A Mostly Dry 2004 Jefferson 500 for Steve Church
- Charles Christ
- Steve Church
- Stefan Vapaa
- Mary Anne Fieux
- Randy Cook
- Ed Diehl
- George Vapaa
- Jon Ewing
- William Harding
- Chris Moberg
- 1960 93F
- 1973 97 Sonett III
- 1968 97 Sonett V4
- 1964 Quantum Formula SAAB
- 1967 Brand'X' Sports Racer
- Racecar Group Photos
Crews
- Tom Cox
- Chip Lamb
- Sune Nilsson
- Laura Briggs
- Don Wollum
Last Updated: Mar 26, 2006
10/4/2004
The mid-Atlantic area of the country experiences a variety of weather during the spring and fall. Some people like the variety and some people don't. I grew up in New England, and appreciate and enjoy weather variations, except for when I want to go road racing in my windowless racecar.The Summit Point Raceway facility in Summit Point, West Virginia is the host to the 'Jefferson 500' historic racing event during mid-May every year. The race has developed a reputation as being one of the wettest events held on the east coast. "Seasoned" veterans on the historic racing circuit know to come prepared with expansive canopies and grooved rain tires. My limited racing budget keeps me from accumulating very many beneficial accessories, so I do the next best thing: hope for no rain! Thankfully, there was very little rain during the 2004 event. More on that later.
The Preparation List
It was a long winter for me, what with seven months between the September '03 SVRA 'Blue-Gray Challenge' event at Summit Point and the May '04 Intercontinental Events J500. It seemed like forever! And, I did nothing - touched nothing! - on the race car after the 'Blue-Gray' until January '04. I started a 'To-Do' list about then, and began to prioritize my efforts leading up to the J500.
Resting in the paddock area, waiting to race (S. Church photo)
It would be the second historic racing event that I would drive in my own car, so I wanted to apply some of the things that I had learned during the first event. I had gotten so much accomplished on the car before the 'Blue-Gray' that I thought the project list would be short. It wasn't short; it was very long. And, as time passed, I had to keep killing off "Priority 3" items or I wouldn't have had the car ready to race at all!
Priority Items
The most significant projects on the car were forward of the firewall -- Engine modifications and brake system improvements.
I pulled the engine and tore it down except for the crank / flywheel rotating assembly, the timing gears, the cam, and the balance shaft. I crossed my fingers that the bearings associated with those subassemblies were "good to go."
The V4 heads went to a secret location - - a high performance engine shop known to Chip Lamb near Charles City, VA - - for some porting and polishing work supported by a flow bench. I apparently never paid MSS for a 10-10ths polishing effort on my heads when MSS converted them from single- to dual-port exhaust outlets. The local shop reported that their work yielded about 10-14% greater flow through the heads. They also completed a 3-angle valve job and replaced the valve springs.
Also, an MSS coolant swirl tank was mounted and plumbed (FINALLY! I've had it for over five years!), replacing my trusty Rue Goldberg-inspired system that included a SAAB 99 coolant reservoir
Chip Lamb also rescued me from my perpetually leaking brake master cylinder. The famous rebuilders at White Post Restorations had rebuilt a unit for me back in 1997. However, I returned the unit to them several times since then because it was leaking. A leaking BMC after a White Post rebuild?!? Unbelievable! I filled Chip's ear about it and he spoke the solution: Let him deliver my unit back to White Post personally, along with any other BMC I might have, and he would ensure that the final BMC wouldn't leak. He works closely with White Post on a regular basis, so he has some influence there.
The problem was not linked to White Post, per se. Rather, Chip is aware of a casting problem inside earlier-model BMC's that SAAB installed on their 95/96/97 production line. Chip's trick is to ask White Post specifically to look for the casing problem and reject any BMC that has it. My original BMC had the casting problem. My replacement BMC, pulled from a Sonett III parts car, was inspected and found to be acceptable for a full rebuild and installation.
I also sought a better solution for brake light actuation. I had invented two different mechanical triggers over the years because I had neither a stock hydraulic switch nor the special BMC banjo bolt to mount it. My parts car provided me one of the unique, tapped banjo bolts and a used hydraulic switch, which I didn't trust to work, so I researched the availability of replacement hydraulic switches. I didn't want to mount the old switch, and install and bleed the whole brake system, only to find out that the old switch didn't work (or have it fail in the middle of a race weekend).
Challenged with finding a hydraulic switch with male threads matching the unusual female threads of the banjo bolt, I decided on a unique solution: a combination hydraulic switch/banjo bolt that's commonly used on motorcycle brake systems. A switch for a Harley Davidson, with 3/16"x24 threads, fits the threads in the side a Sonett BMC. Having properly sized copper crush washers were important, though, because the combination switch/banjo bolt's outside diameter is a little undersized for the bore of the stock SAAB brake 'tee' at the BMC.
Let the Racing Begin .. And Keep the Racecar Going ..
I was better prepared for this event than I was for the 'Blue-Gray', so I left for the track on Thursday evening. Laura Briggs was my crew for the event and she arrived at the track several hours before I arrived. We both parked in the grassy area that's commonly occupied by vintage Saabs (usually Chuck Christ's 93F, but he couldn't make this event) and soon called it a night - each of us promptly going to sleep inside our 'service' cars.
