I found the perfect solution to finding out how fast I’m going in my roadster without hooking a speedo-cable into the transmission. I mean, I wish I could, but the speedo input is right next to the frame. I’d have to do some major surgery to make it work. No worries with the GPS setup… and it’ll be more accurate, even if I change tire size some time in the future… read on!

From Auto Meter:

Monitor speed accurately, on or off road with satellite signal technology from Auto Meter! New GPS Rally-Nav speedometers are engineered to interpret data from an included high speed  antenna assembly providing lightning quick response and eliminating the need to ever calibrate the instrument for gearing and tire size changes. In fact there’s no reason to interact with the transmission or driven wheels at all, resulting in a simplified installation.

Built in the USA utilizing race proven, rugged and precise digital stepper motor drives for smooth pointer readings and heightened resistance to shock and vibration. Rally-Nav red LED digital display includes standards like odometer and trip, in addition to providing useful satellite signal information such as Compass, Heading, and Coordinates for navigation, an Hourmeter for tracking vehicle maintenance, GPS Date and Time, and Peak Speed Recall for tracking a sector best, corner entry speed, or perhaps just for the next time your teen or buddy borrow the keys. Available now with 140 MPH scales in popular Ultra-Lite, Sport-Comp, and Phantom designs in 3 3/8″ and 5″ sizes suitable for use in applications ranging from buggies and pre-runners to hot rods and muscle machines. Prices starting at $350.

Contact Auto Meter at 866-248-6356 today to discuss your application or visit us on the web at www.autometer.com!

Which do you prefer? The real thing or Haropcat’s drawing? Check out the “real thing” in the feature story I did on Voodoo Larry’s Voodoo Psychosis! from the Detroit Autorama.

The engine shown was featured as a “Top 11 Hot Rod Engines of Detroit” and it was very cool to meet Larry down in the basement of the Detroit Autorama.

Check out more of Harpocat’s cool drawings in his garage at MyRideisMe.com. Then, get your own!

If you’ve never heard about the kindness of folks involved in land speed racing, at Bonneville Salt Flats or at El Mirage, let me reiterate. You’re bound to meet some of the greatest people on the planet. I met “Bonnieville Bob” and his son Rocky on my first trip to Bonneville in 2009.

Bob’s been racing long enough to, literally, know everyone out on the salt. Like you’d expect, Bob and Rocky introduced me to everyone and now, years later, I owe most of my friendships on the salt to these guys.

Well, after years of trying, Bob and Rocky have their 200 mph hats from El Mirage with sites locked on Bonneville in August for Speed Week.

Rocky text me the good news and sent these pictures:

"Bonnieville Bob" and Jon Meyer. Jon's part of the El Mirage 200mph club

Rocky and Dan Warner. Dan's congratulating us and giving us our hats.

Then, in Rocky’s words….

We got there on Friday and went through tech without any problems. Saturday morning, my dad made a run and the car ran 220.576 mph! He didn’t even know he ran that fast since he couldn’t see the gauges and drove by the seat of his pants. I ran Sunday after we pulled our duty and I ran a 219.843 ph, then I made a second pass and ran a 222.167. The car ran really well and has a lot more in it , the 222.167 mph is a soft record.

Here’s a summary of their records:

Can’t wait to see what they can do in Bonneville! Congratulations guys!!

If you’re looking for more great Bonneville Race Cars, check out these stories: see Bonneville Baddest Race Cars

By Fergus Ogilvy
Photos by Moore Good Ink

This advice may only help hard core race engine builders, but any time we have a chance to publish high quality tech like this info from Trend Performance, we’ll do it. Wish I would have saw this before putting the valves back into my Falcon! (course that’s anything but a racing engine!) Enjoy!

Assemble the valve locks on a valve and using your thumb and forefinger raise the spring retainer to its full height. If the assembly defies gravity and remains in place and doesn’t rock, the quality of the valve locking assembly is superior. If, however, the assembly falls apart, the valve locking mechanism is deficient in one or more of its dimensions.

The three critical dimensions of the valve lock

1. The outside angle: The precision of the outside angle, which might be 7, 8, 9, or even 10 degrees, is properly measured on a sine vice. For ease of valve lock removal, high revving racing engines often use locks with the greater angle. The greater the angle, however, the more difficult it is for the parts to accomplish the 10-second check.

