Have you ever clicked your REFRESH button?




December 31

What a fantastic year!

...especially if we talk about the statistics for this site!
It's seems that this is one of the few things going in
the right direction for the moment!
More than 94.000 unique visitors and 13 million hits....
Jeezus! =)

Statistics for www.blackout.nu

The collector on the passenger side did place itself better. Bung for
the FAST wide-band oxygen sensor is just right.

More and larger pictures and...everything about it here >EXHAUST




Proud Dick talks the talk


-Karl Ellwein built this car and engine you know!
-Kvalelvan?
Dick shows up now and then in TBDGIT just to open the door and
start his new baby - The Heavy Eliminator - often together with a
friend like today. I heard Dick talked the talk. He is really into it.




December 27

I'm reborn again!


Oh what a good feeling to be back and work on the SS again! It felt
like a forgotten door in my heart that opened again. I haven't been
working in TBDGIT since...October. I have had much more
important issues to address.
But now, I felt more and more happy by the hour. And inside here
all the outside problems seem to be much smaller.
I jacked up the Blackout and thought it was a good idea to start with
removing my old headers and try on the new ones.


The real Tomten wears all black! Jonas Mr Al Holt Skruv came by
TBDGIT and dug in immediately...well, he actually took over, cleaned
up my space, had coffee, kicked my ass and speeded up the process!
- Jonas, were you also in need of something else than Christmas?
- Bah! I hate Christmas!


First visual comparison between my old Quad-1 headers (top) with
1 3/4" primaries tubes and 3" collector, and the newly custom made
headers with 2" primaries and 3,5" collector.


The collectors will have Burns stainless V-clamps welded on. That
for making disconnecting and connecting of the exhaust system
much easier. No more nuts'n'bolts, 3-hole flanges, leaking 3-hole
copper gaskets and cursing under the car!
Note: that collector with the vac-u-pan valve will be on the driver's
side collector, while the O2-sensor will be on the passenger side.
I ordered bungs enough so I can switch them in between.


It was exciting minutes when trying the new header on the passenger
side. Will they fit right in? Well, they didn't. Janne Norberg made
them exactly like the first pair for Kent's SS and he has the much
smaller Tilton mini starter which you can see on this page at Ellwein
Engines. I also have a very small starter, a Powermaster, but its
solenoid still sticks out making the difference. I'm glad I asked Janne
to only tack-weld the tubes to the flange, because it looks like we
have to cut at least two tubes on the passenger side and have them
re-welded. So I'm also glad that I know a black-dressed Tomte
who hates Christmas...




December 26 - Annandag Jul (Second day after Christmas?)

Tommy's left header


We visited TBDGIT today to get back to normal life. Then we saw
that Tommy had made his driver's side header and that he had
skipped the rack & pinion project to get more room for the header.
He managed to clear the steering box anyway. Axel is holding it
here on the outside for us to see it better. Congratulations Tommy!


Then Axel had a small drive training with the Dodge within the fenced
area at the garage. He did very well.


At home for our Turkey Dinner. Back into the christmas fog again,
now with the help of my father in law - Thore and a 2005 grand
bottle of his own made red wine brand Thore áDor! He has made his
own wine for more than 50 years so I can ensure that this is a good
wine! He has found to like the mix of 50 % blue grapes, 40 % blue
berries and 10 % blackcurrant berries to get the result he wants.
My brother Sune and I designed and printed the labels for Thore
who signs them one by one. And the label information says:

THORE áDOR®
Embottellero par Bodegas Thore Rooth
Gothenburgos, Zona Bohuslandia

Bodegas Thore Rooth, Gothenburgo, fue fundadaen el
ano 1952. Las Vinas Thore Rooth estas fermenterente in
eine grande veolicitad et numeros por de gigantico
consumtiôn zu de Famiglia und Compagneros Thoreís
zu satisfactiôn. Las Vinas Thores ist schysst und
toppcharmant, und muss consumeras wenn all
is total antistojas et harmoni.






December 25 - Juldagen - Christmas Day

A walk in the sunset


Down by the ocean at Hinsholmen, not far from our home. It's chilly.
Axel is throwing rocks. The sun is setting already at 3.30 PM! This is
the darkest period in Sweden and further up north it's getting dark
even earlier! December 21 is the darkest day. From now on it will
get more and more light each day! Thanks for that!


The walk is to "get rid of all the christmas food calories" according
to my mother in law to the right - Sonia. She's always out walking
and I believe that she and her husband Thore is in a much better
condition than me. Note the remarkable purple and green colors
on this path after sunset!


By four o'clock it was over. A single person in his kayak out on the
silent ocean. Could that be PeO Olsson? A beautiful afternoon.




December 24 - Julafton - Christmas Evening

Our traditional Christmas
package report


Our christmas tree "Styggo" ("Uglo") which wasn't that big of hit. It
started to lose its needles even before the decoration was done so
it didn't get more than half of it, and we didn't even bother to
straighten it up, as to punish it!
Too bad for our annual "Battle of the Christmas Trees" which we
have within our families where we email pictures like this into
a picture pool and then try to vote a winner after hard
discussions and everyone wins after all.


Agneta and Axel's homemade candles became much better, like
this 5-arm candle.


And the Christmas lunch is always a winner. Ham with mustard, many
different herring, Jansson's Temtation, homemade bread, snaps,
julmust, beer...snaps...beer...snaps...Heybaberiba! Beer...


The tradition continues with the torch walk down to Agneta's parents.


No snow on Christmas Eve is also a tradition nowadays.


Axel, soon 11 years, is now drinking coffee on occasions. With milk.
And on the plate like the 'ol folks used to do way back! Suddenly he
said he had to go and buy the newspaper...


So he missed this guy - Jultomten - Santa Claus. This year again!


Jultomten gave Axel a mountain of gifts. That's also a tradition.
And as usual it read Grand Ma Sonia and Grand Pa Thore on
most of the packages.


I have a feeling of consistancy regarding Jultomten over the last few years...


I got a surprising christmas gift from Birgitta at Autoshop! The
Vintage Autoshop sweaters and t-shirts is now back in production!
The original design from the 80's with the stars and all which almost
every Swede had! I had it all the time back then, I had no other
sweater! Agneta's mother Sonia really liked it to! Thanks Birgitta!


Smokey Yunick liked it to! The layout now says Orlando
instead of Umeå.



A nice card from China


Click to see a bigger version. A very nice christmas card to look at.
Made by our friend Sally Wu in Shanghai, China.


Sweet Sally works at IKEA in Shanghai and helped us with everything
when we were there filmning in February. Merry Christmas Sally!




December 23


Merry Christmas to all our visitors! And soon you will see more from
this Norrland Or Bust Tour when the report is done. We all thought
it was fun to get some icehotel experience in the middle of summer!
www.icehotel.se/Summer/


An hour after the ice block picture was taken Axel took a dive in the
giant Torne River. A nice picture to show at this time of the year.
But you should know that it was ice cold in this river, even for
the self declared "Cold Master in Bathing" Axel. Brrr!




December 22

Hyvää Joulua


From Eero Pirttinen we got this photo of his 440 Challanger in the
winter of 1981 in his hometown back then - Vaasa, Finland.


Let there be light!


Now it's really closing in on Christmas when you see that Agneta
and Axel are in to the manufacturing of candles. I also had a
chance to try it. Fun!



And a message from
outer space!

December 21

Heaven & Hell & Easter


A nice card from our friends in Heaven & Hell Racing, London,
showing the famous snowman that was made at the
snowed-out Easter race at Santa Pod!
Happy racing in 2009 to you as well!




December 18 - 19

Premiere for Vingaland!


Vingaland Film is my new workplace! We had a small premiere
open house party all day at our new place in downtown Gothenburg
together with our friends/partners/tenants - Sture's Friends.


1989 - 2008
The work at Dockhouse is over. We had a common agreement in
August among the owners to bring Dockhouse to an orderly and
clean end. After nearly 20 years of unprecedented success within
the business of corporate film production, we have in recent years
found Dockhouse too big for the today's market. Sad but true.


Thanks for everything Dockhouse Film & Television, your people,
your partners and your clients!
Five of us went ahead and started Vingaland Film which will
continue to produce well made films for all different kind of needs.
The joy is back! Clearly under construction:
www.vingaland.se


A dumper filled our parking with snow from the ice skating court on
the other side of the street. We wanted some winter feeling added
to our open house.


It was Robert Nilsson, one of Sture's Friends, who was behind this.
He's actually working - among other things - with incentive adventures
and events so this was a normal state of mind for him.


We had more than a hundred guests visiting us during the day.
Old and new friends. The office was not completely finished but it
was painted and clean.


The business card battlefield. If you managed to land your card in the
bowl you won a package of 1/2 kg coffee.


Beer and Julmust in ice in the bathtub. We will get rid of the tub later.


Robert made the camp and it sure got a lot of attention from all.
From the people in traffic as well. Only winter place in town!


Markus, Haraldsson and Åza Rydberg.


The Bandy field across the street is open for all people when the
local bandy teams are not playing. Note Axel out there. And
also Agneta's warm winter tuque. They both skated.


Örjan Nilsson from our long time partner Fakta & Fördelar gave us
the Key to Success! Now, what will stop us?


If the key won't work after all, we can always open the box with the
can of Bullens Pilsner sausage, as demonstrated here.


The day after. I actually got stuck in the local snow field in our
Skoda. =) I had to have people to push me up on the street...




December 14

Lars-Inge entered
the Bronze Age


Lars-Inge Johansson came by and showed his finest gift of his 50th
birthday - his 1966 Chevelle stationwagon Pro Mod made in bronze!
The casting was done by his friend and crew Fredrik Enberg who
runs Beckmans Gjuteri outside Södertälje, close to Stockholm.
Fredrik who used to work on the chassie and clutch on Lars-Inge's
Pro Mod of course had enough knowledge of the car - and talent -
to make this casting. The body, wheels, blower, injector and
wheeliebar were casted separately and then TIG-welded together.
Congratulations to a job well done! The value of this unique
model is around USD 1500-1900 in work and material only.
Think what value Lars-Inge adds to that.
The group who got together to make this happen:
Fredrik and Annika Enberg, Mats Appelgren, Jöran and Carina
Persåker, Stefan Boman, Bo Olofsson, "Stoffe" and Malena




December 8

Garage filled with jars


Agneta is happy that her ordered pallet finally arrived with 3000 glass
jars. How long will it take for her new firm Undermat to fill and sell
all these jars with tasty fermented vegetables?


You can notice it's closing in on Christmas. Axel is making cookies
and buns and other good stuff.




December 4

Tommy's Lincoln headers


Look at the space Tommy has in the engine bay of his giant 1978
Lincoln_Continental_Mark V streetracer. He could layout the
2 1/8" primaries "easily" (yes, I know, it's NEVER easy!). Short and
straight backwards from the Super Cobra Jet-heads on the 467 Ford.
Good work!


