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.”

Hotrodding legend Don Siewert: a eulogy of sorts

Don Siewert with a 1950 Mercury, a car he built in 1957. The picture was taken in 1959. All photos courtesy the Siewert family. Story and images first published in the Calgary Herald Driving section 3 Feb. 2012.

With the passing of Don Siewert Calgary has lost a legend.

Siewert spent his life restoring and hotrodding cars, and motivating and inspiring a younger generation. He was 76 when he died on January 11; Siewert will be remembered by many in the Calgary car community, and especially by former students he taught at public high schools during the last decade of his life.

Siewert was born in 1935 on a farm just north of Drumheller. At 17 he wanted to drop out of school but his parents insisted he get an education. After graduating he enrolled at SAIT in what was then called the Farm Construction program. This course related to the care and maintenance of the sundry machines — from tractors to stationary engines — found on a working farm.

At much the same time Siewert was looking for a set of wheels. He was 18 or 19 when the first car he owned, a 1933 Chev coupe, blew its motor. A 1935 Ford truck was his next vehicle. He replaced the original 60 horsepower, 136 cubic-inch Ford motor with a 110 h.p. 255 cubic-inch Mercury engine.

In 2009 Siewert was inducted into the Canadian Street Rodding Hall of Fame, and at the time in an interview with me, said: “I had a hotrod.” He laughed, and added, “That little Ford truck was the indoctrination.”

The Farm Construction program gave Siewert time towards his apprenticeship, and at 20 he left SAIT with his journeyman ticket as a licensed mechanic. That led him to a job at Currie Barracks, where he could quickly grind a set of valves on a Bren gun carrier – not an easy task.

From servicing engines Siewert moved on to autobody work, and he eventually received his ticket in that field as well. He then worked for the City of Calgary as a vehicle painter for two years. Next, he became an insurance damage appraiser, and then he worked again as a painter, but this time he finished wooden desks and furniture.

“That kind of rounded out my trade career,” Siewert had said.

Siewert rented a garage in Sunalta where he worked on his own projects, constructing hotrods and lead sleds. Later, he had his own double garage, where he built cars, and also restored a number of vehicles, from Ford Model Ts and As to Mustangs and Thunderbirds.

“I’ve always had the hotrodder instinct, but I like my old original stuff, too,” Siewert explained. “I’m not content with buying pieces and putting them on a car, I’m (more) content handcrafting pieces that are made to fit, and there’s a lot to be said about that. I like to have my signature on a car in the parts that I build.”

Don Siewert at Bonneville, where he drove with the North of 49 race team.

He took this love of building cars to Calgary high school auto shops, including Jack James, Henry Wise Wood and finally Lord Shaughnessy.

“Dad would take his cars into the shop and let his students crawl all over them,” his son Mike said. “He wanted them to see how the technology had changed from the early days, and how it had progressed into the cars of today.

“He was amazing when it came to showing kids how to do something, rather than just telling them how to do it. Dad always felt you had to get your hands dirty.”

Siewert had such a following that several of his former students, one of whom purchased an old Model A from his instructor, arrived at the memorial service. Many of them also held an informal wake of their own to honour their mentor.

At the time of his death, Siewert was still working on cars. In fact, his last project was a Ford Model T Roadster pickup truck equipped with a 331 cubic inch DeSoto hemi engine. Mike said his dad was building it up to resemble an early open wheel Indy racecar.

“My brother (Rob) and I will eventually finish that project in memory of my dad,” Mike said.

Don’s son, Mike, at the memorial service in his dad’s 1930 Ford Roadster powered by a 1957 Ford flathead V-8. The car was driven when it was -36 C with the windchill — true hotrodding.

Calgary Herald, Hotrodder Don Siewert makes Hall of Fame, by Greg Williams

NORTHOF49TEAM

Photos by Greg Williams

Top photo: Don Siewert on the left, Ted Allan on the right. If memory serves, these photos were taken in the fall of 2002 after the North of 49 returned from Bonneville.

