Not Ready...yet.

Still working? Trying to get it done in time? Are you close to a deadline? Wanna race or cruise this summer and feel that the clock is ticking way too fast? Be happy, because you're luckier than you might think. 

Here's why;

When in the middle of a project you're thinking about it constantly, you're dreaming weird dreams about it frequently and it absorbs your mind totally. The blood that runs through your veins is full of it and it live a life of its own in your soul. 

Is that a bad thing? Nope. 

Because it pushes out boredom, stress and obligations of unnecessary kind. It's called flow. It's not reasonable and not profitable. Still many would agree that we all benefit from when Einstein, Picasso and Dylan and their likes spent some time in this mental state...at some point in time.

As long as you're glued to a project of your liking you're a happy person and you're under development. 

When we're not helping out with Turbocharging & Supercharging, we're busy with our private projects. A wide spread of activities that many would referee to as The Hobby.

But for us private project has gone beyond a hobby. It has become more the way of living and thinking. A way to merge creativity with history and style.

Let's start with Magnus-The Reasonable-Börjesson at Salt Slush Racing;

By now you know that Magnus is a man with magic mind. Who effortlessly move around in many fields at the same time. Here he is in front end geometry design mode. Baja Truck front end design mode. What he's looking at is his mock up of a Baja Truck front end geometry.  

In addition to the above, Magnus is building a model A / model T drag racer in -60 style with Buick V8 (nailhead) engine. 

Oh I forgot, the 1928 Ariel is coming together too.

Worn and torn sheet metal pieces from long time ago are getting reshaped...

...one weld point at the time.

Besides the above, other projects too such as the Plymouth Scamp engine swap 

(from a 198 cu.in 6 cyl to a Jeep 5,2 V8 with some home made PFI) is within scoop as well.

Yes, all the pictures above were taken within 24 hours while he was in a parallel project process.

Let's move over to Cina, or Carina which is her given name. She's the Salt Slush CFO. So, better beware.  

Carina The Carpenter, working with Christmas goat repair. 

It's not an execution, it's design improvement.

    

Simultaneously, the -49 Olds 88 instrument needed to be tested again...

...and after some tweaking, the fuel meter and ammeter was alive again. Even the temperature sensor and the temp meter was declared healthy.

Our common project, the Olds 49, is soon ready for dashboard and door jamb paint job. While waiting for the last (!) sheet metal part the old steering wheel was finally removed.

Just before that blue feeling.

 

I can watch it for hours...that Harley Earl elegance. It all started with an incorrect eBay advert, that was followed by an intensive shipping and refurbish activity.  A project in itself. Thanks to Ulf, Thanks to Conny and Thanks to Koch Steering Wheel.

But what is this? Wasn't the Matra finished? Why are there turbo part lying around under the car? An inquiring mind wants to know.

We don't care if your project is completed or in a dream phase and it's none of our business what you do to thrive and survive. Instead we're always ready to contribute with our know-how and the precious stuff from Salt Slush shelves.

 

That's all. For now.

To be Ready. Complete. Done. -A Magic Matra Moment.

From junk to gold. From rags to riches. All good. But as hopelessness moves to happiness an emerging emptiness appears, because at the end of the rainbow there are less dreams. But the object is now charged with elbow grease, long gone salaries and memories. In short, it's ready for the road or the race. 

It's time to start to get to know the vehicle as A Ride. 

You've hold the crankshaft in trembling arms, you've seen meter after meter of weld wire reach sheet metal wounds and you've eyeballed the engine waiting for the first ignition.

But now there's asphalt to be eaten. At first, you let it idle outside the workshop. Then you drive around the block with white knuckles. After that, the shake down can begin. All of a sudden the born-again-pain is gone, it runs like a Rolls and you can cadillac it down the road and start the first adventure together.

This doesn't happen too often though. Especially not with cars that has been 100% in pieces, close to molecule level. Because this type of restoration normally takes more time than normal people can plan for. All circumstances changes and road block pops up like trees in the forest. Over ambitious restoration dreams has killed many projects and left nothing but sadness lost money behind.

