The Past, The present and The future...relaxed reflextions

Cars & Bike & Music are all good for the spirit. When you're young it gives you wings. It's the way to independence. To freedom. To road trips without a plan. To possibilities and capability. And to love. 

Here's the feeling

These thoughts gain ground and made my heart pound as Cina and I decided to take our Mercedes 350 SE V8 for a short vacation in Germany this summer.  Here's Cina outside a Munich gas station 1987...

...and here's the same car 30 years later waiting for a trip to Frankfurt. Still want to eat up some road. Maybe a couple of EFR 7163 turbos would be just fine...in the future?

The moral? Keep you dreams alive. Forever. It's better than yoga.

 

 

Salt Slush is having vacation while wating for the ship to come in...

What is vacation? Or rather, what is vacation according to Salt Slush Racing? First of all, it means that the Amazon Land Speed racer is on its way to US. 

 

Secondly, it means that the team has booked flight tickets and is getting ready mentally for the trail run and the race at El Mirage, CA.

 

On top of it all, it means that we're off from our daily work. But for how long?  Can one day off be enough? Do you have to look for a beach?

 

No, one day is not sufficient and there's no need for a beach. There's a better way. The Salt Slush way. Take care of your private projects, seek the sun and socialize.

We're going for a weekend with friends in Germany. So, we had to pick up some German V8 cars. As a consequence, Carina, Anders took car change tour to our Car Barn.

Changing of Guards. Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 V8 was replaced with two german V8's. Yes, we had to move the 454 Suburban first.

Picking up the old W116 350 V8 Merc is nice. It's good to meet again. Why? Here's why: Bore: 92mm Stroke:65,8mm. Piston cooling and forged crank, conrods and pistons, Port fuel injection and iron block. That's why. Wouldn't a EFR turbo fit like a glove? Just thinking...

Anders will join the trip to Germany, so he picked up his 450 SLC. Here's Carina and Anders while celebration that the 150 km drive from the barn, where the two Merc's has been sitting for a couple of years, went just fine. 

Summertime can be stressful too. All cars needs be running. Our Ford -46 now serves a daily driver when the sun is shining. 

Night time is the right time to take in smooth shapes. Especially with the support from a moon shining. A peaceful moment. 

Ander's parallell vacation projects. Keeps him from getting bored. 

You can't stop fabricating just like that. If you've been doing it a lot, you'll have to ramp down slowly in order to not fall in to severe abstinence. Magnus is safe, because he has a nailhead powered early man dragster to work with. (After he completed a successful day in the sun with his Model A hot rod on the strip)

We have customers with a crave for boost and summer time is the right time for them too. We're there to support them 7 days a week. Talk turbos and suggest superchargers while deliver in style.That's relaxing as well. Feels good to be able to contribute to power.

My old Beemer Bobber needs to pass Swedish inspection this year and now it's ready to meet the Judge. After that we can fly, free as a bird...fast as a shark....with the blue sky above the asphalt.

The Barn. The noble art of storing dreams while waiting for miracles.

This world is populated with throwaways and keepers. Guys who like white walls and emptiness and those on the contrary that can be referred to as hoarders.  There's normally good and bad argument for both these standpoints.

Nonetheless, the Amazon left the Salt Slush workshop and we had to deal with the remains. A lot of Volvo 960 parts, half a S80T6 engine and various typs of mock-up race stuff.

Questions were raised; Which parts should/can be kept where? Urgent answers and action was needed since the Salt Slush Racing AB turbo and supercharger business is expanding.

Redistribution began. And we've found...various stuff and we've discovered all kinds of hidden car guy material, things from all kinds of not-paying-rent-kind-of-friends. What to do?

Public punishment? Throw away treasures? No. Here's how we handle the situation...

We made island of forgotten treasures. Then we called in the suspect's and employed a Judge. Short after we there was a verdict (which was pending the suspect's ability to store stuff elsewhere). Pictured: the leftover from a Chevy -36 build up.

After everyone took their stuff home, and visited the junkyard multiple times and sold stuff, this is what we brought to The Barn. Volvo 960 cylinder head & cylinder block, S80 T6 turbo system, rims from Volvo 140, Chevrolet 1936 front end suspension...and a lot more...

When visiting the barn you find stuff. Which is a good thing. Like Carina's old Chevrolet 2500 Big Block Burb. Good stuff.

 

Square body outside a Swedish barn on a surface of green.

One of carina's stored dreams.  The  Suffolk engine 4 . Small displacement, good spirit.

Carina the target to clean the oil pan.

Emptiness...

Our Land Speed Amazon has set sail after years of work in the Salt Slush workshop. It's on it way to L.A. and yes, it was a relief and yes, we're really prepared and exited about the adventure that will follow. But that doesn't matter there's still a vacuum after our green machine left the building. We trying our best to cope with the new situation in various ways. Don't try this at home,  because this is a cay guy type of cure. Not a prescription for Prius types.

Buy something with cowl induction. If you don't know what it is you don't have to worry.

Gather the team and your friends without calling them a summer night outside a workshop of choice. Laugh, tell stories, relax. 

Get back to business. Example: Our business is based on boosting and we really like to provide turbo's and superchargers to those who need power and speed. Drift drivers, Track racers, Drag racers, Tractor pullers, Hot rodders, Muscle cars men, Sports Car builders, Bike tuners... and all other...our task is to support you. 7 days a week.

Grow your garden. It's not only Candide... Hollyhocks (no to be mixed up with Holley's) outside the workshop provides a cozy touch to the industrial grey and resonate just fine with boost, big block and barbecue.

