I don’t know where to start, but that’s nothing new. We’re down to three weeks and still standing outside waiting for the UPS driver to roll up with our final components. Jim Murillo has the Gard Hollinger modified tank for paint. Yvonne Mecalis is posed to paint the Assalt Weapan girl on the front fender. I’m hoping to assemble it any minute now. Hell, we’re still in discussion on how to spell “Assalt.” Should it be “Asalt”? Hang on.

The Accurate Engineering 120-Inch Outlaw Engine is scheduled to arrive on Friday (3 days from now) and the silver sled should be running by the end of the next week. Here’s a report from Berry Wardlaw, the master of Accurate Engineering:

My red label custom emulsion tube from Zipper's did not show up on Thurs. or Fri. Came today and turned into an air cleaner, although the invoice was correct. My son, Jennings, started school this morning, and his dog was stolen Saturday. I’m sending the engine without the Bonneville carb, as I am waiting for Zippers to correct this problem.

Yellow Freight guarantees engine will arrive Friday. This freakin' engine is AWESOME! Do you still have the same dimensions for the last pipes we made?

We will build the pipes over the weekend, have them jet hot, thermal coated and be ready to rock. My only real concern is the myriad of wiring details waiting patiently to be worked out. The Nitrous system, the Pingel electric shifter and the AIM sports data acquisition system are no problem by themselves, but we’re stacking untested and untried elements. It’s gonna be a photo finish.

Here’s the latest regarding the D&D on the exhaust system: Dave Rash is shipping me a kit of components, chunks of pipes and a design for maximum power between 4,500 and 6,500 rpms. He wants us to run megaphones and told me not to heat wrap the pipes. I'm supposed to thermal coat them. He's sending me a stepped plan. “Heat wrapping is great for turbo systems,” Dave Rash said. He’s the boss of D&D. “The exhaust creates a layer of fumes inside the pipe, which the remaining exhaust slips through, restricting the flow some. The more heat, the thicker the layer. Exhaust wrap prevents exhaust system heat dissipation and that’s not a good thing. Thermal coat will do the opposite, and the pipes will work more efficiently for more power.” The pipes will be between 35 and 38 inches long, with the megs added to the overall length.

This report will deal final welds before powder coating, fork stops, True Track steering damper and powder. In the end we’ll grapple with a taste of final assembly and a handful of performance considerations. We’ll discuss Green metalflake paint from Rollin’ Sixes, the Baker shift drum installation for neutral at the bottom and seat pan construction from MC Advantages (Chapter 12). Hang on, some of the following will blow your mind.

We also had the wheels shaved at Nate's in Long Beach, filled with nitrogen and balanced, for cooler running, larger rear patch area and enhanced traction. According to Bob Bennett of Bennett’s Performance, this one modification will be a considerable enhancement to our success on the salt. I took the wheels to a backyard tire repair and suspension joint on the back streets of Signal Hill called Nate’s.

Signal Hill, on the Eastside of Long Beach, California, was a lump of oil filled dirt peppered with oil wells for 40 years. It was an industrial wasteland, which is now home to high-dollar homes that overlook the vast Long Beach Harbor. There’s still a few old school, backyard repair shops and oil wells trying to maintain a low profile as yuppies plaster the area with textured stucco, manicured lawns and BMWs.

From day to day this is a humbling experience. I always tell folks that life is a roll of the dice, and it is. We try like hell to research, ask good questions, follow directions and learn from experience. At the end of the day we reach for a high percentage of correct decisions over bullshit ones. I learn to roll the bones, stumble and fall, pick my dusty ass up and hit it again. I’ll explain as we roll along quickly heading for the flats.

I yanked the Wil Phillips designed steering damper off the Salt Shaker and prepared to mount it to the Paughco frame and Harley-Davidson Dyna-Glide front end trees. It looked as though it would work.

I carefully drilled and taped the bottom of the cast aluminum factory triple tree for 3/8 coarse threads. We machined a longer arm for the damper system to reach the frame bracket and prepared to mount the bracket.

We machined the slot in the bracket a tad deeper and studied positioning until we were confident the bracket wouldn’t encounter the front end. Ultimately we were forced to shave the locking tab off the bottom tree to clear the damper system. We wanted to shave that lump off anyway.

On to Page 2...