How I spent my summer vacation [Bonneville]

[freebeard]

It was a strange journey and a strange place to be. I've seen rain hanging beneath clouds, but I'd never before seen shadows hanging under clouds. I only understood when we saw a road sign that said 'Blowing Dust'.

Thanks to poor planning I arrived without dark glasses. Within 10-15 minutes I couldn't keep both eyes open a the same time. $36 for some polarized dark glasses and my eyes recovered over the next few hours. Next time it's a black bandana or burnt cork on my cheekbones. It is the light coming off the salt that gets you. That light spot right-of-center in half the pictures? Salt on the lens.

I saw a number of things that are popular on Ecomodder:
•boat tails

I already posted this in an appropriate thread


•grille blocks

nuf' said


•front fender skirts

But none on the back?


•diffusers

...and box cavities, some of my favorite subjects

Anyways... The cost of available lodging starts at 0 dollars and it is one day's travel each way. I wonder if I'll be back?

[Sporty Modder]

Sooooo jealous! Need moar pics!

[UltArc]

Awesome. Look forward to more pictures.

[kach22i]

Lots of rear diffusers.

Thank you for posting the photos.

[freebeard]

All y'all are welcome. There will be more, but they get reduced and moved here and there; and my camera [batteries, probably] died on the 2nd morning.

In the night shots at the Nugget, there's a fiberglass Tucker with a faux patina/commercial paint job. I shook the hand of Alex Tremulis' grandson.

Need moar sleep.

Edit: Told ya I needed more sleep—it was Tucker's grandson. He's the guy in the brown shirt. They were going to use the 'Tucker' as a push car for some Gyronaut replica (no gyroscpe) Triumph-powered sit-in motorcycle, but it didn't pan out. Obviously the car was on the Salt.

Here's my competition for World's Fastest Motorhome

Gutted interior, full rollcage, 502 Olds, stock trans and beefed-up driveshafts. Their website is here, but hasn't been updated since the 4th.

I saw this view of this car earlier in the day and wondered what it was. Now that I've seen the front I still wonder—it had canted '59 Chevy quad headlights. Maybe a Volvo.

Cadillac taillights for that extra touch of class.

What do we have here?

Drilled and dimpled frame, license plate bracket and luggage rack; aluminum cab back wall, dash and door panels; safety wired spring clamps; a differential breather; a K&N rechargable filter on the differential breather; a drilled and dimpled bracket to hold the breather. Whew.

So, who else was there? Where's your pix?

[skyking]

Very cool!

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Some nice rides there. I like those old walk-in vans and the fiberglass Tucker replica.

[freebeard]

Was there, that was done ...in my youth. My father bought a 1948 Chevy Franz' Bakery truck and he:

• bolted the rear doors closed and built a double bunk across the back
• built a cabinet down the left side with a sink and recess for a camp stove (the sink fed from a 5-gallon milk can behind the driver's seat, which flipped forward for entry to the rear)
• bolted a Buick car radio to the ceiling above the motor.
• had me paint a cartoon and 'Big Iron' on the front quarter.

We cruised the Salem OR drive-ins in that until I got my first car, a bullet-nosed Studebaker.

[freebeard]

kach22i -- Wanna talk diffusers?

I see distinct differences

This is just dual baby buggy bumpers in 1/4" plate with some opportunistic improvisation. I asked the guy if there was wind tunnel time behind that and he said yes. Sh'yeah, right.


Interesting. He's dragging around a box that has an inlet at the front 1/4 the size of the exit. Love to see the A-B-A testing on that one.


"Three fences and we're done. Now we have more time for the engraved metal plaque on the decklid and tailfins on the aircleaner"


This one has my interest. It's getting close to a box cavity with no lower bound. And it suggests to me that the outer half of wheel spats are redundant. Flip the wheelwell turbulence outward and let it dissipate into the overall air flow.

I put a tape measure on my car, not counting the tow hook and front anti-roll bar brackets I have 3 1/2" or more ground clearance. I measure
+2" to the rear shocks
+2 1/2" to the engine case
+3 1/2" to the muffler
+5 1/2" to the bottom of the bumper

I have a trailer hitch that reaches from the rear bumper to the torsion bar housing. I want to get it pickled and hammered flat by a machine shop, then it will make a great foundation for an engine skid-plate/rear bellypan.

I want to hang a five-fence diffuser from it, with the outer fences reaching forward to between the rear wheels. Fairly aggressive, I think maybe 2-3" longer than the bumper and 4" deep.

[aerohead]

With two parachutes,looks like he's going for over 175-mph.At those kinds of speeds,you don't want wheel-spin which could cause you to yaw,and you don't want a little micro-burst side gust to push you into the same thing.
The capping-plates on the deck extension and diffuser will both with downforce and to help keep the center-of-pressure behind the C.G.and help to weather-cock the car rather than understeer into a crash.