Post Mt. Washington Thoughts

Im pleased to report that the car made it to, and home from Mt. Washington in one piece, and it performed very well along the way. I was more than happy with the cars power, and it handled nicely. There is definitely room for me to grow with this machine.....

To get to Mt. Washington and experience no major issues took a lot of preparation and time getting the car competition ready. I certainly wasn't the only one who worked on this project, and it would not have been successful without the help I received. My younger brother Marcel worked on this with me from the beginning, and put in a huge amount of time and effort. Without his help I can't say the car would have been ready for Mt. Washington, or even this season. While I had the prospect of competing with the car as motivation during the build process, Marcel still has some waiting to do, yet he was always willing to help. He has definitely earned his 50% share in this car.

One thing that held us back from starting this project when we first acquired the car was the lack of a dedicated work space. Without the full use of my Mom and Dad's garage spaces for the past 7 months this would not have been possible. (I promise it will get cleaned this weekend.) We also received some tremendous support from our friends at Charles River Saab. The wheels they provided looked great on the car, and I was very happy with the way the set of Dunlop tires performed. The Charles River Saab tent and 9-3X also helped make our paddock space much more interesting and helped to draw some great attention to our car. I also have to compliment the parts department for how helpful and knowledgeable they are. These guys really know there way around Saabs and the parts they require. Having dealt with other parts departments in the marine industry I know that that is not always the norm.

I've mentioned Peter Maitland and Mike Clancy on here before, but they deserve a big thank you as well. Peter and Mike, both technicians at Charles River, are responsible for getting our transmission into tip top shape, but they were also very helpful answering questions and providing parts from their own personal collections. Among other things, I was amazed when Mike produced some brand new brake lines and brass bulkhead fittings for a C900.

Here is a video from Mt. Washington from the second run on race day, a time of 8:20.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUSexB4DuWg

Testing and Tuning

With only two days until we will be leaving for the Mt. Washington climb to the Clouds it is great to say that the car is ready for action.

The first time the car drove on the road since work began was two weeks ago Wednesday. Although things did not initially go well. First we ran into issues with the clutch spinning under any noticeable application of throttle. This turned out to be caused by a faulty clutch disc that has since been replaced with a new unit. The next issue was questionable brake pedal feel that did not inspire confidence. To cure this we had to re-bleed the system, as well as plumb the hydraulic handbrake cylinder correctly. (I had mistakenly put the input on the output side of the cylinder.) The third issue involved the shifting, it was hard to find 1st and second and fifth and reverse. After re-adjusting the shift rod we were able to get this mostly worked out. Fifth gear is still not perfect, although I can now find it every time, quick shifts to fifth are not possible. We decided to leave this be for now as I will not be seeing fifth gear on the hill. Finally, we encountered an issue where the car would not shut off and intermittently not start. After talking with the very knowledgeable Peter Maitland we began investigating two blown bulbs in the instrument cluster. Turns out that these blown bulbs were allowing power to be sent from the alternator to the ecu even when the ignition was turned off. Once we knew what the issue was we were able to re-wire the alternator field circuit to avoid this issue in the future.

Unfortunately, all of these issues came up the day before we were supposed to leave for the Burke Mt. hillclimb. Between fixing them, and finishing the other necessary work on the car I missed the first day of the hillclimb. Luckily I did make it for the second day and was able to test the car. After previously only driving a couple miles to fill the gas tank, I set out to drive to Vermont that Saturday evening. I was very happy that it made the 160-mile drive without issue, and then ran fine all day Sunday during competition. The rainy weather made it hard to really push the car, especially with the fear of wrecking with Mt. Washington so close. While my times were not particularly fast, it was good to get a feel for the car, and it felt good.

