Out of time for the June BIR race

Every race car needs a parts donor... or two... or three. Total cost to buy these four Saab 900s? $800!

With less than ten days until the June race at Brainerd Int'l Raceway, it has become apparent that the race car will not be ready. The entry has been transferred to the July 16th race at BIR, a 14-hour enduro. As the Volkswagen ad said: Drivers Wanted.

In the meantime, I continue to work on rebuilding the spare engine in my garage as time ... and money ... permit. Disassembly is down to the short block. I'll check the main and rod bearings, but will probably not remove the pistons. The cost for parts and a valve job run about $500. Pistons and rings are expensive for the 2.1L engine due to the rarity of that powerplant. I did buy some parts at RockAuto on closeout, rod bearings and a timing chain and some brake parts, so they were cheaper than wholesale.

As long as the engine block was stripped, I decided to paint it. But instead of the factory red color, I decided to use a light blue. I bought a spray can of engine paint at Central Sales, the local surplus store, for $2.99. The color was "Chrysler Blue". I shook it up for some extra time since it had probably been on the shelf for several years. When it started to come out the coverage was poor, as if there wasn't a lot of pigment in the spray. Suddenly there was more color to the spray and the nozzle quickly clogged up. I removed it from the can and cleared it with pressurized air. but it quickly clogged up again. It wasn't long before the spray was spitting something that looked like varnish beads, so I quit painting.

Picked up a can of Dupli-Color Engine Enamel at the local O'Reilly store for $5.49. The hue was Pontiac Blue, but the shade was nearly identical to the Chrysler Blue. I attempted to scrape off some of the previous paint job, then proceeded with the new paint. What a difference! The paint covered nicely, no clogs, and dried quickly. The finished product looks pretty darn good.

Sometimes it doesn't pay to go cheap.

Rusty cylinders

The top two photos show some of the wear from last summer's racing at Iowa Speedway. The bearings from one inner axle tripod are gone, which must have made for some serious vibration for the later drivers. In addition, the rubber bushing for the upper a-arm is pretty trashed.

Tore the race engine apart yesterday. The cylinders do not look very good, which you can see in the other two photos. When the engine overheated at Iowa last summer, it apparently warped the head because water was getting into the cylinders. We knew that at the time. However, I was not able to get to the engine tear down until lately, so rust was able to form in all four cylinders over the winter. That rust extends to the valves in the head. The head gasket held up, so the head itself must have warped due to the heat. Don't know yet if it is salvageable. I'm hoping that it can be cleaned up with a little honing.

I did not disassemble the gearbox, but several gear teeth came out when the lube was drained. We know that 3rd gear went away early in the Iowa race, so that will need to be replaced.

Did some cleanup in the engine compartment of the racer on Sunday, so it isn't quite so gross. There was a lot of oily sand in most of the usual collecting places, and a bit of engine degreaser followed by a high pressure douche got rid of most of it. Followed up with several cans of brake cleaner to get much of the rest.

Also tried to do some work on the engine out of the parts car but did not have the correct size socket to remove the crankshaft pulley (27mm).

Looks like the right side engine mount is bad, but the one out of the parts car may suffice as a replacement.

Less than three weeks to race day and there is a lot of work to do.

Grime & slime, rust & crust

Finally got the drivetrain out of the parts donor today. Spring has been slow in arriving this year, so I have put off the final plucking of the engine/gearbox unit in my unheated garage until it warmed up a bit.

Rust and other corrosion were a serious problem, as were years of oil and other fluids dribbling throughout the engine compartment.

The donor car is back on its tires and has been rolled out of the garage. Mark Strohm stopped over to help remove the racer from the trailer and it has been rolled into the garage for a similar extraction. Hopefully it will take less time to remove as there is no rust nor slime to deal with.