Report by Chico Kodama
When we started getting ready for Bonneville Speed Week 2009, we discovered the blower pop-off gasket was worn and pushed out. Not having to touch anything until this time, I came to the conclusion that the reason why I felt the motor was tired on the last run I made last year was because of this gasket. Without boost the blower put out, this 183CI (cubic inch) engine does not produce any power. So, we had high hope of good result. We’ve also added 50lbs in back and 150lbs in front to make car more stable.
We left shop on Thursday August 6th, 7:00am. Stopped in Vegas for fuel and lunch. It was very windy. Reached Wendover around 6:30pm. Very windy. You can see salt flying sideways. People said 75-80mph gust.
We couldn’t get on salt, so we turned around and went to hotel.
(Directly across from the hotel we stayed at was a rocky mountain with Fred Larsen painted on it from several decades ago.)
The next morning 6:00am, we headed for salt.
Got car inspected and pit set up. Got ready for Saturday. It was very cold for August. Everybody had sweatshirts and jackets on.
Saturday morning, we warmed up motor and went to get in line. It was 11:30 by the time I made first pass.
Motor wouldn’t rev no more than 6500RPM and it was very loose. Spun around at 160mph. there was no damage to car, but it took the rest of the day to get car signed off.
When you spin, you must have your car inspected for any damages and Okayed by official.
Sunday, tried one more time. 192mph (307.2kmh).
Motor was still lazy. We changed main jet to 110 and got in line again. It was 2:30pm. Couldn’t tell much difference. 191mph. checked spark plugs and still shows sign of being to rich. Went to 115 main and try it again.
Monday morning, motor wants to pull, but car was so loose, I couldn’t stay in it. Many people were having same problem with tuning and spin. In the afternoon, I ran left side of course. Very nice, but still 192mph. I wanted to try 118 main and try it one more time next day.
Tuesday morning, officials made announcement that they have moved course over to the right. So left side I ran day before is no longer there. Being new course, nobody knows what part of course is better than other. Took right side of course. Loose. No time.
In the afternoon, we decided to try new air scoop we made up. Before we discovered blown gasket, I thought we were running out of air, so we made air scoop to collect fresh air. You can tell new scoop works. Motor would rev up past 7000RPM, but it was so loose, I had to lift. This motor won’t produce any power under 6000RPM with peak horse power at 8500RPM.
Best time was 192.114 (307.3824kmh). Didn’t quite get what we wanted to accomplish, but we learned a lot in tuning and weight balance. After talking to few people, I’m beginning to believe I need more weight in the front and rear of the car. We’ll put all 4 wheels on a scale and see what we have to do.
Incidentally, my record was broken on Tuesday as Walter Medlin with 212.536mph (340.0576kmh) two way average.
I have my work cut out. So much more reason to look forward to next year.
As the salt was washed away, so ends the race for this year.
