Ich bin ein Rallye Käfer

Longtime reader/lurker, first time build threader.  This is the start of building a multi-purpose fun having tool.  The plan is to be stage rally legal, but run everything we can: Autocross, RallyCross, Rally Sprints, random backroads, cross-country cannonball runs, Hooptie Challenge, etc.

The basis of the build starts with a 2002 VW Beetle 1.8T found here in the classifieds.  I was interested when first listed as it was local, but at the time was still setting up our Miata for similar events.  Over the past year it has run Autocross, RallyCross, and the inaugural Florida Gambler 500.  It is fun, but even with OEM hardtop and decent rollbar it doesn't meet specs for stage rally, and the stock 1.6 is pretty gutless as well but refuses to die.  So something in the turbo flavor sounded enticing.

After a few (5) months of pondering, I contacted the seller (Badjuju) about availability.  I was met with "yes" and what equated to a scrap value/get it out of my yard price.  He stated that others had shown interest, but put off by how gutted the interior was, which was a plus in my book at the time.  The car was procured a couple days later, backed off of the trailer into shop, and proceded to do burnouts and make giddy turbo sounds.  It was at this point, we knew we were on the right track.

This was the weekend before the 2019 $2000 Challenge, and would have attended way under budget if time from work was easier to come by.  Looking forward to attending the 2020, if we can keep it in budget and still stage rally legal.

Where it started (sellers pictures)

Yes it was a bit gutted, and had sat without windows/sunroof through the Florida summer

And bonus Miata with super-bonus Gambler Minibike Enduro Racer

The Beetle had been setup for Autocross with Koni Yellows, H&R springs, an Eibach rear sway bar, and was riding on G-Force R1's.  The springs cut into the ground clearance, so they will be replaced with new replacements intended for a TDI Jetta Wagon.  This will hopefully gain a little altitude and clearance for the rally tires that will replace the R1's.  Though they will be kept for tarmac duties.  The Koni yellows will stay, and sway bar's fate will be determined later.

A fellow RallyCrosser just happened to list a set of lightly used Pirelli P-Zero's in a useable size the day the car was picked up.  Florida is not really the land of rally tires or snow tires, so when the opportunity arose it eas taken.  When purchasing rally tires for the Miata, it was actually money ahead to order and ship in a set from the UK.

New shoes, bit of a tight fit for now

Began the "build" process, with more deconstruction.  The dash and most of interior was already gone.  But proceeded to remove the crunchy stock seats, extraneous brackets and mounts, and the lovely sound deadener.  Making room for new seats and a cage to be installed.

With all that cleaning, the car only gave up a singular quarter in found loose change.  It was pretty "gutted" as seller stated, and my challenge budget took a hit as was hoping for at least $1.31.

Luckily there are a few of these in the local junkyard, so the first scavenging trip netted us some necessary goodies for eventually putting it back together.

The current plan is to maintain as much OEM wiring and switches as possible for basic vehicle operations and incorporate them into a custom aluminum dash skin and door panels for Concours points and simplicity.

Interested to see where you go with this. That said, I am not sure how you could possibly make it stage valley legal while keeping it under challenge budget. Even if you build the cage yourself that's roughly $1,000 worth of material in DOM. My stage rally car was done at a bare-bones budget, with seats off Craiglist, built the cage myself, cheap harnesses, etc. Just those three elements by themselves would put you over a challenge budget, or close to it if you buy some used/old stuff. 

Anything can be done. And a stage rally car can pretty much do any other type of Motorsport. ...track, drift, autocross.....But the main problem here is trying to do the ultra budget Motorsports. "Budget" and "rally" don't go very well together ;)

On a side note Ryan Kolupa runs a new beetle in stage rally (though I am quite certain his is not anywhere near a challenge budget haha). Anyhow you may want to look him up I'll see if he has any tips for that car a particular on stage. He's on Facebook.

irish44j said:

Interested to see where you go with this. That said, I am not sure how you could possibly make it stage valley legal while keeping it under challenge budget. Even if you build the cage yourself that's roughly $1,000 worth of material in DOM. My stage rally car was done at a bare-bones budget, with seats off Craiglist, built the cage myself, cheap harnesses, etc. Just those three elements by themselves would put you over a challenge budget, or close to it if you buy some used/old stuff. 

Anything can be done. And a stage rally car can pretty much do any other type of Motorsport. ...track, drift, autocross.....But the main problem here is trying to do the ultra budget Motorsports. "Budget" and "rally" don't go very well together ;)

 

I completely understand and agree, I would like to have taken the car this year with the $200 we have in it and taken a knee at the Concours.  That said the Miata would have been there, but even the basic setup that it is exceeded the challenge budget and I chose not to keep track of expenses.

