Greetings

[AGT3SAAB]

I actually joined here because i was referred by paulh for the 99 community and parts availability. I received my dads old race car, yes it is a road racing car but was a record setter in her day. Anyhow I'm on here to learn more about this old beast I have, i hope to be racing it next season in vintage.



Pavement weenies FTW!!!!

[Jordan]

Welcome, what region are you going to be racing out of. Good luck prying any parts from these (me included) guys. Our native ralliest does make some killer parts though.

[matt]

Pavement weenies FTW!!!!

Rally cars venture onto tarmac (pavement) as well, sometimes even at speed.

[AGT3SAAB]

I'll be racing out of the midwest region, I'm going to start out racing Midwest Council, then I'd like to join SCCA so I can have access to more tracks, but I'm going to stick with council cause it's cheaper, and you get more track time.

[Jordan]

It looks like you have a pretty good base there judging from your pics. Dual weber sidedraughts, MSS header, some crazy front caliper set up. The car looks to be a 70 or 71. What is the suspension set up like?

[AGT3SAAB]

The calipers are hurst airheart 4-pistons so i have access to plenty of good race compound brake pads, i thought the car was a 74, i can't remember what it is I'd have to ask to be sure. Suspension is stock set up, has shorter stiffer springs and koni shocks, don't know what kind though, i'm still trying to locate the folder with all the parts listed that went on the car. As you may have seen i have a spare brand new header in the truck of the car that i'm going to keep around, the other one i'm going to cut the flanges off and build a 4-1 header tuned for the thermal dynamics of the engine (i happen to know an engineer for the job) because i'll be adding an alternator to the car and would like to make up any lost horsepower with the tuned exhaust.

[Jordan]

They didn't have that firewall and brake booster/clutch setup after '73 and they didn't have those front turn signals after '71 so its gotta be at the most a '71, IIRC or the fenders were replaced/patched. MSS designed two headers one of which is tuned for higher rpms and has short secondaries. I don't remember which is on your car but they have already been engineered by a guy who really knows his stuff (Jack Lawrence). I can give you some specs off the race header if you are interested. Is that brake setup you have use vented rotors? Check to see what kind of trans the car is running or whether or not it has an LSD or not.

[AGT3SAAB]

The car has a 4-speed with LSD and a quick change gear set, that I know for a fact. As far as brake and clutch set-ups I'm not sure on because a lot of it has been replaced/modified. The car does use vented rotors up front, but i'm pretty sure they aren't saab rotors. I'm heading to my dads shop tomorrow to try and find the folder on the car, what's all been done to it, engine specs, and that sort of thing so I should have some more info for ya tomorrow night or tuesday morning. If you could find out more on that 4-1 header or where to get one I'd love to know because that would save us a great deal of trouble.

[Jordan]

Wow you hit pay dirt with that car. Close-Ratio S&R gearboxes are like gold-plated unicorns around here, same with the LSD. If you contact Jack Lawrence at his shop (Motor Sport Service) on the phone he can tell you all you need to know about tuning or racing an 8v B-motor. They don't have a website or email, they are a real mom and pop (or grand-pop) shop but he makes or has in stock most of the parts you would need. You can do a search on this board for MSS and find the number I'm sure.

[Geoff]

Don't bother trying to build a 4-1 header. The MSS headers are all 4-2-1 because a lot of work was done trying different header designs on the dyno and the 4-2-1 design was found to be the best. If you do some research into different header designs you should find that 4-1 headers generally work best for high HP numbers at a specific engine RPM. 4-2-1 may get you a little less HP but will deliver power and torque throughout the useable RPM range. Going to a 4-1 will actually make your car slower. If your car has all those other goods (quick ratio gear set, LSD, headers) it probably has a performance cam as well. The headers and cams were more or less designed to work well in conjunction with each other and changing to a different header design won't be beneficial. Plus you'll use a bunch of time that would probably be best used elsewhere and ruin a perfectly good header by cutting the flanges off.

[Luke]

Are there pictures in this thread? I don't seem to be able to see them.

[airsweden]

he posted this link to his myspace in another thread

http://www.myspace.com/chargedls1

[AGT3SAAB]

Thanks for the look out on the pics. I did go back and ask my dad today what the car was and i forget who said it, but the car is in fact a 70 not a 74. Thanks for the tip on the header design, and i know the car has a performance cam in it, still waiting to find the folder with all the info and specs on the car, i'd like to find out cylinder head specs in aprticular since the original head that was on the car when my dad raced it has since been destroyed, the car has a stock head with a simple port job on it and i'd like to get another head sent out to get ported and the bigger valves and get it all flow tested so i can make it as competitive as i can.

[Geoff]

I finally got to an unrestricted computer so I could see the pictures of your car. Get that puppy rolling! :-) The coolant tank between the head and the radiator is a swirl tank. Coolant enters the top, flows like whirlpool and exits the bottom. The reasoning behind it is to get rid of any air bubbles in the cooling system. I've only seen those on '70s race cars, mostly SAABs (a good thing to have on the B motor). I looked for one a few years ago but I couldn't find new or used ones anywhere.

The intake manifold is interesting in that it was fabbed from steel (and is now rusty). I'd pull that off and clean it before trying to start it...

[AGT3SAAB]

I'm way ahead of you on the intake manifold geoff, already media blasted it and painted it. I'd actually like to reconstruct that intake manifold out of aluminum eventually, but I don't have a tig welder yet and it's been so long since i last used one that I'd need to sit down and play around with it before i could weld again. I had no idea what that coolant tank was but now that i know I'm definitely going to hold onto it =P