BLACKOUT

I like.

March 2 - 2004
Heybaberiba!! The new Gates belts have arrived from my new technical belt drive support "Gunzilla" at
Teknikprodukter in Åstorp! It's not rubber - it's polyrethane! These belts are of the same type as the ones
used by the "big boys" in dragracing, so hopefully this is it!

The Poly Chain GT2 polyrethane belts feel unbreakable! Stiff plastic! It is what we all hope shall solve my shredding problems in 2004 so I can have full boost all the way!

The Powergrip GT2 was only 45 mm but with
its richness of cords it felt much stronger than
the Powergrip HTD, and was, even if I just tried
on the street. It lasted through a lot of
abuse and is still intact.

The Powergrip HTD showed to be their
standard rubber belt and we bought a lot of them.
I killed one each run and never got to see full boost over the finish line...

Excerpts of what Gates Corporation US write about their Poly Chain® GT® 2:

"Innovation for Industry. The powerful Poly Chain GT2 polyurethane belt drive system will outperform roller
chain drives and any rubber belt drive system on the market today....delivering the lowest-cost belt drive
system available... In a variety of tests, Gates engineers proved that Poly Chain GT2 belt drives lasted
longer and required less maintenance than the roller chain or rubber belt drives they replaced. Poly
Chain GT2 drives systems are ideal for applications ranging from conveyors to compressors."

Yes, I will also do a variety of tests...

The new belts were an instant success for the whole family!
However, I got an email from David Kiefer, an engineer at Gates R&D
in the USA, who was passing by and saw this picture and he told me
not to turn a belt like this inside-out. I appreciate tips like that.
Thanks David!

May 18 - 2007

The story of the day - no, of the last years...
I've been irritated over the fact that the belt didn't align right in the ProCharger 77-teeth crank pulley for
more than circa 150 degrees, then the belt climbed up on the teeth, so it was actually misaligned while
at work in the car! Maybe the ProCharger pulley was OK in the old days of rubber belts that can (and
will) grow by heat and the orbiting, but with today's super stiff belts from Gates there must be an exact
design to cope with the power.

So this week I finally had all my pulleys checked at a local hit-tech company which makes drive belt
pulleys for the industry in Europe. They said the pulley was of a wrong size in diameter! By a half a
millimeter, a 0.49 mm = 0.01929188". An industry standard says that 77 teeth wheel should be at exact
7.65667" (194.48 mm) with this tooth design. And the ProCharger pulley was 7.675961" (194.97 mm).

It was corrected in their grinder and now it's perfect. Hopefully this will help the lifetime of my Gates
belts. How are your pulleys?

July 9 - 2007

BLUE TEETH!

Wow! What a surprise for the eyes when I opened the box from David Kiefer at Gates Corporation USA!
This is the same belt construction that Blackout Fullsize Racing tested last year at Santa Pod and
found to be terrific! (Race 1 - European Finals) They feel stiffer than the old belt but they actually retain
their strength through more bending cycles and on tighter bend radii! There is a God!
They were released on the market July 5th and the official name is Poly Chain® GT® Carbon™

More about the World's strongest belt here:
Gates Carbon

Also here:
www.gates.com/europe/news

Thanks David from a happy blue team!

Much much more...