Commodore Valuables

[momec3]

Ignorence is bliss ehh. How many jobs do we do that when we look back we think "Shit I must have had rocks in my head to attempt that" and would not attempt a second time. We know the pain involved.
This sport runs on a lot of Ignorence.
Well done Doc

Chris

[Dr Goggles]

There's a whole bunch of reasons why this is a good diff to have.

1./ The pinion to crown wheel height is one of the lowest of OEM diffs making it one of the most efficient, way more so than a 9 inch.

2./ We have 2.14:1 ,2.28:1 , 2.41:1 and 2.56:1 ratios. There are 2.73:1 and 3.08:1 ratios also available.

3./ It has a Torsen centre which is a worm gear torque sharing diff, no springs, no clutches, no( well, much less) dual wheel spin if you get greedy on the gas.

We didn't go for a complete transplant because,
1./ We wanted to keep the Ford stud pattern.

2./ If we did swap the whole third member we would have had to build another jig to sit the car on to make sure it was true, THEN get the welding in right again, the car has run straight up to nearly 200mph, so we know it's pretty good.

But most of all, compared to other options , none of which I really liked.....9inch?, Quick Change? Borg-Warner Statesman 2.6:1? had the same pros and they had cons that didn't stack up.It was Sparky( Bill Smith) from Phoenix Arizona who has run over 300 with a big-block lakester who encouraged us to put this together.... Then he marshaled all the parts and gave them to Norm Hardinge who brought them back from Bonneville for us.We have been done a lot of favours here and spent a lot of time , we've spent around $1000 but we won't find a better spread of ratios or a better centre for what we're trying to do.

We could put 800hp into it if Sparky's experiments(records) are to be believed.....at 2.56:1 we are running at about 34mph/1000rpm....I'll let you do the sums on where we could go, if we had the dough.

[Dr Goggles]

It's over four years since we posted here, hi .

We've got some news.

The Spirit of Sunshine won't be at Speedweek 2016, we aim to be back for 2017...that kind of fits our schedule so far, two years on, two years off. In 2013 we ran 215mph, 2014 we ran 205mph and realised we had to make some changes.

We needed more power, we worked out we needed between 420 and 440hp to run against the SCTA record in E/GL of 236.xxxmph.

In short we've had some luck.After posting on Landracing.com that we were about to start building an E class small block chev V8 I received an email from a Robin Dripps.

Dr. Goggles,
I have followed your build since the beginning and always enjoy the attitude you bring. I noticed this morning that you are considering a new engine. I am familiar with the E engine having set records at Bonneville with a V6 and qualified for records with a v8. I no longer am using my V6 and would be willing to donate this to a great cause.Some explanation: The engine is a GM Bowtie iron racing block. Better casting, set up for dry sump, etc. The heads are the Bowtie aluminum splayed valve heads set up by HRD to give amazing flow with custom Jesel valve train actually machined in Jesel's shop. Other specs include Moldex crank, oliver rods, bullet cam. Stu Hilborn made a special electronic fuel injection system for the engine, probably a one off affair. I can give complete specs if there is any interest. The engine has one week of Bonneville on a complete rebuild. On a chassis dyno it put out around 480 hp on the rear wheels. I can get dyno sheets. This was a competitive engine in the ESTR class until the near million dollar Mariani roadster arrived. A long set of conversations with Kenny Duttweiler suggested that the best approach was to switch to a v8. I worked with Kenny for three years to finally get a 256 CID engine to make 650 HP. This was not inexpensive.
Kenny evaluated my v6 before we made the decision to go with a v8 and the engine is currently in his shop.
Kenny first thought he could sell it to some racers in Dubai but that fell through and I have no time to deal with all the things needed to put the engine on the market. Having followed your thread for years and feeling a certain set of shared interests in the various members (I am an architect, play electric guitar, among other things) I thought this might be a way to have a very interesting engine find a good home.
You would have to pay for crating and shipping and that would be all.
So, if you have any interest let me know and I can give complete specs. You also can talk with Kenny and get his opinion on the engine, but l probably would need to let him know this is okay.
I know there is much discussion on the forum and you are certainly welcome to bring this up for discussion.
At any rate give this a thought and make of it what you think best,
Robin Dripps ESTR 1986

We are currently arranging the freight.

Graham and I will be at the lake this year, next year we'll have the tank........

[momec3]

Good news Doc. The motor racing world is just a big family. Be good to see the tank step up.

[RGV]

What a great offer. Should fit the bill just nicely.

Dave

[Lynchy]

Seriously! What a score! I wonder if anyone over there has a 1000HP Jag V12 that they don't want anymore?? You keeping the same gearbox??

[grumm441]

Seriously! What a score! I wonder if anyone over there has a 1000HP Jag V12 that they don't want anymore?? ?

Does it have to be a jag

https://www.facebook.com/groups/DragBur ... 768405973/

[Dr Goggles]

Seriously! What a score! I wonder if anyone over there has a 1000HP Jag V12 that they don't want anymore?? You keeping the same gearbox??

swapping to a Muncie

[Dr Goggles]

Hi All,
just an update.
We have the new dry-sumped V6 Chev installed.
We have a G-Force close-ratio 4 speed with a 1.195:1 3rd gear.
The motor is substantially bigger because of the canted valve heads, we've had to modify the bodywork.
We've moved from a total loss cooling system with a water tank to a radiator and electric water pump, the aero won't be as good but we didn't have the time to build a new water tank Norm at Aussie Desert Cooler has helped us out here.
New harness on the way from Schroth in the US.
We're flat out right now, still got a lot to do.......

[Norm]

How did the car go?

[Dr Goggles]

How did the car go?

Had ECU problems Norm, didn't get a run, really disappointed but we'll be a goer for 2019.