This past week was spent finishing up the various loose ends on the car, as well as having the ecu tuned by Saab tuner Mike Digiorgio. I ended up spending two nights working with Mike to get the car tuned. First we ran into issues getting a good speed signal, in the end we ended up swapping out the speed sender, which solved the issue. We also found that the DI cassette and the BPC solenoid were both faulty. Because of these issues the car had been limited to base boost, which made me feel better about my times from Burke. After we got the car running correctly we spent several hours getting the tune just right. We used T5's boost limiting feature to limit first gear to base boost. In second gear the car will request around 14psi. All other gears get 18psi. I am planning on having the car dynoed and weighed at some point, but it feels fast. I was also pleased with how stable and planted the car feels at speed and under acceleration.

Finally, I spent this afternoon testing the car further at one of In Control Advanced Driver Training's facilities. I used this time to test the car under braking and get a feel for when they will lock, and how the car behaves under heavy braking. I also pushed the car through a slalom, and through some long sweeping curves. It felt really nice through everything; the only issue that came up was the mounting of the wheel arch flares as one came loose.

The next few days will be spent packing and putting together a good spares package. Things with the car really have come a long way though, here is a good before and after picture set:

Catching up on our progress.

During the seasons first event, at Mt. Ascutney, the car and myself spent the weekend at home in the garage. It would have taken a massive effort with 14+ hour days and no issues during the past week to have finished the car for Ascutney. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, so I made the decision a week before Ascutney to make the Burke Mt. hillclimb the cars premier event. This gives us a few more weeks to finish, and has helped to relieve some of the pressure to get things done quickly, albeit only slightly.

The good news is that the engine is now running. At first I encountered a no start issue, although that turned out to be caused by a misaligned crank position sensor trigger wheel.(Pictured above) Once I got things oriented correctly it fired right up. It also took some time to figure out the fuel pump relay wiring, as at first it did not function. In order to meet the rule book requirements for the CTTC the fuel pump needs to shut down automatically when the engine shuts off, which makes perfect sense. This meant I could not just run the relay from a simple switch. The issue was eventually sorted out. The ecu controls the relay to ground, and I will have a switch in the cabin to give power to the relay, so there will be two ways to shut down the fuel pump. Right now the engine harness is being stripped down and re-wrapped. We also constructed a harness to supply the necessary powers and signals to the T5 system. The beauty of using Saabs T5 system is that every lead that needs an external power or signal goes through one plug, which has made the job creating an adapter harness much easier. The gauge cluster harness has also been finished, although it is still untested. Hopefully everything in the cluster will work. This was originally one of the wiring tasks that worried me most, but after spending some time with the wiring diagram it ended up being a fairly simple job.

In addition, we also began painting the cars interior today. The finish will be a gloss white throughout, with flat black being added around the windshield to cut down on glare.

The rear suspension is currently out of the car. All of the parts will be cleaned and re-finished, although it appears as though nothing will need to be replaced! Once these parts go back on the suspension will be finished. The front went back together last week with cleaned and greased axles plus new axle boots. All of the other front suspension parts had been re-furbished months ago and were already ready to bolt on.

Hopefully the rest of the assembly will go smoothly and we can put some miles on the car before the Burke hillclimb on June 10th. The Burke event should be a great shakedown for the car, as I think the Burke road is somewhat similar to the lower section of Mt. Washington.

The car is coming together......

.....but will it be done in time for the Ascutney hillclimb on May 20th-22nd? I am currently optimistic, although there are still a few big hurdles left.

Over the past month a massive amount of work has been done on the car. First up was the cage work, which we decided to do in-house. We built the cage to conform to the widely accepted FIA article 253 regulations, with a few additions that were needed to meet the Climb to the Clouds requirements. For instance, the CTTC regulations require a gusset at all four corners of the roof, as well as a sill bar in addition to the X-style door bars. All that is left now is to finish making and welding the required gussets.

We also received our transmission from Charles River Saab, where it was treated to new seals, all new bearings, synchros, and shift forks. It's a good feeling knowing how much knowledge and experience went into assembling the transmission to make it a reliable unit. I also need to thank the parts department at Charles River, who have been very helpful in getting the necessary parts needed to finish the car.

Many of those parts have gone into the engine that is now back together and in the car, along with the steering rack, a-arms, shocks and springs. In the coming days the rest of the front suspension and engine components will be buttoned up.