To check the outer diameter taper of the valve lock, clamp it in a sine vice, set the vice to the appropriate angle, and confirm the angle is correct with a dial gauge.

2. The outer diameter: The O.D. of the valve locks is measured at a specific point on the angle. A race engine builder might specify a gauge dimension of, say 0.575in OD at 0.300in high. To check this dimension, simply acquire a 0.575in ring gauge, assemble the locks onto the valve, and measure the position on the angle.

The locking tab fits into the keeper groove. Commonly O.D. tapers vary from 7 to 10-degrees.

Trend machinists check this dimension before they split the locks into two pieces. Any conscientious machinist will have gauge blocks and other checking devices to ensure this and other valve lock dimensions are maintained. Most importantly they reference the gauge dimension with the position of the locking tab in the bore of the valve lock. In race engines this critical relationship must be held to within a few tenths of one-thousand-inch.

3. The inner diameter: The I.D. of the valve lock must fit the valve stem precisely. If the I.D. is too large the locks may have only two points of contact, resulting in a poor connection with the valve stem. On the other hand if it is too small the locks could spread and break. Hardened smaller types are more susceptible to breakage.

The key dimension in all valve locks is the tab location related to the gauge dimension.

As expected, the locking tab fits into the keeper groove. Whether the tab is formed as a radius or with square shoulders, its most important portion is its top region; this is where it interfaces with the keeper groove on the valve stem. Square tabs usually protrude into the keeper groove about 0.011in or 0.012in; radius tabs 0.020in to 0.022in.

Ideally the valve locks should have full engagement with the valve stem, the keeper groove, and the angled interface of the retainer—the fuller the engagement, the stronger the joint. Further, it is preferable that no part of the valve locks should protrude beneath the retainer.

Moreover, valve lock joints are strengthened by the presence of a deeper skirt—a greater clamping area beneath the keeper groove. This directs stresses to the valve stem below the keeper groove. Thus the groove and more importantly the area above it are less threatened.

Thanks for the advice guys! I need to build more engines to try out the tech!

Source
Trend Performance
Brevard, NC
(828) 862-8290
moc.mrofrePdnerTnull@senojC
www.TrendPerform.com

Bad Blown Nova from Arizona

Our good friend Glen Bolz, with his insane blown Nova, let us know he’ll be in the August issue of Chevy High Performance magazine.

Here’s a short video to remind you why you care:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Then, here’s the cover to watch for soon:

Story and Install by Rob Zoller AKA: Mr. Freeze

Ok it’s got power steering , power brakes , ice cold AC, power windows, deck-less sound system, a GPS speedometer and an electronic shifter so I figured when Pikesan asked me to put another electronic gadget into my seemingly “Rat Truck” (on the outside) I figured, why not! I’ve been test driving new cars lately and it seems like all of them have keyless ignition. To seal the deal, I rented a car for a week that had keyless ignition. It’s funny, but when I got home and drove my own car, I started thinking… what a pain to pull your keys out of your pocket!

So problem solved on my COE. Think this bad boy deserves a keyless igntion kit?

Upon my new Flaming River keyless ignition arriving I noticed that this was gonna take some time to install and once again there were a lot of new wires and another control box to contend with, but once I got into it I was pleasantly surprised at how straight forward it was! Looking at the opened and laid out kit, here’s what I saw:

The kit includes:

• Ignition Control Module (ICM)
• Two Power Harnesses
• Accessory Harness
• Programming Button
• Emergency Bypass PIN Card – to start the car even if you don’t have the key
• Blue Start Button (Blue LED is standard – but you can get it in Red, White and Green)
• Motion Activated RFID Device

More about all of these in a minute… Let’s get started!
Step 1: Read the instructions:

Open , print and read the above booklet. http://www.digitalguarddawg.com/PDFS/PBS_II_OM_PDF_11.12.pdf  Don’t skip Step 1! Seriously! I’m not one to sit down and read the instructions first, typically, but this time it was a serious time savor.

Step 2: Safety First:

Disconnect your battery.

Step 3: Mounting the control box

Find a suitable spot inside the vehicle to mount your control box making sure the wires have the length to reach your ignition wires and the push button mount. Locate and install ALL plugs onto the control box, you will need them all! Now’s a good time to start figuring out how you’ll route the wires to keep them tidy.

Step 4: Out with the Old (Key be gone!)

