- 1 week ago
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Oh, just in El Mirage.
00:05Where's my car?
00:28Welcome back to Hot Rod Garage.
00:29I'm Alex Taylor, and this is Lucky Costa.
00:31Hello.
00:31We have quite the episode ahead of us.
00:34It's finally time to go to El Mirage.
00:36We started this project last year with the Roadster,
00:39where we're going to celebrate 75 years of Hot Rod magazine
00:42by going back to the roots of land speed trials.
00:46Like you do.
00:47Land speed goes all the way back to the 30s and 40s,
00:49when early Hot Rodders would use dry lake beds and salt flats
00:53as wide-open speed-proving grounds.
00:55It was the racing of the day,
00:58so much so that Hot Rod's first cover photo was taken
01:01at the El Mirage dry lake bed.
01:03We built our Roadster as an homage to that cover car,
01:06but we've yet to make it to El Mirage.
01:08By the time we got it done, we had lots of inclement weather,
01:12which made it where El Mirage wasn't happening for us.
01:15However, we were able to take it out and test it a couple times.
01:19Benefit to that was we were able to find quite a few things
01:21that need to be changed on the car.
01:23One is that we still need to get padding around the head and helmet area.
01:28Halo area?
01:29Yeah.
01:30We have a couple of handles to move and re-situate,
01:32because it turns out I'm kind of sitting like this, crunched up.
01:35It's very small.
01:36And then we just need to do a couple more things to get it up to past tech,
01:40which is add a couple of Zeus buttons to the hood,
01:43and just a couple of things here and there we need to address.
01:46Now, just as importantly as the Roadster being ready for competition,
01:49is to make sure that our push truck is ready for its duty.
01:52In land speed racing, the push truck is the unsung hero.
01:55Most land speed cars are geared for their high speed,
01:58which makes it a little bit hard for them to get off the line under their own power,
02:02or maybe they have parts they're trying to protect until they get up to a higher speed.
02:06The trouble with our push truck is that it steers just like a drunk bull
02:10as soon as it hits 50 mile an hour.
02:12So in order to remind ourselves of how sketchy this is,
02:15we thought we'd go for another test drive.
02:19Oh, you're turning the steering wheel, but we're not really turning.
02:21It's doing stuff.
02:25Uh, wow.
02:26So let's pay some attention to that.
02:29So, uh, first thing on the list will be excessive steering play.
02:33Give her a little gas.
02:39How fast are we going?
02:40I know, uh, 50. We're doing 50.
02:42Oh, 50's good, actually.
02:43You've got 30 more mile an hour over this, though.
02:46You're in need.
02:46It'd be nice to steer it straight.
02:49You know, we only have, like, a mile to get off the speed or something.
02:54Gotcha.
02:54So, like, we need to be able to do it at a reasonable rate.
02:5740, 45, 50, 5, 60 miles an hour, 65.
03:12You got up to 65.
03:14And, uh, there's the testing, trying to simulate real-world driving conditions.
03:21Okay, this is a perfect test right here.
03:25Yeah.
03:26You think I need some suspension work?
03:28Something.
03:29Okay.
03:33I believe on the panel, all we have to change is everything between the wheels.
03:38Yeah.
03:39And between the bumper and the trans-cross member.
03:42That sounds simple.
03:43So we're going to find out exactly what's going on with the straight axle.
03:45It has kingpins in it.
03:46That's a bit of a pain to work with, but it should be kind of cool when it's right.
03:51Leaf springs on the left and the right with bushings in the front and the rear.
03:54I think we're going to replace the entire spring.
03:56Drag links, tire rod ends, a gearbox overhaul kick.
04:00In addition to all the suspension work we have to do just to make it steer,
04:03we have to figure out a way to make it push the front of that without affecting
04:07this super-attractive cattle guard.
04:09Very nice.
04:09I believe we're going to attach something up there that will line up with the wheel
04:13on the back of that.
04:14Correct.
04:14The push wheel.
04:15So overall, quite a bit of work to do.
04:19But the main thing is we need that to push this.
04:20We need this to pass tech.
04:22That also kind of needs to pass the rule book.
04:24And we just have to make all this happen so we can get to El Maraj.
04:26Now you're pushing your luck.
04:30So we have tested this twice, took it out two days.
04:32We took it to the airport one and then to the track for the second and HRG day.
04:36We knew that when we had it out a full day of testing at the airport,
04:39we had no issues.
04:40It shifted perfectly fine.
04:41That was a day you were only going to go 100 miles an hour.
04:43Yeah.
04:43And you went like 130 or something.
04:45120.
04:46By accident.
04:46Yeah.
04:46Yeah.
04:47Okay.
04:47So we knew it worked.
04:48Everything was good.
04:48When we took it to HRG day, which has been transported a couple of times in between then,
04:53we now, I couldn't get it in second gear.
04:55Dad and Lucky crawled under here.
04:56What they found was that something moved, believe it's something in the mount of the transmission,
05:01which is what we're looking at now.
