Summary:

Record Holding 1971 Honda 600 Coupe.  Was on the salt flats of Bonneville for Speedweek 2009 - read about the whole trip here!

Description:

This is a 1971 Honda Z600.  They were an air-cooled twin, 4 stroke.  35.5 HP out of 36 CID.  (1 HP per CID was a big deal in 1970 - think Boss 302.)

We've raced it in El Mirage & Bonneville, and the car currently holds 3 world records.  103.9 MPH is the J/Productioon (750cc, stock body) record we have in Bonneville.  That's on gasoline at 4200' with an adjusted air density of like 6500'.

Her fastest run is 106.9MPH in J/GALT (Gas, Altered).

Differential Stock one legger.  Basically this thing is a motor cycle engine with a differential slapped on the back.

ECU/Computer We use the Electromotive Tec3 - which is a great system.  On the first install we used the TBI off a V6 Chevy.  I was driving the car around town after less than 20 minutes of tuning.  Fantastic system!

Stock 600 block bored out to 700cc. Higher compression, dual port head.  Engine Dynamics of Petaluma has done a lot on this motor - couldn't have made the records without them.

Exhaust Joe Apollo Cones on Johnny Franklin Exhaust.  We run mufflers (okay - small glass packs) on the street.  Car is street legal!

Exterior Painted as if to look like a black car bursting into flames.  This photo shows the car in J/GALT set up.

Ignition Uses ignition that comes with Electromotive WinTec3 system.  Here you can see just how hard the salt is on everything.

Induction We've got a throttle body of an LT1 on this bad boy, if you can believe it.  In this photo the engine is being sealed after setting the first record.  (You have to back it up the next morning.) You can see the throttle body in the back.

Interior Kirkey Racing seat, plus a 6 point cage from Johnny Franklin's.  If you are going to get a cage done - serious think of them.  3 generations of racing experience, not counting the kids racing right now.

None right now - all the gauges are where the radio and vents used to be.

Some day I'll figure something out.

Suspension Lowered 1" front and back.  Monster Energy was sponsoring the races last year, so I had to grab a shot of one of their "booth babes" in front of the car.

Transmission Stock 4 speed.  We run the syncro one, but I'm thinking of trying out the older one since 3rd and 4th are closer.

Wheels/Tires Stock 10" rims.  The vehicle in the back is a 1995 Suburban 2500 . . . compare the wheels!

Blog Entries

Soon to be retired 2009-12-11 17:20:05 Well, the car has gotten pretty long in the tooth.  We've campaigned her pretty darn hard over the past 7 or 8 years, but my haphazzard work on the salt flats has left the wiring loom hard to deal with.  (This cost us upping the record at Speed Week '09) I might try to make it down to El Mirage some time in 2010 - see if we can get the J/Pro up over 100 before the Crosley guys get the formula figured out.  In the mean time I'm working on the next car - so please check out Evil Tweety II!  Coming to the salt hopefully in 2011 . . .

Free postcards! 2009-08-24 15:19:16 See the link

Went to the car wash and de-salted the push truck and trailer.
No waiting
2009-08-12 14:55:44

on any course
99 mph - no impound for you!
2009-08-12 07:41:56

Well, we didn't make it.  The tune from yesterday just didn't do the trick.  I've made some changes to the settings (somehow it was on 5 samples per second instead of 25 - argh.)

We are going to check the plugs, then put on some different tires.  Might run the air dam later just to know what difference it makes.  (Last year the timing dial vibrated over and maxed on on the run Chris made.)

Will upload photos later of the morning.

Ran a 101, time to head home. Will blog more later.
Relax
2009-08-11 17:04:41

When you race you it's like you are always on the go - even when in line. Once in impound you can relax. Just had dinner at Taco Poblano on the Utah side. Off to the pool.

Hangin' out 2009-08-11 13:22:27 In the pits, killing time. Nice to be able to kick back like this. We'll try to have the video camera going on the backup run.

