sold - TFA B/G Lakester for sale

[entropy]

TFA in Sugar Land, Texas is selling its lakester:  
- RACE-READY Viper blue NA 383" B/GL belly tank lakester, Racepak data logging & digital dash
- trailer:  1999 Pace enclosed 30' x 8.5' x 7.25', installed ramps + winch = 1 man loading  
- Simpson safety gear - if you are about my size = 6'2", 230#
- EVERYTHING needed to pit & run on the salt (we are signed up for SW)

Price: $25,000 for everything!!!  This is a gift!
     - I have more than $100,000 in it (not counting labor & operating costs) every detail is available.
     - Everything is a good as we could make it, no compromises
     - I had Joe Timney do just over $15,000 of safety, steering, cabin tweaks after 2014 World of Speed
This is a PERFECT car for someone who wants to get on the salt, PERFECT.  Exotic, inspected, and not high maintenance.

Vehicle #   #5448
Vehicle dimensions   length = 20'4", width = 57"(outside of tires), height = 44"
Wheelbase    WB = 145.5"
Seat & controls currently set up for 6'2" 230# driver
8 passes total on the car

Engine    NA 383ci Patriot crate motor, 4bbl carb, 501hp(flywheel)@6100rpm
FWD, spool rear end
Transmission   GM TH-350   

Only time on salt:   2014 WOS, 209mph out the 5, 8 passes total on car
Wind tunnel session in 2014, we KNOW how much hp it would need to get to 240 - 250 - 260 - 270mph
Joe Timney did $15,000 worth of improvements after WOS
I have EXTENSIVE specs & documentation (if you like excel spreadsheets)
It is RACE-READY right now.

Note:  TOM BURKLAND was involved (advice) every step of the way, from buying the virgin car, all mods, wind tunnel session, running it, to final tweaks.  
He has offered to talk to folks who are interested.

Absolutely perfect car to get into the salt experience.
I LOVE this car but life is getting in the way.

Karl Gunter
Sugar Land, TX
guntekd@gmail.com

vid:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhDOTuoXZ5U

at 2014 WOS

[entropy]

1999 Pace American, Shadow GT enclosed trailer (30' x 8.5' x 7.25') has built in ramps & winch will allows 1-man loading & unloading of lakester

[Jack Gifford]

Nice design of the ramps in the trailer!

[entropy]

Nice design of the ramps in the trailer!

Thanks, Jack!
We bought the trailer from a very competent Circle Track guy in MS who designed & installed the original aluminum ramps.
I just widened & lengthened the ramps to fit our relatively long & narrow lakester.
2 big marine parallel batteries power the Warn 2500 winch allowing EASY 1-person loading/unloading the car.

I have anti-sway bars but never installed them.  Even in very heavy, gusting side winds this trailer tows STRAIGHT, always.  I love it.

This trailer has only been on the salt one event, WOS 2014
karl

[Bratfink]

What did it run this week?

[gkabbt]

I might be 100% wrong but I do not recall seeing Karl's car there.
I was there from 8/11 - 8/15 and all over the place taking pictures.

Gregg

[Bratfink]

I might be 100% wrong but I do not recall seeing Karl's car there.
I was there from 8/11 - 8/15 and all over the place taking pictures.

Gregg

I saw someone posting pics from this year on Facebook, could have sworn one of them was of this Lakester. I must admit I didn't see it there either, but we spent almost the entire time either in our pit or in tech.

[Stainless1]

They were there
Don't know how fast they ran... check the results

[Mike Borders]

Karl, call us 702-614-6108.  Mike

(MKM Racing)

[speedracer]

Karl,
If still available, please call.
Thanks,
Chris (303) 946-6771

[entropy]

Sorry for being out of touch.
Yes indeed TFA was at Speed week.  We had a ball, only made 2 passes, but achieved my primary goal, got comfortable with handling.

2014 WOS was white knuckled steering as it wandered & jinked a bit. It spooked me.
At the track, Tom Burkland, Rex Svoboda, Stainless all said "Karl, just relax and drive the car". 
Then in early 2015 I had Joe Timney tweak steering related stuff, incl complete rear axle re-alignment & he added 423# lead ballast in the nose

2016 SW was relaxed fingertip steering, ahhhhhhhh... 
On the Sunday shakedown pass, I just let it wander a bit and it generally came back all on its own, it was purely fun, very predictable.
However,  i ran into increasingly "interesting" bumps at about the 4, then it needed corrections as it bounced a bit.
On my second pass Tues, i guess i was on the wrong side of the tack (long course) it was pretty bumpy almost right from the start so i turned off after the 3.  Then the fun really started.  The undragged path i took to the return road about rattled my teeth out.  Maybe I should have hit the belt release when speed got low?

It was so rewarding to drive, a lil voice is protesting me selling it
Thanks to everybody for all your help!!!
Karl

Anyway, since i'm selling the car, i didn't want to hurt anything so we didn't make any more runs.

GREAT car, GREAT fun.  Our mentors' "relax" advice was right on the money and i think Joe Timney's steering/alignment tweaks + 400# new ballast in the nose  made a positive difference.  Even with the chattering bumps, i generally felt pretty confident 

[Stainless1]

Never release the belts until you are stopped...

anytime you think you are going out of sorts is a good time to throw out the laundry... there are always more runs. 

Good seeing you on the Salt   

[Stan Back]

It's hard to talk yourself into it, but we've found that things go better without a death-grip on the steering wheel.

[entropy]

Stainless,
yup about not releasing belts until stopped, I did it but ding-dang it, cutting across to the return road was actually painful.  prob i'm just old & delicate.
I wanted to talk to you about track condition but didn't want to bother you.  I watched you belt in your driver, your concentration was 110%. 
On my second pass i "dumped the laundry" and the low speed chute jolted me pretty good.  I have a rear facing vid and caught the deployment. Looks like i might have put out both cutes at the same time which was not my intention.

Stan, 
all three of my mentors advised me about light touch on steering wheel and it REALLY worked, fingertips only on the butterfly. 
On my 1st pass at about the 4 the  chattering got so bad, i thought it was gonna come around, 20-30? degrees outa shape.  I wish i could say that i intentionally steered into direction of travel and gently applied throttle, but it was bouncing so hard i don't know what i did. I doubt i did anything much to save it. 
I'm guessing that our Cg being about 40" ahead of Cp straightened it out all by itself. 
We are logging steering deviation & azimuth so i will look at logs and see what i actually did.  Sometimes the logs dispute my memory

[entropy]

I have made a deal on selling TFA's lakester and am very glad of:

1. I had a chance to run it this year if only a couple of butt-battering passes.  That car is so stable! The slight wandering/jinking which spooked me in 2014 fixes itself with no steering input.  In 2014 i was making a non problem into a problem by steering when none was needed.  It was magical to go very soft on the steering and experience the car going straight as an arrow with little self correcting deviations.  It was actually fun to experience.  The big bumps were less magical

2. I am also VERY happy to see the car go to experienced racing nuts.  I will leave it to them to say what they plan to do.

Thanks to everybody for everything, especially TFA Mentors Tom Burkland, Rex Svoboda, Stainless Steele.  Experiencing your passion & enthusiasm, advice & moral support is unequivocally the high point of my lakester adventure.
Karl