On the driver's side it was tighter due to the steering box so Tommy
has halted his project and is thinking about a conversion to a rack &
pinion system. It was fun to see Tommy work on his Great White
again and I hope to join in the TBDGIT for some headers work on my
own. Haven't had a minute over for my hobby the last months...

November 30

Still growing!


www.blackout.nu joined the 10.000 club tonight! More than 10.000
unique visitors in November! Have never happened before. October
with 8.697 people was the highest until tonight. Quite a jump. And
for a winter month!
Visitors, Hits and Byte were also new All Time Highs! Tjoho!
Welcome back true visitor, because even if it's winter a lot of
things happens all the time in our garages and elsewhere.
And I will also finish the report from the last summers'
Norrland Or Bust Tour...

November 2008
Unique Visitors: 10.067
Visitors: 14.035
Pages: 48.135
Hits: 1.566.941
Byte: 54.63 GB
Countries: 122

PS. Click on the 10.000 Maniacs cover to get a very nice song.





November 28

Cheers Lars-Inge!


And congratulations on your second 50th birthday party! Drag racer
and car builder Lars-Inge Johansson had his first party a week ago in
Stockholm, since he has lived there for 25 years so he has a lot of
friends there. As well as here on the west coast in Gothenburg
and Uddevalla where he's originally from. Lars-Inge is a popular guy.


A flower can make a funny picture.


Lars-Inge and his Ann-Sofie Karlsson were not the only ones at the
party who enjoyed the four pictures from Chris Condor and me.
The four pictures below are all clickable!


Winter 1983 in the Ligna garage. Lars-Inge had just moved to
big Stockholm from small Uddevalla and quickly earned respect
for his engineering.


1966 Chevelle stationwagon is his trademark. With this one he won
the famous Stockholm Open streetrace already same year,
in autumn 1983.


Lars-Inge has never been afraid of undertaking a large mission,
especially his own projects. And he's always very dedicated.


He always have had a lot of visitors in his garages who wanted to see
what he was up to. It started already here.
Lars-Inge modifying the rear frame of the Blackout SS on this page.



Cheers Eero!


Eero Pirttinen had his 50th birthday party already October 11 in
Helsinki, Finland. He got from his aunt a very special head propeller
or a head massage instrument or what it is. Congratulations!




November 22-23

A good start of Undermat!


Agneta opened up her Undermat to the public November 22-23 and
it was a success. I snapped a couple of pictures and left for my work
before any visitors arrived.


The line of products. To this Agneta served pieces of fried bratwurst
sausage and danish rye black bread. Mmm! My own tip is to add a
cold Newcastle Brown Ale to crown the culinary adventure.


The jars disappeared by the hour. So back to fabricating again.


Grand Taste Opening!


Agneta opens up Undermat this weekend for people to taste her
products. Good luck dear wife!





November 16

Urs in NHRA Semi Finals!


Congratulations Urs Erbacher and Switzerland! At the Auto Club
NHRA Finals in Pomona California he qualified 13th with 3.904 @
309.20 MPH his best performance ever on the 1000 foot length!
To just qualify in a pro class in NHRA is a win in itself. Very few
Europeans have done that.
And Urs continued to win in Eliminations, he first took out 4th
qualifier and former Rookie of the Year driver J.R. Todd with a
0.083 R-time and 3.887 @ 316.67 MPH which was the Top
Speed of the Meet so far! Todd got 0.064 - 4.041 @ 309.77.
Next opponent was Brandon Bernstein, 5th qualifier with
3.849 @ 311.05!
I sat late night by the computer and listened to the live report on
the NHRA radio and I just couldn't go to bed just yet...
Urs won again! 0.198 - 3.926 @ 309.84 over Brandon's 0.058 -
and tire burning 4.538 @ 243.81. WOW! URS IN THE SEMI'S!!
No...not bedtime just yet...
Opponent was 8th qualifier Rod Fuller in a car sponsored by the
Australian Cat divison! International showdown indeed! Rod had
just eliminated the 2008 NHRA Top Fuel Champion Tony
Shumacher and now hit a winning 0.079 - 3.851 @ 312.64 over
Urs' slowing 3.991 @ 282.36. Urs' R-time 0.020 was the quickest
of the meet so far when he lost his Semi Final.
Anyway, this was an incredible achievement which clearly is a
result of very focused work. A milestone in European and American
drag racing history. Then, who won the Finals between Fuller
and Larry Dixon? I have no idea, I now finally could go to bed and
dream about how I pick Edelweiss with one hand, while
swinging on the steep cliffs of the Swiss alps with the other...

Please check results here:
www.dragracecentral.com/





November 12

Gäddhultar'n!


"This Oerlikon is much more advanced than your old Köping..."
It was truly nice to meet The Legend Roland "Gäddhultar'n" Gingtorp
again after so many years! Condor and I met him in the beginning of
the 80's for the first time and wrote about him in Bilsport Magazine.
Since then his trademark has grown, not as much in public as within
Mercedes and Porsche! He's been living in Germany for a couple of
years building racing engines and chassies for those two companies!
Now he's back home again, but doing the same thing. Condor and I
will do an in-depth article about Gäddhultar'n and his remarkable,
still growing career in Bilsport soon. Watch out!


Gäddhultar'n is definitely a Mercedes guy nowadays, at least a
"German" guy. He's since long a good friend with the bosses at the
motorsport divisions of German companies... Here an
Mercedes V8-racer and his own extreme street racer to come...


And his magnificent machines!!! The computer assisted mandrel
bending machine can do chrome moly! Over and over again.


"This is the future of roll bar welding for racing cars - back to MIG,
NASCAR will be first to do it!" "TIG-welds can't cope with the crashes"


Some of the welding machines of Gäddhultarn.


And the cutter/grinder for the chrome moly tubes for roll cages...


"Has different tools for different sizes..."


Machines, machines, machines...somebody has to have all of them!


Yes of course, you also need to have a welding machine following
you from the above... I think Gäddhultar'n is the only one who could
possibly impress Jonas Mr Al Holt, but I don't know yet. I have to
put them together and see what happens... =)
As said before, keep your eyes open for the article in Bilsport...
Roland, it was really fun for both Condor and me to meet you again!
And we'll see you very soon again!




November 8

Big Daddy dominated
SSHS again


It was time for SSHS8, Southern Super Heavyweight Shootout 2008
in Atlanta. Not so many racers attended as before and some
favourites broke, but local hero "Big Daddy" John Rafteseth was
there and dominated "Big Dawg" and won! Eh..but with a hired
driver who had the right licence which John didn't. Congrats both!
Karl Ellwein wasn't there in person but at least two of his engines
made two happy racers. LeadSSlead won Class C finals with an
Ellwein Engine and RuSSty took his full weight Impala SS 4400+ lbs
to 11.72 @ 115 MPH / 185 KMH with a 383 stroker built by Karl!
So congratulations also to Karl Ellwein and his clients.
More details at impalaSSforum.com/ImpalaSS/B-Body Racing


John's SS didn't lower its PB but a 8.75 was dominating the field. An
amazing trap speed of 167 MPH / 268 KMH was certainly a new PB!
Glad to have shutes then eh? Big Daddy also took home the trophies
for Best ET and Best MPH.


More nice pictures and info on SSHS/8 are coming in every day here:
impalaSSforum.com/ImpalaSS/B-Body Racing





Agneta's new company!


WONDERFOOD
Fermented Good Healthy Vegetables



Her first little sign on our house. Printed off centered on the paper.
I like. Agneta's newly finished workroom just got cleared with flying
colors by the Swedish Miljöverket (environmental authority) and her
company Undermat is now also registred. This means that she finally
can start production professionally after been doing it for a couple of
years like a test. She has worked hard to make this happen as you
know. It's a dream come through for her, even if it happens in the
roughest of times. Congratulations my dear wife Agneta!


Today she made the very tasty Borsjtj, her style. Undermat style.
It's so fresh to any food plate to add a little of any of these fermented
vegetables. Sometimes it's like a wonderful kick in the jaw. =)
Warning: You can be addicted to it, like me, but I still
recommend it!


Health in a jar. She has some 10 different fermented products that
are very special. Both traditional recipes and with her own twist.
Borsjtj, red beet, carrot, red cabagge, sauerkraut with caraway,
sauerkraut natural, sauerkraut w. carrot, beans, peas, cauliflower,
pickles, cucumber and others on their way. The small 300 g/10 oz
jars are 40 SEK and she will soon offer 700 g/25 oz jars.
Her list of clients are growing and has been for a couple of years.
So far it has been only marketed by a growing good reputation.


A special. 2008 was an apple year in Sweden so a lot of apples were
grounded to become apple compote with a special recipe of chili!
Mmmmm! And of course Axel wants to help out now and then.


Active bacteria that is good for you! Agneta got this business idea a
couple of years ago when she was researching in medicine at the
University of Göteborg where she earned a "Degree of Master of
Science in Biology". There she was struck of the very good effects
that lactobacilli has on people. That fact combined with knowing
that the old tradition of acidic food almost are gone nowadays, at
least in Sweden...there you have it - Undermat!

The Refridgerator. The Swedish invention of Baltzar Von Platen and Carl Munters from 1922 finally conquered the world in the 40's and 50's. And it changed the food culture. To the left an early Elektrolux "So spacious... ...and only 340 crowns..." 340 SEK is 44 USD today.

Fermentation just about disappeared in the 50's when the refridgerator
came big time, fermentation was a good and widely used preservation
method up until then. You should really take a minute and have a
look on why fermented vegetables are healty for you!

In Swedish

In English / Wikipedia

A piece from this Wikipedia page:

Health benefits
"Raw sauerkraut is an extremely healthful food. It is an excellent
source of vitamin C, lactobacilli, and other nutrients. However,
the low pH and abundance of healthful lactobacilli may upset
the intestines of people who are not used to eating acidic foods.
(In such cases, it is advisable to eat small amounts daily until
the person's digestive system adjusts).

Before frozen foods and the importation of foods from the
Southern hemisphere became readily available in northern and
central Europe, sauerkraut provided a vital source of the
aforementioned nutrients during the winter. Captain James Cook
always took a store of sauerkraut on his sea voyages, since
experience had taught him that it was an effective
preventative of scurvy.

It is now known that the preservation of sauerkraut in an
anaerobic environment (in the brine) keeps the vitamin C in it
from being oxidized. There is some evidence that indicates that
kimchi, and by extension, sauerkraut may be used to treat avian
influenza in birds. Currently, there is no evidence of its effect
on human cases.

Sauerkraut is also a source of biogenic amines such as tyramine,
which may cause adverse reactions to sensitive people. It also
provides various cancer fighting compounds including ITC and
sulphoraphane."

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to send an email:
undermat_agneta@hotmail.com

November 7

Two years since our friend Lennart "Bagarn" Bergqvist passed away.


