Coming Event:
MOONEYES
X'MAS PARTY Show & Drag
DEC. 11, 2010
Irwindale Speedway
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Last day of World final.
After looking back at the timing slips, all 3 times were almost identical at all measuring mile.
I figured maybe I’ll pull little harder at lower gears to gain speed.
207.343 mph. My best run so far. And more left.
We’ve accomplished quite a bit at this meet after a disappointing Speed Week (in August).
Motor is working great. We just need to find the right gear/tire combination.
Despite the threat of rain and wind, as always, SCTA and BNI crew and volunteers did heck of a job putting this meet. Hats off to all of them.
Third day of World Finals at Bonneville.
We made adjustments on the clutch yesterday and we were all ready to make another run.
It rained over night and salt at the entrance was wet with a lot of puddles. I didn’t think we would get any runs in today, but as we went closer to the pit, it was dry. They had to move the long course over 1 mile, but we were able to use both courses.
We put 30” tires on this morning. The temperature was a very cool 57 degrees (F).
I took off and went through the gears, taking it easy, worried about the clutch.
First run of the day was almost the exact duplicate of yesterday’s time. 201.243mph.
We changed the timing to 34 degrees with 28” tires in the afternoon. Didn’t run quite as good and with 13mph crosswinds, I was drifting to the center of course and getting loose. I backed out of it and pulled chute.
I was sideways, but the chute blossomed just in time and got me straight. 190.949mph.
After looking at 3 timing slips, the time at each timing station is almost identical to each other. Even after changing tires.
We are going to kick the timing back to 36 degrees with 28” tires, but pull it a little harder and see if we can go any faster tomorrow.
http://mooneyesusa.net/2010/1008/chico-kodama-world-finals-bonneville/
Posted via email from MOONEYES on Posterous!
Third day of World Finals at Bonneville.
We made adjustments on the clutch yesterday and we were all ready to make another run.
It rained over night and salt at the entrance was wet with a lot of puddles. I didn’t think we would get any runs in today, but as we went closer to the pit, it was dry. They had to move the long course over 1 mile, but we were able to use both courses.
We put 30” tires on this morning. The temperature was a very cool 57 degrees (F).
I took off and went through the gears, taking it easy, worried about the clutch.
First run of the day was almost the exact duplicate of yesterday’s time. 201.243mph.
We changed the timing to 34 degrees with 28” tires in the afternoon. Didn’t run quite as good and with 13mph crosswinds, I was drifting to the center of course and getting loose. I backed out of it and pulled chute.
I was sideways, but the chute blossomed just in time and got me straight. 190.949mph.
After looking at 3 timing slips, the time at each timing station is almost identical to each other. Even after changing tires.
We are going to kick the timing back to 36 degrees with 28” tires, but pull it a little harder and see if we can go any faster tomorrow.
Chico sent a text with an update from BONNEVILLE.
“Second day of World Finals, after leaving the car in line yesterday, we went there right at 7:00am to put some heat in. 8:00am, they started to run record runs. Anybody that qualified for their category record, they got to run the next morning first thing for new record.
After all that was done, it was my turn. A very cool day here in Wendover, you can be in your fire suit with no problem, unlike Speed Week time (August). Willie pushed the car and I took off.”
Oh! THE SUSPENSE! And then?
Chico’s text continued, “Motor sounded good and it just wants to pull! Went through the gears, but right at the 4 mile marker, the clutch began slipping. I backed out of it and pulled the chute… but chute didn’t open!”
OMG! And then, and then!
Chico’s text continued, “Motor was liking the cold air and pulling strong. I know it could have ran better… 201.683mph. My first 200mph run! Very excited!!
Engine is running so good, it is really bad that we are having a clutch problem. I called Mcleod, and they suggested to take the shims out of adjustment. Since car was running good and there’s lot more left in it, we decided to pull the motor out. We looked for someone with an engine hoist, but nobody had one, so we went back to town and looked for a rental. Better than renting the hoist, we found a little repair shop in town called Carrillo Brothers Auto Service. They were gracious enough to let us, not only borrow engine hoist, but let us use one of their bays to work in.
