Have you ever clicked your REFRESH button?



December 31 - January 1

Happy New Year 2010
How we made it blue


Axel loves Tomtebloss and wanted of course to add this to our
new invention "snapsbytta" or "shot pot"


It began a couple of days earlier thanks to the cold temperature.
Minus 12° Celsius / 10° Farenheit. So we started to fill plastic
buckets with water and let them stay outside overnight. Next day
we turned them upside down and had perfect ice holders for
outside torch lights, because they wasn't completely frozen.


Then we had a few colored with food colorant. Blue.


What more could we do in playing with freezing water? Ha!
A snapsbytta! I took Agneta's cast iron pot and but on the bottom a
winded plastic tube of electrical blue decoration light. In with all the
small snaps bottles of different flavours - and water.


Of course the decoration light was safety grounded. And we thought
the result was stunningly beautiful and must recommend you all
to make one yourselves!



Outside on the glassed veranda I had put up another blue decoration
light so we could get the "Icehotel blue feeling" (It was exactly the
same product). And on the outside the blue ice holders on the wall.


We took the snapsbyttan inside an hour before the guests arrived
to have it start melting, so we actually would be able to cheer with
the snaps! Here we just awaits Agneta to serve the fantastic
Jamie Oliver-style turkey! Wow! It was something to remember!
Thanks again Agneta!


Midnight! 2009 turned into 2010 and all hell broke loose! The sky
turned into a sparkling 360° view and I guess it sounded like a war...
All people over 18 years old are free to launch as much firework
rockets as they like, and they do.



Agneta and Perra Winberg enjoying the fireworks that Perra brought.
Thanks! It was also fun to see the new trend for us, the launching
of Kom Loy (Perra says "korvmoj") which is very common in
Thailand. I have no own pictures of them but they cross over
the sky like silent UFO's in beween the exploding rockets.


We've been to Agneta's cottage for three New Year eve's so it was
fun to be in the middle of it again.

And guess who was happiest of them all? =) We want to wish
all of you a Happy New 2010!




December 24 - Christmas Eve

A tasteful Christmas
- the traditional Christmas report -



A typical christmas lunch in Sweden. At least for a small family of 3.
Axel can't wait for digging in on the ham.


My favourite view. Homemade meatballs, homemade mustard, eggs,
homemade red beet sallad, Marieholms Export beer, Bröndums
snaps and the homecooked christmas ham.


The christmas ham was KRAV-certified - ecologically approved.
And very good! We could not consume it all of course, and as always
a lot of ham-sandwiches will be made around the
clock the following days.


Pickled herring is a delicacy in Europe, and especially in Sweden on
the big holidays like New Year's, Easter, Midsummer and Christmas.
However, these two flavours are not on every Swedish christmas
table; Agneta's homemade Blueberry and Lingonberry! Wow!


This year we decided to go for the Danish snaps. Thanks Denmark!
Porse is a favourite since we had it locally in Thisted in the north
of Denmark years ago, where they picked the Porse to this.


Agneta got the largest christmas gift, from Axel and me. And she
had to build it herself.


Tada! IKEA VÄRDE kitchen cart in solid birch and stainless steel,
like the rest of our IKEA-kitchen. The talented designer is Mikael
Warnhammar from Gothenburg who I've met a couple of times.


It feels good with a walk after the lunch and as usual we walked to
Axel's grand parents. The torch is most important. It was more
snow than last year.


Our traditional presentation of the Tomten over the years. Axel has missed Tomten the
last 5 years when he promtly had to go out to but a newspaper, and came back just
after Tomten left!? This year Tomten had to handle some delicate gifts like this hand-
made candle from Axel's sister Frida. I'm always happy for my new socks as usual.
I don't think Tomten ever will give me a complete Snap-On workshop anyway...




December 23


Trimming the lawn is getting more and more difficult.

...moments from some of the 24 film projects we worked on in 2009.
It made the World a little, little better place for many people.




December 22

The mobbing


The club mk402m.se which is behind the races on Moholms-
strippen is now selling t-shirts. Of all designs they offer they think
this will be the big seller says Ulf "Totte" Lindqvist...
I haven't done the report from this race yet but will this winter, and
it will explain that t-shirt. If you are curious, please scroll down
this page down to August 29-30 to the NEWS-report.

Next chance on Moholmsstrippen will be at the end of May 2010!
Revenge.


More Christmas cards


Ulf Skytte and team in Umeå sent a picture of their brutal Roadrunner.
We saw it in Piteå in 2008 in less positive circumstances:
The Longest Race_2008



Our friend Rick McCann did the wheelie of the year at Santa Pod in
his Camaro. His wife Carla Pittau also makes wheelies all the time.
Both Heaven & Hell Camaros are included in their card. Take a look:
youtube.com/RickMcCannWheelie


Eeero from Helsinki seems to have a fun cat! =)



December 18

Blackout movie


Outside Systembolaget (where we Swedes stand in line to buy
alcoholic beverages) I met this youngster selling cheap DVD's.


The mysterious title had me to open the wallet...



December 13

We're getting there


Jonas do the final welding on the driver's side header. Now that side
is done. Even if I don't report it all, I'm working now and then in my
garage with the headers and then take it to Jonas to have it TIG-
welded. In January I will start with the passenger side. Then both
headers will again be thermo coated.
After that we're ready for our tenth season with the Blackout SS!




December 12

The answer to Kent!


If Kent is going forward with his threats on me, like the manual shifter,
new race converter and racing intake manifold (see below) - I now
have the answer - The new ProCharger F4!
Both friends Tommy "Aga" and Mats "Masken" Karlsson sent me
the link just in helping me to meet Kent's threats! =)
Shown at the recent PRI Show in Orlando Florida. It's big as an
engine (it's a Big Block on the picture...) The volute is 16 inch in
diameter and it can ad 3200 hp at 45 PSI! But it needs a 900 hp
natural asperated engine to begin vith! So I need to keep my F1R
as a Step 1 and then mount this one which has a direct drive
coupler on the crank! I'm sorry but I need also to rebuild the front
of the SS to be able to cover the blower. Then I suppose the car
will look more like a blowfish...
More on this forum: www.topdoorslammer.se//forum/




December 11

Kent is shifting


News from Kent Edin in Umeå is that he's giving up "automatic"
in his automatic transmission! His 4L80E is like mine, it's supposed
to shift on pulses from the on board TCU-box which is preset via the
lap top. Well, it doesn't always happen. Both Kent and I have had
some problem to have it to shift on accurate RPM. I have had a whole
season destroyed because of this. Kent has bought a TCI shifter and
will shift manually in 2010. As I see it, this will be an advantage for
Kent unless I do the same. Maybe I'm too stubborn to keep my
concept? Or is it stupid? I want it to work...
Kent has also kicked his TCI-converter goodbye and invested in
a Vigilante race converter like mine, but he will have 3800 as a
stall speed compared to my 2000. His big F2 blower hits it big
at around 4000 RPM, while my smaller F1 is attacking at
any RPM. That poster looks interesting too?!





December 5

...in the rear view mirror


"Bostic test drives the fastest car on the street"
Front page on Bilsport magazine No 10 1984 after a material
gathering session in California and Florida with photographer Al Benson.
Among the things we made articles about was the American made
super sportscar Vector in California. Owner/operator Gerald Wiegert
handed me the keys and I could spank the twin-turbo V8 on Santa
Monica airfield! WOW! Then I took it a little easier through traffic back
to the factory - oh boy - did people notice that car!? Did they think I was
a King in that car!? I thought so anyway...
More about Vector: wikipedia.org//Vector_Motors
Now this picture showed up at the excellent Svammelsurium blog!
Mårten Carlsson celebrates reaching 1000 stories!
Congratulations Mårten and keep'em coming!
Check it out: svammelsurium.blogg.se



Björn's PR stunt

My brother was interviewed by the Swedish edition of Auto Motor &
Sport magazine and he put on his BLACKOUT hat to make some
PR for our racing. Good thinking Björn! But I'm a bit sorry that
the layout person had to cut through half the logo...


Of course it was an interview about SAAB since Björn once - in the
"good old days" before GM - built up and managed the SAAB design
department. It was a couple of good interviews with SAAB-people
regarding the ikon model Aero. Article made by Pär Brandt, one of
my journalist workmates from the time at Bilsport magazine.
I can recommend you to buy the No 25 issue, it's out now.
In Sweden at least.





December 4

Open house trial tasting


My hard working wife Agneta is making a tradition with open house
for "trial tasting" of her UNDERMAT products before Christmas.
Now on two Saturdays in a row, 5th and 12th of December. Click
ad above to get a bigger, readable one. Sorry, only in Swedish.





December 3

From southern California

From old friend and photojournalist Bosse Bertilsson in California.
Look at that red flake!
Back in the end of the 70's when I was living in Umeå, Bosse
was the guy who encouraged and supported me to make stories
for Colorod Magazine and also Dragstrip Magazine, from the
northern parts of Sweden. Bosse moved to southern California
some decades ago and as a freelancer he makes articles about
drag racing and hot rodding for just about all Swedish auto
magzines and many other European magazines as well.
Merry Christmas Bosse!


I wonder if this is his own hot rod? I found this picture among many
other at Bosse's own site: bossebson.com





December 2

The Karström project


Do you remember the local Robert Karström project in Mölndal that
I wrote a note about here on NEWS on June 8 2007? What
happens with it? Well, Robert is building all himself so it takes time,
especially since he's a very busy man. The new Mustang body from
Hairy Glass got a tailor made chassie at Vanishing Point which
came as a kit to Robert.


The nitrous 708 ci engine (ex-Ulf Rapp, ex-Roger Johansson) is sold
for the benefit of a blown engine. Robert was earlier talking about
a monstrous turbo-engine but this is what he will debut with in
2010 in Top Doorslammer and possibly Pro Mod. We'll be back
with more on this car during the winter.



December 1

Time for Christmas cards


The first Christmas card we received was from Impala friend Martin
Boye and his company Daekimporten (tire import) in Denmark
with this picture of "The Deakorettes" who are Stine, Christina,
Natalie, Pernille and Louise. More about Daekimporten and daily
pics on these girls at www.daekimporten.dk Thanks Martin and
A Merry Christmas to all of you as well!





November 15

The Vault is opened!


I opened the vault and carried out many hundreds of slides from my
youth. A true archive treasure from the time when camaras were big
and used light sensitive film inside small rolls. And you had to get
them developed and wait to see how it turned out! Typically only
37 exposures per roll so it was expensive too!
I need to find an easy way to digitize all of them, I won't scan them
one by one if I don't get some extra time, like in jail.
Then I should open another "Memory Lane" page on this site,
calling it "The Vault"


Condor and I were on a mission from Stig L Sjöberg of Bilsport
Magazine in the end of 1981 and beginning of 1982. When we passed
the classic NHRA-track in Pomona we couldn't resist jumping the
gate to get pictures like these. They could come in handy in 27
years or so if someone invents internet or something...


Wanted to really feel the track with my feet. There are many pictures
in the vault that master photographer Chris Condor has made, and I
look forward to show you never before publized creations from him!


We also went to the Orange County Raceway CA to do a report on
Don Garlits' sidewinder Top Fuel dragster (check The Vault later)
and his matchrace versus Shirley Muldowney. We came early and
met another legend - Don "The Snake" Prudhomme.


