Resurrecting the 93F Ice Racer

 With too many other projects, the 93F was put aside. Stored in a warehouse for many years, then in the barn when my spouse equivalent and I moved to a rural home. Over the years I occasionally picked up parts, including a large stash of parts from another former ice racer, Ken Cich, who originally built and raced a two-stroke Sonett to compete with Minis and other Saabs in the FWD under 1000cc class. He later moved up to a Sonett which had a Volvo V6 shoehorned under the hood. During that time he had bought and dismembered quite a few rusty Saabs for their good spares.

Eventually the 93F and my other cars were kicked out of the barn as the woman in my life decided to raise goats. It sat under a tree for a few years, and the woman backed her truck into it once, destroying the hood.

One day while working on some other project in the yard, my friend Tony
asked, “Does that thing run?”

“Let's find out,” was my reply.

We determined that the engine turned freely, so mixed up some two stroke gas and gave it a try. After a few false starts, the engine slowly fired to life for the first time in ages in August 2012. However, I didn't dare attempt to drive it at that time because the brakes were shot.

Brakes

Once the engine was running, brakes was the next order of priority But where do you find wheel cylinders and brake shoes for a 50 year old Saab? As it turned out, it wasn't all that difficult.

Tom Donney had written about early Saab brakes and posted the information on his web site.

http://www.tomdonneymotors.com/2008/11/03/wheel-cylinders/

Tom referred to the different braking systems as:

• Type I called Shitty, Shitty, Shitty

• Type II called Shitty, Shitty

• Type III called just Shitty.

In truth, there are other variations in wheel cylinder bore, NPT or British threads on the cylinder and brake lines (which therefore necessitates the use of Whitworth wrenches), and brake drum size. It was also possible that a former owner might have used whatever he had available that wasn't exactly correct, but would work okay.

Ultimately I was able to deduce that what was needed was the same as an MG-TD/TF. This didn't surprise me as Saab, being a small company, often used off-the-shelf parts from some other car. Lockheed-Girling made brakes for many manufacturers in those days. I was able to order what I needed from Moss Motors. Installing the new wheel cylinders went pretty smoothly, though removing and re-installing the brake drums was, as usual on those old Saabs, a pain in the butt.

Front brake cylinders installed

While I was at it, I also replaced the brake master cylinder with one from some old GM model. That's what was on the car when I bought it, replaced long ago to prep the car for ice racing. I also decided to replace the steel brake lines, at least up front. That meant buying generic length brake lines, bending them to match the existing lines, then cutting and flaring the ends, using the old fittings. Once the job was done, the brakes took several pumps to properly pressurize. I surmised that one of the lines must have gotten pinched while bending it.

Other race car projects took precedence in the garage, so the 93F was put aside for a few years.

Body and Paint

The 93F project was dormant until 2019, when it was sent to Hennepin Restomods in the Twin Cities. Their assignment was to repair the rust holes, replace the fenders which had been cut back for racing, and install a fuel cell which I ordered from ATL. They also replaced the single master cylinder with a dual M/C from a Ford Pinto, and got the brakes to work properly.

I picked the 93 up in the spring of 2020 with a lot of the work completed. From there the plan was to install a roll bar and racing seat during the summer, give it a simple paint job, and be ready to race at the Put-In-Bay Sports Car Races in September. Unfortunately a worldwide virus canceled most events in 2020 including PIB. Fortunately, that gave more time to prep the car. As it turned out, the extra time was a blessing.

Fresh out of the paint booth at Twin Ports Collision Repair.

One of the businesses negatively affected by the “plague” was the body shop run by my former roommate, Steve Nelson. In order to keep his employees busy, he offered to paint the Saab. He also offered me a super price to get the deal done. It spent the month of September 2020 at Twin PortsCollision Repair, occasionally getting put aside to complete a newer crash repair. It was a different project than body shop guys are used to. Instead of straightening the bent sheet metal on a newer car, paid for by an insurance company, they were working on 60 year old Swedish steel, with a 2-stroke engine to boot. It was less of a job and more of an art project.

While I had requested a pastel blue, the same shade as the Fart-hinder Racing Saab 900 and 9³, the guys at the shop talked me into a a blue closer to the color on a Swedish flag. The finished product looked great. They also tried to talk me into yellow stripes to complete that Swedish flag look, but I had other ideas.

Different projects got in the way for a few months, including adding shelves and lighting in the barn, and cleaning the garage sufficiently to get a car inside, but eventually the 93F found it's way to the garage stall.

Goals for 2021

A Black Friday deep deal on a QuickJack lift brought one to my garage, and that took a bit of time to get sorted and functional. By January 2021, it was ready to go and the 93F went up in the air. Front fenders were removed and work commenced on removing front suspension pieces.

There were several goals for 2021.

1. Take the running car to the Intermarque Spring Kick Off Car Show in Osseo, MN. That was in May. Intermarque is an organization of vintage import car clubs that puts on a few events each year specifically for older import cars.

2. Take the running race car to the Saab Owners Convention in Albany, NY. A bonus would be to have it running for the track day at the New York Safety Track.

3. Compete at the Put-In-Bay vintage sports car races in September. Saab was one of the featured marques, and I wanted to join other Saab racers to celebrate these remarkable cars in competition.

Suspension

Saab wasn't about to change something that worked just fine, so the control arms, tie rod ends, and ball joints were the same for all Saabs from the first Saab 92 in 1950 to the end of the run for the 96 in 1980. As a consequence of that stash of salvaged Saab parts, I had several spare control arms and other front end parts.

I started digging through the pile of front suspension assemblies and came up with about a dozen ball joints and several tie rod ends. According to restorers of old Saabs, the original ball joints and tie rod ends seldom wear out, and checking the play on several old ball joints I found that information to be correct. Some had rubber boots that were cracked or disintegrating, but the joints themselves were mostly tight. It turned out to be pretty easy to come up with four good ball joints and boots.

The tie rod ends seemed to be in good shape, but the boots were not. Many years of twisting on the rubber boots had torn them. In looking at other parts, I found a possible solution: The boots on the anti-roll bar links from a 1999 (+/-) Saab 9³ looked to be similar in size. Measurements with a caliper suggested they were about a millimeter smaller in diameter on the shaft and base. They should work just fine on a car that will see only racing miles, maybe 100 miles a year. As much as possible, the ball joints and tie rod ends were cleared of the old, crusty grease inside, and were filled with Redline CV-2 synthetic high-performance grease.

The shock absorbers that were on the 93 when I bought it were Gabriel Red Ryders. They were a cheap shock when new, and were just fine for ice racing where loose shocks were preferred. After 40+ years, they weren't pretty. For pavement racing I wanted performance shock absorbers, and looked to Koni and Bilstein for appropriate dampers. Neither company lists a shock for the old Saabs, though enterprising Saab racers have come up with part numbers that will work from the Bilstein catalog. No luck, however, on Konis. A newer alternative in adjustable shocks comes from AVO in the UK. The price was competitive with Koni and Bilstein, but they have to be shipped from England. I placed an order for a set of shocks for the 93F, and another set for the Sonett V4 ice racer.

