Introduce Yourself

[saltracer1]

Hi Phil Landry here. My past land speed projects were both Modified roadster with flathead power. One front engine and the other rear engine. The rear engine car held three records. For better or worst we build as much of our cars as we can. Weld, paint, fiberglass, engine builder. Current project is a 1985 Mustang with blown flathead. Gotta go the Saints are playing. Phil

[jdaly9056l]

Hi everyone! Joe Daly here with Fairway Motorsports!! I got into land speed racing very recently. My first race was Loring back in July! Bit by the bug I then went to Bonneville and back to loring and then had the honor to finish my season off at Maxton's final event. What a great time. I am racing a special construction 750cc turbo bike that was built by Randy Smith from FRS Engineering. An Amazing bike, I was lucky to purchase, whose build thread is located somewhere in this forum.

I was fortunate enough to aquire a bike that could easily take out some soft records. I wouldn't be nearly as into land speed racing or have a clue what I am doing if it wasn't for my Uncle Joe Daly. He's been racing far longer then me (since way before i was born) and helps with me just about everything. From telling me to buy a small 1/8th inch npt fitting for a broken fuel pressure gauge to welding my exhaust manifold (3 times) he knows a lot and has been through it all.

Look forward to another season!! and maybe another bike!

Joe Daly

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Oh, NO!  Another Joe Daly.  What's this world coming to? 

Seriously -- Joe, your uncle has put the bar pretty danged high if you're trying to maintain the family honor.  You'll need to go an extra mile or two to catch him.

That said -- I've hassled you long enough.  Now I'll tell you that his sense of humor is pretty well warped - so you'll have no trouble being funny when you're next to him.  And yes, I did hear about the multiple re-weld of the exhaust at Bville this summer.  Heard about it quite a few times, in fact.

Welcome to the Forum.

[bdavis441]

Hello everyone,
My name is Brad Davis.  I grew up in the little town of Amo, Indiana. I found that interesting that the guy who created this site (I think??) has that last name.  Anyway,  Im a long time fan of anything that has an engine.  I motocrossed for many years at an A amateur level.  Ive drag raced cars, motorcycles.  Im a demolition derby car addict.  That's actually my major and current obsession.  However, I've long been interested in land speed racing.  I have a 2001 WS6 trans-am.  My goal is to take this car to 200mph.  I've just filled out a ECTA application and am devouring any information i can find online.  Please forgive my total ignorance, but the rules can be overwhelming.  I was reading the LTA rules online.  Looks like I can cage my car and with some safety modifications run C/PRO ?  I have a lot to learn, but man this should be a blast!  Just for the sake of discussion, my car has a mild, but very healthy ls1, cammed, massaged heads, longtube headers, 12 bolt rear, 4.10 gear, 6spd.  runs low 12's on street tires.  Glad I found this site!!!!

[Stainless1]

Brad, welcome to the addiction...
so if you use 28 inch tall tires and have a .75 overdrive gear you only need to be at 7500 rpm when you go through the lights... 
Of course you can lose the drag race gears a little and remix all those numbers a little to get you what you have and need.  If you send me an email address in a PM, I will send you a quick, easy Excel calculator, it was written for bike motors but easily adapts to cars.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Brad:

Thanks for the comment about demo derby cars.  I remember that a handful of years ago there were three entrants at World of Speed (the September USFRA meet).  Well, there were more than three -- but those three sure looked like they'd be at home in a demo derby.  They were hooked in "train" style, with the one in front doing the steering, the one at the back supplying brakes, and the guy in the middle just riding and praying.  I don't remember the/their top speed, but it was fun to watch. 

Welcome to the Forum - and to the site.

[bdavis441]

My 6th gear is .5    stainless1 I'll send you my email address.  It should just be a matter of horsepower. Then front of this car is very dirty, aerodynamically. 

[Stainless1]

Wow, .5, that's an overdrive... so you only have to turn 5 grand through the lights...
Sent you a calculator.  Have fun, start a build thread in the build diarys section

[PeacemakerRacing]

I am wondering if I could bring my car to run at the flats next summer. Its basically a pro touring 86 monte carlo. Full custom chassis, nascar cage, 408 inch small block chevy using dart little m block afr aluminum heads, scat 4340 rotating assembly, retrotek speed efi unit, etc. It will run 140 in 3rd gear on the street and has a richmond 5 speed. Pics can be found on youtube under metalcraft skill center. The car is called Smokin SS and was featured in numerous magazines. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[salt27]

Peacemaker,
Go to saltflats.com and check out the 130 and 150 club.
Those will be the easyest way to get started.

   Don

[dogfish7]

Howdy. My name is Bruce or Dogfish7. I hail from Hoodsport, WA, home of Harley Bob. I build model cars for a hobby and was researching 53 Studebakers, to build a Salt Flats car for a contest coming soon. Your forum came up allot, so decided that it would help build my knowledge on Salt Fltat Racers.
http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa80/dogfish_7/53%20Stude%20Seeking%20200%20MPH/

[FoundSoul]

Here's some pics/video/specs etc of Gary Hart's record holding '53...

https://www.diyautotune.com/cars/customer/gary_hart_studebaker.htm

[dogfish7]

That's what I'm talking about! Thanks! Dual turbo set up would be nice.

[dogfish7]

Going after 60s - 70s look with a Tear Drop hood.

Here's a link to the build.
http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa80/dogfish_7/53%20Stude%20Seeking%20200%20MPH/

[skywalker18]

Hello everyone, my name is Luke Dixon.  I like long walks on the beach and candlelit dinners......  Just kidding, I'm a born and bred gear head, who has dreamed of going to Bonneville my whole life.  Born in Michigan and grew up going to Woodward and cruising telegraph in my Uncle's '64 Ford pickup.

I will be graduating from the University of Texas at Arlington this Saturday, with a BS in Mechanical Engineering.  In the new year, I'll be working for Bell Helicopter as an Engineer in the Drive Systems department.

As for racing history, I raced shifter karts all through high school out at the track in Denton and at local autocross events.  Bought my '95 Eclipse GST and got into drag racing, back to my roots.  In 2009, took my car out to the TX Mile in Goliad and blew the head gasket.  Best part about that trip was meeting Mike Reichen and getting bit by the land speed bug.  2010, we took my buddy's '92 AWD eagle talon to the mile.  Once again, we had a string of bad luck and didn't get a clean pass.  We sheared the teeth off a gear in the transmission.  October of this year, we took the talon back out (I was a co-driver) and we both finally got a decent pass down the mile.  He ran a best of 171.2 MPH and I ran a 170.3 MPH.  On my run, we blew up a silicon coupler.  Not having a replacement and not finding one locally, we packed up and called it a success.  Currently we are doing some aero work to get ready for the October 2012 event.  I saw Hooley's Stude there.  Unfortunately, I was too busy to get over there to talk with them or get better pictures before they left.

With the new career, I'll be getting my car back on the road as a daily driver for the better fuel economy.  Beats driving my trusty tow rig (a '83 Chevy K10) everyday.  Then, I'll be buying another 2G DSM ('95-99 turbo FWD Eclipse/Talon) to build for the Salt and the TX Mile.  I plan to run in PS first, moving to Altered, and finally Competition Coupe.  I've been reading the rulebook religiously, taking notes, and lurking here for a while.  I look forward to learning more here, meeting all of you, and hopefully seeing the salt for the first time, as a spectator, at Speedweek in 2012. 

I attached pictures of my car (the red one) and my buddy's.