Thanks Dennis, (December is not that far away!)

A few last minute details to pass tech.

Re-certified fire bottles.



Replace outdated safety harness.



Replace outdated helmet.



Getting closer to being ready.  We have to leave Wednesday the 12th.


Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)



BurnsRacing981@gmail.com

A small flame from the driver side header called for a last minute repair to a pin hole.


All better now.




Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)



BurnsRacing981@gmail.com

Looking good Charlie.  Keep those updates coming.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

I've been here for two days having a great time with Charlie and others at Bonneville.
Charlie ran a fantastic 160mph today on a 158mph record. He now needs to do it again tomorrow to claim a new record. There hasn't been any problems with the motor but we had to do a couple of patch repairs on other things, so we are hoping that they will hold up for tomorrow's run.
That old budget Yblock is amazing people around here.

Awesome


Lawrenceville, GA

Any updates on Charlie’s backup run for the record?

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

No record for us this year.  After 10 years of faithful service the little 258 ended its life in a huge bang.  While doing close to 100 in second gear I thought I heard a horrible grinding in the transmission and the engine rpm went through the roof.  It could be I stripped all the gears off or the clutch exploded and left the engine to fend for itself with the accelerator to the floor.  As I have no data recorder, I will just have to tear everything down to know for sure, but the little engine just couldn't survive the revs.

It's easy to speculate, but I'm sure it wasn't the engine's fault.  Tim McMaster has built me the best engine I could have ever hoped for on my budget as my biggest sponsor is Social Security.  There are NO after market parts below the intake except for bolts and studs.  Again, if it wasn't for the over revving problem, I believe the engine would still be alive today.

As a side note, after 5 years running this car, I finally had a considerable safety issue.  All that exhaust tubing under the hood left many vulnerable areas for fire.  I had experienced exhaust leaks before, but they were either gasket or fastening failures.  This time the driver side header flex portion came apart at a manufactured seam.  This shot fire straight at the fuel system.  Although all lines are stainless braided and heat protected, I firmly believe if I had made the full pass on the record run I would have had to have the emergency crews on top of me immediately.  Sometimes I think the race truck knew what was best for me and ended it early.

On a very positive note, I have the next stage of Tim McMaster Y-Block on deck as planned and we will jump up two classes.  The only off the shelf parts are the block and heads.  I will make necessary changes to the exhaust systems and give myself much more safety confidence as we head for faster speeds.   

I will begin the inspection process today and report on the problem.


Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)



BurnsRacing981@gmail.com

No rev limiter?


Lawrenceville, GA

There was a rev limiter but as I mentioned to Charlie I once had a 7AL2 and sold it on. The new owner later had it tested and the limiter was not working. So maybe the limiter was faulty.

Yes, there was a rev limiter.  It probably worked, but I'm thinking freewheeling rpms might be less forgiving than while under a load???

I disassembled the transmission and the second gear slider was really chewed on the end and the syncro had almost no points left.  My theory of the transmission jumping out of gear might be correct as I researched T-5 problems with these warn parts and jumping out of gear is a common symptom. 

Some of the carnage is interesting as you can just imagine the cycles of destruction that must have taken place.

A window below the starter in the skirt as well as the pan from the #4 cylinder.



Almost a complete wipeout of the #4 cylinder wall.



Broke through the valley in two places.  Note lifters broke in half.



Broke the camshaft completely at the last two lobes.



Lots of debris in the pan.



The #8 piston was hammered by both valves and left the exhaust valve severely bent.





Other areas of damage were the windage trey was bent, teeth from the distributor and cam gears were destroyed, and the aluminum flywheel was nicked pretty good when the freeze plug from behind the cam tried to exit the bell housing.  The crazy thing is the rod was bent, but not broke.  The heads need to be checked for cracks or guide problems, as they will be used on the new stroker motor.

Perhaps the engine's destruction started with floating valves, but only the #8 piston had valve marks.  If there was contact between the #4 piston and it's valves, we will never know.



Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)



BurnsRacing981@gmail.com