2024 MANX CLASSIC 3 DAY HILLCLIMB 99 TURBO

[BIRDIEMANGO]

EVENING GENTLEMEN,

WELL HERE WE GO AGAIN....

I LEAVE ON THE FERRY TO THE 'ISLE OF MAN' TUESDAY 23RD APRIL. SCRUTINEERING IS WEDNESDAY AT THE 'TT GRANDSTAND'

https://manx-v2.genesis-ws.co.uk/

ITS BEEN A HECTIC 12 MONTHS,BUT THE 99 TURBO IS READY TO GO....LETS HOPE WE DON'T HOLE ANY PISTONS!!

https://www.uksaabs.co.uk/UKS/viewtopic ... &start=440

I HOPE TO GET INTO THE TOP 30....WITH A 44 YEAR OLD SAAB?

ENTRY LIST
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... dit#gid=0T

[99Super]

Such a great looking car Birdie! Good luck and I look forward to reading about the results!

John

[BIRDIEMANGO]

OK GUYS,GOT ONTO THE ISLAND LATE AFTERNOON....

JUST SOME TIME TO DO A LITTLE TESTING,BUT THE ROADS DON'T CLOSE UNTIL TOMORROW PROPER....

AMBIENT WAS 8 DEG CENTIGRADE LAST NIGHT,SO QUICK CHECK OF 'AFR' ALL SEEMS OK SO FAR....

FINGERS CROSSED...
LOOKS LIKE THE FIRST DAY IS GONNA BE DRY, WET THE FINAL TWO DAYS....WHICH ARE MORE TWISTY IN NATURE,SO HOPEFULLY THE 'LSD' IS GONNA HELP MORE AGAINST THE BIG POWER STUFF...

OFF TO SCRUTINEERING THIS AFTERNOON

[Geoff]

The car looks great, and the scenery, too! Good luck!

I'm just now realizing that the lights on your bumper are Bosch Knick. I have a set of those that I haven't run in a number of years. I remember them being suprisingly bright compared to Hella 2000 and maybe even brighter than the Hella 4000. I also like the look of them with the angled lenses. The guy I got them from advised me to put duct tape around the chrome rings to keep them from falling apart on stage. I'm going to want to put them on a new project soon so it's about time I restore them and get all that old adhesive off.

RULE NO.1 OF BEING A MECHANICAL ENGINEER
'NEVER ASSUME THAT A NEW PART,CAN NEVER BE AT FAULT'

I've taught that to many interns and colleagues as well. But it's hard to remember yourself sometimes!

[BIRDIEMANGO]

MORNING GENTEMEN,SO THE FIRST DAY WAS THE RATHER IMPOSING 'THE SLOC' UP THE SIDE OF A MOUNTAIN,IN THE SOUTH OF THE ISLAND,IT HAS THE HIGHEST FINISH LINE IN THE UK,AND THE WEATHER CAN BE SUNNY,AT THE BOTTOM,AND RAIN AND DAMP AT THE TOP....STONE WALL ON THE OUTSIDE,WITH BIG DROPS,AND OPEN ROCK FACE ON THE INSIDE,WITH A BIT OF WILD GRASS...

TRUE TO FORM THE RAIN CAME EARLY,FOR PRACTICE OF WHICH YOU GET JUST ONE RUN.

ALL GOOD,THE GRIPPER LSD TAKING A LITTLE GETTING USED TO,BUT TRACTION WAS INCREDBLE PUTTING ME 13TH FASTEST IN THE RAIN....FROM 90 CARS,BEATING MOST OF THE 4WD STUFF,AND CLASSIC PORSCHE'S UP THE HILL...BEARING IN MIND,I AM IN ROAD-GOING CLASS,ON ROAD TYRES...THE RIVAL COMPETITION IS ON CUT SLICKS.

YOU REALLY NEED 'BALLS OF STEEL',AS THE CORNER APEX'S ARE ALL BLIND,AND TO GET THE SEQUENCE RIGHT UP THE TOP, ITS VERY BUMPY MAKING THE CAR SKIP ABOUT...AND VERY FAST! YOU NEED MOMENTUM FOR A QUICK TIME....

I ACTUALLY CAUGHT THE CAR IN FRONT,A CLASSIC TR6 AT THE FINISH LINE IN PRACTICE....SO ASKED IF I COULD RUN,IN FRONT OF HIM FOR THE FIRST TIMED RUN,WHICH WOULD BE DAMP....