Retarded the timing a  few degrees - she ran great.  We are in impound, will upload a photo later.

We'll be back out here at 6:00AM tomorrow to back it up.  Current record is 104.3 . . .

Big thanks to Mike (and John) at Engine Dynamics for the guidance, help and support!

Headed out to race 2009-08-11 08:47:13 6onna reduce timing

We've made some progress, will try again in the morning.  Might be running too much advance.  Glad the data log appears to be working.  (AFR numbers don't look right on the log, but I know how it went for me . . . )

In line . . . 2009-08-10 16:34:35 Cross threaded an oil line so we are behind. Also added a misting cooling system

98.671 mph 2009-08-10 11:36:59 In the pits to make a change.

In line 2009-08-10 09:56:34 Lots of cool cars. Only 16 in front of us. Two lines so 32 total

Headed out to race 2009-08-10 08:53:41 After yesterday's fiasco I'm hoping we've got everything sorted out.

Hotel across the street is $100 cheaper per night.

Auto parts store 2009-08-10 07:43:04 Need a fitting to use a grease gun on the dyno

Tail wind and cool weather - rare for out here. Wish we were in line to race. Gonna get real hot in a few days. Dyno still not working . . .
Salt opens at 7
2009-08-07 05:15:18

So we are up at 5:15 to get in line early. Want to pick a spot close to the entrance and we have work to do on the car. Oh, and my body thinks it is 4AM.

High winds 2009-08-06 18:02:20 The wind caused a pickup on 80 to jackknife.

they have the salt closed. Wind at 35 to 45 MPH - salt sure stings . .
Wendover next two exits
2009-08-06 16:52:15

headed out to the salt to mark off our piys
90 miles
2009-08-06 15:37:09

almost in Wendover. Got some great photos but phone keeps rebooting.
In Sparks
2009-08-06 10:07:55

Got to stopin at Summit - couldn't find some of my nomex. Hot August nights is going on - lots of cool cars around.
4:00 AM - headed out
2009-08-06 03:59:36

I've got a few photos from loading the car that I'll post later.  Be in Bonneville in 11 or 12 hours!

And it's 10 to midnight.  Gonna be a long night.  Fortunately Chris or Rick can drive tomorrow . . . means I can sleep a bit during the drive.

Didn't get to tune the car here - will have to on the salt.  Figured out I had the 48# injectors in the car left over from our attempt at the J/FALT (Fuel Altered) record (alcohol).

got adaptor 2009-08-05 14:11:12 Here is what Don made.

Soon we'll be in the pits . . . 2009-08-05 13:36:12  . . . of Bonneville!

Don German cranked something out for us.  Am at work now for a bit, then will head home and try it out.

Off to Jay & Bills to get new tires on the trailer, plus go to GB Iron to get some things fab'd on the car for the Dyno.  Not much time, but we'll make this happen.

Can't sleep, so I'm up getting things together.  In less than 23 hours we'll be on the road to Bonneville.  Really looking forward to getting out there . . .  but still have a lot to do.

Turns out the way I had the dyno adapter built won't work.  It goes to the transmission instead of the engine.  I feel pretty dumb, but at least I can get into GB Iron tomorrow at 8 AM to see what wizardry Don can come up with to make something that will work

There's no time to get into RPM, so I really need to get this thing working.

Got the car in the trailer, taking it to Don German to get some changes made so we can use the water brake dyno.

Will take the trailer and suburban to Jay & Bills to get fresh tires on the trailer and some work done on the Suburban brakes.

. . . the exhaust drags, so I'll probably drop the car off at Don German's tomorrow from the trailer, then see if someone at Jay & Bills can get me down to GB Iron.

We caught the exhaust on the trailer when unloading it for the last time - bent things more than I realized . . .

Off to Home Depot to get bolts to attach the battery operated winch to the trailer.

