OK. This will take some tellin'
When we started building the Spirit of Sunshine we really had no idea what we were in for, there's 350 or so pages before this one though that amply tell the story of the ups and downs, the naivete and the triumphs. We might have glossed over some of the less than spectacular moments and we may have neglected to mention some of the complete Fiat-ups, not many of them were to do with the car specifically but when something becomes so intertwined with your life it is hard to complete isolate cause and effect. Two guys, that quickly became three started to build a car for a sport that they knew little about, they learned fast, and threw absolutely everything into it.
It took six years from conception to make the salt for the first time after a few years were rained out. The first years results were better than expected. We'd already made a lot of friends, principally by telling our story. To me personally it was an integral part, we weren't doing this to beat other people we were doing it to meet other people, like minded people, to have fun, so there was no point being secretive about it, I told everyone I knew and it quickly became apparent I was telling a whole bunch of people I didn't know too.
Landracing.com and it's forum fell in our laps after we'd been researching and designing for a couple of years, the build of the car was only six or so months old.
We made some very valuable friends on Landracing.com, Jack Dolan rest his soul was very helpful, Sumner, Bill Smith, Stainless and Wayno, Rex were all great counsel.
We raced the car 2009, 2010 and 2013 going 160, 193 and 215mph, in 2014 we ran 205mph and reality sunk in, we'd broken a fair bit of stuff, spent( for us) a lot of money but if we were going to get close to Kelly and Hall's 2003 Bonneville class record in E gas lakester of 236.xxxmph we needed a bigger bullet, although we, I, hadn't broken this motor it wasn't going to magically make another 20 odd mph. We decided to regroup. The car was simple and good and it went faster than lots of other things with more power, it was worth pushing on with.
Dik, the Reverend had moved overseas, I'd managed to mess up the personal side of my life and we were broke. Graham and I went to Gairdner in 2015 as spectators and officials.......and started to think. The V6 could make the 450 or so hp we needed if we put a stratospheric amount of money into it, but it would be bespoke parts and what if we broke something? There were more than a few E class V8's making near 500hp and the parts could be bought but we'd have to stretch the car to fit two more cylinders in. We'd need a few years to build it....and pay for it.
I moved to the country with Cassie my partner, an old house and a big shed and spent the first ten months working to knock the house into shape.....
A few weeks ago I sent a group email, just turning things over, it included Chris Conrad in Milwaukee, Mark Balinski in Cheeseland and Jon Benett in Queensland..... Then I posted our ideas here, we were finally going to get started on a rebuild, stretch and re-motor chasing that record of 236mph.
A few days later I got a message from someone on Landracing I didn't know, Robin Dripps.
Dr. Goggles,
I have followed your build since the beginning and always enjoy the attitude you bring. I noticed this morning that you are considering a new engine. I am familiar with the E engine having set records at Bonneville with a V6 and qualified for records with a v8. I no longer am using my V6 and would be willing to donate this to a great cause.Some explanation: The engine is a GM Bowtie iron racing block. Better casting, set up for dry sump, etc. The heads are the Bowtie aluminum splayed valve heads set up by HRD to give amazing flow with custom Jesel valve train actually machined in Jesel's shop. Other specs include Moldex crank, oliver rods, bullet cam. Stu Hilborn made a special electronic fuel injection system for the engine, probably a one off affair. I can give complete specs if there is any interest. The engine has one week of Bonneville on a complete rebuild. On a chassis dyno it put out around 480 hp on the rear wheels. I can get dyno sheets. This was a competitive engine in the ESTR class until the near million dollar Mariani roadster arrived. A long set of conversations with Kenny Duttweiler suggested that the best approach was to switch to a v8. I worked with Kenny for three years to finally get a 256 CID engine to make 650 HP. This was not inexpensive.
Kenny evaluated my v6 before we made the decision to go with a v8 and the engine is currently in his shop.
Kenny first thought he could sell it to some racers in Dubai but that fell through and I have no time to deal with all the things needed to put the engine on the market. Having followed your thread for years and feeling a certain set of shared interests in the various members (I am an architect, play electric guitar, among other things) I thought this might be a way to have a very interesting engine find a good home.
You would have to pay for crating and shipping and that would be all.
So, if you have any interest let me know and I can give complete specs. You also can talk with Kenny and get his opinion on the engine, but l probably would need to let him know this is okay.
I know there is much discussion on the forum and you are certainly welcome to bring this up for discussion.
At any rate give this a thought and make of it what you think best,
Robin Dripps ESTR 1986
I was stunned, I pasted it into an email to Gray and sent him an SMS
"READ YOUR EMAIL!, READ YOUR EMAIL!"
I got a reply in his usual understated way,
"That should do it"
I was completely gobsmacked, it made 480hp, it was built for 9000+rpm, it was in the Duttweiler workshop.
For those unfamiliar with Robin's roadster the story is here....
http://www.automobilemag.com/features/columns/0711_vile_gossip_salt_speed_dreams/In short, we won't regard this as our property, we would hope to send it back in time. The Dripps Gibby team have raised money for various charities and I feel that we may also be obliged by the great scheme of things to turn our hand, whether it be for the homeless sector I have worked in or something else, we'll see.
Right now I am still in a state of shock, we've got some work ahead of us, but it's going to be fun and trust me, you'll hear all about it.
Cheers, and thanks for listening.
Topic: Australian Belly Tank (Read 3515606 times)