• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

Skrappy Speedvagen our Lemons Race Wagon

qwkswede

Old and Slow
300+ Club
Joined
Mar 19, 2003
Location
Denver, CO
Hello Turbobrickstas. You may have been wondering why I haven't been updating my other car project threads lately, but probably not. Honestly I haven't updated much because I'm lazy and have too many hobbies sucking my time. But also, it's because I haven't been working on MY own Volvos much. I have been really distracted and busy working on this other Volvo project you are going to read about. After 2 years and lots of hours in the garage it seems I should start a project thread. So here it goes.

Back Story on how this all developed.
I have always wanted to go road racing, but it seemed like a stretch financially. Unfortunately I have a group of friends that also like car racing. And they have been trying to get a race team going for 24 Hours of Lemons for about 5 years. Problem is that they just like fancy new cars, but aren't really mechanics. But one day over some beers, these guys talked me into trying to build a car for 24HoL. It's only $500 for car! What could possibly go wrong? So we formed a loose consortium and we tried to buy a previously built race BMW with a blown motor from across the country. We failed there because it was $3000 to ship this heap of metal across the country. We shopped for cheap cars around town for a while and just couldn't find something we wanted to commit to. Everyone had their favorite, and nothing seemed cheap enough. Too much talking and not enough doing. Blah Blah Blah.

After alot of bench racing, I got tired of all the talk and no action. Knowing that I would be the head mechanic on the team I wanted to have a car that I liked to work on. And also a car that I knew where to find doors, transmissions, engines, and whatever else I needed to keep this hunk of racing metal running. And I'm somewhat blinded by Volvo loyalty, I actually think these cars are fast. (they aren't really, not any more). Short story long... I have been around Turbobricks for 20 years now. I have lots of Volvos and parts kicking around. Many things pointing me toward a Volvo. Also my team mates are GIANT. Like 6'6" tall. A Miata would have been nearly impossible. So I decided with only some agreement from my team that our race car was going to have to be a rear wheel drive Volvo. They reluctantly agreed, and I went out to find one.

Years ago I convinced a co-worker he needed to buy this black Volvo 740 wagon from Craigslist for $1500. It would be great to haul his kids around in style. It had leather, 3rd row seat, sunroof, a turbo! It was awesome. He liked it alot and I fed him some of the best Turbobricks modification tips. After driving it daily for about a year or so he "blew" the engine. He had intentions to rebuild, but life took over and he parked it in his back yard for 10 years to rot. Lucky for me, while it ran he did install quite a few goodies from the IPD catalog and had partially set up megasquirt on the car. (maybe that's why it blew up) LOL. A few good bonus parts to get us going.

After 10 years there were lots of wasp nests and other critters inside. It was hailed on several times, and the floor was soaking wet. I was guessing rusty floors for sure. There was lots of other rust and grime. The brakes were so rusty the car drug the flat tires across the pavement when we towed it onto the flatbed truck. It wouldn't even roll. But it had potential, AND it looks OK from a distance. Maybe too good. I'm still not sure how we are going to pass the BS inspection and convince anybody this is a $500 car. Penalty laps are a given I think. It has many blue IPD suspension parts that scream EXPENSIVE. Some Koni shocks, but they were dead. I loved it. I convinced my friend it needed a new home and our race team was a charity that needed help! We begged and bribed and offered to buy it for $500, because that's the price limit! After some consideration he agreed to sell it and we were in business! We had a race car. Sort of. I think we bought some IPD suspension parts and got a free Volvo really. But we were stoked. We had a car and our team was real now!

Here are the pictures from day 1 when we picked it up.
It was April 2021. We were in a full on Covid pandemic and we were all sent home from work for lockdown. But we had a project!!

