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Bonneville sprite... (damn little Lbc)

To: "Hanna, Mark" <mhanna@ball.com>
Subject: Bonneville sprite... (damn little Lbc)
From: "Keith Turk" <kturk@ala.net>
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 16:47:01 -0500
Cc: <spridgets@autox.team.net>
Reply-to: "Keith Turk" <kturk@ala.net>
Sender: owner-spridgets@autox.team.net
Mark the Bonneville Healey has been a dream of mine for a million years it
seems.... (see I do know something about Geritol)

it will start Life as a bugeye body that is toast.... with a crushed front
end... but a fair set of doors and rear skin.... after that it won't be
what I would call a Concours BUGEYE.... hell you might not even recognize
it if I didn't tell you it was a Sprite.... but... that is within the rules
of Bonneville....

I started with the intent of running a big healey and keeping it basically
like Donald's 100.... even had the body... when I got ready to start
tearing the car down to do it though I realized how little I knew and went
out to Bonneville last year... To learn what a Land Speed Racer looked like
and this Jerk sold me the Camaro....or this fool bought it... hell you
pick....

anyway this year has been spent learning how to Race a fast car.... Looks
easy on TV doesn't it...

Hell just throw Money at it... and there you go... not quite that easy in
real life trust me...

On to the Bugeye Project... Land Speed racing is all about Aerodynamics...
and Hp... but mostly Aero stuff....  and Rolling resistance to some
degree....

Playing with the folks out there means you gotta play by their rules...
which means the Bugeye is going to have a 130 inch wheelbase and the stock
rear Track... the front wheel track is yet to be decided but I am thinking
I am going to narrow it a ton..... anyway... on to you question about what
it will look like... well it has to have a stock body from the cowl back...
Period... it must be pure stock
forward of the cowl you can do anything you think is fast.... so it will be
very very stream lined...

as for tires... I am running all the tires that I am going to use on the
bugeye currently.. I have three sets of rears and two sets of fronts.. they
are a combination of Goodyear Front runners and Mickey Thompson Bonneville
tires... they are skinny... like 6 inches wide and range from 25-28 inches
tall
it depends on which motor we are running....each Motor likes a different
RPM range... 

our best motor is a 1968 Chevrolet 302 destroked to a 296 cu in... and it
puts out around 650-700hp...
the dyno says more but I don't believe it... anyway.... if you can get that
out of a Healey Motor send me the Mounting locations and I will be happy to
run it in the car... but on my own I am going to run  the Chevrolet stuff
cause parts are plentiful and Relatively Cheap.... if you consider 20,000
cheap...

I am considering running dual turbo chargers in the sprite with an
electronic fuel injection also... which should make the car scoot....

going as fast as Donald Healey was my original goal... then I saw the
Record for Modified Sports.. and decided that was My Record....to have at
232MPH.... then I got to thinking and away we went.... yeah the car is
going to be alot of fun.... and I can't tell you how much fun I have had
here in North Carolina running the car... Steve Byers has been out to see
us run the car in the beginning.. and you all are welcome this weekend to
watch us run.... Here is the web site for the ECTA under Land speed racing
there are directions to the track and so on.... there are no spectator
fees... and it really is a hoot... to see somebody go FAST... this weekend
is the final tune-up... and there oughta be a ton of cars there getting
ready for the Salt....
http://www.hsv.tis.net/~mayfield

Keith Turk 
Austin Healey 100, Bugeye, Box sprites, Bonneville Camaro ( Land Speed
Racer) 



----------
> From: Hanna, Mark <mhanna@ball.com>
> To: 'Keith Turk' <kturk@ala.net>
> Cc: spridgets@autox.team.net
> Subject: RE: Re:...... I forget now
> Date: Wednesday, June 02, 1999 4:01 PM
> 
> Hi Keith ,
> Good luck this weekend ! BTW would you tell us about your Sprite LSR car
?
> What kind of engine , transmission , and other modifications are you
> planning ? 
> Will it be recognizable as a Sprite ? Or is it a Camaro with a Sprite
body ?
> 
> What kind of tyres do you use on a car that goes that fast ? Not that I
plan
> to 
> run my Sprite quite that fast ;-) 
> Thanks for the info ,
> Mark Hanna
> AN5L/13731
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:       Keith Turk [SMTP:kturk@ala.net]
> > Sent:       Wednesday, June 02, 1999 2:38 PM
> > To: Larry Miller; Peter C.
> > Cc: spridgets@autox.team.net
> > Subject:    Re: Re:...... I forget now
> > 
> > Well I think I been couped up to long.. I am going racing this weekend
> > with
> > the Camaro.... our last meet before Bonneville in August.... and if you
> > can't tell I am excited about this weekend... I stuffed that old Drive
> > shaft on a couple nails on the wall and got me a new one.... and we put
> > the
> > Back up motor in the car and it sounds nice... it is about a 500hp
motor
> > vs
> > the little motor which is well over 600hp...
> > 
> > one of the fella's on the Land speed racing list.... was getting on me
for
> > not being more inventive... Something about a Camaro being Common....
and
> > I
> > was trying to explain to him... that I wanted a Healey... not some damn
> > Camaro... anyway.... I am going to start on it This year after
Bonneville
> > ..
> > 
> > Okay had to do a quick sanity check... I think I am okay... don't know
> > about you...but I am thinking I am normal and I am fixing to run about
> > 175-180mph this weekend... in a 20 year old car built in my shop....
Maybe
> > I ain't normal after alll.... HEY LARRY WHAT WAS THAT NUMBER>>>>
> > 
> > keith
> > 
> > 

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