Regards,

I was just out there at the end of the asphalt access drive on Friday morning and the weather was glorious. The mountain was floating on the horizon and I sure wished I had one of my toys instead of a "rent-a-car"....

Well on his way after some Newcastle, bench racing, and Chinese food at casa de BIGREDTODD last night...

The blossoming metropolis of Winnemucca:

Looks pretty serious...

Good Luck and Godspeed tomorrow guys!

Tech inspection line today (Tim said they did inspection yesterday to avoid this)

Some scenic beauty on the salt

And here is the Competion

Tim said this was a bit of a "Money is no object" kinda truck so there would be no shame in not beating him, But if they did it would be a victory for low-buck, home builders (and Y-Blockers) everywhere..

Oh, and Dennis the other cam was a new one on old lifters and ran almost exactly the same speed, the slower pass was the next one and I think it was a timing change that did that or the cam was just eating itself up.  The reason for installing a new cam on old lifters is I wasn't going home without trying, it would have made for a great story if it had worked.

2nd, what combination did the scrub use to fall under the 260CI class, that is what you are in isn't it? didn't they start at 265ci v8's, did they de-stroke or de-bore (start with an aftermarket unbored block and bore to smaller size)

Just curious, I am sure with the help of some of the other guru's out here you will have it back next year.

Keep up the good work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fctwQghNPu0

I seem to remember gm using a 262 inch V8 in the glorified vega called a monza.  Wouldn't be too hard to destroke that one to 260.

The chebbie was a 267 block (3.5" bore) and a 327 crank (3.25" stroke)  for a total of 254ci.  He showed me his dyno sheet and the #s were a little better than what we brought to the table but he was also running a TH-400 so both Charlie and I figured he might have trouble pulling that.  Apparently the extra stroke and torque helped and now he has the record and we have to beat 127 mph instead of 126.  Nothing worthwhile is easy.

Burns Brothers Racing ...

Congrats to all of you that had a hand in this, for both making the trip and then making a serious try at the record - and repairs to boot. If it was easy  - everyone would be able to do it - and we all know that's not the case. Better luck next time!!

This is all with low compression motors from 200,000 mile junkers, early 60's motors that were detuned, small valve etc.

I do have an idea on the cam and it has more to do with the oil pump, too much pressure and a worn thrust plate.  As for the gearing, it is not winding out, it kinda hits a wall at 5600 rpm and when Charlie made his record run it was turning 7000.  That was with 4.33 and now the truck has 4.11.  If Charlie will chime in I'm sure he would be the first to tell you that the gearing is at the optimum for this engine, there have been many changes and it just wont pull a higher ratio.

There is also altitude to be considered.  At El Mirage we are 2000' lower than Bonneville and the engine in the same configuration was still pulling hard at 6200 rpm but I just run out of track.  The DA was very close though, I'm right now looking at all my timing slips and when I ran 118 at Elmo the DA was 5819' and the best run at Bonneville the DA was 6238' only about 400' difference.  But the engine had 4 runs and 5 dyno pulls between the two so I don't know what the cam was like for the Elmo run.

I have total faith in Tim's ability and flat cams or whatever else has been a gremlin will be over come.  I also like the way he is driving, but, I will be back in the driver's seat before long.

My experience with final drive ratios is growing.  I thought high gears would be the requirement to go fast.  Wrong!!!  In the first Y-Block configuration, it was making about 310 hp at the flywheel and not bad at 1.2 hp/cu. in.  With that power, I started and stayed with 29" tires.  The first ratio used was 3.70 and I did a best of 101, and that was in 3rd gear because it slowed down in 4th.  I tried lower gears until I reached 4.33 and that was the optimum.  That set up ran 118.9 at El Mirage, 124.6 at Bonneville, and 120.3 at Maxton, all records.

With the next couple of engine setups, additional hp was expected.  I changed to 4.11s with 27.75" tires and that raised the final drive slightly.  If we would have realized the additional 20 to 30 hp, the truck should have ran about 130.  At 6700 RPM the tire speed would be about 135 and educated and experienced minds (not mine) think we would lose about 5 mph do to traction loss.  This thinking was based on our speed, high co-efficiency of drag, and hp numbers.

I'm hearing 1 3/4" primary headers, higher compression pistons, valve size changes, all exciting stuff.  Remember, this is not a stroked 312 with 500 hp which would require much higher gears. 

We will be back................

excerps from the 50's, there are salesman who said they drove over a 1000 miles straight averaging over 100mph.

What RPM is your most torque at? may you want to gear so you are pulling at max torque RPM? just a thought.