Poly bushings for the upper and lower control arms, the front sway bar ends, and the locating arms for the rear axle were sourced from PowerFlex USA. The replacement bushings are primarily multiple pieces, with two pieces of poly pushed in from each side with a steel sleeve to keep them in place. The Saab factory manuals suggest that the mounts for the bushings need to be set at a particular angle for installation. However, the poly bushings are quite slippery compared to the stock rubber bushings, so attempting to properly position the mounts was a lesson in futility. They were installed however they fit.

All of the suspension parts that were removed were cleaned and painted prior to reassembly. All of the nuts and bolts are United States Standard (USS) thread, not metric. I was able to replace all of the bolts and nuts on the control arms and suspension mounts with Grade 8 fasteners from a local hardware store. Total cost was about $25. Before assembling everything I cleaned up all of the captive nuts and bolts with a tap and die set, and used a drop of thread sealer (a.k.a. Loctite) to better secure the fasteners.

The right front axle boot was torn and desperately needed replacement. I was able to get some from David Baugher in a trade for some generator/water pump cores. For those who may not know, unlike today's outer axle boots that are part of the axle assembly, the early ones attached to the brake backing plate and remain stationary. The outer joint spins inside the boot. The inner end of that boot is attached to a tube with the axle shaft inside. I gooped it all up with Redline CV-2 synthetic grease

.

Engines.

There were several engines in the cache of parts bought from Ken Cich, most disassembled. I was able to inventory blocks, heads, intake manifolds, and other important parts based on the casting numbers and dates stamped into the blocks from the list of such numbers compiled by Bud Clark. There were also crankshafts, both standard and GT/MC. I sold some of them to Tom Donney and to Paul Nielsen, but kept a few.

There were three GT crankshafts in the mix. Two had been rebuilt long ago by a well known Saab engine builder in Kansas, but it appeared that a couple of the connecting rods were bent. All three were shipped to David Baugher, who rebuilt one and returned it to me as payment for the other two.

At the time, my plan was to stick primarily with the stock 850 block from 1960-64 bull nose cars, which could be modified with the GT cranks and some porting work. I also had one 850 engine that came from Larry Williams' estate. Ultimately I decided I wanted one good, reliable short nose engine, plus one long nose engine as I had several triple carb manifolds, with carbs of course. There was also the engine that was in the car since it was raced in St. Paul in 1977. It still ran, but having sat unused for many years, I wasn't convinced the bearings would last very long.

I started with the Larry Williams engine, took it apart to see what kind of condition it was in. It looked good, the pistons and rings were good and the bearings spun freely. Both Marty Adams and Tom Donney said I should put it back together for a spare, which I did. I gave it a coat of fresh Pontiac Blue paint before I reassembled it, then put it in a plastic bag in an attempt to keep humid air from rusting the steel surfaces.

I took the remaining engines, empty blocks and transmissions to Tom for evaluation. Few were really rebuildable, but had usable parts. Ultimately I ended up with two fresh engines as described above, and a freshened 4-speed transmission to replace the original 3-speed box that was still in the race car.

With all the trips to Iowa to drop off and pick up race car goodies, I took another look at a rusty Saab 96 ice racer in southern Minnesota. The drivetrain had come out of a former racer that had gotten too rusty to continue. The original car had been a bullnose 850GT used for D-Sedan racing in SCCA. In addition to the short nose 850GT engine, the transmission was said to have gears from Saab Sport and Rally. The drivetrain, including the front disc brakes and rear 4-hole brake drums, had been transferred to a 1966 body, which now looked as though it had been hit on all sides and rolled. The windshield and rear window glass was intact, but the door and rear side windows had been replaced with Plexiglas, which was now very scratched and cloudy. It eventually followed me home, along with a hood from the 1964 GT that had Safari vents in it.

The GT engine was seized, but I hoped with some persuasion it might break loose again. Hopes were dashed when I removed the spark plugs. There was what appeared to be fiberglass insulation in the #2 cylinder. The head was removed, and sure enough, there was a mouse nest made of insulation. The cylinder walls were pretty rusted as a result.

Once the GT engine was out and disassembly begun, a hole was found in the bottom of the engine where the rear (#1) connecting rod had broken through. In addition there were pieces of piston ring in the #1 cylinder that had done a bit of damage to the combustion chamber on the head. The inside of the engine had decades of accumulated crud inside and there was a coating of rust on some of the internal pieces. The oil pump was seized, and I thought the distributor shaft was as well, but I gently tapped the distributor out and the shaft turned just fine. For the moment, that engine has been set aside until I can get it to a machine chop for further evaluation.

The original radiator looked good, and a local radiator shop confirmed that it held pressure and had decent flow. A fresh paint job to the brass tanks and it was ready to install.

As anyone who has played with the early Saabs will know, the water pump was located on the back end of the generator. This car had that unit replaced with an alternator and a 12-volt electric water pump. A small (very small) electric fan replaced the overhead fanshaft.

Several auto manufacturers now use a 12-volt pump to assist the heating system on newer cars. I was able to find one that was unused and sitting on the shelf from another Saab restorer for a fraction of the cost of new. Electric radiator fans are commonplace in new cars, and one was strapped to the back side of the radiator. A small racing alternator was installed to replace the one that was on the engine as the old one did not really fit well, and locating a suitable belt was nearly impossible.

Transmissions

The standard gearbox in 1960 was only three speeds. The spider gears in the ice racer had been welded to defeat the open differential, so both drive wheels would continue to grip under acceleration. My preference was to add a 4-speed for racing. I took several gearboxes to Tom Donney in hopes he could build me one good one. However, I wanted to retain the cable clutch, which meant locating the correct bell housing that could accept a cable mount. The 3-speed housing is apparently slightly smaller and won't fit any of the 4-speed transmissions. Jerry Danner said he had one and offered it for use in my project.

In addition, I wanted to convert to front disc brakes from a later 96, which meant using the inner drivers and axles from the later gearbox.

The 4-speed gearbox that came from the 850GT ice racer seemed to turn okay, so I was hopeful it could be saved. To figure out the gear ratios I put the clutch disk back onto the input shaft, made a mark on the disk and on the bell housing, then made marks on the inner driver and corresponding marks on the case. By counting the number of turns on the input shaft it took to make one revolution at the axle, I determined that 1^st and 2^nd gears were the stock ratio for a GT gearbox, but 3^rd and 4^th were different. Apparently the story about having factory racing gears was correct. The result is closer ratios between 3^rd and 4^th. This table shows the difference between the factory specs and the gears that are in the gearbox that I have.

