FRIDAY August 3rd


Already at the gates Axel noticed that a Bilsport event is something else than a regular drag race.
Charming blondes like Suzzi show up in small blue metallic customized Toyota MR2's. I believe that
Axel now have blue/blonde as new favorite colors. And according to professional custom car builder
Lukas Kooz - and Suzzi - my son was indeed a hangaround to them over the weekend.
That'll explain Axel's absence from our pit...


First thing was to drain transmission oil and remove the tray. Note the stage they're building over there!
There they will soon play LOUD music all night! Damn, they showed us to the Party camp, not the
Race camp... That @£$&!€ official! Both Agneta and I asked him about the Race camp and he insisted
that this was it. OK, we thought, they must have changed...but they hadn't.


Against all our principles - going to a race without a ready car - and to make it ready there. Well, now it
was the better idea because we didn't want to miss THIS RACE - it says BILSPORT on the SS!
And this is their biggest race event! We have tried so many years but now we are finally here!


We seemed to have the only racecar in this Party camp but the smoke was provided by many others.
Great fun for all. Smoke IS fun no matter what car!


Agneta is not only good at the GM 4L80E transmissions, she can cook too! She loves to surprise Axel
and me with tasty meals every day, year around - and we love her for that!


This lunch was "Simple Swedish Summer" - three kinds of cold fish, salmon, and two kinds of herring.
Gubbröra. And hot boiled fresh potatoes. Hard thin bread. Cold milk and cold beer. Mmmmm!


Kenneth Ståhl is really disturbed by these 4L80E/transbrake/converter/no reverse riddles. Every week
he seems to be taking apart one of my two 4L80E's! He came down from Örebro this evening to tighten
some nuts'n'bolts and talk to it! He even offered to come down to Gothenburg last night but we thought
it was a much better idea if we drove to Mantorp as planned and jacked the SS here.


You who know Kenneth, also know he'll be on top of this before anyone else. Being an expert on
exempli gratia TH400 race transmissions is close enough... Agneta and I have confidence in him,
because of his general approach and way of working (and we're of course grateful that his family
is letting him disappear now and then!)


He has a manual for the 4L80E. I guess he reads it every night? He can turn up the pressure on the
reverse force motor. OK, that was a tip from transbrake manufacturer Carl Rossler. Anyway, when all
was said and done we refilled all the oil and fired it up and put the shifter into Reverse - still no workie...
No, sorry, the "old trick" with putting the shifter into Reverse AND engage the transbrake doesn't work
in this case either. It's night already! Go home to sleep Kenneth! I call you tomorrow! Thanks man!


No reverse, no reverse!


Bilsport Magazine top journalist Gunnar Ljungstedt came to us and said that our son Axel was guilty of
sedition as he had made all kids on bikes compete in a jump contest! Axel had even told Gunnar how
to get the best pictures. I just thought that "Axel is really my son"


Agneta doing time under the SS, putting up the last one of the exhaust pipes. People in real party mode
were passing by all evening and night, cheering us and offered beer and helping hands. Both Agneta
and I were gladly surprised over that all these young generation car lovers and racers really were
initiated about both the Impala SS and my old Whiplash Camaro! They knew it all! And they just
loved "a screaming supercharger in this endless sea of puffin' turbochargers!"
We decided to race without reverse gear since, well, we didn't find it! And, as both journalist Gunnar
Ljungstedt and the publisher Stig Sjöberg from Bilsport Magazine said to me: "You're not here to
reverse it!" Worst case here wasn't this work, not even the techno DJ-music, it was the large
COCKROACHES crawling towards the lamps underneath! I banged my head on the transmission
crossmember too many times...glad it's in chrome moly...
Normally I would run a mile meeting one! I had even no idea we had those completely awful creeps
in Sweden! Agneta doesn't care. She is tough. She is good. She can fix. She is the best. She's
also the one that takes care of big spiders and other lethal creeps at home! Kiss! Hugs! Cheers!


Much going on for a nine year old now! The "music" was going on all night, and stage girls were fjomping
around. With earmuffs our family could finally fall asleep. Because after the very good 80's music
coverband "Fylkings" they let a guy on stage who had connected his computer to the amplifier, I think he
was called DJ, and it was the worst thing we ever have heard! My first Dunka-Dunka experience! But I
still don't think I am too old...it was a very terrible experience! It was something instead of music...?
ZzzzZ zzZ zzz zzzZz zz...