 

But not this time, because after 14 years Anders Matra Bagheera restoration is complete! 

Yes, there were a 6 years pause in between when project such as the land speed racing project (The Salt Slush Amazon) and Anders private Magnuson LS equipped El Camino pushed the Matra out. But it came back, got it's electronic fuel injection and new upholstery and now it's ready. For real.

It happens only twice. In the showroom and after a decade long restauration 

That new car feeling.

A new lease on life.

The old French 3 seater has transformed from a pile of porous plastic to a mid engine equipped, wedge shaped, weasel.

That sweet taste of victory. A Matra Moment.

(No, the hood is not that long, it's an illusion)

The last piece in place. 

Yes, Anders made the upholstery himself. Of course. 

How it all began.

The bare bone Matra in less a crowded workshop one and a half decade ago.

Next topic: Not ready yet...

The unsolvable problem with personal development - A Gearhead Trinity Dilemma.

A Hot Rod Go-fast-soul (Go fast. Die young style)

Blind boldness.  (Old testament God style)

A sense of elegance. (My inspiration here is the Holy Spirit)

Those are the 3 things you need to be a goto gearhead and mechanical mastermind.

There is just one big problem; Age.

Here's what; when you're a wild teenager with appetite for cars and bikes, to produce blind boldness is normally not a problem. It's a given factor. 

If you're a natural born motorhead a hot rod go-fast-soul normally arrives effortlessly in your early 20-ties.

But style and elegance requires more experience, time and an artistic mind to develop. This comes slowly from nowhere and evolves as we're getting more mature. I don't want too precise about age here...

Another parameter is mechanical precision. When you're really young, wild and full of speed, needs and the urge to do deeds, service intervals and correct wrench torque is not on the agenda. Because you're busy having fun and making errors. Normally you don't win races based on self-made stuff at this age. You're imortal as can be and powerful, but you ain't got no money. Which is good.

As a gearhead grows older mechanical engineering skill evolves and his or her stuff starts to work properly.  At this point you might get champagne and climb the winner stand. You're on the way to be a mechanical mastermind and an amazing driver, but deep in your heart you know that you're getting sane and there's nothing you can do about it.

At some point in time we felt the urge to build a Landspeed Racer, a Volvo Amazon Landspeed Racer. 

(yes it's still in US, ready to race)

If you've got the strength and the passion you can at this stage carry on and enter next level and reach for elegance. But as you coming closer to elegance and sophisticated speed you feel poor and you suffer because you've lost the wildness. You suffer, but on a high and comfortable level.

This is how I repair a quarter panel on our Olds -49 these days. I would have used a somewhat simplified method when I was a teenager...think bondo. 

Some of us are trying hard to bridge 35 year of personal development as a hobby mechanic by working on small engines once in a while. But it doesn't seems to help...the result becomes too good over and over again.

Almost none of us can be all the above at same time. Is it even the same person who tuned those mopeds at 15 that build race cars and restore vehicles later in life? Is the guy or the girl in the old picture really you? A philosophical question that can drive you crazy.

A few of us are surprisingly fit to cope with the gearhead Trinity dilemma.

(this is a rather old picture though...) 

But at some point it's time to stop thinking and just feel comfortable no matter age and personal development...since we have turbos and superchargers for all that wants to go fast and make fun last.

Passion.

Is it possible to work more than full time with global engine development, run a Speed Shop in Sweden while racing at Bonneville (in the US of A) and at the same time build and restore cool old cars, bikes and more (!) in limited space at reasonable pace?

After all, there's only 24 hours available and in addition, you've got to sleep, eat and do what you've got to do too!

The answer is Yes. It's possible and it spells PASSION! (Yes, capital letter is appropriate and not a typo)

Passion fuels creativity, boost knowledge and actually, reduce stress too.

Passion is not prestigious

Passion is not posh

Passion is power.

If you lack passion, we can't help. You're doomed and you're on your own. You've got to dig after the gold that makes your gloomy days spark. There's no use to provide a roadmap to where passion cannot be found.