The Challenge idea is a hope to keep my budget in check.  Main expenses will be, as you said the cage and seats.  Starting with a cheap running driving car, with decent-ish suspension and a few parts to sell is a help.  Harnesses and certain safety equipment are "free", so that helps a bit more.  Some rally-necessary but not Challenge-necessary items and options may be removed or temporarily replaced to compete if I can keep all other budget items in line.  If I end up over budget so be it, it's not a hard fast rule I've set for this build.  Just see it as another opportunity to utilize a vehicle we customized to have fun, and that is the ultimate goal.

So few weeks in, slow on updates.  Spent the past few weekends combing junkyards piecing together parts to complete a minimalist interior and basic accessories, removing more sound deadening, and drilling spot welds to remove unnecessary brackets and seat rails.  Manual window crank mechanisms for MK4 VW's are in very short supply by the way.

And then.....finally picked up the title and found a snafu that put the whole thing in limbo....and then....

So, now for something completely different (but kind of quite similar), Ralleye Käfer 2.0

Version 2.0 is a Lagoon Blue "Color Concept" (ooooh aaaaah) 2003 1.8T auto, found local and pretty cheap with an auto that doesn't want to shift out of 3rd gear and in turn puts the engine in limp mode.  It's really "too nice" for us and our plans, but kinda nice to start with all the stock pieces and decide what to gut and what to keep.  Plus maybe somebody will be interested in purchasing the complete upgraded and color coordinated interior to offset some of the budget.

The silver Beetle will give up it's 6 speed and necessary swap parts, part of the roof as a sunroof filler, as well all the Turbo S specific parts and aftermarket upgrades will also be swapped over to this chassis.  The hopes for a Challenge build are pretty much dashed at this point, as the probability of installing a LSD in the transaxle before swapping it is high (and they aren't the cheapest).

Before tearing into the fresh/complete chassis we needed to harvest everything worthwhile from version 1.0.

Well that escalated quickly.....

(hover mode engaged)

Before prepping the drivetrain for removal the shifter bushings got a rehab and adjustment, and the transmission that supposedly wouldn't go into 6th gear now does, so hoping that was a win for an easy repair.

Version 2.0's blue exterior and very STI-ish seats sparked an idea for a livery.  So I threw together a drawing to have something to work towards.

As this car will likely be seeing RallyCross duty while working it's way towards stage rally spec, I laid out an ARA-inspired number plate that meets SCCA sizing guidelines.

My brother/the "other" hooptie/transportation manager/co-driver/pit crew/instigator and encourager of bad ideas is also my resident vinyl guy.  He has started working on the number plates.

About as rally as it will get until version 1.0 is relieved of its drivetrain and frees up space on the lift for a suspension refresh/upgrade.

I love the livery, and I love those blue seats!

Damn, I almost bought that Beetle.  I planned a Florida vacation around trying to pick it up, but didn't because I got worried about driving it home to VA on slicks in potential rain storms.

Good luck with the build, I'm curious to see how it goes.

In reply to irish44j :

You need to develop a "Challenge mentality" when building cars to a $2K budget. Example, I have two cut up DOM cages and one ERW cage in the garage. Total outlay ....$20. I passed on an NHRA legal cage (even had the certification tag on it) a couple of weeks ago for $75 (too wide for my car).There are NHRA legal cages at the Challenge that are made from recycled material. It's a lot of work, but can be done. Now, if I were constructing a stage rally car I'd be paying for new material and an experienced cage builder, too, but it could be done on a budget if one is a good enough welder. It's all about free labour and finding cheap material.

Somehow I never realized that roll cages weren't budget exempt.

Yeah. Otherwise you could build a very nice "cage" and then delete all of the bodywork, roof, panels tie all the suspension together and essentially build a tube frame race car for free.

DeadSkunk (Warren) said:

In reply to irish44j :

You need to develop a "Challenge mentality" when building cars to a $2K budget. Example, I have two cut up DOM cages and one ERW cage in the garage. Total outlay ....$20. I passed on an NHRA legal cage (even had the certification tag on it) a couple of weeks ago for $75 (too wide for my car).There are NHRA legal cages at the Challenge that are made from recycled material. It's a lot of work, but can be done. Now, if I were constructing a stage rally car I'd be paying for new material and an experienced cage builder, too, but it could be done on a budget if one is a good enough welder. It's all about free labour and finding cheap material.

Agreed. My only point was for stage rally safety is not a thing to skimp on. I consider myself to have built a very budget-friendly rally car and it was nowhere near $2,000. And my cage was built for cost of material only.. Because nothing is so lousy as a stage rally car with an ill-fitting cage, or crappy seats, or parts that break constantly. Obviously many of those things can be overcome with skill and time searching for materials. 

Cute car.

In reply to vwfreek :

Thank you for posting that video! It is one I have not seen. It gives us something to look forward too!