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To subscribe, send your $25 to DLRA PO Box 349 Castlemaine VIC 3450 and remember to tell us if you want the print or PDF version. ============================================================== ISSUE 35 - October 2009 GET YOUR DIARY OUT! 2010 SPEED WEEK 8th - 12th March 2010 PRE RACE MEETING At Aussie Desert Cooler Sunday, 31st of January 11 am. 350 Murray Road, Preston Victoria 3072. ============================================================== Contents ============================================================== Cover 1 Newsletter Sponsors 2 Contents 3 Presidents Report 4 Rods Rambling's 4 Volunteer Schedule 5 Entries are Now Open 5 New Track Layout 6 DLRA Shop 7 DLRA Records 7 DLRA Website 7 Recommendation 8 Profile 8 Australian LSR History 8 Big Knob Does Bonneville 9 Newsletter Sponsors 10 Transwest Insurance 11 On the cover: That’s what I’m talkin’ about! Looks good doesn’t it? Our man from Wudinna , Plukka will hopefully be able to provide us with some more updates as we move towards Speed Week 2010 President Rob Carroll Ph/Fax 03 5472 4370 Vice President Peter Noy Secretary Rod Hadfield / Carol Hadfield Treasurer Rod Hadfield/ Carol Hadfield Chief Steward Brian Nicholson & Bob Ellis Motorcycle Steward Gary Baker Race Director Kevin Saville / Rob Carroll Starter Cled Davies Assistant Starter Chris Hanlon, Paul Lynch, Mathew Saunders, Don Noble Timer Tony Cooke Assistant Timer Stan Suchodolskiy, Peter Noy Scrutineer Phil Arnold 1st Assistant Scrutineer Lennie Souter 2nd Assistant Scrutineer Steve Charlton DLRA PO Box 349 Castlemaine VIC 3450 Phone: 03 5472 4629 and Fax: 03 5472 4370 http://www.dlra.org.au info@ dlra.org.au ============================================================== Presidents Report - Rob Carroll DLRA #12 ============================================================== Congratulations must go to our club members who made the long trip to Bonneville this year, some having great success, some not so great but all gaining valuable experience. Well done to all of you. You will read in Rods Ramblings about the two track system to be implemented for speed week 2010. A sub committee of 7 or 8 members were elected in May at the Melbourne general meeting to organise the second track. The timing on this track will be by GPS, recording the maximum speed on any run. This will be fine for licensing requirements. Six GPS units have been purchased and I am concerned this will not be enough. I guess we will find out. If you have your own it may be wise to bring it. The pages for volunteer tasks is on the website, are now open to all members. Please email any comments or suggestions for improvements. When you decide what tasks you can do and the time you have available you will be able to add your name and team (if any) to the corresponding task. If you don't have access to the forum get a friend to help you or call a committee member. Remember Speed Week cannot commence until all task roster times are allocated. The club still needs someone to take over merchandise officer from Carol Hadfield, she has enough to do with memberships, meeting entries and general day to day enquires. Speak to the committee if you want to know more about this very important aspect of the club business. It's weird how some competitors can remember to bring their helmet, fire suit, race car etc but forget to bring the logbook. This was discussed at the general meeting in March at Mt Ive and was reported in the newsletter. It would be an unhappy situation if a competitor had their entry application refused because of no logbook. As posted on the forum by Outbacktrev, a working bee is being organised for the Christmas break between Boxing Day and New Year, I called Len Newton about this and he is okay with this. Trevor is going to post a list of maintenance jobs on the forum shortly, contact us by personal message or phone if you're interested in lending a hand or post on the forum - DLRA members section. I also asked Len once again about another toilet block at the club camp and he said he would consider it and talk to Joy, but he also said she didn't want any more fixed buildings there, so I will follow that up later. ============================================================== Rod's Ramblings - Rod Hadfield DLRA #3 ============================================================== I am writing this column one week after returning from crewing on Norm Hardinge’s ’34 Roadster at Bonneville. It was Bonneville’s biggest ever meeting with 550 preentries, there were 3 tracks running continuously all week with many records being set, a big congratulations to DLRA member Evelyne Scholz who really sent a shockwave through her class with a 30mph increase on the previous record, Evelyne was riding a borrowed V-Max bike owned by an American friend of hers. Other Aussies running along with Norm were Greg Watters, Kym Krebs and Richard Assen. It was a hard slog for a fortnight before the event getting Norm’s car through scrutineering; luckily he had arranged to have an inspection done before the car left L.A. I am sure you will read about it in his own words in his “Cruzin the Salt” column and this newsletter. The motor expired with water in the cylinder that had already suffered a chip out of the piston ring area, thus robbing him of his 200mph goal. Again this year there was a fatality when a ’34 