Hey ED.... you Notice HOW fast he was compared to a Certain Corvette we both
know and LOVE....
Keith ( hey Ed I mention my out the back speed?.... oh I know... tell me
about that Impound thing again.... I still don't know where it is....)( Yes
Ed is a Friend for those who don't know... I just love harassing him )
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ed Van Scoy" <edvs@uswest.net>
To: <ARDUNDOUG@aol.com>
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Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2000 10:42 AM
Subject: Re: Bonneville Speed Week 2000 Diary
> Congratulations Doug! I was talking to J.D. last nite and we were
marvelling at
> your success - that's flying with a 50 year-old motor!
> Ed
>
>
> ARDUNDOUG@aol.com wrote:
>
> > Group,
> > A couple of the other participants gave us a blow-by-blow of their
salty
> > experience so here goes with mine.
> > I had the 1313 XXF/FMR ready for the June El Mirage, running a
listless
> > 174 on a 184 record. During the post-race checkout I found a couple of
> > exhaust seats on the Ardun heads that had moved around, ruining the
leakdown,
> > as well as my Vertex mag coil needing replacing.
> > I removed the offending head and ground the seats in preparation for
a
> > chassis dyno run which yielded 327HP on gas and 425HP on 55% nitro.
After the
> > dyno session and the Muroc Reunion I experienced the same valve problem
on
> > the opposite head, corrected the leaks, and discovered that in the
assembly
> > process I'd only given the exhaust valves 95# on the seat. Off came the
heads
> > again to shim the springs to 140# on the seat. I was hoping that the
valves
> > had hammered the seats rather than the scenario of inadequate
heat-treating
> > done after the heads were extensively reworked.
> > The car was in the trailer 2 weeks before Bonneville. Talk about a
spooky
> > feeling, wondering what I'd forgotten and when the second shoe would
drop.
> > Thursday noon the 10th, Son Brian and I left Castro Valley (Bay
Area)
> > Calif. with a 2 car caravan and his Bassett(sp?) hound Othella. Friday
at
> > 3:30AM found us at the "bend-of-the-road", very sleepy.
> > We pulled on to the salt at 7:00AM, found pit space that Roy Creel
had
> > saved for us, unloaded the modified roadster, and were in the tech line
at
> > 9:00 waiting for the inspections to begin at 10:00 as advertised.
Fortunately
> > the inspection started early and we were back in our pit with the
"Inspected"
> > sticker before 10:00AM.
> > The rest of the day we "kicked-back" as much as can be done in 100
deg.
> > weather, renewed old acquaintances, and made some new ones.
> > Saturday morning brought the drivers meeting at about noon and the
start
> > of the long lines to run. After all the trouble I'd had with this motor
I was
> > preparing myself for the thrash of changing to our spare "bullet" after
the
> > first run. This particular Ardun had given me "fits" from the git-go,
mostly
> > due to my own mistakes and carelessness. The spare bullet was the one we
ran
> > 198 with at the World Finals before the cylinder we wounded earlier
failed.
> > About 2:30 Saturday we were at the front of the Long-Course line,
> > strapped into the car and ready to go.
> > The "moment-of-truth" with the Ardun always seems to be at the 2-3
shift.
> > It will pull pretty good in low and second, but if the tune-up is off or
the
> > engine drops a cylinder it won't pull past 5500RPM.
> > In low gear it doesn't do much but spin the wheels. The 2.46:1 C-4
low
> > gear really needs to be replaced with something around 2.1:1.
> > On this run I made the mistake of shifting 1-2 with full throttle
and the
> > thing about swapped ends on me. After gathering my wits I got down to
> > concentrating on keeping the car between the cones and the black lines,
made
> > the 2-3 shift at 6500, and was delighted to watch the tach start its
climb
> > back from the bottom of the cam range. When it passed 5500 well before
the 2
> > mile marker I knew it was doing OK. The car handled very well but took
> > constant attention due to a small amount of wheel spin and the drivers
> > tendency to over-control.
> > Leaving the 3rd mile the tach was slowly creeping past 6300 and I
knew
> > that we had qualified on Bill Taylor's 1969 record of 201.
> > As I passed the 4 mile marker I knew the car was several MPH over
the
> > record and started slowing, turning out before the 5 mile marker and
coasting
> > to a stop behind Jack Costella's crew on the return road. They hadn't
heard
> > my speed but gave me a welcome drink of ice water. The sight of my crew
> > coming toward me with the horn blaring told me what I wanted to hear. We
had
> > a 1/4 mile trap speed of a little over the record, a mile speed of about
205,
> > and a 4th mile speed of 208.
> > We then took the car to impound, checked in with Dan Warner,
replaced the
> > nitro with gas in preparation for the return-run warmup, read the plugs,
> > calculated the density altitude for our run (7800') and waited for the
> > morning return pass.
> > The evenings get pretty short when you have a car in Impound. By the
time
> > you get to the KOA, take a shower, and eat dinner it's often 11:00PM
Mountain
> > time. In order to be at the "end-of-the-road", fed, shaved, and ready to
> > start preparing the car by 5:45AM we had to get up at about 4:30AM (3:30
on
> > my Pacific Time watch).
