Sorry, I should have responded sooner.  Tim's second engine is a great success, we just had lofty goals and we haven't given up on it yet.  The original 258 cu. in. motor made about 1.2 hp per cu. in. at around 300 hp and was a huge success.  This engine is very different in lots of ways and so far it has made the same hp.  Our goal was to reach 1.3 hp per cu. in. and that would be about 330 hp.

Do we think we can capture that? You bet we do, unfortunately, we ran out of time for Speed Week.  October is now in the day planner and we will be ready.

Hope you and the rest of the gang have a great time at Columbus.  We will be visiting our grandchild in Montana at that time, but wished we could be there with you.

No, everything is the same as last year.  The forum here gave me some great info on what might work best, but in the final analysis, I just didn't want to change the looks and come up with something that would capture the air from the base of the windshield.  That would be the only thing that could be done to fit with in the rules for my class. (No headlight tunneling or cowl induction with holes in the firewall).

When I first put the blower type scoop on the hood, I thought it looked great and it did give me a great increase in performance with the solid block of foam rubber underneath to direct cool air to the carb.  After all the analysis, I'm sure I wasn't getting the best bang for the buck, but, I was pleased with the performance and just couldn't get past the good look.

When I first put the scoop on, long time chat friend Cliff Williamson (very knowledgeable racer and Y-Block fanatic) immediately asked me if I turned the scoop around backwards to catch the air from the base of the windshield.  I told him no because it looked wierd.  He laughed and said something like "whatever makes your boat float".

Would a better induction system be beneficial? Sure.  Would a straight side bed be more beneficial?  Sure.  I guess I am just stubborn and want everything to look nostalgic.  I know these things are a handicap for Tim, but, I have faith in him and that we can go 2 mph faster than we did last year at Bonneville and recapture the record. (Still 8 years left on a 10 year plan)

Thanks for the comments.  There seems to be more pictures taken while racing than in the shows.  We even got a picture in the Bonneville rule book to represent all production pickups.  Call me vain, but as long as we are successful, I will stay with the traditional look.  I know you are correct and that we need all the hp we can find, but I really think Tim will come up with the answer with this new engine to recapture the record.

Last year our best run at Bonneville was 124.635.  We had to average that with a head wind hindered 121 to set the record at 122.828.  Old Roy came back later after we left for Columbus with a pair of 126.0s to regain the record at 126.073.  Our goal is 130.

Tim has the dyno printouts and I would prefer to leave the technical questions to him because it is his baby and has worked hard to improve on last year.

Charlie, please look for a PM.

We will try it out soon in the new engine on our next dyno session. I'll keep you posted.