Autoshop, October 25 2005. Bagarn had just won Engine Masters
Challange a couple of weeks ago so both he and wife Birgitta were
especially happy this time. Here he showed me a Mopar intake for
blower application and said it was the very last one from the
manufacturing. Somewhere a happy customer was waiting for
another well built engine from Autoshop Racing Engines.





November 4

"I wanna be elected!"


My friend Chris Condor "found" this clip on the internet. Click the
picture to see short clip from the least expensive campaign in the
most expensive presidential election in the history of USA -
1.4 billion USD - 11 billion SEK.
Please note: This clip is now gone. Nov. 5
Tonight it will be decided in the USA. We hope to see a stabilized
world whoever wins. And a stabilized dollar would help too!
When I bought the Jeezus engine from Autoshop in the winter of
2002 - 03 the dollar was around 11 Swedish Crowns! This summer
the dollar was in the low 6 SEK. So today I could have bought two
engines for the "same" money!! It's called timing...


Mr Bean too!


Clip on YouTube. Click picture.


Alice Cooper too!


It's his song to begin with. "Elected" from 1972 is one of his greatest
hits. Alice Cooper was one of my absolute rock favourites back then.
Still is of course. Click pic to see his "Elected" video.


Early Bostic campaign


I was campaigning early! =) This was in 1975 when we had to paint
our own self portraits in art class at school, Östra Gymnasiet, Umeå.
Back then in the Vietnam war times this flag wasn't at all popular!
Thinking back at it, it's strange that this poster and it's creator
came out of it in one piece and un-burned...

About tonight's election we just want to say Good Luck Barack
Obama, John McCain, The USA and The World!




November 2

8.697 Unique Vistors!


This picture shows how many unique visitors blackout.nu had in
October! The picture also shows a world record attempt for most
snow angels at one time. The event occurred February 17, 2007
in Bismarck, North Dakota, USA. Check here.
This site had a new All Time High in every category except Vistors
at "only" 13.088. July had the record breaking 13.380 visitors!
I still think it's fantastic that so many want to check in on what
happens in our little world around our Impala SS. I promise to
continue as long as you are returning! Thanks all of you!
"It must be the Bolero tomatoes...?"

October 2008
Unique Visitors: 8.697
Visitors: 13.088
Pages: 58.951
Hits: 1.379.198
Byte: 48.79 GB
Countries: 128

October 31 - November 1


BOOH!!! We had a small Halloween thing at our cottage.


But Axel was celebrating Halloween full time. Check it out here:
>Vacations_Halloween_2008




October 30

World's Fastest Impala SS


The Car
(click picture for a bigger one)
A full bodied 1996 Impala SS that has been in the wind tunnel for
aero mods. Improved the Cd from .320 (stock) to .256
The Engine
A naturally aspirated fuel injected 572 CI Dart big block. 700 RWHP
The Future
Setting a record at Bonneville. There is an existing class record at
241 MPH / 387 KMH. This is a blown gas record that the GIANT SS
could run against. With turbo charging (12 lbs. boost) we can
reach 250 MPH / 402 KMH.
Help Needed
I need help in the form of a sponsor, or a partner, technical support,
material for a turbo install, or anything else you think would let us
reach our goals. If you would like to be part of a land speed record
breaking Impala please PM giant96ss@aol.com with your thoughts.
Thread at Impala SS Forum
www.impalassforum.com/JohnMadeleyTowards250MPH

Thanks
John Madeley

Good luck John and be sure to get us some video of that cool
black streak Giant SS! Not to be confused with Kent Edin's
Gentle Giant SS






October 29

Swedish Exotism


A shelf in St Leonard, Maryland, USA. Lots of shiny awards from all
over USA that reads "Winner" on 95 % of them. And then you'll find
a piece of Swedish granite rock furnished in Burträsk with jumping
Salmons engraved together with the text Gold Town Dragrace 2008
Long Distance Award. Get an explanation of that riddle here.
That Göteborg flag was a gift from Kenneth Feldthusen to
Karl Ellwein when he was visiting in 2006 at our
Crazy Racy Crayfish Party.
Amazing things can happen when you race an Impala SS...



October 28

Nathan's Wiiiiiiild Beauty!
"I sure hope it runs faster than 9s, LOL. Oh yea, its definately
gonna have chutes. I plan on running the stroud CO2 activated
ones, and according to their handy weight and mph calculator
they are gonna have to be the big ones, funny car style =)"


A twin turbo 555 ci Big Block will howl on the the streets of Clovis in
New Mexico, USA. Nathan Munson will cruise in his 1996 DGGM
Impala SS, besides going to the drag strips and pick up time slips.


Nathan is doing the right thing. He's building from scratch and he's
doing a beautiful job! Just look at that framework! There are much
work left but exciting to follow it at the Impala SS Forum!


Nathan Munson's 1000+ hp engine concept (fuel injected):
555 BBC Merlin block-steel caps and lifters bores bushed. Full CNC
Dart Big Chief 18 degree heads. Titanium 2.4 intake valves, titanium
1.9 exhaust valves, Manley Nextek springs with titanium retainers,
keepers, T & D 1.75 shaft rockers with Manton Pushrods, Port
matched Dart Big Chief manifold with BRE 1150 carb (both coming
off) Comp Solid roller cam (getting swapped with custom turbo grind),
Crane solid roller lifters, Jesel belt drive, JE custom pistons with
tool steel wrist pins (going with BME forgings and pins), Lunati
Promod rods, Callies Racemaster crank, ATI balancer and
pointer, Titan billet gearotor oil pump, Billet Fabrication sheetmetal
pan with oil heater, Moroso sheetmetal valve covers, ARP fasteners...

Plans are for 2 T5 turbine GT42-76s aiming for 2200 on the engine
dyno. Hoping for a street tune with 1000 rwhp on 10psi and pump gas.
Full aeromotive fuel system and the FAST xfi engine management.

"I want to get 1300+rwhp out of it on pump gas, and 2k on Q16.
I may have to step up the turbos to the gt4580 to get there, but
we will see. The motor makes 804 hp with no boost."

Transmission: TH 400 built for 1500 hp.
Rear end:
"A Strange S60 is a strange case that takes Dana 60 internals. It
has a 9 3/4 ring gear. 40 spline solid axles, 5/8ths studs, quad
caliper brakes, and a spool with 3.54 gears. The gears I have
has been cryo'd and mikronite polished. They should hold up
better than any 9" rear would. They dont make an S60 for a
B-Body, so we used one for a G-body, and redid the upper
control arms to work, and made our own lower brackets"

Nathan, we love it!
Hot Rodding at its best! There is no end of the world just yet!
And if all the visitors of blackout.nu like the way I take pictures of
building stages and the details they should definitely also visit
your thread at the Impala SS forum page by page!

But Nathan, this project really need its own website...and don't forget
to order your own Bolero X Tomato seeds before christmas...




October 27

Thanks Thomas Öhman!


It's about time to Thank our biggest fan! Thomas Öhman in Umeå!
> Thanks



October 26

Bolero Gourmet Evening
"No riff-raff"


Thank God for Agneta! And Tony and Lotta! And Italy. Tonight we had
the tomato sallad gourmet evening which we planned already in May
when Tony and Lotta gave me the small Bolero plant, they said that
they would really like to come back for a taste if I managed to grow
them. I did! And now they came with another challange...
More here: >BOLERO_X_TOMATOES




October 25

Kill that stupid nature!


Our dear neighbour Helge woke us up with his chainsaw. A very nice
awakening because it was about a since long planned clearing of the
empty real property beneath us. It has been grown freely to a jungle
over the last years, and the small trees are becoming big trees, by a
meter a year, so it cuts off our precious view over the sea. Now we
killed the stupid trees and carried them away to a bonfire to come.
But my body is aching of all the carrying...have to get a...beer...



October 24

A wonderful moment!


A bonus at Dockhouse today. Music composer and guitar ekvilibrist
Tony Linfjärd visited us to test his latest show on us before going
public. We've known Tony since the 90's when we got a demo tape
from him - "One" - and I called him up for a meeting to ask him to
make music for our film productions. For years he made fantastic
original music for Volvo and IKEA and many others and also got
awarded together with our film productions at film festivals all over
the world. Then he set off himself all over the world, to play at luxury
liners in the Caribbean Sea. Now he's back, for a moment. And he
truly plays like a God. Jazz in all forms. We had almost forgot how
sweet in was. Tony has also had blues and rock bands. He can
play anything. Thanks Tony for your show!


Tony and his Anderson guitar bought in New York in 2000. Don't
touch it without asking first...
Once in Chicago when Tony and I was there to recieve awards at the
US International Film And Video Festival, we hit the blues clubs
afterwards. At the club Kingston Mines I talked a band into giving
Tony the guitar for a moment and up he went on stage with tuxedo
and all. You could feel the "what the xxxx now???" at the place.
Then Tony lifted the roof and was loudly celebrated. And it was
also there we met late legendary Jeff Healey and had a chat.
Then we took a cab to the Chicago South Side, still in tuxedos,
but that's another story...
Please turn off the music of blackout.nu and visit
Tony's website and listen for a moment...
It was Tony who said that "the Hammond B3 is not an organ,
it's an animal"
Tony Linfjärd on You Tube, note that there are three parts! And
here you'll here more of his music!




October 23

Karl, what have you done?


Karl Ellwein caught by the Midnight Sun at lake Moskosel during the
Norrland or Bust Tour of the 2008 Summer.

Karl, finally I gotcha! I have some questions for you! So our camp fire
fantasy became a reality, you really sold your Impala SS in
Sweden, how does it feel? Any regrets?
- Hmm, how does it feel? I think it feels great! It feels good that
Dick the new owner seems to be the right person for the car and
that leaves me with no regrets. I hope that he might have some
fun with it and personalize it to suit him.


You bought this SS new from a Chevrolet dealership, so Dick will be
the second owner. Isn't that like leaving your baby with a stranger?
- Yes it is kinda like leaving my baby with a stranger....but....in
this case it's more like my kid has grown up, (14 years old), and
now it's time to start a new life away from Papa.


This car not only made you famous within the community but it was
also a test bed for all your combo ideas, which in itself made you
famous. How many combos have you tried and which one was fastest?
- Wow, good question. I have to look back at that. Maybe about
10 distinct combinations. The Heavy Eliminator has had a stock
bottom 350LT1 with various different cams and heads. Crane
104227 cam, GM 846 cam, Bauer Racing custom hydraulic roller
cam, Advanced Induction custom hydraulic roller cam. The
current heads that Dick inherited are my favorite and I think
the best heads of all that I've had on that motor. They are from
Advanced Induction Cylinder Head Development. The Heavy
Eliminator has had various configurations of stroker 383LT1.
The best ET with the car was 10.67 @ 126mph using 150hp
nitrous jetting with the 383LT1 "Thumper" motor. That
"Thumper" motor had a cast 400 2-piece rear crankshaft, stock
LT1 con rods, Lunati flat top pistons and GM LT4 heads. That's
one good memory of the car I have when I towed it 1800 miles
round trip to Tulsa Oklahoma and visited Ed Wright at his shop.
He put the car on his chassis dyno and after the 1st pull Ed said,
"That motor is a Thumper". (I finally busted Thumpers cast
crank a few years ago and so now Thumper is part of
ERE-383 #4 owned by Terry Kehne...my 1st motor
sold as Ellwein Engines).