Shifting linkage and boot in place, plus the fresh air tube.

Tightened up the frame, going to take her for a quick trip around the block!!!

Loaded a 2007 profile (gotta love Electromotive!) and the car fired right up.  (Once I got the ignition wheel lined up.)

RTFM.  And remember what you read when you RTFM.

Need to be able to blog from my phone while on the salt. Looks like I'm around the editor bug for now.

Brakes are blead (sp?), got the grill and turn signals in, plus the scatter shield.  Still need to put back in the fresh air duct and air intake from the cowl. We are also going to do a few things to try and better cool the engine this year.

Good news is that i was able to get the laptop to see the USB to serial adapter, so I can get the car running later today.

Off to work!

With the Electromotive system, you use some really nice software to program it.  But when you laptop doesn't want to play nice it means you are dead in the water.

So I've set up what is called a virtual machine on my Slackware (linux) work laptop that will run Windows 98SE (simple and fast.)  Took a while to get the USB drivers working.

I can't get my new laptop to connect to the WinTec system.  Something going funny with the USB to serial port adapter.

Unfortunately the laptop from last year died . . . so I'm a bit stuck.

Almost started up.  Need to charge the battery while we eat dinner, then perhaps load an older profile into the WinTec3.

Almost everything is hooked up.  Fan and fuel pump are working fine.  (Tested the fan before I mounted it.)

Need to put in oil, check the valve lash and get the gap set for the ignition system.

Oh - and track down the injectors . . .

. . . and it's time to start all the attachments.  The only item I'm concerned about is if the fuel pump is working okay.  It's under the car and takes a lot of abuse.

Fan is in, plus the top exhaust and the oil pressure sender.  About to push the whole assembly under the car and try to get the frame mounted.  I always dread this part, but am getting a bit better each time.

Engine is mounted to the frame, have gotten the exhaust wrapped and a few other items hooked up.

Tomorrow the plan is to get the frame and motor into the car, then hook up oil lines, fuel, etc., and hopefully start her up.

His birthday is actually next week.  I had actually tried to time his birth to be in September.  Guess I got the math wrong, since my wife's water broke while the car was on the dyno prepping for SpeedWeek 5 years ago.

She actually let me go when he was just a few days old . . . what a woman!  Raced with a photo of him taped to the dash.

My cam has two lines for some reason - about one tooth off, for lining it up.  If you use the darker line the car will run, but is short on power.  Mike at Engine Dynamics helped a long time ago to degree the cam, so we were certain which line to use - but I had to keep it in the file for a few years to get to the point that I'd remember it for sure.

Plus the Honda manual shows photos from the 360, and the 600 has different parts for where the springs go . . . but I guess a SOHC is a lot easier to time than DOHC.

There are 4 bolts that hold the frame in.  Then 4 to get the brake lines free and the two for the tie rod ends.  The first nine came out just fine - maybe 15 minutes.  Spent 45 minutes on the last one . . . argh, the rust, the rust . . .

Chris came over and helped to unload the engine.  We've got a game plan in place for what needs to happen to the car.

Looks like we leave Wednesday morning at 4:00 AM - should be on the salt by 4:00 PM if everything goes smooth.

Got the head/cylinders on.  Looks like we'll need extra washers on the plugs to not have the pistons shut down the gap.

I typed up about the trip last year - some day it will be logged here.

Hope this link works!  Near the middle is a long write up I did.

Time is running out, but looks like we should make it . . .

Well, they did it again.  The piston company sent the wrong rings for the second time.  Was going to get the motor together today, but am stoppped cold.

I should have known to check that ahead of time . . . fool me twice, shame on me.

The rings will be in tomorrow . . . will get her done then.

Got the oil pump, clutch, etc. into the car.  Hope to get back into Engine Dynamics tomorrow to get her the rest of the way together.

