Advice needed for getting a C900 ready for rallycross

I was hoping to have my Rabbit ready for rally cross this season, but that doesn't look like it will happen. I'm not giving up on it by any means, I just really want to start rally crossing. As information this will be happening in the Detroit Region SCCA.

So the next eligible candidate is my 91 Saab 900. It runs, drives, stops, etc. so there aren't any big mechanical things to do before hand. And it's completely stock, right down to the steel wheels and Mastercrap all season tires.

It just so happens I have about $300 to spend before this adventure begins. And I'd like to spend that on a thing/things to make rally crossing said Saab seem less noobish.

What would y'all recommend I spend the money on to achieve this goal?

My most recent thinking is to head to the local junk yard and try to find a set of not steel wheels in 4x108 (15"), and possibly a set of half worn snow tires. That would be $100 and $150 respectively.

But I'm not sure this is the right answer.

Snow tires would be the best thing to get first.

First thing I'd do is make sure you'll pass tech. Battery tie-down, positive terminal covered, wheels tight, all that stuff. Just give it a good double-check and make sure you don't need to spend your money there.

Next, I'd check reliability issues. Grab your exhaust and give it a good shake and see if it falls off or is about to. Make sure none of the struts are leaking at all. Check the condition of your motor and transmission mounts. Are your hoses and belts on their last legs? The vibration of a rallycross course doesn't kill cars, but it will kill off any parts that are about ready to go, so again, make sure you don't need to spend your money there.

Assuming all that's good, adding snow tires is the best thing you can do for stock classes.

In reply to wae:

I've been to DRSSCA rallycrosses. I think it's expected that control arms fall off or fuel tanks fall out mid-course or whatever up there

(And they have the smoothest courses I have ever run on... I mostly got the new RX-7 so I could have a dedicated car for Detroit events since it has A/C and [redacted])

If you can ditch the steelies, do it. I've seen cars be competitive on all seasons, depending on the surface. But IMO, steelies are a safety concern, as it's not unheard of for them to stretch and pull right over the lugs if they take a hard sideways hit.

In reply to rslifkin:

"The surface" seems to favor purple crack over agressive tread.

The other reason I bought the new RX-7. I want something that I can set up the suspension for grippy slicks. They mostly run on horse tracks or hard dirt-oval clay that turns blue-black with deposited rubber after a few runs. I've fairly well proven already that UHP tires are better than traditionally RallyCross rubber, twice, and I want to go one step further with actual slicks.

In reply to Knurled:

If slicks are a bit much see if Hoosier makes dirt track tires in your size.

In reply to rslifkin:

This was exactly my thinking on getting away from the steelies. Even if I had to settle for the all seasons on them, is have a little more confidence they would stay on the car.

I've only seen the Crystal event in person. Like knurled mentioned, I thought the track surface was tarmac until Evan corrected me.

Current known issues on the car are the brake light switch and the exhaust. I just have to move the Rabbit out of the garage so I can fix them.

Crystal is one of the sites they run where you can get on honest to goodness turf and loose stuff. It's a dirt oval with a HUGE field next door. It's been a while since I've been there (it's like 6 hours from me, or a full Slayer playlist) but when I was running there semi-regularly, whether they run on the field or the track depends on if it is racing season or not. The track was only allowed during the off-season so we wouldn't rut it up for the roundy-round guys. Hitting the banking at full speed when there's a foot of snow on it is FUN

There's a nice deli/restaurant up the street from there that is also nice to hit up on lunch break.

Also, a field event at Crystal is where my Quantum got its only win in Mod AWD. The outside codes were set up a little late in the corner, and the snow was making firm banking, and I found that I didn't need to slow down at all for the corners, just pitch it sideways enough that I could hit the banking before the outside cones and bounce me back onto the course. This was when Scott was still running his Mitsubeagle so my head grew three sizes that day

saab net for parts and cars

I bought some superaeros off this guy a few years ago.

