Salt attack

Trillion Industries Triumph Bonneville. All Trillion images courtesy Spindrift Photography.

Too much sodium is detrimental to our health.

Yet, a growing number of Calgarians have a penchant for salt.

But it’s not the tabletop variety that’s got local gearheads revved up. It’s the flat and level ground in Utah at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

For decades, speed junkies from around the world have traveled to the flats with their custom-built hotrod cars, trucks and motorcycles. On the dry lakebed, these enthusiasts attempt to set land speed records.

This year several teams from Calgary visited the salt, including one that’s been going down for the better part of a decade (Ted Allan and North of 49), one with three years experience (Gord Driedger), and another getting their first taste (Derek Pauletto and Team Trillion Industries).

There were other teams from the city, but we’ll focus on these three.

This was Ted Allan’s best year ever.

In 2002, Allan and the North of 49 team took a heavily modified 1928 Model A Roadster pickup to the salt, where the truck was competing in the ‘B’ street roadster category. Powered by a 427 c.i. (7.0-litre) big block, naturally aspirated Chevrolet engine the roadster was fast, putting Allan and the team past the 321 km/h (200 mp/h) mark.

However, at the time, they were chasing a 344.4 km/h (214 mp/h) record that eluded them. They returned in 2003 and 2004, sat out 2005, and then ran each year up to 2009. That year, a piston wrist pin seized, and Allan sat out 2010.

Somewhat dejected, he began to question the aerodynamics of the old Model A pickup.

“That’s when my wife said, ‘If you’re going to think about building a new car, I’ll buy the body and the metal for the chassis’,” Allan says.

Ted Allan and North of 49, image courtesy Ted Allan.

That perked him up, and he decided to create a rear engine modified roadster using the Chevrolet engine from the pickup. Construction started October 2010, and a running vehicle was ready for Speed Week in August 2011.

With the engine behind him, and a longer and more aerodynamic body in front of him, Allan was confident he’d be faster.

And he was. Putting a new car on the salt, he had to run the shorter 4.83 km (3 mile) course before being allowed on the longer 8.05 (5 mile) track. Right off the trailer, on a shakedown run, Allan qualified for a record, backing it up with a record-breaking run with an average of 370.1 km/h (230 mp/h) in the B/GRMR (B=engine less than 439 c.i./Gas Rear-engine Modified Roadster) class.

Nobody beat that speed by the end of 2011, and the team became world record holders.

That winter, the crew modified the engine with new heads and dual four-barrel carburetors. Spring 2012, they dyno tested the changes. The reworked heads made no difference, and the dual four-barrel carbs actually robbed them of horsepower.

They returned the engine to its original state, but swapped out the automatic transmission for a standard gearbox. Again, right off the trailer in Utah, Allan set a record of 387.5 km/h (240.8 mp/h) in the Fuel class –without the help of third gear.

Allan was shifting first, second and to fourth, as the gearbox was jumping out of third.

With the gearbox fixed by mid-week, Allan took on the Gas class, setting a 399.76 km/h (248.4 mp/h) record with a 402.97 km/h (250.4 mp/h) qualifying run, backed up by a 397.83 km/h (247.2 mp/h) run. For the first time, Allan broke the 402.33 km/h (250 mp/h) mark – an achievement that makes him a 200 MPH Club lifetime member.

“Our learning curve was a bit bumpy,” Allan says of his years on the salt. “And now, I’m just mulling my options about what’s next. But we’ll be back on the salt, that’s for sure.”

Another Calgary salt flat competitor, Gord Driedger, bought a 1953 Studebaker coupe out of California in 2010. The car had been built as a racer, equipped with a flathead Ford engine.

Chopped and channeled, the Studebaker has just 76.2 mm ground clearance. Front fenders and hood are fibre glass; the rest of the car is all steel.

Driedger, on his first run in 2010, managed 218.9 km/h (136 mp/h). Over the course of Speed Week Driedger made 10 more runs, with 241.2 km/h (149.9 mp/h) his fastest. The record for the XF/GCC (Flathead Ford/Gas Competition Coupe) class that year was 251 km/h (156.7 mp/h).

