August 25-28 - Preparations the week before the journey


After the one lap test at the Blackrace last weekend, I had to do some work to be able to take the SS
to Moholmsstrippen for the last race of 2009. The crank front seal popped out so I had to clean the area
and glue it back with Loctite 5923, and of course remove the reason of the problem...


...the PCV valve on the header collector which apperently couldn't cope with the crank case flow,
so I redirected my hoses into two open cases instead, like I had before.


When under the car looking up, I noted that the blower belt had been slapping the Meziere WP118
water pump and shaved the wires! So even more had to be taken apart to solve this. I sent this picture
to the Meziere support and asked if it was all right to turn parts B and C 90° or even 180° to avoid the
belt slapping on the wires? They said it was, but only a 180 degree turn.
At least it seemed like the melting/burning-spark-plug-boots-problem from the Säve race was solved!
So now we were looking forward to a race without any problem...


Friday August 28 - Road trip North to Moholmsstrippen!


Just finished. Ready to roll into the Dark. An inch of rain in two tropical showers didn't stop us from
leaving on Friday evening towards Moholmsstrippen and our last race of the year. I wish it had...


Rumble. No probs on the highway. I thought.


No matter what, my co-driver Axel is always positive! Thanks buddy!

You never get tired of driving this thing on the roads even if the comfort is only in the original leather
seats nowadays. It's pretty stiff, noisy and you need to follow the instruments, especially the water
temp to see that it's not getting too hot. Axel and I love it. Many other waving fellow drivers do to, and
it has become more and more popular over the years to wave with just one finger... (joke)


Fuel stop in Skara. My God so much it drinks even on 2000 - 2200 rpm! And unhooked blower that is!
It thinks it's a race car!


Axel filled 98 octane unleaded and Agneta got us a dinner from McDonald's while I was taking photos.


When we were closing into the Moholmsstrippen after the 3 hour ride the engine started to misbehave,
slowly. In the end, when we parked the SS in the pit at the drag strip, it felt like at least two cylinders
were out!? One of the organizers, Ulf "Totte" Lindqvist lent me his temp gun so I could compare the
temperatures on the header tubes in the morning...now we justed wanted to go to the camping!


The Wassbacken camping is located directly at the 200 year old Göta Canal.


"Axel, don't go closer!" "It can't really be burnt spark plug boots again, because we now have these
new Accel ceramic boots..." "But maybe the cables has burnt?" "Nah, we have this NASA Silica
material stuffed in there...?"


Saturday August 29 - Let's find out...


Left our cabin in the morning without any great laughters. We still didn't know what problem we had
waiting for us. In a way I guess I knew but didn't want to think about it, maybe it was something else...?
The Chinaman says: "He who worries beforehand - suffers double"


Plenty of space.


We got a very generous pit box close to the line up and starting area. Very strong head winds today.
The Canada Geese had real problems to fly south this day...


Daniel Klang is one of the officials. One peculiarity with Moholmsstrippen is the grooves! It takes away
approx 1/10 of your traction but it can cost a little more than that on your ET, at least for the quicker
cars. An advantage is the quick drying if a rain decides to soak the track, and the drainage was once
the meaning of the design.


Good morning! Three cylinders were actually out! No 5, 7 and 8 had burnt off spark plug wires INSIDE
the ceramic boots! And these were also protected by the Silica woven material that should withstand
1100° Celsius - 2000°+ Farenheit! What more can I possibly do? This was too much! Of course I will
rework the headers for next year - if I keep it? So the race stopped in the pit for us, well the whole
season ended here. A season with one 1/4 mile run and one 1/8 mile run...that makes a total of 1.5
runs in 2009! That's a total of 603 meters of racing thank you!
(Note; Kent edin is using the same design headers but he has his spark plug wires underneath
the headers close to the engine block because he still has the opticrap distributor in the front,
while I have the distributor pointer in the back and 8 coils on top of the engine).


Agneta got so angry of the spark plug ordeal that she
wasn't talkable for hours...and I put on my best show and charm to lighten up the situation for all of us...