The bulk of the remaining work will go into the cars wiring. The engine harness and

ecu will be from a 9000, so that we can utilize the tuning capabilities of Saabs T5 engine management system. The body harness will be a custom piece designed to be reliable and easily fixed in the field. We will also be able to simplify the wiring, as many of the circuits in the stock harness will no longer be needed.

Facebook Page

To get more details and day to day updates on our progress check out our new Facebook page Saab Hillclimb Project.

CTTC Entry List Released!

The official entry list for Mt. Washington has been posted at www.climbtotheclouds.com.

Here is the press release that accompanied the entry list:


2011 Mt. Washington Hillclimb Competitor Entry List Revealed

(April 15, 2011) Officials at Vermont SportsCar revealed the invited driver list today for the return of the legendary Mt. Washington “Climb to the Clouds” Automobile Hillclimb, to be held June 22-26, 2011. The Mt. Washington Hillclimb, known as the Climb to the Clouds, was first run in 1904 and is considered to be one of America’s oldest motorsports events. The 2011 Climb to the Clouds, which makes a comeback after a ten year hiatus, will be a 5-day festival of motorsports with a 75-car competition field filled with some of the best drivers and cars from around the world competing for “King of the Hill” honors. The entry list includes three of the past five course record holders, former and current rally champions, several high-powered open-wheel cars, a vintage class filled with cars steeped in motorsports history and a first for the event; a purpose-built race-truck!

Gunning for overall victory and a new overall course record will be a trio of past record holders. They include multi-time rally champion Tim O'Neil from Whitefield, NH, seven-time SCCA ProRally Champion Paul Choiniere from Shelburne, VT; and current Climb to the Clouds official-record holder and six-time Canadian Rally Champion Frank Sprongl from Ontario, Canada. These drivers all hold records within a minute of each other and will be racing in the Open Class at the Climb to the Clouds.

Other notable drivers going for the overall record include Jimmy Keeney of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Todd Cook from Tempe, Arizona – both of whom will be driving purpose built open-wheel hillclimb cars with upwards of 900 horsepower, but only two-wheel drive. Keeney was the 2nd fastest qualifier at the 2010 Pikes Peak International Hillclimb and Cook is a multi-time class winner at Pikes Peak. Two other open-wheeled cars are the 1968 McKee MK8, a Formula 5000-based car raced by Robert D'Amore from Arlington, MA, and “The Patriot”, a bespoke hillclimb car built and raced by Jerry Driscoll. Driscoll, who makes his home in East Randolph, Vermont, set the current Speed Record of 113mph on the Mt. Washington Auto Rd. course in 1998 driving the very same car he’ll be racing this June.

The Vintage Class features a lineup of prestigious racing cars from the 1930's and 1950's. Although all the entered vehicles are steeped in motorsports history none maybe as much so as an extremely rare 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 that won Le Mans with legendary Grand Prix driver Tazio Nuvolari at the wheel. The 8C was shipped across the Atlantic, and in 1937 it raced and won the Mt. Washington Hillclimb – it returns this June, restored as it was raced, to compete 74 years later. Also competing will be a 1934 Reuter Special known as "The Old Grey Mare," a 1953 lightweight special known as "The Cheetah" and a 1951 Jaguar XK120 known as "The Beast." The Vintage Class roster will also feature a 1931 Studebaker factory Indy car – one of only three that were built – that won the pole at Indianapolis in 1931, as well as raced and won Pikes Peak the same year. All of these historic cars have raced at Mt. Washington before and will return this June!

The Mt. Washington Auto Road will see a truck race up its narrow serpentine course for the first time in its history as daredevil Mike Ryan of Santa Clara, California takes his purpose-built Freightliner 14.7 liter turbo-diesel-powered race-truck up Mt. Washington in the Hillclimb Special Class. Ryan, a Hollywood stunt-driver by trade, holds the current record at Pikes Peak in the Super Truck Class and will forgo the Colorado event this year in favor of the unfamiliar Mt. Washington Hillclimb.