12:00 noon, we started to take things apart. By 4;00pm, we had motor out and took shims out of clutch and motor back in, ready for tomorrow!
Just about the time we finished, it started to rain.
Hopefully weather hold up for tomorrow and get another run in.
GO! CHICO! GO!
We got a text from Chico. He’s at the World Finals in Wendover, Utah. Yes, BONNEVILLE! Here’s what he sent us.
“Found cause of problem we were having at Speed Week, so we decided to try World Final. First day of World Final, still dark before 7:00am Mountain time, they opened the gate to salt. It rained last night and salt was wet, but one of two courses prepped was good enough to run. Driver’s meeting at 9:am. There are about 100cars and bikes entered. Got through tech inspection right after driver’s meeting and went to pit and warmed up engine. Took quick lunch and got in line to run. Long line of cars and bikes and line didn’t seem moving at all. Around 3:00pm, we were third in line to run and wind started to blow and by 4:30, it was blowing 22mph across the course. Meet was called off for the day. We left car in line, so we’ll have short wait in the morning. Class record is now 219.648mph. that was set at Speed Week this year. I have my work cut out.”
Go Chico Go!
We had some delivery slow-downs although we were apparently the “first” to be taken care of… I mean, after all, without the assistance from MOONEYES, the book would not ever exist. But we are relieved that out stock has arrive safely and we are happy to finally announce, in case you haven’t heard, the arrival of MOON BOOK by Laurent Bagnard. On the cover features the lovely Heidi Van Horne, successfully holding up a Chevy W-head valve cover standing next to the MOONEYES Dragster inside the Machine Shop.
The book is written by French photographer, Laurent Bagnard, completely in English, cover to cover, hard cover I should say and much bigger than I imagined! Total Pages: 191, COLOR print (of course, some of the ph otos are black and white), high quality all the way through. (Not Printed in China!) Also features tons of input from people that are at the top of their game in the industry MOON resides in with them. Cole Foster from Salinas Boyz Customs, Verne Hammond, Burnout mag’s Nash and so many more great people contribute to this amazing compilation. The main bulk begins from the beginning, the ol’ days with a photo of Dean as a kid(!) Quickly moves into early racing days of land speed racing at El Mirage and Bonneville, cover the 50s and 60s with vintage photos, Dean Moon’s creations and more. The transition of MOONEYES in the early 90s bridges where most books abut MOONEYES have never done before. MOON Japan and the influence MOONEYES has had on the land of the rising sun. It’s been a long journey and MOONEYES continues its quest into the future.
Order online direct from our store or come on into MOONEYES in Santa Fe Springs, California because we have copies in the shop too. Enjoy!
FOREWORD by Tony Thacker
NHRA Motorsports Museum Executive Director
PREORDER NOW
AVAILABLE IN OCTOBER 2010
http://www.mooneyesusa.com/2011-moon-catalog-p-2325.html
Finally! The MOON 2011 Catalog is here. Over 60 pages and in full color, the MOON 2011 Catalog features the full lineup of products from MOONEYES including hot rod and custom parts for your car or motorcycle to clothes for the entire family, baby to adult.
Cover:
Photo: Laurent Bagnard
Model: Heidi Van Horne
Shop: MOON Machine Shop, Santa Fe Springs, Calif.
Race Machine: Mooneyes Dragster
FREE WITH ANY PURCHASE
Add this to your order and it’s FREE with any other purchase on your order. Of course, you can order it separately right now for $5.00 plus shipping/handling too.
In 2009, Bonneville Speed Week was nothing but traction problems for us, spinning at 192mph which was not fun. Since that time, we’ve been talking to some veterans at the Salt Flat and decided we need to add weight. I didn’t want to gain weight myself, so we added 500lbs to the roadster by filling both rails with lead shots and added new rear tires as the old tires I was running weren’t speed rated. I made a new air scoop for air intake and the heads were freshened up along with the blower. We didn’t get a chance to dyno the motor, but it should get me a good amount of horsepower.