...even though I'm pretty sure I was the one suffering the most. But who ever thinks of me? Well I'm the
one responsible for this whole idea and expedition so no pity on me. And that's OK.
Sitting here this morning made me think it over a great deal. "Why am I doing this?" "For how long will
I continue to do this - going to races hoping to get a run or two?" Agneta said that it's at least time to
bury my concept of driving the SS to the races and start getting a transport. Is it really? Is it time to
erase "street driven" from its business card? Hm? Then it would go from "superquick heavy streetcar" to
"too heavy not so quick racecar" in a blink. And who wants a too heavy racecar? Not me.
"Street driven" was most important in the beginning of the project when I used all my time, money and
friends in the chase the top position on the Impala SS Top ET list. It was an "unspoken rule" that it was
only for street driven B-bodies, of course. I reached the very top according to the goal I set out Day 1
but since they suddenly added strict racecars above me on that list a few years ago it doesn't really
matter anymore. But, I like to drive my SS, it has a fat attitude and is still very comfortable... =)
Should I go back to "street only"? Or sell it all? Many thoughts this morning...
Why all this whining? Well, we had been to two races prior Moholmsstrippen this season and was
stopped by the same problem after one (1) run at each event! And no runs at all here!
Two bad runs - on three races - in one year...603 meters of racing! Go figure.


Agneta served Axel his favorite snack - Mackerel Cocktail and milk - he's a Real Gothenburger!
And then, at least he was a bit happier.


Agneta took a nap in the Dodge while I began to make new spark plug wires, normal ones in silicone,
just to be able to drive the SS to a close abyss, barn or upon a tow truck or whatever will happen...
At least we are in Sweden, and remember I have had to call tow trucks from Santa Pod in England,
but then we had some good runs first. Here we just arrived to the pits...


Axel and I also went down to the start to see a couple of runs and had to shield for the sudden rain
together with the others inside the public trailer.


And it didn't take long after the rain stopped before the cars started to roll again. Drainage works. The
organizers had another stop in their schedule when the over head construction just blew away! No one
was hurt but the construction had to be seriously anchored to stay upright in the strong headwind.
This place were crowded by seldom seen Chrysler muscle cars, and some of them race only here!


At Moholmsstrippen you'll meet a very good local photographer in Elenor "Ellen" Bengtsson, here with
her daughter Embla. She's raised around motorcycles and V8 so she got gasoline in her blood early
and has been taking photos since she was four (!) with a small compact. At nine a better Pentax. At
fourteen she bought her first system camera - and her first car! And did some practising on a local
newspaper. Automotive and photography went on hand in hand - high school for photographers,
renovating a VW, media education, building a Chevy Monza for drag racing, worked a couple of years
at local papers, journalist education and practising on the automotive magazine Teknikens Värld...
This story explains her great work!


She uses a D300 camera and very often a Nikon 16-85 VR lens. "I like wide angle and think 85 often
is a long enough tele lens for drag racing. It's wonderfully sharp and nice to work with. I also have a
Sigma 70-300 which is kind of low in light performance but is enough anyway", says Ellen. She is a very
positive and charming woman and you can see her work on Moholmsstrippen here (you can choose
photographer on the far right): http://www.402m.se/bilder.php
She is also known as "Vivendi" at the Garaget site:
http://www.garaget.org/vivendi


Pontiac the manufacturer is dead, but old Pontiacs just go faster. Like Björn Eigert's Pontiac Torpedo
Coupe Sedan 1947 which runs steady low 12's with a 12.164 as the best and trap speeds around
176 kmh / 110 mph. The 62 year old car now has a "modern" Pontiac 455 and a TH 400. The 7.625 rear
end comes from a 80's Camaro. Newer brakes and more robust swaybar in the front makes the Poncho
more safe. It weighs 1800 kg / 3968 lb. Björn comes from this area but has moved all the way to Åland.
He is still coming home for the races at the Moholmsstrippen. "They're doing a fabulous work on this
track, everytime a little better"


We decided to go back to the camping restaurant for lunch. Suddenly the channel boat Juno passed
slowly and quitely outside the restaurant windows. Nice!


As a funny coincidence my artist brother Sune Envall works right now for the owners of these Göta
Kanal-boats in doing 3D models of Juno! It's not finished yet, but I think it's good enough for showing.
These boats are built especially narrow to fit all the channel locks. Click the picture to get a large one.
And go here for more about these beautiful classic canal boats


Ooops! There comes another one! We thought it was good idea for Agneta and Axel to stay at the
camping to do some fun stuff while I went back to the strip to try to get a transport for the Blackout SS.


The first 100 meters had trackbite/rubber layers, then you're on your own to the finishline. How about
filling the grooves with asphalt the first 100 meters? Or 200? Yea, it's a cost I know. Maybe Skövde
Community could build one football field less and help out with that asphalt?


This is a very long and wide airfield. On silent cars you can on a distance even hear the humming of the
tires on the surface grooves! Fun! =)


Our favourite dream car when we hated the SS the most. This we want! The Ford '32 Hot Rod of
Kjell Lidman, Moholm. 1.486 at the 60, and the quartermile in 10.019 @ 218 kmh / 135 mph.
Or, maybe race him with a working Blackout SS...


