Dry Lakes Racers Australia - SPEED TIMES - Issue 20 February 2004 ======================================================================== Contents ======================================================================== Cover – 2003 Speed Trials 1 Newsletter Sponsors 2 Contents 3 Presidents Report 4 Rods Ramblings 6 Chief Stewards Report 7 2004 Speed Trials Entrants 8 New Members 8 Web site and Email 9 Newsletter Sponsors 10 On the cover; Club Animal Tender vehicle with one of our latest record holders and T-Shirt pin-up boy. Next door; Reincarnation of the famous belly tank. ======================================================================== Committee ======================================================================== President Rob Carroll Ph/Fax 03 5472 4370 Secretary Rod Hadfield See below Treasurer Rod Hadfield Editor / Web Site Greg Wapling Chief Steward John Broughan Race Director Kevin Saville / Rob Carroll Starter Cled Davies Assistant Starters Mathew Saunders, Geoffrey Marden, Chris Hanlon Timer Peter Noy Assistant Timer Eric Smith Scrutineer Phil Arnold 1st Assistant Scrutineer Lennie Souter 2nd Assistant Scrutineer Steve Charlton DLRA PO Box 349 Castlemaine VIC 3450 Phone: 03 5472 2853 and Fax: 03 54721241 http://www.dlra.org.au info@ dlra.org.au ======================================================================== Presidents Report ======================================================================== Rob Carroll Hello and happy New Year to everyone. With our race meeting soon upon us some news is in order. As you know we had another working bee at Christmas time. Thank you to all members who made the hot trip to Mt. Ive to work on the new camp. Even though the temperature on some days was 45° C we did get a lot of small jobs and loose ends tidied up. A third tank (23,000lt) has been installed on the East end of the shearers quarters to replace the small fiberglass pair that was there. Quite a bit more electrical work was completed. Painting was done in the ablution blocks as well as the tap washers replaced. Old fencing was removed from the West end of the shearing shed to provide a camping area. Quite a bit of cleaning up in general was also done. A mountain of rocks was raked up and tipped onto the pile near the generator for the sound barrier. Please remember to bring rakes as there are many more rocks to be cleaned up. A new air cleaner with pre-cleaner was fitted to the generator engine. The exhaust was modified to point away from the camp. A light was also installed over the generator set for night checking. If this light is not glowing the generator is not going!! Digger was good enough to bring Doc’s quad bike with him for us to use. Sunday and Monday we spent some time searching for a better (or closer) access onto the lake, taking GPS readings to compare places we found on the map. On Tuesday 30th December two National Parks officers came out to Mt.Ive to check what we had found. After more checking up and down the Lake it was decided the original access point onto the Lake was and still is the best place for us to use. Most likely the public viewing area will be moved to another location so they (the public) don’t see any dirt stain we may leave, more on that later. Thanks Doc for allowing us to use your Quad bike. For anyone going to the meeting, please take note of this; IRON KNOB ROADHOUSE, as of 02/02/04 they have lead replacement petrol (super), unleaded petrol, Diesel and BBQ gas, but NO LPG for cars. Please support them, as they are DLRA members. Also for first time adventurers this may help. Turn right off the highway at Iron Knob and head toward Mt. Ive. Pass Mt. Ive homestead turnoff and go another 8km, turn right onto station track. Please keep speed down. Go 2.8km to first gate. Keep going 6.9km to second gate. This gate will be closed and make sure you close it after your through. From the second gate go 6.3Km to T intersection. Take note of road signs, there are several creek crossings along this section. At the T intersection turn right and follow the road 3.9 km to camp gate. Turn left at T intersection to go to the Lake access point. On the 29th of January I received a fax confirming our application to use the lake has been approved by Department of Environment and Heritage. Talked to Joy and Len Newton a couple of weeks ago. Joy told me they will be doing breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and also “smoko” will be available if you want a cuppa and a piece of cake. Joy said that people are also welcome to camp at our old campsite. Water and toilets available, but no power. Normal fees apply. Don’t forget to bring your 20ltrs of diesel to run the generator. It’s a small price to pay for the convenience to keep your food and drinks cool and have a shower each day, as well as lights at night. The last couple of newsletters I’ve been on about leaf blowers to remove dust from wheels etc. (before vehicles are driven onto the Lake surface). They work well, but are expensive if you don’t need to use one at home. Try checking out the exhaust powered unit that Neil