Hi, new guy. Checked in at the "Introduction" forum and everything.
This will be my first time on the salt. I always admired land speed efforts. I think the first time I learned about it was when the Blue Flame ran. I was never into it enough to want to try it, being more of a road racing type, but now that I've done a little road racing I'd like to give the salt a try. We're signing up for the 130 mph club event.
The car is a 1969 Opel GT. We found it on eBay and bought it for $200. It had been sitting in an orchard for 25 years but it was still in good enough shape to take it racing, after 9 weeks of intensive work. Racing for us, by the way, is the 24 Hours of LeMons, so the car is cheap, and not really that fast, but it has finished all eight of its races, even brought home four trophies, and is still going strong. The car is also street legal and street driven, and looks pretty good, from a distance.
The car's aero is good. I'll do a rolldown test soon to get some numbers, then will do some calculations. We have hit 115 mph on a closed course, and 120 mph was the publishing top speed at red-line. We might be able to get closer to 130 mph and if we pop in a 5 speed it should be possible.
I read the rules carefully, several times, and even made a checklist. I know there aren't many rules, but oft times what one reads online in May is not quite what an inspector wants to see in September. I emailed USFRA with a few questions and so far haven't received good answers, so I thought I'd ask them here.
1. After running for two years in LeMons we have a pretty solid car, with a great cage, harness, all that good stuff. But it does not have windows, except for the windshield. I didn't see anything in the rules about side and rear glass but I figure other than convertibles everyone will have their glass in and windows rolled up, for obvious aero reasons. I an concerned that if I showed up without that glass that it might create a stir/cause me the fail tech. My question is, will our missing windows be a problem or concern? And, do the event organizers require wrist straps and/or window nets for cases like this?
2. Our drive shaft is only 16" long, as measured between the u-joints. The torqe tube covers the rest of the distance. While short, we do not have a strap or other retention device for the drive shaft. Is this required for such a short drive shaft?
3. How would folks feel if a friend came along to film my runs... from the air? He'll be in a hang glider (rigid-wing type) and will even have a motor for assistance in takeoffs and for flying when soaring is not possible. He is a national champion cross-country pilot with over 30 years experience and has one of the best gliders available. Of course he'll be slower than the cars but will also be at an altitude where he can follow the action OK. What do you think? If OK, are there any requirements, such as where he lands and takes off, where he flies, minimum altitude, for instance, to not cross the line of our runs, etc.
4. Would it be OK if I had a drag chute on my car?
That's all for now. I'll be scanning posts here for advice for first timers, logistical issues and others.
Thanks in advance.
Mike
P.S. Our LeMons team and car on Facebook -
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Tinyvette/192201637460668