Such a great little story about some DIY tuning on the two strokes – I had to repost this here. Here’s a shortened version of an eBay ad selling some pretty rare stuff:
“These moulds have been in the back for almost 40 years, for some, it’s kind of like uncovering some famous Mummy, others it’s like a medical oddity, and whenever I look at them my stomach churns. I don’t know if they could even be used anymore, maybe collectors material, enclosed in a glass case or something…
What you are looking at are lower engine case moulds that would be used for custom casting crankcases for Saab 3cyls. They were handmade back in the 1960’s by an old family freind Myron Mynchuck who was pretty famous for winning Saab 3cyls, years ago that he and his brothers raced all over the East Coast. What people didn’t know was that they were cheating pretty bad and not getting caught at it. In the pictures, you can see that they made the custom moulds using the outer shell from the factory block, however, the inners had a smaller area to raise compression for the 2 stroke engine, so after winning, when the protests started, the inspectors would look at the crankcase and see all the factory castings and see no reason to tear the engines down for further inspection. Nobody knew what they were really doing. In the pictures you can see that later they added some reinforcing ribs, because the extra stress from racing with the added compression was causing lower end failures, some of those ribs have gone missing.
The outer is the cast SAAB engine case, and the inner is wood and resin. There are a coulpe of cracks in the resin inner from age. Otherwise still in good shape after seeing how they have been moved around over the years.
Anyway, I’ve been sitting on these moulds for years, wanting to find the right home, I think E-Bay is the best way at this point.”
Find the original eBay item here.
Originally posted by “jpk644” on the Saab Club Of Finland forum.
I currently posess the set of molds.
chuck
93F #251
Hi Chuck!
It’s great to hear these pieces of history still exist!
Best regards,
Tommi