I have been silently following these discussions for several years, realizing that all of you had far more to offer than I. What I have learned has directly contributed to the success of our roadster, so by way of a thank you, I wanted to tell about our recent weekend at Maxton where we now hold the E/STR record at 149 plus mph.
Although I first imagined landspeed racing at Bonneville, when as a teenager I ran a successful Triumph drag bike that I started to convert for the salt, I never completed the project, going to graduate school instead. But two years ago I was persuaded to revisit the idea. With the help of many friends our roadster started construction from scratch about 18 months ago.. While much of this is pretty standard stuff for a roadster our engine is a bit unique. It is a GM Bowtie V6, using a common pin crank and therefore dealing with the odd firing ignition timing. We use GM?s splayed valve heads, and I was able to convince Stu Hilborn to modify V8 fuel injection castings for our v6 engine. Although the V6 is often referred to as a ? sized small block, this fails to capture the quirky characteristics of this engine. Valve train geometry did not seem high on list of the developers of these wild splayed valve heads, so much trial and error with offset lifters, pushrod location, etc. was required We are finally on track for getting a gnuine odd firing ignition capable of handling the 9500 rpm that the engine is designed for.
But that is all background to the amazing experience of this past weekend at Maxton where Keith, Joe, Tonya, and Donna run one of the most wonderful racing events. One incident in particular is characteristic of the aura of this meet. While I stood waiting in line for race fuel, another roadster driver pulled up in his pickup and told me to hop in so he could show me what he thought was the best line to take on the concrete. His analysis was brilliant and contributed to the ease with which we tracked the course. I cannot imagine something like this happening at many venues.
We are now working on getting ready for Speedweek and look forward to meeting more of the people who hang out on this forum.
Robin Dripps
E/STR # 1986