Don was a very kind and open personality and liked to check out
Swedish hot rod magazines. I think we also have pictures from John
Force's first funny car from this event. All black. Check The Vault.


This is one of my pictures. More about this in The Vault...


Back to Pomona in 1984 with Al Benson, Bilsport. Met legend Bill
"Grumpy" Jenkins and made an article on Frank Iaconio, Pro Stock.


Well, here are some samples of what you can expect from checking
into "The Vault" later. And I look forward to now and then blend in
Vault-stories like these here at the "News" page in between
the news.
It's from drag races all over, street races, meetings, parties. It's
left over pictures from articles we made, even banned pictures!
It's nice cars, motorcycles, girls, friends...
But first I must get all slides digitized. Any idea?
A sponsor for The Vault?




November 6

Axel scariest in school!


It was a Halloween Disco at Axel's school tonight and off went Count
Dracula dressed in tuxedo. Missing here are the fangs. I was glad
to follow this Dracula to the party because he won 1st price in the
people's choice competition among a hundred other kids in very
creative costumes! And I even forgot to place my vote.
Congratulations Axel!


On the way home, it was fun for him to call mom Agneta "I'm not
only a mother, I'm a make-up artist as well..."
with the good news.
And don't forget that Axel's dad has been to the castle in Bran,
Transylvania, Romania - the former home of Vlad Tepes himself...
That bag he's carrying is the award, a large bag'o'candy!




Bostic to Pro Stock?


Andy "Tog" Rogers doesn't miss anything. He sent this screen dump
to me and said "My heart stopped just for a moment there, and
as you know I have to be a bit careful with my heart :-)"

His reaction can maybe be explained by the fact that this is a bike
forum, not a car forum...
More: http://forums.dragbike.com/forum_Bostic




New chance next weekend


Danish Stig Neergaard above and the other qualified Europeans did
not survive first round of Eliminations in Vegas as you may already
know. We all hoped for it but was at least satisfied for that they
managed to qualify among the World's best Top Fuel teams!
New chance in the season ending NHRA World Finals in Pomona,
California next weekend! Follow the links underneath.


Lars-Inge Johansson (left) was in Vegas to give a helping hand in
Neergaard's team together with sponsor Jöran Peråker (background).
But they look dressed more like VIP's. Clean hands and all.
So who was so kind to take these photos for me?


Sharp dressed man Karl Ellwein of course, here with Jöran. Karl was
clever to plan his and Leni's Honeymoon to Las Vegas this weekend.
(Well, they never went to Bermudas on their first planned
honeymoon because of so much to do at home in Maryland...)

So for next weekend in Pomona, Good Luck all Europeans!




November 1

3 out of 4 is in!

Only Lex Joon from the European Quartet didn't manage to qualify at the
NHRA Las Vegas, but the other three is safely in the game for the
Eliminations. Historic moment in drag racing! Don't miss it Sunday night:
Listen to it:
http://viewers.multicastmedia.com/NHRA
Read about it:
http://www.nhra.net/2009/results
Top Fuel ladder:
http://www.nhra.net/2009/eventsTOP_FUEL_ladder

Top Fuel Qualification

LAS VEGAS - SUMMIT FastNews - Final order after 4 rounds of qualifying in
Top Fuel at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series,
Ninth annual NHRA Las Vegas Nationals:

Position Driver Vehicle ET Speed
1. Larry Dixon Al-Anabi Racing Dragster 3.805 318.24
2. Steve Torrence Tuttle Motorsports Dragster 3.831 314.17
3. Antron Brown Matco Tools Dragster 3.834 317.42
4. Tony Schumacher U.S. Army Dragster 3.839 315.05
5. Cory McClenathan Fram Tough Guard Dragster 3.841 318.47
6. Brandon Bernstein Budweiser/Lucas Oil Dragster 3.853 317.27
7. Shawn Langdon Lucas Oil/Dixie Chopper Dragst 3.855 314.02
8. Thomas Nataas Dragster 3.859 307.65
9. Doug Kalitta Technicoat Dragster 3.863 314.53
10. Spencer Massey US Smokeless Dragster 3.864 313.66
11. Bob Vandergriff C&J Energy Services Dragster 3.881 307.44
12. David Grubnic Hawaiian Industrial Dragster 3.912 309.84
13. Urs Erbacher Midland Oil Dragster 3.927 301.33
14. Stig Neergaard Persaker Speeds Dragster 3.963 299.40
15. Terry McMillen Amalie Oil Dragster 3.968 304.87
16. Morgan Lucas Geico Powersport/ Lucas Oil Dr 3.978 298.01
--------- Not Qualified ---------
17. Mike Strasburg B & J Transmissions Dragster 3.990 307.02
18. Troy Buff Bill Miller Racing/Okuma Drags 3.994 290.38
19. Tim Cullinan JP Phillips Dragster 4.023 281.07
20. Del Cox Jr LA King's/RG Industries DRA Dr 4.054 302.62
21. Steven Chrisman Chrisman Driveline Dragster 4.073 291.95
22. Ron August Lescure Company Dragster 4.191 289.32
23. Scott Palmer Tigerflow Dragster 4.473 200.14
24. Chris Karamesines Strange/Chizler Dragster 4.599 178.85
25. Lex Joon MPM Oil Dragster 5.819 270.16
26. Rob Passey MSP Motorsports/Mattinson Race NT







October 31

BOOO!!


Scaring the American in Las Vegas! Norwegian driver Thomas
Nataas in the Danish Andersen Team with a Top Fuel dragster built by
Swede Mats Eriksson - after first round of qualifying on Friday he
took 5th spot with a strong 3.859 @ 307.65 mph over the 1000 feet!
He's 6th before the last qualification round...
(Yes, it's the dragster that the European Champion Andy Carter from
England normally competes in)


Today Danish Stig Neergaard moved into the 13th place in the ladder
with 3.963 @ 299.40, the spot behind "USA-veteran" Swiss Urs
Erbacher on a 3.927 @ 301.33. The forth European racer in Top Fuel
is Lex Joon from The Netherlands who broke his blower belt today
and is sitting out at this moment, but one qualification round is left:
The speakers on the race in Las Vegas was discussing:
"We have a bunch of European racers here that no one knows what
they'll do..."
Listen to the last Qualification tonight and the Eliminations tomorrow:
http://viewers.multicastmedia.com/NHRA
Follow the results:
http://www.nhra.net/2009/results


BOOO TOO!!


It's always funny to play with fire...


And candy! Axel didn't only got out trick'or'treating, he also made
sure to invite other wanderers to his home where he had prepared
with lot of give away candy. They stick together in important issues.


Two knifes, a meat ax and some fake blood makes it a bit nicer.
We hope that all of you are having a nice Halloween with lot of candy!





October 25

Adam Flamholc took
Sweden to the Finals at
"The Rock"!



Adam Flamholc made history on Sunday at the IHRA World finals at
Rockingham, North Carolina, USA when he fought his way to the
Finals in his new Pro Mod Camaro and clinched the Runner Up title!
I can't recollect that an European racer has ever done that at a
National event in USA before!? We say CONGRATULATIONS!
Bad weather stopped most of the qualifying but Adam got the
10th spot. The weather chilled the track so IHRA decided to
shorten the distance from 1/4 to 1/8 mile. It was shakes, up in
smoke, slides and all kind of things from all drivers. Adam said
to someone in the media something like "we race on gravel
roads at home" which of course can explain why Adam could
get to the finish line first in conditions like these, even if it has
for Swedish drag racing a primitive ring to it... =)
Adam Flamholc from Skåne had the best string of reaction
times of all drivers in Pro Mod!

Read all the juicy details here:
http://www.ihra.com/raceresults

A story on Adam and team prior the race:
http://www.ihra.com/article

Adam's own blog:
http://flamholcdragracing.blogg.se





October 23

Next tube on line


To move the No 1 tube out from the head a little more than an inch
also means more space around it where it goes downwards there
in the back between tubes 5 and 7 where the overheating problem
has been worst. This tube has to be tack welded in its position.

Co-driver Sarah


Axel invited sweet Sarah from school to play at his place. It didn't
take long before he got her into "his car" so they could do some
serious drag racing. Note that Sarah is helping out in working
with the computer... A lot of laughters were heard from
the garage.





October 8

So far so good


It was nice to be back with Jonas Alholt in his garage and asking him
to begin welding my small headers re-design project. And Jonas was
like always when he warmed up both the TIG and himself - and
shouted out loud : "I hate this hassle!" And when it after all turned
out to be a very good weld he said with a smile: "Yes, this is OK"


The new No 5 tube which is 20 mm longer with the inserted piece.
As you can see it makes it possible to also place No 1 tube further
out from the head and the spark plugs. A bigger change than this
picture shows. That will be the next step.


One of Jonas' friends in the Top Notch Garage is Lars Martin who is
building a steel hot rod convertible. A man very keen on details
and the result will certainly be....Top Notch.





October 6

First mock up test


I thought it might be a good idea to test mount the headers with the
extended No 5 tube taped in its place - before having it welded. And
it fitted right in and it was still about 10 mm - 3/8" gap to
the steering shaft. Goodie. Hello Jonas!



Article about Undermat!


I remember when journalists from different automotive magazines
used to visit our home, and talk to me. That seem to have changed.
Today two journalists visited Agneta to make an article about her
and her growing production of fermented vegetables in Undermat!
They came from the monthly Nordic magazine Hälsa (Health) and
it was a spin-off from the buzz around Undermat's success at the
"Jordens mat" ecological market at Gunnebo Slott a month ago.
Fermented products are more popular than ever, not at least for
the health strengthening, living Lactobacillus it contains.
You don't have to run to the news stand, this article will be
published almost a year from now, next autumn, when the season
starts for fermenting again (it's considered an autumn thing, except
for Agneta of course who tries to have her production rolling
year round, depending on the different harvests).
The journalist ladies didn't even want to see the Impala...





October 3


65-year-old Swedish drag
racer has need for speed


By Craig Wack - Memphis Commercial Appeal
Saturday, October 3, 2009


As a lifelong car and racing fan, Leif Helander always admired NHRA
drag racing from afar.
And for Helander, afar wasn't a backwoods
in Minnesota or the suburban sprawl of California;
Helander is from Sweden.

He's a novelty among competitors at this weekend's O'Reilly Mid-
South Nationals for another reason; Helander is 65 years old.

"I've got an American car, a customized '55 Chevy, and we started
a club in my hometown," Helander said Friday at Memphis
Motorsports Park.

"There's an airfield we can rent two times a year and have races.
In 1976, I made my first race car, and by '79, I started to race a
Funny Car. I think I waited a little too long to start with
a fuel Funny Car.

"But I used to read National Dragster magazine and dream of
racing in the NHRA. I made lots of good friends with the
American drivers who came over to Europe."

At 65, Helander decided it was now or never for a chance to
race a nitro-fueled Funny Car against the best drivers and teams
out there. He's not the first European to race in the NHRA, and he's
not the oldest NHRA competitor ever, but his is an unusual
story, nonetheless.

Thanks to help from American friends who lent him a Funny Car,
Helander raced last weekend in Dallas and continued living out
his dream this weekend in Memphis.