AL9nZEVT-JKzQxOJVsFcAmgNVNd5NcC9mB1XamJ20Ef011_39pgq3VCdbiMh5U-uWyrXmGtxyZv5oc6Ple6NS2Zf6AGXcsW36aGJRsvocvZ7zwKzHuJcdX8Nj80qo-bwtZifrsc_ceSfWW9s8F6PzyEOLwU9TA=w800-no


AL9nZEUNAq2xq6oS4oqtdE4Z9msdSlb7iIUaY0wRKTMpOJQmVzkA3wxhw2e1xQOk-TljpILQVie1sPdevGULrB85j8ABBw3FRRVdnKHw3qSZvWNiCzzNjhI5e6Yd0Y8fxSVqevOXDo_qYxR6OYBe6fIL-Cfvjw=w800-no


It looked pretty good, and all there. But I was told it smoked badly, and the engine was blown.
AL9nZEXtq9ypjJ5PMdDG3ebIyiB6rhK3FnE1EuoCI-kUu5bL68_EWv5qR7tg_gRhg_g71ojZ4BBS07t2zFrewTeZBL2SN0Wha2P1WvHFQb-py9FB1Sz8PcgMj2JvMBjCUj1XxW-b7MMBsQcOq9enjIH7J91HlQ=w800-no


AL9nZEXDjJEkslH6QA8TWvKQIYcRe54iq8ObaaKJZqKACDLX7W0lvM25Qb7oqpbZzehdSUL3Aei_sQP5VTBS9qWccX5rE4xdWUzw2diDo9vtNIZUmcPyAXZBDj664-Lt8ivnmz3I3AW-Spsef1ZaqQquVbukPw=w800-no



-------------
What you see here is a 1989 740 Turbo with an automatic transmission with a handful of nice but old and crusty performance parts.
 
After getting the car home and doing a quick fluid check and turning the engine over, it seemed OK to try to crank. We installed a fresh battery. The fuel tank was "empty" and smelled funny so we put some fresh gasoline in the tank and changed the fuel filter just in case. Then I just went for it, and cranked the engine over. Surprisingly it started immediately! And it was running just fine... What the hell. But after a minute of warming up, it began pouring smoke from the tail pipe like a Vaping teenager.

More diagnosis. The engine sounded fine... It didn't knock or misfire... It barely had any Volvo normal piston slap. Maybe we got lucky?? After more troubleshooting I decided to pull the intake tubes and exhaust off of the turbo and get a look inside. And thats where I found that most of the blades were missing from the compressor. There was probably 1/2" play in the turbo bearings. It was just pouring oil into the exhaust....

Easy enough fix there... I was off to the junkyard for a $50 turbo from the local pick a part. We found a TD04HL from an 850 turbo that seemed close enough fit.

But before major work we got to work because the engine needed some serious cleaning. It was just disgusting.
AL9nZEWN-b9t62bPkoHtUbGQZhG24NMFa68NO14-d-rQeJdgTRfdv7v-Cjq46gdAOur07u_eVmrfK4tpDBSyhIiy_kNE-aTmxJmZxEVf4eP5mpj8p-89MMceYuJMZBC7dIQq22ZKm7ELEFvTmyaewiNgG2eGsQ=w800-no


Even after several cans of degreaser and pressure washing for hours. It will still leave your arms covered in grime when working on it. We sometimes call it pigpen.

Here is the junkyard turbo coming together:
AL9nZEUlWqC-s_zeMrdRYJgnCT20RhYZnBDRF60PbhZtJDrL_GHTFojxASKbeMQyK4TyIcg0xWCY3Z8dqRroN4O8Ehy9_PnSqQ2wBUbZp_Vj053I6DxRq5HgRnyolMXIawBYMHlNjQZA77CtLFeMqvmRC8LABw=w800-no


We also ordered up new engine seals for the cam, crank, intermediate shaft, the timing cover, valve cover and anything else we could reach with the engine in the car. And a new timing belt too. We had to stop the oil spewage. I really didn't want to mess with a race car that was constantly covered in oil and making huge puddles in the shop. At this point I really start wondering how this $500 budget thing is supposed to work. We just spent $300 on a battery and some gaskets and belts. I guess I just don't have the patience to really play the dirtball cheap car game. If we needed gaskets, we were going to order them. I wanted the car to run good enough that everyone gets a chance to drive the junk. Lemons races aren't cheap to enter, and the safety gear is expensive too. A little money spent on reliability is just something that was going to happen. We will take some penalty laps if the judges don't like it.
 
Last edited:
Some blingy looking parts that are surely not Lemony enough for the BS judge...

