No particular place to go or the Cure for the Summertime Blues



When you have too many commitments

When you need a break

When you need to get in touch with you heart and soul

Then you need an escape. 

 

There're however boundaries for this doctor advice.

 

A sun must be a-shining, engines should be humming low and pounding hard. More importantly; the imbedded dream must be involved, if only between the lines.

Kalle, the initiator and car curator. Always on the move. Here pictured at the first stop on the yearly health bringing "Kalle Tour". This spring more the 65 people showed up at 07.00 am for a 600km tour with entusiast cars only. The car mix was exiting. From pick-up trucks...

...to Flatfishes in poisonous color.

Here's Wild, Mild and in between...a Jag from the roaring -60 ties.

(Mike, we have turbo solution for the MR2, when you're ready!)

Sharp fins from the 50-ties in the blistering sun. Gunnar tooled his way in comfort.

One firm belief in the Salt Slush team is that we needed to start with racing in order to avoid golf and drugs and so far this strategy has work out perfectly. No sign of golf interest, what so ever. We even challenged our self and had lunch at a Golf Restaurant in Falsterbo. But nope. No attraction to checker trousers and no white gloves envy.

The subject around this table was...well...cars and engines.

Mats Moren seemed happy too.

Sun was a shining at the final destination. Kjelle Powers place. A Hot Rod shrine

 

The Jet Pack. Many where tempted to try the ultimate freedom/fear.

But (luckily) no one took off.

 

 

Square Bodies and a Glamour Truck provided empowerment.

We all know that this statement is true. At least in Landspeed Racing...

Talking, talking, talking and Dreams, Dreams, Dreams. Debriefing.

Johan's Nissan 350Z and Gunnars Chrysler 300 Coupe helped up car diversity. 

Stefan's Dodge Viper...

...is a nice superchargered beast which helps us to understand that big displacement works perfect with boosting. No conflict. It just gets better. Trust me.

Yes, we did hear it rev. Yes, it was nice. Really nice.

 

So, we all had a day off. We did what we liked to do and got energized!



Heart Surgery - The Way forward for Anders.

No, we're not talking about Anders health. We're talking about how mild environmental concern and a strong need for speed (and drivabillity) got him into LS engine swap mode. 

And yes, he added a Magnuson Supercharger on top. Just to ensure the El Camino performance. Power is and has always been; Fun. 

Iron LS with LS3 heads an LS9 camshaft amd a Magnuson LS3 Supercharger kit. Engine control system: GM orignal + HP Tuner.  Sounds sweet.

Sun is-a-shining, but there's a El Camino out there that needs a new heart.

 An emergency situation that calls for attention.

Hence a good hot cam Edelbrook equipped Chevy 350 small block....

....leaves place and space for the new strong heart. No by-pass surgery needed.

Workshop summer breakout. The true story.

We're back from our Mechation in the US of A. We're filled with new confidence after testing our Amazon at El Mirage and we're ready for Bonneville Speed Week in August!

When returned to Sweden we got a shock. It was summer at home as well. At first we felt paralyzed. How should we handle this situation? Should we really leave the garage? Just like that....just like your mother told you when you were young ?

Here's what happened...

As the sun starts to shine, car guys and girls take out their summer ride (-s). It's in their genes. It just happens.

Then we slowly moved out from the workshop. Fika outside. We survived, hence we're not Trolls.

But it seems like Ragnar and Kalle are not ready to handle the sun yet. Tailgating feel normally though.

Then mister sunshine himself, Erling showed up. Happy, relaxed and ready for burnouts in the sun.

So we took our cheap sunglasses and hit the sweet surroundings. Pick-up trucks felt appropriate. Yes, we have one each. 

Pictured: Kalle's 454 C10, Annika's C10 Glamour and Carina's C20 Longbed.  

Yes, Magnus joined with his low Chevy AD Truck.  

We finally reached the sea. Yes, there's a sea outside Gothenburg. We're now far from our workshop.   

But there were beer and there were barbecue....

...and finally, we've adopted to the summer.

Here's Magnus, our good looking Champagne Cowboy and he seems to thrive.

Dry Desert, Blue Skies and Green Cars.

If you seek contemplation you do not have too many options. If you want to be alone with yourself there's always a sacrifice. Hideaways are either too warm, too cold or too wet.

 

Speed and Freedom can be found in these places too. In deserts, on ice or at sea. Off the beaten tracks under the great wide open where life's hard. 

So we took off from Erik Hansson's place with our adjusted race car and our new love. A 454 Suburban. We checked in at the El Mirage exited as can be.

And yes, you're right, the colors doesn't match perfectly.

No crowd. No race. We're alone with our test scheme and dreams under the blue skies.

Driver seat adjusted means that Magnus were able to drive. He's prepared as can be. 

Magnus, where the sun shines and only the God of Speed is watching. 

Magnus, Anders and I all test drove the Amazon. Conclusion: With corner weight adjusted and  boost control corrected, we were all convinced. This car is building confidence. It will be fast, really fast. Eventually.

Magic green on a surface of desert. A fata morgana or an el mirage?

Sunset after six laps at El Mirage and 180 miles on trailer after the Big green 454

Relaxed as can be. Coronas and Barbecue at Erik & Ruth's place after Amazon desert test. A good place to be.

Morning after. We cleaned the Amazon and started to prepared our Big Green Burb for next long haul. For Bonneville.

Yes, there were some obstacles too...

But we got sun tan as well. No more D vitamin needed.

 

Summary: We're happy as can be. We're according to plan. So far.

We're working hard, to know how, to get fast !

At some point in time reflection is appropriate. Why are we doing what? How was Salt Slush Racing formed? 

 

Here's the answer. Since 2015, we're tooling our way to Speed Week at Bonneville Salt Flats with our 449 Volvo Amazon. We've built the race car from 2015 to 2017 and we've made our first Rookie Race at El Mirage in September 2017.

 

Now we're back at Erik Hansson's place in California preparing for the next step and that next step is Bonneville Speed Week.

 

Here's what's happened last week.

To get the right feeling, appropriate rental cars are needed.  

Anders and his heavy burden. Heavy as lead. 

Home at Erik's and Ruth's place adopting to cool stuff and sun. 

The work begins. Magnus is working with solving the SCTA safety remarks, step by step.  

Carina put some paint on a lead box bracket that Erik has made for us. 

Yes, we did go visit our friends at Magnuson Superchargers as well. We enjoyed talking Superchargers and Supercharging with Mike and we learned a lot about new products and yes, we stared real speed and power right in the eyes....  

Where there's speed and race cars, there's haulers and trailer. Here's Cina and PA waiting for our Big Block Suburban to be to get a new fuel pump. 

Fuel pressure and a humming 454. The deal is sealed.  

Our new friend....

...is ready to serve. New tires, new oil, plugs, air filter. Tomorrow it's time for a tuning session on El Mirage. Yes, we're on plan and exited.