911 Carrera RallyCross Project

After the diet the car's been one we thought it might be an idea to weigh it again so we drove it onto the four post lift and onto the scales.

and added 150lbs of driving gravel.

New total weight 2632lbs and that's with the rally wheels on. Last time we got 2705lbs with the autocross wheels on, about 40lbs lighter than this setup.

We also managed to improve the weight distribution by jacking up one of the front torsion bars. Can you tell which one?

We also had a go at aligning the car with strings.

That went pretty well too.

:)

Great build. Have you kept maintenance costs in check because you do them yourself?

Mr_Clutch42 wrote: Great build. Have you kept maintenance costs in check because you do them yourself?

There's been very little maintenance required but we have done everything in-house so far except the skid plates.

Feels like we haven't updated this thread for a while and that we haven't worked on the car. Well it's been just a few weeks and when I look at find we've done many. many small jobs and a couple of events. I'm blaming the holidays. So what have we been up to? Well:

We cleaned it:

Bought an iPhone holder:

Replaced a few noisy blowers with less noisy ones.

Tried some thinner oil as we can't get the oil temperature up in these cold winters days.

Did a RallyCross and a TSD

Got it buried.

Replaced the sliders on the drivers seat and added sliders to the passenger seat.

Put the big battery back in as the car is going to be a zero car at Sno*Drift rally and needs to start in the morning.

Swapped out the Winterforce tires for some Nokians as we seem to see a lot more ice than cold mud and snow.

And removed the radio as we needed somewhere to mount a switch for the lights.

So we have been busy after all. We also noticed this a few days ago. We missed the100,000 mile turnover as it happened on track but this made us smile.

This weekend we will take the car up to be a course opening vehicle at the Sno*Drift rally than, on the way home, we'll hit an ice race on Sunday. Should be a great long weekend.

The car and the build is really good.
I have read through the entire thread, something I don't normally do, because I like pictures. Car looks great. Keep it up.

Mike Kirby

Mike924 wrote: The car and the build is really good. I have read through the entire thread, something I don't normally do, because I like pictures. Car looks great. Keep it up. Mike Kirby

Thanks Mike. Means a lot.

The fact that it turned over 100k on the track is outstanding. Here's to another 100k doing the same!

Hey, you guys got some coverage in MotoIQ!

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/ID/3373/Frozen-Beer-and-Rally-Cars-SnoDrift-2014.aspx

Sky_Render wrote: Hey, you guys got some coverage in MotoIQ! http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/ID/3373/Frozen-Beer-and-Rally-Cars-SnoDrift-2014.aspx

Yes, I just found that. The photographer was "bummed" out because all he could see was two "bums" looking for the engine.

Last weekend we got to take the car 4 hours north to the Sno*Drift Rally, round #1 of the Rally America series. No, we hadn't entered the car in the rally, but it was in the rally, as a "course car". We were hoping it was going to be a course opening car and run ahead of the rally but instead was delegated as a course closing car, running behind. As the whole point of the exercise was to get exposure for the car we were a little disappointed by this but we need not have been as the car was a big hit with the fans in the service areas and display parcs.

Normally for this event we'd put on a big BRAID Wheels display at the various venues but this year we just went with the course car role as I've actually never fully spectated here. Needed to fix that and did.

Temperatures, needless to say were frigid, being well below 0F most of the time. Still, as I like to believe, there is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes (or tires). This adage was put to the test but me being frozen was not a feature of the weekend. The vehicles being frozen however, was.

Thursday afternoon, when I arrived in Lewiston, our home for the weekend, the poor Porsche was covered in road salt and not very happy. It did start but it didn't sound encouraging making me wonder if I'd actually broken the engine. Eventually it got over it's cold feet and sat in the snow purring away as usual. It was not a confidence inspiring moment as I retreated to our rented house for the evening.

Just arrived in Lewiston and about to take the car off the trailer. BBBRRRR!