Downpipe for new turbo:
AL9nZEU5MiIYgeJ08tf4SfWaGp6n6joo_puMV3TyiwsyAh1VUhaK3jS2HreAvY20MyrK-ye82cGtjolQ2dH6SKddlSTOt_g0ZLT7AVAtNkNGG041_1148odMExnFXPhLf4pTOFttEjg2fvZLXCu2PKoNkNm_RQ=w800-no


Sweet YOSHIFAB ignition wires that we splurged on when diagnosing a horrible misfire under boost.

AL9nZEVNTvHZp3vZW3j7jWaqikxu8OgqO338VZsaqdHL9cWTA7qivnW9d8QuZuBKi5pcOhnqVs9ewRO1zvIkTsmwUTNX3mJOMkHS8Td6Z7Ti8Hxn4kfJCLE-nnN0XGMREOjgHjq-PMkyQmakzXrUtoUDSDruRQ=w800-no


One of our team mates insisted that the car make loud turbo sounds. So he bought this $35 ebay blowoff valve that looks like a Tial. Our Mitsubishi turbo had a blown bypass valve diaphragm, so this was installed... We were winning already!
AL9nZEW-Pe_mkwgbpwaAF7wCQ77SfUNFtE4bwyItGCPP_FklEQnmrt56UFvyf0RV3pCwuyMaDWE5LQBE3aHVaKWWFEuo08l6YDJuEffb68zSVu4RNgguPlc_NNKOK9aZ-jg0ZVc2z3kNCp3DrxM1wHs5Tgi6mg=w800-no
 
It was time to start doing race car stuff. Time to unbolt lots of stuff that we don't need.

AL9nZEXNz10rZVonKyy59fVpPSxLk9__WmdFIxjjkNSMtkUYMEiUZQ6nPjCpqDteRMOCFzTnVIxhJgowdajcarairsRLSV4_Nhqogx6YtLjsIiKpBIDM6gvvzqQYGInE_gRQwGkP7UxVrHnbv-MxHopghGw2zg=w800-no


Ewww, there are those holes in the floor I was expecting.
AL9nZEWPwlzigiD-jjHAOuHEScjljZiDocn7U2BHUaxLh7f5CJ2upkLFJ_zZ1AGOjLFX34RFxVl9Cj7uX2tlRxPcTYeOJcBkgObexUBMUVqdCJl5QkiTnIb6EPyGkVVZYlohHz7DqdLYvYzuiFi6FCdsZHvVsg=w800-no


Lightened so much that the IPD lowering springs now look like off-road springs.
AL9nZEXkDtDqC1q1NJotzkoo9VyDGDquidqy-QywWBH70vt3iV9zUptPhZ7ezCXDQBQ9y7xcAViDNaDRi9q7cxUDNtunxPd1EsXn6rlJiUMLvU4fAlv557DZlZlQmaLB64EbRowhiY0SZk57AS9D0EdIFi8Awg=w800-no


Then we took it for an emissions test and paid for license plates so we could drive it on the street and see how it goes! It went pretty good!
AL9nZEUYDrb2wVvxkNbEgKvjAKDK7dZZp-u4ufRh1rRQjWEOdHHsbPDe86ESYXNgquPR5Kv4epFkqDZQV0sAejmbeu97dngZ5l6tuzMyf4lC8skGa-Wq34sDIKlAqtXhW_3zWCYc2ZzOjKHniuA4MdhEvJPMaw=w800-no


Back to the garage and more parts ordered from IPD. The brakes were just awful. Really rusted and warped feeling after rusting in a field. So we installed new rotors and pads.
AL9nZEXGOkfJiESNq-hPvi1_awqXJ_YpQX9YlhPHPf_Hy0MCl0Rv8SLKndBKKMocxHx2qxtXgozj5kWbGUBzAS-KmjtCwoPtYNaLwicDDB9IhL8xJLEj4trhMrLi9SJ8glVHXs4PBxkp5vffIwb0ZXQU7UCzOA=w800-no


And started trying to figure out why the car wouldn't drive in a straight line. It wandered like a drunk sailor on a pitching ship.
This might be why...
AL9nZEV3wghcmCw_v5QAZ4hFLeC5JuY9nn7JS8fq95yQXzNIdyztgs7ct92JG2hX5z6Y13Z2IQA89yyHD_yajsfAPyGwsOkcMl0LUHesg5zMcWZWwJmTpG2maBOgfDZ25JWJtV1x9_HcY2qU-h-c2q3ZPEZPlw=w800-no
 
Right on Ken cool to see another Lemons team on here. I need to dust my car off, it's been almost 3 years.