LAST PHOTO,WAS TAKEN AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN...

[BIRDIEMANGO]

TO PUT THINGS INTO PERSPECTIVE,LAST YEAR I WAS COMPETING IN THE WHITE K900 TURBO 8V....
AND MY PRACTICE RUN IN THE DRY BACK THEN,I HAD JUST MATCHED WITH THE 99 TURBO,BUT THIS TIME IN THE RAIN....!!

BLOODY HELL,THIS 99 TURBO IS VERY QUICK !!!

1ST TIMED RUN, DAMP CONDITIONS GAVE ME 61.02 SECS,LAST YEARS FASTEST IN THE WHITE K900 WAS 63.28 SECS

2ND TIMED RUN,THE MOUNTAIN ROAD HAD DRIED,SO I REALLY PUSHED HARD....

FLAT OVER A RIGHT HAND CREST ACROSS FLYING FINISH,AND THE TAIL JUST STEPPED OUT AND I WAS FACING THE OPEN DROP ON OPPOSITE LOCK,FLAT IN 3RD 90 ODD MPH....

CAUGHT IT,BUT THE REAR WHEEL JUST CAUGHT THE GRASS VERGE AND SENT ME SIDEWAYS,HEAD-ON INTO THE STONE EMBANKMENT.....
AND FROM THEN ON,I WAS JUST A PASSENGER

MASSIVE IMPACT !!

I COULDN'T OPEN THE DOORS,AND A SMALL FIRE HAD STARTED IN THE ENGINE BAY.....

MARSHALS WERE ON THE SCENE VERY QUICK,HELPED ME OUT THE CAR......PUT FIRE OUT...

[BIRDIEMANGO]

HELLO GEOFF,I THINK I NEED SOME MORE BOSCH RALLYE KNICK LAMPS....

[BIRDIEMANGO]

VERY SORE TODAY,BUT ALSO VERY LUCKY !! YOU CAN'T HIT STONE EMBANKMENTS THAT KIND OF SPEED,AND WALK AWAY FROM IT...

CAR IS DESTROYED....I HAVE A '76 COMBI-COUPE GOOD SHELL HERE,READY TO BUILD AGAIN...

[BIRDIEMANGO]

SPENT AN HOUR IN AMBULANCE RIGGED UP TO ALLSORTS OF ELECTRONIC MONITORING,TO MAKE SURE I WAS COHERENT.....AND ME BRAIN HADN'T FELL OUT?

HERE ARE A FEW MORE PICS OF THE OTHER CARS COMPETING...

I WAS 1.5 SECS DOWN ON THE '71 MCLAREN F1 CAR ON SLICKS,AND HE CAN DRIVE !!

THE ESCORT IS A 258 BHP 'BDG' ENGINED ROCKET SHIP,WITH A £28,000 TWIN CAM ENGINE... I TOOK 1.5 SECS OFF HIM ....

THE SILVER 911 CARRERA,IS A 3.0 210 BHP FLAT 6...... TOOK 1.5 SECS OFF HIM,AS WELL,TO ACTUALLY WIN MY CLASS,ON THE DAY!! EVEN THOUGH THE 99 TURBO IS A TOTAL WRECK...

[BIRDIEMANGO]

HERE ARE THE RESULTS FROM THE FIRST DAY UP ....

'THE SLOC'



chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/http://www.timeteamtiming.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/SLOC_Final_Results.pdf

BEARING IN MIND HERE,THAT THE 99 TURBO(IN ROAD-GOING CLASS) HAS TO KEEP ALL THE INTERIOR TRIM ,GLASS,DOOR CARDS,INETERIOR QTR TRIMS,AND SEATS,THE ONLY THING YOU CAN REMOVE IS THE CARPETS...I EVEN HAVE A SONY CD PLAYER IN THE ORIGINAL SAAB CENTRE CONSOLE,FOR EVERYDAY DRIVING.

THE DRIVERS SEAT OBVIOUSLY,IS A COMPETITION ITEM,WITH LUKE 4 POINT HARNESS....

AND THE BUMPERS HAD THE PLASTIC INTERNAL BLOCKS REMOVED,TO GAIN SOME MORE WEIGHT LOSS...

A GOOD FEW YEARS AGO,I HAD THE 99 TURBO CORNER WEIGHTED,AT 1175 KG WITH DRIVER.