Classic SAAB 900 Parts here - if you need it I either have it or can probably get it Body parts, hoods, hatches, doors, new and used fenders, hatch area rear quarter sections, floor and trunk sections and more, SPG KITS for hatchback - refinished like new or used, SPG Kit for convertible - refinished like new or used, Front and rear bumpers, Fog light brackets, fog lights, Headlights, grill, tail lights, ABS pumps/units, ABS computers, Cruise control/Directional switches, Washer switches, Fuel injection computers, Distributors, turbo and non turbo, Air outlet covers, Whale Tale, new, aftermarket, Roof racks, Convertible ski/snowboard carrier, Convertible tops, doors, pistons, pump, Convt tail lights, trunk, SPG high output Turbos, Turbo/non turbo engines, Good 5 speed transmissions, Good automatic transmissions, SPG Wheels, 16" Aero wheels, Center console guages, Leather interior, front/rear seats, carpets, side panels, Dashboard in good shape, New dash cover, Dash fascia in good shape, 9000 T5 conversion parts, CV/Axles, AC parts, comporessors, condensors, radiators, cooling parts, Fuel pumps new and used, Turbo wheels, CSE wheels, Brake calipers new and used, Rear axles, good used headliner, New headliner, Oil coolers and lines, trans coolers and lines, Steering flex joints, steering racks new and used Tons of new and used parts ... floor mats, key chains, Keyless entry systems for all classic 900 models. Contact: Alex Fleming, Gloucester MA Phone: 978 852 2083

There are lots of rallycrossing c900 owners over on SAABRally.com

It's a very popular platform for playing in the dirt at all prep levels

In reply to mad_machine:

Thank you for the lead! I'm getting somewhere on the wheels now.

HappyAndy wrote: There are lots of rallycrossing c900 owners over on SAABRally.com It's a very popular platform for playing in the dirt at all prep levels

I'll try to spend some time there. I've only ever visited their classifieds.

I'm trying to figure out the battery tie-down requirements.

This is the arrangement I have now:

If I had to guess, this won't fly because the battery isn't held down across its top. Is this accurate?

If you can grab the battery and yank it and it doesn't move, it's good.

Cover the positive terminal with something and you're done.

In reply to Knurled:

I can work with that- I thank you sir!

Just an update on this thread: it happened :-)

Very simply put, I’d say mission accomplished.  I drove the car there, did 8 runs with no mechanicals, didn’t embarrass myself too much, and drove the car home.

Your ideas intrigue me, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

Hopefully I'll be putting another C900 in the dirt at some point in the not-too-distant future. No better test of my welding skills, if nothing else.

In reply to 02Pilot :

Well, that would make you the first and only subscriber!

It was a lot of fun.  And the car did fine.

It's a nicely timed post. I've still got a lot of work to do to my car, so periodic motivation like this is most welcome. Once I get the structural welding done, I've still got to take care of the cooling system, and a whole host of other smaller tasks before it's worth insuring and registering. Depending on how things go once I start driving it, I may well be doing a front main seal sooner rather than later.

I've got my snows on the same wheels you do. I'm thinking they need to be painted white to complement the whole rally car theme - at least that's my plan.

Please keep updating this thread as you continue your rallyx exploits. It will be helpful to keep me working diligently through the heat of summer.

Good job!

Also, I regonize that Rabbit from last year, it's a-rilly-nass...

The plate... I wonder if someone in CA has it yet...

Also, rally Saab, well done sir 

In reply to Knurled. :

Yes sir, the guy in the GTI is fast.  He mentioned the engine currently in it is likely due for a refresh- something about needing a few more hamsters under the hood.

In reply to 02Pilot :

Maybe it’s time for a proper build thread.  Since I’ve owned it I haven’t done much to it.  Not enough to warrant a build thread anyway.

As you mentioned in your 900 thread, I’m not very good at keeping up on documenting things.  But if it will be helpful that will be some added motivation for me to do so!