BONNEVILLE 2010 REPORT THREAD - all reports here please

[TomSimon]

Bonneville Salt Flats VW lineup for 2010

[TomSimon]

An abbreviated report from Burly, a few minutes ago:

Justin McAllister of Blackline Racing had been running up against the brick wall all day yesterday, trying to get into the "1 club" posting speeds of 95, 98, 99mph. The engine just didn't have enough oomph to pull 4th gear. They swapped in smaller tires, but the 100mph mark still was just out of reach for the team. Overnight they swapped out the tranaxle, trading it for a spare they brought out to the salt that has a taller 3.44 ring and pinon, only used the first 3 gears, as 4th was way too tall. The plan worked and broke into the 1 club this morning!!! Good show guys!

Dick and Blaine Beith are headed home, the almost finished car looks great, they will be hear next year with it running. (see pics I posted on the other thread). The car has a lot of potential, looks like it's going 135 while sitting still!

Juan Cole from Chico, CA (fellow Beetle Ball endurance racer)
Stone Stock class, having some issues with getting it tuned for the high altitude, it's not making the power it should witha best run as of this writting of 67mph. He lowered the car, and it got slower? he is raising it back up to see if that makes a difference.

Dave McCombs is running a couple different borrowed engines from Tom Bruche. I understand Dave is having some health issues, and running this year at Bonneville is a 'bucket list deal' for him. His wife and family are 100% behind him, and he is having a great time. Top speed has been 89mph using Tom's 1588cc 'Brukassa' DSS engine. I understand they swapped engines and Dave's daughter is now driving. Go Dave!!!!

Todd Penn is running a single cab w/stock engine and reduction boxes, ran 56mph.

Slalom Buggy guy has run 117mph with his 2332cc.

Bill Smith ran 70mph with his Ghia.

Richard Troy ran 105 with his Ghia.

The heartbreak of the weekend was super-nice-guy Brit Granis, who ran a borrowed Okrassa to a max of 92mph, apparently it was smoking out of the left bank of cylinders. Brit brough along a big-block, a recently purchased 2275 street engine that he got up to 122mph. Unfortunately, the motor was not very happy, and a rod ventilated the top of the engine case, ending Brit's salt adventure earlier than he had hoped.

More latter...

[Roadcow]

Kudos to the Blackline team! With their "3-Speed" car they have gotten Justin, Colton, father Dan, and today are trying to get mom into the 1 club.
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71 Westy Roadcow
67 Panel
63 Bug
66 Ghia Bonneville 2014
74 Ghia Vert
69 Bonneville Ghia 150 in Chico
69 Bonneville Ghia in Ireland
80 Cabby 2.1 16v
98 Passat

[blacklineracing]

Yesterday morning, our mom, Maylene, took the car to a best of 103.967mph. We pulled second gear to 91mph, then pulled third the rest of the way. We are in the process of tearing the engine down. We are working on a new combo entirely to get us to some much faster speeds.
It was great seeing so many vw guys out on the salt giving everything that they had. Even if we all didn't hit the speeds we were hoping for, it was still a great time.
Thanks for a great week everyone,
BlackLine Racing Team

[grueni]

mom is the best for sure!
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1960 1584cc turbocharged, 35,5/32 (11,117s 1/4mile )

[AirCooledClassics]

thanks again for the pot luck night .It was a great end to a great week at bonneville. I made it home tonight the truck never skipped a beat, 3000 miles round trip.Im already planing next year .so its back to work on the big motor. I enjoyed meeting everyone and only wished we had more tech talk time . Todd Penn.

[bajamike560]

My wife Shelley and I both had a great time on the salt and the pot luck on Friday night. Great to meet all face to face.
Again thank you Burly for everything you do and Blackline racing family for Friday night.

Mike

[slalombuggy]

It was great to meet you all in person.

I too would like to than Burly for putting us up Monday and for orginizing the VW camp for us. It was also great to hang out with B'ville Tom, Big G, and Carter. Thanks to you 3 for your guidance and encouragement and help in the pits.

I'd also like to give the Blackline crew a huge heartfelt thanks for the loan of the gearbox, without it I would have been dead in the water. These are 2 of the most driven young men I've ever met. I'm so glad their hours of work and dedication payed off for them.

I wish it was A LOT closer than the 24 hour drive for us to get there, the event aside, you all were just a great pleasure to hang out with. I'm still trying to take everything in. The drive home was a long one, especially the last 3 hours in the cold, wind and driving rain. At least it helped wash off the salt which seemed to get everywhere. The car handled beautifully for such an unaerodynamic shape and I'm very happy with the performance of my street motor, even if I didn't crack the 130, lots of guys didn't with much sleeker and stouter equipment than me.

