Bonneville Landspeed Racing - Let's Try a Thing.

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Chatted with the tech guys today. I was told the easiest thing to do is download the tech inspection form and follow what is looked for while remembering safety listed is just the minimum. I will be fine now. Just need to be less paranoid and read what is actually said. Can now resume normally scheduled programming.
 
I finally got around to setting up my new 110 welder for sheet metal work. I welded most of the Charger back window in. Oh and SCTA issued me my requested car number. Officially car 476. Getting closer

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Back window is finished welded in. Also the floor is now all welded back where I made the relief cuts to flatten it.
 
Working on the Charger today. Got a trans mount made and engine plate to roll cage mounts. Just tacked in. Bolts were the only 1/2" bolts I have. Engine and trans are bolted in for the first time!

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Then built the steering. Need to support it better and I want to move the quick connect down near the interior support so the shaft come off with the wheel for more clearance. With the mounts and steering, it allowed me to push it outside. Nice to see it at a distance in the sunlight.

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I always thought a 67-69 Barracuda Fastback would make a decent speed car. I am sure you would have to tweak the nose and tail a bit to improve the car's aerodynamics (like they did with the Charger 500), but the car looks like it might be slippery enough at high speed. And if there are engine CI restrictions, I think I would go with a stroked small block on nitrous.
 
harrisonm said:
I always thought a 67-69 Barracuda Fastback would make a decent speed car. I am sure you would have to tweak the nose and tail a bit to improve the car's aerodynamics (like they did with the Charger 500), but the car looks like it might be slippery enough at high speed. And if there are engine CI restrictions, I think I would go with a stroked small block on nitrous.
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4/27 is 427 Day!

This 2,070hp four-wheel-drive projectile is actually faster then a speeding bullet!

The Challenger II streamliner was the brainchild of the hyper-prolific and ingenious Mickey Thompson in collaboration with Ford's small volume fabricator Kar Kraft. Built in only five months in 1968, because Ford spared no expence for the best and most talented engineers and fabricators. It was noteworthy for its unprecedented who's-who of talent. With drag-racing fabricator Pat Foster overseeing the build, Thompson hired the famous IndyCar builder Quin Epperly for chassis construction, TopFuel builder Tom Jobe, and Nye Frank handling the many aluminum panels necessary to sheath the race car, with assistance from Lil' John Buttera. Ford supplied money and engineering talent, with some fab help from Kar Kraft in Detroit. The 30 feet long and 37 inches high Challenger II had two 427-SOHC Ford engines. A conventional naturally aspirated one prosucing 810 horses up front. And a supercharged one producing 1,260 horses in the rear. It required a judicious application of the twin foot-operated throttles to keep steady. These engines cost over $6,000 apiece at the time. We should also add that this car was being constructed while Thompson was in the middle of building his Bonneville Mustangs and three Mustang Funny Cars.

On one of the early runs piloted by Mickey Thompson the Challenger II topped 400mph. To put that into perspective, that's 586fps (feet per second) which is faster than the 500fps bullet from a .22 caliber CB Cap rimfire “Colibrí” round. The Challenger II hit 400mph easily, as it was just warming up before an unseasonal heavy rain storm flooded the salt. Soon after Ford pulled the plug as part of its withdraw from racing in the fall of 1969.

Thompson had planned to run the Challenger II agian in 1988. He put together the first part of the funding to upgrade the Challenger II, three weeks later, Mickey and his second wife Trudy were gunned down in their driveway.

Recently his son Danny just took Ford's 50 year old Challenger II and broke the current piston-powered land speed record (AA/FS class) at a two way average of 448.75 mph, with two non-Ford engines running nitromethane. A terminal speed that absolutely smashed George Poteet Speed Demon's 439 mph record. If left in its original shape, that car would be worth millions today.

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Art Arfons is a hero. True hot rodder, used what he had and did crazy speeds.

 
I put the lowering kit in the front suspension and temporarily hung the sheet metal to help visualize it. Looks much better.

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Oh yea. That looks awesome. You’re going to want to research frontal area and look to improve that. You’re basically pushing a barn door at this point.
 
TT5.9mag said:
Oh yea. That looks awesome. You’re going to want to research frontal area and look to improve that. You’re basically pushing a barn door at this point.
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Yes, frontal area will be an issue. In C/GALT, if I run in a class at all and not just open/timed, I am allowed to block the entire grill if I wanted. I would love the aero of a Daytona, but I have reasons for not going that direction if possible. I was thinking, with the Coronet flush grill (C500), maybe the Coronet front bumper would be better also. Less air directed under the car like a Charger inherently would. Similar to the Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II. They used a Fairlane rear bumper as it was much taller (read lower when mounted) and dropped the flush grill a few inches lower than a standard Cyclone. This added 6" to the nose and a ~40° approach angle to the stock fender leading edge. Been thinking of something like that for this car. At a minimum, there will be a spoiler out front wide enough to cover the leading edge of the front tires. With the frame design, I can easily put an almost full belly pan. Ultimately, I plan to make the fake vents in the hood functional and vent the front fenders behind the tires. Air in the grill needs to be able to get out. Lots of gears turning with ideas floating around in the knoggen.
 
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TT5.9mag said:
Can’t wait to see what you come up with.
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Another plan is the remove the drip rails.

For side venting I was daydreaming about how to make the door vents functional to remove the under hood air. Still thinking on that, not sure bringing engine compartment air into air ducts in the doors would work well. hmmmmm
 
nacca ducts on the front fenders behind the tire plumbed to the engine compartment. Plumbing the engine compartment through the cowl and into the doors would be cool but too complicated imo.
 
TT5.9mag said:
nacca ducts on the front fenders behind the tire plumbed to the engine compartment. Plumbing the engine compartment through the cowl and into the doors would be cool but too complicated imo.
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NACCA ducts could work, installed backwards for natural suction. With no inner fenders and the firewall moved back as I have it, ducting to font edge of the door (vertical point between the hinges) and capped to make the vents functional shouldn't be too bad. The firewall is about level with the door hinge pillar. Or cut the whole bottom of the fender off level with the top of the tire like 80-90's IMSA cars. The header exit will likely be there also.

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Ah no inner engine compartment bodywork, I got ya. Like I said earlier, I can’t wait to see what you come up with. Just keep in mind the engine compartment is a large, low pressure area and moving (manipulating) air through, around, over it is a big deal. You definitely don’t want to pack the air in there at high speed.
 
TT5.9mag said:
Ah no inner engine compartment bodywork, I got ya. Like I said earlier, I can’t wait to see what you come up with. Just keep in mind the engine compartment is a large, low pressure area and moving (manipulating) air through, around, over it is a big deal. You definitely don’t want to pack the air in there at high speed.
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I honestly should just let go of C/GALT and do open/timed. No dreams of records, just dreams. This would allow me to do whatever I can dream up and not have the rules limiting me. There are ideas that sound good in my head, then doesn't work out. It does need to be visually appealing (to me) and not go too far from the original design. We will see.
 
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I like where your head is at. But I also would absolutely love to see you get a record in a class.
 
TT5.9mag said:
I like where your head is at. But I also would absolutely love to see you get a record in a class.
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Record is like 265mph. Would need about 1500hp and some financial backing. So, if you are good with getting sponsors....
 
I measured the current height of the nose. 27" to the top of the leading edge of the hood and 53 to the highest point on the roof.
 
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