How many races have you won with it?
- Another hard question to answer accurately. I actually quit
keeping track, haha. Well, in 2008 I did not win one single race
so maybe I really do miss The Heavy Eliminator. I count about
37 wins, what I did was count trophies and maybe a few of them
were won by my other car, The Black Wolf. My favorite wins are
the 11 wins from my local track Maryland International Raceway
and the 5 National Impala SS Club wins, 1 ECIRS season
Championship and 14 ECIRS event wins. The National Impala
SS Club wins were the most satisfying because you travel so far
and you compete against people from all over the USA and
Canada. I like to boast that The Heavy Eliminator won at every
single National Impala SS event that it attended.
1999 Bowling Green Kentucky Bracket Race.
2003 Tulsa Oklahoma Bracket Race.
2003 Tulsa Oklahoma Pro Tree all motor.
2004 Las Vegas Nevada Pro Tree all motor.
2005 Pocono Pa (Island Dragway) Pro Tree all motor.
One fun race win that gives a good memory is when I was on
vacation driving The Heavy Eliminator from Maryland to
northern Michigan and I stopped at National Trails Raceway in
Ohio to win the King of the Track at an SLP Drag Day. That car
was dead-nuts reliable (as they say).


What is your tips to Dick to use the Heavy Eliminator in the best
possible way?
- The Impala SS is such a wonderful multi-purpose car it's hard
to suggest a best use. But I will simply suggest that Dick might
consider keeping the car mild like it is right now with the 350
motor and 4L60E tranny and he can cruise the streets of Sweden
(in the summer). But then take it to a few drag races and bracket
race every once in a while. But for bracket racing I suggest
pulling the 350 and the 4L60E and finding a nice reliable 383LT1
and TH400 and jet it for 175hp nitrous and go low 10's. Then
come back to TBDGIT and swap the street 350 and 4L60E
back in. Sound good?


What will be the reaction in the SS community in US? I guess most
of the good members think there's a missing car in their world?
- I think a mixed reaction. My racing buddies loved that car as
much as I did. But I have a feeling Dick will do some racing with
it and also he may let me be his driver and enter The Heavy
Eliminator into Pro ET at Santa Pod.


Plan for next year, if the world is still turning?
My goal is to win Pro ET at the Euro Finals as driver of
The Heavy Eliminator which is Owned by Dick Koning.

October 22

You better believe it and it happend already yesterday!
- I couldn't resist it, said Dick Koning, crew in Patrik Wikström's
Team Thriller OFAB Camaro. Dick sat in it the other day when we
had to move the cars for the TV-filming. (Scroll to October 15).
- Of course the good price was important but I have always had
small cars, coming from rallye and all that and when I sat down in
this Impala SS and realized how big it really was I said to myself
"This is me! I must have it!"
Then Dick, Sören "Fixarn" and Karl made up the business.
The day after the deal he took it for the test drive!
- It was a beautiful drive, distinct, good torque and wow what an
acceleration at 50-70 kmh!! But I took it easy, I'll wait for next
season when I will take it to the drag strips!
Will Karl have a chance to race it at Santa Pod as he wish?
- Yes, I think so, I'll be with Team Thriller and Karl can take my
car and compete with his friends in Pro ET over in UK.
- Maybe I can steal a run with it as well? smiled Dick.


Welcome Dick to the large and special Impala SS community!
You have just bought a very well known and special Impala SS
and there are many who will follow your story!
Shall I order a ProCharger for you...?




October 21

Old sins...


Look what I found in a box in my garage tonight! The 1983 ladder for
the annual title streetrace (illegal) in Umeå - "Quickest car in Town!"
which I of course won in my Whiplash Camaro! But the most
interesting is the semi-finals if you read the names, three of them
races Impala SS today 25 years later - Kent, Ola and Bostic!
Especially fun if you take a look at our race in Fällfors in July!
Also interesting is no 7: PA Challanger, that's the same guy
and car with 440 engine who won Stock/Super Stock at the
Veidec Nitro Festival this year! His Challenger runs in A/SA.
If you want a bigger pic of this ladder which is a lot easier to
read click here!

October 20

Congratulations Dr Hook!


Mike Harris, also called "Mr Mohook" from Dayton, Ohio has gotten
more and more hook in his 1994 Impala SS. The new record on the
Impala ET List for "All Motor" is 10.581 @ 125.31 mph and a super
60 foot time of 1.390. Set at Kil-Kare Dragway, Xenia, Ohio.
Quick facts: LT1 stroker 383 with 13:1+ static compression ratio.
4L60E transmission. 4.88 gears and 3800 lb weight.
Details here: Impala SS Dynamic ET List
And more discussions: ImpalaSSforum.com/DrHook



October 19

Report from the TV-shoot


Dan De Castro filming Jonas Mr Al Holt's 1964 Impala for Fifth Gear
Europe to be shown on Discovery Channel this winter! And they
filmed more cars, see report here: >5th_GEAR_EUROPE



October 17

3 months and 10 days


Welcome back home dearest Dodge baby! Now we will take care
of you! Thank all you who have been involved in getting this Wonder
Van back on its feet since the engine went down on July 7th,
the first day of our vacation!!




October 16

Fifth Gear Europe!


We had three English visitors yesterday. They were travelling around
Scandinavia doing footage and interviews on interesting cars for
the new series Fifth Gear Europe which will be shown on Discovery
Channel this winter. Blackout did what Blackout could.
It was fun to be on the other side of the equipment for once.


Beside Blackout they also filmed Patrik Wikström and crew with
their Pro Mod Camaro, even starting it indoors! And they filmed
Jonas Mr Al Holt Impalakungens lowrider Impala. And then "all
American cars present on a convoy on the street here"

Hawkeye also filmed with his phone:
youtube.com/BlackoutSSburnforFifthGearEurope1
youtube.com/BlackoutSSburnforFifthGearEurope2

We've got so many nice pictures from this happy event so I'll be
back soon with a special page for the whole story.




October 15

Make up and Rehearsal


Suddenly all cars in TDBGIT were kicked to life and polished. We're
going to be filmed on Thursday and therefore needed to get all things
back in order again. Karl's SS needed to be moved so I could back
out Blackout SS. Last night Jonas and I searched the reason for the
recent vibes in my car and we gladly found out that it wasn't the
transmission output shaft after all! It was loose but possibly not too
much. It was the slicks/inliners so I had them re-arranged and vibes
disappeared! So now I can hit the pedal again without worries!
At least in burnouts, transmission is not OK in shiftings.


Dick got an awekening last night! He just fell in love in Karl's Heavy
Eliminator when he understood that he actually could buy it! But then
Tony Tight came and understood the same thing. Growing rivalry.


Yep! Also the OFAB Thriller Team worked all evening to get their
Pro Mod Camaro up and running for the TV-team tomorrow! They
started the engine indoors and for a couple of minutes things like
finance crisis, empty banks and Hyping Journalists Without
Borders vanished - and it felt so damn good!
Report from shooting tomorrow!




October 11

Gold Town report done!


Click bar above!


Finally the second race report is done from our Norrland Tour. Maybe
there are some wrong facts or language misses I will change.
I would like to thank all photographers who always let me use their
pictures in my reports. I would also like to thank everybody in
SHRA-Skellefteå for their hard work and nice attitude in making the
Gold Town Dragrace memorable for all racers.




October 9

Quick October Course
How to weld in Cast Iron


Part 1: Go to Jonas Mr Al Holt at Weld Done. That's it. No more is
needed really to get it done.


Part 2: What he's doing? Well, he is hammering the area around the
cracks to release any eventual tension in the cast iron. And it's also
very fun to hammer loudly in a garage so the neighbours can hear
that you are awake and busy. And you get rid off old rust layers etc.


Part 3: Here's the best part, to use your air tools so the neighbours
wish they had the same equipment. Very professional noise if you
compare to the hammer which anyone can use.


Part 4: The pre-heating is not that noisy but it's getting warmer in the
garage. And mostly on the cast iron exhaust manifold.


Part 5: Now you wish the neighbours would enter your garage and
see for themselves that you not only are a TIG-welder but you also
have a Dart Vader mask! And can weld in on of the trickiest
materials around - cast iron. They will understand that you probably
also is using the right electrodes for cast iron. But you can also
mention it for them just to be sure.


Part 6: Now total silence and cooling for a while. Jonas says: "No
matter how thoroughly you go about it, it's only a 50 % chance
it will last and no more cracks will appear". Anyway, the exhaust
manifold for our 3.8 L V6 is now fixed and our dear, missed Dodge
Grand Caravan is soon on the streets again. Thanks Jonas!




October 7

Thanks Kenneth!


Kenneth Feldthusen delivered my 3.8 L Dodge V6 today. Renovated
like new. Machined crank and one rod. New bearings and rings and
cam chain and much more. Also new AC pump and servo since they
were broke long time ago. All new parts from Autoshop, Orlando.
One issue left is that (inner) exhaust manifold which is cracked
(common). It's a hard to find item, used anyway. Maybe the
Weld King Jonas "Weld Done" Mr Al Holt can weld cast iron
with a good result? If he can't, no one can...


Goodie!


I just had to show you this magnificent Bolero tomato plant! Still
delivering fruits in October after such a hard season which could
be described as a SEAL-training for tomatoes.
More: >BOLERO_X_TOMATOES





October 4

Sneak preview




I'm still working on the Sunday report and also some other things will
be added on the other days. Click the bar and Enjoy.




Cinnamon Bun's Day


Today it's the Cinnamon Bun's day in Sweden. Hooray!! We have "fika"
at least twice a day at work or free time. A coffee break to socialize with
others for a while, typicly 10 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. This
bun is the main ingredient for a quality fika which we have maybe once
a week. Everybody cheer when someone is bringing "kanelbullar" to
the table! That person will be well thought of for days! It's also a belief
in Sweden that people is getting kind when they have a "kanelbulle".
wikipedia on Cinnamon roll
Recipe
www.kanelbullensdag.se



September 28

Fällfors soon!


The Fällfors report is coming along bit by bit. But other things must
be done as well...



This is the explanation


I've been busy helping Agneta with her new room. Things just don't
make themselves happen. Not even IKEA.


And it's not done yet.


I'm also working in the backyard digging dirt to fill the hole and
prepare for the new lawn behind the garage. I'm glad I had help
from Mr Forester.


Axel drove the Skoda today.