	GT850 factory spec	GT850 observed
1st gear	18.3:1	18.3:1
2nd gear	10.7:1	10.7:1
3rd gear	6.6:1	7.6:1
4th gear	4.3:1	5.3:1
Reverse	16.7:1	16.7:1
Pinion/Crown ratio	5.1:1
Pinion/Crown teeth	7 to 36

The 850GT gearbox has the earlier rubber inner drivers, which means a return to the earlier axles as well. But the 850GT had disc brakes, so the brake assemblies could be transferred. According to those in the know, an MGB caliper was used so parts should be readily available. Rotors can be purchased from the Swedish Saab Club, though shipping costs are high.

Wheels

From the beginning in 1950, Saab wheels had a unique 5-bolt pattern. That wheel design was used on all Saab 92s through the 96 and Sonett, until end of production on the 96 in 1980. For much of the first twenty or so years, the wheel size was 4Jx15”. The early Sonetts came with steel wheels that were 4.5” wide. All use wheel bolts that have a 9/16”-12 UNC thread and 3/4” head. The steel wheels are generally not considered structurally able to withstand the rigors of racing. There are many reports of early Saab racers having wheel failures.

There are only a few alloy wheels that will fit the 5-bolt hubs on the early Saabs. The Sonett Soccerball style are the most common, followed by the earlier Sonett Cromodoro JP alloys, and the rare 10-spoke wheels of the Minilite design.

Back in the 1960s, ice racers who drove Saabs often used a modified wheel, featuring the Saab 5-bolt centers welded into Corvair 13”x5” rims. The offset was also moved to widen the track. At that time 13-inch tires were easier to come by. This usually also made modification of the fenders necessary to accommodate the wider wheels.

The wheels and hubs on the GT and Monte Carlo 96s are exclusive to those sport models. They have four bolts instead of five. The bolt circle is 4-1/2 inches, same as the 99s and early 900s, and several other cars as well. The GTs and MCs came with steel wheels only, but 99/900 alloy wheels should fit those hubs. Therefore the 99 Soccerballs, 99 Turbo Incas and Shelby 8-spoke alloy wheels could be used.

Over the years I have accumulated several sets of Sonett Soccerball wheels. All were a bit rough in appearance, but ran round and true. I blasted them with glass beads to get rid of excess dirt and paint. Since paint does not adhere well to aluminum alloys, the wheels were given a coat of Etching Primer, followed by a Satin White, which was also used on the front grille and grill trim.

Tires

There are a few choices of vintage tires to fit the elderly Saab. The factory specified 5.00x15 bias ply or 155x15 radial tires. Most Saab owners these days choose a 165x15 radial tire. For racing, I wanted something with a little bit wider tread, but still easy to fit the limited space under the Saab fenders.

Vredestein offers a tire called the Sprint Classic in size 175/70HR15. Most street tires have an “S” speed rating, which means they are considered safe up to 112 MPH (180 kph). The Sprint Classics have an “H” speed rating, meaning good to 130 mph (210 kph). While I doubt the 93 will ever achieve speeds near 100 mph, the speed rating is an indicator that the tires should be able to take the abuse of racing. In addition, the treadwear rating (Uniform Tire Quality Grading or UTQG) on these tires is 200. The lower number indicates a softer rubber compound which will wear a bit faster, but should also provide more grip in cornering.

Interior

Since this particular 93 had already been used for racing, the interior had been stripped. A roll bar was installed, but it was very basic, just a bolt-in hoop with a couple of bars angled back to support it. There were three gauges – water temp, ammeter and tachometer. None of them worked any longer. The seat that had been in the Saab for racing was a fiberglass bucket on Saab sliders. Even though I weighed 100 pounds lighter back in 1977, my butt would not fit, so we located a stock Saab seat and raced with that. All of the wiring went through a very nicely built switch panel immediately to the right of the driver. However, there was not a fuse panel.

Most vintage racing sanctioning bodies require only a roll bar and not a full cage. Besides, a roll cage in a Saab is redundant. I did, however, want something a bit more substantial, and that would bolt the racing seat to the rollover structure instead of to the floor. That project went to Chris Adams, Marty's brother, whose father had owned Meyer Garage in Iowa. Chris builds tube frame chassis for dirt track racing, so I figured he would have a good idea on how to create a safe structure.

The various vintage racing group rules range from “suitable roll bars” to a high of 1.50” mild steel with a 0.120” wall. Chris keeps a stock of steel tubing to build complete chassis, but would have had to order some in the specified size to meet the minimum specs. Instead he used 1.75” mild steel tubing which exceeds all of the rule book specs. In addition to the bar which fits nicely in the contours of the interior, there are two bars going back to the floor, and two bars that go forward to help protect the seat in case of a side impact.

The Racequip racing seat is FIA rated, extra wide, and it fits my bulk nicely. The seat is bolted directly to the roll cage, with some added holes on plates within the cage to adjust for height.

Some compromises were made to prep the car for Put-In-Bay, which has fewer rules than most other groups. Their safety harness rules specify “racing or aircraft quality seat belts having metal to metal latches” so I was able to use a harness that was barely out of date under the regulations of other groups, but still in very good condition. Updated belts are on the shopping list for 2022.

I had a few gauges in the garage from other projects, and was able to come up with a suitable VDO Voltmeter and Water Temp pair. None of the Tachometers that I had seemed to work, but I didn't figure I would be pushing the Saab that hard with a new motor on a short track. Installation of a working tach is another task for the 2022 season. An Exhaust Temperature gauge is also a good idea on any car, but especially so with a two-stroke engine, to determine efficiency in each cylinder. That feedback helps in the choice of carburetor jetting and choice of spark plugs. The switch panel was left intact for now, but will eventually be replaced by a panel on the dashboard, with a fuse panel.

On to The Saab Owners Convention

The bright blue 93F was loaded onto the trailer again in July, for the trip to the Saab Owners Convention in Albany NY. Along the way, I stopped at Claude Hutchings' Tired Iron Repair in New York. With Claude's help the 93 was readied for the SOC Track Day at New York Safety Track. Though the event was really just a bunch of parade laps, it gave me a chance to see how well the car ran.

It did pretty well, considering it still had the 850 engine that we ran at the 1977 St. Paul ice race. A quick mental calculation says the car turned about 60 miles at that race on an engine built from good used parts. It probably didn't add another 10 miles during the ensuing 44 years.

The 93 had a stock single Solex F40 BI carburetor when we ran that long ago ice race. The purchase price of the racer back then included a manifold with a Solex P40-II two-barrel downdraft carb, essentially the upgrade carb for the 750GT, which had later been installed by one of the previous owners, and was on the car when I bought it. After a few fun laps at NYST I decided to load back up for the trip to Albany. As I was about to drive the 93 onto the trailer, one of several Saab enthusiasts who were guiding me shouted “FIRE!” I shut everything down and the fire went out immediately. The problem was the screws that held the top of the carb in place had fallen out and gas was dumping into the engine compartment. Fortunately there was no damage, and several bystanders helped to push the car onto the trailer.

