A simple Rally-X this Sunday tested both the car and our patience, but we struggled through and put down some good times to boot! The rally cross which is sanctioned by the Philly region SCCA took place on an old oval dirt racing track and utilized both the track and the infield for the course. We were the first to run among a 40+ car field, but about half way through the run we heard a clunk and the engine reved but the car would no longer propel itself. We coasted to the side of the course, popped the hood and put the car in gear while somebody watched the driveaxles, axles were spinning but not the wheels. The right side CV joint had blown. Quickly thinking our options through, we jumped in the van and headed towards a junkyard we knew of about 10 miles down the road. Luckily the yard was open on Sunday. We walked in, found an ‘88 SAAB 900 and got busy. About 15 minutes and $12 later we had in our possession one SAAB CV joint that we hoped would fit on our ’75 SAAB rally car. We arrived back at the racetrack and quickly installed the CV just in time for the 2^nd 2WD heat. We started our 2^nd run, perhaps a little too excited about our quick repair of the car. While coming off the main track and onto the infield the car just didn’t want to accelerate. The engine was running but the throttle was not working. Once again we coasted off to the side of the course. A quick glance under the hood reveiled a loose throttle cable. A bit embarrassed, we grabbed some tools out of the trunk, tightened it up and transited off the course. At that point, with all bad luck for the day over, we were able to put down 3 more solid runs. Overall, a great day out racing that turned into quite an adventure.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7494850455036481939&hl=en

 

Spent the better part of the weekend working on the redesigned skid plate. It should hopefully prevent from ever having a cracked sump be the cause of a DNF again. I still need to weld additional wear strips on the underside and glue a rubber pad on where the aluminum contacts the chassis crossmember. The thing weighs a ton, but I keep telling myself that its low slung weight and its not like were short on power anyway! Overall I am quite please with how it turned out. John stopped by and we discussed the idea of rebuilding the original skid plate for use as a tarmac event sump gaurd, which I think is a good idea.