Capsule placement..

[Ron Hill]

Greg Foster and I were talking "CAPSULES" and I told him I wanted to blance a good running flatbottom on a 4 X 4 before we installed a capsule and find the CG....Then do the same long ways, like down the keel...

Tehn, get this balance back after the capsule is installed.

Greg's idea was close, he wanted to use his Spec Truck Scales (4) on four areas of the boat and figure those weights before the capsule...then after it was installed. He figured, maybe moving batteries or the engine some...

Ideas?

[racer98]

Sounds like your talking Balance Point = 2D (x,y axis).
CG would be 3D (x,y,z axis) which should be some distance above the Balance Point.

[racer98]

Ron, you have any pics of your capsule mold?

[John Howe]

Yo Ron, You might want to look up Billy & Mike Allen near New Orleans. The Allens raced Super Stock for decades and were always front runners. They put a capsule on a boat a few years back and even scored national champ with it. The have parked the flatbottom and have been running in front of the pack in the 5 litre hydro heats. Duff Daily put a capsule on a KRR a few years ago so he might be a source of info also.

[Ron Hill]

Duff bought a 200 Merc from Rudy and he had problems with a coil... I told him OUTBOARDS were easy to fix, but he messed with it all summer....

Then, when he found out I'd copied his wheel, in 1977, for Brad Miller... I don't think I want to call Duff...But like your other idea...

[John Howe]

Hey Ron, just tell Duff to "get over it" with the prop copy, but then again, he can be hard headed. He`ll always be a great guy in my pamphlet.

Anyways..., Mike Allen used to drive a capsule KRR called "Fission", and he did indeed test the capsule under race conditions. "Fission" is out of the New York area. Another great running capsule SS is "Money Monster", owned and operated by long, long, time flatty racer Chuck Palm out of Decatuar Illinois. Duff also steers John Brittons super fast capsulerd Pro Stock "Light Speed". JB owns a few auto body shops in the New Jersey area. All those guys know one another.

Kapsules are Kewl!

[Bezer222]

Ron,
Do you have a picture of the capsule, and or mold?

[Ron Hill]

Can't seem to find a picture of a Hoffman Tunnel Boat...(New Style)....The mold is 17 feet long, as it is designed to build the center section of a tunnel...but for just a capsule, you'd insert the mold....

I'll try to get some pictures, soon!

[John Howe]

Hey guys, I`ll be in Morgan City, Louisianna, in a few weeks for the inboard races there. I`ll just be spectating, so if you want, I`ll take a bunch of pictures of the flat bottoms with capsules. I will be hanging out a lot in the pits so getting detailed pics of the capsule installations shouldn`t be to much of a problem.

[Ron Hill]

I'd like to see pictures of all the boats and everything else...can't get too many pictures..

Dave Rankin is trying to get me to go...would you fly to New Orleans, then drive to Morgan City....(That's what I did the last time I was there)....

But, YES...take pictures of capsules and post them!!!!

[John Howe]

Yeah, I`ll be flying into New Orleans, renting a car, and then drive over to MC. I`m arriving Thursday afternoon and leaving late Monday morning, so`s I`ll be there for the whole shebang. I`m still using 35mm camera gear. I`d like to get a top notch digital camera, but I can`t afford the one I really want yet, so`s I`ll work with what I`ve got. I`ll bring plenty of 35mm film.., film is so cheap now. I do have a scanner for my kumpewtr, so when I get back, I`ll just scan the pics into a folder.

An old friend of mine, Gordon Oakley, has a 5 litre that he`s bringing to the show. Gordy used to race 2.5 stock, and then 5 litre, back in the 80`s. Gordy bought the hull at the end of August at a race in Hampton Virginia. It`s a wood hull designed by Jamie Auld. Gordie has a fresh motor for it and is really excited to be racing again. :D

[Wooton6]

7608Bergeron Engineering did the installation of the capsule for PS-346 after my crash last Thanksgiving in Parker. We decided on the Ron Jones Jr capsule due to its size and also made the decision to have the capsule fabricated for additional height so the placement of the capsule would be right over where I've always driven from. The seat placement, mirrors, etc...have made it very user friendly from a driving standpoint and my learning curve has been moving along fairly quickly. We have posted a 3rd place overall at the Long Beach Sprint Nationals, 2nd Overall in Windsor, Colorado and a 3rd Overall at the SCSC Last Chance Shootout. The boat is handling well, however, we know that we need to keep tweeking our propeller to fine tune her. We also have fought with our radios, but now they seem to be working properly so that has been a big help as well. I think we have proven to our competitors that the boat can be competitive from any lane drawn. We initially started from the outside, but have since participated in the lane drawing like everyone else. If you are at the races, please stop by and take a look at her. The Bergeron's did an outstanding job with the installation and getting the boat set up properly. I cannot thank them enough for their efforts! :D