Sand Blast results

[Crazyswede]

Well after 2 stages it looks like John and Luke are in 12th place overall after 2 stages. Looks like about 30 or 40 cars running the event. I'll try and post more as it becomes available and as I have time.

[Jordan]

Damnit Seth, you jinxed them! I checked the results this morning and it seems you guys had to retire with a "cluth" problem (clutch?). Anyway, I hope you all had fun at least, dissapointed I'm sure. I look forward to the full write up when Luke returns.

[Crazyswede]

I spoke to Luke last night and he gave the run down on what happened. It seems the first 2 stages went well and they were starting to get a handle on how to drive in the deep sand. Apparently on the 3d stage they started having clutch slippage problems (up to that point the car hadn't needed any attention). The deep sand was just sopping power out of the engine and transmission as the tires just sunk and didn't spin. As the stage progressed the slipping clutch only got worse until they were finally stuck in 3d gear. Sounds like Luke was able to keep moving in 3d which made for some exciting corners. Eventually the clutch started slipping again and finally the car didn't move forwards any more. They were pulled over and Luke decided to pull the hood off for a looksee. He pulled the hood and thats when they saw the smoke and flames. Fire extinguishers came out and put the fire out...sounds like the clutch got so hot that the clutch cover ignited...possibly a clutch fluid rupture to feed the fire as well...not sure at this point. A little wiring damage and some general cleanup needed due to the corrosiveness of the fire extinguishers.

Here are some photos:

[Jordan]

wow looks awesome, thanks for the update. You know the funny thing is that that's Luke's second time he had the clutch cover catch fire. The first time I think the slave blew out and shot combustable clutch fluid everywhere. Maybe a non-plastic clutch cover is in order??

[Luke]

Just got home and tore down the clutch, complete failure and total disintegration of the disc on the pressure plate side. Details and photos soon...

[max]

Just got home. My pics will be posted tomorrow, no time tonight- too tired. But lemme tell ya- Cheraw, SC makes Monticello, NY look like a bustling metropolis. But the rally stages were nice and close together, and the locals were nice.

[Geoff]

wow looks awesome, thanks for the update. You know the funny thing is that that's Luke's second time he had the clutch cover catch fire. The first time I think the slave blew out and shot combustable clutch fluid everywhere. Maybe a non-plastic clutch cover is in order??

Maybe thats why the works 99s never had clutch covers....

[Crazyswede]

Ok I just have to say that the combination of this forum, other rally and performance minded saabers, and Luke's car experiences are a great learning combination. I figure this is about as close as we will get to having our own R&D department. Figure one of us has a problem we basically have all the resources and a good chunk of the knowledge for how to go about fixing it.

[Luke]

Ok heres a few shots of the event.

The car in service, everything going great at this point.



The clutch area after the fire:


The clutch disk as removed:
The pressure plate side of the disk had no lining remaining at all and the metal of the disk was blued from the heat. The flywheel side had burnt crispy material remaining on it. The strands on fiber to the right of what we found inside the clutch cover.

[[/b]

[Crazyswede]

The car looks so cool with those fender flares....they probably helped save the body panels with all that sand flying about. Is that a burned coolant hose above the melted clutch cover? The coolant is very flammable but those hoses take a fair amount to burn through. You were probably lucky that the coolant didn't burn more aggressively.

[Luke]

lessons learned at sandblast:

1: Sand is only slippery when spread thinly, when you are bogged down in 20" of it creates a tremendous amount of friction on your tires.

2. If your clutch slips a little on tarmac, its going to slip A LOT in sand.

3: The new skid plate works great as a ski to get through the washes. We didnt have an issue getting stuck like many other 2wd cars did.

4. Rally-moto is fun to watch because the riders appear ready to tank at any given moment.

[Crazyswede]

lessons learned at sandblast:


4. Rally-moto is fun to watch because the riders appear ready to tank at any given moment.

You don't know how true this is. Riding fast in sand on 2 wheels takes a certain lack of brain matter to be truly fast. The bike likes to dance around and do its own thing. I have ridden fast in deep loose gravel which is similiar but not as bad. I look forward to entering the next event that offers rally moto.

[Jordan]

how is the alum flywheel? did it get wrecked/warped?

[max]

Luke's expecting the flywheel to be ruined.

[Luke]

It seems ok other than a loose ring gear and a glazed surface