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First half
of 2002 Racers Diary
Last update Friday 26 April
2002
Scroll to the bottom for latest information
Go to first half of 2000 click here
Go to last half of 2000 click here
Go to first half of 2001 click here
Go to last half of 2001 click here
Go to previous diaries click here
25 April 2002
I've been shamed into updating the web site and the racers diary
by everyone who clicks on to have a read only to find out that there has been no update.
Then the email starts to flow....
The last entry was June of last year and has it ever been busy since then. Right after
the Winternationals "Canada" Bob Wilson decided to bring his trailer to Oz for
his race car
(he had been using my spare trailer). This set in motion so much stuff it was hard
to comprehend.
The basic story is chronicled at "Ken and Dave's Big Adventure"
with the story listed (click here).
I won't rehash it again if you want to have a look it is available for you there.
This story took things up to September 2001 and we all know what happened then.
After Dave and returned from the trip we were innundated with work and getting caught up
from when we were gone. Then the holidays arrived. During all this time we were racing
and going a few rounds and getting some work done on the new dragster. Some of the
work we were doing was building some street cars for customers.
Click here for photos of the street cars.
Over the holidays we were formulating a plan to make some more money as the race car
business has been slowing since we lost the race track in Sydney and the track owner in
Melborne and Adelaide has been trying (successfully) to screw the racers.
We came up with an idea. We are going to recycle concrete. Crush it up and resell it.
If you want to see the crusher we are assembling click here.
Later it came to me - I use LP gas in my truck, methanol in my race car and I recycle
concrete -
I just realized I have turned Green!
Well at least as green as I'll ever get - Wonders will never cease.
My computer crashed in the trailer. It died. I got an new one for the workshop and the old one from my desk in the workshop is now in the trailer. I made a foam filled box for the cpu and it has a network card in it so I can connect to the office computers to transfer data.
I made a battery box that holds two Odyessey batteries that can connect with a cable to
the Odyessey battery in the trailer. With these three batteries I can operate the computer
and printer for over three hours just off battery power. Very handy!!
We took the trailer apart and fixed some rusty spots in the bottom of the pouches with all new steel and gave the inside a complete repaint. The outside has some primer spots for now until I can get back to the paint area (that is where we are assembling the crusher).
Let me recap our racing......
A few weeks before the Nationals I was on the phone to Bob Wilson in Canada. He was
grizzling about the weather and his work. While I was on the phone to him he said he
was going to come over for the Nationals for a little holiday for himself. Since my
Chevelle
is still in the back of his trailer in Canada (he has not shipped the trailer yet) and the
Chevelle is full of the parts I purchased while I was in the US last year. It was all
setting
there awaiting Bob to ship the trailer. I was going to bring the parts home with me but
the
events of 11 Sept made me decide to not try to get the race car parts on the airplane and
just ship them with the car. I now know that I could have brought the parts home with me
but did not know that at the time. When Bob said he was coming to visit I asked him to
bring some of the parts out of the Chevelle for me.One of the items was a delay box I
had purchased for car 58.
When Bob arrived with bags overflowing we installed the new delay box in the car at the
track.
I had the car entered for a customer to drive at this race but then the customer decided
not to race so I went ahead and drove myself.
