Bonneville Landspeed Racing - Let's Try a Thing.

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TT5.9mag said:
Couple things Ive learned at bonneville,
1. Get a rule book and build to a class. Don’t just put together a car and hope it fits in somewhere. Be very specific.
2. If all of your math says you need 800hp to go 200mph, build 1000hp.
3. Forget about saving weight (weird I know but on the salt the weight is actually beneficial)
4. Be extremely diligent about saftey, around 160mph things get serious and if it goes bad, it goes really bad quick.
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Bonneville is a magical place.
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Thank you. Yes I have a rule book already. Mostly just learning right now. This discussion was what the masses thought was the best way to make the HP for extended runs needed. Do you run a car there? That yours in the pic? I would love to discuss things with you as they come up. I don't believe my current build would be a good fit, but who knows. Also, there is no way in Competition Coupe or Modified Sports would I have the budget to compete for a record. Just would like to make some passes someday. Starting with learning and asking questions.
 
71GSSDemon said:
Thank you. Yes I have a rule book already. Mostly just learning right now. This discussion was what the masses thought was the best way to make the HP for extended runs needed. Do you run a car there? That yours in the pic? I would love to discuss things with you as they come up. I don't believe my current build would be a good fit, but who knows. Also, there is no way in Competition Coupe or Modified Sports would I have the budget to compete for a record. Just would like to make some passes someday. Starting with learning and asking questions.
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Bucket list right there! I will volunteer my time as one of your pit crew. Don’t care about setting any records just to be there is enough for me. I have tried on two separate occasions to be there and weather dashed our hopes on both trips. Arghh
 
Sublime one said:
Bucket list right there! I will volunteer my time as one of your pit crew. Don’t care about setting any records just to be there is enough for me. I have tried on two separate occasions to be there and weather dashed our hopes on both trips. Arghh
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Thanks John!! I have never gone, but plans to go next year just to drive out on the salt and watch. We have friends that live in Salt Lake City, so that will help, especially if it gets rained out.
 
Sublime one said:
Bucket list right there! I will volunteer my time as one of your pit crew. Don’t care about setting any records just to be there is enough for me. I have tried on two separate occasions to be there and weather dashed our hopes on both trips. Arghh
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And if you want to sponsor the car right away too......

Of course you'd be invited
 
71GSSDemon said:
Thanks John!! I have never gone, but plans to go next year just to drive out on the salt and watch. We have friends that live in Salt Lake City, so that will help, especially if it gets rained out.
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It is the Mecca right? Both the times I was there I was enroute to somewhere else and only had a day to deviate from route and “accidentally” break down right there!
 
71GSSDemon said:
Thank you. Yes I have a rule book already. Mostly just learning right now. This discussion was what the masses thought was the best way to make the HP for extended runs needed. Do you run a car there? That yours in the pic? I would love to discuss things with you as they come up. I don't believe my current build would be a good fit, but who knows. Also, there is no way in Competition Coupe or Modified Sports would I have the budget to compete for a record. Just would like to make some passes someday. Starting with learning and asking questions.
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Not my car but I got a small piece of the records. We actually got two FIA world records in one week. That car was hp limited, 4 cylinder NA hybrid. I designed the nitrous system for it, and spent two days on the salt tuning it. I was a behind the scenes crew member/builder on that car. Weird story I can’t go in to. I grew up with the Cooks (Mike Cook and Mike Cook Jr, look em up) in my home town and got to spend a lot of time on the salt chasing records. Some of the best racing days ever. Any thing I can do to help you get there I’ll do. Hell if you go I’ll drive out and meet you there!!
 
Pure blasphemy.... but if it's not a displacement limited class, I'd put in a 632 chevy crate, and hit it with a 250 shot. 1000hp plus.
 
TT5.9mag said:
Can I drive?
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I might let you drive my Opel when I get the 540 in it.

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To be completely honest, I don’t think I’d go crazy with cubic inches on this deal. A big block will certainly make the power more easily but along with that comes low speed torque and on salt, on a 5” wide tire, you’re in for a hell of a ride. Think 150 mph burnouts. I’d focus on a small cubic inch, very high winding, very efficient, turbocharged deal. Something that makes the power number up top and is happy to rpm in the 7500-9500 range.
 
