Being Busy, Busy, Busy but Bothered by Backlash

Shit happens. Things go south. Plans change. We've been bouncing between hope and despair. Meantime life goes on all around us…

 

It's getting late, so I'll keep thing short and stay with essential only. 

 

We've been busy. Building, planing and preparing and of course, selling turbos and superchargers to people with dreams and speedy ambition.

 

Meanwhile, some private projects has made progress, while simultaneously some other rides has suffered. Let me explain.

White smoke. Nope. It's not about a new pope. Instead it's the consequence following a severe cooling hose explosion. At this point Carina is a sad, sad woman.

A new gasket kit bought. Hope is coming back and the sun was a-shining.

Right hand cylinder head dismantled. Analysis ongoing.

Conclusion, Summary. Analysis complete. Cylinder head in the milling machine. We'll you all get the picture…life ain't always easy. Cloud sometimes gather.

When things fall apart, when luck has left the building big displacement is there to comfort. 

Meanwhile, Magnus in motion. Busy building zoomies.

 

From the right angle in the bright light. 

Anders in multitasking mode. Building CNC machines and completing his Magnuson Supercharger equipped LS engine El Camino. Better hurry up, since we'll show the El Camino at the Bilsport Performande and Custom Show this Easter.

 

That's all for now.  The hour is getting late. At least in Sweden.

 

 

 

Climb the ladder!

Some people are looking for recognition. Others look for fame. Some others look for money only.

Basically, they all have one thing in common. A lack of real priority. When it comes to having fun, being fast and get positively furious most people go astray.

Within the Salt Slush team, we suffer from the above too! But we're trying, and we're trying hard to be true to our souls. We're trying hard to break free from the surface and instead nourish our gearhead minds and climb the ladder of our inner dreams.

So what's the next step on the eternal journey? 

Here's what; Besides of a zillion private projects per person, all in need of non existing completion dates, we're still looking for a silent, still stressful, moment. A moment to get peace of mind in on the dusty, salty but still clear deserts surface.  

We've found what we've been looking for.

A great wide open, someone that's pointing in the right direction and real speed!

 

With all of the above in place, we'll be climbing the inner ladder of our souls...soon. 

 

Garagewarming and Gearhead Personalities

I've never really understood the point of showing the privat residence to friends and guests. Don't get me wrong, it nice to have friends coming by, to have a party or a dinner at home, but house walk-arounds where thing like;  -This is our bedroom…and here's our bathroom….never really struck a cord with me.

But when it's time for Garage warming then it's different. It doesn't have to be a party, not even filled with cool stuff either. Here's why;

If it's full of cars, engines and bikes and not the least parts, you can walk around and just take in all details. You can stay for hours and hear stories about a car project, or get an epic tale which end up with the purchase of a gas tank, a special crankshaft etc. It's like a flea market and a story telling session combined.

If it's empty, there will be plans told, the discussion will be forward looking and there will be dreams. Very often too ambitious and unrealistic, but still creative dreams. Some times you feel a positive envy too

On top of the above, you get to know personalities when visiting a workshop, a kind of gearhead analysis. Garage archetypes. The collector, the builder, the fabricator, the machinist, the polisher, the wild grinder, the pedant, the dreamer, the project guy, the artist...and sometimes all in one place in...in harmony…well, at least not in war.

Some clean every spot, buy a new work bench and paint the walls white before they take an engine apart. Other just push a way what's in the way and tear the engine to pieces without even cleaning it first. Some just buy tools, others use theirs every minute. But it really doesn't matter, it's the gasoline (or diesel) sprit that counts.

Garage visit are always nice, but when friends becomes garage neighbors it's even better. Annika and Ragnar just moved in close to Salt Slush workshop.
Their profile? This couple is a mixture of pedant, fabricator, artist, wild grinder and project man/woman. A good and complex combo.

Salt Slush welcomes Annika and Ragnar and wait for the party!