"Before I ended my career I wanted to race a fuel Funny Car,"
he said. "Thankfully I had a friend here because this way I didn't
have to ship my car over from Sweden.

"It's harder to make the jump over from Europe when you don't
know anybody, and try to get into that circus. You need to have
some American crew and help, or else you won't find the
front gate and get lost."

Making the Dallas race was easy for Helander because there were
16 cars for the 16 available qualifying slots. This weekend, Helander
has more of a challenge because 19 cars are entered.

"It's a big dream when John Force comes up to you in the staging
lanes and shakes your hand," Helander said. "Dallas was the
first race for me this season. The last time I raced in Europe was
September of last year.

"The car was a little shaky and there were a lot of new things for
me to learn. In Sweden they say it's hard to learn an old dog to sit
and it's true in this case."

Helander's two sons and two brothers work on his car in Europe and
he said the experience wouldn't be the same without them, so they
came over with him and are working on the car.

"My oldest son works on the bottom of the engine and my youngest
son works on the clutch," Helander said. "I could have gone here
on my own, but I wanted the whole of my crew, because that should
be something they'll remember too."


Funny Car points leader Robert Hight faced Helander in the first round
of eliminations last week and took the European racer under his wing.

"I was signing autographs last Saturday night, the field was set,
but I had never met the gentleman before," Hight said. "He was
standing back there with a Goodyear hat on. He came up,
introduced himself and told me his story.

"It was refreshing, because we've been in a lot of controversy
with drivers arguing and everything else. Here's a guy who's come
over from another country to the big leagues. The NHRA is as good
as it gets. He's living his dream and just glad to be racing with us."

Author: Craig Wack: 529-2799
commercialappeal.com/news/2009/oct/03/need-for-speed

Leif Helander is in the ladder at the moment on a 14th place!
One more qualification run to do at 03.00 PM local time which
is 22.00 Swedish time...




Inside story!


Amazing to see what really happened inside the OFAB headquarters
with the Team Manager Mr Bertil after first qualification round at
European Finals when Mats Eriksson drove the first 5 second run
and OFAB's driver Patrick Wikström only a 6.24! Wow!
Click the above picture to see this spoof!



Headers work


Kent sent some left over tubes from the building these headers. It'll
be enough for me to do the changes I've talked about earlier. I'll just
insert small rings here and there to hopefully make life much better
for the spark plug boots.


Tube No 5 will be 20 mm longer at the header flange. I'll bring it to
Jonas Alholt later to have them TIG-welded. It's nice to have the
garage at home becuause you can do little now and then without
any great effort. Cheers too!


Farm spotting continues


We have been looking at several farms for sale outside Gothenburg
and above is the best so far. Good garage and the house is ready
to move in and live in. No restaurations needed! The only negative
thing is that is an hour away, but Chris Condor showed me the
positive things with the help of Photoshop... =)



October 2

Elvis, John, Leif...

First Qualification round today Friday 3.00 PM local time!
(22.00 Swedish time)


Swedish report on the Dallas race: www.racers.se/helander
NHRA coverage: www.nhra.com/events/results
Live radio Sunday: www.nhra.com/multimedia/audiocast
Best live coverage:www.dragracecentral.com/Memphis
Some updates and pics on Leif's own website: www.starkotter.se
Live webcam at Graceland every minute: Elvis.weather.com


At the Dallas race John Force went over to have a talk to Leif who
had a so-so appearence in a completely new car and environment.
The US adventure continues in Memphis today! This time there are
19 team who fight for the 16 Elimination spots, so Leif has to be
quicker than at least three american teams to be able to race on
Sunday! Fun fact: In Dallas Leif earned some NHRA points for
qualifying and has a 26th place in the NHRA points standings. =)


John Force has also met Eurodragster's Tog...




September 25

HEJA HELANDER!


"Press here? Eh? Now the Helander-Cam is on..."
Don't forget to see how it works out for our living legend Leif Helander
who will compete in Dallas this weekend in a rented Fuel Funny Car!
It's not the first time racing in USA for Leif in his 30 year drag racing
career, but this time he will go up against the greatest in Fuel Funny
Car and it's only 16 drivers who are entered so we may have a
guaranteed spot on race day!? Look out Mr Force, here comes
another maniac just like you!!!
NHRA coverage: www.nhra.com/events/results
Also look out for the NHRA release of "Live Timing"! An idea I have
talked about for a couple of years... www.nhra.com/timing
Best live coverage:www.dragracecentral.com/Dallas
Daily updates and pics on his own website: www.starkotter.se



September 24

Black Knight Camaro!


Ted Westerfors, Stockholm, made his first happy burnout in his brand
new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro! Love it! I think that red trimmings makes
it look like family to our Blackout SS! Ted from the ad agency
"Fart & Fläkt" (Speed & Waft?) is also a producer of the Swedish
TV show "American Speed" which covers NASCAR, Indy etc. He
also had the good taste of showing a 10 min report of Blackout
doing the 9's at Santa Pod in 2006. Thanks!
Ted revealed his Camaro at Facebook if you have the access.




September 19

Headers plan B


No 5 tube is largest problem. It's tightest to the spark plug boot and
wire which burns up in a minute. Silicone or ceramic. Not shown
here is the No 1 tube which also blocks the boot into the oven, and
makes the life tough also for No 7 spark plug boot. Since it's some
space to the steering I will cut it at the flange and add a 20 mm
piece of tube to move it out. No 1 will also be moved out as much as
possible. Jan-Åke Norberg designed and made these headers
with Kent's SS as a template and Kent haven't had these problems
because he has his spark plug wires traditionally underneath.
And I don't want that because of my eight coils on top of the
engine - and Smokey Yunick has taught us to have as short spark
plug wires as possible...so it's a law! =)

Cameras out - iPhone in!


All my small pockets cameras are now broken. So what a good
timing it was when we got our new iPhones at work Vingaland Film!
I used the iPhone camera to take the above pictures. It isn't as
good camera as the real ones, but the picture here on the ceramic
spark plug boot couldn't be taken with any of the small cameras.
The slim iPhone takes you there. And as you see you can't squeeze
a finger in between the boot and tube, that's too tight. And add to that
the No 1 tube coming down here to totally block off poor No 5 spark
plug. The ceramic can stand the heat but not the silicone INSIDE.



September 14

European Finals Tops
from our perspective


Top Methanol Dragster Final. Peter Schöfer vs. Krister Johansson
Peter won in a tight race 5.3606 to Krister's 5.3660. But the good
thing about it was that Krister from Kungsbacka, south of
Gothenburg, once again was in a Final and that he now seems to
have a 5.36 consistency in his nitroinjected dragster in this
stronger than ever class! He had a 5.3570 in first round and his
best speed was 266.69 mph / 429.196 kmh in this final round even
if he had to fight tire shake! This is probably the quickest and
fastest that 60-year young Krister Johansson has
ever gone in his long drag racing career!?

Roger Johansson
backed up his fantastic 6.15 in Pro Mod with an
even more fantastic 6.14. Nitrous Mustang noted that 6.14 while
losing the Semi-Final against Mats Eriksson who had 6.01.

Mats Eriksson won the Pro Mod final vs. "Gullan" and became the
righteous European Champion and he also had backed up all new
records. 2009 was a Clean Sweep for Mats and Team Green Goblin.

Jöran Persåker was competing in both Pro Mod and Top Fuel!
Lost to Roger Johansson in first round of Pro Mod but had earlier
a new PB of 6.85 with his twin turbo Pontiac. It was better in Top
Fuel where Jöran went all the way to the Final even though with
ET's slower than the Pontiac's! Our friend Jöran won over Anita
Mäkele and European Champion Andy Carter who had even more
problems! But that's the name of the game, you must be first over
the finishline! In the Final Jon Webster was first over the finishline.

John Sleath won the B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street
Eliminator over Ian Hook in the Final. 7.9428 @ 190.50 to Ian's
8.1745 @ 170.46. John had a best of 7.6838 and 192.97 mph/
310.55 kmh! Best performance in Street Eliminator ever!


Congratulations to all Winners and to all who set
new records and to the Santa Pod weather...

...and it goes on and on. New Personal Best's and New Records
all over this race - that by the lucky folks who were there - is
said to be the best ever in Europe!


More than a million hits! On Saturday alone!
For all the small, important and interesting details AND pictures
from this race, please visit Eurodragster.com/European Finals
Once again, thanks to Andy "Tog" Rogers and team for performing
such a good live report! No wonder you had over a million hits
on the last qualifying day! Without you these days had been
just unbearable!


Meanwhile I trimmed the lawn
, in stages, because I had to follow
the live coverage from Santa Pod! In and out from the garage all
weekend. That's what Eurodragsterholics do.






September 13

Eliminations!
If the Eliminations will be half as exciting as the Qualifications
were, we're in for the best race ever in Europe!


This link will open up the radio with the annoucers at Santa Pod
so you can listen to the same thing that is going out over the PA
at the race track! I'm sorry to say but this radio is on and off,
but mostly on. And it's so good!

The Fix for Eurodragsterholics:
Live event coverage at Eurodragster.com Thanks Tog!!
Live webcam at Eurodragster.com
Live announcers at NitroFM radio




September 12

Season chutes out early


Patrick Wikström burned at least one piston and bent a couple of
rods in yesterday's Qualifying at the FIA European Finals at Santa
Pod in the UK. This run was "only" a 6.1837 @ 217 mph/349 kmh
while he this time was going for a much quicker run, but it went the
other way. That's life in the research & development lane...
He was already qualified 5th with a "safe" 6.1618 @ 231mph/371 kmh


Then the team worked hard with the engine for a couple of hours
only to come to the conclusion that they couldn't do it in time for
Sunday's Eliminations. Sorry Patrick & Team.
But you're on the right way!

Final Qualifying for Pro Mod

1. Mats Eriksson 5.9880/241.59
2. Andy Robinson 6.0739/231.38
3. Bruno Bader 6.1370/227.92
4. Roger Johansson 6.1559/228.15
5. Patrick Wikström 6.1618/231.38
6. Marco Maurischat 6.1921/227.77
7. Micke Gullqvist 6.2113/222.27
8. Graham Ellis 6.2401/229.03
9. Micke Lindahl 6.2887/228.05
10. Bert Englefield 6.5115/216.26
11. Urban Johansson 6.5590/210.03
12. Kev Slyfield 6.8113/207.21
13. Jöran Persåker 6.8503/188.84
14. Robert Koper 6.9608/206.26
15. Roger Moore 6.9833/192.12
16. Henri Joosten 7.4180/163.65
--- BUMP ---
17. Norbert Kuno 7.5942/210.01


Probably Kuno will go into the ladder since Patrick is leaving.

Among hundreds of things, just a few to cheer :
* Also note our coating friend Marco Maurischat setting his Personal
Best 6.1921 @ 227.77 mph with his cool 1953 Corvette.
* Mats Eriksson backed up his new 5-second record run with
6.0127 @ 239.87 mph
* Krister Johansson, Kungsbacka got 5.3689 @ 259.67 mph in
Top Methanol Dragster
* Peter Svensson had an unreal 5.9179 @ 236.54 mph on his Top Fuel
Bike! It was even too quick to back up yesterday's 5.97!
* John Sleath took his Audi to a 7.6838 @ 192.24 mph

Wheelie King Rick McCann


Our friend Rick did this wheelie with the "Heaven and Hell As Well"
Camaro on Thursday and at the same time broke the gears in the rear
end. He was already qualified 4th in Pro ET with 10.1037 on his dial-in
10.10 so he could use the rest of the days to fix a new ring and pinion.
Wife Carla Pittau in the "Heaven and Hell" Camaro managed to qualify
26th with a 9.7620 on dial-in 9.73. Maybe they'll meet each other
later in the giant 32-car ladder?
42 drivers fought for the 32 places. Bump spot is a fantastic
0.0447!