Another very funny video!


Ex. F1 driver Riccardo Patrese just doing what he's used to do.
Thanks Condor for this hilarious YouTube link!
youtube.com/patresedriveswife

BTW, here's a sharp picture by Condor of Patrese from Mantorp in 1976 when he raced for the F3 European Championship.
Yes, Patrese has got this picture from Condor on his wall...



September 25

Hahahahahaaaaa!


Here's a funny film! Released by Lindberg Bros who had a strong first
year in Top Doorslammer in Sweden in 2008 and also took a couple
of test rides in Pro Mod with their BAE stage 5 Nova '67.
A lot of laughter in that team as you'll see.
This film is funny but also serious, and a damn good production.
lindbergbros.com/movie
Their website with more fun videos: http://www.lindbergbros.com/




Ouch!


This is the cut that ends the Bolero X story here at the NEWS page
over the winter. Now the seeds will dry until April and then distributed
to other drag racers who have booked a couple of seeds to grow
their own Bolero X tomatoes in 2009! They will also get certificates.
Unlike the rumour it didn't get red/black, only red, but that's OK.
This was the No 1 of the fruits on the wine, hopefully most of the
remaining 10 fruits will also ripe?
Yes, the tomato was sooo sweet and tasty! More about this at the
new page at Galleries:

> BOLERO X TOMATOES





September 23

Viggen stop'n'go... Wow!


Just look at this brutal Swedish air plane show off its capacity in
quick stop and start! Even if Saab's latest air plane Gripen is more
sophisticated technically, it never gets more awesome than this!
Ever since I wrote the report from the drag race at Pite Dragway, a
former air force field for the Viggen plane, my friend the photographer
Patrik Jakobsson and I have sent links to each other of pictures
and film clips of the Swedish Air Force and their planes. However,
Patrik has not answered my emails concerning tomatoes...
But this short clip you must see, and turn up the volume!
Click: youtube.com/watchViggen



September 21

Hot Tomato!


My friend Tommy Aga dared to complain to me that it was too much
tomatoes and too little drag racing on this site for the moment.
Well, the visiting statistics is still not hurting. It's actually growing
with the Bolero Tomato!
But what can I do for the not so patient hard core racers? I can't
really make up races for me to write about, can I?
I'm currently writing about the race we had in Fällfors with Karl, Kent
and Ola in July and it's not done yet (I'm doing other stuff too).
Until my release of the Gold Town race in Fällfors you can visit the
site from where the above picture comes. It's a very nice nostalgic
site with pictures and stories of Swedish cars in the early years of
drag racing, street racing and hot rodding!
Enjoy: race68.com



September 19

Bolero now Red!


And now what?



September 17

Bolero now in Color!


It was green three days ago. Yesterday yellow. Today orange.
When will we see it in the promised red/black Impala SS colors?


Giant cabbage invasion


This is what Agneta has been growing during the summer at the
cottage in Dalsland. Loads of them! Among other tasty things.
It is also a clue to what her work will be in that room of hers that
she's been building in our house. Today Axel got a haircut, he
ordered a "rock'n'roll" design. The colors in his hair look like
what I think the Bolero X tomato will look like?


Handlebar Horror!


Ullevi Stadium 1989 or 1990. There was a U21 Championship in
Speedway (youngsters up to 21 years old). But this tough guy was in
his lower 30's and in the pause he won a "Celebrity Race" for media
people. They were the author Tommy Rander and two journalists
the from local morning paper Göteborgs-Posten who suddenly found
themselves in the dust behind this Daredevil Bostic Bolero!
Beware! 500 cc and no brakes!
I remember what a scary feeling the Speedway bike delivered
when the throttle handle was turned! The advice you got was:
"Too low revs in the start and you'll flip over, you must spin"
I spun the tire allright, but then a few very powerful strokes later
there was a turn! "You must slide through the corners..."
No one of us did any sliding. We simply wanted to come home!
It felt like surviving was the name of the game on this monster
machine but I guess it looked like four mopedists looking for
a parking? You couldn't hear the laughs through the noise.
The bike I'm sitting on here
is a 4 valve Weslake but the race was won on a 4 valve
Godden, both bikes owned by my friend the International
Speedway Star Chris Condor who raced for real.
Thanks for the picture Condor!
A very nice memory!
I remember the comment back then from my friend Thomas
Öhman in Umeå when he saw these pictures - "And I always
believed that The Flying Barrel was an airplane"





September 16

Art from Putte Lundmark


My old friend Jan "Putte" Lundmark from Umeå who you could read a
little about in the Pite race report sent me this nice image which is
based on his own photo and some work in a program he found in his
computer which smears the background like this. Was the program
connected to Photoshop at all? Anyway, I will frame it and display
it in TBDGIT together with my other nice art. Thanks Putte!




September 14

Last roll of 2008


We had a photo session today and I'm sure that was the last time
the OFAB Thriller Camaro was on the outside this season. It really
never got to perform the way the team hoped and expected after so
much experimenting with new ideas. But that's the way to do it!
And it was a terrible season with too few runs for all.
Still, a big Congratulations for climbing from 5th to 4th place in
the FIA Pro Mod Championship!


Don't smoke in the car Dick! Cars like these are not used to smoke...
Not so little smoke that is.




September 13

Checked by the Pro's


Agneta's parents Thore and Sonia were interested in my first tomato
plant. And they thought it looked good but also said it's late. Maybe
too late for it to deliver? They grow hundreds of tomatoes every
year, but have never had the Bolero plant.





September 12

Timeslips


I'm currently working with the report from the Gold Town Dragrace at
Fällfors in North of Sweden, close to town Skellefteå - She-Left-You!
Just wanted to throw this tidbit to you. Ahh summer!



Norwegian 1964 Impala
racing convertible puts
America on its toes!


This picture is now getting the Americans at the Impala SS Forum
excited! It's an old picture that is published by our friend Blazerteam
in Mo I Rana, Norway. It shows when their NARS class was running,
National Amcar Racing Series. Blazerteam is racing a Chevelle
himself. More fun reading about the big cars here:
www.impalassforum.com/64thread




Golden Drops 4 Sale!


55 L for 2200 SKR!
I have a sealed metal drum with the VP Motorsport 109 Octane for
sale! Powerfuel unleaded Golden Drops from the 2008 batch.
Thinking of you who will make a last effort before the snow, maybe
at Winternationals at MECA in Malmö this weekend. Drum is in
Gothenburg but can probably be delivered in Malmö.
Go for it!
Call 0706-000 303





September 11

Amazing no-action


Karl Ellwein's famous "Heavy Eliminator" Impala SS is still parked in
TBDGIT. No one has come forward with an interest to buy it, which
is pretty amazing when thinking about what you get for that price.
It doesn't matter for us in TBDGIT, I'm even a bit glad. It's Karl and
Sören "Fixarn" Fjellstedt together that got the idea of selling this
perfect street'n'strip SS, with one condition - Karl still wants to race
with it at Santa Pod next year, which also would be a good chance
for insight and knowledge transfer for the new owner...
Well well, the next owner must also consider the fact that his new
car will make him/her quite known in our community and that
maybe scares him/her off? Who knows?
But Karl, you see that The Heavy Eliminator has it cosy in TBDGIT.

Check it out: http://www.blackout.nu/4-sale_HVYELIM.htm
Swedish: http://www.usabil.nu/databas/Detalj.asp?ID=82394





September 9

Come on! You can do it!


This is also a very exciting business - to grow tomatoes! I'm getting
a bit worried whether Bolero will deliver the eight spotted fruits before
its life is over, or not? Since it's getting colder each day I've put the
whole thing inside our house from the veranda and put a daylight
lamp on top of it so it will have a better chance. First thing I do every
day when coming home is to check the fruits. Lamp is out at 9 pm
every night. Put on 8 AM every morning.
Fingers crossed.




September 7

A terrible race! Thanks!


Glued to the live report at Eurodragster.com for hours on an otherwise
nice Sunday. And switching like an idiot between their webcam and
the well written report by Tog. I had no nails left on my fingers after
this dramatic report of the dramatic race! No beers either!
FIA European Finals more or less rained out. Well for all Sportsman
it rained out. It rained all Thursday, all Friday, all Saturday and
sprinkles on Sunday. Between those sprinkles the organizers
had the Pro classes make just one (1) Qualification round and then
go straight for Eliminations on that! My God! I think I loved it!?
And I loved the fact that Karl, Kent and I weren't there with our
Impalas as planned - we wouldn't have had one single run...

At 19:20:46 local time the webcam randomly (every 60 seconds) froze
the moment when our friend Patrik Wikström raced Micke Gullqvist
in the Quarterfinals. It sure looked like he lost here but you had to
wait for the whole class to run to read about it on Tog's report. Yes,
team Thriller lost. Micke got his revenge from last year's Final run.
And 25 minutes later the race was called off because of rain.
NOOOOOO!


Same moment caught by Patrik Jacobsson. Actually Wikström
had the better Reaction time 0.124 to Micke's 0.133 but then lost
already at the 60 foot and it continued all the way with a 6.48 @ 220
MPH to Micke's quickest PM-time of the day 6.16 @ 226.
All details here in Tog's report on Eurodragster.com


Mikael Lindahl needed at least to qualify into the 16 car field to be
able to run 1st round so he could clinch the Championship and he
almost didn't manage to qualify! I almost died in front of my lap top!
He got the Camaro into the very bump with a shaking, jumping, up
on two or three wheels 7.77!


Can you see on these guys who actually won their 1 st round battle?
They both smile like winners. Mikael Lindahl on the left smiled even
if he lost the round to Roger Johansson, because he knew that it
now would be impossible for Robert Joosten to catch up in points
anyway, so his smile is for the Championship win.

Twins Wigs!


Always happy smiling, and now for a very good reason! As FIA
Pro Mod Champions they will be invited to the FIA banquet and the
Prize Giving Ceremony in Monaco with His Serene Highness Prince
Albert together with other FIA champs in Formula 1 and World
Rally Championship and more. I wonder if they will wear these
King 1 and King 2 wig hats along with their tuxedos?
Hope they do for a picture at least!

Big Congratulations from TBDGIT
to all Winners from five countries:

Top Fuel Dragster: Andy Carter, England
Top Methanol Dragster: Peter Schöfer, Germany
Top Methanol Funny Car: Ulf Leanders, Sweden
Pro Modified: Micke Lindahl, Sweden
Pro Stock: Jimmy Ålund, Sweden

Top Fuel Bike: Ian King, England
Supertwin: Sven Olav Rolfstad, Norway
Pro Stock Bike: Fredrik Fredlund, Åland

More action pictures:
www.racebilder.nu
www.eurodragster.com
www.nitroexposure.co.uk

September 6

Flamholc to Pro Mod!