Upon arrival in Albany for the convention, several volunteers again stepped up to help unload the 93 and push it into its parking spot. There were plenty of visitors, including many long time friends, who had questions or offered comments about the blue racer, parked among the largest field of two-stroke Saabs I can recall seeing at a convention. Imagine my surprise that it won the People's Choice in the SAAB 92-93 (1950-60) category. Further surprise came when I was given the Walter Kern Award, for contributing to the knowledge of other owners shared in my Facebook posts as I discovered the mechanical side of the early SAABs.

Goal number 2 complete with an A+.

How Wink became a SAAB fan

The story of my current SAAB 93F ice racer began several years before I ever set eyes on it,

Shortly after I graduated from high school in 1969, a friend invited me to the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Trans Am race at Donnybrooke Speedway near Brainerd, Minnesota. He worked with the SCCA as a Technical Inspector, basically making sure the race cars were were equipped with the proper safety gear and safe to drive at speed, It was a terrific experience that pretty much set me on the course of my life. I was invited to join the Tech crew and I gladly leaped at the opportunity.

Later that summer I worked with the Tech crew at an SCCA regional race. My transportation was the family's Chevy II station wagon, and I planned to sleep in the back as it was a weekend event. Another Tech Inspector took pity on me and offered the floor of his motel room. I found out that he raced on the ice in a SAAB. I knew very little about SAABs, and I kept him up very late asking questions about the cars and about ice racing.

My first car, 1960 SAAB 93F

A couple of weeks later I bought my first car from him, a 1960 SAAB 93F* that had been upgraded from the standard 750cc three-cylinder two-stroke engine to a later 850cc engine of the same design. The idea of a small front-wheel drive car designed by aircraft engineers intrigued me. It turned out not to be terribly reliable, but I loved that tiny car. Friends with muscle cars of the era bragged about how fast their car could turn a quarter-mile. My response was to ask how often they did that. Their usual reply was that they had never tried it, but the potential was there. Then I'd ask what kind of fuel mileage they got. The answer was often around 10 to 12 mpg. I countered with, “My SAAB gets over 30 mpg every day.”

On a very hot summer day, the engine developed a rod knock. In the following weeks, I built my first SAAB engine. At the time, a rebuilt crankshaft from the local SAAB dealer, Morrie's Imports, for the 850 was $100. But for an extra $50, I could get a GT crankshaft which had different counterweights. It went back together with the upgraded crankshaft, and that SAAB became my daily driver once again.

Until... one sub zero day. Let me tell you what happens to salted roads in sub zero temperatures. Salt used to melt the snow only works to about 0 degrees F. Below that it becomes a slimy slush and slimy ice. The engine started just fine that morning as I headed to broadcasting school in Minneapolis. Along the usual route, a city bus stopped suddenly in front of me as a late passenger ran in front of it trying to make sure they weren't left behind. I wasn't prepared and the SAAB smacked the buses' rear bumper about distributor level. The studded snow tires I had on the car were completely useless in that particular situation.

My dad helped me to tow the car home (again) and it sat in the driveway until I could afford to get it fixed. After a few months someone knocked on the door and asked it if might be for sale. When the potential buyer asked about price, my ten-year-old brother, who had tagged along to interfere as ten-year-old brothers often do, responded to my asking price with, “For this piece of junk?” As I recall the buyer thought my price was reasonable and hauled it away.

The Next SAAB 93F

Fast forward five years. The radio biz was not as exciting as I thought it might be. Long hours, low pay, limited benefits. When I quit my last paying radio job, I decided to follow my passion of things automotive. I took a job as a mechanic in a Volkswagen shop in St. Paul, The Old Volks Home. I knew the owner through motorsports activities, especially through ice racing.

As the annual St. Paul Winter Carnival Cup race on frozen Lake Phalen approached, the boss was looking for a car so his business would have a presence at the event. The sanctioning body, International Ice Racing Association (IIRA), had banned him from actually racing. Not sure if that was because he had a pretty nasty temper or that he was just a bad driver.

On the grid at the 1977 Uncola 100 Ice Race on Lake Phalen.
Photo by Kate Westberg.

We ran across a 1960 SAAB 93F raced the previous winter season that was for sale. The SAAB had been built by a couple of local guys who both worked in race shops. Consequently there was a lot of fabrication that looked quite professional. From what I have been able to piece together, the SAAB was entered in only two races in 1976, and did not finish either of them.

Because I had SAAB experience, I was put in charge of getting it ready to race again, and I would be the driver. I enlisted the help of Dan Jones, a SAAB tech at Morrie's who had helped other Saab ice racers to build their cars. Dan worked cheap; take him out for ice cream and he was happy to assist. The engines that came with the package price were disassembled, so Dan and I picked out the best parts and built an 850cc engine. A very stock 850cc engine.

Since this was to be my first experience at wheel-to-wheel racing, I enlisted my roommate, Jerry, as co-driver. He had experience racing a Triumph Spitfire with SCCA, but had not driven on ice, nor was he experienced with front wheel drive. The car was finally ready to go the Saturday of race weekend. My recollection is foggy, but I think Jerry ran a few laps to make the field, though near the back. A couple of much faster cars started behind our SAAB, and as soon as the green flag fell, they passed Jerry.

Unfortunately for them, they could not see the pileup happening in turn one. The studded tires on the race cars kicked up a cloud of snow and ice chips, aided by sub-zero temperatures and wind, and drivers were unable to see what was going on. There are various theories as to what caused the first cars to spin out, but the end result was a chain reaction that left lot of race cars destroyed. Both of the fast cars that passed our 93 at the green flag, both Saab Sonetts, were among the cars that were wrecked. Fortunately Jerry was able to see that there was something amiss ahead of him and ducked off the plowed track, avoiding the melee. Also fortunately there were few injuries. Nancy Youngdahl received a broken nose aboard her Mini, and Phil Shockley was limping after his newly completed Sonett V4 was reduced to rubble

What's left of Ken Cich's Saab Sonett 850

The race was red-flagged so the wreckage could be removed. Once the race started again, very few of the competitors in our class were part of the action. We had to make a couple of pit stops to rectify problems missed during the rebuild, most notably the bolts on the intake manifold backed out, but we were able to keep it in the race. I was driving when the checkered flag fell, having completed just enough laps to be considered a finisher in the 100 mile race. As the only finisher in our class – Class B, FWD, under 1000cc – we were awarded the 1^st place trophy.

The following week at the Old Volks Home, I was preparing to get the SAAB ready for the next race in nearby Forest Lake, when the boss let me know that we would not be entering that or any other races. In addition, my services as a mechanic were no longer needed. Can't say as I blame him on the latter part. I am not a fast mechanic, more of a half-fast mechanic.