From my experience with it, which has only been reinforced with time - literally dont even worry about BS inspections. Just come up with a fake receipt or a funny story about fancy parts and give the judges a sixer or a bottle. Regardless of how many fancy parts my car has and over the budget it is [I'm just there to turn laps, maybe they see that] I get in A class with no penalty laps every time.
 
Interesting Pat. It is Cool to find so many lemons cars hiding here. They put you in A class with the miatas and BMWs? I was expecting class C with aspirations of B after finishing a race. I think I have been watching too much of the Lemonsworld youtube channel. The organizers really like to highlight the teams that go crazy trying to follow the $500 guideline to the last cent.

Right on Ken cool to see another Lemons team on here. I need to dust my car off, it's been almost 3 years.

From my experience with it, which has only been reinforced with time - literally dont even worry about BS inspections. Just come up with a fake receipt or a funny story about fancy parts and give the judges a sixer or a bottle. Regardless of how many fancy parts my car has and over the budget it is [I'm just there to turn laps, maybe they see that] I get in A class with no penalty laps every time.
 
Last edited:
Turbo Volvo with new team, I am 99% certain they will put you in B. That is where I have been for 12 Lemons races. Maybe you could argue C because its an auto. Just say all that 'cheaty' stuff was on the car when you bought it. Make up a bogus craigslist ad or something. They will do a bumper bounce test and send you on your way.

They also don't really care about stock parts you replace as long as you don't put race parts on. After your first race you can also email them for a residual value so you can spend some more bucks on cheaty parts. Replace or buy a spare for everything that can break. It's an expensive weekend, it would be a shame if you have to end early because you broke a $20 part. At the least I would bring fuel pump(s), FPR, filter, hoses, belts, spark plugs, fluids, pads, rotors, spare turbo, and at least two spare wheels/tires.

I don't know what pads you put on, but you really should order some race pads. Street pads do not last a weekend. Supply chain is really bad right now so I don't think you can get ST43s, but I would recommend calling Porterfield in Costa Mesa CA and talking to the lady who answers the phone. She knows what she is talking about and I would guess she will recommend Porterfield R4-Es. A full set front and rear will probably be about $400-500. They should last about 6 races. If you decide to stay with street pads, bring and extra set or two. Rotors don't matter, cheap blanks are fine, never use drilled as they will crack or explode.

Most of my problems have been turbo and fuel related.

If you are on Facebook, there are a couple of good groups:
The Unofficial Facebook Group of the 24 Hours of Lemons(TM)
Colorado Lemons Mafia
 
Thanks for all the tips. I figured starting a thread about this car would be good for information gathering. Group B sounds fine I suppose. I guess I don't really care where we end up but I studied the lap times when we went spectating. I think we are 15-20 seconds per lap slower than the Miatas and BMWs in group A. It's humbling how good a well sorted crapcan Miata gets around the track. I just want to survive and get some laps done.

I have hunted around for some performance brake pads. The original calipers didn't have any support from Hawk. But I recently upgraded to the later Jumbo 940 brakes, and there is better pad selection for those calipers. I bought several sets of metallic Raybestos street pads at $15 per set for the front. I should do the same for the rear.

I thought we could just swap pads for our first race before splurging on Porterfields. But if they last that long, maybe I'll give them a call to get a price. I had no idea that you could get that much track life from any brake pad.

Turbo Volvo with new team, I am 99% certain they will put you in B. That is where I have been for 12 Lemons races. Maybe you could argue C because its an auto. Just say all that 'cheaty' stuff was on the car when you bought it. Make up a bogus craigslist ad or something. They will do a bumper bounce test and send you on your way.

They also don't really care about stock parts you replace as long as you don't put race parts on. After your first race you can also email them for a residual value so you can spend some more bucks on cheaty parts. Replace or buy a spare for everything that can break. It's an expensive weekend, it would be a shame if you have to end early because you broke a $20 part. At the least I would bring fuel pump(s), FPR, filter, hoses, belts, spark plugs, fluids, pads, rotors, spare turbo, and at least two spare wheels/tires.

