09/16/2026
Time to catch up on the Tales of FHR @ PIB. As mentioned in an earlier post, a set of Solex 34W2 carburetors were rebuilt for the engine that was to replace the one injured (not blown up) at Track Day. The engine was installed last week and finally fired up on Saturday. The plan was to leave early Sunday for Put-In-Bay to arrive Monday afternoon. Instead I left later on Sunday. The lights on the tow dolly refused to work again (likely a problem with the truck wiring) so I parked shortly after dark. Got up very early and hit US-2 eastbound again. However the Trollhus was having other ideas. Sometimes it would start with a bit of reluctance, other times it would only give one "Uhh" and go dark. I had the battery replaced in Marquette and all has been well since then. I made it as far as Ann Arbor when darkness descended on the land again and I parked for the night.
Up early once more and I made it to Port Clinton, Ohio , where I tried to buy a fan belt for the new engine. It was a bit like the Three Bears: This one is too large, this one is too short... But they didn't have one that was just right. I realized that the problem was in the alternator bracket that we used. It placed the pivot closer to the engine block. I caught the next ferry to South Bass Island anyway. Once on the island I tried to revert to the earlier bracket, but unfortunately it wasn't just right either.
While all this was going on, Ken Payne was assembling his accessory parts onto the ex-Larry Williams 850 short block I had brought from home. Everything was together and ready for installation when he discovered one of the spark plug holes was stripped. A search began for an 18mm x 1.5 helicoil insert. Good luck with that! Ken uses spark plugs with a standard thread and inserts to make them fit the larger holes that SAAB used. Eventually he agreed to use some JB Weld to make the insert bond to the offending hole. Everything seemed lined up as Saint Larry "Stroker" Williams would have done, but the dad-blamed thing wouldn't run. A few sputters here and there, but no steady pop pop pop. In a moment of near disaster when Ken had the 2-bbl Solex off the manifold, an errant spark, from Lord knows where, started a fire. Blowing it out and beating on it didn't stop the flames, Ken ran for a fire blanket but that didn't help much. I grabbed the brand new fire extinguisher from my race car, gave it a quick P**F and the flames were out.
In the meantime, Patrick Foss was at a parts store on the mainland trying to locate the elusive 18mm helicoil. I asked him to pick up a specific size fan belt in an effort to get the FHR 96 onto the track. It was awhile before he made it to.our paddock spot, so I missed most of the car show at the winery. Fortunately I guessed right and the belt fit, a little snug, but it's on.
Keep in mind that the new engine in my car only had a few minutes of running time. A couple of runs in the garage, driving out of the garage and onto the tow dolly, then driving it off the tow dolly so I could make some final preparations in the paddock.
Once the fan belt was installed I headed to the car show. It runs pretty well, but the clutch cable and distributor will need some fine tuning before we hit the track.
When Barry and I returned to our paddock area, Ken was still there. We asked about his progress on getting his 93F running. He jumped into the race seat, threw some switches, and the dad-blamed thing fired right up. Three SAABs will hit the race track tomorrow. (See videos in the comments.)