The SAAB was his, and I would not see it again for several years. It was sold to the owner of another VW repair shop who intended to take it ice racing again. Whenever I ran into him at a race, I let him know that if he was ever interested in selling that car, that I would be interested in buying it.

After several years of publishing NINES, the Saab Club Magazine, I got the call. Too many projects, not enough time, the ice racing SAAB was for sale. We negotiated a price and I hauled it home.

The engine turned over by hand, but it needed brake work and plenty more to make it race worthy again. It went into storage while other Saab projects took precedence.

* The SAAB 93F was built only in 1960, as an interim model between the 93B and the 96. The "F" designation was because the doors were hinged at the front, below the A-pillar. All previous SAAB cars had "suicide doors", hinged at the B-pillar. SAAB is an acronym for "Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolag" (Swedish Aircraft Company). All capital letters were used until sometime in the 1960s. After that "Saab" is acceptable.

To Be Continued....

Back in the Saddle?

 It has been a few years since the last post on the Fart-hinder Racing team blog. After the engine failure at BIR in 2017, the engine was replaced with a rebuilt unit, which lasted only six laps at Road America. Since Mark Fitzpatrick's Miata seemed reliable and competitive in its class, with several first place finishes, the racing effort turned its concentration to the Mazda. 

The ex-Cougar Bait, now ex-Fart-hinder Saab was sold to rbankracing. At its first outing at Daytona in 2018, it ran in the top ten until a loose fitting in the fuel system put it behind the wall for many laps. At the following race at Watkins Glen, the ex-Fart-hinder Saab 9-3 won overall in the rain at Watkins Glen. We always assumed that car could be competitive overall, we just didn't have the mechanical knowledge to fine tune it properly. It was the first of several first place finishes for that Saab at the hands of rbankracing.

It was time to turn attention once again to the 1960 SAAB 93F in the barn. The ex-ice racer had a bit of work done to it since Tim acquired it in 1991, but very little.

With help from Tony Israelson, the engine fired to life for the first time in ages in August 2012. 

Taking it for a drive, however, was not in the plan because the brakes were shot. They were bad when I brought the car home twenty years earlier. So I planned to fix the brakes. But where do you find wheel cylinders and brake shoes for a 50 year old Saab? As it turned out, it wasn't that difficult.

Tom Donney had written about early Saab brakes and posted the information on his web site.

http://www.tomdonneymotors.com/2008/11/03/wheel-cylinders/

Tom referred to the different early Saab braking systems as:

• Type I  called Shitty, Shitty, Shitty

• Type II called Shitty, Shitty

• Type III called just Shitty.

In truth, there are other variations in wheel cylinder bore, NPT or British threads on the cylinder and brake lines (which necessitates the use of Whitworth trenches), and brake drum size. It was also possible that a former owner might have used whatever he had available that wasn't exactly correct, but would work okay.

Ultimately I was able to deduce that what I needed was the same as an MG-TD (or maybe it was MGA, which would make more sense because it was in production at the same time as the 1960 Saabs). This didn't surprise me as Saab, being a small company, often used off-the-shelf parts from some other car. Lockheed-Girling made brakes for many manufacturers in those days. I was able to order what I needed from Moss Motors. Installing the new wheel cylinders went pretty smoothly, though removing and re-installing the brake drums was, as usual on those old Saabs, a pain in the butt.

While I was at it, I also replaced the master cylinder with one from some old GM model. That's what was on the car when I bought it, replaced long ago to prep the car for ice racing. I also decided to replace the steel brake lines, at least up front. That meant buying generic length brake lines, bending them to match the existing lines, then cutting and flaring the ends, using the old connectors. Once the job was done, the brakes took several pumps to properly pressurize. I surmised that I had pinched one of the lines while bending it.

Fart-hinder race car projects took precedence in the garage, so the 93F was put aside again for a few years.

The BIR Jinx Returns... With a Vengeance!

The 2016 running of the annual ChumpCar World Series at our local track, Brainerd International Raceway, was the first time that Fart-hinder Racing had taken a checkered flag under that combination of sanctioning body and track. Not only that, but our Saab 9-3 finished in the top five overall both days! Consequently we were optimistic about our chances for the 2017 running of CCWS at BIR.

The early entry list was sparse, with only a couple of potential fast cars in our class. With about a week to go, several late entries appeared, including past winners. To our surprise the list included that pesky Saab from out East, the #90 rbankracing Saab 9-3 known as “Jerry” (named after Jerry Seinfeld, who drove a black Saab in at least one episode of his TV series). Now we were looking forward to the challenge even more.

Our other team car, a Mazda Miata, was the recipient of a fresh engine and it was believed to be quicker than the tired stock engine of last season. Unfortunately, car owner Mark Fitzpatrick decided not to enter the car at the last minute after his mother was admitted to the hospital for surgery just days before the race weekend. Family before fun; always acceptable.

With about a week to go, the Saab was nearly ready. However, what appeared to be moisture was seen on the dipstick. A compression check and leak-down test indicated that all was well, as did an oil change, so we loaded up for the trip to BIR. There had been six drivers for the two cars we were going to run, but with Mark tending to family matters, that left five to pilot the 9-3. New to the team were Derek Chan and Toni McCartney, who both had extensive HPDE experience. They were interested in driving the Miata, but were up for the challenge of the much faster Saab. Mike Mandy, Aidan Hicks and team captain Tim Winker were the other three drivers.

At the drop of the green flag, our Saab was among those in the front running group, running as high as 2^nd place overall at the hands of Derek. He had driven his own car on BIR's 2.5 mile Competition Course, and with that experience it wasn't long before he ripped off a lap of 1:54.145, besting last year's quick lap by just over one second. Toward the end of his driving stint his times fell off by a few seconds, settling in 7^th place after faster cars had worked their way through the field. We had hoped to stretch our fuel stops to a full two hours, but the low fuel light came on and Derek came into the pits after about an hour and 40 minutes.

Toni went out next, and after getting used to the car and the track, settled into quick lap times as well. His driving shift was uneventful, and after about the same amount of time, he pulled into the pits. As he slowed on pit road he noticed that the oil pressure light flickered and the water temp was high. The oil level looked good, but the overflow bottle was empty and very hot. It took nearly a gallon of water to top it off. While checking torque on the lug nuts, one of the studs on the left front snapped. It took about a half hour to remove the broken stud and replace it with a standard wheel bolt.

Aidan was the next driver, but he came in to the pits after less than an hour in the car. The water in the overflow was absent again and the engine was very hot. We determined that the head gasket was leaking. We made calls to local parts stores, but there was nothing to be found in stock. Tim made a couple of phone calls to Saab friends in the Twin Cities.

Paul Moormann had a head gasket set, but he was in the process of installing it on a customer car. He made a few phone calls and found what we needed at at parts store that would be open until 10 PM on a Saturday.

