RBPD in pursuit

Article from Drive Magazine

Royce — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 04:45:14 +0000

Article from Drive Magazine

REDONDO BEACH POLICE BONNEVILLE RACE CAR

Redondo Beach has a new recruitment tool, a Bonneville land speed racecar. The car is used as a recruitment tool for enticing prospective police officers to join the department. It comes in the form of a 1988 RX-7 Mazda GTU. The car is made to look like one of Redondo Beach’s Police patrol cars. 6X11 is my assigned call sign for the department. The car has been displayed at Cub Scout, Boy Scout, and numerous civic functions. Royce Branch, Background Investigator, and a thirty-three year veteran for the department is the owner the car.

The car was built with the help of many people, including ex-convicts and troubled kids wishing to straighten out their lives. There have also been good kids as well as adults helping out that have had a strong desire to be involved in racing. Adrian Henry, an eleven year old, and son of Andrew Henry, owner of Individual Creations in Torrance, CA, performed some of the welding on the car. Individual Creations was responsible for installing and fabricating the Lamborghini style doors on the car.

Nick Van Nugteren, Louie Escamilla, and Corey Friedemann, of Rotary Reliability and Racing, in Santa Ana, CA. built the motor and did the chassis setup. Dennis Lightle and Steve Coleman serve as crewmembers.

Maaco of Torrance, Torrance, CA, painted the car. Paul’s Muffler of Gardena, CA made the exhaust. Instrumentation and other racing components were provided by Service Center, Lomita, CA. JAZ Products of Santa Paula, CA supplied safety Equipment.

The car has recorded times of over 150 mph at Bonneville and El Mirage Dry Lake. The car has recorded 189 mph on the GPS. It has twice shut down the chassis dyno at Rotary Reliability and Racing with speeds over 181 miles per hour! As the back bumper says, “Go ahead make my day – try and run.”

Back bumper – In thirty-three years no one has ever out ran me in a pursuit.

Article from Fuel Magazine

Royce — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 18:33:13 +0000

Let’s face it, police officers are allowed to exceed the speed limit. But Royce Branch, a 60-year-old background investigator with the Redondo Beach Police Department, definitely pushes the envelope. In fact, when he’s not running background checks on new hires, this police officer is often found trying to break speed records of his own. His secret weapon is his land-speed racecar — a 1988 Mazda RX-7 with Lamborghini-style doors and a painted exterior that looks just like a standard, city-issued police vehicle. In August, Branch had his car at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah — where he was focused on a very specific mission.“I was trying to hit 200 miles per hour to set the land-speed record for the fastest police car in the world,” explains Branch. “The current record is 191 mph and that is held by a $435,000 Lamborghini police car in Italy. Last year, I hit 189 mph in third gear, right before I blew out one of the slave cylinders, so I had to try again in 2007. Unfortunately, I only hit 147 mph this year because of poor track conditions following rain; but I’ll definitely be back next year to try again.”In addition to his RX-7 racecar, Branch also has a 1982 Mazda RX-7, which he turned into a convertible; a 1932 Ford Victoria with a rotary engine that is painted magenta on the front and blends to a candy purple in the back, a 1922 T-bucket Harley and a speedboat.“I’ve been interested in racing for a long time,” says Branch. “I love cars and going fast has always been a great thing.”His love for speed, however, is only part of what drives him.When Branch isn’t working or racing, he volunteers his time driving his car around Southern California — showing it off to kids in elementary schools, Boy Scouts clubs and other civic events while promoting the merits of safe driving. For 11 years, Branch was also the original editor and contributing writer to the Rotary Rocket, the official publication of the RX-7 Club of America. Writing since 1983, he’s also contributed articles to Mazda Sport and Turbo magazine, Car and Driver, and Road and Track. He also shares his passion for cars and racing with troubled individuals he’s met over the years. He often brings ex-convicts and disadvantaged teens to his racing events — making them an honorary part of his racing crew, teaching them how to fix and adjust the car and treating them to a fun vacation in the process.“I get a lot of gratification doing what I do,” he adds. “My dad always helped me work on cars as a kid, and I enjoy returning the favor with people who wouldn’t normally have the chance.”Apparently, the spectators at the races have just as good a time.“Just before we get up to the racetrack start line, I affix the police-light bar, turn on the siren and lights and blast the song ‘Bad Boys,’” says Branch. “We take it all off for the actual race, but we always get a lot of comments — and compliments — from what we do. I just love it.”

BONNEVILLE 2008

Royce — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 03:34:27 +0000

On the road to BONNEVILLE 2008

This year will be exciting, as we are taking a whole brand new setup. We are installing a 350 cubic inch Chevy coupled to a 200 R4 transmission, www.swptransmissions.com.

The engine is expected to be around 600 horsepower. The engine block is by L & R Automotive, www.lnrengine.com. The Racing Heads are by Air Flow Research, www.airflowresearch.com. We are looking to obtain around a 12:1 compression ratio.

The camshaft is going to be a Competition Cam, www.compcams.com,12-0000-9 CS 4873/4774R 114+2, along with roller rocker arms. The lifters will be 818-16 with springs, 954-16, and retainers, 1732-16 with ak, 611-16 lock. We contacted Robin Poole, Camshaft Technical Analyst, who designed a 236/242 @50 with a .602/.608 lift with a 114 lobe separation. The cam rpm range will be 1800-6500 rpm. The cam profile is very durable and easy on parts. Lifters are Endurex pressure fed bearings. The springs are endurance treated. The gear drive,4100, has lite weight steel retainers. We will be installing a Competition Cam gear drive instead of a timing chain.We will use a 210 timing cover.

