Saab places in the 24 hours of Lemons

[bam2002]

Well we have made it thought the race, the BMW didnt make it BUT . The Saab 900 team did quite well. The 9000 had issues.
Check out this link..
http://jalopnik.com/5204373/the-top-94- ... pring-2009
There are also a good deal of videos on youtube look up peoples curse or Lemons penalties. You will get a good laugh.

We didnt do as well as we wanted, 8 hours into the race we were in 8th place then the car died. at that point we were in 8th place when there was a issue in the wiring. We spent 5 hours on the car and couldnt get it fixed. So we hung in the penalty area.. That was very entertaining.

Ive been driving the 99 EMS around for a few weeks. THe clutch has started to slip So ill order the parts monday. Any thing I need to look out for? Im planning on doing a search on this site to get an idea on how to build the tool.

Thanks.

Barry

[Jordan]

What year 99 is it? You can use a 900 turbo clutch kit (8v, not sure if 16v is the same without changing flywheel) which is a little larger.

[bam2002]

1ts a 1975 99 ems.

I see the ring - metal hoop tool out on ebay it doesnt look like its that difficult to make.

I had not called my friends shop yet RE ordering the parts.. I was planning to do the throw out bearing and friction disk. Its barely slipping now so im sure I have not damaged anything.

[Jordan]

Yeah its just a ring to keep the clutch fingers compressed. You can also get them at eeuroparts for like $10. It's handy because its just the right thickness to be able to finagle the slave cylinder out while still being able to be jammed in the pressure plate...tying other things has not worked too well for me. Overall, clutch jobs are a snap on saabs.

P.S. Don't forget to pull the input shaft out of the front of the transmission!

[bam2002]

Ok I am looking at the Haynes.

i have removed the radiator and the fresh air intake.

The book says to remove the cover- cap. the o ring then pull the clutch shaft with a slide hammer. then unbolt the guide sleeve.

Then it mentions a clutch clamping tool. Do i need this?
I have done clutches on rear wheel drive cars and all you need is an Alignment tool.
Why are the Saab different?
Cant you just unbolt the pressure plate swap the parts? Align the disk and rebolt on the pressure plate.

Sorry if I am making this out harder than it really is. Other than the special tool it looks straight forward.

Thanks..

Barry

[Jordan]

Ok I am looking at the Haynes.

i have removed the radiator and the fresh air intake.

The book says to remove the cover- cap. the o ring then pull the clutch shaft with a slide hammer. then unbolt the guide sleeve.

Then it mentions a clutch clamping tool. Do i need this?
I have done clutches on rear wheel drive cars and all you need is an Alignment tool.
Why are the Saab different?
Cant you just unbolt the pressure plate swap the parts? Align the disk and rebolt on the pressure plate.

Sorry if I am making this out harder than it really is. Other than the special tool it looks straight forward.

Thanks..

Barry

You don't need an alignment tool because the input shaft centers the friction disk in the pressure plate. There are also alignment pins on the flywheel. You need to compress the pressure plate because the slave, TO bearing and clutch all come out together.

To use the ring tool have someone activate the clutch in the car and slip the ring between the pressure plate fingers and where there would now be space...this will take some pressure off the slave.

Unbolt the 3 bolts to the slave (can be a little pain to get a wrench turned much on the bottom). A trick is to slot the bottom hole for easier later removal. Unbolt pressure plate bolts then gently (if you want to reuse the slave!) pry the whole unit by starting with the slave and unseating it from the transmission front then to unseating the flywheel from the dowel pins...

Also, if it doesn't explain, to remove the input shaft from the transmission , unscrew the little plastic cross ( I think they are on 99s) at the end of the shaft and partially thread in a bolt, then use a pry bar or hammer and pliers to pull it out. The factory tool is a slide hammer with a bolt end attachment but its not necessary. Don't forget to put the plastic piece back in.

[bam2002]

Got it.. thanks.. for the clarification.


Oh BTW I found another site with Tons of photos of the race.

Here is one of the 9000
http://www.ronman.org/pics/lemons/img_0229.htm
and the 900
http://www.ronman.org/pics/lemons/img_0432.htm

Also the fire photos are of a e30. The driver was fine.

[Jordan]

Good luck!

"Aborted from Jets"

[max]

I had to cover my mouth suddenly to stifle a laugh at work, once I got to "SubarJew"

[bam2002]

Yea all the cars are supposed to be Themed. ours was #30 the green BMW 325. Our team was Eurotrash and the car is painted up like a german trash truck. We even had the Amber flashing light on top and the beeper when we backed up.

The mustang geting crushed is the Peoples Curse award. Its not really a award you want. its given to the team that is either cheating the most RE a fast car.. Or driving like an @ss while on the track.
This team was cheating.. The fast BMWs and Miatas were doing a lap in the 1:04 range. This mustang was a GT with a cam. Sport shocke etc.. they layed down a lap in 59 sec.

There are articles on Jalopnik about the race. The penaties are the best part. You have to spin a wheel like in Mad max and get the penalty you land on.

Here are some more links.

Murilee Martin's Jalopnik coverage:

http://jalopnik.com/5204373/the-top-94- ... pring-2009
http://jalopnik.com/tag/24-hours-of-lemons/

Guest Judge Rahul's guide to penalities on Racing Geek:

http://www.rahulnair.net/blog/2009/04/0 ... lties-101/

Judge Jonny's SpeedSportLife coverage:

http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/04/0 ... g-wrap-up/
http://www.speedsportlife.com/tag/24-hours-of-lemons/

Final LeMons South Spring Results and Awards

http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/results/

[bam2002]

Ok got the clutch out. I must say that was one of the easiest ones I have ever done. I ended up using a bit of steel cable I had laying around as the spacer in the pressure plate. Now since I am getting the kit with a new presure plate. How do I get the fingers depressed when its not in the car?

Im thinking about a peice of wood across the bottom with the old throw out bearing and the huge bolt from my bearing press..

Is there an easier way?

thanks

PS for a good laugh you should watch the penalties video.

[Jordan]

That will work... or I lower the car onto a piece of wood with the pressure plate underneath... or something like that.

[bam2002]

Jordan thanks for the tips.

Its all together and runs great. The new pressure plate had flat fingers vs the old one had then bow out towards the center. So i have to adjsut the bolt to move it closer. Other than that it was easy and straight forward.. Im thinking why arnt all FWD cars set up this way.

Doing some touch up paint today.

There is a Rally in 2 weeks.. A auto x in a huge dirt- grass lot.. I think Im going to run the car and see how it does

Barry