Chasing The Dream SSR 449 Part 2

A picture is worth a thousands words and there are a lot of pictures in our new movie.

It's about our adventure at Bonneville Speed Week 2018 at the Salt Flats. 

Check it out ! on You tube !

    

Just so You know, we aim to go there again 2019.........

Engines, Engines, Engines...Our Engines! Part 1.

No matter how many years I've been working with engine design and engine builds , no matter how much I know about these machines technically, it's still magic when fuel is converted to torque and power. The sound, the vibrations and the freedom that comes from the liquid nectar called fuel has always been amazing to me.

No matter size, age or machine type the energy conversion that happens in those cylinders is truly a mystery.

As well the mechanical part of an engine is appealing. The precision, the mechanical cleverness and the sometimes, the simplicity. Development in small steps over more than a century has change the internal combustion engine from crude to incredable. 

In addition to the energy conversion and the mechanical clockwork factor there are other important things when it comes to engines. Factors of more subtile type, I'm talking about engine characteristics, engine sound and not the least, the appearance. In summery; the coolness factor.


1. Our Race Engine - Volvo N3T
When we built our Landspeed Racer (The 449 Amazon) we were in need of a robust base engine with all the right bells and whistles that would make it suitable to perform at 300%-400% of the original power rating, without too much modification.

So, we choose the all aluminum Volvo T6 engine from around 2005 and combined it with a Volvo 960 engine from mid 1990-ties.

Since the T6 engine was already a turbo engine there were a lot of things for free. Piston oil cooling, forged crank, BIG main bearing (65mm) cast in iron liners and cast in main bearings, just to mention a few things that makes life easier as a tuner.

The only modified parts are the conrods (H-Beams), the conrod bearing (somewhat more clearance) and the camshafts (more duration). We built a new inlet manifold, applied injectors of appropriate size and added a BorgWarner EFR 9180 turbo with wastegate

Volvo N3T engine with 750hp/1000Nm (on pump fuel)

Yes, we're proud.

2. The Ardun V8
Before the amazing Chrysler Hemi was created the Ford flathead V8 was in production. A generally good engine in high volume production. But there's a couple issues with flatheads….due to the combustion chamber geometry it's hard to get a fast and efficient combustion and in addition the engine block might get overheated (when tuned) since the exhaust channels are routed through the engine block. Zora Arkus-Duntov realized that combustion could be faster, power could be increased significantly and the cooling problem could go away with a Over Head Valve conversion kit.

With this early man Hemi conversion kit the Ford Flathead moved from being a 100hp engine to 300hp monster (and more). This was back in 1946...

Since then the Ford V8 Ardun engine has been used in Swedish Racing (Nordisk Special) in Indy Race Cars, in Sports Cars and in Hot Rods and not the least in Landspeed Racing.

Besides, it's amazing to look at...iconic.  

In progress: Our Ardun V8 

Inspiration at Erik Hansson place

  

3. Our Supercharged LS engine(-s)

We cannot avoid it. We need to write about our LS engines as well. Our Supercharged LS engines. Modern LS engines from GM are perhaps not the most beautiful engines, but they are robust, small and light. Google the dimensions an be impressed. Google the weight of the aluminum version and be amazed. It's a push rod engine that revs up to 7000rpm. But there's another way...Supercharger!

Here's our take on LS...

Anders added a LS3 heads on a LQ4 and a Magna charger from Magnuson on top.  

I added LS3 heads too and a Magnuson Heartbeat supercharger on my LS2 engine. 

The result?

It's fast.

That's all for now… In coming blog posts we're going to write about…thing like.. 
The revvy 302 small block.

Here's a taste of a well build Chevy small block 302. Yes, it has push rods and two valves.

  

The Buick Nailhead with Hillborn al'a Magnus

 …. 

The 354 Hemi by  Kalle !
...
 The Experimental Fourbanger !

 ...

The ZZ4

...

Flatheads.

...

Stovebolt (-s)

... 

Odd balls...and more

Stay tuned!