05:02And the shifter, the actual movement, because that's happening on the outside of the transmission,
05:06that piece was actually hitting the floor, preventing the shift from happening.
05:10Yeah.
05:10Unlike regular transmissions where the shifting mechanism is all encased in oil and inside
05:15the trans housing, this actually has a whole bunch of levers and slides and arms all external
05:20that are, you know, it could see some debris or dirt or dust.
05:25In this case, it saw the floor.
05:27To get by at the track, pulled the transmission over and out of the floor
05:32by putting a couple of hose clamps, which was an at the track fix.
05:35You know what?
05:35That is some creative stuff right there.
05:37I will give your pops props.
05:38Anyways, it was a temporary fix.
05:41So we're going to find out where the movement actually happened,
05:43and we're going to fix that, and then we should be good to go.
05:45Yeah.
05:47So last year, when we were working on the Roadster,
05:49one of the things I really wanted to do for looks, and I thought functionality,
05:53was put the leather straps on the side of the hood to hold it down.
05:57And then David Freiberger messaged me and says,
05:59I think you should check the rule book.
06:01So basically, it's saying that we have to have some kind of hold down
06:05other than the leather straps, spring style, like it has.
06:07I can still keep those on there, but in order for it to be adequate,
06:11we have to put at least four DeZeus buttons, and we've got those right here.
06:16So we got a whole kit, and we're going to make this legal.
06:18And just as a reminder, we always have to go back to this rule book right here.
06:24Okay.
06:25So got this thing racked, which is not an easy task all by itself.
06:30We did do the wheel bearings, new drums, linings, lines, and wheel cylinders
06:38before we took this on the road previously.
06:42But that did not help the amount of slop that is in the steering gearbox,
06:46the actual pitman arm.
06:48The gearbox shaft has a certain amount of slop in it.
06:51It's okay for the pitman arm to roll forward and back.
06:53It literally articulates like this, which makes it steer.
06:58However, it's not supposed to go in and away from the frame.
07:01That's where the slop is.
07:02The bushing's just worn out there.
07:03So we're going to address that issue.
07:05And then the other gig is this.
07:06You would think this is a loose wheel bearing because it...
07:11There is a certain amount of slop there.
07:13You could tell that there's an end point where it stops each direction,
07:16which makes me think something's worn out.
07:17Okay. Let's take it apart.
07:25Okay, so what I'm trying to do right now is take the spindle
07:27and backing plate off in one shot.
07:29Should just be four bolts.
07:31If we can do that, it's going to save us some time.
07:32We don't have to go into the hydraulics or anything
07:34or bleed anything out.
07:35So I will hopefully remove all this in one piece,
07:38hang it from a fender well, and see how that works.
07:41So that is two of what could have been four, four legally.
07:50Like, that's what we have to have.
07:52However, I'm going to go ahead and add two more,
07:54and then we're going to do at least two up here.
07:57We'll be here a while.
08:00The Zeus buttons, also known as quarter turn fasteners,
08:03are lightweight little fasteners that are really awesome.
08:06They attach and detach panels with just a 90-degree turn of their head.
08:09So we've got almost six Zeus buttons here.
08:35Technically, rule book-wise, you only have to have four.
08:37These are just for rule book and added precaution.
08:40So anyways, Zeusing the last one up, keeping the leather straps,
08:45we'll lock those down,
08:47and then we can put a done stamp on this.
08:53All right, so with this thing all taken apart,
08:54it's literally stripped down to just an iron chunk of iron.
08:58Now I just need to throw it on the stand, roll it outside,
09:01and con somebody into getting a wire brush on a cordless
09:04and cleaning the whole thing up, and then we're going to paint it black,
09:08put it back, eventually hit the track.
09:11Now let me just grab this thing.
09:13If only somebody would help me on that side.
09:15There we go.
09:17And then carefully.
09:18We are back getting our LandSpeed Roadster ready to pass tech,
09:26and getting our push truck ready to drive at push truck speeds.
09:29I mentioned a couple times, but last year at HRG Day,
09:33I thought that I suddenly just couldn't shift this thing in second gear,
09:35left me questioning myself.
09:37Turns out a couple bolts had stripped in the transmission case,
09:40which allowed the back of the transmission to scoot over just enough,
09:44which put the sliders running into the sheet metal floor,
09:48which made it where I couldn't get into second gear.
09:50To permanently fix that, I'm going to drop this mount,
09:53helicoil the bolt holes that are stripped,
09:56and then we're going to actually slot the mount right here just enough
09:59that we want to move the transmission over just a little bit.
10:02That way we gain a little bit of extra clearance for the sliders.
10:05Still keeps everything in line.
10:06Everything will still be good,
10:07but we should not have that issue anymore after this.
10:12Okay, so we're going to put the leaf springs back in it right now.
10:14These are brand new items.
10:16We did have to use a couple of the original bolts.
10:18Luckily, they just thread into the bushing
10:20that is pressed into the leaf spring.
10:22These are the new pins for the rear.
