Most of my teenage life, and nearly all of my adult life I wanted to go to Bonneville. I finally went in 1998 for the 50th Anniversary Speedweek. Stayed for the whole 8 days - it was the most satisfying experience of my life. It's like visiting a whole alien planet where all the inhabitants do is race. Met a great many heros, talked with several, shot over 450 photos. Bonneville is truly a gearheaders paradise. The guy on the AM radio said it best - "Bonneville is just 8 days of peace, love and 200 MPH." I can't wait to go there again, I think about it everyday.
Here is the story of how we built the car, certified the car and driver and made our first 200mph p*** http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/hooley/hooley-2004.html Here are the changes we made for 2005 http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/hooley/hooley-construction-2005-1.html Here is the information about the runs we made in 2005 http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/hooley/hooley-2005.html This is a link to Sumner's main page that not only covers the links above but the building of his lakester and information on many other cars. http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/bvillecar/bonneville-Index.html The car is ready, we are waiting for August and smooth salt.
Yep, can't wait for August to come around again! Howzat? Well we started out with this and ended up with this and the whole story in betweenis Click Here Like the shift light story? The accidental installation of the 3000 rpm pill? the shift to neutral in the 3rd mile? What it feels like to make your very first run? That's a lot of typing! Most of which I've already done over at 1149.ca I'll add a post with some of our new toys in a couple hours. Mike
I have a question for those in the know... What is required to run a street car at Bonneville? Is tech any different than at a drag strip?
my goal is to take my TD to bonneville and try and break the records (though long broken now) set by the TD push car that ran with EX.181 during its LSR spree at Bonneville.
Go to the scta/bni web site and purchase a rule book. They cost about ten bucks. The book will tell you everything you need to know to run at the lakes or bonneville. Luck
We had a crew get-together last weekend to check out someof the new shiney stuff going into 1149. Walter, Don and Bryan, kids in a candy store (that's Digger Daves wris****ch in the background). We've still got a fair bit of shopping list to fill, but so far we've got. Heads and Valves Which BTW look just lovely on the inside and Pistons a perfect match to the heads and a new intake Mike
Uh I've been on the salt before. its been awhile. I imagine I still have a part or two floating around out there. Maybe not.
I'm building a 67 datsun pickup for the salt. Its not traditional but still fun just started the project so its really just blown apart
You need a roll cage (not a roll bar) at a minimum. I know there are other requirments, depending on the cl*** you enter. Unfortunatly not many people have cages in their street cars. Like Lucky said, get a rule book. The '06 books should be out in March (or so they always say) and will have all the current requirements for your vehicle.
Bonneville my wife says thats want I live for she could be right. If your coming to Autorama I will be there and we can talk about Bonneville all night.Todd and David will be there to. If you are let me know I will bring you a old rule book. I think that will help. Tom
To run a street car at the salt flats your best bet may be the USFRA's World of Speed event in Sept. In addition to the SCTA-BNI racing cl***es and ***ociated rules they have a 130 mph and 150 mph club event. This is a standing start mile run to a 132' timing trap. The rules for these cl***es are geared towards street vehicles and run on a separate track than the true race cars. You do pit in the same area so you can be close to the action that way. Check out the www.saltflats.com website for complete info. The reason I mention this is because the rules at a SCTA-BNI event on the salt are the same for all entries regardless if it is a pure race car or a street car. The required safety equipment varies with the existing speed in a given cl*** and can render a street vehicle almost useless when modifing it to run. I can hopefully answer any other questions you may have. BTW - I have been going to the salt since 1964. It took me 41 years to get into the 200 mph club. DW
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