Stamp has constructed. He designed and built this unit and says it works well. Check the design elsewhere in the newsletter and I think you will agree for $20 worth of parts, it beats the cost of a leaf blower, it’s easier to carry and needs no petrol. Thank you Neil for a great idea. All items available from your local Bunnings store. Roll of flexi-hose to water roots of plants, 10 metre roll $25.00 (makes 2x5 metre long hoses Rubber Pan Cone Toilet fitting $2.60 Poly reducing joiner $0.70 5/8” clear plastic hose $2.13 m Roll of black tape $2.00 CAUTION CARBON MONOXIDE USE OUT DOORS ONLY ======================================================================== Rod's Ramblings: Surprises ======================================================================== Rod Hadfield The countdown is on, once Christmas comes it seems you had better start packing your bags, the time just flies, the phone rings every day with enquiries of some sort. A lot more people have joined up and we are now up to member number 386 as at the 1st of February, along with 15 entries, which is good news, as we need the money badly. This years T Shirts are finished along with a run of the old original members T Shirts. We have club stubby holders and event posters that will all be available at the Lake. The surveyors have been booked for the Thursday before the event, so please if you can possibly be there to help get everything set up, do so. Peter Noy will need help setting up the timing and it will be a good idea if other people know exactly how it is done. John Broughan will need a hand with the track, pit and roads layout, Andy will be there early finalising the camp as usual and would appreciate any help available. The Kimba Fire and Rescue have been contacted and will be available to carry out their usual tasks. Gary Baker has put his hand up to fit the Medical persons position (Thanks Gary). Our Christmas working bee achieved most of what was to be done, thanks to Rob Carroll, his friend Peter and son Tom putting in a marathon effort ………and Trevor Beck!! I don’t honestly know where we would be if not for Trevor’s efforts, every club member owes a drink to Trevor. The club has outlaid a lot of money, but we will now not have to spend anything on water as most of the tanks are full. The showers and toilets are all in and going and nicely painted, thanks to Cled Davies and his helpers. A lot of cleaning and tidying up was done, huts and containers were all levelled and most of the hard wiring is finished. However, we must not become too complacent, water must be used sparingly, people who have not bought bed sites must be ready to pay for the power and water they use. Members are reminded they must bring a can of diesel for the generator, which is well away from the camp, and a rock wall has been started to further reduce the noise. Len and Joy (Mt. Ive Station owners) have again been their usual help lending the equipment, the club has been helping to repay them with servicing of their equipment as without their co-operation things would not be so advanced. Cled Davies who has been to both working bees has made up some “Stop and Go” lights for the start line which should give a more professional look at that end and avoid any confusion. All drivers are to obey the starters rules, Cled will have everything running smoothly. Norm Hardinge (Knobby) and Wayne Belot of “Big Knob Racing” had a stand at the Melbourne Hot Rod Show featuring Norm’s Roadster, his former FJ ute and Wayne’s ‘A Coupe promoting the DLRA along with the sale of “Big Knob” team merchandise, (not sure of exact requirements you need to have to join) but I am sure Norm will be only too happy to fill you in and fix you up with his promotional gear. John and Debra Dawson can’t make it this year with their Studebaker (John was at the Christmas working bee), but hopefully some of the others from Queensland can be there. There are plenty of bikes entered already and some enquiries for different types of vehicles and power plants such as: Junior Dragsters, Rotary’s, Jet and Rocket power, some discussions may have to take place on some previously unchartered areas. I met up with Norm Bradshaw at Phillip Island Custom Nationals in January, he was telling me about the work he is carrying out with the aim of getting that magic 200 mph. Speaking with Leigh Fielder at the Melbourne Show, who is readying his car for this years event with a small block Nascar motor he has purchased with the aim of giving his wife Tracy a steer. Leigh will run the same driveline as with the Big Block Pontiac he used to run his World Record Speed at the 50th Bonneville Meeting. More good news is that Ray Charlton now is the sole owner of the very fast ’32 Roadster powered by a small block Chev. Ray is readying the car for this year also. We have fired our reworked motor and all seems ok., the new Jerico has been fitted and the shifter sorted along with a new tail shaft. We engaged a British aero-dynamics expert who worked on the Concord and Donald Campbell projects for some advice and possible improvements, he pointed out a lot of