02:31:42 PM »
Gen III Mopar?     8-)
"Trim it, whittle it, make it work."

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Offline freepistol

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Re: Need to build Lakester
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2013, 03:08:49 PM »
Thanks for the responses!  OK here is another beginner question, where do I get a rule book.  is it on line or do I have to send for it.


thanks,

Dwight
So I'm a violin teacher who wants to go to Salt Flats.  At least I have small motor control :-)

Offline Milwaukee Midget

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Re: Need to build Lakester
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2013, 03:22:20 PM »
http://shop.scta-bni.org/

That will get you to the place to order a rule book.  It is not available on line.

So . . . a Mopar.  Desoto straight 8, maybe?  :wink:
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Well, I guess we're making a LOT of progress . . .  :roll:

Offline Rex Schimmer

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Re: Need to build Lakester
« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2013, 05:33:26 PM »
Dwight,
Welcome to Landracing and also the crazy bunch of guys that have , are building or ,as you are, are going to build a lakester. You will find that there are almost as many thoughts on lakester design as there are people that have them or are building one. Flat bottom, round bottom, drop tank, the concepts are endless. Yes, get a rule book and read it again and again etc note especially the section on engine sizes for each class, then look at the lakester Bonneville records and notice that most of the classes that run above E (260 cu. inches) are pretty darn fast!! so pick your Mopar wisely.

Keep asking questions, the only dumb one is the one you don't ask, this is a great site and as has already been said it is made up of good people with lots of knowledge and almost all will share.

Rex
Rex

Not much matters and the rest doesn't matter at all.

Offline DallasV

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Re: Need to build Lakester
« Reply #8 on: January 14, 2013, 06:00:55 PM »
Like Jon said get out to some events and look at what has been successful. Also as jon has mentioned you need to set a record to get a 2 club hat. I have thrown some data out, not to discourage but to show you what you'll be up against if I'm guessing the possible CID you may be running. Hammond and the Got Salt car would be 2 good ones to look at.

If your running Blown Fuel the biggest 6 engine records look like this:
AA    DRM Racing   F. Dannenfelzer   08/99   329.562
A    DRM Racing-Tony Waters   F. Dannenfelzer   10/09   366.586
B    DRM Racing   F. Dannenfelzer   08/08   360.077
C    Grumpy Old Men   J. Law   08/01   349.873
D    Clark-Hall-Leggitt-Smith   R. Hall   09/09   308.492
E    Seth Hammond   J. Pflum   10/02   302.179

N/A Fuel
AA    Seth Hammond   Ta. Hammond   08/10   323.473
A    Seth Hammond   C. Hammond   10/10   316.745
B    Seth Hammond   R. Oberst   08/11   306.247
C    Seth Hammond   S. Hammond   08/92   278.272
D    Seth Hammond   Ta. Hammond   08/97   263.062
E    Seth Hammond   S. Hammond   08/91   253.776

Blown Gas
AA    Got Salt Racing   F. Silva   08/11   324.961
A    WZBD Racing   M. Weiler   08/08   324.376
B    Grumpy Old Men   J. Law   08/00   334.219
C    Grumpy Old Men   J. Law   08/01   337.133
D    No Nitro Hammond   Ta. Hammond   08/02   304.516
E    No Nitro Hammond   Ta. Hammond   09/01   299.701

N/A Gas
AA    No Nitro Hammond   Ta. Hammond   08/10   314.511
A    No Nitro Hammond   Te. Hammond   08/12   302.597
B    No Nitro Hammond   Te. Hammond   09/11   294.382
C    Original Fast Guys II   E. Shadle   08/11   276.786
D    No Nitro Hammond   M. Dawson   09/97   254.685
E    Kelly & Hall Racing   J. Kelly   10/04   236.431

Records or parts, I didn't come all this way not to break something.

Offline Stainless1

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Re: Need to build Lakester
« Reply #9 on: January 14, 2013, 11:15:45 PM »
Dwight, the good news in those numbers is every record there was set by somebody and setting it broke somebody's record..  Read, read and read, build diaries, rule book, then hit the salt at speedweek.  Look at lakesters in pictures here and the SCTA website.  Don't get is a rush to build until you know what/how/why. 
Send a PM to Sparky (ex-Texan) get his phone number and see if you guys can talk a little bit, he should be able to get you past the major pitfalls.
Welcome to the addiction
Good luck, stop and say hi
see you on the salt  8-)
Stainless
Red Hat 228.039, 2001, 65ci, Bockscar Lakester #1000 with a little N2O

Offline Bob Drury

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Re: Need to build Lakester
« Reply #10 on: January 14, 2013, 11:53:50 PM »
  Piss-tol: (1  Buy rulebook (keep in mind that it can be and is somewhat ambigous in that it has to deal with a sh*t load of classes).  (2 DO NOT START BUILDING YOUR CAR (Collecting parts is legal) until you and your chassis builder have gone to at least ONE LSR race (Speedweek is best) and visited with others who are running simillar vehicles to what you want to build (not neccescarily in the same class).
  Many of us have jumped the gun and spent (and wasted) thousands of dollars by thinking we were smart enough to do it on our own.
  I initionally spent about eighteen grand building my car in 1998 and threw away about fifteen hundred dollars worth of parts which I realized during the build were not what I should have bought.
  I was a thirty year veteran of drag racing and wasted my first two years on the salt by running a "drag race" tune up which resulted in new inspection ports in the tops of my pistons.
  As one of my Hero's, Bruce Geisler, told me year's ago, " your a drag racer, Huh? Well the first thing you need to do is forget everything you think you know".
  I have learned that the same holds true for chassis set up, Aero, and especially how you drive..................  until you have visited the Salt, you cannot comprehend how different it is from other motor sports. 
 Oh, and one more thing:  You will be amazed at how much info your fellow racers will share with you........... even if they currently hold the record you are seeking.
                                                                              Good Luck and if you allow us, we will all be glad to help you.....................    Bob         
Bob Drury

Offline fastman614

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Re: Need to build Lakester
« Reply #11 on: January 15, 2013, 06:10:59 AM »
So... you "need" to build a lakester....

That thought gripped me when, in 1970, I came to Bonneville for the very first time and I saw lakesters!.... Car #121 - the name on the side was Griffith Orput Allen Parker.... a belly tank - it was way cool! ... and then .... I do not recall the car number but it was a front motor top fuel dragster style of car with the name on the side being Johnson and Shipley.... The Johnson and Shipley car was the A/Lakester (which would equate to A/Blown Fuel Lakester under today's rules) record holder at 270.885 mph!

36 years later, I had a lakester at Bonneville... somehow, it got featured in the National Geographic documentary Salt Flat Speedway. Three years of shaking the car down and finally breaking the motor, we decided to get serious .... we did a major rework of the body, enclosing the cockpit in the process, adding some rear tail finning to the body that resembles the appearance of Al Teague's 'liner when it was last run and repowered the car with a Dodge R5 NASCAR motor.... The car had some handling problems at Speedweek 2010 but they were corrected and, at the W/Fs in 2010, the car set the record in C/Gas Lakester.... a forty year long dream!.... Incidentally, the record was faster than the 1970 Johnson and Shipley Blown Fuel car went - which was, to me, immensely satisfying.....

But - not meaning to "hijack" your topic.... look at this and give it some thought:
http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.php/topic,10670.0.html

I hope to see you at the salt someday....
No s*** sticks to the man wearing a teflon suit.