Monday, May 28, 2007

New Sponsor announcement coming Wed.

Geoff Bardal of Colt Cams has tested the products and recommended our newest sponsor. We have reached a conclusion that NITRO LUBE will be our exclusive lubricant supplier for the project. see www.nitrolube.com We will meet with the owner Jason Rite to work out the details and share them with you soon.

News Flash Read All About it


Monday the Surrey NOW NEWSPAPER visited us at PLASTEC, and is printing an article about the project. Here it is!
If you click on the image it should be large enough to read ( with your glasses on! )

Jimmy Durante' would be proud of this snozola!


Kevin Burnett is being assisted by Jeff to build the custom vacuum box that is held on to the nose tool by threaded rods. Werner is checking out the progress and Ken Rouble is showing off his Goldenhawk shirt. What a team of hard working guys, your efforts are evident and greatly appreciated. like the Beatles sang, "Money can't buy me love" and this team is doing it for love. THANKS TO ALL of you!
(Are you are too young to know about Mr.Durante? Ask your grandparents.)

Plan ahead for the tail?


Werner is listening into the planning session between Kevin Knox and Patrick as they work out the procedures of building the tail section and rear panels in about two large sections. This will be interesting to witness.

Pat is making good progress.



Monday at Plastec, Patrick is either back or he is still here and you can see he has the bottom panels fitted to the chassis. In the first photo you can see the interior of the panels with the black stiffeners. Also in the foreground you can see the first of the plastic models that Diversions (Kevin Knox) is prototyping for the Die casting of the scale models which will be made in limited numbers for collectors.


Sunday, May 27, 2007

Just being nosy



This is show the intake can be extended to beyond the nose of the car to experiment with the results. It is not known what will be the effect on either the intake volume/pressure at speed, but I suspect that we may actually see and aero improvement from the disturbance in front of the nose, that may allow the nose to enter the air easier. Your comments are appreciated, so please contribute them now. It may be that the result will increase drag and stall the intake air! Who knows until we try it.

Combustion air intake (aka nose airs)




Here is the nose of the car before the ABS cone is installed and then filled with urethane foam for support. You will notice that the velocity stack for the intake air fits right in the centre high pressure point.

Patient Patrick Plastec Panel Producer (say that 3X!)




Here it is Saturday afternoon, the crew at Plastec is putting in overtime to meet the schedule. Patrick says the panels go faster after the first one. (Kind of like tequila shooters ) Patrick has put himself through college and is a tool and die technician. After working in polluted environments he has chosen to fabricate plastics. He is very careful as he makes these panels and yet seemed surprised that they turned out perfect. The former Burlington Ontario resident commutes from Vancouver to Port Kells (1 hour each way), but says he likes the busy social life the city has to offer. He is also quite glad to be involved in the build of something different and exciting. Thanks for your time Patrick.

Friday, May 25, 2007

Murphy Aircraft 2200+ home built kits flying

Today, we visited Daryl Murphy, owner of Murphy Aircraft Manufacturing in Chilliwack, BC. My long time friend and business associate. He gave us a tour of his refurbished plant and a look at the new YUKON aircraft. This is a fuel efficient tricycle plane that is aimed at the world market. Sorry Classified no pictures but you can check their website, it is linked to www.goldenhawk.ca
Daryl is very interesting to visit because not only does he have brilliant engineering mind and a let's do it attitude but he is always into something new and interesting. Thanks for your support Mr. Murphy.

COLT CAMS TEAM


Meet the Colt team, Geoff, Ilona his wife and shop assistant and of course, the real boss the German Shepherd, they make for a happy work together family. We are so glad to have you on the team. They have a machine dedicated to just grinding cams for CUMMINS diesels.

www.coltcams.com - Choice of champions




New sponsor COLT CAM INC. Geoff Bardal is the kind of guy you want on your side when you need help. He is the kind of guy that does everything rather meticulously and keeps records of the results. Today, Werner and I visited his Aldergrove BC. shop and he showed us his methods of evaluating products and his perfect shop.

If you are thinking of a build project for industrial or heavy equipment (not just hot rods) then a visit to http://www.coltcams.com/ is the first thing to do. We are very impressed by his grasp of basic and new technology. We are thrilled to welcome him to the Powertrain team of the Goldenhawk project.