       
Now, 2010, the time came to try again. We left Mooneyes shop in Santa Fe Springs, California on Thursday Aug 12th for Bonneville (in Wendover, Utah). Stopped just on other side of Las Vegas for fuel and lunch then cut across HWY 93 to Ely. Another fuel stop after 4 hours of driving then from Ely, it’s another 2 hours to Wendover.
We arrived in Wendover at 6:00pm California time, but the Salt Flats are in Utah and they are Mountain time. We were able to drop the trailers off on the salt and called it a day.
First thing Friday morning, we went through tech inspection with no problem. In the afternoon we tried to fire up the motor but it didn’t want to start. We checked the fuel system and everything seemed to be OK, but it was not getting any fuel. We took the air intake off and checked the blower. The blower was full of fuel and that prevented fuel from going passed it. Unlike conventional top mount blowers, the front mount blower sits sideways and that creates a pool of fuel on the bottom of the blower. We managed to dry it up and finally got the motor fired up. We were ready to run and headed to the staging area and got in line. It was a fairly long line being first day of the event and all.
It was our turn to run! We fired the motor up and Doug pushed me to a good speed and I took off. The motor didn’t sound all that crisp and didn’t want to rev more than 6000RPM. This 183cubic inch small block Chevy doesn’t come to life until about 6500RPM. Topped at 160mph, that was all she ran. It was getting late and we decided to pack up for the day.
Saturday, we warmed up the motor and got in line for another run. The motor still wouldn’t rev more than 6000rpm. We started to troubleshoot. We thought maybe the new air scoop was not letting enough air in, so we took the air scoop completely off and made another run. But still no change. We checked the data and E.G.T.(exhaust gas temperture) showed less than 1000-degrees. We normally run around 1300 to 1400 degrees. Plugs looked like brand new. We are running the same tuning setup as last year and it shouldn’t have changed. We had to pack up and leave the salt as they close at 8:00pm.
Sunday, we sat down and try to figure out the problem. We came to the conclusion that the problem might be the ignition system.
On Monday, I called MSD and asked them questions regarding the problem we were having and they said it might be the coil, coil wire or plug wires. I order them all, so we can have them the next day.
Tuesday, we waited for UPS all day long. There are no morning deliveries here in Wendover. At 3:00pm, the parts finally showed up. We replaced the coil wire and plug wires. MSD was out of the coil we needed though. We went to get in line, but oddly enough nobody was in line. I got suited up and got ready to run. We decided to push start this time. I took off in second gear. Sounded better and felt like it was going to pull, but the result was disappointing. We ended up smoking the clutch in the end.
It was very frustrating. We need to go back and check all ignition and fuel systems parts. People say if it was easy, everybody would be doing it. Maybe so. I learned a very important lesson this year. You can’t spend a couple of weeks getting ready and hope things go smoothly.
Wednesday, the rest of the Mooneyes team went home early in the morning. I stayed behind to attend the 200mph club banquet Wednesday night. They had quite a few new members this year including my friend Tim Cunha (previous owner of Mooneyes Duece Coupe) with his new 750 c.c. Streamliner. Congraturations to all the new members!
Chico Kodama
Mooneyes USA
Mooneyes Summer was hot! It didn’t help that there was a heat wave coming through Southern California but at least it wasn’t raining and I think that was the whole point in the “Make Up Dry Event” so who can complain… actually, it was an awesome day from dusk to dawn with hot rods, customs, bikes, drags, vendors and tons o people.
Professional photographer, Zap Teshima was there all day viewing the show and event through his view finder. He gave Mooneyes a roll and naturally, we couldn’t resist and selected a small percentage pictures and posted them here.
Enjoy!
Steve from the island of Oahu, the Aloha State, sent us a couple pictures of his shaweet purp Ghia with MOONEYES Speedmaster Wheels.
 
Mahalo for the photos Steve. Nice ride! Brings back some old Hawaii memories cruising from Magic Island to Sandy Beach all summer long.
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