Vintage Swedish Iron in Great Race 2022
R.Kwas Jun 2022 (Comments added.)
Yes, it is a "Race" among competitors, with real prize-money at stake, but its also fighting through against adversity...and keeping your steed alive and running...
...so my son and I visited the New England Air Museum on Saturday as the first
stop on the 2022 Great Race Route...watching all the vastly different (in age
and manufacturer!) and beautifully
prepared cars coming in was a treat...especially those of vintage Swedish Iron
naturally!...and
when we welcomed some of the last of the 130 competing teams into the reception,
Team 105 Riggs/Boutin, running a '59 544, advised me that
the car of a fellow Volvo driving team was stuck at the local Marriot with an
ignition problem. The 1800ES's ignition had failed shortly after the Start of
Stage 1...the organizers had the car flat-bedded to the first overnight, so
Driver and Navigator team were present at the NEAM, but without the car...hmmm... I figured I should be
able to sort the issue...I mean, what can possibly go wrong with the Bosch points
based ignition, which one couldn't sort without great difficulty... We all
got into
my black
122 which I had brought out and polished for the special occasion, and headed over to see what further damage I could do
under the hood...
The end of the day was drawing near, and it had started to rain...
When we arrived at the hotel, we found the stricken warrior No. 47 all by itself at one end
of the parking lot. I should have been able to sort the OE points based Ign Sys
in short order, but things were not acting consistently...after several
attempts, which included some "troubleshooting by replacement" the Points
themselves were found to be mechanically intermittent (that is, even when
adjusted, they exhibited the strange symptom of not consistently providing the
make and break contact necessary). ...and the fact that it was raining, getting
darker by the minute, and all happening in a parking lot under flashlight and
with only rudimentary tools was not making it
any simpler...but I like to challenge myself occasionally...I suppose it could
have been snowing!
Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqLcPQwTwps
By the time the other competitors rolled in after the reception activities at the NEAM, I had finally wrestled the problem into submission, resulting in a consistently functioning Ign Sys, and Team 47 was able to start and test-run their Swedish steed. My son documented the entire process, and I expect he may produce a short video which I wont be able to resist adding here as a little supporting contributing act for one of the GR competitors. I am following all the competitors with a special interest in the Wells/McGuire (Team 32, '66 122 Canadian), J&D Houck (Team 127, '66 122), Team 105 Riggs/Boutin ('59 544), Team 67 M&D Axen ('71 140), even Team 23 Blood/Keller, aboard a ('69 SAAB 96) teams running Swedish Steel, and the especially '73 ES operating Team 47 Gray/Mattingly naturally...I did note that they posted a time for Stages 2 and later, so I felt pretty good about my repair, although the fact that the Ignition Points had acted intermittently does shake my confidence a bit in the hardware itself...I have to wonder if the Points Assembly (the one-part, later style, standard on the 1800E and ES cars) the team had fitted, was a chinatrash ripoff clone (Lord knows their Condensors are known for failing without warning!)...I just hope it lasts for all Stages all the way to Fargo ND!
[UPDATE: I see times posted for Team 47, from the second day/Stage 2 on to the end, finishing 98/130...and I'm pleased about that!]
Pictures of competitors in Swedish iron, reposted from the https://www.greatrace.com/ site (permission to repost requested):
Congratulations to all teams, especially those running in Swedishsteel, who all finished!
Presented in order of finishers in Swedish vehicles:
Team 23 Blood/Keller, ('69 SAAB 96) Final Ranking: (Best finisher in Swedensteel! A very respectable 12/130, Score: 1m36.00s )
Team 105 Riggs/Boutin ('59 Volvo 544) Final Ranking: A respectable 25/130, Score: 2m49.00s)
Arrival in Fargo, ND
Team 32 Wells/McGuire (Canadian '66 Volvo 122) Final Ranking: A respectable 28/130, Score: 2m56.00s)
Team 67 M&D Axen ('71 Volvo 140) Final Ranking: 65/130, Score: 8m01.00s)
Team 127 J&D Houck ('66 Volvo 122) Final Ranking: 94/130, Score: 16m36.00s)
Team Houck avoids a road hazard...
...and makes it to Fargo N.D.
Team 47 Gray/Mattingly ('73 Volvo 1800ES) ...gets off to a rocky start, with an iffy ignition requiring Emergency Parking Lot Service by the author...and finishes in Fargo, ND! Final Ranking: 98/130, Score: 21m06.00s) ...and then as I understand it, because maybe it was running so good(!), the car was driven all the way, from North Dakota, back "home" to Kentucky!
Link to video of EPLS [Special thanks to Nikolaus Kwas for producing this video!]
["...a rainy day under the hood of a vintage Volvo, and with a fabulous mustache,
is still better than a sunny day with a man-bun...!...juss sayin'!"]
Team 47 back on the road after EPLS!
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External material is attributed. This article is Copyright © 2022. Ronald Kwas. The terms Volvo and Bosch are used for reference only. I have no affiliation with either of these companies other than to try to keep their products working for me, particularly the Ignition Points(!), help other enthusiasts do the same, and also present my highly opinionated results of the use of their products here. The information presented comes from my own experience and carefully considered opinion, and can be used (or not!), or ridiculed and laughed at, at the readers discretion. As with any recipe, your results may vary, and you are, and will always be, in charge of your own knuckles!
You are welcome to use the information here in good health, and for your own non-commercial purposes, but if you reprint or otherwise republish this article, you must give credit to the author or link back to the SwEm site as the source. If you don’t, you’re just a lazy, scum sucking plagiarist, and the Boston Globe wants you! As always, if you can supply corrections, or additional objective information or experience, I will always consider it, and consider working it into the next revision of this article...along with likely the odd unique metaphor and (equally likely) wise-a** comment.