The two-wheel drive and all-wheel drive Rally classes will be headlined by defending Rally America, North American and Canadian Rally Champion Antoine L'Estage in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X and Former Subaru factory rally driver Ramana Lagemann from Somerville, Massachusetts in a 2010 Subaru WRX STI. The all-wheel drive class will be a showdown between the makes as five Subaru and five Mitsubishi rally cars are entered.

Four additional classes host race cars which normally compete in the New England and Pennsylvania Hillclimb Championships that include cars from the 1970's: BMW 2002, Datsun 510, Opel Ascona, Chevrolet Camaro, and even a Triumph Spitfire; the 1980's: VW GTI, Mazda RX-7, Peugeot 505, Saab 900, and Porsches; the 1990's Nissan Sentra, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Dodge Neon, BMW M3, and the thrilling 240RS Maxi, and the 2000's including modern Volkswagen, Subaru WRX STI, and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution entries.

The Climb to the Clouds will also host a vintage car show during the event weekend displaying cars and machinery with impressive ties to Mt. Washington. Highlights include the 1904 Orient Buckboard that raced in the first-ever Mt. Washington Hillclimb in July of 1904, a 1907 Bailey Electric from Amesbury, MA identical to that of a Bailey Electric that completed a 1,000 mile loop from New York City with Mt. Washington on its route, and the 1961 Volkswagen with Porsche Carrera power that Bill Rutan from Moodus, CT drove to the overall record in 1961 – 50 years ago this June.

Mt. Washington Climb to the Clouds

The Mt. Washington hillclimb, known as the Climb to the Clouds, is recognized as one of the oldest motor sport events in the United States. Arguably one of the worlds most difficult hillclimb events, the Climb to the Clouds runs from the base of the auto road to the summit. The 7.6 mile course winds up the mountain and is lined by steep drops, boulders and trees. Combine that with Mt. Washington's unpredictable weather, and you have the makings of something very interesting for drivers and spectators alike. No doubt, this is a very exhilarating road at speed!

The first timed ascent of the Mt. Washington auto road in an automobile took a massive 2 hours and 10 minutes. However, the first official event was held in 1904, with a winning time of 24 minutes, 37 seconds set by an early Mercedes. The event continued to run annually until 1961, with auto manufacturers using it as a way to showcase their new vehicles. During that time many notable and talented drivers took part, including the legendary Carroll Shelby, who drove a specially prepared Ferrari 375 to a record time of 10min 21sec in 1956. Shelby's record would fall in 1961 to Bill Rutan, a New England native, who set a time of 9min 13sec.

After a 29 year hiatus the Climb to the Clouds returned in 1990 and ran yearly until 2001. During this time 6 records were set by three drivers. The current record of 6min 41 sec, was set by Frank Sprongl in 1998, driving his 500 horse-power Audi S2. A video of the record run can be seen here.

After not running for 10 years the Climb to the Clouds is returning as part of the auto roads 150th anniversary. Some of you may have heard of Travis Pastrana's record breaking run back in the fall. While his time of 6min 21sec is impressive, it is not considered an official record, as it was not done during competition. However, it did show that Sprongl's record will likely fall this June. The event will run from June 22-26th, and is open to spectators. More information can be found at the official Climb to the Clouds webpage. The expectations for the events return have been set high, but from what I hear, the organizers have planned quite an event. I would urge anyone who can to attend!

The entry process for the event began early this year and continued until February. After entries were received, 75 were selected to compete, and I am very excited to be one of those drivers! While the official entry list has not been released, I have feeling that there will be an impressive group of cars and drivers competing. Rumor has it that 4 of the 5 living record holders are slated to drive at the event. It is slightly intimidating to be part of such an affair, but Im confident that we can record some respectable times and represent Saab well. Hopefully we will have our new car completed in time to get some testing in before June. Thats not a long way off, better get back to work!

