Reviving an old Challenge car to go Gamblin'

We pulled our $2016 Challenge car out of the field with the intention to take it Gamblin' in September. Not a ton to discuss but it will run on starter fluid and we think that the fuel pump is dead.

The stock wheels will be getting some 30" mud bogers. 

Will the turbo still be in the passenger seat?

I know this will be good just because it looks like that jetski is sitting straight on the ground.

In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :

Negative, it has been pulled and put into storage long ago. There will be a seat there. 

In reply to iansane :

I mean, what are we supposed to do with a ski that we got for free??

In reply to singleslammer :

Oh, that's sad. I was really hoping! Haha!

In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :

Yeah, that would have been cool but not great for the passenger. 

singleslammer said:

In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :

Yeah, that would have been cool but not great for the passenger. 

Just tell the passenger they get a seat heater thatthey can't turn off.

I approve! Here's mine:

Oh hey, I remember this car. You welded up the rear doors for the world's only LS400 coupe :) Yeah, that turbo setup was pretty sketchy in the best way possible. I recall clear plastic tubing for an oil line, and was it a chicken wire scattershield?  This car has Big Gamble Energy.

I remember walking the hotel parking lot in 2016 and seeing the turbo setup. I immediately told Lil Stampie that was our competition for half budget. 

In reply to HotNotch :

That is lovely. 

In reply to maschinenbau :

Yeah, we definitely had no idea what we were doing. 

In reply to Stampie :

Sadly no, we didn't keep the budget that tight and spent too much time on looks and not enough making it drive. 

I forgot I had a picture of this. Somehow, on the way home from Florida 5 years ago, the rear lower control arm bent and tore the bottom of the knuckle. Dan thinks that he can repair all of it. 

So, the Upper Rear control arms are notorious for getting play in the ball joints, and only the entire arm is available.

I figured out a solution to replace just the upper ball joint - let me know, and I can share it with you if you're interested.

Okay, back at it for the Gambler in the fall. I had scheduling conflicts for several years but I think that this year it is going to happen. Need to pull this garbage out again and see what it takes to make it work. 

In reply to HotNotch :

I may need that info. 

This ticks all the right boxes...

In reply to singleslammer :

So forgive me for the formatting, I shared this on facebook originally and I just copied and pasted the text below:

Here is a solution for the rear upper ball joints. Lexus will only sell the complete arm as an assembly, meaning when the upper ball joints go bad, the arms are trashed.

However, you can use 2005-2015 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 front upper ball joints to replace them. 

The only mod required to the arm is grinding /filing down the cup that the ball joint gets pressed in to, by approximately .030" to .060".

 This can be accomplished with a flap disk on a grinder or a file. 

This has to be done for the snap ring to clip into its groove (the flange where the Tacoma ball joint sits on the top side of the arm is slightly taller, not allowing for full protrusion of the snap ring groove)

The ball joints share the same taper and overall length as the OEM. It's also greasable.

Which Gambler event are you looking to attend in the fall?

In reply to Lof8 - Andy :

Missouri as I am just a couple hours north of there. 

In reply to HotNotch :

This is great! Thank you 

Wish they had a Mid Atlantic Gambler

Well, after going to look at the car last night, it isn't happening. It is stored at my BIL's and he cut the gas tank out, started taking the engine out, and it is now 90% moss and detritus. The juice isn't worth the squeeze.