I don't know what pads you put on, but you really should order some race pads. Street pads do not last a weekend. Supply chain is really bad right now so I don't think you can get ST43s, but I would recommend calling Porterfield in Costa Mesa CA and talking to the lady who answers the phone. She knows what she is talking about and I would guess she will recommend Porterfield R4-Es. A full set front and rear will probably be about $400-500. They should last about 6 races. If you decide to stay with street pads, bring and extra set or two. Rotors don't matter, cheap blanks are fine, never use drilled as they will crack or explode.

Most of my problems have been turbo and fuel related.

If you are on Facebook, there are a couple of good groups:
The Unofficial Facebook Group of the 24 Hours of Lemons(TM)
Colorado Lemons Mafia
 
I haven't run the Porterfields R4s yets, but the Porterfield custom made ST43s lasted 6+ races. Porterfield can custom cut pads in any shape.

Also you should get some high temp brake fluid. I use ATE TYP 200, but there are many choices.

I should have added wheel bearings, tie rods, rod ends to the list of spares.

Our fastest lap at HPR is 2:27.
 
I'll get to the current state of the car. Just trying to go in historical order for a few posts. And share some pictures from the last year.

We decided it was time to go out to an actual race and learn some things. We took a trip to the Sept 2021 24 Hours of Lemons race at High Plains Raceway. This event is named the High Plains Drifter. The cool thing here was this race is one of the few true 24 hour races left on the calendar. Cars had lots of lights installed, and they were ready to go all night long! AND I was blown away! This was total madness! 100 cars on the track at the same time was a bit intimidating. And there was so much work happening in the pits. It was just awesome and a bit overwhelming.

I'm the only person on our team with any race track experience. And I have only done testing, lapping, and driving schools days. It's not the same, but maybe throw in a little drag racing. But I have never raced door to door like this. My other 2 team mates are completely racetrack newbies, but very enthusiastic. I really need to figure out how to get those guys and every potential driver on our team a little bit of seat time before throwing them into this mix. A plan was going to be needed.

Here was some photos and video of our first time spectating a Lemons race.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2xEcOOnDRSE" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

We found another Volvo! This one with a Toyota V8. Inspiration for a race ready cockpit too.
AL9nZEVuYgYJl0KuSFlUyEMLTmGGDi4Lq7d65n0mHB1b2U7tfWoa17i_rquiHwvDyumjcHQcehRfGv-mF6NJGMl1fTJBbfLyyl2rbmMr0WnRfUSpfZTdKqxCrG8c--UNMDS920Rra-f5XZwn52QJDUveVQKwfg=w800-no


AL9nZEW54u6leqHF-UuTiIQDhY3H8fGlvgqEgO48dEc5L6p-dFnr5QXuviek2sCl7KG-qsd0NVoVxy4MfPnqPmOLP0QDTx9sYJoa_mm9XiyDodBPo3eWqnSk4k0_IK8BfzVbIG1iwyIe4D5Q0EiSHXN6dxdnNg=w800-no
 
Back home with some more motivation after seeing budget endurance racing first hand. We got started on more serious racing kit...

We found this door from a minivan, and have been using metal from it to fix all sorts of problems. Rust holes are now patched. Holes in the firewall from the heater unit extraction patched.
AL9nZEVhWtlbnp5IT2gV_BKGF7Kvvx0x2Ik-vTY7HBdvo9k-RLhVhqeG3xSVP4hgyuYfQmR-s7O9cIh5w7yBX0Ggmtm5z52IfFCDeqZajQ5mvR-2kIRQMSNUsewyAoyR63UbhUDF9O3rZg_5AlpQypMGzxM4OA=w800-no


AL9nZEXCnyPFLfa-GoE41KSL3Q96u5xwJ_nuCec-VNm60eCIqZLn05h_5chQsUugxdbgemleFj16ZzrqiCQe0eJsMpVKEpxMwthl4PrrypQ7o0eP2vo88IwwilsX-7IJcA8Kh5B--8EniNskFPt3Iy9oDMgOZg=w800-no


Then the metal work started getting more serious. Reading the rulebook, and following along. Roll cage built by professionals.
AL9nZEXa6ba58md45GhIUtSgGB4dOBYitNf_-zrjLzDscuvFBBbyz6N-w8zu36Yhl7dT9ZA6dqp0DvhtiP2l-ZFwP7GlYo8SV-2_OHYEQWK-q-EVUivn8Iap3SGOD7qRy90jAmwuVEPqgitp_BES1YfaUS4VPg=w800-no