> > Sunday morning brought a density altitude of about 4800' so we
changed
> > Saturdays .115 pill for a .110, warmed the oil with our Moroso pan
heater,
> > warmed the engine on gas, replaced the gas with 55%, and were ready to
follow
> > Dan Warner out to the starting line at 7:00AM.
> > On the second leg the car behaved well, turning 202 in the 1/4 trap,
208
> > or so in the mile, and 211 in the middle mile. Not wanting to flog my 50
> > year-old block I lifted after the 4 mile marker and was on the return
road
> > before passing abeam of the 5 mile markers.
> > Back to the Inspection lines again for the event I'd been after
since
> > first attending Speed Week as a spectator in 1968 and driving at
Bonneville
> > in 1987, the induction into the "Two-Club". What I'd wanted for Sooo
long but
> > dared not anticipate had finally happened.
> > J.D.Tone, one of our LSR group, did the engine measurement with a
folding
> > device I furnished (Elmo Gillette invented it) that fits down the spark
plug
> > hole and confirms the bore. J.D. is a long-time XO GMC racer/record
holder
> > and has been a great supporter of my LSR efforts.
> > If I'd been any help to my crew before getting my "hat" I was
completely
> > worthless afterward. I was on a different planet.
> > Back to reality, it was Sunday morning and we had achieved our main
goals
> > on the second day of the meet. Dave "Hayseed" Thomsson had upped his own
> > XXF/BSR blown Ardun record and was ready to go after my 1988 XXF/STR
record
> > of 143. Not wanting to go out leaving anything on the table we changed
> > classes and started after Hayseed's XXF/GMR record with Brian driving.
> > Back in the pits we discovered a long split in one of the welds in
our
> > coolant tank. Brian, Ed Weldon, and Kent Walton scrounged some J-B Weld,
> > silicone from town, and aluminum angle trim from my trailer, and
fashioned a
> > temporary "fix" that stopped the leak.
> > I knew from my experience at Muroc that the Ardun on gas needed a
shorter
> > gear than it did on nitro. Brian, however, insisted on trying the 2.48:1
cog
> > on gas. We changed nozzles, spark plugs, fuel, pill, reset the barrel
valve,
> > and were at the front of the line at 2:30 Sunday.
> > When Brian made the 2-3 shift the engine had a helluva time pulling
it,
> > finally getting back to 5600RPM at the end of the first timed mile for a
> > speed of 179. Still, we had qualified and headed for impound.
> > In impound we discovered another split in the coolant tank and the
guys
> > went to work with more J-B Weld, silicone caulking, aluminum trailer
trim,
> > and sheet metal screws, this time fighting the 4-hour window allowed for
> > preparing the car for the return run.
> > Monday morning found Brian with the gears changed to the recommended
> > 2.7:1, the engine warmed, and ready for the second leg of his record
run. He
> > turned a 186 in the 1/4 trap but the car got a little loose and he
lifted in
> > the mile, slowing to 184. The average was still 181 for the record,
Brian's
> > first Bonneville record. He's been driving our Ardun powered Dragmaster
at
> > the nostalgia drags since 1992 but this years Muroc Reunion was his
first LSR
> > record.
> > Meantime, it was Monday afternoon and we still hadn't had the rocker
> > covers off, the oil was still looking OK, and the oil filter looked
clean, so
> > we decided to do Rookie runs on gas for crewmembers Ed Weldon and Mike
> > Gorvad. You should have seen the smiles on their faces. Now they're
REALLY
> > hooked.
> > Tuesday the car just stayed parked in the pits. Brian took the chase
> > pickup and headed for home with grand-dog Othella. He is starting a new
high
> > school teaching job in Napa, CA, moving into a new house, and has a lot
of
> > preparation to do.
> > By afternoon the weather looked pretty threatening so I trailered
the
> > car, cleaned up the pit, and moved the rig to the "bend-of-the-road" to
avoid
> > a soggy mess if we got hit by a thunderstorm.
> > Wednesday night was the Two-Club banquet. Lots of vintage engine
people
> > there including McCain & Houtz (220MPH XF/BFL) and the Hudson Guys
(220+MPH
> > XO/BFS)(I believe).
> > Thursday AM I headed west, arriving home in 11 1/2 hours. Now the
cleanup
> > starts.
> > It's now Tuesday night and everything's cleaned up and de-salted,
the
> > Ardun's vital signs look OK for the November El Mirage 2-day meet, and I
can
> > spend some time getting ready to test-n-tune the dragster with the 4:71
blown
> > 258ci Ardun. Hopefully we'll be introducing this engine to the modified
> > roadster soon.
> > My street roadster, the Wife's car, and my 1958 Morris Minor LCV Van
are
> > all sporting "Bonneville 200MPH Club" license plate frames.
> > For those of you that have read this missle thus far, thanks for
> > listening.
> > Ardun Doug King
> >
>
>
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