The future of Troyan is sharp.


Here is Steve and his 7 year old son, who wants to know if we will drive this car out to see him?
The young man is very quick witted so be careful what you ask him! People who have good family relationships give children the best start in life.
Watch for this young guy in races in the future.

Cummins in a ford, built TPS INC.tough?


Here is our newest sponsor, Steve Troyan of TROYAN PERFORMANCE SPECIALTIES INC. stuffing a 5.9 Cummins in a ford pick up. Steve and his company will be building the transmissions for the GOLDENHAWK streamliner. Steve has many years experience and is very talented in the high performance transmission field. With Steve on the team I feel secure that we have the very best.

How to find the pros!


Here is a tip on how to find the real professionals when it is your need for (diesel) speed. First check out the trade magazines and then when you find the big power guys featured all you have to do is locate where they get the work done.
We found this one in Chilliwack,BC. at TPS INC. on Aitkin Road, and like all the best specialist they are very hard to find so call 877-702-1050.
This puppy has over 700hp and sounds awesome!!!

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Wheels & rear Hubs ready



Here you can see for the first time the special narrowed high speed steel wheel that Green's Automotive re manufactured for us, with the rear hub mounts by OTT Industries fitted together. Everything is exactly the way we planned and the brakes just fit in the rim. Now, as you can tell there will be some last minute calculations to decide the exact mounting measurements.



Plastec - Plastic and Technology = PLASTEC

They make a vast array of products for the retail industry. Check out the website www.plastec.ca


Kevin Burnett and Patrick Colgan are sizing up the challenges faced by the BIG nose cone, not only is it the largest part of the streamliner it is also too big to be formed in the vacuum machine in the conventional system. Stay tuned for the results of the ultimate secret solution!
Yes, girls, Pat is cute, single and an artist. He carves wildlife, I assume the four legged or winged and sea life, not the night life kind in Vancouver where he resides.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

New Sponsors to be announced soon.

I will be able to give you details of the new sponsors early next week. I can tell you that they are the most respected in the field of high performance diesel development. One is COLT CAMS (oops just slipped) another is the transmission guru for super power transmissions and the third is an icon in engine development.
Now all we need to get the transporter and the safety equipment on board.

Sad Start to Snowbird Season.


Tributes pour in for killed Snowbirds pilot
Updated Sat. May. 19 2007 12:39 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds pilot who died after his Tutor jet crashed into the ground Friday was remembered as a fine pilot who was a joy to be around.
The pilot has been identified as Capt. Shawn McCaughey, 31, from Candiac, Quebec
His jet went down at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana during a rehearsal for two air shows scheduled for the weekend in nearby Great Falls. They have now been cancelled.
Col. Richard Foster, the commander of 15 Wing, said McCaughey was a fine pilot and a top military officer.
"He was a very professional pilot,'' Foster said at a news conference at the Moose Jaw, Sask. base where the aerobatic squadron is based.
"I knew him before he became an instructor here in Moose Jaw. He was very jovial, very caring. He did his job very well. He was a very credible pilot and a good friend."
Foster said the team will take an "operational pause" to honour the memory of McCaughey before continuing their summer performance schedule.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper called McCaughey a "positive role model and goodwill ambassador," and said he personified the professionalism and dedication of the members of the military.
"It is with great sadness that I learned about the accident that took the life of a decorated and talented pilot," Harper said in a statement Saturday.
"Captain Shawn McCaughey served our country with distinction, honour and professionalism. On behalf of the Government of Canada and all Canadians, my deepest sympathy goes out to his family, friends and fellow team members during this difficult time."
McCaughey, a former flight instructor with 1,400 hours flying time, was engaged and was set to get married on June 9.
He was the first Snowbirds pilot to join the team despite having no previous experience with the CT-114 Tutor jet.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration confirmed McCaughey's death in a statement Friday evening.
He is the sixth Snowbird pilot to be killed in an air crash since 1972.
Allen Kenitzer, a spokesperson for the U.S. Federal Aviation Agency, said McCaughey's plane was flying in formation and "for some reason shortly thereafter pitched down and crashed."
Witness Gillian Scarber told The Canadian Press she was driving into Great Falls and observed a group of four or five planes practicing a formation when one of the planes crashed into the ground.
"It just smacked into the ground, and there was a big ball of flames," Scarber said, adding that smoke drifted across the highway as emergency crews raced to the scene.
Witnesses said they saw no signs of a parachute and believed the pilot was in the plane when it crashed.
Maj. Robert Mitchell, the Snowbirds' commanding officer, said a team of Canadian military officers would travel to Montana on Saturday to investigate the incident and to try and determine the cause.
He said McCaughey's loss was a major blow to the team.
"Our thoughts, prayers and sincerest condolences are with Shawn's family," Mitchell said in Montana.
"Our priority at this time is to provide support for Shawn's family. Our team is devastated and we miss him."
McCaughey was in his second year with the Snowbirds, and was the No. 2 jet in the Inner Right Wing position.
He joined the Canadian Forces in 2000 after earning a Bachelor's degree in Physical Geography from Concordia University in Montreal.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