10:23All new with all new bushings.
10:25I'm just going to try to make it so that the Zerk fittings
10:27are facing the same direction.
10:29That is a sign of professionalism is what that is,
10:31which is why I'm double checking.
10:33All right, so as you can see, I now have a dental cart acquired here.
10:54I've got a couple tools to select from because one thing turns into another.
10:58While those bolts were both stripped, this side of the housing you can also see is cracked.
11:04So Mike could use it as is because it's got a very deep thread.
11:10But I'm going to go ahead and weld it up so it doesn't get any worse.
11:14So I'm going to grind it out, make a nice V-spot, clean it up,
11:17weld it, shape it back, helicoil it, and then we'll be back in action.
11:28Race cars, hot rods, anything semi-custom, they always present problems.
11:35You know, you've got that checklist with like three things,
11:37and you think you'll knock it out in two hours max,
11:39and then you spend six hours and kind of get one of them done.
11:42It's exactly what happened with this transmission.
11:44So originally I went to fix the stripped holes,
11:47then found out the case was broke on one side,
11:49then found out it was broke on the other side.
11:51So I was like, okay, slight kink in the plan,
11:53but we'll just cut it out, clean it up, weld it, it'll be good to go.
11:57One side kind of worked, and then the other side continued to not take a weld.
12:01Well, that led to the question of maybe this isn't aluminum,
12:05maybe it's magnesium.
12:07In the case of this Tex Racing 101A, it is a magnesium case.
12:11We're lucky we didn't catch it on fire.
12:12Since I went ahead and started to try to repair this with aluminum,
12:15now that metal is all corrupted and it's not going to be easy to fix as is.
12:20But whatever the case is for now, I'm going to bolt this up,
12:23lock tight it in, it's got enough threads to hold it tight.
12:25That way I can get back to other stuff that will stop us from passing tech,
12:29like the roll cage padding.
12:30Okay, spindle's installed, spacers in place, bolts lining up.
12:54This is the new tie rod end with the new ends on it.
12:56I'm going to install it right now.
13:03And somewhat kind of tight.
13:06Okay, we've taken out the old, putting it in the new.
13:09Wow, these are pretty close to an accurate reproduction of a vintage shock.
13:15We're going to be replacing stock for new.
13:24Okay, so this RS5000 Rancho shock is 100% installed.
13:29One more shock to do and that will be the shocking conclusion of the shock installation.
13:34We'll shock you later.
13:35As projects often go, something really simple turned into something really complicated on our
13:43Landspeed Roadster.
13:44I thought I was just going to fix a couple stripped out bolt holes.
13:47Turns out the case was cracked, thought I could weld that with aluminum.
13:51It's one of those where you're like, oh, this will still be simple.
13:54Well, turns out the case is magnesium.
13:56Had we known that, we might could have welded it better.
13:58Long story short, it's repaired.
14:01The case is not totally repaired, but I was able to tap up higher, pull some threads from
14:06higher up that hadn't been touched, hadn't been broken.
14:09It's Loctited, it's bolted.
14:11I don't want to touch it again, don't want to touch that again.
14:13And you know what?
14:14I can't stand you either.
14:16And with that said, it's time to move up and work on padding around the head space.
14:22So I took the front brake hubs off the truck, took it over the tank, cleaned it.
14:28We've updated a couple of things.
14:30This thing came originally with literally ball bearings.
14:34Ball bearings with ball bearing races that have the little dimple in there.
14:38So this is what used to be in there.
14:39They worked fine from 1957.
14:41However, this is the new hookup.
14:43This is a tapered roller bearing.
14:46It's a modified center race that allows you to put a seal on the inside.
14:50It used to be just like a piece of felt smashed between a couple of washers.
14:53It was very antiquated.
14:56This is the NuNu because the other new ones are already installed with the seal right there.
15:01I'm going to put it on right now.
15:08So the instructions clearly said to torque this to 50 pounds while spinning the hub.
15:14Let the bearings seat.
15:16And then you back it off until it feels good and there's no slop.
15:21If you feel anything, it's not right.
15:24That feels nice and solid.
15:26And it still spins.
15:29In the cotter pen, there's lots of different ways to do this.
15:32I do all the cotter pens like this.
15:35Cut off the excess.
15:37Cut this one straight.
15:38I feel good about that.
15:52So last year when we were getting ready to go to El Mirage, I actually already got these plates ready
15:57to go in the car.
15:57I just kind of ran out of time and had other stuff happen.
16:00So just bent them up out of sheet metal and going to use these brackets right here,
16:05which were recommended from the company that's going to be filming these panels.
16:09And these are a two-piece clamp that came from Summit All-Star Performance brand.
16:14And one piece right here will bolt on right here.
16:18So I've made my markings where I want to drill and bolt it to.
16:21And then the other side will bolt on and it'll clamp around the bar.
16:25Now that may be hard to get a visual reference.
16:27However, lucky for you guys, there's one bacon already done that I actually set up last year.
