FLATCAD RACING Bonneville 2011 Build

Geeze that looks AMAZING! Awesome stuff!

 

Beauty Shots:

Here are some shots that we took right before we packed it all up and headed for home. Not high quality stuff - just me and a camera phone!









Sure was a LOT of fun . . . can't wait for next year . . . already counting the days!

 

It's hard to get down range shots, I'd like one of my truck at speed as well. I have plenty from Elmo but non at Bonneville.

 

Couple More Shots - Of the Hundreds We All Have:

Amy's cousin Mark is our official Crew Chief - and he is the guy that puts us in the car every time and his attention to detail for safety issues is second to none. Both Buddy and I really appreciate how calm, cool and collected he is . . . while he is getting us all sorted out and strapped in the cage.

He is one of the funniest bastards I know - as you'll see by the following two pictures (he is very serious when we're running and crazy as hell when we're not ). Of course, the grass skirt may have something to do with Amy and her table full of 'drinks' she served one evening!





Nice Shot of Amy and Buddy:



Leaving the Salt for the Day - What a Spectacular Place!



More to follow . . .

 

Down to business for next year-here's a short list of changes we are working on, to achieve the 190 mph mark.

I'm sure it will change!

Tranny, clutch, and rear diff changes
looking at a new girdle/mains set up
narrow front rims with 22" tires (23' currently) to address scrub
composite head gaskets
Dema Elgin roller cam
second fire bottle
bigger, new fuel tank
inner wheel disc covers
snorkel for the blower in comp coupe class
extending bellypan to cover 100%
aero over front axle setup
air cooled helmet for me!

 

Anyone with pics or videos, please be kind enough to also post them here:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=8078145#post8078145

 

Congratulations on a great speed week! I'll be following your progress for next year. I also want to buy a 3x record shirt when you print them.

 

Congrats Buddy and team. I have been following this build for more than a year and have been amazed by development of the Flat Cad motor and now 2 records.

Looking forward to ordering the new Flat Cad record holder T-Shirt.

N B R

 

Thanks NBR!

For part 2 of the FlatCad-The Quest for 200 MPH, please follow this thread:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=8088228#post8088228

We'll post all of our build changes, engine mods, etc., on that thread.

 

First of the record runs is here. Second one to come soon.

http://youtu.be/lO8Poof9kL8

I've tried embedding this so you can see the preview screen but its not working for me. If someone can give me a tip on how to do that I can repost it that way. Thanks, Lancer

 

Thank you Lancer!

That is Dale's qualifying run in XXO\BVGALT, 160.737 in the 2-1\4.

 

Thank you Lance for posting this for us !!!!!!!. We may be good at going fast but stink with computers. LOL

If any of you guys need a web site built or any Graphics work done Please check out Lance, He did a great job on my web site !!!

 

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Check out these really cool wrench set holders Pops29 made![/FONT]


Thanks again Pops! Contact Pops29 if you'd like to order one.

 

Your wife is getting interested in your project now???

 

That is too cool Don!!!!!

 

Thanks Carl
I will get one out to you for the help you gave us on the dyno pm me your address and as soon as I cut some more I will get it out to you

 

Here you go, video #2.

http://youtu.be/IaikdUEGO4s

 

This was our only 3 mile pass

 

Sometimes on the salt, the unexpected happens_ you're thrashing in the pits, things haven't went right for a day or two, and it's frustrating.

That happened to me this year-we were having fuel issues, and blew a freeze plug.

We were all working to get the car back on the track, and I kept noticing a gentleman of Japanese descent watch us curiously, and he seemed pretty interested in the flathead.

I got to a point where I could chat, so I made my way over to him.He introduced himself, and we chatted about the FlatCad for a while.

Walter Nakamura was his name, and he owns the Meteor lakester-very probably the first Cadillac flathead powered dry lakes racer! Needless to say, I forgot what was going on in the pits, and chatted about the car his dad and 2 friends had built. Wow, what are the chances?

This is some of the story about the car, that I 'borrowed' from elegantcars.com:



The Meteor was raced at Muroc and hit 104 mph in 1940. Records show only 29 cars broke the 100 mph barrier in 1939.In 1940, three West L.A. high school buddies were obsessed with hot rods and dry lakes. George Nakamura, Dick Phippen, and Carl Hoogoian had little in common, except their interest in fast cars.

Nakamura found the Meteor with its bird cage-like framework, which has riveted sections of aluminum scrap from Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach. It had two velocity stacks pointing skyward with a pair of Stromberg 97 carburetors. When Nakamura bought the race car, he drove on the streets of Culver City with its headlights buried inside the nose and 1939 Ford tail lights.
He drove it regularly until a minor head-on collision sidelined it. Nakamura was slightly injured, but the Meteor was relegated to a yard because he was unable to pay the storage fee. The yard owner removed and sold the flathead engine in the Meteor.

When the three friends were able to get the rest of the car back, they installed a 1937 Cadillac LaSalle V-8 engine, which still remains in the car six decades later. The lives of the three young men changed when Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941, except their friendship.
By mid-1942, Nakamura and his relatives were interned with thousands of other Americans of Japanese descent at Amache Internment Camp in Colorado. His two friends were appalled by this. Nakamura was given a 72-hour notice to leave Culver City, so Phippen offered to store the Meteor.
When Nakamura returned three years later in 1945, he started his life over again. Walter Nakamura, the elder Nakamura's son, often asked his dad about the Meteor, but his father refused to discuss it, possibly because he feared his son would be injured while racing it. After George Nakamura died, Phippen called Walter in 2003 and asked if he wanted to take his dad's car home.
Walter was able to get the Meteor back on the road with the untouched patina of storage corrosion and dust.
Walter Nakamura plans to bring the 1939 Lakester Meteor to Santa Barbara from his home in Pleasanton, California.

 

Wow!! That is so cool Buddy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

What are the odds???

 

Cool story, what are the odds?

 

And what a great Video!!!!!! puts you in the seat!!!!!

 

I really love these pieces of history and it would be so cool if Mr. Nakamura got the car running and raced it as a tribute to his father!

 

Well, it's time to start thinking about next year-tearing the engine down for a rebuild, and reworking the car itself.

....but, the Ohio mile is only about an hour from Dale's house! We're going to go and see what we can do on asphalt, since we will be so close anyway!

Dale's XXO/BVGALT class is open, and the record in XXO/BVGCC is 130.756 MPH, set by 'Scrap Iron', owned by Bobby Minis.

You can follow our future escapades here:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=728009

Wish us luck, or come by and see us!

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Go gettum Buddy ............... and FlatCad Crew

 

Patience Grasshopper, Patience!

I promise it will be worthwhile!

 

Patience Grasshopper, Patience!

Um whats that old saying "patience my ass, where's my shirt" or something like that?...........

 

This time next week we'll be in Wilmington, OH, for the Ohio mile!

Hotels are lined up, entry fee paid- we're good to go!

I'm going to sit this one out, driving wise, and crew. Along with Dale, we're going to break Randy (wrenchbender), and Danny, out driving. Everyone puts sooo much work into this car, it's time for them to have some fun too!

Stop out and see us!

 

Good luck Buddy, go get em.........should see 190 plus????