Cougarbait did not prevail at 24 Hours of Lemons

Argh! This car was dialed. We had the weight down to 2600lbs. We had some great Falkens. We had some KILLER Raybestos pads (~$300 for the front pair). Everything was dialed. We were turning 1:33 laps on the two mile course, with over 100 cars in traffic. This car could have been a contender. However, about 60k miles ago, Morrie’s Saab (Minneapolis, MN) did a warranty engine replacement. For some unknown reason, they used an oil pan gasket and silicone gasket maker (and way too much of it). This silicone decided around lap 26 that it would completely clog the oil pick-up and then starve the engine of oil.

We lost our bearings. Welded the crank. But our spectacular pit crew consisting of Marty and Mike Adams of Meyer Garage and Iowa City Saab jumped to the task of saving the car. When it pulled in the engine was seized. They managed to break it free and get it running. But it was bad (see bad bearings picture below). However, another Saab mechanic stopped by and said he had another V6 motor sitting in a box at his house. So part of the team hopped in a truck and drove 1.5hrs each way to pick up a motor.

When they got back Mike and Marty had the donor motor torn down in less than five minutes and had all the bearings pulled, but alas, the bearings were too large to fit in our V6. So it was done. But a valiant effort was made by everyone. The good news is, the car rocks, and we have a donor motor. So building next year’s car will be super easy.