valuable information to us that we did not know, yet keeps us within the rule book, we are currently carrying out some of his suggestions which hopefully should get us close to the world record in our class AA F/Alt. One of my crew has come up with a very tidy truck back from which we have gutted the racking the travelling salesman had used and we are currently converting it into living quarters for the new campsite, we intend to try and get their early to set it up, I will now offer my two beds to anyone wishing to purchase them cheap. I suggest that if any member knows anyone wishing to attend this years event to book in with Len and Joy and they should be able to camp at the old campsite if they are self sufficient and pay their camp fees to Len and Joy. This will be one less job Andy and I have to worry about. The Lynch mob have set up their mini “Hotel Hilton” on the new campsite complete with a couple of palm trees, their own water tank connected to their roof (which I hope they are going to paint this year), a shower has also been connected. The Moe boys have set up a “Home away from home”, it is flasher than what some Aussies live in permanently. They are also buying a lot of this years T’shirts, it must be something to do with the very fast car on it, could it be Leigh Russell’s sensational Suzuki maybe? Trevor Beck has not only been busy attending to everyone else’s needs, but has also built a Holiday home next to the Moe boys, I guess Trevor can live without sleep for a week once a year. Maybe a rock wall will also need to be constructed around Moeville. Len has been towing large tractor tyres up the roads whenever he travels them, so they were particularly smooth at Christmas time. Rob Carroll contacted the Ranger who came out to our Christmas working bee and an agreement was reached regarding the access to the lake. Please remember to put an air blower in your Lake Gairdner survival kit to blow off you vehicles and keep dust to a minimum. I have sent our race dates to the magazines and they have been publishing them. A reminder about our fundraising auction this year, please remember to bring anything you have that could possibly be of interest to someone else. Our very special U.S. members Gail and Al Phillips haven't forgotten and have posted us a package of goods once again for Animal to tempt you all with, among items they have kindly sent are a video, approximately seven Gas Up badges, six copies of Gas Up's 11th Annual Dry Lake racings Hall of Fame 2003, famous stories on all the big names such as Ed Pink, Keith Black, Ed Donovan just to name a few. There are ten of the 2002 edition, three copies of the 2001, two copies of 2000 and two copies of 1999. These books are new and all the famous names with their stories are there. What a great thought on Gail and Al's part to think of us like this, the following are a couple of paragraphs of Gail's letter she included and can you believe they also sent $100.00 donation in case we had to pay customs duties, which happened last time, however this package arrived untouched by Customs, we really owe them a drink when we see them next. Don’t forget if you have not paid any monies owing to the club and there are a few outstanding, you have been sent accounts, we need the money to run the meeting. If you don’t have a speed wheel in your kit the club has them for sale at $10.00 each, they give you an exact speed you can expect to run with the rpm, diff ratio and tyre size you are using. Fuel Log Books are available to members to aid with the purchase of leaded fuels this year, if you require one, send your request with a large stamped addressed envelope to: P.O. Box 349, Castlemaine 3450. Lastly I urge every member to support Robin Cseh of “Smooth Metallics” with his momento’s and dress up gear he makes for every meeting, Robin donates a percentage of his sales to the club and it is greatly appreciated. Thanks Robin. See you all there, don’t forget your diesel drum……….roll on March 8th. ======================================================================== Chief Stewards Report ======================================================================== John Broughan I am looking towards a bumper meeting this year. The lake should be hard and fast, and the new camp should be great. I have been hard at work on our car, and this year may be the one when everything falls in place. Another $400 junkyard motor and a new (to me anyway) turbo should shake it up a bit. From what I hear, it looks like the RB30 3 litre VL Commodore/Skyline engine will be in several new, and some old cars this year. Could this be a seachange towards the later model computer controlled engines? It will be interesting to see what the most popular engine is, and how it changes. Everyone knows that 6 in a row is the way to go. I also look forward to adding members to the 200 mph club, with several cars and bikes knocking at the door. You need to set a record over 200 mph to qualify for this. It has been a while since we have had a new Australian member, the last from memory was Linden Cooper in Lucky's streamliner