I'll be back, not next year, but soon I hope.

Brad


BTW I only ran a 115.5 not a 117 but we can round up I guess

[blacklineracing]

We just wanted to let everyone know what all we found when we took the engine down. Apparently when you spin 36hp lifters up to 7500-8000 RPM multiple times and over long distances, they like to eat cam lobes
We have decided to build another engine with an entirely new spin. Details will be coming once we get all our ducks in a row.
We also want to thank all of our sponsors.
Our crankshaft and flywheel combination was built by DPR. We can say with assurance that we would have come nowhere near the speeds we wanted to say without this 74mm stroked 36hp crank. The crankshaft saw multiple runs over 7000 RPM with 12.5:1 compression last year, and 14.6:1 compression this year. It still looks beautiful. The flywheel also allowed us to run a 200mm clutch which let us really grab up and not slip. Thanks a ton Jose!!
Our case was line bored by RIMCO. They also bored our 1500 cylinders to 83.5, and turned the top and bottom down to fit in our case and heads. They rebushed our chevy rods to 20mm as well. These guys do amazing work.
Ferrea Valves built our custom 6mm valves for us. The quality and quick turn around of this company is phenomenal. These valves are ready to use in another engine with just a small clean up!!
We want to especially thank Art Thraen and Air Cooled Engineering for the unlimited use of the shop and equipment. Virtually all of the custom machine work was done at ACE, not to mention Art donating the 40 P-II carburetor. There is no way that we would have been able to build either of the cars that we have.
Dave Hogarth has been beside us the entire way. He donated safety parts for the '57, He has built both of our intake manifolds, made the exhaust header, and built all three carburetors that we have ever run. He truly is a god when it comes to carb work.
Dwight's Fleet and Auto Repair did the alignment on this car, and when we were going 100+ mph, the car tracked, handled, and rode like we were doing 65 down the interstate.
Powder Extreme Coatings came through again for us and powder coated our 6 wheels this year. They look amazing, not to mention how great the engine tin looks even after more than a year!!
Doug Fuller (DBug41) has helped us with numerous small projects and made our sick looking steering wheel.
Last and certainly not least, we want to thank all of our friends in the VW community and our family for standing behind us and encouraging us to push for newer and higher goals.
Thanks everyone, and we look forward to more racing,
BlackLine Racing Team

[grueni]

nice review! and sounds like a very family and brilliant event. and without rain this year. very cool.

[meciscokid]

Just have to Thank everyone for all their help and Hospitality. This was an awesome experience, and if you missed it this year, DON'T MISS IT NEXT YEAR!!!!! Burly, YOUR THE MAN! , Juan

[bvilletom]

This was a great race meet, maybe even an historic event. There were Okrasa, Wolfsburg West, Denzel, Blackline single port and Brukrasa motors as well as several big blocks, stock 36’ers, a tube frame Dune buggy from Canada (possibly the best constructed buggy I have ever seen), even a single cab split pickup.

The camaraderie was even better, people switching wheels for gearing, loaning parts, jets, coils, whatever was needed by one another. Best of all was meeting new friends, putting faces to people who previously had been only internet names I’d seen. There were approximately 20 VW’s competing of all types. I have been racing Bonneville for around 50 years and this was the most VW’s I have ever seen at one event ever.

We changed things around with the Brukrasa single port and subsequently lost the right combination. It’s now 1582 cc with 11:1 CR which makes a lot of torque now but does not rev as freely as it used to. I think the breathing isn’t able to keep up with demands of the larger displacement or the camshaft is wrong now.

We did run 98.5 MPH in Craig Wilson’s Karman Ghia trying to get him into the 100 MPR club. While chasing an electrical gremlin causing an intermittent high speed miss, I heard a ticking noise so I shut it down. After I started troubleshooting at home I found #4 rod bearing is going out. The motor is getting a little tired after we got 14 passes this year, on the rev limiter (5850 RPM) plus all the turbo runs for the last 2 years on the bottom end of the motor.