This story first published in the Calgary Herald Driving section Friday, July 10, 2009

Everyone has something they love to do.
But it’s not very often that we are lucky enough that our passion and our life’s work are the same.
Calgarian Don Siewert is one of the lucky ones. Hotrodding has long been Siewert’s obsession, and just about everything he has ever done has given him the skills necessary to build cars.
Now, Siewert is being recognized for his passion. When he opened his mail last week Siewert, 74, was overwhelmed at news he will be inducted into the Canadian Street Rodding Hall of Fame (CSRHoF).
“This is something that I never thought would happen,” Siewert said during a telephone interview from his home in southwest Calgary. “You just do what you’re doing, and life kind of goes on. But this award does elevate you, and makes you realize life is very good.”
Siewert was born on a farm just north of Drumheller. At 17 he wanted to drop out of school but his parents insisted he get an education. After graduation he enrolled at SAIT in what was called the Farm Construction program – Siewert said this related to all of the machinery found on the farm.
At much the same time Siewert was looking for a set of wheels. He was 18 or 19 when the first car he had, a 1933 Chev coupe, blew its motor. A 1935 Ford truck was his next vehicle. The first thing he did was yank out the original 60 horsepower, 136 cubic inch Ford motor and install a 110 h.p. 255 cubic inch Mercury engine.
“I had a hotrod,” Siewert said, and laughed. “That little Ford truck was the indoctrination.”
The Farm Construction program gave Siewert time towards his apprenticeship, and at 20 he left SAIT with his journeyman ticket as a licensed mechanic. That led him to a job at Currie Barracks, where he could quickly grind a set of valves on a Bren gun carrier – not an easy task.
From servicing engines Siewert moved on to autobody work, and he eventually received his ticket in that field. He then worked for the City of Calgary as a vehicle painter for two years. Next, he became an insurance damage appraiser, and then he worked again as a painter, but this time he finished wooden desks and furniture.
“That kind of rounded out my trade career,” Siewert said.
He used to rent a garage in Sunalta where he built hotrods and lead sleds. Now he has his own double car garage as a workshop, and he has even performed some restorations. In fact, he went from building hotrods to restoring some Ford Model As and Ts to bone stock original. Siewert also restored more than a dozen early Mustangs.
“I’ve always had the hotrodder instinct, but I like my old original stuff, too,” Siewert said. “I’m not content with buying pieces and putting them on a car, I’m content handcrafting pieces that are made to fit, and there’s a lot to be said about that. I like to have my signature on a car in the parts that I build.”
He turned hotroddng into a family affair. Siewert has built cars with his sons, and now the grandchildren are getting involved – especially now that he has been racing with the North of 49 Bonneville team (www.1149.ca). The Bonneville Salt Flats are legendary in hotrodding circles – the flats offer a venue where a builder can find out just how fast the car or motorcycle they have built will really go.
“At the Foothills Street Rod Association meetings a fellow would talk about Bonneville,” Siewert said. “I said I don’t even want to go down and look, because I knew I would be hooked if I saw the flats.”
Siewert once read about Bonneville in a 1950s Hot Rod magazine article.
“I never forgot about reading about the salt,” Siewert said. “So, in 1998 I went and looked. It’s such a self-rewarding sport, everything is measured by your ability to build, and I fell in love with the idea and decided maybe I should try and create a salt flat racer.”
He realized he couldn’t do this by himself, so in 2001 he took Ted Allan of Allan Rod & Custom down to Bonneville – and the salt bug bit Allan.
“I had a 1928 Ford Model A truck body, and we hit everybody we could hit for parts,” Siewert recalled. “A great group of friends wanted to be a part of this, and they became committed to helping us out.”
A race truck was fabricated in less than a year, and the team raced in 2002 and learned some valuable lessons. While they didn’t break 200 mph, they came close, and when they got home they regrouped.
The truck that the North of 49 team built currently features a 427 cubic inch Chev engine capable of pulling 840 h.p. Backing up the engine is a 350 Chev automatic transmission. In 2007 at Bonneville Siewert piloted the truck to its fastest recorded speed of 210.5 mph.
Each year the team has raced at Bonneville Siewert has driven his 1930 Ford Model A Roadster hotrod down to the event.
“We drive it in the rain, it’s no big deal for us,” Siewert said. “Bonneville, for me, was all about driving down to Utah in the Roadster, being on the salt, and driving the race truck. And, for us Bonneville was a family affair.”
For the last 10 years Siewert has also shared his passion with students as a teaching assistant in high school auto shops.
In early October Siewert heads to Waterdown, Ontario to collect his accolade.
According to the CSRHoF website (www.csrhof.com/index.html) the Hall of Fame has existed since 1993, “To help guide the future of street rodding by recognizing the individuals, groups and corporations who have made a significant contribution in the past to the development of the hobby in Canada on a local, regional or national basis.”
Siewert said: “It’s really quite an honour.”