Billy,  I feel your confusion.  Primarily it's the barn door effect with this pickup that makes higher gears ineffective.  Like Charlie Mc said, the first 100 mph comes easy, it is the last 30 mph that is the problem.  I feel that if I put the best engine we have come up with in the BonnevilleComet it would probably run 140.

Another problem is the 3rd to 4th split.  The closer you get to 1:1 in 3rd, the easier it is to pull high gear.  I am on the second T-10.  The first one had a 71% 3rd and this one is 74%.  The T-5 will be 78%.  One of the 200 mph trucks there runs a Jerico with many gear choices and he runs 91% just before high gear. 

By the way, the competition this week just set another record at 128+ and he is running a 4:10 with 28" tires.

Since Karol has just posted in the Y block mag, maybe somebody like "Hoosier" who writes him could pop some questions and get some secrets out of him. You never know, he may want to get the bug again before he leaves the planet without passing his secrets along. Like an old retired boxer coming back for the title. Wouldn't that be History!

Some time back I thought I had an original idea of placing a short tail shaft, pickup 3-speed backwards and behind the T-10.  Third would be direct and 2nd would be an overdrive.  I have since learned the idea may have been good, but not original.  Thoughts of fabricating, shifting levers, and parasitic drag has pretty much eliminated that possibility. 

Karol lives about 200 miles north of me and I have always wanted to visit with him.  I have his address from one of his friends.  I don't know what I am waiting for, but now might be a good time.

Nascar guys "tape up" their outfits to stop frontal air entry - probably not legal out front of the pick-up, but can you restrict air travel to or through the radiator bulkhead? Perhaps use an air box and hose to the carb entry and slick off the hood some? They also fool with the front springs so that the faster they go - the tighter she hugs the ground - literally bumping the front brakes to collapse them at just the right moment to close suction - and they were doing that with the old bodies, before the "splitter" joined our vocabulary. 

The shifter location does leave a lot to be desired and it is a little sloppy but if I take a little time to make sure it is in gear it's better than missing a shift and then trying to get it back in, I have missed gears on a few occasions.  Bonneville it is no so critical because you have three miles to pick up speed, well two and one to get timed, but at El Mirage it is more like a drag race with 1.3 miles although there is very little traction on the dirt and you kinda take it easy in first and second anyway.

Ah, and then there is the question of aerodynamics.  We talk about that a lot and there is not much we can do, class configuration limits it and the body that we are stuck with limits it.  The first thing I said to Charlie when I saw the blue chebbie was "uh oh, it's a fleetside" as for the hoodscoop there has been talk about that too but the biggest fact is that just by installing it we gained 5 mph out at Elmo and went from trying for the record to breaking it by 3 mph so I think it stays.  For some reason it's legal and a hose to the airbox is not.  I have often thought that a "Unibody" would make for an excellent landspeed truck so if anyone has one to donate and a little extra cash $$$ to set it up, I'm game to try.

        close by to compare it to.....less weight, etc.....

                                              Bill

        It would still be a production body!!

My 57 F100 is shortbed fleetside, can you just change beds?

How about an Aussie UTE body, similar to unibody but with car nose so better aerodynamics, would that fall in pickup class?

Records are just made to be broken and no matter how fast we make this pickup run, someone will top it before long.  You could spend a whole career leap frogging with some one trying to be the last to set a record.  I believe Tim will break the El Mirage record and then we will be able to say that dog has had it's day. 

I had always said I wanted to walk before we started to run and we have done that.  Now we will start to trot a bit with the Comet.  Our success has been good, but my goals are hardly realized, and the time frame for my 10 year plan is slipping away (and I'm not getting any younger).  I will now turn my attention back to the BonnevilleComet which has been on hold for a whole season.

http://www.myrideisme.com/Blog/speed-week-2010-y-block-fridge-cab-race-truck/

Tim.  Great interview.  Thanks for sharing.

David Z. dropped by and returned the 650 Speed Demon yesterday.  Did you get a chance to try it on the engine?  On a sidenote, your head gaskets will go out today.

Yes Ted, we did try it on the engine.  It showed slightly lower on the HP (1 or 2) and a little higher on the torque (4 or 5) but the throttle was not set up for our linkage and the fuel line needed to be modified.  I do think with some tuning it may have work well but we ran out of dyno time and when the truck was put away it wasn't coming out till Bonneville so we just didn't have the time.  I think in the future we may change carbs. but I just wanted to get it back to you.  Thank you very much for the help, your input is always appreciated.