Success for Undermat!


Agneta and Ann-Sofie had a great success in selling and promoting
the fermented products of Undermat on today's ecological market at
Jordens Mat at Gunnebo Slott! They even had problem to find time
to eat, it were a lot of visitors there! And it will be at least as many
tomorrow! Good luck!




September 11 - Never forget


The Green Goblin is on the move in the hands of Mats Eriksson and
his team! On the first qualification run on Santa Pod in the UK today
they put down the first ever 5-second run of a Pro Mod in Europe!
A 5.9880 second run and attached was a new Top Speed record, if
backed up of course. An enormous show! Tommy Aga from Patrick
Wikström's team called me and just yelled the news in my ear!


Look at it! And poor Andy Robinson in the right lane who had a 6.07
which would've been the quickest Pro Mod-time ever in Europe - if it
hadn't been for Mats in the Green Goblin Ford Crown Victoria!

Patrick Wikström

Talking about Patrick, he and team did what they said they should
do, run a very rich (fuel) run with the again new combination just to
see that everything was OK. 6.24 first and then 6.16 which put him
in 5th place in Qualifying. They promise that more will come with
tougher ignition, less fuel and tighter clutch.

Roger Johansson

Beside the 5 second run of Mats the other hi-light in Pro Mod was
when Roger Johansson made a giant leap in his nitrous-injected
Mustang down to a fantastic 6.1559 @ 228 mph / 366.93 kmh for
the 4th Qualifying spot! Roger already had the quickest nitrous-car
in Europe but this leap shivered all of the other Pro Mod racers,
with a well meaning smile I would like to think! I believe no one has
done so much for so long time to such a cost to make a concept
work as Roger has. He and all nitrous fans very well deserve it!

Pro Mod Qualifying after 2 rounds

1. Mats Eriksson 5.9880/241.59
2. Andy Robinson 6.0739/231.38
3. Bruno Bader 6.1370/227.92
4. Roger Johansson 6.1559/228.15
5. Patrick Wikström 6.1618/231.38
6. Micke Gullqvist 6.2201/228.16
7.
Micke Lindahl 6.3677/228.04
8. Graham Ellis 6.3831/223.31
9. Bert Englefield 6.5830/218.24
10. Marco Maurischat 6.7378/185.19
11. Urban Johansson 7.3293/142.15
12. Jöran Persåker 7.6196/169.82
13. Kev Slyfield 7.7798/166.06
14. Roger Moore 7.8091/135.23
15. Robert Koper 9.8345/88.19
16. Henri Joosten 10.2328/74.32
---BUMP---
17. Norbert Kuno 13.3333/87.71



Jimmy Ålund

How could he be stopped? Already the FIA European Champion in
Pro Stock after the Hockheim race, six years in a row! Here he still
drops his hammer and no one can follow the No 1 Qualifier at the
6.6492 @ 207.03 / 333.189 kmh performance!

John Sleath

Remember John Sleath and his aluminium Donovan Audi? He hasn't
been racing for a while because so much time has to go to building
racing customers. But now he showed up again in Street Eliminator
and noted a personal best of 7.70 @ 192.99 mph/ 310.58 kmh and
clinched the No 1 Qualification spot just before Colin Lazenby at
a 7.70 @ 188.94 mph / 304.06 kmh.


The Peter Svensson show!


Top Fuel Bike qualifying with the strongest field anywhere. Peter
Svensson from Sollebrun in Sweden repeated what he did in
Gardermoen some weeks ago - a 5 second run! This time on a UEM
sanctioned event! 5.97 and 232.45 mph / 374.09 kmh!
I wouldn't try it for money, and I'm sure he isn't doing it for money!
The spectator stands just went crazy at Santa Pod!
And this was just Friday....



September 10

More of good Undermat!


Another pallet of glass jars and bottles delivered to the small home
factory of Undermat. That means that my wife Agneta already has
sold a pallet of her fermented products. Undermat has now seven
resalers and a couple of more on their way. Here you will find the
fine quality made products of Undermat:

Kooperativ Handel Fram - Nordesköldsgatan 18 Gothenburg
Gröna Boden - Vasaplatsen 13 Gothenburg
Hälsokost Solrosen - Solrosgatan 5 Gothenburg
Life Hälsobutik Olskroken - Redbergsvägen 8 Gothenburg
Systrarna Jönssons Skafferi - Brattåsvägen 5B Landvetter
Lustgårdens Grönsaksbutik - Fjällgatan 26 Gothenburg
Kvilles Hälsokost - Kvilletorget 16 Gothenburg



It took us a couple of hours ta carry all these jars inside.


Remember the "family skateboard" I fabricated this spring? It comes
to good use very often since Agneta hides all the jars under the
entrance and stairs, before she takes them into the production
beginning with thorough washing.

A website is coming along:
www.undermat.se


Undermat at Jordens Mat!


This weekend 12-13 September you will have a chance to meet Agneta
and taste her Undermat products, and buy them if you like them? At
Gunnebo Slott (castle) there is the annual "Jordens Mat" exhibition -
which means "Food from the Earth" and hi-lights only ecological
produced food products that must have the KRAV certification.
Agneta and her friend Ann-Sofie will representing Undermat.
The entrance is free and you can find out more on their website:
www.jordensmat.se



The Raggers on their way


Today Team Thriller took Tommy Aga's newly decorated Cadillac
Sedan De Ville raggerbile to the Säve airport to fly to Stansted, UK.
Uffe "Goofy" Schölin was already in the pits at Santa Pod raceway
with the bus after a 36 hrs sail! And here comes (from left) Patrick
and Simon Wikström, Jonas, Chrille, Dick Koning and Tommy Aga
Olsson. If they like this moment? I have no idea! =)


As an Eurodragsterholic I follow every word and figure that Tog writes
at the live coverage from Eurodragster.com, and I watch that live
webcam which updates only every minute. And to that I now add the
fantastic 96.2 Nitro FM live broadcasting! A super radio station
thanks to the two witty men sitting there and shouting!!!
Click on the image above - or click here for a independent link:
www.nitro.FM,com


Today was all Sportsman classes qualifications and it had a lot of
sun and many personal bests. And it was ended with a fantastic
exhibition 5.8507 @ 274.82 mph / 442.27 kmh by Martin Hill in the
Fireforce Jet Funny Car (above). Friday is qualiying for both
Sportsman and Pro classes and we'll see what our friend Roger
Goring will do with his Firestorm Jet Funny Car!?
And everything else...

The Fix for Eurodragsterholics:
Live event coverage at Eurodragster.com
Live webcam at Eurodragster.com
Live announcers at NitroFM radio
Updates at wikstromracing.blogspot.com





September 8




Patrick Wikström and the Thriller Team OFAB Boss Blowers are
ready to race again! Why didn't they race at Hockenheim? What
did they do instead? These questions will hopefully get their answers
at the FIA European Pro Mod Championship at the European Finals
at Santa Pod, UK this weekend! The last Championship race of the
year. Patrick hasn't got a chance in winning the Championship but
his Thriller Camaro could still pull some good times...?
Follow the nerve wrecking live report here: Eurodragster.com
and add inside info from Patrick Wikström's new blog here:
wikstromracing.blogspot.com


Last minute checklist includes looking for cracks on the zoomies.
Tonight "Goofy" will take their bus to the ferry and on Thursday the
rest of the team will fly over. We hope for good wheather and that
we'll see the first ever European 5-second run in Pro Mod...
...who ever comes first.



Second generation is here!


Looki looki! The second generation of my own breed of Bolero tomato
is ripe - what we normally call Bolero X! I hope it is as sweet as its
ancestors!? I'm also awaiting photo reports from Tobbe Ekström in
Vaasa, Finland and Tony "Tight" Döbrösi who has been successful
in growing the second generation! Tobbe's is named Warren and
Tony's is named Bosse and he even went on vacation to Hungary
and back together with Tony and Lotta!
Until we get these reports you can read the beginning of the story
about the World's toughest drag racing tomatoes here:
>BOLERO_X




September 7

The Blackrace oil report


At least the burnout worked just fine...


Click bar above to see full report.




September 5

Happy SS driver


Axel is happy to have the Impala at home again so he can play in it.
I have to show him into the water, direct him back after the burnout,
and follow him to pre-stage. And after every run I have to give him a
timeslip. Maybe this is also the way for me to race in the future...?




September 3

Helander to race in Dallas!


My hero Leif Helander can't quit!
This can be read at the NHRA Notebook August 28:
"Sweden's Leif Helander has been driving a Funny Car for more than
30 years and has numerous wins and two Swedish championships.
Now, Helander has decided to come back to the United States to
compete at this year's O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall
Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec, Sept. 24-27 in Dallas, and the
O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals presented by Pennzoil,
Oct. 2-4 in Memphis.
Helander will be taking the reins of the Simpson Racing nitro Funny
Car. The Ponder, Texas-based team will also be running its Top Fuel
dragster at those events. Todd Simpson will make shakedown runs in
the team's new Camaro-bodied chassis this weekend, getting it ready
for Helander. Helander's U.S. tour is made possible with the help of
ISS Industry Services, Midvac Contractors, Matfors Industry Services,
Hand Machine Services, Wallstroms Printing, and CH Machine".

Go Get Them Young Man!!!!!!!!



September 1

Friends took care of it


Robert Holm and Andreas "Tjalle" Kjellberg from the Motorklubben
402 M let me park the Blackout SS in their garage in Skövde until
I could get a transport to Gothenburg. And already on Tuesday a
friend of mine called and said he was in Skövde going back to
Gothenburg with an empty trailer...


So the nice people in Skövde activated the evacuation plan.
Rumors said that Robert Holm had some difficulties to tangle himself
out of Blackout SS, and he's a Corvette owner himself so he should
be used to it? Per "Gummi" Gudmundsson put the electricity off.


The truck driver - an old friend of mine - wanted his name to be
withheld since he did this good thing on working hours...


In Gothenburg we could borrow a dock at a big unloading central for
trucks. So you see, a chain of kind people was needed to make
this home coming adventure happen!


It was nice to hear the car inside here. And what a good winter
training place for 60 foot test starts it would be! Hm..


Narrow last point, only 220 cm! An inch on each side left with the
flaps folded in. Thanks all of you that helped me in getting it back!


I made two cooling stops on the way home. Ringön and Eriksberg.
It was only a 15 minute ride, but I didn't want to use the fire
estinguisher again...


While partly on silicone spark plug boots again I tried to protect them
with the old heat sleeves AND double layers of Silica! They were
still melted when home - not burning but smoking. Two cylinders out.


Be ashamed of yourself!


It was a happy surprise for Axel when he came home from school!
Also Agneta was smiling to that the problem was solved so quickly.
Happy - complete - family again!



August 29-30

Into the dark again...