We've read about the test drive on his blog and now it's official.
He bought this 2006 Tim McAmis Camaro with a Newberry/Veney
526 Hemi! The team will race in Top Doorslammer in the TSDS
series and at least two races in Pro Mod. The reason for changing
from Pro Stock to a Pro Mod car is the fewer and fewer races for
Pro Stock. The sport is growing but the number of opportunities
for racing a Pro Stock is declining, and Adam wants to
expose his sponsors more often.
Good luck Adam in adding more fuel into the fire!

http://flamholcdragracing.blogg.se





September 4

The loooooongest race


Finally it's here. The report and our memories from our first race on The Norrland Tour. Click the bar!
Warning - it can be time consuming! =)




September 3

Thriller vs Time


In to the very last minute before the ferry left for England the Thriller
team worked their OFAB Pro Mod Camaro to make it ready. Patrick
has been here in TBDGIT around the clock after the engine breaking
race in Hockenheim to not only fix the engine but also implement
a completely new setup. The Never Give Up Award goes to him.


It was soo much controlled panic the last rush hour in the garage I
couldn't witness it to the end, I didn't want to disturb and I didn't
want to see them miss the ferry. Team members from Roger
Johansson's came by and cheered. I called Dick Koning later and
he was just entering the ferry with the OFAB bus and he said that they
even had taken the time to start the engine before loading it!! Pheew!
The action waiting at Santa Pod and the final battle of the
Bilsport FIA European Pro Mod Championship must
be a walk in the park compared to this!? =)

Pro Modified Points Standings:
1. Mikael Lindahl Sweden 302
2. Marc Meihuizen Netherlands 239
3. Robert Joosten Netherlands 210
4. Patrik Wikström Sweden 207
5. Mats Eriksson Sweden 202

Good Luck Team Thriller from The Blackout Team
Follow it here:

eurodragster.com




August 31

Final run of Gentle Giant


Kent Edin tried to conquer all the small problems in his Gentle Giant
Impala SS at the last race in Piteå this weekend. The aim was a
first 10-second run but it stopped at 11.94 with new problems...


Low boost thanks to the unhooked tube to the "pressure burger" and
that was forgotten in the Big Disassembly Project when the need of
renovation of the MSD Optispark occurred. Again. That means that
a lot of things have to come loose just to access the Optispark.
Kent, I know that the racing seasons disappear quickly when
dealing with problems like these!


...at least you are still running on the very same rubber belt!
More about this later. We'll have an evaluation of the first season
of "Gentle Giant" and the "King of Spades" engine on Kent's page.



August 30

No mosquitos!

Kent on phone from Pite Dragway this morning:
"I've just passed inspection but it's rainy and cold, smoke puffs
out of your mouth when you talk. So I don't talk so much. At least
there are no mosquitos around anymore, it's too cold for them,
that's good. But I don't think it will start at 11 as planned because
of the rain. They have promised better weather.

It must be a 10 second run already in the first try, it feels really
good now with the new spark plugs and less timing and things.
We've been studying the loggings carefully at home.
One problem is that converter only stalls up to 2000 RPM while
the camshaft is from 4000 RPM so I'll do some flashings today
as well, I call you when something to tell. A special
hello to Karl".

This report will now continue at
>Pit Lane ..>General Discussion ..>Kent's Revenge


While waiting on Kent Reports...enjoy this!


Click picture to get a 1280 x 1024 wallpaper!
This is Ingemar Norberg's picture from Midnight Sun Internationals
where he has captioned the heavy feeling when Karl and I met in
the Quarterfinals on Sunday night. Yes, I'm working on the report
from this race, will be up this weekend.



August 28

Kent is going hunting


Kent is going back to Pite Dragway and the Autumn Championship
this weekend to pick up where he left off in his sorting out of the
"Gentle Giant" Impala SS. Actually he only got three (!) timed runs at
the Midnight Sun Internationals in July and stopped at 11.075 @
203 KMH / 126 MPH. The best 60-foot time 1.752 clearly indicated
that power was not there. It came later in the runs but with misfires.
So Kent, all of us within the Impala SS community wish
you good hunting. At least bring back a 10!
Follow it here: www.shralulea.se




August 26

Dodge V6 to be renovated


Condor and Kim helping to unload my broken 3.8 L Dodge V6 at
Kenneth Feldthusen's garage. Kenneth has promised to help me to
renovate this old faithful since I can't find a similar engine with low
miles on it. Thanks Kenneth and son Kim, and thanks Condor who
brought his trailer and the better part of the day to help me fix this.



August 24

Back at the back


It was a long time ago since I had time to work on the home garage
project. But this warm Sunday I could finally do the stone bricks on
the back side. Axel was also at the site, at least when we had the
hot chocolate and coffee break.


After a whole day of digging and sorting it was done. Next step is to
fill in dirt and top it with new lawn. Some day. =)
More here: >THE_CLOSEST_DAMN_GARAGE_IN_TOWN



August 23

Neighbour Crayfish party


Axel is an expert on crayfish, unlike his daddy.


It was a nice initiative with a Crayfish party for the neighbours on the
street. And it was really a crawling distance to home. Cheers!


"Love me tender" exactly like it would have been written by Tommy
Aga, Tony Tight and me! This is the way we always prefer to write
and talk "English" to each other. We sang a lot of songs this evening.


Even puppy Isidor wanted us to stay longer... =)




August 22

This is a 3-speed Lenco


The Bruno's model.


Bolero X reproduction


He has certainly grown a giant this summer, even though he's been
around everywhere (scroll down to August 10 for details). He needs
three different sticks to lean on! And he's reproducing at full speed!


Seven Bolero X tomatoes and counting =)
And they will be black and red! Like the Impala SS colors!


It's in the mailbox


Yesterday the lid came loose from my mailbox. I bought it 11 years
ago at Home Depot in Orlando for $ 7.99 so I can't really complain.


But I had to fix it with two new nuts'n'bolts instead of rivets. Just in
time before my fix was delivered. Will it stand for another 11 years?



August 20

Selling is the new thing!


1 more year. 3500 more km - now a 500 km total. Same good
standard. Lower price.
We're again selling our beloved 2005 Solifer T1 - The World's
Quickest Caravan!! - now for 189.000 SKR in a quick deal.
I hope that I don't change my mind again... =)
My very first ad on blocket.se:
www.blocket.se/Solifer T1



August 19

Heavy Eliminator for sale!
And I thought that was only a fun talk around the campfire...



Click here to find out more about it!




Sharky at Bonneville!


He did it! Sharkman is at Bonneville salts in Utah USA dressed in his
Blackout t-shirt and all! Nice looks buddy! Must be hot with a black
outfit in that sun...?


He's here for the Speedweeks and sent these pictures from his
hotel room.


This is the Turbinator of Don Vesco which currently is the fastest
wheel driven car in the world!


And Sharky, please keep an eye open for John Madeley and his
200+ MPH Impala SS with 572 BB! More about him here!

Thanks for the pictures Sharky! They can be seen a little bigger at
the updated Sharkman-page at >BLACKOUT_FASHION_GROUP

Then we look forward to seeing Sharky's Bonneville pictures here:
www.topendtales.com




August 18

Psst!


Bolero X No 2.




August 17

Twins win!


Congratulations to the win in Pro Mod at Hockenheim! And to the
new European top speed record of 388.31 KMH / 241.28 MPH!
-It's their first ever win in Pro Mod and they're certainly worth it, and
it was so cool because they also had their parents here at the race,
said Tommy Aga, Team Thriller, on the phone from Germany.
We have a favourite team in our TBDGIT (besides our own teams)
and that is the Lindahl twins' Kendall Oil Camaro from Vargön.
I think everyone really has this team as favourites because of
their always smiling, easy going and helpful way.
Now they'll be going to the European Finals at Santa Pod 4 - 7th
September as Bilsport FIA Pro Mod Championship leaders!


Also a big congratulations to Micke Kågered who won the Top Fuel
class at NitrolympX in the Bilsport/Bancho dragster! Being the
only Swede among all the Erbachers, Carters, Joons, Neergaards
and Finnish hard hitters! Björn Sundqvist tells me that Micke has
been in 11 FIA Top Fuel finals since 2001 and won 6 of them!
Last time in Norway at Gardermoen in 2004, so it was really
welcomed again!
Micke also set a new PB of 4.803 @ 492 KMH / 305 MPH!
He will also have a fight for the FIA Top Fuel Championship at
Santa Pod in September!
Lovely!


...meanwhile in TBDGIT...


"Click!" I'm glad that I did a quick coupling for the automatic
transmission oil pressure last year.


And I'm glad that the pressure was very good in every gear. However,
the trans still needs to be overhauled. The clutch slip on the Drive
gear is nothing I want to experience once again...



Instead of Santa Pod


Since we can't go racing at European Finals Santa Pod as planned
we can't play at their fair either. So we did our local Liseberg instead.
This first laugh of Axel when going on the moderate (on the terrible
scale) "Bergbanan" roller coaster paid for the whole evening.


Axel is now the bravest in our family! This "Spinrock" he did twice!
Then "Balder", "Cannon Ball" and many other very terrible
inventions that he went on - without his chicken parents on the
ground which he always waved to. Absolute worst was
"Uppswinget" which was so bad that the pale parents almost
couldn't have their eyes open. And Axel shut up!


"Kållerado" rafting is more fun for the whole family. It's fairly long in
duration and you never know if you will get by? Agneta was hit here...


...by a water snake! You are suddenly attacked by these jumping
water snakes which randomly hit the people in the turning rafts!
I must confess, I just love "Kållerado". We all do.


But "Tyrolen" is the best ride, ze Bayerische restaurant und bierstube
where the parents can take a rest from the tiresome looking at all
the attractions. This cold one was straight and sympathetically for
our buddies in OFAB Team Thriller and their struggle all the way
to the bad Red Light at Hockenheim.
Prost!




August 16

Just another day in paradise


Axel and I woke up early this Saturday and didn't want to wake up
Agneta so we sneaked out and picked up an Egg McMuffin breakfast
and went straight to TBDGIT. Sun, warm, silence...


...for a while at least! Axel's big thing today was to ride his PeeWee
again. Well, doing burnouts with it is his focus. It hasn't started for
months due to unknown problems. We got Sören "Fixarn's"
15 year old moped wizard son "Zacke" to try fixing it, and he did!
So "Zacke" is also becoming a "fixer"! Thanks!


Another nice box from Birgitta at Autoshop in Orlando! Some good
stuff in here. You'll never grow up, this is Christmas!


Now I own the Serial No 002 of Norberg Racecars' 2" headers
tailormade for B-body / Impala SS! Will soon test them...


They really are together now.


Nice T-shirt! Agneta works every day to finish her new room.


Nice blouse. And mosaic.