Ken Lowe results 19 January 2002 Nationals - Willowbank 519 Right Lane KEN LOWE LOWE DRAGSTER , 468 2497 Left Lane ATHOL JACOBSEN DRAGSTER , CHEV 377 #Gp3 RcNo 92 A/MD MODIFIED (R) Right Win M:0.429 NUM|CLASS| HCAP| REACT| 60| 330| 660| MPH| 1000| ET| MPH| 519|A/MD | 8.52| 0.556| 1.213| 3.485| 5.416|126.48| 7.093| 8.551|146.06| 2497|A/MD | 9.20| 0.444| 1.332| 3.902| 6.111|110.40| 8.051| 9.772|124.51| First race with the new delay box but never the less I was just late… 19/01/2002 12:35 pm 519 Right Lane KEN LOWE LOWE DRAGSTER , 468 2702 Left Lane PETER COOKE DRAGSTER , 307 #Gp3 RcNo 153 A/MD MODIFIED (R) Right Win NUM|CLASS| HCAP| REACT| 60| 330| 660| MPH| 1000| ET| MPH| 519|A/MD | 8.52| 0.590| 2.075| 5.904| 8.496| 93.28|11.488|14.685| 66.07| 2702|A/MD | 0.00|-9.320| | | | | | | | F I badly needed this run to test the box numbers but Anthony had turned the CO2 bottle off and the SLC did not operate when I released the transbrake button. Bummer How's the ET for idling down the track 19/01/2002 6:19 pm 22Deg,56%H,1018mB,1129RA,(TT)32Deg 519 Right Lane KEN LOWE LOWE DRAGSTER , 468 2835 Left Lane LEIGH BUTLER DRAGSTER 3LTR , 3LTR #Gp3 RcNo 214 ---- MODIFIED (L) Left Win M:0.064 NUM|CLASS| HCAP| REACT| 60| 330| 660| MPH| 1000| ET| MPH| 519|A/MD | 8.52| 0.609| 1.209| 3.471| 5.400|127.05| 7.076| 8.558|141.51| 2835|BB/MD| 8.37| 0.432| 1.184| 3.353| 5.207|130.74| 6.920| 8.521|137.91| This was the first race for the car with the delay box and I was unsure of the box settings. I had no confidence in the box numbers so I tired to out think the situation. I knew he was all over the planet on his dial in to his cars performance and thought I would be safe on the tree – but not this safe. .550 light would have beat him.
At the Pro Am on 23 Feb
Ken Lowe results 23 Feb 2002 Pro Am – Willowbank
23/02/2002 1:14 pm 28Deg,63%H,1016mB,2125RA,(TT)40Deg
1049 Right Lane VANCE NEVINS FORD 378 CLEV , 378 CLEV
519 Left Lane KEN LOWE DRAGSTER 468CI , 468 CHEVY
#Tst RcNo 38_______Time Trials, Test and Tune (L) Right Win M:2.079
NUM|CLASS| HCAP| REACT| 60| 330| 660| MPH| 1000| ET| MPH|
1049|E/T | 0.00| 0.440| 1.596| 4.420| 6.800|103.69| 8.853|10.599|128.43| 1
519|E/T | 0.00| 0.356| 1.330| 3.603| 5.524|127.62| 7.186| 8.604|157.40| 1 F
FXL12.28 .810 in box – look at 60’s car was picking up the front end.
But we had not yet discovered that this was the problem
23/02/2002 2:34 pm 27Deg,65%H,1016mB,2057RA,(TT)37Deg
88 Right Lane TROY O'HARE ROADSTER 380CLE , 380 CLEVE
519 Left Lane KEN LOWE DRAGSTER 468CI , 468 CHEVY
#Tst RcNo 100_______Time Trials, Test and Tune (L) Right Win M:1.186
NUM|CLASS| HCAP| REACT| 60| 330| 660| MPH| 1000| ET| MPH|
88|E/T | 0.00| 0.495| 1.358| 3.912| 6.095|112.61| 7.994| 9.616|137.95| 2
519|E/T | 0.00| 0.338| 1.310| 3.579| 5.502|127.19| 7.167| 8.587|157.62| 2 F
FXL12.29 .810 in box – look at 60’s car was picking up the front end.
Again we had not yet discovered the problem.
