[Land-speed] Wire Seal Holes

[J.D. Tone]

In the "old days" 1975 there was no sealing of engines. After qualifying (on 
the short course this meant going over the record in the 1/4 mile even 
though the record was set in the mile) you went back to your pit and did 
what you wanted. In the morning you showed up at the gas truck with an empty 
tank. You bought the gas, the tank was sealed, and you went out and went 
both ways hopefully better than the old record. You then went to what was 
called impounds and removed your cylinder head for measuring. Everything was 
measured. If you wanted to run again you put it together in impounds. It 
could possibly be sealed with some tape and fingernail polish.

When Bruce Johnston and then Dan Warner took over record impounds things 
changed. Especially to 2 pass instead of 3 pass rules for a record. Today 
Dan and his team do things a little different. Especially when it comes to 
the displacement pump. They are sent off periodically for calibration and 
instructions are followed very closely. If properly used they can be very 
accurate. For the racers convience the engine MAYBE sealed and that is why 
we ask the holes for sealing be on each engine. The seal is good for one 
year.

At any time we may ask for a pump or tear down. It is Dan's discretion. If 
someone protests an engine I assume it would be measured directly and not 
pumped.. If a protest does occur and the engine will not be measured on site 
it must be sealed so that the person does see this is the correct engine 
they are measuring at the time it is done.



> JD, all, this is an interesting question. Is this a hold over from days 
> when there was no impound? Or was there always an impound. Seems to me 
> that with Dan there eagle eying everything in impound it would be pretty 
> difficult to make any kind of significant engine change especially given 
> the 4 hour work rule. And I know there will be cheats among us who could 
> figure a way to do something. But is this one of those rules that has 
> outlived it's day? Don't mind it just curious about it.
>
> mayf