1995 TDI GTI Rally Car!

Thought you fellow enthusiasts would get a kick out of my slower than ever build...

It all started with a 1995 Sport... (the Test Mule) a cleanish for New England mk3, which received initially a Shine Real Street suspension from a vr6 jetta, an autopower cage and a TDI with nozzles and a chip... (after a quick rebuild thanks to a red rag in the engine... don't ask)

Then it went racing!!!

It was a fun fast little ride that posted some good times at the local autox's, hillclimbs, rallyx's and TSD's that averaged a good 45mpg.. but then half way up Mt. Ascutney on a flying run... just as I looked down at my EGT gauge and saw 1900deg!!! with a squeal of tires she came to a halt. ... She re-fired after a few minutes.. but the damage was done... one piston and the turbo were shot.
Using this as the ultimate excuse to rebuild her right proper... i sourced a newer, uncut, rust free shell and started a proper build ... a stage rally car!

Cage by cagethis.com

A divorce, a move across country and a lot of work later.. she's finally getting some love.. well except I just loaded her back in the trailer to move back to Boston :-) oh life!!

a little Rustoleum and a Home Depot air gun

an over bore, some sick pistons, a p&p job, a new turbo, and a bunch of cleaning, fitting and finishing

Add in some ex-Duplesis HotBits DT1's and some caster plates

And she's set and ready for her comfy trailer ride home

Other things along way; an RA Log Book, Kaaz diff, seam welded, reinforced pinch welds, doubled up sills, and a ton of work.

Thanks to all of those who helped get me this far.. you've all been amazing.

It'll probably be a few months before any more work is done to her... but ask questions, give advice, send money, I look forward to it all...

oh and the new car is Dexter III

Dexter I anyone remember rabbitation?

and Dexter II (ex internet hot rod of the month)

I look forward to you rejoining us on the hill. We're running the full course this Spring Ascutney!

This is a very very cool car. Keep this thread alive and go through the bits and pieces on the car as well as re-shelling it if you roll it over. That cage really really looks the business by the way. Very nice.

DaveEstey I look forward to it as well... thou you'll probably see me in a beater dub... If I'm going to crash this one.. its going to be on a stage rally hows the crx going?

And yes.. lots of updates as they come Mazdeuce

As a tdi owner, I approve.

In reply to crankwalk:

You used the wrong emoticon, I think you meant

Raze wrote: In reply to crankwalk: You used the wrong emoticon, I think you meant

You're right. These tiny phones

this is amazing.
If you don't mind me asking, how much was the cage, all said and done?
Eagerly awaiting updates!

In reply to corytate: As i remember (it was 3 years and many many thoughts ago) it was about 1500... well worth it if you ask me.

:-D

This build makes me want to go turn wrenches on my own build.

dextervw wrote: DaveEstey I look forward to it as well... thou you'll probably see me in a beater dub... If I'm going to crash this one.. its going to be on a stage rally hows the crx going? And yes.. lots of updates as they come Mazdeuce

Sold it. Last I saw it was looking rusty and crusty in Northern Vermont.

I'm prepping an RX-7 for this year.

I might have missed it but what kind of tune are you going with on the tdi? Off the shelf (Malone, RC) or custom stuff?

Crankwalk, i'm not sure yet. I have a set of RC and Aligator chips... both rub about 18psi and made decent power with my previous setup. I have a buddy who's cracked the code and says he can play with those chipsets to match my new setup so we'll see where I end up.

Incase anyone was wondering what fancy pistons I was referring to.. they are a set of these bad boys from Nural. I believe they were originally for a PD150. The cool thing about them is the cooling ring just under the head. Its kinda cool, there are little holes right where the oil squirters are in the block... but instead of just splashing the bottom of the piston, the oil penetrates into the piston and runs down the cooling passage

and my caster (camber) plates from Burmeister. I wasn't planning on putting in plates but as they came with the suspension... figured it was worth the trouble.

wow yeah ~1500 seems well worth it! that thing looks sturdy!

Does anyone have any good resources for intake manifold design? I'm thinking (now I'm heading back to a job with a full machine shop full of CNC machines at my fingertips) its time to ditch the restrictive, 3 cylinder starving stocker and build something worthy of being in there.

The crux has been auto crossing with us. Seems be ok, but I think it's on it's second motor.

Wow... almost forgot about all you awesome people here.. sorry the pics above no longer work.. but I finally got it all running. Next event (its first stage and third event) is the Team Oneil Rally Spring May 9th.

check out Bakers Dozen Racing Facebook Page

Any video of you racing?

I have some on board of one run so far.. I'll try to post it up soon.

Nice, wish I could make it up there for the rallysprint, but car still needs a few things (have they even settled on the two levels of rallysprint rules yet?)

digging it up again.. maybe i need to spend some more time here.

last summers fun: Hillclimbing Hillclimb Footage

and a rally sprint: Rally Sprint Footage

I'm finally doing it, finally getting my dream fulfilled. Racing in a proper rally! I've shaken down with a few rally sprints, autox's and hillclimbs... and she's ready!!!

I will try to get some "build" pics back up soon.
I bought it as a shell 8 years ago and transformed it into what you see here on a shoestring budget. Sports some Hotbits DT2's, big old EBC/Wilwood brakes, AHU TDI soot powered motor, Kaaz diff and a bunch of other tricks. Couldn't have gotten to where i am now without a ton of support from my friends and family, sponsors (Banchwerks, eEuroparts, Envigna, Long Lost Uncle John, VWDiesel.net, Rokblokz and Warn)

Oh yeah, if you are ever wondering whats up with this little beast and I'm being slow at updating here (common, very very common) https://www.facebook.com/bakersdozenracing/