AL9nZEWuXL8Gq9rEtDxVzVgC-ZA-subNAMItxpiDrpWNawrhUYBlBygMpFLIoiSkMTQUlLPgEwLPP8KiSq35OSsKatuDxpGBerCkXjrvFF7Jz58lvXx2f8NiMHHuCys8LKcoDp0goojDOvvWFaImaoU7LwbAwA=w800-no


We picked up a racing seat that would fit all of our drivers. XL size. Some us small people might need some foam inserts. We also used the Volvo seat adjuster tracks, which is really helpful. The Sabelt seat with tubular steel frame is good mounted only from the bottom like this.
AL9nZEUepyHYmmnwh2z3XC5_nC7br5ngPoPC8THmS7pDBUFj-unrGcVfNxK6AZjRjdqZFvrQndD_r6qUP_Dqfyndmf6JzU4ERf3bQogsBzQjonngTrpPpecXRYZn6EUtzKc2b8vuhRSl8Zotcn96XrtJ40LJzQ=w800-no


Lots more cutting, bending, notching, welding. I had to recruit my mom to work the TIG pedal for some of these tight spot welding maneuvers.
AL9nZEXNh0g4O4_QqmCdge82zKx96TuQD0ID4BjGegpQLIT7vb4NupV5YJPN_fp37xSaIfRM9FeenH5DiKuh98TkCs1HcseQ6y_ovOSdLe4A7an1_CSHl8GZWnYisJJ1au_4-nJv_-l_AeQjfPE3FaoV-2YgNQ=w800-no


Sunroof assemblies are heavy. And we needed the 2" extra room for our tall drivers. So that went away and replaced with aluminum.
AL9nZEWpnQNkWCEAhOrRL-7UnLPZypNu93VfiKT8ToGoUYvGV7cHo9Zoxl0K2XHvsVQU6kQCTlJDsAjJTr33IBLQMCHfLZrg62uhR7FsijPBsFXosqcLgcRid2c-xUbF12CkKflimSBmyxUqI9u7H-F7v3_BqA=w800-no
 
You don?t hit your knees on that dash bar?

Hmmm, Noo. It's not even close to our tall guys shins. We had people sitting there when we test fit it. But now that you mention it I'll put some padding on it just in case.

Looking at the picture of the Black wagon up a couple posts. They seem to have hung the steering column mount from the roll cage dash bar. Maybe dropped the angle down too. I wonder if that makes more room. Our controls are all in the stock location still.
 
2:27 laps at High Plains? I have no idea what our lap times are yet. I'm guessing we are many practice laps away from that kind of speed. We hauled Skrappy out for it's first test day ever, and our first time driving anything at High Plains. We traded drivers a few times and ran 40 laps I think. Between testing sessions I fixed a radiator leak and was fighting an odd shifting AW71. And the day ended when we burned an exhaust valve on the #3 cylinder. We learned some stuff and had a ton of fun.

A little video from the dash cam in my team mates 2021 VW GTI. As you can see we are no match for a modern factory hot rod. No surprise really. 30 years of progress...

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kUcs2l_qmxY" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Hmmm, Noo. It's not even close to our tall guys shins. We had people sitting there when we test fit it. But now that you mention it I'll put some padding on it just in case.

Looking at the picture of the Black wagon up a couple posts. They seem to have hung the steering column mount from the roll cage dash bar. Maybe dropped the angle down too. I wonder if that makes more room. Our controls are all in the stock location still.

My dash bar is just below the front window.
 
My dash bar is just below the front window.

I think we looked at that location for a dash bar. But we wanted to run the stock instrument cluster and dash pad to mount it. And there isn't really much room for another bar in that area with all the stock stuff in place. It makes sense why your car, that other black 740 wagon, and even Randy Pobst's 740s have hand made instrument panels. You just don't have room for a stock dash with a bar behind the big instrument panel. We will need better racing instrumentation eventually. But we just haven't had the time to get that project done yet. The volvo instruments gives us water temp and a tachometer. That's pretty easy stuff to replace I guess. I like your idea of big warning lights too. It seems like a good idea to make the car user friendly for all levels of drivers.
 