But if you're passionate and full of dreams (we're here talking about those filled with cars, bikes and more) which you constantly neglect, here's our empirical evidence; 

- Bring passion back to life, fuel it with the desires and dreams and you'll find tedious topic's being more bearable and energy will flow like water or whisky through your veins pending on your likings.

And yes, it helps to have a tight team like Salt Slush Racing around, to sell quality products and to have energetic friends with similar passion. But there's always a first step to passion for everyone and our advice is to take it. Now.

Again, we don't have a roadmap...

...but we know that EFR Turbos and...

...Magnuson Superchargers...

...as well as a first test drive of a desert wreck...

...or new hippie/race seat for your magnificent military vehicle...

...and perhaps a Wild Villiers Engine Start up...

...combined with amazing Ariel (all of a sudden) appearance...

...doesn't just happen by coincidence.

It happens because of how we live.

It happens because of Passion.

 

Warning! This is an informercial from Salt Slush Racing!

Let's be clear about one thing. We hate commercials too. 

But still, as car guys we too want to get good news about precious speed parts. Especially when quality boosting is getting cheaper. So we thought that you guys might want these news too.

We're not talking about parts made in chinesium, instead it's about a gift from heaven. It's a story about a helpful Dollar to SEK exchange rate that all of a sudden provides pure power and speed happiness to all Swedish Racers. 

A sent from above to all Drifters at Gatebil, something that all Time Attacker want to have and wish come true to all StreetWeek Dragracer's. Not the least a message of joy to all common guy&girl Street Racers with thirst for red lights challenges. 

This message will follow in Swedish below...

We know a quite a lot of good artists. But few Renaissance Men like Mattias Jönsson, who's a painter, a racer, a builder, a speaker, a tattoo artist and not the least a reoccurring BorgWarner EFR Turbo customer with endless euphoric enthusiasm. 

To the commercial part of this post: If you're into turbos, take our advice and Go To  https://saltslush.shop.textalk.se/

to check out our nice new prices.

.

If you're in to supercharging there's even more to be happy about. https://saltslush.shop.textalk.se/magnuson-superchargers/

Prices are really good and it's now time to strike a match and light up the sleeping potential in your Camaro, Corvette, Challenger, Charger etc. with a Magnuson Supercharger or why not make your Coyote equipped Mustang run faster than ever before now when the super serious speed for real VMP-Magnuson kit are getting affordable in Sweden to...

På svenska: Gå till https://saltslush.shop.textalk.se/ och gläd dig åt dollarkursen...varesig du behöver en BorgWarner EFR Turbo, eller ett Magnuson kit så blir det billigare att bygga din racebil eller göra din muskelbil/ GT-vagn snabbare, coolare eller bara bättre... men allt kan ändras snabbt så passa på och låta dina drömmar bli verklighet. Ring oss, vi är (nästan) alltid anträffbara! 

Make Love not War. The goverment approval

To cut it short, the "puppy" was approved with a clean paper. I was given some friendly advice to keep it in shape and make it ready for the Make Love and Not War transformation.

Good to know: The Swedish authorities allow all cars older than 50 years to be approved forever once they passed The Final Inspection. Rightfully assuming that the normal strive to stay alive will secure the standards on the vehicle. This works just fine since most +50 cars are owned by enthusiast. 

Sweet victory pictured. But still in doubt. Was this real or fantasy?

The beginning of the end: The "Puppy" is here waiting, ready to go to the test station.

Red $35 seats from Summit Racing were in place. No seat belts needed in old cars. Feels good. Provides an every day edge experience. A positive alternative to the usual choise of too much whiskey and too loud music.

Dashboard prepped with screwdrivers, ready to adjust lights and carb. Dukes of hazzard horn locked and inhibited. 

On its way to meet its destiny.

What could be checked was checked.

Let's put it like this; "The Puppy" is not a track racer. The handling and braking is somewhat sketchy, but again, this is a war machine of yesterday or even the day before yesterday.

Waiting Judgement Day which all know will come. Sooner. Or later.

Approved with a firm statement...Never do that again 😁!

Summing-up a sweet victory. Song were sang. Horns were hauling.