Remove your existing ignition leaving the wiring intact so you can identify the purpose of each existing wire. If this is a stock vehicle a wiring diagram would be extremely helpful. As in my case an aftermarket wiring harness is installed and each wire is individually labeled on the wire. Here’s what the keyed setup looks like:

Step 5: Get to Wiring!

Starting on the far bottom Right is the Red wire, this is the main power wire, if it is pink you have placed the wrong harness here. Start here and work from Right to Left connecting wires in the keyless harness to your existing start system harness.  Follow the instructions on page 9 of the booklet you printed. I retained my existing ignition plug and installed blade connectors to connect the unit. I had to expand the accessory wire to a gang connector to accept additional accessories that run of ignition power.

Next is the accessory harness. You will need this harness even if you are not using any accessories. If not hooked up, the system will turn on but not engage the starter! Separate the Brown wire. The brown wire must be hooked up to a power source, preferably to a neutral safety switch or a brake light switch.

Step 6: Mount the push button

Install the push button in the existing ignition hole or to a desired spot and connect to the control box. Also mount the program switch to a desired location, I mounted mine behind the dash where I can access it but not easily seen by others.

Note: some modifications may need to be made to the existing ignition mount to accept the new switch. Or in my case, I had a custom bezel machined to fit my dash perfectly. The end result was worth it as you can see.

The push button starter installed:

Step 7: A little housekeeping

Secure all loose wires and tape or heat shrink all loose unused wire ends. Zip or wire tie hanging wires to the harness.

Step 8: Power back up

Reconnect your battery and test the system described in the booklet on page 1

Step 9: Start it!

Have a soda, You’re Done!

On a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being hardest I would rate this as a 4 to 5 install for someone with basic wiring and automotive experience. It went very smoothly taking only about 1.5 hours to complete the installation, most of which was locating the proper wires in my harness and cleanly routing and securing the new harness . The only snag was the Brown wire hook up, It was not emphasized or described very well in the booklet as a necessity, but was mentioned. Let me repeat, you must connect the brown wire! Other than that the install was a snap!

That’s it! Any questions? Ask away and we’ll make sure Flaming River gets them and responds.

Custom Inspiration for your Ford Falcon

Brian Stupski’s got a custom eye for anything with wheels, and wouldn’t ya know it? This time he turned his styled eye on one of our favorites, the Ford Falcon. I’ve got a 1963 Ford Falcon wagon I’m working on now. Maybe I can swing some of these custom tricks to apply to my Falcon. How about you?

To have Problem Child Kustoms trick out your car, get in touch with Brian at ProblemChildKustoms.com Until then, drool over these great ideas for one trick Falcon! Stay tuned, we’re trying to reach FineLine Kustom and Restoration in Onalaska, WI to get some periodic updates of the Falcon build. Yep! This car is under construction now.

Here’s a shot of the interior Brian did… your basic two-seater…

Under the hood? Nothing special… check this out!

Last, you need to see some renderings of the final car build. This is gonna be one amazing car!

To get your dream car drawn, contact Problem Child Kustoms at ProblemChildKustoms.com

Past OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational winner Mark Stielow will be participating in the Faceoff at Road America in this 1969 Chevrolet Camaro. Photo credit: OPTIMA Batteries

May 21, 2013, (MILWAUKEE) – Back by popular demand, OPTIMA Batteries will once again host the OPTIMA Faceoff at Road America event in Elkhart Lake, Wis., June 21-23. Presented by Royal Purple and K&N Filters, the OPTIMA Faceoff at Road America will showcase one-of-a-kind performance vehicles during an action-packed weekend of high-powered activity. The OPTIMA Faceoff at Road America brings together a wide range of the best street-legal performance vehicles including vintage, late-model, import and domestic entries of all makes, and is a regional qualifying event for the prestigious OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational occurring later in the year.

The OPTIMA Faceoff at Road America event will be filmed for television as part of the expanding OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car series. Automotive celebrity and former WWE wrestler, Bill Goldberg, will be onsite as returning show host. Participants and spectators will also have the opportunity to interact with select cast members from the “R U Faster Than a Redneck” television show. Several of the “Redneck” drivers, including Brian Finch, and brothers Jason and Lonny Childress will be participating in the on-track competition, and available for autographs and pictures. Reigning OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational champion, Mark Stielow, will also be seen on the track.