16:36So now take this over to the car, show you guys how it works,
16:40and then repeat again and again until we have all the padding plates ready to take measurements from.
16:49Okay, so I thought I was super close to being done.
16:52It ends up there's another set of leaf springs that came in just about a day late.
16:55Have to start chiseling through the years and years and years of grease.
17:00Somebody was like lube happy.
17:01They pumped grease into this thing.
17:03It's coming apart really easy.
17:04No rusty nuts here.
17:22Okay, so I got all of these pieces, the surround pieces in.
17:27And theoretically everything looks good right now.
17:31I put my helmet on so I could see where we were at.
17:35And I realized really quickly I don't have any head clearance.
17:38So I referred to the rule book.
17:41And this right here isn't something that would keep us from passing tech.
17:45The fact that the helmet will hit with even a thin pad.
17:49However, from a safety standpoint, when you say you were to roll the car,
17:54your belts are still going to stretch.
17:56You could be as tight as you could be, but the belts will stretch.
17:59If your head is right there and you have any flex on this
18:02or even just the impact of hitting that without any air gap is going to hurt your neck.
18:07You're going to have some kind of injury come out of that or at least pain nonetheless.
18:12So having that air gap is really important.
18:14So what I'm going to do, I'm going to take these mounts out that I have up here.
18:18And I'm going to build a couple new straps and weld it right here where it's flush.
18:24Taking up as little room as possible and then do that in two different places.
18:29That will buy a lot of space because it was hanging down so much.
18:33It's going to increase clearance by about half an inch.
18:37And yeah, modify, adjust, and we'll come back to this in just a little bit.
18:42Okay, so I got the straps cut, welded, ground down so it's as flat as possible,
18:51and they are pretty much ready to go.
18:53I just have to drill a couple of holes, do a couple of nutsters,
18:55and it'll be time to put this panel that goes right here back in.
18:58It's actually going to be done right.
18:59I feel good about it.
19:01It took maybe 30 more minutes and that shows that sometimes it's easier just to act than think about it.
19:05So this panel van is going to be a push vehicle out at El Mirage Lakebed, pushing our land speed car.
19:15So one of the last things we have to do in the back of this vehicle is to take these shocks off and put on some new ones.
19:20I really don't know why we're taking these off.
19:22This is a type of patina that cannot be bought.
19:26Actually, they're worn out.
19:27They got their money's worth out of them.
19:28And we have some new Rancho RS 9000.
19:31That would be better than a 5000.
19:33It's a 9000.
19:33It's actually an adjustable rear shock.
19:36All right, so last night I left off by clamping this up, getting a game plan for today.
19:42So what I'm going to do is I'm just going to give a nice little tap here so that way I can drill a hole,
19:47get everything lined up, and then I've got some quarter 20 nut certs.
19:51I'll get the front one mounted.
19:53That way I know it's in place, and then I'll go to the back and do that same.
19:56So that way everything is nice and square.
19:57And then this will be all bolted in and good to go.
20:00So you may remember from before that this had a lot of space here,
20:06and it was really spaced down in this back area because up front was clamped a little tighter,
20:12and that was a little tighter, but the middle was really hanging down.
20:14So we have picked up a lot of clearance in the most critical part,
20:18and I think it's going to work.
20:20I think it's going to work.
20:22Okay, the truck's coming down.
20:23It's coming off the lift.
20:24Once we get the wheels on, we're going to take it off the lift completely
20:26because we need all the weight of the vehicle on the suspension.
20:29There's a good chance that these brand new springs are going to need to settle.
20:32And so we're going to take it for a little spin around the block,
20:34put a little heat into the springs, bring it back in, check the right height,
20:38measure the right height, and then start mounting the push bumper on the front of the vehicle
20:43to match up with the back of the 32 land speed car because this is a push vehicle.
20:50So we have not been to the alignment shop yet, but it has all new bushings, shims,
20:54tie right in as ball joints, shackles, shackle bolts, new grease, leaf springs are new.
21:00It's all new.
21:02So we're going to cruise around this lovely community that we're located in
21:08and get a little, put a little heat into the springs, let them settle down.
21:12Okay.
21:13What we'll end up with is the actual ride height of the vehicle.
21:17The springs are going to settle.
21:18It'll go down to the ride height because ride height is super important right now
21:23because I'm going to be pushing you around.
21:25Huh.
21:26So what we're looking for is bumps or we're looking for articulation and bumps and dips.
21:31You want the springs to actually, actually be getting used.
21:34We don't want nice and smooth.
21:36Yeah.
21:37How's it feel?
21:38It feels good.
21:39Really?
21:40It feels good.
21:40As soon as you turn the wheel, it starts, it's moving.
21:43Yeah.
21:44That's what I'm talking about.
21:49Jump in.
21:52Craters.
21:55Sucking up the bumps.
21:58Okay.
21:58Overall, how do you feel?
22:01I feel good about it.
22:03Okay.
22:03Well, I think maybe far enough.
22:06I don't know about that.