Next day the rally took over downtown Lewiston with a Parc Expose and official start. Parc Expose is basically a free car show for rally cars and allows the fans to mingle not only with the cars but also the crews. Before I could get the car "inside" I had to scurry over to Atlanta (MI) to get it's credentials or it wasn't going anywhere. Decals suitable affixed I hurried back to find our driver for the weekend, Paul Fernadez and his wife, Kerry who would be looking after our precious vehicle for the duration. Now this car, as you know has been splattered all over various forums and has been seen at many events but it's never been exposed to the actual stage rally world in person. I must say I was absolutely stunned by the response of the people in Lewiston to the car as I trundled round down town looking for people I knew or needed to say "hi" to. Despite being surrounded by hundreds of thousands of Dollars worth of high end rally cars people turned their heads and were gob smacked by the 911. I could see them patting their pockets for their camaras, nudging their friends, taking pictures, giving thumbs up. It was incredible and took me completely by surprise. It was also quite gratifying I must admit and vindicated the decision to bring the car up.

I finally tracked down Paul and Kerry and parked the car in a free spot. Then we set to work installing the green light on the roof and his radio. Then Paul gave me a ride over to meet up with one of the stage captains, Jerry Shiloff as I'd volunteered to work one of the stages Friday, twice as it turned out. It was great fun working the corner we were on as it soon filled up with lot's of boisterous fans who kept us entertained between the cars showing up. Unfotunately I didn't get to see our car follow the race on this stage as it was sharing the task with another vehicle and only doing alternate stages.

Frozen Beer and Rally Cars: Sno*Drift 2014 > MotoIQ - Automotive Tech, Project Cars, Performance & Motorsports

The corner/s I worked. An hour later it was full of crazy rally fans.

The car on stage waiting to swing into action.

See next post for day two.

:)

Sno*Drift Rally continued……

Freed from my work assignments of the previous day, Saturday was spent hanging out with my friends and spectatating the rally (for once). We started early by hitting the parc expose in Atlanta where I bumped into Paul and Kerry parked righ next to the ceremonial start. They explained how they were amazed by the reaction the car was getting and wished they had contacted an agent before taking on this job as they felt like celebrities and the fans like paparatzi with the amount of pictures they were taking. Job done!

Parked in Parc Expose seeing the competitors on their way.

Off to see a stage then. This is not NASCAR. This is not easy. What you have to do is get a map of route for the day. Pick a few stages you think you can get to before the rally does. Find a side road that intersects the course and hope you can get down it without getting stuck. Fortunately we had Ed Schowalter driving us in his 2013 Subaru WRX armed with a set of Blizzaks. Ed won the POR rally last year so he knows what he's doing too, not that it felt like that from the back seat. We managed to hit three of the stages and saw most of the remaining cars at some point but we still never saw our 911. Didn't get stuck though.

No such thing as bad weather............

We skipped the last stage as it was getting frigid and scurried back to the house for the evening. Paul delivered the car and gave me his report. he was stunned by the whole experience but I'll let him explain:

"Kerry & I had some Real Wheel Drive fun of our own at S-D. Worked out a deal with Paul Eddleston to use his '84 Porsche 911 for the weekend to get him some BRAID exposure throughout the weekend both on and off the stages. Expected to be running as 000, but was assigned Green Light instead.

I imagine that the 911, in the old Dakar-Rothmanns colors, was one of the most photographed cars in Northern MI over the weekend. EVERYWHERE we went, people were stopping to take pictures of the car. Kerry & I felt like celebrities being followed by the paparazzi.

This was my first experience with RWD on slippy stuff (except for karting in the rain), so I got off to an easy start on Friday as I gradually got used to the behavior of the 911. The brand new Hakka R2's were doing an excellent job of providing plenty of bite at the front. Moderate application of the accelerator in the tighter corners produced a "comfortable" level of over steer. Having lots of fun when possible, but not taking any chances either. No surprises...yet.

Apparently my confidence was increasing on Saturday morning. While transiting to the start of SS12, making the right onto Voyer Lake from M-33, gave it a bit too much gas after the apex and around we went. Fortunately no traffic and plenty of space to maneuver. Its ALL good. I got that out of my system (maybe?).

At the spectator area on SS12 (where Bruce & Suzy Beauvais were marshals), the extremely well-polished 90-right (after 2nd time through for rally cars) caught me off guard (compared to the rest of the stage up to that point) and around we went...again. We got a BIG cheer from Suzy. Bruce was upset he did not have his camera handy. We continued on without further incident until...