An inch of rain in two tropical showers didn't stop us from leaving on
friday evening towards Moholmsstrippen and our last race of the year.
I wish it had...


Rumble. No probs on the highway. I thought.


Fuel stop in Skara. When we were closing into the Moholmsstrippen
after a 3 hour ride the engine started to misbehave, slowly. In the end
it felt like at least two cylinders were out! One of the organisers, Ulf
"Totte" Lindqvist lent me his temp gun so I could compare the
temperatures on the header tubes in the morning...


...and three cyilnders were actually out! No 5, 7 and 8 had burnt off
spark plug wires INSIDE the ceramic boots! And these were also
protected by the Silica woven material that withstands 1100° Celsius!
What more can I possibly do? This was too much. Of course I will
rework the headers for next year - if I keep it.
(Note; Kent edin is using the same design headers but he has his
spark plug wires underneath the headers close to the engine
block because he still has the opticrap distributor in the front,
while I have the distributor pointer in the back and 8 coils on top
of the engine).



So the race stopped in the pit for us, well the whole season ended
here. A season with one 1/4 mile run and one 1/8 mile run...that
makes a total of 1.5 runs in 2009. That's 603 meters of racing!
Now this was a moment that really put you on test - you were so
angry so you could have fainted but you still needed to keep up the
mood among those who were even more angry than yourself!
2009 was even worse than 2005 because back then we at least got
TWO quartermile runs, with the caravan trailer on tow, but still...
Generous pit area at Moholmsstrippen though.


It wasn't easy to find a way to take it home to Gothenburg again.
However, all the people were very helpful and tried to solve it for us.
And thankfully one of the racers "Tjadden" could transport the SS to
a local garage where it can be parked until I'll get hold of a
transportation for it. Please call me if you have an idea!


They said it was the best traction yet on Moholmsstrippen. Well
prepared for 100 meters. Roger Petersson ran low 10's in his 1965
Volvo P1800 with the help of a nitrous injected smallblock Chevy.
Roger won Bracket B, the class I aimed to race Blackout SS in.
In the foreground Elenor Bengtsson, their local photographer who
makes very good work. Can soon be seen here: www.402m.se


Exactly...
This was the name of our camping cabin and it reflected my thoughts
precisely. The Wassbacken camping is only a mile from the strip! We
walked back to the party at the strip in the evening.


The camping was at the 200 year old Göta Canal and it felt good to
see Agneta and Axel do something fun of the time instead of sitting
in the pit while I was trying to get a transport for the SS. Here they
met one of these very narrow and beautiful classic canal boats


We went home earlier on Sunday and could therefore follow the live
stream from the race on the internet, with Totte as announcer. Fun!

Promise:
I will be back with a full report from our Moholmsstrippen adventure
whenever I get time and inclination to do it. For the moment I'm
trying to suppress everything around this too big, too heavy,
black, burning, stupid piece of American junk built by
the ideas of an even more stupid Swede.
That junk I now hate! Love.
Hate. Love.




August 28

Pre-race preparations


Cleaned thoroughly. Now some sticky Loctite 5923 (from the old
Permatex patent). I spread it out to a thin film on the seal and
pressed it in, which actually wasn't that easy. Had to use some force.
Felt nice.


The PCV valve was plugged and I took use of two small stainless
bottles from Biltema (40 SEK each), drilled them and once again had
a working crankcase ventilation with the tubes from the valve cover
and cam cover. I have always had it this way but threw away (!) my
former bottles when getting these new headers with the PCV valve.


Found out another thing looking up onto the electrical Meziere W118
water pump. The blower belt had slapped the house and the electrical
wires. I sent this picture to the Meziere support and asked if it was
all right to turn parts B and C 90 or even 180 degrees to avoid the
slapping on the wires. They said it was, but only a 180 degree turn.



August 21

Test in the City


I took the opportunity to do some testing at the Blackrace downtown.
They are now having their races at the straight of new STCC circuit
track at the Bananpiren in the middle of Gothenburg! Beside a fine
flat blacktop, Blackrace is also now providing 60 foot-times, so...
Blackout SS felt really good and strong and I had no problem with
the sparkplugs or wires in driving there or racing there. That problem
is solved. However, in my first run the SS spun almost all the way to
the 1/8" finishline on this unprepared track. We were supposed
to use my own trackbite for the next run...


...but these floods of escaping VP Synthetic 10W-40 racing oil
stopped any further testing!!! OK, so what's next?


It was the front crank seal that had losened and poffed out! Note oil
drops everywhere. It was just to unmount the blower belt and make
the car ready to drive home...#@&=($£!


At a closer look I could see that the seal at least is in one piece so I
will clean up the mess and glue it back in it place, possibly (if space
allows) also make some hard hits around the aluminium to make it
stay. So the final race at Moholmsstrippen is still on!


The source of the problem must be the new thing of the year, the
PCV valve. It has to go. It works well on a NA engine but not on a
blown!? And it's really made for open headers use, not a full exhaust
system. I had connected the crank case ventilation hoses from the
valve cover and the one from the front of the engine to one hose,
and back here. Possibly too tight for the air. My bad.
Now I will go back to my old system where these two hoses are
going into two separate buckets. Free the air!


One fun thing with the Blackrace was that Tony stepped in as a
mechanic again! I enjoyed that it all took only half the time again.


The funniest thing all evening though, was to see my son Axel just
walk into the action and work as an offiical in the burn box! The
ordinary offical was kind and let him do the things he has seen
so many times on dragraces. We just laughed and could almost
not drag him from there when going home.
I'll be back later with a small report from this test.





August 20

The heat is on


I had a good upstart today with my new Accel ceramic kit and the
folded NASA Silica (thanks again SycloneRobban!). Axel and all his
friends in the neighbourhood rushed to the garage with their hands
over their ears and jumped up and down shouting "REV IT! REV IT!"
and I couldn't let them down, I've been 11 years myself.
It was hot OK but no fire! I'm going testing at the Blackrace at the
Banana Pier in the middle of Gothenburg friday night to get some
60 foot times, check second gear shifting and mainly to get a
logging of a run to see the air/fuel ratio. My guess is that Jeezus
wants more fuel now when the new larger headers works so well?
And with more fuel the temperature will go down.
These headers are also thinner compared to my last headers,
approx 1 mm to 3 mm. That also explain the increase of heat.


This test will be important so we'll be better prepared next weekend
for our last race of the year - on Moholmsstrippen above!!
Close to Skövde between the largest lakes in Sweden - Vänern and
Vättern - in Västergötland!






August 19

That was quick! Again!


This is probably the first Accel Ceramic plug set in Europe? Fresh
from the factory, it just bounced on the Accel shipping desk, and
then another bounce at Autoshop Racing Engines and finally it landed
here in my knees! That was quick, I just sent the email to Birgitta
Bergqvist at Autoshop! This service is better than money!

My camera is broke!


Well, it's time to bury my old Canon. One of forty pictures is OK, not
like this one that should show you the evolution of the ceramic plug
hats. That the Accel isn't glued in the wire end, they have a silicone
insert. That the Accel is slimmer. That the Accel is longer over the
plug but not longer overall (important space issue!). But I guess you
have to use your fantasy. Accel to the left, Jacob's to the right...
Well, the picture is more artistic than anything else...


Talk about artistic!





August 16

Rain off in Sundsvall


One of the most boring pictures I know is a dragstrip drown in rain!
Even a snow covered dragstrip is better, it is at least funny! No runs
at all in Sundsvall today! It happened also at the recent race here!
Kent Edin talked about going to the last race in Piteå in the end of
the month. And Kenneth Feldthusen was not cheering even if this
meant that he most probably is the TSDS Competition Cup Winner!
He was excited to race about it yesterday. Today he just said;
"It will a long boring trip home".


Tog best in Hockenheim


Our good friend Andy "Tog" Rogers excelled himself in Hockenheim as
a speedwriter for his Eurodragster.com.
Not only does he note all the details during each run, who lost traction
at which feet-mark, who's burst plate went and in which direction it
flew...and hundreds of other things that he gives us in every race
coverage - he also manage to manually write off all the incrementals
from another computer screen (no, not copy-paste!) and also adds
his good judgement on these numbers; reaction times, 60-foot,
1/8 mile speed and ET and the finishline facts - sometimes including
the difference in centimeters! In each Pro round, and before next pair
comes so he can note how their burnouts went!
And now in Hockenheim - he also uploaded his info after EACH Pro
run, instead of waiting to see the whole class through! It was
magnificent reporting work, and I can believe a hard work!
Thanks Tog from all the Eurodragsterholics!
Read his report, all the results and check all their pictures here:
Eurodragster.com/Hockenheim

CONGRATULATIONS to Team Kendall for your well deserved
win in the Pro Mod final against Championship leader Andy Robinson!
Reaction time for Mikael Lindahl was a cool 0.001...

Also CONGRATULATIONS to the unbeatable Master Jimma Ålund
who won the Pro Stock final and already is the FIA Pro Stock
Champion - for the 6th year in row!!

Next and last FIA Championship race of 2009 is of course European
Finals at Santa Pod September 10-13





August 15

6.096 @ 382 kmh!


Hockenheim Germany! 1st round of Pro Mod and No1 Qualifier Mats
Eriksson gets a bye run and hits a 6.096 @ 388 kmh/237 mph! This
is the quickest and fastest Pro Mod run ever in Europe and his 6.12
qualifying time backs it up! Just before this, "Ubbe" Johansson drove
a personal best 10.02 in his PM Corvette which then was the second
quickest ET of an European Pro Mod. Andy Robinson already had
the 10.01 from Main Event. The race for the first 5 is on for real!
Congratulations Team Green Goblin!

Night show


One reason to go to Hockenheim is the very much talked about Night
Show on Saturday Night! Here Lex Joon and Andy Carter have an
exhibition run in their Top Fuel Dragsters! And our buddy Roger
Goring was invited there to make runs in the Firestorm Jet Funny
Car! Imagine that flame lighting up! My guess a lot of beers were
consumed among the cheering German fans at the grand stand
during the Night Show. Not only Germans either...


10.307 @ 216 kmh!


Sundsvall, Norrland, Sweden. Qualification in Pro ET. Kent Edin puts
down a string of personal best runs; 10.42 - 10.36 - 10.35 and ends
it with a 10.30 @ 216 kmh/134 mph! Best 60 foot was 1.56. Kent
climbs to the No 13 spot on the Impala Top ET list! Congratulations!


According to Kent he can't go much quicker than this so he thinks
he will have his converter rebuilt to allow higher stall speed.
He now starts at under 2000 RPM (like me) but his larger Procharger
F2 blower is not as quick to deliver as my F1R? The Gentle Giant SS
is starting its "real launch" a bit out from the line. A 0.0257 Reaction
time has given Kent the 6th qualifying spot for Sunday eliminations.
Go get them!


Also in Sundsvall in a fight for the Gold in the Competition Eliminator
Cup is Kenneth Feldthusen who leads in points before this last
deciding race! Beside a run with tire shake that shook his teeth and
blurred the world, he achieved a 6.6386 @ 331.7 kmh/205.6 mph
which was good for a 3rd place in qualification on his AB/A index
7.34. 60-foot was 1.0399. Good luck in getting the GOLD!




August 14

What a race weekend!