bike about 4 years ago. Of the 8 members, 4 have been visitor members from the US. About time we lifted the Australian number. I have had many interesting, and some scary phone calls from budding racers, ranging from a jet powered motorcycle to a NASCAR, with just about anything else in between. Our intention is to arrive Saturday for setup. For early arrivers, there are a number of things that could to be done to assist. Track Markup The first and last two miles will be marked by witches hats on both sides of the track. The in between area will use the fluorescent cardboard markers as before. Need nails There will be a return road turn off after the mile markers from 4 to 7. These are intended to be marked by markers similar to the inverted U shaped mile markers we use now. I have found the witches hats hard to see, and we need them for the pit road and the track. I am looking for 20 or 25 mm conduit and right angle bends to assemble these from. Setup trailer at lake entry with water and pump for wash down leaving lake. Move drag onto lake. The pit area should be dragged. Scrutineering tent put up in mid pit, front row. Spot next to it for me. During Meeting If we can get 6 people with vehicles and CB's we think we can speed track setup in the mornings considerably. Each morning and after breaks, station one at each timing station to break the beam under control of timer, rather than a slow drive through. One extra car with spare batteries and units. They will need to be available first thing in the mornings, and whenever the timing equipment needs to be re-tested or altered. If successful, this may solve the problem that we face every morning, where there seems to be one light or receiver that plays up. Scutineering Make sure that all firewall holes are plugged. The scrutineers will send you back to the pits if you have not sealed your firewall properly. All cars need two additional accelerator return springs. This means that you have to add two in addition to the ones that are in place on the carby/throttle body and/or accelerator pedal. Make sure that the accelerator pedal has a loop or something that your foot slips under or through when in its normal position on the pedal to allow you to pull the pedal up if required. Do you have restraining chains or cables on your trailing suspension links? These 4 things are the ones that cause 90 % of the problems in the scrutineering tent. Check the rule book, buy one, or download it from the internet. There is a copy of the scrutineers sheet in there for you to check your vehicle. There is no excuse for presenting a vehicle that is not up to scratch. If you are over 175 mph, you will need a chute, and it needs to be presented unpacked to the scrutineer for inspection. Only drivers are allowed in the scrutineers tent, crews and helpers should not enter unless invited. This is to limit the confusion over who is actually presenting the car for inspection. Now is a good time to check your safety equipment. You need a Snell 95 helmet. If your harness and wrist straps are older than 5 years, they must be in as new condition. Does your drivers suit have SFI or CAMS tags on them?. Are your safety harness mounts in the line of pull of the harness. Camp Much effort has been put into the camp, and I am sure Rod and Rob will talk about this. Our Fridge and freezers don't seem to have traveled well, with both freezers and one fridge not working during the Christmas working bee. If any one has one of these to spare and can get it to the lake, it would be most helpful. Shelving has been put into the cool room, and there will be some more installed during the meeting if time allows, or someone volunteers. The cool room operates at about 6 or 7 degrees, especially with people in and out getting things, so is not quite good enough for perishables, but it will preserve ice to keep perishables cold in eskies. Food For new visitors to the meeting, the station owners have a canteen near the entrance to the lake, and supply a breakfast/lunch/dinner menu. Food/drinks and ice creams are brought to the pit area around lunchtime, and drinks and ice creams at other times. ======================================================================== Letter from Gail Phillips ======================================================================== Dear Rod and Carol, Here is s small contribution for the next auction. And as small as it is it weighs a ton. My race club, which puts on the annual Hall-of Fame Gas-Up, was giving away excess 2003 and past years programs so I took a bunch. I figured more people could have a piece of the Gas-Up history if you had more to auction. I also included some event pins and one more of the tape about Jack Mendehall's Petroleum Museum. It is in the U.S. - NTSC format. Al and Doug are working away on the Corvette landspeed car and it is coming together surprisingly smooth so far. We don't know yet if it will be ready to run this year or not. Some day we hope it will be driving on Lake Gairdner salt, but that is awhile off. They are also working on a streamliner but it won't be the main focus until the vette is done. Have a great meet in March and know we will be thinking of you and all the club. We'll keep checking the website to see if anything is posted about how it goes. Give everyone our best regards. Always, Gail and Allen Phillips ************************************************************************ Special offer to D.L.R.A. members Diesel Jerry can and lockable holder The Jerry can is $64-00 and the holder $46-00 or both $110-00. Price includes GST but not freight. Simon Muntz’s Street Rods and Accessories The Ultimate Street to Cruise. 