23/02/2002 3:56 pm 27Deg,66%H,1016mB,2073RA,(TT)35Deg
519 Right Lane KEN LOWE DRAGSTER 468CI , 468 CHEVY
2756 Left Lane MITCHELL BEAN HOLDEN 308 , 308
#Tst RcNo 176_______Time Trials, Test and Tune (R) Right Win M:1.885
NUM|CLASS| HCAP| REACT| 60| 330| 660| MPH| 1000| ET| MPH|
519|E/T | 0.00| 0.533| 1.214| 3.475| 5.398|128.06| 7.065| 8.486|157.40| 3
2756|E/T | 0.00| 0.525| 1.542| 4.298| 6.627|105.19| 8.655|10.379|130.66| 3
FXL12.30 .880 in box – right lane and car spun the tires did not pick up the
front. Now we put the facts together ....
519 Left Lane KEN LOWE DRAGSTER 468CI , 468 CHEVY
#Gp3 RcNo 227 E/T SUPER ELIMS (L)
NUM|CLASS| HCAP| REACT| 60| 330| 660| MPH| 1000| ET| MPH|
| | | | | | | | | | |
519|E/T | 0.00| 0.412| 1.212| 3.468| 5.381|127.91| 7.038| 8.450|158.62|
FXL12.31 .810 in box – look at 60’s now car NOT picking up the front end
we added two starters to the front end of car. We went through the trailer to
find the heaviest items we could find that would go as far forward as possible.
the starters worked well.
Elimination’s --------------------------------------------------------
23/02/2002 5:55 pm 26Deg,69%H,1017mB,1851RA,(TT)32Deg
2576 Right Lane MICHAEL SCHAPER 57 CHEV 350 CHE , 350 CHEV
519 Left Lane KEN LOWE DRAGSTER 468CI , 468 CHEVY
#Gp3 RcNo 265 E/T SUPER ELIMS (L) Left Win M:0.047
NUM|CLASS| HCAP| REACT| 60| 330| 660| MPH| 1000| ET| MPH|
2576|E/T |10.38| 0.681| 1.470| 4.221| 6.522|106.69| 8.522|10.219|132.98| B
519|E/T | 8.43| 0.415| 1.214| 3.475| 5.391|128.06| 7.049| 8.488|147.11|
FXL12.32 .810 in box – 60’s good – reactions good. Extra starters were working
well in keeping the front wheels on the ground.
23/02/2002 6:30 pm 25Deg,70%H,1017mB,1785RA,(TT)31Deg
1546 Right Lane TONY WHYATT COMMODORE/350CHE , 350 CHEWV
519 Left Lane KEN LOWE DRAGSTER 468CI , 468 CHEVY
#Gp3 RcNo 298 E/T SUPER ELIMS (L) Right Win M:0.129
NUM|CLASS| HCAP| REACT| 60| 330| 660| MPH| 1000| ET| MPH|
1546|E/T | 9.80| 0.400| 1.408| 4.014| 6.239|110.02| 8.177| 9.825|136.28|
519|E/T | 8.42| 0.288| 1.199| 3.453| 5.364|128.50| 7.018| 8.428|158.62| F
FXL12.33 .810 in box – Ken hear car in other lane leave and tried too hard.
Look at the numbers it was going to be a close one anyway.
I would have had to cut a .402 or better light to beat him.
________________________________________________________________________
23 March Testing - At the end of a
school session I took one of the school cars
(car 58) and made a few test passes. 
Two half in thick steel plates in the front makes 36 lbs
Two more will make 72 lbs if we need it - hoping the new converter will solve the problem.
Might even be able to remove the two that are in the car now.
20April 2002
Tonight is a "Street Meet" at Willowbank. I want to get some time running
against slower cars and this is a perfect opportunity. Graeme Wilson has installed EGT on
the car 58 computer so we want to do some testing anyway. Dave is not feeling well so I
decide to take the car myself and once at the race track Graeme stops by to help me.
We made two qualifing passes. The first one the car had a lousy 60' time and red lit. The
second the 60' was good and the reaction was normal. The first round of eliminations again
the 60' was lousy and the car red lit. Not the driver but the car. 