Jim Hickstein returned my call with an affirmative response. Not only did he have a gasket set for a Saab B204 engine, but he was willing to deliver it to the track, nearly three hours from his home in St. Paul. Aidan collected his tools to remove the head. By the time Jim arrived, the removal was nearly finished. The head was back in place and fired up just before 9:00 PM. Unfortunately it did not sound quite right. Aidan took it for a drive around the paddock and pronounced it ready to run.

The original 3.1 mile Donnybrooke course is seldom used for road racing these days as the 5100 foot straightaway has been primarily taken over for drag racing. There are walls on both sides to contain any out of control dragsters, and the tractionizing resin at the start line becomes slimy whenever it rains. The major sanctioning bodies no longer race there because of this, but ChumpCar arranged to use that traditional configuration for the second day of racing at BIR. Two tracks in the same weekend for the price of one! That long straightaway, the longest of any road course in the U.S., combined with banked turn 1 and the slight bend that is turn 2 mean that most cars are flat out for nearly half of a lap.

With the strong acceleration of our Saab, we were hoping for a competitive run on the big track. We sent Aidan out as first driver to make sure all was well with the repairs. Unfortunately our dreams of a fine finish fell apart on lap 2 when the engine stalled and would not re-fire. The team worked for several hours to determine the cause, finally tracing it to a complete lack of fuel to the engine. The fuel filter, which had been replaced the previous season and had less than 5,000 race miles, was completely blocked. A local parts store had a fuel filter in stock, so we made a parts run. Once the filter was replaced, the engine was fired up again, but it didn't have the usual healthy sound to it. Aidan strapped in again, but made it less than a lap before there was a loud bang and all the smoke leaked out of the engine. A connecting rod had ventilated the block.

So ended our race weekend. There had been high hopes of a top five finish; instead the Saab was the first car to retire. Comparing lap times with the cars that did take the checkered flag, the Fart-hinder Saab could have been Top Five again. Instead, it appeared the BIR Jinx had returned.

The rbankracing Saab fared a bit better, finishing 3rd overall and 2^nd in class C. “Jerry” led much of Sunday's race, but a broken serpentine belt failed with less than two hours remaining to the checkered flag. The team did not have a spare, so they were out for the rest of the day.

And now, a word from our sponsors...

Everyone who watches NASCAR, Indycars, IMSA, drag racing, or any professional motorsports is familiar with sponsors. The company names are emblazoned on the fenders, hood, rear of race cars. Pro teams can't survive without them.

The Fart-hinder Racing Saab 9-3 parked where
people can get up close and ask questions.

Amateur teams, on the other hand, are funded almost completely by the drivers themselves. If you're lucky, you can talk a small business into spending a bit of their advertising budget in your direction, in exchange for their name on your car. Often, that sponsorship consists of a trade for parts, tires, or labor.

Here is the one thing that many of those amateurs seeking sponsorship forget. Sponsorship is advertising. What the business wants is to have their name displayed to potential customers. If the race car is hidden away in a garage all week long, only to appear at a race where there are no spectators, the sponsor isn't getting their money's worth.

Instead of promising to show up at a certain number of races, the team should promise a certain number of events. Events include car shows where people walking by can see the sponsor/advertiser names up close, the team can answer questions, maybe even hand out flyers about their race events, their car, their drivers... and their sponsors.

Fart-hinder Racing does attempt to attend such events to promote the team and its sponsors. Our most recent was the Intermarque Spring Kick Off in Osseo, Minnesota. It is a celebration of getting vintage import cars out of winter hibernation for a day of display and driving. It's also a chance to visit with old friends who share an interest in the automotive hobby.

The FHR Saab race car parked among other Saabs, and a few Rolls-Royces, on the main street in downtown Osseo.

Just one week after the Road America race, the 9-3 was hauled down to Osseo, with the rubber marks from a brief encounter with a tire wall still marring the paint.

One of our sponsors, Hanover European Auto Parts, is located not far from Osseo, so we felt it would be a good place to promote that business, as well as our other sponsors, eEuroparts.com and Lake Superior Brewing Company.

The race car didn't win any prizes, but Ben Wedge and Tim Winker took Ben's recently purchased 1989 Saab SPG on the short time-speed-distance rally. The rally gives owners of the cars on display a chance to get out and drive them in competition on the back roads near Osseo. Ben and Tim finished first overall on the rally.

Another Season for FHR

Exiting Turn 14, heading up the hill on the main straightaway.
Photo by John Kehoe.

Fart-hinder Racing began in 2010 when the ChumpCar World Series made its way to Brainerd in our home state of Minnesota. That makes 2017 our 8th year of competition in amateur endurance racing and the 4^th season for the Fart-Kontroll 1999 Saab 9-3.

Turn 5, about to get passed by
a pair of cars in higher classes.
Photo by Tim Kruse.

We started off 2017 with a pair of eight-hour races at Road America, sanctioned by World Racing League. This was the first time WRL had secured a date at the fabled 4-mile long track nestled in the Kettle Moraine region of Wisconsin.

Fart-Hinder has been to Road America several times before with the ChumpCar World Series, but WRL had arranged to run the traditional road course including The Kink. CCWS has always used the motorcycle Bend between the Carousel and Kettle Bottoms to keep speeds down on the most difficult part of the track.

But WRL isn’t just any amateur series. In line with allowing faster cars to race, founder Joey Todd has required wheel-to-wheel racing experience from the competitors. This licensure, as well as Joey’s reputation for running a clean series, convinced Road America that we could handle the fast track.

But could we handle it?

There was even time to wash the Saab!

First we had to get the car ready. It finished the last race of 2016 at Road America without any major issues, so we weren’t worried about doing too much. When Mike came home from Florida, he and his wife invited the whole team up to their home on Burntside Lake near Ely, MN for a weekend of wrenching (and beer drinking, eating, and toasting our weary selves in their lakeside sauna).

Between home brews, we looked the car over, replaced all the fluids, swapped the brakes, made a few minor changes, and called the car ready.

Blue silicone do88 hoses on our dirty stock engine.

Thanks to a sale at eEuroparts.com, we decided to upgrade the intake hoses with shiny blue silicone hoses from do88. The new hoses probably don't offer much of a performance advantage, but they replace the OE rubber hoses that have been on the car since it left the factory in Trollhattan, Sweden.

Four of the usual suspects signed on for this event: Captain Tim Winker, Mike Mandy, Travis McCormick and Mark Fitzpatrick. Tim, Mike and Mark would travel the 400 miles from Fart-hinder Central in Tim's recently acquired 2003 Ford E250 conversion van. It replaces the funky-cool 1973 Dodge Sportsman van that was a bit too noisy with no sound deadening, and didn't have A/C nor a functioning heater valve. With the rear bench seat removed, the Ford holds all of our tools, spares and personal gear, plus is comfortable with reclining captains chairs. We're still working on a name for the new tow vehicle. Travis made the trip from his home in Iowa aboard his Rat Rod Chevy pickup.

The"new" tow vehicle, a Ford conversion van.

