Art & Inspiration Soft Bonneville Speed Record?

http://nebula.wsimg.com/2b04b2e7087...89604A3781742F233&disposition=0&alloworigin=1

Just cruising through the record book for the salt flats, and was curious as to what the pickup truck class had to offer- it being commonly forgotten.
On page 19, on modified pickups, the xf class for flatheads is held at 121.5 mph. This seems to be a ‘low’ record when compared to the coupes and roadsters. Seems like a mildly built flathead with good gearing coupled with a pre-40 pickup with some aero work could do better; as it is a modified class.
Short of actually getting a rule book and seeing everything that is actually involved in a flats car, does anyone off-hand want to help explain. I am not really looking at a build (although it would be cool!), but rather just some more info. In the past threads I’ve looked at, RichFox had been a good resource.

 

Al; records are soft until Jim Jensen waves you off down the course. Then the penny will drop that its a bit more than show up and collect a record trophy.

 

You can get that soft record for a about $30k (maybe) and a red hat for $100k. ez peeze nice an ez.....

Ohh yeah...no aero work.... Modified doesn't mean the body.

 

Yep and a lot of vehicles that are really fast on pavement aren't as fast out on the salt. Some of the really hot street bikes that race unchanged when they hit the salt prove that.
121.5 with a flathead in a pickup is hauling the mail for sure. Throw in the rules an specs for the truck to put that flathead in to fit within the rule book and it gets even harder. Sounds like fun trying to do it though.
Guy about 90 miles from me had a turn key Bonneville setup including car and trailer and spares for sale a few years ago at a pretty reasonable price for the car that had done 200+. He had marked it off his bucket list and was moving on to other things on the list. No idea of where the car went but it was interesting at the time mainly because it was ready to race and had passed tech the year before.

 

There is this thing called aerodynamics,,,,,,,,

 

Also a thing called elevation.

 

Look at https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/xo-pp-bonneville-project.1091049/ here for lots of info.

 

You should read the rule book. Trucks must be post 1946." Soft" records require lots of hard money. Not so "soft" records require lots of really hard money.

 

Not even. That a record appears "soft" is only to those who've never tried it. Think about all the years and all the runs and the record is what it is because going faster is difficult and expensive.

Building a street HAMB car/truck and an engine for it has little-to-nothing with the complication, expense and expertise to build a rig which will pass current SCTA Tech. The safety requirements/regulations/equipment get more detailed, more stringent and more expensive every year.

jack vines

 

Got that right. Today's cars carry several hundred ponds of safety equipment that wasn't mandatory 20 or 30 years ago.

 

Which I guess is a good reason for why some people are up in arms about TROG potentially being on the flats. Same level of danger but a lot less regulation.
That being said, I had a feeling that it would all come down to the safety decisions that have been made by the scta, but good to know. Wish the rule book was a pdf

 

You can run at the USFRA World of Speed event. They have the 130 club that has safety rules more like TROG. You won't set any records, but you can have fun. What's a rule book cost anyway? $10. If that's out of reach, forget ever running at the salt.

 

I race a sidecar (my avatar). If Jimmy six is right then I got a bargain. A quick mental addition of my costs tell me over the years of going to Bonneville I've spent around $30,000. I have five class records there so at $6,000 a record I got a steal!

 

Remember that quick sand is soft too! If you want a picture of running for a "soft" record, ask Don Ferguson how much money he spent in the 15 years it took him and his dad to break Bill Taylor's "soft" record.

 

Just show up. You'll get a record. Its easy they said.

 

To be honest my first record set in 1975 was open, so any speed would do. I bought Noel Melovich's old drag racing 40 Chevrolet for $500, lowered the front, put in a 270 GMC, and set a record I was not proud of at 109 mph. No fire suit, no fire system, no high speed tires, roll cage, plastic seat, etc. and spent right at $1000 plus the car. In 1976 I moved the record to 144.4 and spent way more.... After 44yrs there no telling the money and the red hats for my son and I.