The car has the 36 lbs of ballast in the nose still but as the air gets better as we get
into winter the car makes more power and is starting to pick up the front wheels just
engough to reduce the roll out enough to start the clocks early killing the 60' and
killing the reaction time. The EGT's on the data logger show the tune up is 99% with it
being just a little rich (where I want it) as the air gets better (winter) the car will
pick up. That makes the car predictable. If you are on the "wrong" side of the
tune up on a non supercharged car the car just slows down as the air gets better and as
the air gets worse the car picks up until the air/fuel is right then it starts to slow
down again. This is unperdictable and not the tune up a racer wants. Where we are right
now is prefect for the Winternationals as long as the air does not get better than -200
foot.
After returning to the workshop I've made another two plates that can increase the ballast
in the front to 72 lbs but I've gone back to Goeff Dell at the Converter Shop to get
another converter assembled. This big block Chevy with the small heads makes so much
torque down low I want to soften the converter some because it only "snaps" the
front wheels up which causes the problems. I'm going to chip up the gear change chip and
the new converter will raise the start line rpm some as well. Goeff said he would have the
converter done the week of the 29 April so we will get the converter deliverd and get it
put in the car for the next Test session probably the weekend of 4 May. The following
weekend is the next Pro Am at Willowbank which we are already entered for. After that is a
Street Meet on the 18 May and then test sessions before the Winternationals on 7 June.
If I was not writing this and updating the web site I would be getting the supercharged car ready to race. We have about 2 weeks worth of work to do to get the car ready but with all the work getting the crushing plant going there is not much race car work getting done.
I'll keep you posted as things develop....
Saturday 27 April 2002
This morning I worked on finishing some of the parts for the crusher and then
started working on the new car. I wound up working until 1:30 am and got the hat nozzle
adapter made and made the hat nozzle lines - all 16 of them.
Sunday 28 April 2002
I awoke to rain. Since I had done some earthworks on the property I wanted to
check out the drainage and found one drain was stopped up do I donned the gum boots and
cleaned it out. I got soaking wet. After I finished that I took a hot shower and put on
dry cloths as I am starting to feel pretty crappy.
I had to final number the pages on the FI book for the printer so I did that and burned
them a new copy of the book for them to start printing. About noon I decided to lay down
as I felt like I was hit by a truck.
Monday 29 April 2002
Horizontal today - feel like I've been kicked by a mule - a big one. I think its
the flu. Because I feel like I've been flung.
Tuesday 30 April 2002
Doing a little better today. Went to the shop and had a bit of a tinker working
at my own speed resting when I had to. Feel better but not by much. I did get the port
nozzle lines done and the barrel valve mounting bracket done.
I called Goeff Dell today on the new converter - he said parts should be in this afternoon
that means I might have the new converter tomorrow. I want to take car 58 out for testing
on Saturday to see if I can stop it picking up the front wheels and get the car to go
quicker still. Converter swap should not take long and that is all we have to do to the
car before testing.
The hat I've borrowed from Gary Bannerman is the mag hat he had on the Altered when he
crashed it. It has a lovely scar across the top just to give it character.
On tomorrow's list is to make the barrel valve link, make the dash boards for car 59 and a
new one for the TAD car number 62 click here for more details on
that car. I have to place an order for hose ends to finish the fuel lines.
I've already entered car 58 in the Winternationals and have up until 24 May to enter car
59 if it all comes together in time.
Wednesday 1 May 2002
Big day planned and got almost all of it done.
Ordered the hose ends needed to finish the fuel system on car 59
Got the parts ordered to put the big wheels/tires on car 50
Got a spare blower belt ordered
Drilled and tapped the SLC cylinders
Welded the big CO2 bottle brackets on the chassis of 59
Installed the dual chute cables on car 59
Made the hex link for the barrel valve linkage
New converter for 58 arrived today. If it is not raining we will be testing on Saturday
afternoon but if we are not testing I'm working on 59
Thursday 2 May 2002
Big workshop clean up.
I started the crew roster for the next five or six races