Assalt Weapan: The Return

Stephen Poll and Larry Phillips are all over the Assalt Weapan: The Return land speed Panhead this morning. The engine is in mockup state but all lines, mounts, brackets, and other components are being fitted, tested and assembled. Many new parts are arriving this week thanks to the blessings of our sponsors and of course The Rough Boy Racing Grassroots Gang. They're the absolute miracle workers of this land speed attempt.

Larry Phillips wired and tested the nitrous controller gifted to us by A1 Cycles Michael Beland. We are able to adjust the amount of initial nitrous percentage and the amount of delay until the engine receives the full monty. We can also adjust for a full hit, no delay. Larry is preparing another relay with pigtail just in case we have a controller failure. This will help us eliminate the controller in minutes. No rewiring needed. The reasoning behind the controller is to soften the nitrous hit on the engine and the tire. In 2007, when we hit the nitrous it immediately spun the tire. If we could have controlled the introduction of the nitrous and thus the wheel spin, we may have had a much higher speed. Tuning options for salt conditions. We shall see. Now Larry will detail the wiring and move on to other things as there is much to do. Larry won't be back until Tuesday. I'm working on through the weekend.

Testing our oil tank heater on the Assalt Weapan: The Return land speed Panhead. Yes, it will be removed before flight. We will bring oil up to 180 degrees before starting engine. We have an oil temp gauge on the Mychron 3 dash.

The California nugget rush is on once again! Not for gold but for C630 bronze valve guide nuggets, yessiree! More goodies for the Assalt Weapan: The Return land speed Panhead. William Kibblewhite and the staff at Kibblewhite Precision Machining have been a big part of my success for over thirty years. Look at these beauties, would ya'. Thank you Kibblewhite for not only theses beautiful precision valve guides and seals but also the M&M's, saving my butt once again but mosty for your friendship. Much love!

Today, I received a phone call from Eric Christianson at Red Line Synthetic Oil. The Assalt Weapan: The Return land speed Panhead and Rough Boy Racing is proud to be officially sponsored by Red Line Oil!! Thank you so much, Red Line Oil and Eric for your support and to Tommy Syndergaard for putting us together. Awesome news. More to come.

Front section is now ready for final detailing, paint and assembly. This includes the entire front section. Thank you Stephen Poll and Larry Phillips. Steve was also able to squeeze in the replacement of a complete floor section, one wall, wiring and begin the paint of our trailer workshop. Eight days a week, can to can't. A Blessed day to all y'all.

I have broken the advancements and modifications into different sections and will focus on those sections for better organization, details and testing. This section pertains to ring seal, crankcase evacuation and oil control, showing one small piece of the puzzle. I am blocking off the generator section of the gearcase, modifying the case floor slope for oil flow, increasing breather trap return hole size, increasing exterior vent size and utilizing the timer hole for an additional gearcase side vent. Both gearcase side vents will run to a baffled and vented catch can/separator. This will be tested using my clear gearcase cover, three test manometers, a variable strobe for stop action viewing, and a remote oil tank system that we can see, in real time, oil in/out ratios and how much oil is staying in the engine. All testing will be done using a pre-heated oil supply of 180° to start. This is but a brief description of what's really involved in this one section. This is the stuff that really gets me going, man. I'll share all the data, good, bad or otherwise. In the indelible words of Mrs. Stothart, my ninth grade science teacher, "Stay curious, Berry." I'm on it, Mrs. Stothart.