22:07I think they're going to settle.
22:08They've settled.
22:10Hit as many potholes and dips on the way back to the shop.
22:14And we'll put everything on the ground and then go to Woodshop.
22:19Woodshop is our next.
22:20Oh, Wood Butcher is something else I had to my resume.
22:22Yeah.
22:23Nice.
22:28Made it.
22:36That was a good time right there.
22:37It was a good time.
22:38Yeah.
22:38It's still bumpy.
22:40Yeah, it's still pretty woopty.
22:42It's a little better, right?
22:43I will say this.
22:44The last time we were on the freeway driving next to a trash truck, and I was doing this
22:48with the wheel, nothing much was happening.
22:49That's true.
22:50And then if you went a little bit further, it felt like the back would kick.
22:53And then at one point, it felt like the whole thing was sort of doing the shimmy.
22:56Okay.
22:57It felt like a couple of times there was some crazy death wobble.
23:00Yeah.
23:01Yeah.
23:01Yeah.
23:02So we have no more of that.
23:04It feels good.
23:05Okay.
23:06So remember, this is all a very important part of the conversation because this is the
23:11push vehicle for the Land Speed Roadster.
23:14And according to Lee Kennedy, who is not only a master of tech, but he's also a master of pushing
23:20people, there is an art to pushing. And I don't imagine you can have a very good art if you don't
23:25have the proper tools to do that art. So this is very important that it works.
23:33So what's left? You got some switches to push around over there?
23:35Switches and handles.
23:37And I have some wood butchery to do.
23:38Okay.
23:39See you over there.
23:39Goodbye again.
23:40Bye.
23:41Goodbye.
23:41Bye.
23:41Bye.
23:42Bye.
23:43All right. So if you guys can't tell, it's a little chilly in the shop, which is
23:46like kind of all bundled up here. And this seems like a really nice nap spot for that,
23:50because it's all tight and cozy. However, it's like really gives you claustrophobia when you're
23:54trying to drive. So with that said, it's time to move some stuff around. So some things that I want
24:01to change right here, there's the shifter, the parachute, and the master disconnect all right
24:07here. Basically resting my arm on the master disconnect. I'm really concerned that I'll
24:12accidentally hit it going down the track. The parachute, hard to get over and reach to when
24:18you're in fourth gear. With that said, immediately right there is fire suppression. So it's very hard.
24:24I mean, it's just, it's so confined. And then all the switches I had to, when I'm actually belted in,
24:28reach across my body to turn stuff off. Some stuff has to move somewhere else,
24:32and that somewhere else may be an inch that way and a quarter inch that way,
24:38but we just got to get some kind of separation. The stuff is no longer friends. It's got to go.
24:43Okay. So we got the panel backed into a safe spot. It's on the ground. We put heat into the springs.
24:49Now I'm going to measure the height of the push vehicle. The idea is we're going to put a big push
24:53plate in the front of the panel vehicle that will be lining up with the wheel on the back of this
25:00vehicle. The deal is 32 has this wheel on the back, allows us to push against it while we're driving
25:07another vehicle. And if anything happens, like we're not perfectly aligned, this wheel will allow
25:11for everything to stay nice and safe. However, we want that to land squarely in the middle of that wood
25:17that gives us plenty of margin to chase her down the track. Push her as fast as we can go,
25:22so that she can go as fast as she can go. Since we are doing a little woodwork,
25:26I'm using a drywall square to mark where the wheel is. And then I want to go over and know that
25:35when I put this on the front of that bumper, I can mark exactly where the middle of that
25:38plate should be. I'll see you over at the panel. Okay. So what's going on here is I've taken some,
25:45I believe it's four inch by one inch or one and a half thick wall,
25:49and some metal we had laying around. And when I'm in the building is a couple of arms and hang this to
25:56the cattle guard, but allow it to rest on the bumper, then mount the wood to it,
26:03and then use it to push the land speed car. So this will be on the front of the vehicle,
26:09but obviously three feet apart.
26:14Then this will be sitting on it, but like I said, three feet apart.
26:21There will be two of these pieces of wood there,
26:25because it has to be able to push a good amount of weight.
26:29So moving this up here, so it will be that thick. And then two more pieces I'm going to cut right now,
26:35but these will be specific lengths. They're going to rest on the top of the bumper and go back
26:40against the cattle guard. And then the U-bolts will go right through the front and attach everything to
26:44the cattle guard. So this is one of the legs and a little scrap of wood that we have left. I'm just
26:49sort of holding it up to get an idea of about how high we want it. When I used the simulated land speed car
26:57wheel, it shows me that the wheel is going to be riding just beneath the crest of the bumper right here.
27:03So I want to make sure the center of this wood is close to the bottom of the bumper. So that's about
27:12the center. It looks like if I put that extension right at the very top right here, it will put our
27:19contact patch right in the middle of the wood, which is at the bottom of the bumper.
27:33Welcome back. Still in the exact same spot and everything looks the same, but it's not.