Magic milestone: The Salt Slush Landspeed Amazon is shipped to US!

We're ready with step one! The race car is built and works well so far. After 3 years and several thousand hours of team work in the Salt Slush workshop, we were today able to load the Salt Slush Land Speed Amazon in to a container and ship it to US. Next step is to get pass through SCTA safety inspection and get our selves race license and of course test drive the Amazon on El Mirage in California. Kind of our version of Disney Land....It will for sure work well as a "rollercoaster"

We're soooo happy and sooo proud. Lasse Söderberg gave us the helping the helping hand that we needed. In addition he helped us to point out that we're actually following our time plan (!) 

Kalle, entwined in straps and worried. He should be worried because he's the sea dog in the Salt Slush race team and therefore the main responsible for sea freight...

The Amazon enjoying its last moment of cold Nordic grey light. Dust, salt, desserts, blistering sun and Speed awaits. Maybe some glory as well?

Last picture....we miss our Amazon already...

We started to talk about new creations and adventures at once, searching blocket (our craigslist). What shall we do besides working...and racing the Amazon in the USA ?.....Golf ? No .....lets find something out ? 3 -6 good ideas are already listed !

 The last drive in Sweden with the Salt Slush Amazon for "hopfully" a long time, 

Lasse keeps everything under full control.

 Anders hesitates and finally decides to not join the Salt Slush Amazon

in the box, he will fly together with the team instead. 

 The Salt Slush Amazon arrived like a champ 

and this time we managed to keep it in place !

Last action in the SSR workshop. Repack the parachute. Better not break too often...

Speed & The luxuar of working with details.

We're in the " let's-go-down-to details" zone. Which is nice. Feels good. But first some word about speed. Speed is a good thing. It bring us all forward and makes us reach our goal in time. It life, it's pace, it's the wind in the hair, it's make you feel free and thrilled at the same time.  So far, speed is a good thing...something to look for and strive towards. Yes, there are some obstacles as well. Speed might kill you and in addition to that the cops seems to working against speed. 

But the officials that caught one of the team members this weekend just don't get it. We're in a hurry, we need to keep the pace since we will send our Salt Slush Racing Amazon to US in less than 3 days and besides, we need to practice...

Back to the details, Anders The Artist, is here texting the letters which shows were we're aiming. The class in which we're aim to compete is: Blown Gas Competition Coupe engine size F (3.0L). But has he got it all wrong? Shouldn't the F be last? Never mind, there's a before and after here.

Ready, steady, go.  Feel our need for speed.

Safety first. Cut the current from outside.

More details done. What? Well, doors might be hard to open if the body structure been damage and wrinkled. This should help, we just need some painted instructions....

A little bit from above we're on track. Even ready to go...

Meanwhile, outside the Salt Slush Speed shop, Mattias update his street legal EFR 6758 equipped race car with some relevant decals. This is a fast, black beast. We like it.

High and low, Ram and Race, Hemi and Turbo. Good stuff. Yes, the Hemi needs a Magnuson Supercharger.

 Carina arrived with her Blue Square body C20, once used for travel fast through Sweden at night full of newspapers. Now it's just fast and perky...

The beauty of having a dream.

It's important to have dreams. But dreams are complicated too. They can make you sleep well with a happy smile on your face, but they can as well keep you wide a wake full of fear. 

When all of the above happens the same time, the same night, you know that you're close to make your dreams come true.

It's not only me getting philosophical, it's the kind of thoughts that comes to mind when knowing that we'll soon be standing in the dessert ready for the final shakedown on American ground. That's all.

 

 

This ain't no test assembly...

We're now in the final assembly phase. No more redesign, no more fabrication. That's at least what we state over and over again. Then we read the SCTA rule book....so, what do learn by reading this book? What's the consequence of this education?

 

The answer is: new brackets needs to be fabricated as we add new safety functions.

Fabrication complete. All screws in place, the inner fenders, belly pan, the front all is now in place and tightly connected. Solid and rigid as a rock. Feels good!

 

Front view with hollow eyes.  

From another angle.

In the back the furious fabrication continues fiercely under the motto; Make brackets not War. The purpose of the picture? To show the wire attached to the electric emergency switch. 

This is where the wire ends. The external emergency electrical on-off switch. 

No exhaust fumes in the driver compartment. Hence a heat resistant sealing on the door exhaust tunnel. Never heard about an door exhaust tunnel? Don't worry, there's a first time for everything.

Social Sessions & Reading Rules

Relax, it's summer. Life's is not only about working. Grab a beer, light up a cigarr, pour a coffee. Take it easy....But not for too long. Nope. Keep the restlessness at bay. Work hard and complete dreams and schemes. That will make things come true and a creative mind pleased.

 

This Thursday our long gone german friend Mario returned. He came with his friend and colleague Mike, who seemed to enjoy the garage event as well. Burger were flipped, beer was sipped, and dreams passed lips.

 

Thursday eventually became Saturday and friends arrived from everywhere to talk, deliver good stuff and socialize. Was nice, felt good. 

The sun might shine, the Ford -46 Coupe runs fine, but we have a deadline and we're working towards this date, which is two weeks away. Hence, when the team are alone, we keep on working. Now it's all about attaching nozzles here and there. Four of them in the engine bay and two in passenger compartment. 

One here (Close to the turbo)...

...another one here, close to the spark and fuel and so on.

We're reading the rule book as well and therefore we attach the battery with a steel frame.