2013
Odd thing happened at Bonneville last year: Jim Best's
daughters discovered that they liked land speed racing. So
much so that they asked if they could campaign the Focus
this year. We said, "Sure!" And so it begins ...
I took the car over to Corey Henderson at HPT for another run on his chassis
dyno. He had done the original VE map on the engine
controller using (unbeknownst to us all) spark plugs
with the gaps hammered nearly shut. I found some plugs
that were not extended-tip and figured that another shot
on the dyno should get the VE map ready for racing. So
much for figuring -- the low oil pressure light came on
during a run and we shut it down.
Out with the engine. Off to Parks Engine Service for new
bearings. One of the piston oilers had broken off and,
possibly, let the oil pressure in the crank drop too low.
Back in the car and back to Corey ... where we got a rather
disappointing 185 hp at the front wheels. We had seen over
195 back when we were running Webers and fully expected
over 200 this time. Hmmmm ... still not sure what this is
about.
But, it was time for the Texas Mile! The ladies packed it
up and trailered it down to Beeville early Saturday
morning. I helped them go through tech and get in line for
the first run. Linda (youngest daughter) was to drive. The
car never made the speeds I was expecting and then, on
Sunday, the flywheel bolts sheared! Holy smokes!
Installed a new flywheel (at HPT) and put it back together
-- only to discover that the engine had NO oil pressure.
The oil pump is notorious for coming apart if the engine is
over-revved and this one had been on an inadvertent
down-shift on the track. Linda's husband, Lou, pulled the
engine and replaced the oil pump. Got the car running
again..
I had taken the lakester out to SoCal at the end of May so
that Justin Baas could build a body for it. The June El
Mirage meet occurred when the body was half-done so we took
the car out to run. I thought I had solved the shifter
issues but had not adjusted the hydraulic clutch properly.
I couldn't get the car into 1st gear with the engine
running. So we push-started me. First gear pulled just like
I hoped it would. The shift to 2nd ... second? second?
Where is second gear? Finally got it into third and pulled
the rest of the way through. Did 165. Just barely better
than the 164 from last year. If Ed Fenn retires his car --
fat chance -- I may be competitive on the record in 62
years at this rate!
Justin finished up the rest of
the body panels in time to fly out for a family re-union
back east. I hauled the car home and started prep for
Bonneville.
The Best daughters (with Mom and husbands) caravanned out
to Bonneville with Martha and me. Probably a good thing. I
was worried about their tow vehicle and their relative lack
of experience, so -- I blew a tire on my trailer!
Thankfully, they were there to spot it and let me know.
We pulled both cars into line for tech on Friday after
partially setting up the pits. Of all people, it was Ed
Fenn who ended up doing the principal tech inspection on my
car. We had a bit of fun commiserating over his broken
engine (which means he is moving down an engine class and
won't be pushing the D/GL record any higher at El Mirage)
and my poor car that will never go as fast as his on the
dirt. At least .. I think we were having fun.
Saturday was the driver's meeting, followed by rookie
orientation. We waited this out and then followed as the
B.E.S.T. in Texas racing team took the Focus out to Course
4, a special 2-mile course for rookie runs and for vehicles
that never make much speed. We set the shift light absurdly
low to ensure that each of the drivers focussed on driving
the course properly instead of on their speeds. Linda and
Tracy made runs that day, Lou did his on Sunday morning.
The daughters had also signed
up to host a Wounded Warrior this year. They had Tanya and
Heather hanging with them for a couple of days, giving
these ladies a taste of something vastly different from
Army life.
Meanwhile, Todd and Miles helped me prep the car for making
a run on Sunday. As I was testing putting the car through
the gears -- like I'd done at home before we left -- Miles
informed me that I was not getting into 1st or 2nd gear.
Ooops! We worked on this for quite a while, eventually
pulling the shift arm off the shift rod in the Tremec
TKO-600 and discovering that there was a detent ball and
spring that was adding just enough static friction to the
shift arm to keep the solenoid from pulling the lever over
into the 1-2 gate position. Those parts now live in my junk
box and the car now has all four gears! Finally!
That afternoon, I made a run on course 1 so Martha and Vou
Best could see it run in front of them (the pits were
waaaay closer to course 1 than ever before due to wet salt
to the North). The course was damp and slippery and there
was a strong cross-wind and I wasn't at all sure I was
going to keep it between the cones. Ran a 205.290 last mile
with a 210.207 exit. Not even close to what I was expecting
but at least I went through pointy-end-first. We hauled
over to course 2 in hopes of getting better salt. Last mile
was 213.505 with an exit of 214.264. Better but no cigar.