27:42This, we've moved them this much. They move this far forward, three fingers wide. The only other thing
27:49that I'm going to address is I'm going to move this master disconnect right here under the switch panel.
27:54That way I can just come over and punch it if I need to, to turn it off. I think it's still going to get
27:59everything out of the way. I think it's going to be clean. Flaming River actually sells a bracket that
28:05holds this rotary style master disconnect that we got from them. And I think that is our only option
28:10for now. So you guys aren't going to see that at the moment because we got to get that part ordered,
28:14but that's okay. You'll see it at El Mirage where hopefully we don't have to use it.
28:18Are we almost done? Finally. This is like a year plus in the making.
28:22How are we going to milk this for? But we have made it. The roaster is finally done. It's just
28:28got, it needs a, it needs wrap slash paint. You're going to paint it up or something?
28:32Yeah, it's going to be nice looking. Really? All right, cool.
28:35But then the, the panel truck. That thing is good. It's good to go.
28:38I actually feel like it is. We had a nice little drive around in it.
28:40Yeah. Maybe just hit the alignment.
28:42Make sure everything's safe and tight. New, new tires. Get rid of those tires.
28:45Yeah. Put them back on the big rig they came off of. I don't know where he got those.
28:49So all joking aside, we finally have the right combination to take us to El Mirage.
28:53The roadster behind me, I actually feel really good about. And I think the panel truck is going
28:58to not only look right, but I think it'll actually perform for what we're needing to do with the roadster.
29:03Exactly. Drag snacks and push cars. So goal is to get there, actually compete past heck.
29:10I mean, that's obviously a huge one. That's a win in itself.
29:13Yeah. The novel that they give you. Yeah. And I mean, enjoy it because it's going to be,
29:18it's an experience. It's something that holds a lot of history and we actually get to be a part
29:23of that. Yeah. I've never been. I'm looking forward to going.
29:25Okay. That means you guys need to come with us to El Mirage because that time has finally come.
29:31Absolutely. Pack your tackle box, grab your wakeboard. We're going to El Mirage.
29:35Don't forget your flotation device. Uh-huh. Safety first.
29:37Okay. So we've made it to El Mirage. Is this a Mirage? Is this real?
29:50It sure seems like it's real fake. Is this happening right now?
29:53We're finally at El Mirage, but the whole actual meat, the SCTA part of it, that part is still a
30:01Mirage. We're actually here alone. Because the meat got canceled.
30:05Last week. Due to excessive heat. No meat because of heat.
30:10But we're out here. The course looks decent. And, uh, I have plenty,
30:15well, plenty of practice in the roadster. I've been in it quite a few times, given it a try,
30:20driven it. We made some modifications last time though. Right.
30:23Now the other fine-tuned piece of machinery we need to get to is you. Today is your day. So Lucky
30:30is going to be, unfortunately, pushing me around today. That's right. Get used to it.
30:34Today is the first time that our push truck will be in action. And the whole goal is for us to learn
30:39this dance between push truck and race car and get a sense of what the fastest mile an hour is that we
30:44can get to before the roadster pulls away at just the right time. The faster mile an hour that he can push
30:50me to before I take off, the better chance I have at a big mile an hour at the finish line.
30:55It's kind of like just an extra bump towards our goal. So over there, in the distance,
31:00Beyond, beyond the shrubbery, there's a course. We got to go find it because I don't actually know
31:06where it's at. There's no markings because, well, no one's out here. And there are some crevasses
31:11over there. So we have to plot a course just to be able to get the car to the course. Correct.
31:15All right. So while I would love to do a full speed run, this is open to the public.
31:21Absolutely. This is not a private event. Because there is no actual meet today,
31:25there's also no safety crew. There's nobody to block the course off. If we were to start pushing
31:30and we got up to speed and then we get to three quarters of a mile down and Joe Schmo in the
31:35airplane wants to land out there, that's going to be a bad ending for the both of us. At any given moment,
31:40a hang glider with an engine and a propeller on the back of it could just fly right through the course.
31:44We're just trying to say, we're going to go as fast as we feel comfortable trying to get enough
31:50push practice in for Lucky. That way when we can actually go full speed, when the course is really,
31:54truly blocked off and shut down, like in an SCTA event, we'll be ready.
31:58I concur with your diagnosis. We should probably go find the course.
32:02Should we? I think it exists. Okay.
32:04Um, we're driving this thing? Yeah, I guess so. All right.
32:10Now we're plotting this course because we have to drive a lower vehicle out here.
32:13Yeah. So yeah, visual reference is whatever that is.
32:17Yeah. We're to the east of it.
32:20So I see a lot of coming this way here.
32:24I still think further out. I think out there is the way to go.
32:29Turn wheel right. Turning it right.
32:32Going straight. Going straight.
32:34And it looks decent out here. I'm going to put a cone here. Right here.
32:41All right. This is probably the middle of the lake bed.
32:45Yeah. So if we went that way and checked it and that way and checked it, then I think we'd have a run.