THE BMW M3 AND SUBARU LEGACY CAR NO'S 16&17 ARE IN THE 'SPORTS LIBRE' CLASS(PICTURED), SO FULLY LIGHTENED,WITH LIGHTWEIGHT PANELS,STRIPPED OUT& CAGED...AND THE 99 TURBO TOOK OVER 2.5 SECS 'OFF' THEIR TIMES UP THE MOUNTAIN..

JUST TAKE A SECOND,TO COMPARE THE TIMES OF THE V8 TRIUMPHS'S,AND TVR....JENSEN INTERCEPTOR...




THERE IS MUCH MORE TO BUILDING A CAR,THAT JUST 'LOOKS' FAST......

THE OBJECTIVE HERE,WAS TO SEE IF IT WAS POSSIBLE RUNNING AN ENTIRELY STANDARD FACTORY 'B20' PERIOD ENGINE(180,000 MILES) AT 1.2 BAR BOOST WITH THE COLD START INJECTOR AS EXTRA(ADEQUATE)FUELLING,ALONG WITH THE ADDITION OF THE 'LSD' TO SEE HOW THE 99 TURBO FARED AGAINST THE 'OTHER' COMPETITION CARS.....ON 'THE SLOC'?

NOW JUST IMAGINE,HOW QUICK A 99 TURBO WOULD BE,ONCE I STRIP IT ALL OUT,AND FULLY LIGHTEN THE SHELL WITH COMPOSITE PANELS....

'OBJECTIVE' SO FAR,ACHIEVED GENTLEMEN

THERE IS NO OTHER EVENT,IN THE WORLD LIKE THE 'MANX CLASSIC'....FOR COMPARISON,WHICH THE EVERYDAY CLUBMAN,CAN JUST TURN UP AND COMPETE.

THE 'CLARION 99 TURBO' MIGHT HAVE FINALLY COME TO A RATHER ABRUPT END,FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER I BUILT IT !
BUT,HOW MUCH HAS BEEN LEARNT IN DEVELOPING THE CAR ALONG THE WAY....

'' AN ENGINEER,CAN DO FOR FIVE SHILLINGS.....THAT WHICH A FOOL CAN DO FOR TEN''

IT'S TIME MAYBE,FOR A LITTLE 'BIRDIEMANGO SAAB 99 TURBO EVOLUTION',BUT THIS TIME WE ARE UTLISING A' 76 COMBI-COUPE...AS THE BASIS.

'SAAB' MAY HAVE ORIGINALLY CHOSEN THE TWO DOOR BODYSHELL,FOR THE 1979 COMPETITION YEAR IN RALLYING,AS IT WAS ALLEGEDLY SOME 40KG LIGHTER,THAN THE 3 DOOR COMBI-COUPE?

BUT, NOBODY ELSE HERE IN THE UK IS RUNNING A 99 COMBI-COUPE IN MOTORSPORT...

FOR NOW THOUGH, I NEED TO WAIT A FEW WEEKS UNTIL THE 99 TURBO CAN BE RECOVERED BACK TO THE MAINLAND,SALVAGE THE REMAINING PARTS OF ANY USE?

OH, AND THE SMALL MATTER OF ALLOWING MY BODY TO RECOVER,FROM SUCH A HUGE IMPACT....

I REALLY CAN SAY,THAT'S THE BIGGEST SHUNT OF MY CAREER....AND I WAS 'VERY' LUCKY TO WALK AWAY FROM IT,WITH JUST A SPRAINED WRIST !!!

MAYBE,JUST MAYBE ....THOSE SWEDES IN 'TROLLHATTAN' KNEW THEY WERE ONTO SOMETHING.....

I MAY SEE SOME OF YOU AT THE 'SAAB FESTIVAL' IN TROLLHATTAN,IN JUNE THIS YEAR?

[99Super]

So sorry to hear about the car Birdie!
Glad you are okay beyond being a bit sore.
There is so little room for mistakes in hillclimbing! It looks like it is a great event.
I've always kept a spare chassis just in case, but so far I've been very lucky!
Having all the parts on hand means the 76 build should go fast
Good luck!

John

[99Super]

Read your post on UK-Saabs, glad to hear you are just sore!

Looking at the pictures, the condition of the front end is nearly identical to 78 Turbo I saw once at the scrapper.
It went head-on with a 1970-ish Ford F-150 at a combined speed of 100 on a mountain pass.
Saab driver broke his knee. Killed the Ford driver.

It's a big reason I bought the 77 GRM Rally car. It has a really good cage. Now it just needs power.