My history with our 900

     Until a few years ago I knew nothing about cars.  Then one day I watched an episode of a British car show called Top Gear.  At first I only watched it because I thought it was very entertaining, but then my interest in the cars that they had on the show began to grow.  Now because of Top Gear I know quite a bit about cars.  It must be said that the cars I do know about are mainly super-cars and that I still don't really know much about the inner workings of any car.

       Around the same time that I started to watch Top Gear my brother Pascal started to race in Rally-x and Hill climbs.  I started to learn more about rally racing because of Pascal.  Since he introduced it to me my enjoyment and knowledge of it has only grown.  One thing that made me really start to get interested in rally racing was when Pascal took me to the New England Forest Rally.  At first I wasn't very exited about going, but after the first day of spectating I couldn't wait for more.      

      About a year ago my brother came to me and asked if I would like to buy a Saab 900 SPG with him.  My fist reaction was no, because I was only 14 and would have to wait two more years before I would be able to drive it.  Pascal then explained to me that it would be a car that we could use for racing and also that it didn't run and would need a lot of work.  Reluctant at first but with ever growing enthusiasm I agreed to pay for a portion of the car and to help work on it. 

      After we bought it we had it towed to where my brother worked.  For the first few months we didn't work on the car, because it was winter and we didn't have a garage to work in.  We decided to wait until summer to work on the car.  Just before summer we found out that our house had been sold and that we would be moving.  We also found out that our new house would have a two car garage that we could use to work in.  So we delayed working on the car until we moved, thinking that it would be best to wait  until we could permanently set up shop in our new house.  By the time we moved into the new house it was nearly September and me and Pascal both had to go back to school.  When Pascal came back for winter vacation we started to work on the car.  At first it was just Pascal who worked.  Slowly I began to work as well, and by the end of winter vacation we had stripped most of the car.  

After Pascal left for school I tried to put in a few hours each week on things that he had left for me to do.  Now with time running out he's been coming home every weekend so that we can get more work done.  So far we've made some good progress and will hopefully complete it before the first event of the season.  

Course de côte SPG

I am excited to say that work on a new car for 2011 is currently well underway, and with the first event of the season fast approaching, the pressure is on.

This project started about a year ago when my younger brother and I purchased the car, a 1985 900 SPG. It was in a pretty sorry state when we got our hands on it, but we were attracted to it for several reasons. First, the shell lacked a lot of the typical rust so often found on New England cars. Second, the interior was gone, except for the dash. Since the interior would have been removed anyway, it was convenient, and helped lower the price. Finally, the suspension was in good shape and included Koni adjustable shocks and Swedish Dynamics springs that should be well suited for hillclimb.

The first step was to pull the engine and suspension off the car so everything could be cleaned, refurbished or replaced. This was also a good time to box the A-arms for added strength, and despite being in good condition, select bushings will also be changed. We did find three areas of rust that had been hidden. Those areas were cut out and new metal was welded in. Of course, we also had to remove the interior sound deadening material. This was done the old fashioned way, with a hammer and chisel, and I have to say it was a miserable job. While the shell is bare, the engine bay, wheel wells and interior will be getting a coat or two of white paint. Unfortunately, we will be forced to wait for warmer weather before we can start spraying.

After removing the engine and transmission we found that they had previously been replaced with an 86' unit. We decided to send the transmission to Charles River Saab where Peter Maitland and Mike Clancy are rebuilding it. We also made the decision to use a 92' Turbo engine, instead of the old 86' unit. With the new engine having over 200,000 miles, it seamed like a good idea to pull things apart to see what was what. Luckily these engines are very robust, and not much was needed. The factory cross-hatching was still present on the cylinder walls, and the oil pump surfaces looked brand new! After cleaning the block it got painted a nice cream color, a new timing chain was installed, and everything was re-assembled with new gaskets and seals.

Currently, the engine is 95% assembled and will be ready to go in the car once the transmission is finished. The front suspension components are also ready to go back on the car. The most recent progress has been on the cars roll cage. More on that, and other details later.

The full album of build pictures can be found at my picasa account.