32:48You know, it looks like that's the route.
32:50That's a nice lake bed. It does look very nice here. So let's go this way.
33:00Nice. So let's set up two cones on either side right here.
33:19Tell me when. I think like right here, it looks like people were goofing around doing donuts or something.
33:23So yeah, I'll start right here because right there we get kind of nasty.
33:27Yeah. Right here.
33:33Okay. I feel like.
33:35Nope. Back a little.
33:38Oh, just a little bit that way. That's the spot.
33:44So we have a course somewhat plotted. I don't know the distance. I don't know the direction.
33:49It's pretty far and it's pretty wide.
33:50All right. Our thoughts were though, because this isn't out here drug and checked, we've made a
33:55course that we feel like is a safe enough distance that is smooth without ruts across it. And we have
34:03a good start and we're going to go down and check one more time just to see if anything were to happen,
34:08how far of a shutdown we have. We've opted to run the actual direction of the course,
34:12even though we're running a shorter distance, because I don't want to run left to right and
34:16potentially get into scrub brush. That's a bad day.
34:18Scrub brush. You're a scrub brush.
34:21I saw that band.
34:22Let's go.
34:22We ready to go?
34:23Yeah.
34:26So this, while it looks like just a dry lake bed, this is the proving grounds for early hot
34:32rodding. It continues to be proving grounds for hot rods and speed, but it really plays a really key
34:40element in the early days of hot rods because there wasn't tracks. There wasn't all of that readily
34:45available. They came out here and found a dry lake bed and that shows the innovation that they had
34:50because they could have just not done it, but they found a place, they came out here, they hot rodded,
34:55they developed parts, and that has led us to hot rodding today. So feel very lucky to be out here on
35:02this ground and we get to make some runs in our Roadster and I just get chill bumps thinking about
35:07it. So with that said, I think it's time to hit the dirt. So here's how it works. Most land speed
35:15cars are geared so high that it's hard for them to get going on their own and then it takes a long
35:19time for them to get up to speed. This gearing is done with the top end speed in mind and the push
35:24truck is able to make up for the start. Since El Mirage is an especially short course at only 1.3 miles
35:31total, the job of the push truck is extra important. It gets the car up to a speed where
35:35it can actually start accelerating in a reasonable amount of time and then once that goal is met,
35:40the push truck falls away and the car speeds off to record-breaking glory and that is what we're
35:46practicing. We were crooked when I started. It was my fault. I wasn't straight. So then Lucky's following
35:54my angle, which puts us off course. So we've picked a mountain in the distance that we're shooting for.
36:00I just need to make sure I'm lined up there. The sooner that we can get the car off of the push
36:05truck with speed, the better. So we're going to try to work through that. This is a teamwork exercise.
36:11We're doing teamwork here. Team building.
36:23We're doing teamwork here. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building. Team building
36:53Okay, that was way better.
37:00It was really good, huh?
37:01That was...
37:02That sounds expensive.
37:04Don't need that, right?
37:05Who's Hans, and why is he always laying around?
37:09All right, that really felt a lot better.
37:12I did figure something out.
37:15I am the ultimate pusher?
37:17That's what I was thinking.
37:18Okay.
37:19You're not too shabby.
37:19Okay.
37:20But this arm restraint, too short.
37:22I fumbled, put it right back in first gear because I couldn't jam it to third.
37:28And I, like, tried to get it over there, and, like, it did its job.
37:31It was restraint.
37:32So we did that in second gear.
37:34That was second gear?
37:35Yeah.
37:36Those are good gears.
37:38Yes.
37:38All right.
37:38So what...
37:39Do you know what mile an hour we pushed off at?
37:41I think it was, like, 57 miles an hour.
37:4357.
37:43Yeah.
37:43Okay.
37:44I think what I want to do on my side is I want to not get RPM as early.
37:50Like, I don't want to get in the gas as early as I did.
37:52Right.
37:52So, because it just comes up.
37:53It seemed like I was pushing you for a second, like, and then, because when you were ready
37:56to go, you were gone.
37:57Well, when I clicked off, did you see the back end?
38:00Yeah.
38:00Fish tail a little?
38:00You were getting it right there.
38:01Yeah.
38:02Yeah.
38:02So that felt pretty good.
38:03But I'm just going to save getting into it RPM-wise until we're a little bit further
38:07down.
38:08Gotcha.
38:09I think we're going to let the car cool just a second, make sure our course stays good,
38:13and then I'm going to fix this darn armor straight so I can get to third gear.
38:16We've got to check that, and then we'll be good to go.
38:20I'm going to be over here in the shade.
38:22Yeah, I don't blame you.
38:22You'll see me.
38:23I'll be right over here.
38:24Goodbye.
38:24All right, so this is going to be our third pass.
38:28I'm rolling up right now.
38:29What I'm doing is I'm using the hump on the hood.
38:32I've pre-aligned the cars, and the hump on the hood is parallel to the H of Hot Rod Special
38:38on the back.
38:39So I'm creeping up on it right now.