I first walked through the pit asking everyone with a truck or bus or even small hitch trailer if I could
borrow it until tomorrow morning. I thought that I could use the night to carry it to Gothenburg and then
renturn at once. I'm glad that idea didn't work out. Then I went to the race secretariate to find out if
anyone had a solution to bring the SS from this airfield? It didn't take long before a solution came up.
So now I had to get Axel from the camping, he would never forgive me if I didn't let him
experience a tow truck or the like...


I could borrow a place in a garage in close Skövde and thankfully one of the racers Sten-Åke "Tjadden"
Nyman could transport the SS since he was going there anyway after the qualifications ended. Tjohoo!
Before coming here I was hoping to get some good shots on our Blackout SS by Ellen...and well I did...


...during loading on the tow truck.


It wasn't too easy to find a way to take it home to Gothenburg directly. But this was a good solution!
Thanks!


Well, this is the final view of the SS at Moholmsstrippen for this race. Hopefully not for ever?


"Jump in a step Axel" "No dad, I must sit here by the windows!" "Ok"


Robert Holm and Andreas "Tjalle" Kjellberg from the Motorklubben 402 M let me park the Blackout SS
in their garage in Skövde until I could get a transport to Gothenburg. Thanks guys! "Tjalle" drove us
back to the camping with one problem solved.


Exactly... This was the name of our camping cabin and it reflected my thoughts precisely.


The bbq worked out just fine with Axel as grill master. The Wassbacken camping is only a mile from
the strip! So we walked back to the party at the strip in the evening.


The Rox played, the people danced. And it was getting chilly in the night so we gathered around the
bonfire. This part of our plan worked - to meet new people at other drag strips. This is part of our new
plan after we had achieved the plan to go 9's at Santa Pod - "to go to other drag strips, small local
races and meet new people" Since then we have at least been to Malmö, Piteå, Skellefteå and
Moholmsstrippen even if we would like to do Moholmsstrippen again. And after that...?



Sunday August 30


We couldn't just go home directly on Sunday before taking another look at the race and have a hot dog.


Most racers had very good traction at the grooves, like this left wheelstanding 1965 Chevelle where
father Kennet and son Mikael Rosenquist from Husqvarna split the driving. Kennet missed a gear and
they landed the 2nd Place Award in Bracket C (index 11.00) at The Skaraborg Street Finals which is
the official name of the race. The 60-foots were 1.6's and best performance 11.434 s @ 185 kmh /
115 mph. We saw three or four 64-65 Chevelle and Malibu here!


Like our tow guy's Chevelle! Sten-Åke "Tjadden" Nyman is from Skövde and had a string of 11.0's and
speeds around 200 kmh until this 10.65 @ 218 kmh / 135 mph! He must have tested nitrous?


Enough traction? Samuel Yngvesson from Småland abused the track in his brutal Maxxtuning Opel
Calibra RWD with a barrier breakin' grandios best of 10.926 @ 264 kmh / 164 mph.
Until the track hit back... Samuel looked kind of satisfied anyway.


Roger Petersson ran low 10's in his 1965 Volvo P1800 with the help of a nitrous injected smallblock
Chevy. Good hook there! Roger believed that his ET is hurting by maybe 2 tenth due to the grooves. At
Mantorp he normally runs 9's. If Elenor comes any closer to get her pictures she'll need a helmet. =)


The digital revolution keeps on exploding and its benefits is spreading among the people. One proof is
that it's now very easy for anyone to broadcast live TV! If you have a good video cam like "Totte's"
Panasonic NV-GS11 (on the left), a lap top and mobile internet. Then with the help of
http://www.ustream.tv/ "Totte" put together a live broadcast from Moholmsstrippen which was linked
at Nitroz.se and even Eurodragster.com. And we finally went home so I could see the Sunday's last
runs on my lap top in my garage (pic to the right). I predict a much greater use of this technique where
you also can see team live cams from their pit boxes...and inside the cars...?


Roger Petersson won Bracket B (index 10.00), the class I aimed to race Blackout SS in. All the winners
and times/speeds found here: www.402m.se Ulf "Totte" Lindqvist worked as an announcer since his
Bad Luck Boys Topolino was down with broken Pro Stock engine. (New blown engine for 2010)


And already on Tuesday a friend of mine called and said he was in
Skövde going back to Gothenburg with an empty trailer, so the nice
people in Skövde activated the evacuation plan. Rumors said that
Robert Holm had some difficulties to tangle himself out of Blackout
SS, and he's a Corvette owner himself so he should be used to it?
Per "Gummi" Gudmundsson put the electricity off.
Thanks "Secret Trucker!


The club is now selling funny t-shirts...Amen!