This is a real place for a Eurodragsterholic! And this weekend there
are more than one report to click to...

Sundsvall


Early this Friday morning SHRA-Sundsvall and SHRA-Sollefteå
officials were out doing the last preparations on their permanent
drag strip in Sättna outside Sundsvall. This weekend will have the
TSDS Finals 2009 and a lot of classes will be decided, Top
Doorslammer is one. Competion Eliminator is another, where our
friend Kenneth Feldthusen is leading by points before this race!
Good luck Kenneth and Team Northrace! Maybe "Linkan" also is
there in his Competition altered?
Klent Edin is there with his Gentle Giant Impala SS with the goal
not only to get his first 9 second run - he is going for my 9.84...
Good luck buddy!
Much to look forward to! Click the webcam-pic above to get
linked to the webcam which updates every 10 seconds.

Hockenheim


In Hockenheim, Germany the NitrOlympX and the fourth round of the
FIA European Championship is on it's way. Note that Patrick
Wikström and Team OFAB Thriller is still home finishing the Boss
blower for the last race at European Finals at Santa Pod in Sept.
Nevertheless, it will be an exciting race for us Eurodragsterholics
thanks to the work of Tog and his staff at Eurodragster. Click this
link to get to their live coverage: Eurodragster/LIVE//Hockenheim




August 13

Farm spotting


We've been looking for a farm outside Gothenburg for a while now.
This one was promising. But quite far off Gothenburg, 30 minutes
one way, but that wasn't the biggest problem.


The barn could have been a nice racing garage! But all in all the whole
farm needed to much work, at least for us, so we're still searching.



August 8-9

Premiere at Linde at last!


SHRA-Lindesberg's still pic webcam showed that their new 1/8-
track was freshly painted in the official drag strip colors, and looked
more like NHRA-track than a closed off industrial road in the
middle of Sweden. Congratulations to the 26th "Linde Open"


Live video webcam with audio feed from the announcers was great!
Here's the final in Pro Mod which only had 4 racers. Jöran Persåker
in the far lane blew an o-ring at the oil filter in the burnout so he was
pushed back and Mats Eriksson could take the win in a bye run.
Mats also won the Swedish Pro Mod Championship here (third
and last race after Alastaro and Mantorp). He won over Mats
"Gullan" Gullquist who was second in points but got internal engine
problems earlier. Patrick Wikström who was No 3 in points stayed
home to work more on his Boss blower.
Congratulations Team Green Goblin!



August 3


Small garage visitor


Suddenly we heard some noises in the garage! Too big noises for a
rat and we started to search and met this little fella! A young
hedgehog who felt welcomed into the garage because the door was
open. We gave him a little salad and carried him out into the
wilderness again.





August 2

A year ago...


Please click banner above to get to our story!

This was our vacation in 2008.
This is the way we transported and drove our Impalas to get to the two drag races in Piteå and Fällfors
in North of Sweden -Norrland. And this is the way we travelled and lived in our Solifer caravan, at the
races and in between. This is also the Swedish adventure of our guest Karl Ellwein from Maryland USA
and it's mostly because of that I have made this story for all of us to remember for years to come.

Tour sponsored by
Chris Condor.. -.. Sören "Fixarn" Fjällstedt.. - ..Thomas Öhman
NSA-Företagen.. -.. Autoshop
.. -.. Nordtrafik





July 28

High Speed filming!


Jonas Alholt - Impalakungen - has done it again! With his Casio
camera and 600 fps he has made an amazing film with launches
of Top Fuel and Top Methanol dragsters from Veidec Festival
at Mantorp Park! Wow. What interesting footage! Note that wrench
coming tumbling out of that Top Fuel! Click the pic or link to enjoy
Jonas Alholt's best film yet: www.youtube.com/TF-POWER



July 27

Tog irritated!


"It's not a Canada goose! It's a greylag goose!" said Andy "Tog"
Rogers at Eurodragster.com when he read NEWS here for July 14
(scroll down). Tog is commonly known throughout Europe to be one
of the top experts on drag racing. A side we didn't know is that he is
also an expert on wildfowl! He's been interested in ducks and geese
since he was a kid.
"Yep, it's latin name is Anser Anser. All other goose types came
from the greylag. You can tell it is a greylag goose from the
orange beak. White-fronted geese have orange beaks too, but
there is a big white stripe behind the beak (not unlike Canada
geese). The gosling in your picture is a greylag. The feathers
look blue because when geese are babies their feathers develop
within blue sheaths which then split and fall off when the
feathers are ready..."
I thank you Tog for broaden this site blackout.nu even more!


The only thing I know about geese is the famous goose Martin (Mårten
in Swedish). A white farm goose in the classic kid's novel by Swedish
author Selma Lagerlöf "The Wonderful Adventures of Nils" 1906.
(original: Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige). It was
widely spread around the world in many languages.
Maybe it was that book that got you interested Tog?


"It was a greylag goose who saved Rome from an attack by the
Gauls, if you know that story?"
he ended the message-
discussion from his phone in his private jet on his way home after
been to Veidec Festivals at Mantorp Park, Sweden.



Nice drag racing shot!


Daniel Larsson sat in the stand at the Pro Mod eliminations and
therefore he got one of the best shots from the whole race in my
opinion! Both racecars in the picture! Fighting! It's from the semis
between Patrick in Thriller and Jan in Badillac! Since Jan had a 6.12
in the round before and Patrick "only" a 6.13, Jan had lane choice and
took the left lane. (Right lane was not a popular lane this weekend!)

Reaction times on the tree: Patrick 0.1220 and Jan a better 0.1189.

In this picture Patrick has just passed Jan and is soon to get a
1.0010 at the 60 foot while Jan is getting a bit slower 1.0311.
Patrick is driving through tireshake and has to pedal and Jan
passes before half track at 4.0310 to Patrick's 4.1989 who now
smokes his tires and is loosing!
Jan first with 6.2029 @ 351 kmh to Patrick's 6.3861 @ 365 kmh!
What a drama in a single run in that totally dramatic Pro Mod
Class! And I think Daniel Larsson's picture above is the closest to
tell that story of all the pictures I've seen from Veidec so far.
Just because both cars are in there!
Click it!





July 26

Badillac vs Green Goblin
The 50's Pro Mod final that rained out...


Jan Gunnarsson in his class stormer 1959 "Badillac" gobsmacked
everybody in taking out Micke Gullqvist with a 6.12 and was up
against Patrick Wikström in semi who had a 6.13 earlier. Jan won
over Patrick too with a 6.20 to Thriller's smoky lost traction 6.38!
The Badillac was now in the FIA Pro Mod European final against...


...the "Green Goblin" 1956 Ford Crown Victoria that was a consistent
6.12 runner in the hands of experienced Mats Eriksson. But the rain
stopped all FIA pro finals at Veidec Festivals at Mantorp!
Please read all the details of all racing observed by master Tog and
enjoy all the pictures and interviews from Mantorp from the team at
Eurodragster.com


Enjoy the finalist's websites here:
http://www.badillac.se/
http://www.meracing.com/



BTW, Patrick Wikström now has a brand new website thanks to his
son Simon who is the webmaster! It has a forum and you can join
in as a member. Film clips, dragracing news, chat and much
more. Click the picture above to be transferred there!



Eurodragster.com's webcam is delivering a still picture every minute.
Here Patrick had just lost to Jan and I understood it by seeing that
the other team was happy. The result isn't coming until the whole
class has gone through and Tog has summed it all up, on another
page. He's extremely quick in doing it, but still there's a delay that
can take you apart completely and make you insane!
This was the closest I came to see Patrick Wikström's Thriller
Camaro all weekend at the webcam. If a team is quick they can
do their thing within that minute and disappear, so you never see
them! But even so, you get some feeling for the race anyway!
Fredde won first round vs Graham Ellis but lost second round to
UIrban Johansson, and well...read all ladders here:
www.dragracing.se


I found a way of trimming my rampant lawn and look at the live feed
from Eurodragster.com on my laptop inside the garage - at the same
time! I guess my neighbours thought that I was stuck in there?
"Hi, my name is Anders and I'm a Eurodragsteroholic..."


Another happy SS-owner


Congratulations Bernt Skagerlund from Stockholm who sent this
picture from Kiruna today where he picked up his 1996 DCM Impala
SS! 12.810 was made in this color. My friend Ola Åbergh in Solna
have one just like it, but this Kiruna-SS is probably the one that is in
best shape of all in Sweden? One owner, who has nursed it since it
was brand new and has only driven it 58000 km! (36039 miles).
Now Bernt will cruise it to Stockholm. I feel great envy.





July 25

It's Circus time!


Last time we saw Fredde Fagerström in his "rusty" pick up was at
the ice flats of Funäsdalen on March 29 when he was trying out the
"flying kilometer"! Now he's the No 1 Qualifyer at Mantorp in Pro Mod
with a personal best of 6.1442 @ 365 kmh in the last session!! It
came like a boxing glove from behind! I think all of the PM-teams
smiled of the powerful comeback of popular Fredde and Team
Circus Fagerström even if it hurt them some too. =)

No 2 is Micke Gullqvist with a more expected 6.15 also in the last
session. So Patrick Wikström was bumped to No 3 and he even
decided to not run the last session since they were up all night to
4 AM to renovate the engine after the blown piston. They ran the
first session of Saturday but drove through tireshake to a 6.26.
After that they started to prepare the Thriller Camaro for the
Sunday Elimination.

It was an exciting qualification- and raceday as experienced in front
of the lap top thanks to Tog's and his team at Eurodragster.com!
"My name is Anders and I'm an Eurodragsteroholic..."
Real people who were there in real life said it was the best day
ever at the Mantorp Park! Tight fields in all classes!
The Elimination Sunday can be as least as dramatic...starts
09.30 PM both at Mantorp and at Eurodragster.com


The Quickest European Pro Mod field ever!

1 Freddy Fagerström 6.1442/365.39
2 Micke Gullqvist 6.1511/369.11
3 Patrick Wikström 6.1620/367.26
4 Andy Robinson 6.1738/371.99
5 Mats Eriksson 6.1872/371.02
6 Micke Lindahl 6.2000/371.38
7 Jan Gunnarsson 6.2190/358.37
8 Adam Flamholc 6.2530/368.00
9 Urban Johansson 6.2720/347.82
10 Kristian Nyström 6.2771/365.79
11 Bruno Bader 6.2968/354.79
12 Niclas Andersson 6.3168/331.06
13 Norbert Kuno 6.3180/360.60
14 Marco Maurischat 6.3677/364.32
15 Mattias Wulcan 6.4071/322.11
16 Graham Ellis 6.4080/357.08
Bump
17 Johan Lindberg 6.4120/351.88
18 Roger Johansson 6.4582/349.72
19 Marc Meihuizen 6.5128/202.29
...and more down to No 31

The whole qualification list on Eurodragster.com

Johan Lindberg is first alternate. Too see Roger
Johansson outside of the ladder (!!) is a proof of
how competitive this class has become in just a
year, even if Roger has the capacity to be at least
in midfield here! It's fun to see Jan Gunnarsson
in No 7 spot in his fabulous 1959 "Badillac" who
has grown in the Top Doorslammer class. Also
Adam Flamholc, Niclas Andersson and Mattias
Wulcan is running the Top Doorslammer series.

Look at this match up!


