So much to report since the previous entry. The race has been run and the car turned out to have a few gremlins.Thursday, July 14 - Got up early to spend time on too many last minute details. Made a switch panel out of a piece of stainless steel from some dairy equipment. Picked up tires at SVS and decals at Airport Signs, and bought some FRS radios with headsets at Gander Mountain. Got the gearbox linkage connected and adjusted the pinch bolt. Installed the front axles... and that's where the big trouble began.
Thought I had a couple of axles ready to go, but since the gearbox was not the same one we ran last year, the axles had to be different. Saab switched to axles with a larger shaft diameter and inner tripod joints in the later model 900s. Though I had an assortment of axles to choose from, all had at least one problem such as torn boots or damaged inner tripods. After inspecting several axles, I chose a couple that needed only a little work. Of course, that took much longer than I had anticipated. The axles went into place with difficulty, sucking up more time. About 11 PM when I thought I was finishing the job, I discovered that the left front wheel bearing had a fair amount of play. I looked at the spare that I had and was not happy with it, and the same with the piece on the parts car in the yard. That meant I would have to drive back into Duluth in the morning to remove the bearing housing from the parts car at SVS. I got to bed about 3 AM.
Friday, June 15 - Got up at 5 AM and finished off a small task or two, then drove into Duluth to remove parts. That took about two hours for the round trip and I got home about 9 AM, the time I had intended to hit the road for B.I.R. Installed the serviceable bearing carrier, with a replacement ball joint because one had a torn boot, and put it all back together. No play this time. But there was still plenty to do and time was running short.
I went over to Izzy's to pick up his truck and trailer about 11:30 and got home just after Noon. Then I had to load up the spares, the tires, the tools and the race car. Got it all in and lashed the car down to the trailer. Stopped in Cloquet to pick up a metal rod for the window net, and grabbed a sandwich at Arbys. Good thing I did because it would be a long time before I would eat again. Finally on the road a bit after 4 PM.
Called the ChumpCar folks to let them know I was running very late and they said to not worry because they got a late start as well due to transportation issues. I arrived at the track about 7 PM, just as registration was supposed to close.
Dave Steen and his son David, Rick Moe and Jim Seubert were already at the track and had saved a spot in the paddock for the race car and trailer. Rick and Jim installed the seat and the safety belts, the window net and the fire extinguisher, while I finished off the wiring for the headlights. We talked to Mike Morrison from ChumpCar staff and he agreed to tech the car first thing on Saturday morning. We finished up about midnight.
Saturday, July 16 - Race day and the car is finally ready. Mike came by about 7 AM and gave the car a once over and his approval. We went to registration and completed the paperwork. Herm Johnson and I installed the final decals, a task slowed by the high humidity which made the decals difficult to separate from the backing paper.
The drivers' meeting was at 8:30 AM, then it was time for me to suit up and get into the car. The wheels were torqued, tire pressures set, and I started the engine and drove through the pits, the last car to do so. As I approached the start line, the flagger dropped the yellow flag and waved the green. The race was on!
My intent was to run a very conservative race in order to be there at the end. But less than an hour into my driving stint, the shifter began to act up. Sometimes I could find a gear, other times I couldn't. And the engine was running pretty warm. I pulled into the pits and determined that the pinch bolt had not been tightened sufficiently and the shifter alignment kept changing. Rick and Jim set to tightening the shift linkage and bled the cooling system in hopes that the problem was just an air bubble somewhere.
I went back out to finish my stint at the wheel, but the car continued to run very warm. At the allotted time I pulled into the pits to turn the car over to Herm, but when he went hit the START button, the starter would not crank. That was quickly traced to the main positive power cable which had fallen off the starter. Once re-connected and engine running, we discovered a leak at the water pump shaft. Though I had a good used one among my spares, I had forgotten to bring it to the track. A few phone calls and one was located at the NAPA warehouse in St. Louis Park, a good three hours distance one way. We were able to locate someone to pick it up and bring it to the track, which saved about three hours. With the new water pump bolted into place, I went back on track for a few laps to make sure everything was working. The car still ran pretty warm. Since the race was nearly half finished, we decided to put David Jr. into the car. Once again the car refused to start. This time it was traced to the positive power cable which runs from the starter to the alternator, which was missed in the earlier starter cable incident. Re-installed and David Sr. was on the track for a few laps.
Video: Dave behind the wheel through turn 12.
Jim and Rick each were able to get a little time behind the wheel, but the overheating issue kept plaguing the car. In addition, the gearbox got stuck in 3rd gear while Rick was driving, so we packed it in for the day. Rick also had a flat tire after apparently running over something as there was a hole in the tread.
We were only 11 laps behind the car ahead of us in the standings, a Buick V8 that was out for good with a blown engine, so considered driving 12 laps in 3rd gear just to move up a place. However, since we were near the bottom of the lap chart, decided instead to just leave the car parked.
In all, the Saab was credited with 55 laps, though five were bonus laps, so we really only covered 50 laps on track (125 miles). The winning Tubby Butterman BMW completed over 400 laps (384 laps on the official lap chart + 18 penalty laps = 402) or just over 1000 miles on the 2.5 mile course. By comparison, the average SCCA race at BIR is about 20 laps or 50 miles.
The only other ChumpCar races near us this season are at Heartland Park Topeka in Kansas in early August, and the National Chumpionship at Iowa Speedway on Labor Day weekend. It will probably not be possible to make repairs in time for Topeka, but Iowa is a possibility.
Some afterthoughts: The gearbox had a couple of issues. The gearing was a bit too tall for BIR, so the engine revved too high in 3rd, but not high enough in 4th for optimum engine torque in the back part of the course. In addition, that gearbox must be an early version, in which the centering of the shifter took place at the shifter. The later gearboxes, and later 900s like ours, had internal centering. The result for this combination was no centering, which is why finding gears was difficult.
Still have not figured out the overheating problem, but I have a newer radiator and a thermostat with the center punched out, so will install those if we take the car to Iowa.