4 Dawson Street Castlemaine VIC 3450 Phone 03 5472 3970 B/H. Mobile 0417 911923. Fax 03 5472 5105 - 24 hours. http://streetrod.com.au Email - cool23@streetrod.com.au ************************************************************************ ======================================================================== 2004 Speed Trials Entrants ======================================================================== as at 10/02/2004 No. Name State Vehicle Class 120 Chris Fraser NSW Special construct 139 Trevor Clare NSW Special construct 150 Peter Vansittart VIC 1952 Triumph MP 178 Ron Stayt QLD Kawesaki M/BF 202 Bob Ellis QLD 1966 XP Falcon C/GCC 212 Mark Dunn NSW 1975 HJ Holden C/GC 214 Steven Stamp VIC 1929 A Ford GMR 249 Graham Cain VIC 1972 LJ Torana E/Prod 250 Norm Golgerth VIC 1972 LJ Torana E/Prod 271 Leo Monahan VIC 1972 LJ Torana E/Prod 282 Gary Baker NSW Suzuki 1350MPS/F 294 Colin Moore VIC 1972 LJ Torana E/Prod 303 Phil Mumenthaler WA 1978 Honda CBX 371 Grant Schlein SA Suzuki PP 372 Paul Rogers SA GSX 1300R 1350/MPS 380 Chris Matheson QLD ======================================================================== New Members ======================================================================== Welcome to the following new members; 356 Mr.Peter Quick Carlton North VIC 357 Mr.Trevor Lindner Carlton North VIC 358 Mr.Mark Francis Fitzroy VIC 359 Mr.Dennis Webb Natimuk VIC 360 Mr.Michael Bowden Murray Bridge SA 361 Mr.Derek Todd Rochedale QLD 362 Mr.Eddie Jackson Moe VIC 363 Mr.Anthony Cooke Greenock SA 364 Mr.Wayne Quine Echunga SA 365 Mr.Trent Clare Broken Hill NSW 366 Mr.Colin Clare Broken Hill NSW 367 Mr.Mark Love Rakaia NZ 368 Ms.Joy Saffron Bendigo 369 Mr.David Lowe Toorak VIC 370 Mr.David Ryan Kalgoorlie WA 371 Mr.Grant Schlein Mt. Barker SA 372 Mr.Paul Rogers Beverley SA 373 Mr.Fred Nitschke Nuriootpa SA 374 Mr.James Stewart Thornbury VIC 375 Mr.Denis Manning Grass Valley CA USA 376 Mr.Scott Goetz Santee CA USA 377 Mr.Ross Northwood Ayr Qld 378 Mr.Jon Hehir Meningie SA 379 Mr.Greg Watters Numurkah VIC 380 Mr.Chris Matheson The Gap QLD 381 Mr.Bill Cannon Maffra Vic 382 Mr.Will Lockwood Whyalla SA 383 Mr.Peter Woodthorpe Ballajura W.A. 384 Mr.Reece Douglass 385 Mr.Gary Lambert Wavell Hts QLD 386 Mr.Owen Murphy St. James VIC 387 Mr.Alex Musson Medindie SA ======================================================================== Website and Email ======================================================================== Greg Wapling We now have 70 members who have given us their e-mail addresses and there are now 26 DLRA on the mailing list, receiving news and updates as they happen. There are still some addresses that get returned, if you have recently changed your e-mail address please send me an update to info@dlra.org.au The text only version of the newsletter seems to have been a success so we will continue to send it out to those members with e-mail. For those that are taking a camera to the salt, how about sending some of your photos to be posted on the web site or in the newsletter. Please send to HIGH PREFORMANCE WEBSITES, PO Box 5317, Mordialloc VIC 3195. I will return photos if requested. Thank you to our sponsors; ************************************************************************ JET HOT The hottest in heat management coating More power less heat, unmatched durability, great looks! 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Now with the new Bench Racing forum, talk to 100’s of other rodders from all over the world. http://www.hot-rod.com.au ************************************************************************ This is an official publication of the Dry Lakes Racers Australia. The DLRA newsletter is published 4 times a year; Summer/January, Autumn/April, Winter/July and Spring/October. It is available, by subscription to DLRA members and a number of selected individuals and organisations. If you think you may be eligible, please contact the Treasurer. A 12 month subscription is $25, this can be sent to the DLRA Treasurer at PO Box 349 Castlemaine VIC 3450. For subscribers, the newsletter is downloadable as a full colour Adobe Acrobat PDF file with pictures. Or is available as black and white hardcopy posted to your door. Edited and feature contributions are welcome and should be sent direct to the DLRA Editor PO Box 5317 Mordialloc VIC 3195. Articles must be submitted no less than two weeks prior to the publication date. We welcome sponsorships and paid advertisments to be included in the newsletter. For further information, please contact the Editor.