Anybody can win this drama over the day. What a fight it will be!
All ladders of all classes can be found here: www.dragracing.se



July 24

And who's the bloody boss now?
At the moment anyway...


Sorry, I couldn't resist writing that headline :) even if I know that Patrick Wikström and The Thriller Team
are "humble fighters". They always work like they're not qualified! But now they "happened" to qualify
for the No 1 spot at Vediec Festival at Mantorp Park in the largest field of ProMods ever in all of the
European history of drag racing! It's the FIA European Championship and all the best teams of Europe is
here to do their best - to even qualify! 33 entries in Pro Mod! 15 Pro Stocks! 11 Top Fuelers! Etc.
But Patrick knows it's still a long way to go, to keep it alive through Saturday's qualifying for the top
16 and then the race.

Mantorp has a tricky track at the moment and everybody is awaiting better times and we will see
movements within the list of qualifyers during Saturday as they sort out the track. Even though, this is
not only the largest PM-field ever in Europe, it's also the quickest with 21 cars already into the 6's!
And a bump spot already at 6.56 (record is 6.4910 from Mantorp last year according to Eurodragster)

Team Thriller blew a piston in their 6.16 run today and it was all over the engine. Probably
because of too little alcohol fuel. Engine is completely rebuilt for Saturday. I told you before, this gang
just can't kneel, they fight standing up! Good luck on Saturday and Sunday Team Thriller!
If not at Mantorp Park in Sweden, don't be ashamed to be an Eurodragsteroholic - follow the drama
here minute by minute:
www.eurodragster.com/live/2009veidecfestival/

Friday - 1st day of qualifying - 2 rounds - seconds/kmh:

1. Patrick Wikström 6.1620/367.26
2. Andy Robinson 6.1868/369.20
3. Micke Lindahl 6.2321/365.77
4. Micke Gullqvist 6.2740/363.50
5. Urban Johansson 6.2960/367.79
6. Bruno Bader 6.3227/354.95
7. Adam Flamholc 6.3399/356.71
8. Mats Eriksson 6.3458/355.24
9. Kristian Nyström 6.3509/360.31
10. Mattias Wulcan 6.4071/322.11
11. Graham Ellis 6.4080/357.08
12. Freddy Fagerström 6.4449/351.79
13. Niclas Andersson 6.4630/268.36
14. Jan Gunnarsson 6.4878/341.97
15. Marc Meihuizen 6.5128/202.29
16. Pierre Rydberg 6.5638/344.95
-------------------------Bump-------------------------
17. Bert Ove Olofsson 6.6548/285.22
18. Marco Maurischat 6.6952/341.38
19. Norbert Kuno 6.8279/349.70
20. Hans Knuters 6.8599/312.27
21. Johan Lindberg 6.9761/339.87
22. David Vegter 7.2477/280.00
23. Jari Parén 7.4030/315.06
24. Terje Håkonsen 7.6148/213.14
25. Robert Koper 7.6238/225.02
26. Tomi Pöntinen 7.6408/230.89
27. Ulf Rapp 9.0741/124.81
28. Jöran Persåker 9.1279/163.38
29. Marko Lantto 10.7152/168.76
30. Johan Samuelsson 12.0341/95.02





The Säve fire report...


An extremely hot sunny day. And two fires in car! Spinning away good
times. It's part of our continuing story anyway, so you're very welcome
to take part of it!

Click bar below to get there!







July 18

Kent on the move!


Kent took a big leap forward with "Gentle Giant SS" in his hunt of
Blackout SS at the race in Fällfors during qualifying. After a series
11-second spinning slicks rounds he made a 10 second round! Still
spinning slicks though! Especially when 2nd gear went in! Slow start
with only 1.7 60 foot. Kent has changed to 4.11-gears in the rear end
so he had to manually shift to Overdrive before the finishline!
The Ellwein Engines 383 stroker with ProCharger F2 have had an
overhaul of the ignition equipment, like a new MSD Optispark.
Congratulations Kent! You should now climb to No 13 on the
World SS Top ET-List! Now you "only" have to get traction...

Also my other SS-friend from Umeå (living in Solna) Ola Åbergh
was in place to race his "long distance SS" with 3.08 gears and
Powerdyne supercharger. He couldn't better last years PB 14.07
and either Ola or Kent managed to qualify for the Sunday's
Elimination, since the organizers has changed from "all in" to
16-ladder with a bump. That bump was 0.036.

More pictures here (will update over a couple of days):
race.ulkhyvlers.net/dragrace/Skelleftea/goldtown-2009
Results here (will update late Sunday):
shraskelleftea.se/resultat/2009/summer_nats
Last year's race at Fällfors with four Impala SS:
www.blackout.nu/RACES/2008/race0802.htm



July 17

Small world...


Two days ago I did a call for help "all over the world" to find a Jacobs
Electronic's ceramic spark plug boots kit. Then SycloneRobban called
from Mölndal, 20 minutes away! He at least had 5 used ones which I
could borrow! He use these cables/boots in his 8-second GMC Syclone.
"All your problems will disappear with these!" said Robban.
Look at them, aren't they just beautiful? And they say "click click"
when bouncing into each other. It's Ceramic all right!
I happened to find myself in a time window where no one is producing
these. Jacob's Electronics was bought this spring by Mr Gasket
company which will produce them this autumn under the Accel brand.
The wowen material you see under the boots is Silica which is a NASA
material good for 1100° Celsius / 2012° Fahrenheit!
Robban bought the material in USA and said I could use it instead of
the "heat sleeves" that burned up.
Thanks Robban!


Spark plug reader on visit


Impalakungen Jonas Alholt was the first visitor to my new garage and
besides banging his head into things hanging from the ceiling he read
my spark plugs and had a couple of good tips. Thanks Jonas, and
watch your head!




July 16

Simon says...


16-year old Simon Wikström splits his time between basket ball and
helping his dad Patrick in drag racing. This is a true basket ball family
including Patrick! But for the moment it's all drag racing and getting
that engine back together again before the Veidec race at Mantorp
next week! Luckily Kenneth Feldthusen had the right kind of bearings
at home so they could begin the assembly! It saved a couple of
days waiting for the package from Gary Burgin in California...


Simon has stepped up in ranks this time, and did the assembly
of the bottom of the engine and now it's the heads. Patrick is
monitoring everything in the background like a teacher.
Both Simon and younger brother Niclas has been around daddy's
dragracing as long as they can remember so this is not a new
situation for them.
And the crew is growing...




July 15


Jacob's anyone?


Now I have checked all my MSD spark plug wires and silicone boots
and Houston we have a problem! Above shows boot No 8 which was
laying direct on header tube No 2 which I tried to save by squeezing
in the wowen heat shield sleeve in between. You see the mark from
the heat contact. Well it didn't help too long, the silicone boot is
totally destroyed but took the abuse better than boot No 5!

SycloneRobban tipped me on Jacob's spark plug kit which have
ceramic boots and is what he uses himself, which is what I need too!
But I can't find them anywhere in USA or Europe! And the advertised
Accel ceramic kit isn't even in production yet! No more races...?

HELP!
So this is call for help! Do you know of a Jacob's spark plug kit
with 90 degree ceramic boots please call +46 706-000 303



And what's this? The female connector from inside No 2 boot is in
two pieces? Have never experienced it before! What's going on?


Axel going by X2000


Big Day for Axel today. Going by himself by train across Sweden to
his sister Frida who will pick him up in Södertälje, then go by car
to Gnesta where she lives. Axel has been talking about this trip
for months so it's nice that it finally happens...


And he will ride with X2000, the fastest train we have, travelling in
200 kmh / 125 mph, and it's the jewel in the fleet of SJ, Statens
Järnvägar (Government's Railroad).


Axel found some old SJ-buttons at home to put on. They're from his
great grandfather Erik Dahlström in Härnösand who worked for SJ
in the first half of the last century.


When Agneta was buying tickets for him a couple a weeks ago, she
only found a 1st Class ticket, and much cheaper than a ordinary
seat thanks to a special offer something! Lucky him, but our guess
is that he will be all over the train before the trip is over in 2,5 hours...


Bye bye! Take care, see you on Sunday!




July 14

A summer day away


Axel and I decided to take a day off the garage work and do a visit in
the summer reality together. We went north of Gothenburg. First we
visited Olofstorp where Sören "Fixarn" Fjellstedt and his family lives
but he and Alice were in Gothenburg when we came. Luckily we met
Polina and cute fast growing Philip who were at home.


A little bit more north we passed Anten where Steam Engine No24
happened to warm up for its public tour to Gräfsnäs. We just stayed
for the burnout and whissle (My God it sounded like my ProCharger!)
and saw the train leave.


Forests are healing places. On our little bumpy way to a little lake in
the forest we stopped and listened to the silence and had some good
inhaling of the magic smells of the forest after a rain, like damp moss.


This was our goal! The tame greylag goose "Wayne Gretsky" (name
because it first was mistaken for a Canada goose until Tog from
Eurodragster.com pointed it out for us...!!! Well, Tog seems to know
everything?) "Hi buddy, remember us when we met you when you lived
with chickens on a farm and you all were the same size?"
Since our report here on NEWS of June 7th (scroll down) Wayne did
one day "escape" when he became larger than his "mother" - a hen.
The rumors said he now lived under a boat and had a whole little lake
to himself. The rumors were right!


However, Axel couldn't get Wayne to swim with him. Maybe it was
too cold for a goose? Axel calls himself The Coldmaster...


Our next goal was to visit work buddy at Vingaland Film, Anders
Haraldsson and his family Sara and little Waldemar. The real reason
was their tractor! They're very proud owners of a 1958 Ferguson
which is commonly known as a "Grålle" in Sweden because of the
grey/blue color. Which is said to be a surplus paint Ferguson got
from the Spitfire factory.


King Of Tractors! Jää-äz!


Can you see which one is the Ferguson and which one is the Ford?
Tip: the Ferguson needed to be cranked this time.


The Haraldsson families has done a great work on their houses on
farm in just a few years and now it's getting time for the huge barn
where they take one side at the time. And they will isolate 1/3rd of it!
Guys to the right...are planning something there...?


Summer happiness!


Axel is driving the "Grålle"!


Haraldsson is handling the mower which is as at least as old as the
tractor, and works! Axel just laughs out loud of sheer joy!


Waldemar is thinking - Me too!


-What? Don't you think I can...?


Gear pattern of the Grålle.


-Look here! This is second gear!

These pictures and more in larger size - click on this gallery page:
>THE ADVENTURES OF OUR SON AXEL

Thanks Haraldsson family for a wonderful day!




July 13

European Champion!


Sebastian Öhman (son of my friend Thomas Öhman in Umeå)
became a Rookie European Champion in reining (western style ride)
yesterday in Malmö! After years of won Swedish Golds with quarter
horses this was the real career opener! This horse is "Dun It With
Spark" which Sebastian has raised himself and is an offspring from
the family's first horse Surenuffshinin.
Blackout Full Size Racing says CONGRATULATIONS!
More to read about it at NRHA's website:
http://press.nrha.com/european-championship-results/

Article in Swedish: http://www.vk.se/Article.jsp?article=291824


Winner's moment! Second girl from left is Sebastian's younger sister
Victoria who also is successful in this sport and also a designer and
manufacturer of western clothes together with mom Marita!
Far to the right, proud daddy Thomas!
And all this because of a video-cassette I sent to Öhman's in 1987!
Condor and I had been in California filming a lot of stuff. Also on
a Rodeo from which I put together a funny clip with the best of
the shots, and sent to Öhmans and the big eyed kids.
-That became an expensive video for us, smiled Thomas.