SATURDAY August 4th


Inspection began at 0700 hours. So at 0630 I warmed it up - in radar-mode. Sorry all sleeping folks (hihi)
Actually the sound of Blackout SS drew partying people that had been awake all night (!!) to our camp.
And caring Axel invited them to breakfast! Hahaaaa! It was nice! Coffee and cheese/ham sandwiches.
Since I still had no reverse I had to plan my driving and slide it hard in certain places (grass/asphalt with
not so many crashed beer bottles) to be able to turn it around, but those few who saw me while
brushing their teeth at the same time must have thought I wanted to show off!? Which also has some
truth to it... drifting IS damn fun! After all, I have a spool in my rear end and lotsa quick power on tap...
Yes, defroster worked just fine. And flying colors at the inspection! Good Morning!


Sorry folks that it screamed so loudly...hehe!


Looks like traction but I had problems, all 1st gear it was spinning and sliding... 10.14 seconds...hm?
Not that bad but nothing to write home about either....is it the new Anti Roll Bar that is the problem??


A NGK TR6 that saw 30 PSi of pressure last weekend but lived through it and served just fine even this
weekend. Just wanted to take a look at it and kiss it.


Love this photo! Good Gunnar knows how to make a heavy car look heavy! And good looking!
Well, it felt much better with lower tire pressure and loosened Anti Roll Bar...but it went only 10.36...
stupid damn car jävla helvete för faan then då!!


We managed only two runs - with a serious problem that no one saw but the safety crew at the far end!
They waved to me, gave cut-throat signs and hunted me with their fire extinguishers because Ignatius
was leaking ATF-oil on my passenger side header which of course was hazardous - fire or oil-spill on
the track - besides making the wrong type of smoke. I tried to find the leak (which only occurred during
the last part of braking) but I gave up because I couldn't reach anything anyway from down under in this
short time. (Remember that 4L80E is much fatter and therefore tighter than the original trans 4L60E).
Naw, we said it's over for this time. You get a feeling in your stomach when you shouldn't run more.
Shame, because we were invited to the Baltic Cup ladder with the 16 quickest out of all 7 classes of the
meet. Sorry. Didn't want to upset the team at the far end again, or slide off the track in my own oil...


A hard working family, visiting and paying respect to the Godfather of Swedish automotive magazines
and much more, Stig Sjöberg of the FABAS-publishing company, before leaving the party! There were
some 50 cars in the V8-class and even if Blackout SS wasn't up to its best performance with its 10.14
seconds it was enough to win the class! But no one told us, and no lists were up so we said Hello and
Thanks to Stig and his right hand Janet Svensson, packed our cockroach-filled toolboxes and went home!


A SPECIAL RETURN TRIP HOME
Like 9 years ago


Agneta and her ride parked at one of the most beautiful places in Sweden - Gyllene Uttern Restaurant
& Hotel overlooking the lake Vättern. Last time we stopped here was when Axel was only 6 months old
and we had visited Sko-Uno Drag Festival at Mantorp. Normally we just pass in the rainy darkness.


One of the most beautiful places in all of Sweden. More about Gyllene Uttern More about Vättern


South of Visingsö. Seat of the early Royal history of Sweden with the "folk kings" (now we have the
French Bernadotte-family royalties, the winners).
The biggest Swedish film project ever "Arn - The Knight Templar" - please have a look on the
trailer: www.arnmovie.com - will boost interest in this area of Swedish history for sure.
The film is based on the popular novels about "Arn" written by the very good author Jan Guillou and
describes the time when Sweden became Sweden, Arn in Wikpedia.
Another fun note about Visingsö:
"The Swedish Navy planted oak trees on the island in the 17th century to provide strategically important
timber for future ship construction. The timber is now ready but no longer required for ship construction."
More about this part of Swedish History


- Axel, don't touch anything! We can't afford it!


A celebration to ourselves because we did it - we stuck together and fixed the Impala SS and came to
Mantorp two weekends in a row. Against all odds. Others that would have been welcomed at the table
are of course Kenneth Ståhl, Jonas Mr Al Holt and Per-Mikael "Karlsta" Persson (Volvo Photo Depot).


The famous Vättern-Röding - Vättern-Char - for Agneta and me - it's large, extremely tasty and only
found here in Vättern, even if it has relatives elsewhere. Axel wanted to experiment so he chose a fish
and eel (!) special. He likes anything, like surströmming, chicken skin, cartilage...he's so young still....
And we don't want to influence him in any direction.



Well, now daily work at Dockhouse took over and
we just parked the SS in the garage for a near
future teardown of transmission again. Since
Precision Industries (Vigilante converter) never
answered my emails I sent my broken converter
to Tony Jönsson at Danielssons Bil in Ekerö,
Stocklahoma, to get it repaired and tightened
before the race at Santa Pod...
...but I still have so much to do at my work
that my brain wants to explode...