Spent a few hours at Engine Dynamics checking things out.  Looks good!  Hope to have engine together and home either tomorrow or Wednesday

Am getting things closer together.  Turns out we aren't going to run NOS - I'll fill in the past details later.  Got 2 weeks to get this together, tuned and some minor repairs for this season.

Wish me luck!

The sleaves are in.  So as far as I know I have everything needed to at least try out J/Production on the salt in August.

We want to try out the J/FALT (Fuel Altered, 750cc) class at Bonneville this year.  I melted a piston last year making a run on alcohol.  (Didn't listen to Mike, my mistake . . . )

My thinking is that if we can get the car dialed in good on Gas, we can just pick some really small jets for the Nitrous and Gas and sneak up on things.  Make a run, check the plugs, push a bit harder.

Just got off the phone with Pat Watson at Watson Performance Products.  He really knows his stuff about using nitrous oxide.  He got excited by what we are trying to do also.  Sounds like we lucked out (another contact made thanks to Mike at Engine Dynamics) - Pat is dropping the nozzles in the mail today, and is researching some other details for us.  I'll call him next week to take care of the other parts.

Well Mike (at Engine Dynamics) looked at the crank, says it's the best one I've brought in.  Looks very low miles, I'm really looking forward to using it.

For those of you not familiar with the Honda 600, it's a roller bearing crank that is pressed together.  There are 4 bearings that you can't even get to or check.

Well, I've pulled apart my last engine that isn't in a car.  (They're nice to keep in one piece - sealed up, all oily inside.)  But  the crank I had just didn't feel good enough.

This motor appears very clean inside, and it's got a syncro transmission, so this might end up being the new donor for the car.  Can't wait to get the crank into Mike at Engine Dynamics and see what he thinks.

Was looking up Nitrous Systems online during my class break.  Summit has the Holley NOS system for a motorcycle or atv - 2 cylinder, 500cc and up - $639, but it won't ship until July 28th . . . so that won't do.  Everywhere else that have them in stock want $800 or more.

Nitrous Express has a bunch of systems for bikes and atvs, they start around $650.  I think I need to check with Mike at Engine Dynamics and see what he thinks I should do . . .

Just got back from Engine Dynamics.  Most of the debris was from the chain guides - just plastic.  But one of the connecting rods doesn't feel real good.  These cars have roller bearing cranks, and you need some serious tools to take them apart.

Brent Hansen from brentsmotorworks.com was there doing some work with Mike for his Bonneville BMW bike, he took a feel and commented that it might not be good.  He's seen plenty of BMW roller bearing cranks in his time . . .

Tore apart the donor engine, looks like there might be lots of debris in it.  Will know more when I get it do Engine Dynamics and clean up the parts.

Got the engine closer to being out.  Was able to pull the pistons, the melted one took a bit to get the wrist pin out.  Yeah - it got pretty darn hot. 

But that's good.  4 bolts and one pin and I can pull the engine out the top.  At least with the pistons off I know I can pull everything away from the top half of the case - besides the cam I think that's the only important part we are going to reuse from this motor.

Spent some time unbolting the blown engine.  It's most of the way out.  Should be done Saturday and at Engine Dynamics with the new core Monday.

Bumped into Mike from Engine Dynamics this weekend at the Father's Day Show & Shine.  He said the cylinder sleeves should be in this week.

Well, they've posted the list.  There's another J/Pro entry, from Nevada.  Will be interesting to see if it's the Crosley that didn't make it through tech at El Mirage a month or two back.

I'm not worried - we've got the record over 100mph, so whatever happens happens.  Competition is good . . .

Just stopped in at Engine Dynamics.  The pisons were in!  And early!  J&E had milled under the crown, so we'll need to send the other ones back to get it done to them also.  Makes the pistons 10% lighter!

Will be interesting to see how different the compression will be.  The burn pattern sure will be better!

Mike at Engine Dynamics said they should ship on the 15th of May - give us 2 months to get the new engine built and installed!