We will be installing a Scat Inc., www.scatcrankshafts.com. Rolling Crank Assembly with Scat pistons and rods.

It will be powered by an 850 cfm Barry Grant Demon Carburetor, www.barrygrant.com. We are still in the process of choosing the other engine components.

Along with all the new engine and transmission sponsors we are adding a new Code 3 Inc., www.code3pse.com, lightbar RX2700 and emergency light system. We will be showing off the new RX2700 lightbar and emergency light system, at TREXPO expo in Long Beach, California on February 20-21. At 2.7 inches tall, it delivers unobstructed 360 degree warning, enhanced signal power and more versatility.

The car was also invited to be at Donald Trump’s Con Course De Elegance on February 3, Super Bowl Sunday. Along with the Police Car will be my 1932 for Victoria, powered by a Street Ported 13B Mazda rotary engine. After showing the car off at these two events we will be taking out the Mazda 13B Peripheral Ported rotary engine and the Mazda 5-speed transmission.

This year we will be using Purple Slice, www.purpleslice.com. as our car finish product. Purple Slice is a spray and wipe liquid wax originally formulated for automotive and motorcycle detailing. Purple Slice has a complete line of interior and exterior products for your car. Last year on our way home from Bonneville we encountered five rain storms. With purple slice on the windows we didn’t have to turn on out windshield wipers once. The rain just ran off the windshield.

I have formulated a crew consisting of established race car personnel. My Crew Chief and Master Engine Builder, Dennis Lightle, has built race engines for Dale Armstrong, Nick Arias, Joe Fontana, Bernstein, Cunningham, Chris Braun, and Probe Engineering. He has had his engines published in Chevy Hi-Performance, Hot Rod, Super Rod, Muscle Mustang, Mustang, fast Ford, and Engine Masters magazine.

Steve Coleman is an established racer and enthusiast, who has been actively involved in NASCAR and NHRA.

Guy Fernandez has been actively involved in NASCAR, NHRA, Mustang Magazine.

Due to rule changes effecting 2008, SCTA has imposed new rules. Consequently, we had to take out our present fiber composite race seat for a Kirkey Pro Street Drag Race aluminum racing seat and blue seat cover. I purchased the seat and cover from JEG’S.

This year we will be adding another Simpson Parachute, making it a dual parachute system. We will also be adding another fire system bottle to our present system. We have changed the lug nuts from ¾ inch to a one inch lug nut to comply with speed category we wish to obtain. All these changes are added safety features.

Our first race on El Mirage dry lake bed will be on May 17-18. We will have to go through a thorough inspection since we will enter a whole new race class. Complying with all the safety rules will be our main concern.

Prior to El Mirage we will shakedown the car at Irwindale Raceway, Fontana Raceway, and Willow Springs. We are hoping to get permission from San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department EVOC Center to get some track time, so that we can break in our new motor.

2008 SCTA Racing Schedule

El Mirage Bonneville

May 17-18
June 22
July 20
Sept. 14
Oct. 26
Nov. 15-16

Salt Flats

Speed Week – August 18-24 (Inspection Sunday Aug 17)
World Finals – October 8-11

New Engine

Royce — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 01:17:25 +0000

The new engine block was ordered from L and R Engine Supply in Santa Fe Springs, California. We also ordered a set of heads from AFR, Air Flow Research, to go along with the engine.

Dennis Lightle and I went to Scat Industries in Redondo Beach. We met with Kirk Peters and Tom Lieb, the owner of Scat Industries. We negotiated a deal for their forged crank rolling assembly. Tom and Kirk are going to contact L & R Automotive and let them know when the assembly is going to be ready for pick up.

I contacted Competition Cams and negotiated for a cam assembly and for a gear drive. Dennis met with Robin Poole, Camshaft Technical Analyst, and Robin designed a camshaft with the following specifications. The cam will have a 236/242 @50 with a .602/.608 lift. The cam will have a 114 lobe separation with a 1800-6500 rpm range. Robin told us that the cam profile will be very durable and easy on parts. The lifters are Endurex pressure fed bearings. The springs are endurance treated. the gear drive has lite weight steel retainers. Since we will be doing both the three mile and hopefully the five mile course, we needed a special cam.

I also contacted Barry Grant and negotiated a 850 cfm Demon carburetor. The Mighty DeMon carburetor is regarded for it’s quality, power making ability, and great value. The Mighty DeMon carburetor is designed for racing and high output street engines and boast billet aluminum baseplates and metering blocks, large capacity fuel bowls with sight glasses, and stream lined air entries. Now we have to see whose intake manifold we will choose.

Next I will have to choose an oil pan and what excessories I will need on it.

I contacted Steve at S & W Performance Transmissions and ordered a 200 R4 transmission. After choosing the cam shaft, which determined the stall speed at 2500 rpm. I contacted Redline Oil and spoke to Roy Howell, Vice President, and old friend. He told me that Redline Racing Transmission Oil should highly compliment the transmission. Now we should be ready to put the engine into the car.