Bonneville 2006. After having spent 2 years on and off working on Gails
Corvette, I knew I had to get it done so I can spend all my time on the
Streamliner. Its a 1999 C5 thief recovery car with 135K miles. Sold all
the engine ( with 7 computers ) and running gear off the car. Put a
straight front axle under the front with air bag suspension. Made a
modified truck arm ( NASCAR ) rear suspension with a Ford 9" Cup
floater. Replaced all the floor and firewall panels with 3/16 steel.(
Fiberglass burns.) The Vette frame is real strong hydroformed steel, so
built a full cage on top of it. Put in a roof flap in case it gets
backwards. Took our little E motor from the Sprite and put EFI on it. (
Hood clearance the reason).
Got Bonneville Sunday morning and through tech. First run Monday the
car ran very straight and smooth but the engine would pull hard up to
about 5K and then the tach would start jumping back and forth between 3K
and 8K and misfiring. I could tell the motor was not running right but
not hurting its self so I kept going playing with the throttle and
trying to test the steering and ride for Gail to drive the car. Could
not figure out what was causing the misfiring until I talked to Keith.
He said " Its your alternator dude". He had the same problem a couple
years ago. So unhooked the alternator
Gail took the car and went an easy 177mph run and no misfiring. The
record in E/GT was 183mph set in 1978. So her next run she went 191mph.
Backed up with a 188mph for 190mph record.
So with 4 runs on the car she has the record, the car handles great,
everyone is happy and I can get back to the Streamliner.
Doug Odom in big ditch
|