BBQ. We treat every warm sunny evening in August as the last one
of the year. You never know. Of curiosity we tried one of the wines
from the news shelf at our famous Systembolaget - from China!
It was a Cabernet Sauvignon named "Dragon Seal". We thought,
"OK the Chinese can copy and produce everything, but not wine..."
Wrong! It was very veyro verry wero goodiea...ga..gido...
They must really hate this wine in France! Who knows, maybe that
grape came from China hundreds of years ago, in the first place?


A red light.
Then we heard that Patrik Wikström lit a red bulb in Hockenheim
in the first round of Eliminations for Pro Mod on Saturday evening!
Sorry sorry sorry! Team Thriller has run out of their luck for the
moment! Now come home boys to The Best Damn Garage In
Town soon so I can brew you a good kettle of coffee!
Follow the other racers here Eurodragster.com



August 15

Key


We were happy to go back to the harbour to get Karl's SS when their
staff finally had broken into the car to get the key, and the new Sami
key ring which Karl bought on the tour when in Lapland.


Delicious ride to TBDGIT. Especially through the tunnel. Yes, yes, of
course I throttled up just to hear the sound banging on the walls!
What would you've done?




August 13

Babies are back in town!


But the harbour staff managed to lock the doors on Karl's SS, with
the keys on the inside. Sören "Fixarn" (to the left from his son
Zacke) had to call this harbour company to have them to hire a
locksmith so we can get Karl's car another day.
I could take mine home today.


What a good feeling to drive it again, even in rain.



Keeping my promise


Do you remember my News report from when we filmed for Volvo
Cars / LIV Magazine on frozen lakes - February 14-17 - and I
promised to give you the link to the finished films when Volvo
released them?
Well here they are, a bunch of them actually:

www.volvocars.com/LIV

Dockhouse made and delivered the films at:
* The Volvo Cars Driving Academy
* Volvo and safety
* Volvo and the environment
* Volvo's advertising

Enjoy! =)

August 12

They made it


The big red OFAB bus is entering the Stena ferry to Kiel just in time!
I guess it didn't take many minutes before this hard working
Thriller Team got a beer in one of the bars. Cheers and good
luck at NitrolympX at Hockenheim coming weekend!
We'll follow it at Eurodragster.com




August 11

The Great Train Snobbery


This morning the rumble was heard again in Umeå at Ola's place. It
was time to drive Karl's and my Impala to the train for transport to
Gothenburg - at last! But first Ola managed to take a nice photo of
the three Impalas, including his own Dark Cherry, and that's the
three different colors they came in.
"...you have just three color choices: black, black or black"
as Chevrolet said in their ads 14 years ago.

"And everybody's saying that there's nobody meaner
Than the little old lady from Pasadena
She drives real fast and she drives real hard
She's the terror of Colorado Boulevard"
Not that old maybe but this lady Karin Jonasson in Umeå has driven
more cars that you and me combined! Her husband and son are also
working there with loading and unloading train transports every day.
And they reverse the cars through the wagons like they were driving
forward on an open road!
It really looks like Hell Drivers, you can only look with one eye.
So - when unloading the Impalas July 10th I raised my hand and
said I wanted to unload my own car myself and they said OK.
Crash!!!
Can you see what's missing on my SS in the picture above?
Yep, the driver's outside rear mirror...
So I'm glad that the little lady from Pasadena did it this time.

Karl's SS is already in there and mine is on its way. There's no
problem forward - but backing them up through the narrow doors
between the wagons...it's tight!


I hope they will be as anxious on clearance in Gothenburg as the
Jonasson family in Umeå is!? Wooden planks were used here to
clear the transmission tray...


When parked inside, there is a lot of space for the Train Queens.
Thanks Ola and Kent and the Jonasson family for getting the
Impalas aboard today! We expect them on Wednesday.

And a Big Congratulation to Kent Edin who
also had his 41st birthday today!
Hope you had a nice day!

August 10

-What time is it?


...I mean where is my watch?
Patrik Wikström seemed to be quite in control today alone in TBDGIT,
even if the ferry to Kiel, Germany and the FIA-race in Hockenheim will
leave on Tuesday! Everything's out of the OFAB Pro Mod Thriller
Camaro and the heads are lying here! Fresh from The Twins Lindahl
who made a new nice valve seat job in them.
As you can see there are no Impalas in the background! They are
still in Umeå but are said to arrive in Gothenburg on Wednesday.
I guess I have less chance than Patrik for another race this season
since the 4L80E transmission must get out of the car, get fixed,
and back into the car. The last 1/4-mile on a prepared track is
Right On Street Finals at Gardermoen Raceway 22 - 24 August.
Except for Euro Finals at Santa Pod in September which we can't
go to. Let's see what happens.



Bolero X is born!


We saw it today! The first fruit on our Bolero tomato! Now it will be
very interesting to see how many they will be and how they taste!
Thore Rooth, my father in law, a tomato grower and expert, has
already booked a fruit from us to get the seeds to plant more
of the Bolero X - because he thinks "this one will be tough"
True, just think of what he's been through:

Bolero X roots
* Bolero was given to us from Tony & Lotta 15.00 PM May 25 2008
* Has travelled 3551 KM in a Solifer T1 Caravan, World's Quickest!
* Has been far north of the Arctic Circle.
* Has seen the Midnight Sun
* Has seen 7 reindeers on the loose.
* Has visited the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi.
* Has been fighting thousands of mosquitos.
* Has been standing outside in several heavy rains.
* Has been in Finland.
* Has outgrown one pot and got a large one from IKEA Haparanda.
* Got new soil in Jävre in north of Västerbotten State.
* Has been on service at Vårdinge.
* Has been to three dragraces in three weeks and knows what loud
sounds, rubber smoke and nitromethane feel like.
* Has been watered by Funny Car pilot Leif Helander at Mantorp.
* Has been sleeping outside all over Sweden several cold nights,
maybe even some frosty nights?
* Understands both Swedish and English.
* Flirts with Alcea rosea (scroll down to August 6)
...and more. Yes, this will be a unique tomato - Bolero X




Agneta's Project


We have been doing a lot of work in the old sauna. Now it's time for
tiling both the walls and floor so we used laser to get some straight
lines to begin with. More later =)



Pite Dragway report...


I'm doing a part now and then and keep going as long as I enjoy
doing it of course. I have a lot of pictures to choose from now
because I have help from more good photographers than ever before!
Give me a couple of more days, I still need some things out of my
SS to get this report done and it arrives this week, but then it will
also be much hectic work with the transmission...hm...?
Reality vs. Reports





August 6

Bolero's very well!


Many have asked about "Bolero the Tomato" which we took with us
on our Norrland Tour. And he's bigger and stronger than ever before
and has even passed his friends on our glassed veranda! Here he's
outside flirting with some of our Alcea rosea to get some nice sex
with the bumble bees to get the fruits going, even if he doesn't need
that because he's a Hermaphrodite. Sex just 4 fun, that's him.


Pite report's coming on!


I'm working with the reports from our recent races in Norrland. There's
so much to tell, like how our friend American Karl Ellwein took on the
much talked about Surströmming which my wife Agneta packed
so nicely in thin bread and things. And of course how our Impala SS
racing was. Hang in there!


Sorry, no Santa Pod!


The breakage of 3.8 L Dodge V6 in our 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan
at the very beginning of our Norrland Or Bust Tour was worse than
we hoped for - crank bearings turned and all! And I can't find any low
miles 3.8 L engines to buy so this one has to be renovated.
That alone kills my economical chances of going to Santa Pod and
the European Finals this year.
Also Karl and Kent think it will be too much to handle getting this
planned trip to the UK done the way we wanted. Instead we have
agreed on next year to pick up where we left off.
Possibly Kent will race at Sundsvall August 15-17 (on the entries
reserve list) but for sure at Piteå Autumn Championship Aug. 30-31.
I will make a try to get to another race before the snow. If I only get
that £@¤#&/&/ transmission fixed once and for all. But the Impalas
are still in Umeå... Time is tight, as the economy.



July 31

Thriller in Finland


I almost forgot to show you these pictures that Tobbe Ekström sent
to me the same day we were leaving for our Norrland or Bust Tour.


It's some action pics from TBDPIA (The Best Damn Pit In Alastaro)
where the OFAB Thriller Camaro was involved in a lot of work.


This is the way Patrik Wikström does a quick check on eventual valve
leakage. Team Thriller actually won the Pro Mod class and came out
of the 3rd leg of the FIA European Pro Mod Championship on top
with friends Lindahl twins in 2nd.

Thriller at Mantorp


1st Qualification round at Veidec Festival, Mantorp Park, Sweden.
4th leg of the Pro Mod Championship. Lindahl stormed to a 6.26 and
didn't wait for Patrik 6.94. Patrik almost didn't qualify due to many
different and new problems. Was finally into the field with a boring
6.41 but was taken out in the first round by revenging Lindahl.
Team Thriller was still glad for other things in their Camaro which
they were looking for and are now anxious to get to Hockenheim.

Championship points standings and full reports from every race at:

eurodragster.com

Remaining FIA-races:
15 - 17th August: Nitrolympx, Hockenheim, Germany
4 - 7th Sept. - FIA European Finals, Santa Pod Raceway, England




July 29

The Säve report is here


Just a few days before going north, I had to test the car to see
that everything was OK. It wasn't.

Click banner below:






July 25

Home to base after a
3551 km* round trip
*2206 Miles.
The Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash
is approximately 3000 miles.


Axel kept his parents from floating away when we tried the levitation
at the Arctic Circle. Also Karl Ellwein could do the trick, which you'll
see later in our Report.

We actually did it! We followed the plan presented at RACES 2008
Much material now has been gathered from our three recent races
in Säve, Piteå and Fällfors. Plus from the adventures in between.
In waiting for these editorial and pictorial reports to be presented
you're welcome to see the daily/hourly reports from this trip at
>Pit Lane >NORRLAND_OR_BUST_TOUR




July 7

The Fixarn
"Norrland or Bust Tour"
speeds up now!

Follow our reports at PitLane forum which will be taken care of
by Mr Editor Hawkeye!
Our races will be at The Midnight Sun Internationals at Piteå
Dragway 11-13 July and the weekend after at Gold Town Dragrace
at Fällfors 18-20 July. And amazing stuff in between... =)

You will find >Pit Lane on the list to the left.
If you want to see what our plan is: >RACES_2008


Parked in the docks again, awaiting to be transported by train to
Umeå. Cool thing that Sören "Fixarn" and Nordtrafik pulled off!
Happy ride Blackout and Heavy Eliminator! See you in a
couple of days!


It was no problem to drive them through the traffic. And they were
so seriously nice together!
As you can imagine I haven't had any chance to update and create
a race report from Säve test the other day. You have to wait for that.