TT5.9mag said:
To be completely honest, I don’t think I’d go crazy with cubic inches on this deal. A big block will certainly make the power more easily but along with that comes low speed torque and on salt, on a 5” wide tire, you’re in for a hell of a ride. Think 150 mph burnouts. I’d focus on a small cubic inch, very high winding, very efficient, turbocharged deal. Something that makes the power number up top and is happy to rpm in the 7500-9500 range.
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Thank you! This is the kind of info I am looking for and from someone who has been there
 
It would have to be Mopar NA powered for me. I’ve been 160mph in the 1/4 and that seemed slow. What rear gear are most of the guys running in the 200mph class.
 
pittsburghracer said:
It would have to be Mopar NA powered for me. I’ve been 160mph in the 1/4 and that seemed slow. What rear gear are most of the guys running in the 200mph class.
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I am still researching, but it seems like the lowest 8.75 gear is like 2.76 range. I have seen some talking 1.76 Axletech centers!
 
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pittsburghracer said:
It would have to be Mopar NA powered for me. I’ve been 160mph in the 1/4 and that seemed slow. What rear gear are most of the guys running in the 200mph class.
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So, in your expertise, what would you build for an NA motor to sustain 5 mile runs at WOT and make 700-800hp or like mentioned, if you need 800 build 1000hp?
 
My 440-1 headed 572 like I said hit 160 in the 1/4 with a 4.30 gear and 16-32 slicks. I had less than 15 runs on it and was struggling what I found to be a bad fuel pump the day I wrecked it when an oil line broke. So it had more in it. Be interesting to see how close that combo came if it was switched to alcohol for cooling reasons there was a lot left in those heads which I found after. Hmmmmm
 
pittsburghracer said:
My 440-1 headed 572 like I said hit 160 in the 1/4 with a 4.30 gear and 16-32 slicks. I had less than 15 runs on it and was struggling what I found to be a bad fuel pump the day I wrecked it when an oil line broke. So it had more in it. Be interesting to see how close that combo came if it was switched to alcohol for cooling reasons there was a lot left in those heads which I found after. Hmmmmm
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I wonder on most drag racing engines that make great power, how do they withstand long runs of WOT? I would like a very capable car would have dry sump and be more endurance engine built.

I am very intrigued in all of this. Cars are on opposite ends of most spectrums so, in lets say a 6000lb 1969 C500 or Daytona (weight ballast added for stability to avoid flat spin and stay shiny side up), 2.50:1 gear ratio. How would it do? How fast could it go?????

Or a Duster? What is the frontal area and drag coefficient of a Duster? How well does the fast back work? Is there lift caused anywhere?
Edit: I see it posted at it is 0.42 which is just a tad worse than the C500 which is 0.411
 
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It starts with high quality machine work, high quality rotating parts, and a valve train that is scienced out and perfect. Then the tune up has to be spot on. Those things will make an engine last for long periods at WOT.
 
Oiling would be the next biggest concern. A dry sump would be almost a must, and I would spend some time researching what the Chrysler engineers did with the 305 trans am engines in the 70s to make them live.
 
TT5.9mag said:
To be completely honest, I don’t think I’d go crazy with cubic inches on this deal. A big block will certainly make the power more easily but along with that comes low speed torque and on salt, on a 5” wide tire, you’re in for a hell of a ride. Think 150 mph burnouts. I’d focus on a small cubic inch, very high winding, very efficient, turbocharged deal. Something that makes the power number up top and is happy to rpm in the 7500-9500 range.
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I hate to say it, but that sounds like an LS. With a big or small block mopar, I would think that an aftermarket block would be first step. I dont know if the gen three bottom end is as strong as an LS.
It sounds to me that the head flow of a gen three would be the best way to get there with a mopar.
An R5P7 with a forced induction would be the easy (not cheap) way.
 
33IMP said:
I hate to say it, but that sounds like an LS. With a big or small block mopar, I would think that an aftermarket block would be first step. I dont know if the gen three bottom end is as strong as an LS.
It sounds to me that the head flow of a gen three would be the best way to get there with a mopar.
An R5P7 with a forced induction would be the easy (not cheap) way.
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There are people making well over 1000 HP reliably using the 6.4L BGE blocks. They are very stout, I'd bet at least as much as an LQ (iron-block LS) if not more. They were specifically designed for heavy hauling and towing in the 3/4- and 1-ton Ram pickups (BGE=Big Gas Engine). It's the most sought-after block for max-effort G3 Hemi builds.
 
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