Coupe spun, getting air under it and then tumbling, totally smashing the car. DLRA member Mark Dunn was right opposite the incident and was totally amazed how the car completely demolished itself. At our last general meeting a committee was formed to streamline next March’s Speedweek meeting which is to be held from the 8th – 12th of March. Work started immediately with a plan drawn up by Lionel West, his plan overcomes a lot of problems, especially how to time and control two tracks, it keeps traffic off the lake by pulling the pits back to almost opposite the canteen yet allows spectators to see cars at full speed, our two track plan should halve the impact on the environment. Researching last years records show that only 40% of the runs were over 170mph, so the second track will run to that speed using GPS’s, 6 units have been purchased by Tony Cooke, our timer and he is pleased with their performance. Entrants will pick up one before leaving the pits where their name and class will be recorded, following their run they will return the GPS to the pits where the speed will be recorded before handing it to the next competitor. The main track will be run as before and to qualify for this high speed track each competitor must first do 170mph. Both tracks will be marked the same, starting at “0”, 400 cones have been purchased, thanks to Cled Davies, to clearly mark the second track, return roads and warm up track. A truck has also been purchased so that everything can be stacked and stored in it, the truck can then be driven back to the homestead for safe keeping, this should save a lot of time and labour. With the pits at the canteen only competitors vehicles need to be driven onto the lake, we have purchased special matting to lie at the entrance to the lake. I have spoken at length with Len Newton, the station owner and he is very enthusiastic about our new arrangements. We have arranged with Len to hire his equipment and employees to prepare the tracks as our Dodge truck is not going to last much longer, one breakage could seriously jeopardise a meeting, everything planned will lower the impact on the lake, yet get everyone as many runs as they want. A plan of the proposed layout is included in this newsletter. Norm Bradshaw has been a real worker on the committee organising the matting and finding the new truck, he has also been chasing up some quotes for portable toilets and showers, but more on this later. The committee has had to make a lot of decisions and spend a lot of money, but with our huge numbers now, some 850, something had to be done and this should work well and also take a load off the timing van volunteers. If there are any incidents on either track, both will be shut down immediately, the Firies will be in the middle of both tracks, there will also be less work to set up and pull down the high speed track with one mile less wire to roll out as timing will start at 3 mile, through the 4 to the 5 mile. I am sure if everyone does their bit we can really have some fun, however there are two things that every entrant must do, with no exceptions, to allow the paperwork to be organised, if you intend to run next year, you MUST enter before the 1st of February and your log book must be presented with the car as discussed and moved at the General Meeting held at the DLRA Campsite in March, 2009 - $100.00 will be charged for a replacement log book. Please don’t try and say you didn’t know, please tell any friends or crew so that the meeting can start on time and run smoothly, remember the roster list which is being drawn up, if you don’t show up, the meeting stops - we must get professional. ============================================================== Volunteer Schedule ============================================================== As you know Speed Week cannot operate without volunteers, therefore for 2010 we have developed a schedule to ensure that we have the right number of volunteers where and when we need them. 1. All tasks must have someone nominated to them before Speed Week can commence. 2. Drivers, Riders and their crew are expected to volunteer 3. If you nominate for a task at a particular time and you cannot for what ever reason fullfill this obligation, its up to YOU to find a replacement before your allotted time, otherwise the track will be closed. As an extra incentive, team members who nominate early will have a significant advantage when selecting their tasks and ties, whereas later entries will have to take what ever tasks and times are left. NOTE: The number of volunteers nominated to any task is considered to be the minimum requirement. There are a number of tasks where if we have more volunteers, the time allocated to the task may be reduced. This is particularly true of some set up and pack up tasks. (This is using the many hands makes light work principle) So select your tasks by going to the DLRA website and following the link from the home page to the schedule then either click on the job you want to do to send and email or note the times from the daily schedules and send these details along with your name and member number in an email to info@dlra.org.au or post to Dry Lakes Racers Australia PO Box 349 Castlemaine VIC 3450 ============================================================== Entries are Now Open ============================================================== Entries are now open