Banks Blog Archive
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One Camaro to Go
At least one magazine calls them Pro Tourers: a new kind of hot rod with big wheels, very low-profile tires, big brakes, super-tuned chassis, a 5 or 6 speed manual trans, and plenty of horsepower. In other words, a hot rod that drives in something other than a straight line and for distances longer than a quarter mile—much longer.
The '68 Camaro under construction in our Race Shop is just such a vehicle. It sits on a chassis jig right next to Rick "Speed" Lefever's incredible Mercedes 500-SL quad-turbo Pro Mod race car, and Speed splits his shop time working on both vehicles. We've been bragging so much lately about our Project Sidewinder Dodge sport truck—the World's Fastest Pickup, period—that we've pretty much overlooked the Camaro project. Heck, it doesn't even have a name. But it's pretty incredible, too.Posted by Pat Ganahl on November 22, 2002Banks Power for Workhorse
At close to 500 cubic inches, the GM 8.1L Vortec in the Workhorse chassis is already the most powerful gasoline motorhome going. So how did the Banks engineers figure out how to get 22% more power out of it? That's 66 more horsepower and 77 more lb.-ft. of torque. They did it the way we always do—by building prototypes and testing them exhaustively to see what really works best in the real world. That's why it always takes a little time for us to introduce new products for new vehicles. There are no instant solutions here. But the news this week is that we now have Banks Power available for the 8.1L Vortec in the Workhorse motorhome chassis at both the PowerPack and Stinger levels.
More specifically, Banks uses the same methodology for achieving power increases in nearly all applications: more airflow in, more airflow out. Both the PowerPack and Stinger systems include a Ram-Air intake filter to flow more and cooler air into the engine. It lasts a lifetime and doesn't need servicing until 50,000 miles (servicing kit included). On the exhaust side, the Banks all-stainless, heat-shielded Dynaflow muffler (no, it doesn't come from an old Buick; we make them specifically for each application), increases exhaust flow—that is, decreases backpressure—by 65% over stock. Behind that, our mandrel-bent, stainless steel, 4-inch diameter Monster Exhaust slashes backpressure a full 70% over the stock tailpipe. These are impressive numbers that anyone could claim, but we have accurate test data to prove it.Posted by Pat Ganahl on November 15, 2002See Sidewinder Run
Seems like hardly a week goes by that we don't have something new to tell you about Project Sidewinder. This one will be short.
The news is that we had a video crew at Bonneville to capture all the action and sounds surrounding our record attempts, and you can now sample it on our Sidewinder web site. Webmaster note: As this is a very old blog entry, the links have changed. You can now watch a cool video of the Sidewinder Dakota here...Posted by Pat Ganahl on November 15, 2002Bob Robe
Bob Robe is a glutton for punishment. He's worked at Gale Banks Engineering longer than any other current employee—this January will mark 25 years.
Seriously, Bob just told me that he couldn't envision working anywhere else that would afford him the wide range of jobs that he enjoys here. To say that Bob is multitalented is a serious understatement.
His current title is Chief Designer—and that he is. Bob not only makes engineering drawings of all our new products for pattern makers or fabricators to follow, but in most cases he actually designs them as well, following input from Gale. But Bob also puts in time here as a graphic artist, illustrator, architect of sorts, TIG welder, plumber, head porter, machinist, fabricator, assembler—you name it, he can do it. Not only that, but he does it well. Robe's welds are beautiful. So's his machining. His routing and bending of hard lines—a very difficult task—is always impeccable. He actually enjoys it. His approach to all of these operations is that of an artist.Posted by Pat Ganahl on November 08, 2002