Race weekend arrived and we started the weekend pleasantly surprised there was no line for tech. Fifteen minutes later, we were in the pits, making final checks of everything to make certain the Saab was ready for 16 hours of high speed racing.

Race morning dawned cool, but dry and sunny. Perfect racing weather. Mike took the double-wide rolling start, and raced off to turn one at over 120 MPH. Functioning radios meant he could keep us informed of how smoothly the car was running. He said it darted a bit at the top of 4^th gear – about 128 MPH in three different places on track. He stayed out the first two hours, and chipped away at his lap times until he got down to a 2:56 – about 4 seconds faster than the car’s previous fastest lap at Road America running the bend.

Damage from "kissing" the tire wall
amounted primarily to black scuff marks.

Tim took the second stint, and settled right in. In short order he ripped off a 2:55. Shortly thereafter, he got a free tow truck ride. Running fast into turn 14 he had a Spec Boxster filling his mirrors. Next thing he knew, instead of a little trailing throttle oversteer to line up for the long main straight, the Saab did a quick 180 and slid across the gravel trap, sideways into the tire wall with the entire passenger side. The tow truck driver deemed it too damaged to flat tow, and elected to pick up the front end with the wrecker.

Back in the pits, the damage didn’t seem so bad. The front bumper cover had become disconnected from the front fender, but three zip ties solved that. The caved-in side panels all popped right out with a fist to the inside. We jacked the car up, checked for structural and suspension damage, and sent Tim out for the rest of his (fortunately uneventful) run.

Mark went third, and picked off the fastest lap of the weekend – a 2:52.260. He reports a braver driver could have gone faster.

A fractured coolant line ended Saturday's race
about 30 minutes before the checkered flag.

Travis was tasked with bringing the car home, and almost made it. With a half hour left to run, a hard coolant line to the turbo snapped and all the coolant was gone. He shut it down quickly and got back to the pits. With no time to complete repairs before the checkered flag, we just got the car ready for the second day.

A used spark plug boot was re-purposed to connect the broken end of the steel coolant line to the banjo fitting on the engine, and the Saab appeared ready to tackle another eight hours of Road America.

Much less to report for the second day. Travis went out first, and after 5 laps our day was over. The transmission wouldn’t stay in gear. We checked the usual external suspects, but came to the conclusion that it had to be an internal gearbox issue. With about 5,000 race miles on that stock gearbox, we agreed that it was probably time to give it a rest, and maybe a rebuild. Even if we had a spare transmission, it would have taken too much time to change and still have time to race.

So not the outcome we hoped for, but still a great weekend at the track.

Photo by Tim Kruse.

Our 9-3 is fast, very fast, on Road America's three long straights. At times we were able to power away from most of the BMWs and the Honda that finished 2^nd overall on Saturday. Unfortunately, the cornering on the Saab is still in need of work, costing a few tenths of a second at each turn. On the 4-mile, 14-turn road course, that adds up to as much as ten seconds a lap. There isn't much available off-the-shelf like there is for other marques, and what there is is illegal under some sanctioning body rulebooks.

Experiencing Road America the way the pros run it was worth the trip by itself. The first time you come out of the Carousel and look ahead to the Kink you realize it’s closer, and much sharper than expected. (Not to mention that the concrete on both sides makes it very narrow and hard to see around.) It takes nerves and practice to build up speed through there.

We look forward to some more practice next time!

Turn 1. Photo by Peter Merkle.

Working in Mike's shop. A Plymouth Road Runner rests nearby, awaiting an engine and restoration.

Soooo much easier to work on the race car when you have a lift available.

Mike, Travis, Tim and Mark enjoy an evening brew at Siebken's Bar in Elkhart Lake.

Best damn racetrack sandwich in the country! The Egger is egg, cheese and bratwurst.

We shared pit space with Ryan Hammond and Ben Wedge in their Honda Civic.

Mike Mandy awaits the start on Saturday morning.

RBankRacing is running a newer Saab this season, a 9-3 Sport Sedan. They finished 5th in class GP2 and 12th overall.

RBankRacing Saab 9-3 on Sunday, heading into the Carousel.

The annual autumn race at Road America, and we bring three cars!

Our three team cars: #196 Fart-kontroll Saab 9-3, #179 Molasses Pontiac Firebird, #195 Gensoku Mazda Miata.

We love going to Road America. It's a terrific race track with a variety of corners, hills and long straights. In addition, there are plenty of really good restaurants in the area which give the team a chance to socialize when we are not at the track.

Our original plan was to take the Fart-kontroll Saab 9-3, and Travis McCormick was anxious to bring his Molasses Firebird up from Iowa as it ran pretty well at its last race at Raceway Park of the Midlands near Council Bluffs.

In the final weeks before the Road America race, a miscount of who would be driving with us meant we had nine drivers for the two cars, plus a couple of others who had expressed interest. With a potential of eleven drivers, Mark Fitzpatrick's Gensoku Mazda Miata was added to the entry list. Fortunately it did not need a lot of work to prep it in time for the race.

Old intercooler at bottom, replacement above.

The Saab was in pretty decent shape after the previous race, so we decided to make a few upgrades. We started with the intercooler. The stock intercooler on our Saab had both inlet and outlet at the same end, which meant the air traveled in a U shape. Other Saabs came with a flow through intercooler, with inlet on one end, outlet on the other. Just such an intercooler setup had been removed from a parts car, and it took only a few minutes to replace. The front bumper sits directly ahead of the intercooler, so we cut a large opening in the bumper cover and the aluminum bumper frame so that air would ram directly into the intercooler.

Large opening cut in the bumper for better air flow.

ChumpCar had made a rule change regarding suspension bushings, and the OE rubber bushings could now be replaced with polyurethane aftermarket pieces. We found just what we wanted at eEuroparts.com in the Powerflex Black lineup of parts. The Powerflex Black bushings are made of a very stiff polyurethane, too stiff for street use. We ordered a full set in order to stiffen the front and rear of the Saab.

Finding a good set of racing brake pads for the 9-3 has been difficult. There are several companies that will make brake pads to order, but there is little available off the shelf. We have been using EBC Yellowstuffs, and they last a weekend, but just barely. EBC also offers a more aggressive brake pad in the Bluestuffs line, but they are a special order. eEuroparts.com came through with a set of Bluestuffs for front and rear. In addition, the brake rotors were looking a bit rough after three weekends of endurance racing, about 3,000 miles total. We had installed the Saab Viggen brake setup with larger diameter rotors prior to this season, Frozen Rotors is our preference as the discs last much longer than standard.

During a test day at BIR a few days before the Road America weekend, we gave the changes to the 9-3 a bit of a workout, and were especially impressed by the braking.