Monday, we changed the QC gears from 2.93:1 to 3.25:1 in
hopes of improving the quarter speed (best of 194.264 so
far). Ran again on course 2 but this time I missed 2nd gear
(missed the shifter button with my thumb, I guess) and had
to settle for a 205 mile with a 209.9 exit. Quarter was
193.298 however. Checked the plugs and Miles suggested we
could use a bit more fuel. Bumped the jets up a bit and,
just for luck, added 2° more advance. (Small-block Fords
with Yates heads don't need much advance so I'd been
running 28°.) We left the salt early to have dinner in town
with friends.
Tuesday morning I ran on course 2. Hit a soft spot at the
4-1/2 mile and had to back out briefly. Mile was 210.082
and exit was 211.674. Hmmmm.
That afternoon, we put Todd in the driver's seat for a
rookie run on course 4 (his D license expired long ago). I
gave him an rpm to shoot for (6500 rpm in 3rd) and set the
shift light to come on at that rpm. But I didn't rotate the
tach so he could see that segment of the band. He swore he
kept the shift light going on and off but ended up busting
out with a 159 mph pass. This earned him some up-close and
personal time with the supervising official who annotated
his rookie sticker on the helmet and sent him back to try
again. Believing him that he had kept the shift light going
on and off (despite the tell-tale on the tach showing 7500
rpm), I set the shift light for 5600 rpm. On his next run,
he did 114 mph -- just like my table of rpm to mph said it
should! Jill Iverson, of the San Diego Roadster Club, was
starter on course 4. I said hi and mentioned that I'd seen
some note in the club minutes that she had a book published
for Kindle and that I was part way through with it. I think
I may have been the only racer who had gotten it (everyone
else might have been too busy?). Anyway, she published
under the name Jill Shannon and her book is available
through Amazon.com. And the reason there is so much
reference to North Carolina is because that is where she
grew up. I had guessed that.
On Wednesday, I made a morning run on course 1 again. The
salt was very loose for me at the start but I did another
run like the ones before: mile at 207.550 with an exit of
211.383 but a quarter speed of 186.280. Todd had managed
(with considerable help from Linda and Tracy) to obtain his
D and C licenses with his timing slips from the day before
so we gave him another shot and he ran a 182 on course 2
(running now as a combo course). This time I rotated the
tach so he could see the target rpm. We ended up calling
him Goldilocks: The first run was too fast, the second was
too slow, but the third was just right! So Todd now has his
B license!
Also on Wednesday, the Focus decided to lose it's crank
pulley. Since the reluctor wheel for the EFI is/was
attached to that pulley, the engine quit. Linda was driving
and was pretty sure she had destroyed the engine but, so
far as we can tell, the elastomer bond between the inner
and outer pieces just came apart and the outer piece plus
wheel went somewhere. It was never found so I suspect it is
a foot deep in the salt on course 2 somewhere. However,
Linda also managed a run at 141.3 mph and had done the
quarter at 140.9 on the last run, suggesting an even better
time was possible. This is better than we have ever done
with the Focus before so the B.E.S.T in Texas crew deserve
a big CONGRATULATIONS for the job they did.
I have long wanted to do an early morning run and we
finally managed to be ready to go Thursday morning. Pulled
up to course 1 -- to find two other cars in line, packing
chutes and getting ready but no one up on the line yet. We
hastily took the car off the tow hitch and, while Miles and
I scurried around prepping and dressing, Todd warmed the
engine up. Pushed up to the line and made a run. The car
ran straight and true, largely because the salt was drier
and they had drug the course the night before. Speeds were
about the same: 208.211 mile and 210.101 exit. Ho hum ...
I was complaining a little on the way home that the car had
not gone anywhere near as fast as I had been expecting /
hoping. Martha told me, "Every run you made was over 205
mph. So put on your big-boy panties and deal with it!"
Think maybe she was tired of hearing me bitch?
Some lessons were pretty clear
from this year, however. The cage does catch a lot of wind.
A windscreen that directs air over it instead of into it
should help a lot. And, yes, I know that zoomies don't make
the power that headers do. But these were my first zoomies
ever and I really wanted some. But I'll try to fit some
headers on this winter. I have no data on the airflow
behind the cage, around the carburetor, but it just has to
be turbulent and nasty. So a well-designed scoop ought to
be worth some power.
And lastly, Tanis Hammond came by while we were in line and
encouraged us to break the record they had set way back in
1997. She said it had been too long and it was time. I
agree, and would love to do that. But it was extremely kind
of her to encourage our little back-woods race team that
way. Thanks!