A Brief History

My interest in rallying was spiked soon after receiving my license, when I participated in a scavenger hunt based road rally that was organized by Charles River Saab as a part of Swedish Car Day. I ended the day with a solid last place finish after taking a wrong turn as I tried to navigate my way back to Watertown from Fenway

Park. Despite my poor performance, I was eager to start rallying.

After some research I decided that the best place to start would be with the SCCA RallyX program. RallyX are timed events, run through a course designated by cones laid out on an open grass or gravel lot. It only took me one event to get hooked after taking a second place finish in stock front wheel drive class driving a 1991 900S. I ended the 2007 season in second place in the SF class. After competing in a second full season of RallyX I got my first taste of driving on a track when I took my mothers 9000 Aero to an instructional day hosted by SCDA at New Hampshire International Speedway. While I had enjoyed RallyX very much, blasting around a track at speed was something I needed more of.

It was at this point that I stumbled upon the New England Hillclimb Associations web page. (www.hillclimb.org) After reading through the rules I found that they allowed cars with minimal safety prep to run as long as you drove above a certain "break out" time. Great! So I signed up for an event after installing the required fire extinguisher in a stock 1992 900 Turbo and drove to Vermont's Burke Mt. After attending a mandatory rookies meeting and taking a drive up the course I was both a bit nervous, but very excited. The fully paved road twists up the mountain and is lined by rocks, trees and some stunning views. In short, every run up the course would be like a rally special stage!

At the start of the event competitors take a familiarization run up the course as a group. These runs are taken at a brisk pace, although not at full race speed. I had tried to hang towards the back of the group when lining up in order to not slow any of the faster cars. Despite my efforts, after passing the start line and putting my foot down, I looked in my rearview only to see a V8 powered, open wheel monster, coming up behind me. The look of this car behind me was intimidating to say the least. Combine that with the excitement of driving up the course and it leaves, me, at the top of a mountain, filled with adrenaline and ready for more. Over the rest of that weekend I drove consistently faster with every run and ended the event with a respectable time. I went on to drive the rest of the seasons events, enjoying every minute of it.

I returned in the 2010 season where I continued to improve my times while driving the same 900 Turbo. I was even faster at hills where in the previous year I had been driving a faster 9000 Aero with superior tires. Unfortunately, my 2010 season was cut one event short when my downpipe broke at the turbo flange, blasting everything on the right side of the engine bay with intense heat. Many plastic pieces were destroyed, including part of the wiring harness. Fortunately, all the damage was later repaired and the car is now fine.

The highlight of the 2010 season was competing in the New England Forest Rally as a co-driver. My original goal when I got into this was to compete in stage rally as a driver, and I was only a few feet from that position! It was very exciting to be competing at the top level of U.S. rallying alongside drivers like Travis Pastrana, Ramana Lagemann and Ken Block. I would be sitting next to Kevin Hans in the naturally aspirated Audi 4000 that he had secured to use for the event. I met Kevin for the first time just two days before the rally. Luckily we got to spend one full day getting to know each other as we participated in "recce", where we drove through the rallies stages while going over the stage notes. It took me several stages to familiarize myself with all of the symbols that are found within the provided stage notes, but I eventually got the hang of it.

After spending the next morning in "parc expose", where all the cars are parked and competitors mingle with fans, we set off on the first of two super special stages. These stages are very short and are designed with the fans in mind. Despite the short nature of these first stages I could tell I was in for a treat with Kevin at the wheel. Being a Team O'Neil rally school instructor, Kevin knows his way around a rally car. Despite our underpowered Audi he managed to post some impressive stage times on the first day as we moved up through the field of 65 cars. Unfortunately, the second day was cut short for us. During the days third stage the car began suffering from a failing fuel pump, the loss of power forced us to a crawl and we had to pull off the road as it became unsafe for cars coming hurdling up behind us at full speed. Despite this, I had enjoyed the experience, and will hopefully have a chance to compete with Kevin again.

Well, that was not so brief, but should give an idea of what I've been doing leading up to 2011. This season is shaping up to be very exciting, with a new car being prepped for competition, and some exciting events on the calender. Updates about these things will be coming soon!