The Miata was in need a bit of alteration before it could compete in ChumpCar again. The reason it ran in the Exception Class (EC) at Brainerd was because of the roof. ChumpCar gives each car a basic value, and the roof added value to the car, which would award penalty laps at the beginning of each race. The biggest difference was that it still had the rear glass, as Mark still used it for his street Miata, and ChumpCar requires all glass other than windshield and mirrors must be removed. To run without the top meant that there would have to be a roof net, so that was added.

At its previous race at RPM, the Firebird suffered fuel starvation in some corners while the gas tank still had plenty of gas. To remedy that, Travis added extra fuel pumps in order for the fuel pressure to remain high until the tank was truly empty.

Dinner at Al and Al's Steinhaus

We arrived at the track on Friday afternoon and met up with team members from other locations. Our driver lineup included the usual suspects: Tim Winker, Mark Fitzpatrick, and Mike Mandy. Ben Wedge, Eric Peterson, Jeff Gadbois and Skip Starkey would be returning. Aidan Hicks was back for his first event this season. Travis was on hand with the Firebird, and Mike Borden would be joining us for the first time. Ten drivers altogether. In addition, Larry and Cyndy Walter were on hand as crew, as were Sweden Torgerud, Bethany Porter, David Hueppchen and Jim Hickstein.

Once the race cars were race ready on Friday afternoon, most of the team headed for Sheboygan where we had a sumptuous German dinner at Al and Al's Steinhaus. Good food, good bier, good company! And not one BMW team in sight.

On  the grid prior to racing.

Saturday morning was cool and overcast. All three cars were lined up in the pits awaiting the start, getting a final once over, checking fluids and tire pressures. Mark was first up in the Saab. Travis started in the Firebird to make sure all was well with that car. Jeff was aboard the Miata as the cars took to the track.

All three drivers fell into a comfortable pattern. Mark brought the Saab in after about an hour as he would also be driving the Miata later in the day. On new tires, Mark set the fastest time for the weekend in the Saab, 3:00.874. We were in 23rd position just prior to the first pit stop. Ben wedged himself into the aluminum seat for his stint. 

Travis brought the Firebird in next as the thirsty V8 demanded fuel, turning the car over to Mike Mandy. Jeff drove nearly two hours before turning the Miata over to Aidan.

Ben drove a steady pace in the Saab, turning laps in the 3:05 to 3:10 range, depending on race traffic. He radioed in that he felt a vibration but was unable to pinpoint what it might be. The Saab was up to 17th place when Ben came in for the driver change on lap 52. 

Skip was out next and also turned consistent laps until he, too, felt the vibration, and knew it would require immediate attention. Unfortunately the Miata came in for a driver change and the Firebird broke down on track at the same time  It was a few minutes before we could take a look at the Saab. The diagnosis was a torn outer CV boot in the left front, which allowed the grease to leak out and the CV to fail. Fortunately we had a spare left front axle and set about to make repairs. It took just over an hour, and the Saab was back on track in 53rd place with Skip finishing out his driving stint.

Mike Mandy managed a fast lap of 2:58.700 in the Firebird before turning it over to Eric. Eric had only turned a few laps when the rear end failed. The Pontiac was out for the day.

The Saab made its final stop after 74 laps with Tim prepared to take the checkered flag. On his first lap he spun the car under hard braking due to a failure of the anti-lock braking system (ABS). Without ABS, the rear brakes would lock up and the rear of the car wanted to pass the front. Tim took it easy under braking which meant slightly slower lap times, but managed to move up from 50th overall to 44th by the end of the race, and 15th in Class C.

The Miata ran a steady pace all day, with stellar drives by Mike Borden and Mark in the late stages, ultimately finishing in 28th place overall and third in Class A!

Everyone set about making repairs for Sunday's race. The wire for the ABS sensor in the left front was broken, apparently a byproduct of the axle failure. A bit of splicing and it was again functional.  Brake pads were replaced as necessary and fluids were topped off.

The Miata also needed brake pads; the rears were worn down to the backing plates.

One of the local Camaro teams offered to help with a rear end for the Firebird. They had a couple of spares among their parts stash. Unfortunately neither was an exact match so compromises were made. The best choice had rear drum brakes, which were incompatible with the master cylinder. Since the fronts do the majority of the braking, it was decided to make a few laps at the start of the race, and if the front brakes were incapable of slowing the car, the Firebird would retire early.

Tim works on team strategy in the pits.

Overnight rain made the track wet for the start of Sunday's racing. That would be an advantage for our front wheel drive Saab. Skip was the first driver as he wanted to head home early. Mark was aboard the Miata, while Travis was first up in the Firebird as he was most familiar with its quirks.

Mark came in on the pace lap because the rear brakes were locked up. It was determined that a caliper piston had become displaced due to the worn out pads on Saturday. Repairs were made and the Miata was on track a few laps down.

Skip was pretty quick, using the Saab's FWD to move up through the pack. He was running 15^th overall when another car bumped the Saab in the right rear door and both drivers were given a black flag for making contact. It was time for Skip to come into the pits for the driver change anyway, so skinny Aidan attempted to make himself comfortable in the cavernous driver's seat. After about ten laps he called in that the transmission was stuck in 4^th gear. He made it back to the pits where it was discovered that a bolt holding the linkage together had fallen out. Another bolt of the proper size was located, but getting it into place was difficult. Ultimately we turned to Sweden, Aidan's girlfriend and a professional mechanic, to make the repairs. Her smaller arms allowed her to reach in among all the hoses and wiring to install the replacement bolt. The repair took about 15 minutes, which translated to about 5 laps lost.

Travis, too, was given a black flag after he tagged and spun one of the many BMWs. Damage to the Firebird was minimal, but Travis decided he'd had enough driving and the car was again turned over to Mike Mandy for the next stint.

While the rest of the crew looks on, Sweden does the work.

Jeff had gone home Sunday morning, which left us short of drivers. Most had no desire to drive the Firebird with its questionable brakes. We were able to track down a driver from another team whose car failed on Saturday. Derrik Cole from the Left Shark Hyundai Tiburon team agreed to give the Firebird a try. He was able to set the fast time for the day in the Pontiac at 3:03.750. Unfortunately the replacement rear end gave up a few laps later and the Firebird was pushed onto the trailer for the long trip back to Iowa.

Eric was second up in the Miata, followed by Mike Borden, who set the fast time for the day at 3:11.621. Since they had each already done a full driving stint earlier, Mark and Aidan split the final stint to finish the race stopping only for a driver change which meant a quicker pit stop.

Tim and then Ben were the last two drivers in the Saab. Tim set quick lap for the day at 3:03.781, pretty good for a guy in his 60s. For the final laps, Ben kept pace with Aidan in the slower Miata, allowing for a team photo as the two cars took the checkered flag.

The Saab was credited with 25th place overall and 10th in Class C, while the Miata finished 34th overall and fifth in Class A.

Thus ended a rather successful season for the team. The Saab finished every race this year and added over 7,000 racing miles to the odometer. The Miata made a successful debut with a class victory and also finished every race entered.