“This is truly an automotive enthusiast event unlike any other,” said Cam Douglass, OPTIMA Batteries director of product development and marketing. “This year we’ve integrated even more cool elements including activity at the OPTIMA Batteries headquarters to kick things off on Friday, followed by a BBQ that evening.”

On Saturday, participants will be judged in the Lingenfelter Performance Engineering Performance Design Challenge after taking part in the Detroit Speed Road Rally’s scenic 60-mile drive through the highly glaciated Kettle Moraine State Forest from Milwaukee to Elkhart Lake and Road America. Then, participants and their families and friends will have a chance to watch the NASCAR Nationwide/ARCA/Trans-Am event at Road America. The OPTIMA Faceoff at Road America track day will be on Sunday, with the BFGoodrich Hot Lap Challenge, Wilwood Disc Brakes Speed Stop Challenge and Ridetech Street Challenge Autocross all taking place.

How to Participate

Space is limited, but there are still spots available so sign-up now to guarantee a position on the starting grid for this unique televised competition event at MotorsportReg.com. Spectator tickets are $10 if purchased prior to June 12, 2013, and increase to $20 after that date. The OPTIMA Faceoff at Road America spectator tickets are free if you show a NASCAR Nationwide/ARCA/Trans-Am event ticket and both tickets that can be purchased beginning now at RoadAmerica.com.

Have a Show-Quality Vehicle?

For the first time, a car show representing some of the finest craftsmanship within the region will be held onsite at the OPTIMA Faceoff at Road America event on Sunday, June 23. Owners of show-quality vehicles are welcome to participate. There is no additional charge beyond the cost of a spectator ticket to enter the car show and special prizes will be awarded. There is no pre-registration for the car show, simply approach the gate with a show-quality vehicle, present your spectator ticket, and you will be directed to the car show area. For car show details, contact Scott Parkhurst at moc.noslonull@tsruhkraPS.

Charitable Element

In addition to the high-performance vehicles on the track, there will also be a special event to help Milwaukee-area Boys and Girls club members. OPTIMA has teamed up with the Golden State Foods Foundation to form Build-A-Bike, a non-profit effort aimed at providing bicycles to local children in need. At the kick-off event at OPTIMA headquarters on Friday, June 21, participating racers will team up with kids to assemble bicycles with them. Donations can be made to support this important charitable effort at www.gsffoundation.org/donate/.

2013 Sponsors Confirmed

The 2013 OPTIMA Faceoff at Road America presenting sponsors are K&N Filters and Royal Purple. BFGoodrich, Detroit Speed and Engineering, Lingenfelter Performance Engineering, Ridetech and Wilwood Disc Brakes are event sponsors. Spectre, Magnaflow and Centerforce Performance Clutch are associate sponsors of the event.

To Learn More

For more information, please visit OPTIMAInvitational.com. Participants may also contact race director Jimi Day at moc.gnitekram3mfnull@icsuo with additional questions.

Jaguar and 100% Hot Rod

Kris Henderson build this car with the help of friends in the 80s and has been tinkering with it and racing it ever since. In it’s current configuration, it’s running a custom built 572″ BBC with nitrous. During the Ohio Mile, Kris was trying out some new tires that were taller and skinnier. The decrease in traction was more than he was anticipating – making for a few wild passes down the 1 mile course. This video is a compilation from several views in and around the car. It is concluded with Kris going over how and why the car was built into the monster that it is today.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Kris and his crew stuff the parachute before his 200 MPH run!

We can’t get enough of Bloodhound SSC. A quest for 1000 mph? Awesome, even to think about it. So.. when the Bloodhound gang releases a press release, I share it. Here’s a few more tasty bits of info your mind to chew on…

• The world land speed record of 763 mph is held by Thrust SSC, a UK team lead by BLOODHOUND’s Project Director Richard Noble and driven by Andy Green.

• Components for BLOODHOUND SSC are being manufactured by specialists across the UK and delivered to the BLOODHOUND Technical Centre in Bristol for assembly throughout 2013.
• UK runway testing (up to 200 mph) will get underway early 2014 before the team decamp to the Hakskeen Pan, South Africa to begin high speed testing.
• The BLOODHOUND team scoured the globe to find the perfect desert to run the car on, it needed to be at least 12 miles long, two miles wide and perfectly flat. The Hakskeen Pan, Northern Cape, South Africa was selected.
• At full speed BLOODHOUND SSC will cover a mile in 3.6 seconds, that’s 4.5 football pitches laid end to end per second.
• BLOODHOUND has three power plants, a Rolls-Royce EJ200 jet from a Eurofighter Typhoon, a custom designed hybrid rocket and a 750 bhp Cosworth F1 engine that drives the rocket oxidiser pump. Between them they generate 135,000 equivalent hp, equal to 180 F1 cars.