for the 2010 Meet, 8th – 12th March, 2010. It is very important to get your entries in early. For the first time, this year there is a cut off for entries. The cut off for this year’s entries will be 1st of Feb 2010. There will be a late entry fee of $150.00 after this date. Pre Race Meeting At Aussie Desert Cooler Sunday, 31st of January 11 am 350 Murray Rd., Preston Vic, 3072. Completed entry forms and payment to be sent to Dry Lakes Racers Australia PO 349 Castlemaine VIC 3450. ============================================================== DLRA Shop ============================================================== The DLRA shop has a new range of polo shirts, windcheaters and jackets in stock along with a new order of the very popular 2009 Speed Week T-Shirts. NOTE: For you convenience, the DLRA can now takes credit card payments. Fill in the online form, or print and post it. http://www.dlra.org.au/merchandise.htm ============================================================== DLRA RECORDS ============================================================== I’ve had a few people asking why the records haven’t been updated yet. Well it’s a combination of things but mainly there has been a fair amount of research going on with existing records to ensure that they are correct before we move forward. We hope to have these finalized soon. ============================================================== DLRA WEBSITE ============================================================== Similarly the content of the website has remained fairly much the same since Speed Week. But there is a lot happening behind the scenes with an update for the DLRA forum software and all the pages for the Volunteer Schedule to prepare. First priority is to update the records then the member profiles. The site peaked at 941 unique visitors a day during this years Speed Week Top5 pages are; Home page; 2010 Speed Week page; Lake Gairdner page2; 2009 Speed Week page; Lake Gairdner page 1 http://www.dlra.org.au/ ============================================================== Recomendation ============================================================== Recently Rob was in need of some replacement batteries for some DLRA equipment and was recommended to Luke Farrell at Independent Battery Distributors in Laverton North. Luke was very efficient and helpful and once he found out where Rob was from and what the batteries were going to be used for was also very generous as well. So if you are in need of some batteries and want to support those that support the DLRA give Luke a call, and remember to tell him you’re a member of the DLRA. ============================================================== Profile ============================================================== One of the competitors already entered for 2010 is Paul Carter, he and his team are currently constructing a Bio Diesel powered motorcycle that they hope will reach speed of up to 300 KPH and challenge the Americans who currently hold the World record. This is the American bike, ours will be similar. The bike runs on processed recycled cooking oil and waste fats and produces almost zero carbon emissions. He is currently riding a road registered bio diesel motorcycle in Australia, built by students from the University of Adelaide on an around Australia trek. ============================================================== Australian LSR History ============================================================== Australians Terry O'Hare and Jack McDonald designed and developed the Project 500 car for an attempt on the Australian Land Speed Record in 1973, which at that time was held by Sir Donald Campbell. Powered by a Rolls Royce Derwent jet engine with custom designed afterburner. Braking is assisted by two specially designed slotted parachutes fitted to ejection tubes at the rear of the fuselage. Build cost in 1972 was estimated to be $150 000. Engine has 2750lbs of thrust and 4125lbs of thrust when the afterburner was engaged. Although tested for a recorded 378mph, Project 500 was wind tunnel tested at 500mph plus during the design phase of the project. Designed to break the 500 mph (804 km/h) barrier, the Project 500 car unfortunately never confirmed its potential due to the unseasonable rains that flooded Lake Eyre that year, causing the attempt to be postponed. Further attempts were planned in subsequent years but, apart from a test run at Lake Hindmarsh in northern Victoria in 1974 where the car reached 378 mph (608.3 km/h), the Project 500 car never completed a competitive run to challenge Campbell's record. The Project 500 Jet Car has been fully restored in recent years by apprentices at the Kangan Batman TAFE College. It went on display at the Ford Discovery Centre in November 2004 till January 2005. This seems to be the only other time the car has gone on display in its 35 year history For more info go to http://www.gregwapling.com/hotrod/land-speed-racing-australia/land-speed-racingaustralia-project500.html ============================================================== Big Knob does Bonneville - Norm Hardinge DLRA #201 ============================================================== My heart sank – that was it! We were finished! The diagnosis was a split bore. We had worked so hard to get here, had travelled so far, but it didn’t matter, we were finished! I looked around the team. Mat Lagoon, the engine builder