Indeed, but they did have a problem on their backup run. Between the 2 and the 3, they lost oil pressure, so their attempt average was based between the 1 and the 2. Still came in with a 152 average on a 144, but it would have made a huge statement if it had held together through the 3, and they could have averaged the 166 down run speed through the 3, rather than basing it on the 160.
They mentioned they thought the oil pump gave up the ghost, and Mark, I was right, they WERE running a stock oil pump. I'm not sure how the rest of the engine was plumbed with the BMW head, but there was no report of external leakage. Post mortem will tell the tale.
From their Facebook page -
The world's most iconic small-car, on the worlds fastest race track!
The team have finished up at Bonneville, walking away with two records and a fastest run of 166mph (267kmph) going into an 8mph head win. We were planning for 170mph+ on our last run as the conditions were perfect and we had finally found the sweet spot on the tune, but the little 970cc A-series motor said no more half way through the run.
We pulled the pin out of the 370hp hand grenade at the start of week, and had no intention of putting it back in. At the end a lack of oil pressure stopped us. Both Nelson and Bryan have been honored to be part of one of the most popular teams at Bonneville for a second time.
A little about the car...
A 1964 Mini Cooper, beautifully prepared by the Project '64 Mini team. We developed the engine, and supplied the driver (Nelson Hartley). The Minis power plant is the original A-Series BMC 970 Cooper S (970cc). The engine is still running the original block and gear box, but with a BMW K-series motorcycle cylinder head grafted to the top, fuel injection, and a perfectly tuned turbo supplied by Steve Murch at MSE Turbos. As we always do, we made as many components in house as we could, everything had to be strong, getting rid of the harmonic out of a 3 bearing crank shaft at 20psi of boost and 10,000rpm is never easy. With pure Methanol fueling the little beast, we made just over 370Hp on the Dyno in NZ. Not bad for an engine that started life with roughly 60Hp.