Well it is almost time to begin final preparations to get the Worlds
Fastest Sunbeam (wannabe) ready to head out to Bonneville. Let me take
a moment to refresh you on last summers fiasco. Everything was a go and
we made our first run with some drama, lol. In my excitement and the
use of SFI 3.3/15 funny car gloves, I inadvertently turned the water
injection system on. But wait! Before even that when I was powering up
the laptop data logger that rides with me, I did something I had never
done before. After it was powered up and taking data, I closed the
laptop, put ithe hold down bungee on it and then for some inexplicable
reason, stuck the mouse under the bungee. Never before had I even used
the mouse for this part of staging the car! Why did I do that? In any
case that caused the computer to go pretty insane. Both mouse buttons
were held down continuously for the last remaining half hour or so and
then the run itself. Well, the starter said go, and I fired up and took
off. Right up to 4000 rpm. The WI was on and drowning the motor. I did
not have enough sense to just turn it off. So at the 3 mile mark I
turned out. Pulled back to the pits and found that I had no data and the
laptop computer was insane, literally. We tried to fix the laptop to no
avail. I was not quite myself either in that I didn't associate the rpm
issue with the WI either. I started a gremlin hunt and of all things
did find 7.5 degrees of missing spark advance. Changed brain boxes. Made
another run on next to the last day at the close of the day and nearly
spun out. The good thing was that the missing 7.5 degrees of spark when
put back brought the car to life. Where before I was making 170 + mph at
the three mile mark, this time I made that easily by just over a mile.
Still no data however. Took me a day to get the near spin sorted out via
a reinspection of the car and I just said I am done.

Hopefully this year will be different! Good things were in store when I
got home and started messing with the laptop. I swapped out its battery
for another one and of all things, the insanity went completely away!
Everything now works. Even when I put the battery I had removed back it,
it contimued to work. So I am a happy camper ala computers now. I also
purchased a netbooks for backup. I added front fender wells. This to
prevent that danged salt from getting all over everything. My sponsor,
Caps Bright Hot Coatings in Fresno, recoated the main headers and I
decided to put the fender wells for protection. I purchased a new HP 72
Turbonetics Turbo so I could give the borrwed one back to Skip (Thanks,
Skip!). To help mitigate the short wheel base, I added a rear spoiler.
I had Duane Cole at DC Waterjet (my other sponsor) cut the pieces. The
car now has a spiffy spoiler which will provide some directional
control. When I made the last run last year it was painfully obvious
that the car also did not weigh enough for the amount of torque at the
rear wheels. I added a few hundred pounds to the car. I made a heavy
steel bar from an old hydraulic garage lift which goes just under the
frame in front and just behind the front air dam. In the rear I added
three pieces of steel: on each side on the rear frame horn and one
across between those two. As part of that addition I decided to do the
best car alignment I could for the front and rear ends. I did that and
even included an iron fat simulator (simulates me) in the drivers seat.
I think I have that all sorted out and the car rolls easily to and fro.
I used a level to assure the steering wheel remained in the same place.
Then I rolled it through water to wet the wheels so that I see what the
front /rear tire relationship is. Looks good! I now need to get the
fire bottles recertified and the car washed and loaded. That wll happen
the end of the month.

This may be my last Speed Week event. Not my last salt event, just Speed
Week. The costs have ballooned and this event will cost near $4000.

We leave very very early on the 7th of August and will be returning on
the 14th.

mayf, 205 mph in my sights!