European Record again!


Pelle Stanikowski quickly makes one of the routines before staging -
"pet the cat" which is the sponsor Tudor's cat. And in that brief
moment all crew and Kenneth is whispering "Go get the dog!"
It worked fine this weekend at Midnight Sun International at Pite
Dragway where Kenneth set a new European Record for AB/A for
1/4-mile track! Last time it was for 1/8 track in Malmö.
Quickest performance now was 6.56 @ 334 kmh/207 mph, but
6.68 will stand as the record since these clocking were not
within the 1 % margin. CONGRATULATIONS!
They qualified 2nd and lasted to the Semi where they lost traction,
but still are in the 2nd spot in the series which they are aiming to win.
Kenneth said that they have worked towards a completely new set up
with more fuel and less ignition.
More terrific pictures from Midnight Sun Internationals, all three days
her at http://race.ulkhyvlers.net/

Next series race for Team Nilfisk ALTO at Gardermoen:






Finally...


I almost forgot to decorate. It's easier with the car on the outside.


Smoker's corner. Lars-Inge Johansson's Blackout SS-clock he made
for my birthday.


Then I realized I needed a shelf for all my "suitcase-sized" bags and
computers to get them off the floor. The material was just laying on
the outside waiting to be trashed. This shelf was made in less than
an hour and in thirty minutes more it sat on the wall...


...here it is in the middle. The other side of the garage. Click link for
larger version, and see more at
>THE_CLOSEST_DAMN_GARAGE_IN_TOWN


I also had to fix the burned No 5 spark plug boot before driving the SS
again. Or what do you think? Don't want any short-circuit with bad
pre-ignition!


My tiny old Stanley vise from my moped youth came to good use
when fabricating the new boot.


I figured out the ultimate spot for it beforehand to minimize hot driving
inside the garage. Axel guided me and it worked first time. I need
to drive up on logs under every wheel to be able get the jack under.


Welcome home Blackout SS! We can walk and work freely around
the car. Not as much space as in TBDGIT, but this is home.
It took a week of work, but tomorrow I'll go with Axel elsewhere on
our vacation, far away from the garage.




July 12

Come on big boy!


You can do it! =) It's time to enter your "new" home!


Even though this garage has less space than TBDGIT I've managed
to get a better order here. Maybe because I had to.


Especially satisfied with this corner.


And collecting all manuals, broschures, catalogues, binders etc. in
one place, in that big metal drawer with hanging folders! Up till now
I have had all this stuff in many different places.


Thanks IKEA, SAAB and Volvo for plastic boxes!
You can see all of these pictures in larger sizes and read more
about our garage at this page:
>THE_CLOSEST_DAMN_GARAGE_IN_TOWN




July 8

Piece by piece


Not much left now to sort out before driving the SS inside. But it's
getting slower and slower as I'm finding fun stuff I've forgot about and
interesting details which I like to take a look at again, and it takes
time from the work. Like the old can of Moose Juice I found...


Moose Juice


Okay kids, do you know what Moose Juice is?
Once up on a time the drivers had to bring their own trackbite to the
race tracks to improve their traction. The organizers put little or
nothing on their strips - if not a fast class was supposed to race. And
we also used trackbite at streetraces, when on slicks. VHT trackbite
(left) has been around for ever in different packagings. Then, some
25 years ago Moroso introduced the Moose Juice (which the funny
Stockholmers called "Älgkliv" - Moose Leap). I bought it for my
Whiplash Camaro and as I remember, it was extremely good!
However, I think Moose Juice was banned after a short while since
they said it fretted on the asphalt! I have some drops left for one run...




July 6


Bye bye!


We moved in here in April 2005 after a whole winter's work to finish it.
Now we move the Impala SS and equipment to >TCDGIT - our garage
at home and will convert from Members to Hangarounds of TBDGIT.
I will meet Tommy AGA Olsson and Patrick Wikström and team as
often as before. TBDGIT is not a only place, it's a state of mind.
An era ends - a new starts. Thanks buddies for all the laughters!
Of course, a very sad moment in a way, especially if you look back:
>TBDGIT


Expensive second!


Patrick and the Thriller team had their share of "bad luck" at Alastaro.
The oil pump shaft broke in second round, that they found out already
at the track. At home they could see the reason - the small
aluminium oil filter had loosened (!) so a tiny bit of a valve was sucked
into the gears of the oil pump which of course stuck dead! Shaft
snapped, and the rest followed in an instant, broken rods...and more.
All this happened within a second! Patrick came out of it with some
more point for Second Round and is now fighting to get it ready for
the Veidec Festival at Mantorp Park and the 3rd leg of the FIA
European Pro Mod Championship, July 23-26.
We wish this team the best of luck in showing its true capacity!


Finnish Mystery Package!



Patrick brought back a package from Alastaro to me!


It was Tobbe Ekström who payed for the box with old National
Dragster-papers with Finnish beer! Yahoo what a good swap! (I hope
for both!) In Finland they have some brands in Pint-cans which is
50.68 cc (19 oz) instead of the standard 50 cc cans (17 oz).
From left: Karhu 4.6 % (alcohol by volume), Koff Surfer III 4.5 %,
Sininen 4.5 %, Sandels 4.7 %, Olvi 4.5 %, Lapin Kulta 4.5 %,
Nikolai 4.5 %, Light 4.1 % and Karjala 4.6 %. Tobbe asked me for a
professional rank but it was impossible, all was very good and I was
glad to have a vacation so I could go on testing. I could say though,
that anything that has a "K" anywhere in it's name is very good!
Thancksh Tobe!


Now and then Agneta checks how the work with the sorting is going...


Tobbe sent this picture to show that his Bolero X finally is at his home
in Vaasa! It wasn't easy to transport it, Patrick Wikström took it to
Alastaro and then Tobbe carried it through the pit (Hahaha what a
sight!) and asked Competition Eliminator racer Kristina Hägglund
from Umeå for a space in their trailer and get it when they qued for
the ferry to Umeå. It's still blooming and we hope for the
sweetest tomatoes soon!




July 5

Blackout at home again


Our neighbour Helge smiled with his whole face when he saw the
Impala again. It hasn't been home since 2004 and many things has
happened to the car since then! Axel proudly explained.


Now starts the heavy work of moving all things from The Best Damn
Garage In Town - TBDGIT...


...to TCDGIT (The Closest Damn Garage In Town). This area is much
more narrow but with smart planning and sorting it will work just fine!


We take this opportunity to throw a lot of stuff.


Call the engine code!


Stig "Loppan" Larsson in Umeå found an 29 years old certificate from
when I shifted from the 6 to V8 in my Camaro! Back then there were
no computers, so in order to get my Camaro through the inspection
I had to get a certificate from the authorized Chevrolet dealer in town
that verified that this type engine came with this car! And since the
engine block was machined I had no engine code, so I punched
in my phone number 131301 and MS for Modified Standard, the
drag racing class I was aiming for. The Whiplash Camaro went
through the inspection with flying colors! Thanks Leif Hägglund!
And "Loppan".




July 4

Too fiery race at Säve!


Official Lars-Inge Johansson inspects the result of a dry extinguisher
under the hood of a black and newly cleaned Impala SS...
The sun was too HOT! And the SS as well! Three burnt spark plug
boots, a couple of spark cables and two FIRES under the hood in the
same day! And then we had a bbq...
We had only one go at the one day event at Säve and the
Blackout SS just spun the slicks on the track bite...11 sec something.
Full report later at >RACES


Going home


After the race at Säve and after fixing yet another spark plug boot and
wire it was time to drive the Impala SS to our home - not TBDGIT.
I told Axel to be alert at home and jump out and rush to our garage
to get the fire extinguisher just in case it was on fire again...


And it was! We saw it through the hood opening and we released a
puff through it as well. I must stop using these dry estinguishers...


For the second time in a day the Jeezus engine in Blackout
had a whiteout.


Axel was of course very excited of the 2nd great hullabaloo and was
very helpful in getting our pressure-wash in no time.


But first let it cool and apply YES dish washing fluid richly. It was a
tip from the Fire Crew at Säve earlier today. I asked how to get rid
of the dry powder the best way? "The powder consist of bicarbonate
so don't let it sit there, it'll get stuck, just let the engine cool a bit,
apply Yes or similar and wash off" We did, twice! It worked.


And it had kind of an artistic look to it don't you think? The dry
powder spread over the whole car.


And it's much easier to work to some music...


Plug Boot Heat Shield sleeves. "Guaranteed up to 1200 degrees F"
...which is 650 degrees C. Note how the wire has burnt! I remember
that late friend and engine builder Lennart "Bagarn" Bergqvist at
Autoshop said: "I don't like these sleeves..."


Anyway, now the Impala SS is back home. And washed.


Want.



July 2


Groundshaking


I started it again at last. The sound with the new exhaust system
was a new experience! It felt BIG, like 100 cubic inches more! Or like
a racecar. Wonderful!


Everything worked just fine. There are times when you think for
yourself "Why are you doing all this, stupid?" but it disappear as
soon as the engine starts. Then I know again why I do this...


Prior the start I did my "spring valve adjustment". Last time I did it
was at the Midsummer Party in the garage last year. Only five out of
16 valves needed to be adjusted back to 0.15 mm.




July 1

New blower belt guard


Dennis Palm at Mek-Part helped me to water-cut new blower belt
guards in steel. Real quick too. Thanks again Dennis!


The reason is that my former one in stainless (top) have lost pieces,
probably due to vibrations. I hope the steel version will cope with it?
It's nice to have a big aluminium piece to bend such things.


Today I picked up the new guard at the local chroming place,
Göteborgs Förnickling where (owner) Martin Ottosson and Mikael
Shedin are among the hard working staff. Mikael is the grinder and
polisher. They're working with everything from industrial orders to
moped fuel tanks. And belt guards. Thanks!


The new guard mounted. The blower belt is going between the cog
wheels in a very high speed. And it happens too often that the belt
just breaks. The guard is supposed to keep bystanders safe in the
pit, and of course also the hood, hoses and electrics in the car.


Now what!? No 8 plug boot touches the No 2 tube! No good! The heat
will burn though the silicone over time and let the free spark short-
circuit! (Scroll down to June 30!) Question is how long time before
it happens? I solve it for this first race by squeezing the fiberglass
boot (to the right) over the whole boot. Luckily I have a kit
with many boots...


At midnight the Thriller team was ready to load their car. A bit late
since they needed to be in the Stockholm harbour across Sweden
in just 6 hours and that's what it takes with this bus...


And Patrick is bringing the Bolero X tomato plant to Tobbe Ekström
who will pick it up at the Alastaro drag strip this weekend. It's
160 cm / 63 inch tall and it's in full bloom!
Tobbe will also get my box of old 80's National Dragster weekly
papers that Tobbe forbid me to burn in the fire this winter.

Well, have a safe trip and get them hard at Alastaro at the second
round of the FIA European Dragracing Championship!





Click selected bar below to read old news