and Rod Hadfield the Crew Chief, had worked like dogs over the last few days. The engine had run hard for six runs - enough to get our three drivers, Wayne Belot, Neil Davis and myself, Norm Hardinge, licensed to 175 mph. Then on the sixth run, the engine was sick - it wouldn’t pull over 5k. But 5k translated to 188 mph and that was enough for me to get a license to run 200 mph plus and allowed me to move from the Special Course to the Long Course. Mat pulled the car back to the pits and with the help of Rod Hadfield and American Doug Odom, they pulled the motor down finding bent valves, broken rockers and a damaged piston. Some thought we were finished then, but I wasn’t going down without a fight. Garth Hogan’s words from a year earlier came flooding back to me “We didn’t come here to spectate!” Well, we didn’t either. We contacted every local we knew to see what parts we could scrounge. Now, Chevy’s are all the go in the States and if we were running a Chev, I could have built three with the parts we were offered. Big Block Fords are another matter. Things were looking sad – the further we searched the more apparent it became - only a few race teams were running Fords. Then, we had on offer on rockers. Another race team, headed by Gary Hahn and his brother offered a set of stainless steel rockers and girdle. I couldn’t believe it. We had never met them before, but they had finished racing, figured they weren’t going to need them anytime soon and proceeded to rip the goods straight off their race car. The comradely relationship between salt lake racers is like nothing else you could find in any other form of motor sport – that’s what I like about Salt Lake Racing (well, one of the things). So, the rockers were covered and Mat scrapped offending pieces off the piston proclaiming that it would be good for a while. That left the valves. It was late now, businesses were closed. But fellow racers offered a few phone numbers of people in Salt Lake City that may be able to help. So, six am the next morning after a night of little sleep, we headed off to Salt Lake City, not really knowing where we were going, hanging onto our list of phone numbers and a GPS. As we approached Salt Lake City, the business day was beginning. Mat started to ring around – “would you have...”, “when can you get them ....”, “can we modify them to suit .....” Eventually he found someone that had something similar in stock and also had a lathe and milling machine. “Here’s the address. Stick it into the GPS” We had to wait about an hour for the guys to machine up our parts. What do you think we talked about in that hour? The new engine of course! You know, the one on the drawing board – the ultimate one, the one with Boss Hemi heads, the one we’re going to have when we come back! Ok, back to reality, we got our bits, grabbed some tools that we hadn’t thought to pack and got back to the Salt. The plan was to rebuild the motor, put me in the driver’s seat as I was the one licensed for the long course and floor it! We stuck to the plan – 24 hours after we picked up the parts in Salt Lake City we were ready to race. We did a quick photo shoot while the car was still in one piece (well, it was relatively in one piece – I had run off the course and taken a piece out of the grill but most of the car was still present) and then we lined up to race. I accelerated through the first mile, accelerated through the quarter timer. Then the car slowed with the Tacho stuck at five grand. The motor didn’t want to go any harder. I got off the loud pedal and pulled the chute. We limped back to the pits where the diagnosis was a split bore. So, we were finished. The guys were all feeling down. But then I started to talk to my partner, the team manager. She said “Think about it. Think about what you have done.” Her point was that we had made it to Bonneville, I had raced on the Long Course – every Hot Rodder’s dream and something that I never, in my wildest dream, thought I would have an opportunity to do. All the preparation had worked. The long hours reading the rule book had paid off – we had gone through scrutineering ok. We said we were going to do it and we did it. She was right, we had accomplished a lot but I was still pissed off! We need to thank Castrol for their help in getting our race team over to Bonneville and the technical support they gave us while we were preparing the car. Not only could we have not done it without them, but they were excellent to deal with and were with us all the way. They were a real help. We also need to thank a US race team -POP Motorsport (Gail and Al Phillips and Doug Odom). They received our race car, got it through customs and had it pre inspected. They didn’t race this year so they set up pits for us, used their push car, radios etc. etc. etc. A big thanks to Gail, Al and Doug. Well, we’re already planning for next year. We want a bigger, better motor. You know, the one on the drawing board – the ultimate one, the one with Boss Hemi heads, the one we’re ........ See you on the Salt, Norm Hardinge. ============================================================== PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS ============================================================== JET HOT The hottest in heat management coating More power less heat, unmatched durability, great looks! 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