SS19 was another stage that was used twice, but it was my 1st time seeing it and it was completely dark. And as Jimmy mentioned, the spectator area was super slick. Getting on the gas a bit too soon on the nearly glare ice and..."it's time to make the donuts". Of course now we have NO momentum to get up the ensuing ice hill. I was scrambling for every bit of snow I could find, but we went nowhere. Then we got half way up with the help of 2 guys pushing the best they could. But it took a flat-tow from one of the marshals behind us in an Outback to make it to the top of the hill. It was a little disappointing because it was the first and only time that the 911 got "stuck" all weekend. But I think we could have made it up the hill with a proper run through that corner....maybe.

Anyway, Kerry & I had a great time in the 911. It was quite an experience. (Thanks Paul E.!)

-Paul"

Normally, on the Sunday after this rally I'd sleep in, tidy up our house and slide out of Lewiston around noon. This year I had other plans as I'd entered an ice race on Ross Lake which, in a rally drivers justification mind set was "on the way home". Well the RALIVAN had other ideas and refused to start as it was 0F outside and I guess it felt neglected. This is my first diesel and the first time I have tried to start it in these kind of conditions. No, it doesn't have a block heater but it will have one on Monday. We nudged the nose through the garage door as far as we could and after running a hair dryer on the engine for two hours finally gut the thing to fire up, though it wasn't happy about it. The Porsche, that had been in the garage overnight, was more than happy to start so we retrieved the trailer and loaded it up, way too late to make the ice race of course. It had occurred to me that it might be a bit ambitious to attempt a race the day after doing the rally but it was the Porsche I was concerned about not the van. That vehicle had no problems all weekend and just got on with it as usual. A truly amazing and versatile little work horse.

So when is the next ice race?

EVO X makes the 911 look tiny.

911 back safe and sound. RALIVAN scowling in the background. "Wait till tomorrow you stuck-up Limey".

Heading home, tail between legs. "I told you I'd get yer back."

Three weeks since my last update. Interesting. Been working on the RALIVAN more than the Porsche I guess. still, there has been some action, mostly driving action which is the best kind. So I did get to do an ice race the week after the RALIVAN refused to take me to one.

The new Nokian tires were great but the ice was very polished under it's covering of snow and I only managed one run in which I did not spin the car. Ended up second in class, again, but not to my co-driver this time. To an RX7! Still, not a championship evet so it was fun just to let the rear hang out for a change. An interesting aside: I let the car (and the van for that matter) idle all day to get some heat into it. That worked to some extent but driving it made it loose a bit of temperature. Here it is sitting patiently.

Why do rally cars have skid plates? Because sometimes you drive them onto the trailer too fast. DOH!

Last week was back to our normal SCCA RallyCross program. The event was supposed to be held around the various dirt ovals of I96 Speedway but because of severe drifting (snow not cars) that area of the facility was out of bounds. Instead the organizers improvised a course in the snow covered field next door which worked out great except for being a bit bumpy. Less of a problem for the 911 than others I understand. So we finished first and second again with me coming second, again. There's more competition in Modified RWD class but the car still manages to kick arse.

I only hit one cone all day too and managed to get stuck in the snow just once this time and as it was after the finish it didn't cost me any time.

After my recent excursions into the snow banks I've come to appreciate that it's a lot easier on the volunteers with the tow truck if they know where your tow hooks are so today I stuck some stickers on to help them. The fronts are very accessible but the rears not so much.

My bumper appears to have a threaded hole for a tow hook (no pic, sorry) so I'm intrigued to see if I can find something to screw into that. Any ideas? Something like this perhaps?

While I was in sticker mode I removed the [URL="http://www.thayerauto.com/"]Ralph Thayer [/URL] sponsor decals from the roof and added some new ones in front of the doors. A much more appropriate location I think.

Next RallyCross is March 22nd. That's like 4 weeks! I'm going to have to find some more ice racing before then.

:)

I was just happy to beat Grogan more than you on the lake that day :) But you achieved vengance the following weekend at Odessa.

Maybe something like this?

http://www.bkauto.com/R_9037_Tow_Hook_p/r-9037.htm

Can you believe the RallyCross got cancelled due to a flood? I thought this was rally!! Actually, I have no interest in driving through a flood but I did get to work on the car a little. Not much, mainly because I got distracted by this:

It's a 300hp ex-Speed World Challenge Focus and its going to keep us very busy for a while, both inside the shop and on track. If you want to learn more here's it's build thread: Speed World Challenge Focus Restoration

Now, back to the Porsche. Made some progress with the rear tow hook. Bought a cheap dangly one from China. It doesn't thread into the bumper but a long M12 bolt should solve that.

