August 27 - Preparations


Not only should this twisted (!) tube be rapaired, the whole driver's side header was changed to the
better in more ways! You have to go to this page (please scroll down) to see what was done:
EXHAUST_REWORK


Of course I needed to fix the SS so I could go to the last race of the summer! That's why I have this car.
Even if I had a very heavy work load at Vingaland Film (assignments abroad etc) I had to find time to
work with the car at other times, so not much sleeping during these weeks, you know the drill -
"I can sleep in the future..." And once again I got the car ready to race.


August 28 - back in the saddle


But I spared the family this time, I told them to stay at home. No need for them to follow me to see me
repair the SS at another track. Again. And again. I brought hot coffee in all thermoses we had at home.
But running solo without Axel was a little boring.


I always have Axel's help with these switches. It's a balance act with hot engine and full battery. When
the Stewart NASCAR pump and fan is Off we save amps. When all things are On we drain amps and
battery quicker. Depending on outside temperature and traffic we manage to
drive for 45 to 60 min without switching.
At the races all are switched On after warm up and switched off after the burnout going into stage. They
all go On again after the run. Normally this is what happens if you have a helping hand at the races.
Yes, I would like to have these switches closer to me, up in the roll cage would be perfect.


This is the most important instrument on the road. Water temp. Also Voltage is important.


If I had left my family at home - who was the mystery driver of our Dodge then?


Is it always raining nowadays? It's so boring that an hour feels like three hours! Moholmsstrippen
has never before felt so far away.


Finally here again! The Bad Luck Strip! First time I reached only the pit, next time I didn't reach
Eliminations. What will happen now? I thought it was a good idea to park next to the truck which helped
me a bit to come home the first time... But who is that man at the trunk helping me out?


Team Bad Luck Boys on the other side of the pit road! The owner/driver Ulf "Totte" Lindqvist always has
something fun to laugh about. He's also one of the front guys in the organizing club MK402m.com


Alexander Palmér of course! He hasn't been involved in drag racing in years and thought it was a good
idea to hang around this time to have look. Last time he was around he was crewing in Kenneth
Feldthusen's Competition Eliminator crew. But even before that he was in the Blackout Team:
Last time in 2002 in Gardermoen, Norway. Hm...8 years ago! Back in the nitrous days...


We wanted to test full battery power all the way to the finish line so we put together two good, fully
charged batteries to evaluate the difference during a run. (Before eventually making it permanent)


When lining up next to Mikael Rosenqvist's Malibu I was feeling good about my SS again for the first
time since Bilsport Action Meet at Mantorp which was...three weeks ago! And now with the new sticker
made by Bagarn's son Austin I even had The Good Sign on the car. What could possibly go wrong now?


The burnout lasted 4 seconds before the blower belt disintegrated! You can see parts from it flying
around in this picture from Daniel Klang. I couldn't believe what happened, almost. Thanks!


I could laugh at it if it hadn't been so damn time consuming and expensive! I had years and years of
ripping rubber belts and kevlar belts - until Gates invented the flexible carbon fiber belt! Then no
problems for many years - until ProCharger renovated my unit and used another internal gear ratio, a
steeper 5.40:1 instead of the original 5.00:1 (they said 5.00:1 was out of their range!) and that brought
the system over the edge! There are no other explanations. No need to change belt here at
Mohomsstrippen and do the same thing again. The race is over. The season is over.


This picture says it all. Can it be worse?


Yes, the sky can open up! Thanks!


Bye bye E-Z Up tent from K-Mart in Orlando and thanks for all your good work during 4 years!


Then something happened on the road after only a couple of miles in Skövde, the closest town! Thanks!


No one of the big service stations in Skövde had a "Do it yourself" garage, so we had to take care of
business out in the cold reality! Thanks! Don't worry, be happy! Alex thought it was a very interesting
thing to go to drag racing again...


Do you remember the intro-picture from last race at Mantorp - how I maintained the quality of my SS
and even cleaned the alternator belt? Well, this is the "thanks for that". Probably it got beaten
up by the broken blower belt. Of course I have spare belts with me...


...so I could at least drive home, but it felt like twice the distance now...


At the driveway at home my son greeted me with a "cut throat" sign and pointed under the car! It was
oil dripping! So, that blower belt also had hit the crank front seal so it popped out again! I glued it there
last year! A lot of oil was now gone from the engine! Thanks for everything and Merry Christmas!




All in or all out.
First mission is to make ProCharger to give me
back my F1-R the way it was first...
Then we'll see.