 The B18 engine was revved to its limit while thundering down the natural Ringö drag strip way over speed limit and various resonances. The dukes of hazard horns sang its cheerful song.  All in all, we created a way to amuse or irritate our surroundings. Which was good.

Lean back an imagine two 50 year old males roaring down Ringörakan (the commercial strip) in this Make Love Not War machine. All accompliced with the tunes of Dukes of Hazard wishing everyone a Merry X-Mas.  

Epilog

But before this unlimited success some more work had been put in to the "puppy".  

Electrical work new sockets cables relays etc A lot of work to get rid of all electrical gremlins. 

Luckily we got Terräng Axel here in Gothenburg to help out with almost all parts needed to get the puppy going

The man the myth the concept, Terräng Axel ! He passed by the garage every now and then to check if we're still safe and sound and discuss his findings connected to global macro trade economic political theories. Still secret though.

Found the lid to the fuse box under the grouse WV seats, infected by rat poop, oil and all types of Guckelimuck. 

 

Seats in place, rather sturdy, fixed in position thanks to Anders who helped me with needed parts.

In addition the above, the engine got some TLC too. Most of all a complete carb overhaul and some ignition tuning. All in all, it was making the Puppy roar again.

Petter helped me a lot with the Puppy cure since he has the skills and the network and often the judgement to stop "laga sönder" meaning repair to fail.

Soon it's time to explore, test drive, and evaluate our new Peace Maker:

The Make Love Not War machine. 

 

The Traditional Salt Slush Racing New Year Chronicle. This time it's about 2020...

It was a rather good year. 

Except for...no racing, no parties, no travel, no car meets, no car shows, no hugging and a general sad social distance, it was all fine. Oh I forgot, we have to exclude massive pain, sickness, death, grief and mourning too to stay on the positive side. Other than that, it was a really good year. Oh I forgot, the economy broke down too. But anyhow...

As we were locked up, boxed in and working on a distance we could focus. So we focued on what was close to us. On our private projects as well as Salt Slush customers. We worked hard as hell to wash away the sorrow of a normal having-fun-life.

The guiding principle has obviously been parallel projects. 

Magnus, the Mastermind of Parallel Projects, has mainly but not only been working with:

..creating a Baya Style Colorado. Yes, it's daily driver. 

...a Ford F100 from 1970 (a second daily driver) and building up an Ariel Motorcycle from 1928. 

I managed to get both in the same picture.

...creating several exotic & tuned A and B Ford engines for various customers. 

A first Fire start up!

Kalle has during 2020 been occupied with a...

a Vespa from the fifties (-59) (Yes it's in pieces)

and waking up s Volvo Military Vehicle (VALP) from the early sixties (-62)

as well as working remotely on a Camaro from the late sixties (-68). Paint shop pictured.

Carina and I have survived the pandemic by being busy...

...bringing an old Oldsmobile 88 fastback from the late forties (-49) back to life.

...while working on the Ardun Engine

...where there are Devils in every detail.

And yes, Cina has refurbished her Suffolk Show Mower.

And restored another aluminum Suffolk Mower too...

Anders has spent his pandemic isolation on...

...adding EFI to his Matra Bagheera from the late seventies (-78)

EFI (PFI) by Anders.

...and refining his Magnuson Supercharger equipped LS El Camino from 1970 to (almost) perfection.

...and building various machines, among them this CNC plasma cutter (to serve our Customers with tailor made parts)

In addition, we really would like to thank all our customers, that basically has been in the same situation as us, for their orders and the time they spent to build various amazing race cars, street cars and various crazy but amazing contraption that we all will enjoy.

The most outstanding Salt Slush Turbo delivery this year is 2x AirWerks S500SX-E turbos to the Merlin Interceptor Project. Something that we, together with Andreas Marklund tried tofind a proper turbo matching for. Looking forward to the 3000hp result that might be available 2021...

Let's finish 2020 with Kalle in Turbo Trance A pictured taken when he was confronted with AirWerks S500SX-E turbos first time.

And Let's hope for a Much Better Year Next Year!
So, Happy New Year from Salt Slush Racing