July 6


Once again Patrik Wikström & The OFAB Thriller Team managed to
win a huge FIA Pro Mod field even though they didn't have the
quickest car. They are still working on that issue...
Congratulations buddies, hard work pays off again - and then luck
is earned! All results from Alastaro FHRA Nitro Nationals:
www.FHRA_Nitro Nationals_Results

Even more detailed and each run commented by Eurodragster.com:
www.eurodragster.com/live/2008FHRA.NitroNationals/Sunday

A boring day in TBDGIT


Today it was just boring work for everybody at our garage. Packing
all our things for the Norrland Tour in our vehicles. Actually I don't
think it's boring, neither does Agneta, on the contrary it's uplifting!
But Axel had to empty the DOT-slicks and unscrew them from the
wheels. We will change to our new 29" pure Hoosier slicks
tomorrow morning before driving the Impalas to the train transport
around noon. We are on waiting for the Monday train, but it will be
no later than Tuesday. This will of course also decide when we're
leaving with our Dodge/Solifer caravan circus. The train will arrive in
Umeå before we do. So Kent will drive the Impalas off the train.


Aha! I was going through the SS and while making the valve
adjustment I found a broken spark plug connector for cylinder # 5
which I changed to a new one. This is what happens if you need
a tool to press the connector to its "click" on the spark plug.
# 5 is extremely close to the header pipe so it may have had
some short circuit disturbance going on?
AND - I found out that the Meziere electric waterpump or its wiring
has broken! That explains the hot engine.


Solifer caravan, Dodge minivan and Blackout SS are packed.
Karl's SS has been ready for days. We're now ready and on
standby for whatever train departure it will be.



July 5

Blackout Premiere Run!


My friend the Master Photographer Chris Condor showed up at local Säve Airfield and Bilsport
Magazine's "A Day At The Drag Strip". After a hot sweaty day with only one run I can say that
at least the pictures are perfect! And Blackout is in one piece, ready to be shipped to Norrland
on Monday!
I'll be back with full report ASAP, but now I have to go to TBDGIT and make a valve
adjustment on Jeezus and pack things in our van and caravan and...and...and...


The logistics problem this morning of not having any driver for the
Dodge van with all the stuff, we solved by loading the stuff into the
Solifer T1 caravan, put it on the trailer hitch and off we went...
More later.

After the test at Säve Airfield:

Condor offered to take the caravan to the garage.


Haven't yet found out why it's going 20° C hotter this year...


Condor liked to sit in Karl's SS. "It feels right"
Condor himself has much racing in him, coming from Go-cart with late
Ronnie Peterson and through single seat racers Formel Vee and
Super Vee around Europe and to Speedway with 500 cc bikes.


In the evening Sören "Fixarn" Fjellstedt came by in his Bonneville
and left off little daughter Alice to be with us, while he and his son
Zacke were going to second of Bruce Springsteen's concerts
in Gothenburg. I'm too exhausted and focused on my Impala
and everything to go to such a thing.


Local newspaper said: "BOSS WE LOVE YOU"




July 4


Happy 4th of July all Americans wherever you are.


Karl had a special celebration on 4th of July this year since
his Swedish based FIA-license for drag racing is freshly baked!
Big thanks Lasse Pettersson and Janette Arvidsson of The
Swedish Automobile Sports Federation for helping us out
with this important matter!


Today it was timing day with connected blower. All went well and
Bruce Springsteen was heard in the sky. His concert was at Ullevi
sports arena across the river. I guess it was the first time that
Karl Ellwein's Heavy Eliminator SS heard The Boss live?


Jonas wanted to inspect Karl's engine and nodded his head.
It's blessed.


And now what? Oh, I almost forgot that I had the Blackout SS which
always has to make everything more difficult. Like a flat slick at the
end of the day just hours before planned test race at local drag strip!


At dark all Impala SS turn black! They came only in three colors
Black, Dark Grey Green Metallic (DGGM) - like Karl's and Dark
Cherry Metallic (DCM) - like friend Ola Åbergh's who even bought his
SS at evening and was surprised in the morning: -Oh, it's red?!

Well, now it was off with the flat slick and pump it up again.
Decision about racing or not will be taken in the morning
depending on the looks of the slick.


Another SS to Piteå!


"Hello Bostic and Greetings from Finland. Very cool that you'll go to
Piteå. Tell your American friends that it will come people also from
Finland. I'm from North Of Finland and own a 1996 SS. It's not a
racecar but I use it to trailer my Gasser Morris to the tracks. I will
also come to Piteå with the SS and the Morris to compete in ET Pro.
Best regards, "Pepe"

A 1996 DGGM. Nice Pepe! See you soon!


This wheelstanding Morris will compete in the ET Pro class with
Karl Ellwein.


SPÅRAKOFF


Karl, this is what awaits you in Helsinki! Eero sent pictures of this
pub tram going around in the capital city of Finland! Very nice!
Don't forget to take pictures! And a Koff beer for me as well.
Wikipedia about Spårakoff




July 3

Nice Norwegian visit!


Christian Iversen (ChrisNorway at our PitLane forum) and his lovely
girlfriend May Rita came by TBDGIT for the first time today, to pick
up my used Bridgestone Potenza RE730 285/40 ZR 17 for his 1977
Chevy Caprice. Going back to Oslo in the evening. No Bruce
Springsteen concert tomorrow, and no Bilsport's "A Day at the Drag
Strip" at the Säve Airfield on Saturday. But they'd at least combined
the trip with a visit to Liseberg, our theme park. The tires were
No 1 priority. Good luck with them!


May Rita liked Karl Ellwein's Heavy Eliminator Impala SS! "I'll take it"
Yes, but let him have these three European races first. Click the pic
to see a larger one of beautiful Rita...I mean the interior of Karl's car.
As you can see, Karl has got a rather stiff racing seat instead of
the fluffy original leather seat. My guess it's because Karl wants
a direct feel of the car. And seat is high and to the front. Same
guess. His Bracket tricks start right here.



Blackout on blower


All I worked with today was to assembly all the things around the
blower. Since I've probably mislaid the original wedges (or what
they're called when rectangular?) for the pulley on the blower.


I had to grind new ones from a pair of oversize ones by hand with
a file, and it took some hours!


Also I've changed to new oil and oil filter. And this and that. And I've
even been away having the leaking exhaust system on the
Dodge Grand Caravan changed to a new system.
And so on.



We hit the local NEWS

http://norran.se/sport/article137186.ece





July 2

The Wonderful Summer
Day when Karl's Impala SS
arrived into Sweden!
Just in time!


On the special cars import parking lot at Skandiahamnen, Port 2.
Could it be that one? Also take note of the old Greyhound bus
someone has imported!


Nah, I'm not sure? This is not how you spell Heavy Eliminator...
But it's Maryland-plates...Treasure the Chesapeake...hm?


Yes, it might be the one...The One and Only SS of America!
King Karl's Heavy Eliminator!?


Sören "Fixarn's" Who-Volvo is well equipped since he's always
around imported cars here at the docks that has been forgotten with
the electrics on... A jump into the gates of Sweden!


It was running distinct and I could absolutely feel this is a built
Bracket-killer! Nice logo also...


It's Sweden allright! Östra Eriksbergsgatan, the small roads...


Just a shot of proof. An American in Gothenburg, Sweden!


Karl, can you spot the new sticker?
Ni svenskar ser ju naturligtvis att det är import-dekalen längst till
vänster som nyligen satt på rutan i hamnen... =) Det kommer att vara
ett av Karl's häftigaste minnen. Han är såå tacksam den killen!
Hoppas att ni träffar honom i sommar så förstår ni vad jag menar!
Karl, I just told them Swedes what fuel pressure you have.


The Man! He can manage everything! "Nothing's impossible, it just
takes more time" is his motto. Sören "Fixarn" Fjellstedt works with
imports and valuations everyday and works together with all kinds
of offices and handles all kinds of bureaucratic material. I know he's
on top of every issue. As mentioned before, this hadn't worked at
all without him. A good investment! Thanks Sören!


An overnight charging of the battery will do good. "Welcome to our
TBDGIT and Good Night Heavy Eliminator, see you tomorrow!" said
The Lincoln, the Blackout SS and the Biscayne...


525? What?


The Police just doesn't get it do they? When I was getting my new
passport today I got the queue number 525 which means nothing!
Scroll down to June 30 and you know what I mean...





July 1

The return of the rumble


"It's like it never was apart..." said Jonas. Tony was also into it and
adjusted our cam detector on back of engine until it was in the middle
of its window. There isn't so much thinking and guessing anymore,
everyone just do what we did last and we quickly found the home.
So much pre-start anxiety, on my part anyway - and then that
total relief afterwards.


Tony Döbrösi showed up early to help and automaticly got that most
unpopular (hated) work he can think of - mounting the exhaust system.
But still, no one does it better or quicker. Tony, did you say "Danged
you.." or something? Thanks a million anyways! I know Lars-Inge also
was here and gave a hand...but I never had a chance to take a pic!

The Thriller is on


Team Thriller packed their OFAB Camaro and all the stuff tonight.
They are leaving tomorrow for the FIA race in Finland. Their car and
team have never before been as ready as this time! Just be prepared
for some good performance! If everything new will function!
Tommy! TOMMY! TOMMY?

Poster famous!


Thomas Öhman in Umeå got hold of some posters for the Gold Town
Dragrace in Skellefteå (She-Left-You) and sent them to me and they
have been an amusement all day in the TBDGIT! Tommy and Tony
thought it was fantastic that the Impala SS now has a marketing
value on itself. Which I also think of course.


It says in those golden lines to the left:
3 X CHEVROLET IMPALA SS with visit from USA
I now hope that these 3 will put on a good show too! We're all longing
to the adventures in Norrland! Click the picture to read a bigger one.


Karl's car is in!


A four door Chevrolet. No, not the right car?
So the 1995 Impala hasn't changed to a 1958 Biscayne? OK, so this
project is for Sören's brother. Tomorrow we'll get the Impala SS,
Sören has already seen it.


Look at this Agneta!


Our Sunflower at home had grown too big inside our veranda so I had
to re-plant it on the outside before doing anything else today. This
is mostly a report for my dear wife Agneta who is at the cottage with
Axel until we're going racing. She now and then visits an Internet Café
in Bengtsfors.

Helsinki Connection


Welcome to Finland and Helsinki Karl Ellwein, says Eero Pirttinen!
Eero is an old friend of mine and was racing his Challenger when
I had the Camaro back in the 80's. He was living in Vaasa then.
Eero also raced with us at Santa Pod at the International Street
Finals & Doorslammer Nationals.
Check out our common memories: >GALLERIES_WHIPLASH


"I'm working here at US Parts" I guess Eero and Karl will have a lot
to talk about when doing Helsinki with Koff beer in hand, visiting
gear head hot spots and going to Zetor restaurant and more.
Again, wish I could be there with you. Have fun, and thanks Eero
for taking care of Karl. Maybe you should hide the Koskenkorva,
Karl must catch the flight to Vaasa next day. In Vaasa he will
be taken care of Tobbe Ekström.

Our race plan for 2008


Good night ol' Biscayne the Lincoln and Impala SS said before lights
were turned off.




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