Interesting Pat. It is Cool to find so many lemons cars hiding here. They put you in A class with the miatas and BMWs? I was expecting class C with aspirations of B after finishing a race. I think I have been watching too much of the Lemonsworld youtube channel. The organizers really like to highlight the teams that go crazy trying to follow the $500 guideline to the last cent.

They put me in A class because I have some pretty fancy suspension bits like camber plates, coilovers and heim joints. With me behind the wheel and appropriate boost [10 psi, I tend to run only 5 just to not blow anything up and that plan works] it has no problem keeping up with the fastest teams.
 
They put me in A class because I have some pretty fancy suspension bits like camber plates, coilovers and heim joints. With me behind the wheel and appropriate boost [10 psi, I tend to run only 5 just to not blow anything up and that plan works] it has no problem keeping up with the fastest teams.

I have all that stuff too, but we are in B because we suck at racing. It also has gotten faster in the last 3-4 years.
 
Thats cool to hear that an old Volvo with the right mods can run with the fast cars. I figured they are heavy and hard on tires and brakes compared to flyweight miatas and such. I have seen Randy Pobst's car run at the front of Chump Car fields. But he's Randy. That's a modification we don't have. We have alot to learn about racing but the practice days have been good for all of us. The 3 of us owners can mostly keep the car on the track now. Racing door to door is going to be another level of exciting things to figure out. I"ve never really had to deal with anything other than the odd Porsche owner that blows past me at 2x my speed on track days.

After the first track day when the engine burned an exhaust valve. It was totally my fault. I was tuning the car on E85, and we refueled at the track and accidentally changed the ethanol percentage. I think there was more gasoline in the original batch than I realized. I threw the keys to a driver that doesn't really understand how to watch an air fuel gauge, or listen for detonation. It could happen to anyone I suppose. I need to tune and set the instrumentation up to help prevent stuff like this.

1 lap later he pulls into the pits running on 3 cylinders. ACK!!!


Back at the shop I swapped cylinder heads. Luckily I had a couple spares and only needed to fix 2 broken exhaust studs. I also had to do the work in the street at my friends house because I was in the middle of moving my home out to the mountains. Good practice for track side mechanics...

AL9nZEV7hXslNWd6QmO03TiHvVRiHnMiZQmn54gvu6Xb9Hjb7g4xLSXpyzgxAD0VbWWOcG_wOIoAk8UFaWCbGQf-PjnLA82HGF87Wnw6zbD29vyIEH-XS4r1waCF0q-hMYADkNsePM_ri9opu2uqST52zfTTag=w800-no


In addition to the cylinder head swap I installed a new radiator. I also replaced all the front suspension bushings with Urethane that I had from years ago. I dialed in maxiumum camber by re-drilling the factory strut mounts. I have about 1 degree negative camber now. That helped cornering feel alot! I installed a new master cylinder and freshened up the front brake setup again. We now had reasonable brakes with a pedal that didn't go all the way to the floor and require pumping on the track.

And then we got back out to the track again. This time at Pueblo Motorsports Park. I finally got some time to lap myself because the car wasn't breaking every session. I slowly tuned up my skills and was able to run a series of consistent 2:02 laps before the AW71 stopped shifting. It seems to heat soak after about 8 or 9 laps and stops shifting into high gear going down the straightaway. You have to lift and ease back into the throttle to make it shift. I need to address that problem next. But it's starting to lap pretty consistently. Not perfect yet, but making progress.

AL9nZEXnkgM0ipo_CKkLZHMqZ8bqumfr7-vp8no8tdqdAgjU5mv5YovFRsG93EH9ymaI0kGqfb1zZEU6T9V0Yr-Zf-D1u6-toWKO5thjAw3kT-5CD9j5w7YE3nHQ-bv462aYrLZIBVaNMd5uQ36rWngtoSm1TQ=w800-no


AL9nZEWn1y9H-wAnrjgoebuw23ukUz3B5l-kj3JcCZAAcdZAFKi5hNJpd1SUuJ_EPEKuQgegZ-2FExiiW9xbFJfCBMIIxFRoEId-TRW-OAOEkncRuSJTX09EsSpFsC1CRQe3RvViWaJ0oKii42yHV2ZMqWhbRw=w800-no
 
Back
Top