Laura provides some finish work on the rebuilt fenders (S. Church photo)
The ONLY thing that still needed to be done before I could go out on track Friday morning -- Chuck would be proud to know -- was the addition of new numerals on the car.
The Friday practices went well largely because the weather was very good, despite somewhat high humidity. Laura and I kept playing with the tire pressures of my Goodyear 'Blue Streak" vintage racing tires because I had never solved the understeering problems I suffered during the 2003 'Blue-Gray' event. Some valuable insight into the behavior of the 'Blue Streak' was provided by my much better financed cousin-in-law Wayne Jackson, and Laura and I were well on the way to a nearly balanced racecar.
Another problem nagging me Friday was related to my new 70-amp alternator, which had been provided shortly before the event by Chip Lamb. The alternator was doing fine, but my wiring job was not so fine; I began to blow the 30-amp fuse that I had wired in-line between the alternator and the battery. It was silly of me to put a 30-amp fuse in the output wire of a 70-amp alternator in the first place, so it was soon removed, and the charging system charged ahead flawlessly.
My Lap Time's, They Were a-Droppin' ..
OK, enough about the vehicle issues; "What was happening out on the course?!?" I was a little rusty when it came to driving 115+ MPH in a 30+ year old car. So, my initial lap times were a little .. sad.
The Friday morning session was just for fun and warm-up; Timing & Scoring recorded no lap times. The Friday afternoon session was a timed Practice and I posted a 1:44.8 minute fastest lap time, which for Summit Point really sucks.
Challenging "The Chute" of Summit Point Raceway (P. Church photo)
Not to worry, my interested Saab enthusiasts! Saturday provided us another day of good weather during the daylight hours after a chilly start to the morning. Saturday morning would also see my lap times drop nicely to 1:38.0; a better time, but could I drive to an improvement? No, not Saturday afternoon, I couldn't; I drove no better than a 1:38.2 best lap during the qualifying event for Sunday's race.
The engine had been rebuilt just before the event, so the head bolts were due to be torqued by Saturday midday. Wow! Did they ever need to be torqued!! Some of them were way below the recommended 75 lb-ft value! There seemed to be no ill effects caused by their looseness (no blown head gaskets), but I'm glad that I put the time into resetting them before heading out again Saturday afternoon. Too bad the effort didn't produce better lap times...
Sunday, Race Day
An intense rainstorm Saturday evening was accompanied by high wind gusts that sent some paddock canopies flying away or bending to the ground. I was worried (very worried, while trying to eat my dinner 8 miles away) that my simple canopy would do the same thing, and either damage Rika below it or fly into the new Porsche 993 that had parked nearby. Fortunately, the trees surrounding our paddock area slowed the winds enough to leave our area unharmed.
Sunday morning opened with the skies clear again and the day's racing events still on schedule. The good weather wasn't going to hold all day, unfortunately.
Laura assists with race prep (S. Church photo)
My mediocre qualifying time put me in the middle of the pack when my race started in the early afternoon, but I began to fight through the traffic. I didn't know, while driving, that my racing lap times were better than my qualifying times. I would eventually get down to a 1:35.6 lap. The thrills weren't going to last through the entire race, however. Two surprises were in store; my fuel pump fuse blowing and the declining weather.
Follow along with me as I "connect the dots" that led to a major subsystem failure. I had bought my Kevlar racing helmet cheaply directly from Bell as the SA95 models were being phased out to the SA00 models. It included two built-in cooling fans that could be powered from a car's 12v power system. I had done that in Rika.
Unfortunately, I had tied into the fuel pump circuit for the helmet's power. Then during the race, another unfortunate thing happened; one or both of the helmet fans seized up and blew the circuit fuse - the same fuse that enabled the fuel pump. Within half a lap, I emptied the carburetor's fuel bowl and the engine coughed to a stop.
Then, a fortune thing happened; I was able to just, just barely coast into the pits and stop in front of where Laura was standing. I had surmised by that point that I had no power feeding my fuel pump circuit because the dash light for the circuit was dark.
With about half of the race still ahead of us, I decided that we had time to push the car into my paddock area, diagnose the problem, and get me back onto the track for the finish.
And that's what we did! Through several "we can make in time .. we can't make it," moments we lifted the hood, ripped open the fuse/relay box and replaced the fuse with one from Laura's 900 SPG. (My spectator-wife had the keys to my locked tow vehicle where my spare fuses were stored.) We needed only to button the car up again and get me packaged inside for my return to the track!
Then, another unfortunate thing happened. The afternoon skies had been getting darker since lunchtime. The hope was that we would get our event done before any rains fell, but for me the race was already over because a downpour struck as we closed up the car with its replacement fuse. In fact, the heavy rain halted the event just two laps later, short of the planned run time.
I didn't finish the feature event but I finished the race weekend with a better prepared and more complete racing package. There was, however, a small problem, slowly getting bigger, that would become more obvious to me at the next event - the Virginia International Raceway's Gold Cup Classics.
Steve