The heart of the beast has arrived.

It is rumoured that the a little 4 cylinder Cummins 3.9l B engine has arrived from the factory, but may not get un-crated for a couple of days as the containers are emptied. However, a certain engineer , Chrysler race hemi in a B body drag car, has suggested that it is already a Hi-performance Assembly and that it will only require minimal changes to meet our specifications. Big turbo stronger valve springs, more fuel and lots of nitrous to cool the intake. We will tune the engine to peak HP at 4500 rpm. If we can pull that rpm in high gear we will be over 300!
I have started to contact specialists for the next stage. The first to come on board will be the guy they say is the best cam grinder for diesel power. Watch for announcement as soon as he gets back from fishing with his family.

PLASTEC SURGERY ? A nose Job!




Now you can see what all that computer drawing was for, to create the design for this tool. It is half top or bottom of the nose on the "Hawk". Here Kevin Burnett is checking all the fit points and when he is satisfied that all is perfect he will then add several more layers on the top and all sides to arrive at the final size. Barry Clarke the owner of Plastec and Kevin explained that the reason it is so heavily made is that if it is not strong enough the vacuum will collapse it. That wouldn't be good! Boy in the future when I see things made of plastics, PVC or ABS I will have a greater appreciation for all the work that goes into making them. All this work to make ONE piece, almost wish there was a market for millions of stream liners so that it be used more times. Fantastic job Kevin, thanks for the dedication to quality.

Kevin Burnett is a nose ahead.



Kevin is busy designing the special tooling to build the nose on the computer. Here he shows us one half of the two parts that will be the final nose. It takes a lot of skill and creativity to produce the car shape in Plastic and that is why we chose PLASTEC to do the build. Thanks to the support of all the employees at Plastec I am sure we will have an excellent streamliner. PLASTEC "They Make Fast Friends" and they make friends fast". Make sure you contact them for all your plastic projects.

Belly panels close to complete




Here you can see the ribs for the belly panels and one completed . Werner and Kevin have spent a lot of time , much more than anticipated creating the panels, but now things will go faster, Pun intended!

Monday, May 14, 2007

New fan may race his Camaro





I received these pictures of Neil J. Finegold's 67 Camaro, he says that he plans to run it at Bonneville or the dry lakes. That is the great thing about land speed racing you "run what you brung" and you have a ball doing it! Check out his crew or maybe it's his driver. Pretty girls and fast cars just go good together.

TROOPER GREATEST CANADIAN ROCK BAND

We are advised that our favorite music sponsor TROOPER is going to put a blurb on their web site for us.
Be sure and go to their site and check out where they are appearing next so you can see them live.

The theme music for this project is "THE BOYS IN THE BRIGHT WHITE SPORTS CAR", "NOT HERE FOR A LONGTIME", and of course "RAISE A LITTLE HELL". If you don't own Trooper music get out and buy it. It is the best of rock and roll and it is Canadian!

Update on the body

Well today, Kevin Knox of Diversions and Werner were hard at the building of the body. As I said before it is a lot of fitting and trimming and takes longer than we expected. Barry Clarke, the owner of PLASTEC is going to assign some extra hands to assist when they are available which will speed things up. It is a very special trade, plastic fabrication. They make it look easy but I can tell you it is not. I spent the time today planning the cockpit latches and getting material for the embedded aluminum that will stabilize and attach to the locking devices. I also was back at Aggressive Tube Bending (you remember them they built the chassis and powerframe) scrounging more drawings and getting Ben the bender to make the hoop to be embedded. The body is ready to be rolled over to fit the bottom panels tomorrow.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Watching glue dry!