38:41Car's in drive.
38:45That was a delicate attach.
38:47And here we go.
38:5450 miles an hour is as fast as I can go, and she clearly found third gear that time
39:09because I am eating dust.
39:19All right, that felt really good.
39:22Lucky had some speed under that push.
39:23I don't know what he was going.
39:24I've been leaving off of him in second gear, and on that one, I came off in the top a second,
39:30needing to shift immediately.
39:32So since I know he's got some speed under him, I'm going to try taking off in third.
39:36Seeing how that affects us could be good, could be bad, but we're going to try it.
39:41Let's do it.
39:53All right, that last run felt really good.
40:04All right, uh, that last run felt really good.
40:20It was a good time, definitely.
40:21It was better than the couple before when you were doing all that, was that the Texas two-step?
40:26Uh, it's called the, the shuffle.
40:28The lakeside skid?
40:29The lakeside skid, yes.
40:30That's our new dance.
40:31Something for sure.
40:32Yeah, so the last two passes really gave us a lot of information.
40:35We were happy with both of them.
40:36On the second to last run, I tried staying in second gear, and then he got me up to about 55 mile an hour.
40:42I took off, and that all felt pretty decent, except I was already at the top of second gear,
40:48meaning it was time for me to shift pretty much as soon as I took off from the push car.
40:51Right, and when you depress the clutch and go to shift gears, you're slowing down just a little bit.
40:54Then you get in the third gear, then you got to kind of build up momentum all over again.
40:58So how do we cure that problem?
40:59So basically what we did, he kept around the same speed, a couple mile an hour more,
41:04and then I went in third gear, and I had plenty of time after push-off to get some speed under me before a shift.
41:10It was clean, it was smooth, it felt really good.
41:12I got in there, I gave it all the beans.
41:14You did.
41:15All the beans, and you were in third gear to receive the beans,
41:18and then we were bean-powered all the way down the track.
41:20That's a fact.
41:21Just to reiterate, the whole goal of a push vehicle is we want to be able to make the course longer,
41:29so to say, by shortening the distance it takes to get up to speed.
41:33These have a little bit of perfection that they can have.
41:35This one needs a little bit different gearing, because I think we're going to run out of gear once we go to a full course.
41:41Luckily, it has a quick change rear end, so it's just a matter of buying some gears, taking the cover off, and putting whatever set you want in there.
41:46And seeing that the push truck is basically maxing out its speed potential pushing this car, I would love to see a bunch more power under the hood.
41:53So, we have a few thanks to saying, Alex.
41:56We have quite a few people to thank.
41:58Gearstar transmissions, that we were able to go through all the gears in this thing, no problem whatsoever.
42:01Always keeps us reliable.
42:02Right.
42:03Holley.
42:03Absolutely. Driving this thing is like a dream.
42:06Mickey Thompson over here on the Roadster.
42:08And take a little vibration out of this, we have Toyo tires in the front, a more aggressive tread pattern for the off-road application.
42:14What a variety of tires.
42:16We also have DSP, who foamed and covered our head pads that are inside the Roadster cage.
42:21I noticed those. Those are very nice.
42:22They look so good. They do. They do.
42:24We also have Dennis and Vehicle Effects.
42:27His guys, they got us all hooked up with the graphics and the decals and made it happen in a very short period of time.
42:33And it looks amazing.
42:34Oh.
42:34It looks like period correct.
42:36I'll send a shout-out to my sister, Meg, because she helped me design that, got it all laid out.
42:41Thank you, Meg.
42:41And then last but not least...
42:43If I helped you, you mean you thought of it and she made it?
42:45That's how it works.
42:45All right.
42:46Ideas, action. It's great.
42:48So is that it?
42:49I think so. I think we're done.
42:51Okay.
42:51Do you have social media?
42:52I do. Thank you so much for asking.
42:54I am mobile tech lucky on absolutely everything.
42:57Very nice. Very nice.
42:58Now, do you have social media also?
43:00Why, actually, I do. It is Alex Taylor Racing and we are Hot Rod Garage Show.
43:04Yes, we are.
43:05Let's go to the lake.
43:07It's not a lake. That's a El Mirage.
43:10Okay. Fair enough.
43:11Let's go to the lake.
43:12Let's go to the lake.
43:13Let's go to the lake.
43:14Let's go to the lake.
43:15Let's go to the lake.
43:16Let's go to the lake.
43:17Let's go to the lake.
43:18Let's go to the lake.
43:19Let's go to the lake.
43:20Let's go to the lake.
43:21Let's go to the lake.
43:22Let's go to the lake.
43:23Let's go to the lake.
43:24Let's go to the lake.
43:25Let's go to the lake.
43:26Let's go to the lake.
43:27Let's go to the lake.
43:28Let's go to the lake.
43:29Let's go to the lake.
43:30Let's go to the lake.
43:31Let's go to the lake.
43:32Let's go to the lake.
43:33Let's go to the lake.
43:34Let's go to the lake.
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