Rolls-Royce backs BLOODHOUND

• Rolls-Royce jet engine powering BLOODHOUND SSC
• First land speed record sponsored by Rolls-Royce
• Rolls-Royce ambassadors helping to inspire future generation of engineers

Rolls-Royce PLC today announced support for The BLOODHOUND Project, an international education initiative focused on a 1,000 mph World Land Speed Record attempt. A Rolls-Royce EJ200 jet engine will be used in conjunction with a custom designed hybrid rocket to propel the car to over 1,000 mph (1,600 kmh or Mach 1.4). Rolls-Royce will also provide financial and technical support for the project.

Announcing the partnership at an event for staff and BLOODHOUND team members at their Filton site, Bristol, Rolls-Royce Director of Engineering and Technology, Colin Smith, called for the UK to do more to inspire young people about science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Colin Smith CBE, Director of Engineering and Technology at Rolls-Royce, said: “Cutting edge engineering keeps Rolls-Royce, and the UK, at the forefront of global business. We understand the fundamental importance of inspiring young people about STEM and know that more needs to be done. Sponsoring BLOODHOUND gives us an opportunity to showcase world-class British engineering and invest in our future.”

Richard Noble OBE, BLOODHOUND Project Director said: “Rolls-Royce’s support of the Programme is invaluable, their highly motivated ambassadors will help us reach many more schools and youth groups across the country. Their experience of working within a first class aerospace company makes them perfect role models for aspiring engineers”.

The Group’s iconic logo will now be displayed on the engine cowlings of BLOODHOUND’s Rolls-Royce built EJ200 jet engine; which, in its normal role, generates 20,000lb 90 kN thrust to power the twin-engined Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft.

Rolls-Royce has a long and distinguished association with speed record breaking on land, sea and in the air. In the 1930’s its ‘Type R’ engine powered Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Bluebird cars and boats, Capt. George Eyston’s Thunderbolt car, Sir Henry Segrave’s Miss England II boat and the Supermarine S6B sea plane of Flt Lt John Boothman, outright winner of the Schnieder Trophy in 1931. Experience gained on the ‘R’ in the use of improved materials, supercharger technology and enhanced fuels was later used to great effect in the Merlin which saw action in the Spitfire, Hurricane, Lancaster and Mustang aircraft of World War Two.

(I thought it would be alot longer than this!)
More recently, in 1983, Richard Noble, now BLOODHOUND’s Project Director, used a Rolls-Royce Avon 302 1983 in Thrust 2 to set a record of 633.047 mph (1,019.47 km h) while two Spey 202 turbofan engines, as used in a McDonald Douglas F4 Phantom, enabled Wing Commander Andy Green to become the first, and so far only, person to break the sound barrier on land in Thrust SSC, which set the current record of 763.035 mph (1,227.986 km h) in 1997. The company did not officially sanction or endorse any of these activities, however.

In 2008 Rolls-Royce became an early adopter of the project, formally deciding to provide the programme with essential engine support which in turn enabled the Ministry of Defence to loan three redundant early development EJ200 jet engines once the Eurofighter Typhoon flight development programme had been completed. The power systems company leant its expertise to the complex aerodynamics programme, the installation of the EJ200 and the optimisation of its air intake; a major challenge in its own right given the cars unique performance and its vast speed range.

Just as significant is the company’s support for BLOODHOUND’s global education programme, which aims to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and mathematicians in the 219 countries and territories where the Project is followed.

56 trained Rolls-Royce BLOODHOUND ambassadors will assist school teachers all over the country deliver exciting BLOODHOUND themed lessons. The ambassadors will play a key role in helping young people to make positive career choices by giving real life context to their science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. Currently 5,442 UK primary and secondary schools have signed up to join the BLOODHOUND Education Programme, equating to roughly 2.5 million pupils.

 Follow everything we publish about Bloodhound here.

Or, keep up to date with all Land Speed Racing.