Bville Tom
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bvilletom
36hp Challenge record holder New Age 126.236mph

1970 Porsche 914/6 – 2 liter LSR record holder
1992 Metro Sedan – 1 liter LSR records
1987 Chevy Turbo Sprint – under construction

[John Moxon]

Are there any pictures or videos to come from participants or spectators...I'm craving some visuals.
_________________
John.
Judson Supercharger Information on The Samba
My 1958 Shorrock Supercharged Karmann Ghia
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[Roadcow]

I put mine up in my thread which is I hope immune to being locked for fear of starting another thread.
_________________
71 Westy Roadcow
67 Panel
63 Bug
66 Ghia Bonneville 2014
74 Ghia Vert
69 Bonneville Ghia 150 in Chico
69 Bonneville Ghia in Ireland
80 Cabby 2.1 16v
98 Passat

[John Moxon]

[36hplandspeedracer]

Dick and Blaine Beith and Jim Jacobsen trailered the Silver Bullet(their moniker) all the way to Bonneville from mid Cal so everyone could see this future 36hp Challenge racer even though it was only 95% complete. Engine electrical could just not be finished in time to fire and pre the engine and race but their effort allowed all of the salt flat racers, both VW and non VW to enjoy what the future will hold. Dick will have the Bullet finished for the 2011 USFRA World of Speed.

I would like to personally thank Dick Beith and his crew along all the other 27 VW drivers (in 22 VW racers, both water and air cooled, both 36hp and big block VW engined) for coming out and living the dream of racing on the Bonneville salt flats. For me, it was a memorable, and in John Moxons words, a truly historic VW event.

I am currently collating all of the World of Speed Volkswagen top speeds recorded for the 28 VW racers and hope to post them next week for everyones info.

MORE 36HP CHALLENGE RACES THIS WEEKEND and next month. Below is the information you will need to visit the east and west coast events:

Sep 25-26 East Coast Timing Association (36hp Challenge). One mile standing start time trial, Maxton AFB, Maxton, NC. All VW racers and spectators welcome. For information visit www.ecta-lsr.com . For 36hp Challenge guideline information visit www.burlyb.com .

Also next Oct 30-31 same information!
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Sept 25-26 The Mojave Mile (36hp Challenge). Mojave, California. This will be their second event for the Southern California/Nevada area. Volkswagen racers welcome. For information, visit http://www.mojavemile.com .

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Oct 22-24 The TEXAS MILE (36hp Challenge). One mile standing start time trial, Goliad AFB, Goliad, TX. All VW racers and spectators welcome. For information visit [email protected] .

I hope everyone within driving distance can attend to spectate or even race in these last four 36hp Challenge events for 2010.

Burly
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[Mr. Motorhead]

I've finally decompressed from the long trip of bringing (as in drive) the herd of turtles from Minnesota to Ventura,Ca. That group was made up of one Ghia convertible, one beetle convertible, a Herbie sedan, five Things and an Aussie country buggy (see the Tulsa show thread for more of that story). I went to check to see what my car did at Bonneville today. It had a minor overheat on the last run, but is alive and strong running. The 3.88 trans was too high geared in fourth to be of much use so all but one of the timing slips top speed was made in 3rd gear at about 70mph. I'm sure I could have squeezed a little more out of it had I been there but I'm still pleased with the results (it lives!) because I wanted the lower end torture tested to prove the oiling system modifications I did on the case along with the 83mm big bore P/C set I used. My friends that took the car to Bonneville didn't have a huge amount of time to spend on the 36hp as they had their hands full with the Avanti they brought to run. I'll drive the beetle home in a couple of days and tear it down to see what everything looks like (and add a stroker crank), I'll post pictures when I do that. I've been away since the 11th, so I have to take care of some of those pesky customers first.
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30 years experience in the sales of new and used auto parts!
36 horsepower parts for sale at http://www.aircooledresearch.com/
Or the new site at http://www.bugparts.com
Check out the Bonneville project:
http://aircooledresearch.com/docs/thebonnevilleproject.html#

"All limitations are self imposed."
Some Chinese guy

[36hplandspeedracer]

Matt, thanx for sharing the 36 with your friends so they could run in the Challenge. The 36 'livery' was great and they had a good time 'running at speed'!

I hope you can join us personally next year but the cruise to the coast you enjoyed sounded like it was truly special also.

May the Speed be with you.................

Burly

[John Moxon]

These are Blaine Beith's pictures sent to me by Tom Simon to rework a little at a higher res...1250pixels wide. If you find your browser has resized them downward just click on the picture and it should draw up full size in a separate window.

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John.
Judson Supercharger Information on The Samba
My 1958 Shorrock Supercharged Karmann Ghia
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[slalombuggy]

I know that I don't technically count as a vintge speed entry with my 2332 powered buggy, but here is a link to my post on DuneBuggyArchives.com for my buddies over there.

http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/forum/topic_show.pl?tid=2942

brad