2003 Modifications
The North of 49 team made a number of changes in preparation for Bonneville Speed Week 2003. We planned on arriving at the salt improved, stronger and faster than we were in 2002.
Out at Allan Rod & Custom a number of changes were made to the truck in preparation for it’s 2003 runs. The most obvious to an observer was the smaller 22.5 inch front tires. They punch a slightly smaller hole in the air than the 24 incher’s we ran in 2002. As of April the truck was sporting it's new front tires and the chin of the radiator shell was sitting just under 2 inches off the ground. Ted also tweaked the front suspension to protect the grille, ideally we'd grind/shave the chin on the salt.
Under the hood Ken Gilmour made a host of changes, the 427 we ran in 2002 has been retired and was replaced with a newly built 427 tall deck engine. The engine was opened up to 438.5 cubic inches and ran the same bottom end and Merlin heads as 2002 ’s power plant. 2003 saw a change in Cam grind, the carburetor upped from 1050 to a 1250 cfm unit and finally the Headers enlarged from 2-1/8” diameter tubes to 2-3/8”. .
Other changes involved making the truck more user and rule friendly.
We added a radiator that would fill the grill opening (rule). The radiator required a special build since it sits inside the radiator shell ahead of the front cross-member. The new radiator can also be plumbed into the cooling system. We retained the 10-gallon coolant tank in the box of the truck.
We also added new Belts from Simpson with the pulls reversed so that it's easier to secure the driver, and re-mounted the tranny blanket so that it wouldn't act as a Salt Scoop.