Kevin is always coming up with clever expressions here is is explaining that he can only go as fast as the glue dries. By Friday afternoon he had one side completed from the nose to the cockpit. He and the rest of the crew are taking the week end to be with family and celebrate Mothers Day. It will be good to catch up around our homes as we have all been putting in a lot of time on the project. Thanks to all the crew and have a good week end.

Smile for the camera



This is one of the considered camera positions. It may prove to be a problem with the distortion due to the curvature of the canopy at this location. The other camera will be mounted on the dash tray focused on the wide eyed drivers! SMILE!

Race connections at Plastec




Larry Schroeder sales dept exec at Plastec has a relative well known to us old drag racers, Richard owned and drove the Bad Bossa Nova fuel injected Chevy II.

Abs Body is progressing well.



Kevin is fabricating the braces for the body panels. He is very fussy and precise about how they fit, which is good, however not very fast step in the process. Considering this is the first of its kind progress is on schedule. Go Kev Go!

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Fits like a glove!



Kevin K. clamps it in place and Kevin B. with Patrick Colgen inspect the part. The problem of the special material is solved a solution found and now it's "TIME TO PULL THE PARTS".
Notice how straight the panel is even before it gets its reinforcing ribs/ I may never use fibreglass or sheet metal again. There is still much work ahead for the guys at PLASTEC to trim and fit the parts plus they will laminate 2 top and two bottom halves together to make an upper and lower panel. The nose will be the hard part they say and I think the canopy and tail are also difficult parts to make but the crew says "nay they will be easy!"

part #1 for ABS body - Will it be a success?


Kevin Burnett prepares to pull the first part out of the "9000" Hopes are high but the last few not so good attempts at perfection have everyone secretly crossing their fingers.
He pulls it. It is just fine like he said it would be. Now to check it one the chassis.

Plastec May 8 Parts day?


Kevin Knox and Jeff Taylor are setting up the "Binford 9000" Vacuum former with the tool created yesterday. The test is about to begin!

May 7 - A new tool is born.


Here is the latest in a series of tools that Kevin and Kevin have produced to shape the body panels for the Goldenhawk at Plastec in Port Kells, BC. This is for vacuum forming the top side and under belly panels. The sides are flat but the top and bottoms are two pieces.

Pictured here is Kevin Burnett the fabricating guru in the shop at Plastec . We will show you the results soon.

Getting started at Plastec!



The person I first spoke to at Plastec was Leah regarding poly-carbonate forming for the canopy of the streamliner, I was impressed with her knowledge of materials and so eventually by talking with Barry and Kevin in the shop, a plan developed to make the whole body at PLASTEC instead of using sheet metal. part of the reason is that this Goldenhawk will be toured extensively to air and trade shows where sheet metal can be easily dented ABS is very resilient.
The second photo is of Kevin Knox (Goldenhawk team) and I discuss profile of the finished side panels.

Barry Clarke - Rally Driver



The mild mannered Barry Clarke, was a competitive rally driver and navigator in the late sixties and early seventies. He and Navigator Ron Stashyn successfully campaigned Barry's 510 Datsun sedan in many events on the west coast. Pictured here during the Mountain trials in the BC interior back mountain roads at speed with night approaching and teeth clenched. Many of you have watched WRC on TV with the fully roll caged purpose built race cars but these guys don't even have a roll bar. Good thing they only tipped it over once!

PLASTEC surgery - skin crafting begins



Well we transported the chassis to Plastec in Port Kells, BC. early last week and left it to the capable crew of plastic fabricators lead by this man, Barry Clarke, CEO and owner. In the next two to three weeks they will attempt to make the complete body for the car using a UV ABS material. This has not, to the best of my knowledge, been done before and will require careful planning and research to develop the correct methods and tools to form the material to the desired shape. Plastec is well respected for its diversity, quality products and timely deliver but this is an exceptional project and will demonstrate the growing market for all types of plastics.