The driver's door pocket started to fall off a few weeks ago so I can take a hint. Couple of pounds saved.

Picked up some extended front control arms from a fellow Pelican to add camber one day.

Hopefully the next event doesn't get cancelled and my wife doesn't make me go to that wedding. Stay tuned.

: )

Been working more on our World Challenge Focus than the 911 lately so not many exciting updates to report.

We did get the rear tow hook on with the help of an m12x1.75 bolt.

It's that time of year again; time for Cars and Coffee. In SE Michigan we are almost spoilt for choice now. I could hit these in one morning if I got up early enough. These pictures however, are from two consecutive Saturdays because I'm a lazy bugger sometimes.

Pasteiner's at Woodward and 14 Mile:

PCA-RSR at Zingerman's Roadhouse in Ann Arbor:

JD Indoor Karting in Novi:

Three very different crowds with three different sets of cars but the 911 is always popular. And yes, we put the summer tires on, perhaps a little optimistically.

We also had a go at trying to isolate the rear leak. Suspecting the rear window seals we made some rain.

and found it leaks in at the corners where everyone said it would.

Not to follow everyone's advice we slapped on some silicone around the seal as a "temporary" fix. To be fair we are considering a Lexan replacement so are no about to pull this one out to replace the seals right now.

This weekend is the RallyCross that was cancelled due to flooding last month. Feels like I haven't raced for decades. can't wait.

Yikes - Are those lower control arms? Does the rod end act as outer ball joint? I've never seen a rod end last as ball joint when mounted like that. The axial loads usually wear these out quickly in road race applications, I an imagine the rally impacts are even worse.

Kendall_Jones wrote: Yikes - Are those lower control arms? Does the rod end act as outer ball joint? I've never seen a rod end last as ball joint when mounted like that. The axial loads usually wear these out quickly in road race applications, I an imagine the rally impacts are even worse.

I suspect you might be onto something.

What an amazing machine. Win a RallyCross Saturday, bolt some street tyres on it, win an autocross Sunday.

Nathan Usher

Nathan Usher

Andrew Wong

Andrew Wong

Pretty close to rallycross in those conditions though lol

Looking forward to heading to the Great Lakes regionals this year - are you guys going? If so, will be very interested to see how my car (and/or driving) matches up in its last season before I actually add some reasonable power to the car.

This is one of the threads that motivates me to work on improving mine, knowing I'll probably end up running against you guys one of these days. I still have a ways to go to get the car to your level of prep though :)

In reply to Kendall_Jones:

I agree. Rod ends are for axial loading. I've seen spherical bearings used, but those wear quickly as well.

irish44j wrote: Looking forward to heading to the Great Lakes regionals this year - are you guys going? If so, will be very interested to see how my car (and/or driving) matches up in its last season before I actually add some reasonable power to the car. This is one of the threads that motivates me to work on improving mine, knowing I'll probably end up running against you guys one of these days. I still have a ways to go to get the car to your level of prep though :)

Great Lakes Regional RallyCross or Autocross?

believe me, if I'm doing well its all car, even though, performance-wise its basically stock.

teamilluminata wrote:

irish44j wrote: Looking forward to heading to the Great Lakes regionals this year - are you guys going? If so, will be very interested to see how my car (and/or driving) matches up in its last season before I actually add some reasonable power to the car. This is one of the threads that motivates me to work on improving mine, knowing I'll probably end up running against you guys one of these days. I still have a ways to go to get the car to your level of prep though :)

Great Lakes Regional RallyCross or Autocross? believe me, if I'm doing well its all car, even though, performance-wise its basically stock.

I'll take that to mean that you don't follow my build thread

Rallycross, lol.

Forgive my ignorance, but what ground clearance are you running. Stock US or higher?

Trying to figure out what ground clearance I need on the SAAB. Right now it's stock but with a bunch of weight removed so it looks like you could drive a Lotus underneath it! WIll be adding weight back in, but not sure how much.

I guess the Q should be, how much ground clearance do you need to Detroit region events?