Well we didn't set any Records.... Damn shame but We had a Great time and
made lots of new friends.... Met a Ton of E-mail buddies.... which was
wonderful... we are in one of those environments that simply doesn't put a
face on a fella... It was great to talk with all of you... and honestly
.Your great folks in Person...
The So Al "semi" Special was an absolute riot to run on the salt... thanks
to John Beckett for having the ECTA and Joe Timney for quality inspections
over a years time.... Tech was a breeze big bubbles no troubles... matter
of fact Less Problems then most folks.... (reckon Mike Cook (pres SCTA)
walking up and introducing us to the tech guys helped?)
We ran the car Ten times total... which was well short of our goal... but
we had a little French kissing exercise between the Valves and the Pistons
when the Jesel Belt drive slipped.... for some reason... the valves didn't
take kindly to this
First passes were 140mph then up to 160 and a good plug check... cleared me
up to 190.... and Brad was cleared to 7800... so based on exit Rpm he went
198 with about 3/4 throttle.... The car was cooking with no real
problems...
came in Monday Morning and swapped in the 307 gear set with the Help of
Darrel from Our list here...(thanks Darrel... your help was most
appreciated) Took the car over to the Long course... and decided it was
time to let the car run up to speed.... after the first mile of slick salt
I got it in fourth with the motor breathing fine and building Rpm like a
banshee.. and it all quit accelerating.... just stopped at 5800 rpm....
Pulled off the course to the right and shut it down..... I was bummed....
I had waited 4 hours on the starting line with the full expectation that
the car was going to run the number.... For once in my life I was quiet...
secure in the knowledge that the car was going to do what I had built and
designed it to do....
Took a full night to relax and gain a little insight on what was wrong and
what happened to the motor... and to kinda regroup and figure out how to
get the most out of the rest of the week.... Oh and thanks to John
Beckett's Prodding we finally decided to Swap in our back up motor and run
it the rest of the week....
( thanks to help from our Aussie Crew.. Garth Butterworth) we put Brad's
355 in and ran it several more times.... Learned lots of lessons.... and
finally listened to what we knew was right and slipped on our Big carb and
tall tires and ran a respectable 180mph... with a short shut down due to
over heating... seems the Belt drive got the CSI Water pump also...
The lessons learned could fill a Large book.... and over the next couple of
months I am sure I will fill you in on them all.... Mostly I want to say
thank you again to all of you who took the time to drop by and say
Hello.... and for making our first speed week one of the most pleasant and
enjoyable weeks of my life..
Keith Turk
Austin Healey 100 / Bugeye / Box Sprite / Bonneville Land Speed Racer
Camaro ( D Gas Altered )(modified to a C on short notice)
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