He went down in 2011, ran very close to 156 mp/h, learned more about the car and the salt, and returned again in 2012. Unfortunately, he didn’t break the record, although he had installed a closer ratio gear set.

“I’m maxed out at horsepower, and that’s as fast as I’m going to go in these conditions with that motor unless I make some changes,” he says.

Driedger plans to fabricate new ductwork to get cool, fresh air to the engine, and will install a crankcase vacuum pump. The pump will remove excess pressure from the crankcase, thereby making it easier for the pistons to travel on their downward stroke.

“The record now is 157.701 mp/h, and we made 156.066 mp/h,” Driedger says. “I’m very close; I’m bumping up against it.”

He’ll be back in 2013 for Speed Week.

“The salt is part of my life now, and I don’t have any plans to quit – there are only so many Speed Weeks left in a guy’s life,” Driedger laughs.

While Allan and Driedger raced Speed Week, welder and machinist Derek Pauletto of Calgary’s Trillion Industries attended BUB Speed Trials later in August. The trials are for motorcycles only.

Pauletto challenged himself, basing the build on the remnants of a 1970 Triumph Bonneville to run in the M/PBF (Modified/Pushrod Blown Fuel) class. He used the front frame loop, fork and engine of the Triumph, but everything was heavily modified. Pauletto designed and built the custom rig, but had plenty of help putting together and tuning the engine.

Basically, he took antiquated British engineering and pulled it into the 21 st century, outfitting his 650cc racer with current technology. He installed an aftermarket turbo for a 1.8-L Audi car, and modified throttle bodies from a 2003 Honda CBR for fuel injection. Custom cams, pistons and crankshaft went in the Triumph cases, and an HKS F-Con V Pro fuel management computer system was tricked into thinking it was running a two-cylinder Toyota Supra. That work was thanks to automotive computer tuning gurus Reg Reimer and Chris Hart of Calgary-based RCTS.

Pauletto and crew got the bike to start on Thursday, August 23, ran it on the dyno on August 24, and were on their way to the salt flats at 8 p.m. that night to make the Sunday tech inspection.

They made it, passed inspection, and squeezed two qualifying runs (171.94 km/h – 106.838 mp/h and 172.28 km/h –107.049 mp/h) out of the motorcycle before being sidelined by electrical gremlins.

“Our venture didn’t end on the best note, and we couldn’t make up the stuff that happened,” Pauletto says, and adds, “I definitely grew some grey hair and added a couple of wrinkles, that’s for sure.”

There’s no question he’ll be back, however.

“You get out there and you’re surrounded by the salt – it’s an eerie and surreal place, like nowhere you’ve ever been before,” Pauletto concludes, and adds, “For sure, there’s always next year.”

Calgary Herald, 1953 Studebaker on the Salt Flats, by Greg Williams

Photo courtesy Kristin Martin. This story first published in the Calgary Herald Driving section Oct. 15, 2010.

When he was 13 years old Gord Driedger made a promise to himself.

One day, he’d race on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah – just like the go-fast gearheads he had read about in his latest issue of Hot Rod magazine.

That was back in 1970. Fast-forward to 2010. At 53, Driedger, a Calgary hot rod fan, recently made good on that boyhood promise.

“I remember reading about Bonneville when I was 13 years old,” Driedger says, “that’s when I started buying Hot Rod magazine.”

He owned some fast cars when he was younger, but sold his 1970 Chevelle SS 454 LS6 and didn’t have much to do with high performance vehicles for a while after getting married and raising his three daughters.

He couldn’t stay away, though. About 10 years ago Driedger got back into the hobby with a 1965 Corvette – a car he’s restored and modified. And, another 1970 Chevelle has found its way into the garage.

Neither of these vehicles eventually got him to Bonneville, though.

This is a story best told by Driedger.

