Healeys Return to Bonneville PICTURES

[Cottontop]

If you have never been to the Bonneville Salt Flats and wonder what actually goes on there and/or are interested in seeing the reconstructions of Donald Healey's Endurance car and Streamliner actually run on the salt, I have posted 175+ pictures of the activities at www.ntahc.org

Just go to www.ntahc.org and click on the picture or on the link under the picture.

Tim

 

[HEALEYJAG]

WOW..great job!!!!!

Pete

 

[Genos2]

Your pics are amazing, I'm so jealous! What great sport! cheers Genos2

 

[healey106]

Tim - A Job Well Done!!! - from all of us who were not able to make the trip
jim

 

[Johnny]

Great pictures Tim, really enjoyed viewing.

 

[Legal Bill]

Hi Tim!! Thanks again!

 

[TomFromStLouis]

That was fun to look at. I was amazed to see the number and variety of other cars there - I had no idea.

I am curious was the Healey folks and any of the others had in mind for de-salting their cars. As I understand it, the originals succumbed to rust from the salt contamination. Can a thorough wash get it all out? Are these unique and expensive efforts doomed to rust away?

 

[tiga2]

.....Great stuff! Why run a fan for a speed run?

 

[Cottontop]

Why run a fan for a speed run?

My guess is that Donald Healey was required to run a fan for his run to to qualify as a production car and Steve and Bruno tried to be as authentic to the originals as possible.

I'm going out of town early in the AM, but if you'd like, when I get back I can write Steve and ask him.

Tim

 

[Cottontop]

I am curious was the Healey folks and any of the others had in mind for de-salting their cars. As I understand it, the originals succumbed to rust from the salt contamination. Can a thorough wash get it all out? Are these unique and expensive efforts doomed to rust away?

In 2009, even we amateurs know MUCH more about racing on the salt than those who ran on the salt in the 50's.

I doubt that Donald didn't do any more to rust preserve his Bonneville cars than he did his production cars (which we ALL know about).

The reproduction Bonneville cars were fully primered and painted, inside and out.

Experienced salt racers advise NOT to pressure wash the underside of your car after it has been on the salt. Pressure washing only drives the salt into seams and joints and through seals and into bearings.

Their advice is to "Pray for Rain" on the way home. A good rain is the best way to wash off the underside of the car.

That advice must have worked for Bruno as he drove through a driving rainstorm to get home from the airport.

There is a new post on the healeys Return to Bonneville Blog about the effects of salt on the Endurance car. See https://healeysreturntobonneville.blogspot.com/

Be sure to look at ALL of the pictures.

Tim

 

[BUNDYRUM]

Hello Cottontop,

I think you summed it up pretty well about the fan, it had to be there because it was a production car.

As far as the car is concerned if it were mine I'd be tearing it right back to nothing and trying to clean out as much as possible. Salt is about the worst element you can afford to get anywhere near a piece of aluminum. No amount of primer/paint is going to be able to stop the salt having some kind of an effect. It always gets in somewhere.

Best regards,

bundyrum.

 

[Cottontop]

Hi Pete,

I drove our silver Miata out onto the salt. It's in the background in a couple of those pictures.

Immediately after we got home from Bonneville, we had to climb in the Subruban and drive to SoCal for 3 weeks.

By the time we got home from SoCal, the Miata had been sitting in the driveway for 4 weeks, TWO of which were VERY rainy.

I got into the Miata and started it up, but it wouldn't move! I had to run the engine up to about 3K and dump the clutch to break things loose.

The brake rotors were TOTALLY rusty and the brake pads had been rusted in place to the rotors.

One of the rear pads was down to the "squealer" so I replaced the rotors and all of the brake pads, but it took several days of driving before all of the "Crunching" stopped as I was driving.

A couple of days later, it finally rained and I spent over an hour driving around splashing in puddles and driving through the runoff in the gutters.

When things dried out, I put the car up on a buddy's lift and spent an hour with a spray can of Rust Converter and a can of silver Rustoleum paint covering all the rusty spots.

When the car was on the lift, if I rubbed any aluminum or most of the steel and touched my finger to my tongue, I could still taste salt.

If there is a next time... I'll RENT a car !

Tim