“In January 2010, I was at a live auction for Ducks Unlimited. I bought a wine-tasting trip for four to Napa Valley. My wife Kim and I and a couple of friends went down in late March.

“We were staying at a winery up on the hill, and we were sitting out on the deck one morning drinking a cup of coffee looking out over a field of grapevines.

“Then, I heard this race engine fire up, and the sound is coming up the valley to where we are. I jumped in our rental car and zipped down the valley to try and find the source of the sound, but I couldn’t. When I got back I started talking to one of the guys working at the winery, and he said that it was probably his friend Bob Nance, and that he’d introduce us.”

So, Driedger and Kim drove down the valley a short distance where they met Nance, a member of the Napa Valley Cruisers car club.

“(Bob Nance) gave Kim a glass of wine, me a cold beer and us a garage tour,” Driedger says, “he treated us like long lost friends.”

Around the corner of the garage Nance had parked a 1927 Ford he planned to turn into a salt flat racer. That’s when Driedger told him he’d always wanted to do the same – either build his own or buy a ready-made racer.

“Bob stopped and turned around and said ‘Gord, you’re going to be a happy man in a few minutes’.”

Nance took Driedger to a neighbour’s house to see a 1953 Studebaker coupe. The car had been assembled by one Ron Zampa to race on the salt – but was never finished. Unfortunately, in 2003 Zampa died.

Another Napa Valley car collector bought the Studebaker from Zampa’s widow, thinking he would turn the car into a street rod. After looking at all of the race modifications, though, he thought better of it and left it alone. He eventually decided to sell. Enter Driedger, who made a deal on the car and had the Studebaker shipped to Calgary.

Photo courtesy Kristin Martin.

The Studebaker arrived in April, and Driedger quickly familiarized himself with the salt flats rulebook and set to work putting together the finishing touches. Driedger installed a safety harness and door nets, together with a fire suppression system and some instrumentation.

Driedger took the Studebaker to Dale Adams Automotive Specialists in Calgary for tuning of the 296 cubic inch race-prepared Ford flathead V-8 engine. Original car builder Zampa had commissioned flathead specialist Chris Zootis of Zootis Performance Center in Healdsburg, Calif. to breathe a little extra life into this powerplant.

The Ford engine, topped with a Holley four-barrel carburetor, is connected to a Muncie four-speed gearbox driving a nine-inch Ford rear end with 2:75 gears. Driedger managed 135 horsepower at the rear wheels, which is respectable given that a stock flathead Ford makes about 90.

The Studebaker’s body has been chopped and channeled giving just 76.2 mm (three inches) of ground clearance. Front fenders and hood are Fiberglass; the rest of the car is all steel.

“We had May, June, July and one week in August to get ready for Bonneville,” Driedger says. Bonneville Speed Week ran August 14 to 20 this year, and Driedger managed to get the Studebaker to the salt. And, this was a family affair. Wife Kim and daughters Brittany (23), Kaylee (21) and Spencer (20) were all part of the pit crew.

There were a couple of issues to be fixed before the Studebaker passed the rigorous tech inspection, but Driedger persevered, and finally had the car ready for its maiden run.

“It was a rookie run for me, and a rookie run for the car,” he says. “I’d never driven the car before except for backing it up and down my driveway.”

To run at Bonneville, a driver has to make licensing runs. An ‘E’ licence simply shows a driver can handle the vehicle and the salt, and there is no minimum speed limit. Driedger, on his first run, managed 218.9 km/h (136 mp/h) – this gave him both his ‘E’ and ‘D’ licences. Over the course of Speed Week Driedger made 10 more runs, with 241.2 km/h (149.9 mp/h) his fastest. The record for the XF/GCC (Flathead Ford/Gas Competition Coupe) class is 251 km/h (156 mp/h).

“We snuck up pretty close but we’ve still got a ways to go,” Driedger says.

While his daughters have expressed an interest in racing the car on the salt themselves, Driedger first wants to get more speed out of the Studebaker.

Above photos courtesy the Driedger family.