90% of my free time is still being spent getting the “Ranch” in order but I’m beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel!
the house now has a new roof and paint is nearly done
The container bar is nearing completion
We dug a pond and are using the dirt to enhance the berms and track
My wife and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary in March and she wanted to go see the Gatornationals (her idea - what a girl!) so on the same trip, we snagged our $2018 Challenge entry, a 2.4 swapped neon from B13Birk that needs a little troubleshooting
And last weekend, had another successful rallyx in the Ranger didn’t win, but attempting to keep the thing in a straight line is quite an enjoyable experience! Lol
Great progress on the property! Awesome idea with the shipping container bar.
Glad to see you have a challenge car candidate.
No one has won the General Tire Challenge 2 years in a row. There, I just gave you a 2018 goal. :)
Tod picked up our potential Challenge car about 2 weeks ago. After roughly 18 hours of hammering, 2 come alongs, and a used hood.... it's now roughly Miata shaped. I know, another Challenge Miata, Yawn. :)
In reply to spin_out :
Challenge accepted! And miatas are always fun. The more beat up, the more fun!
Lof8 said:
And last weekend, had another successful rallyx in the Ranger didn’t win, but attempting to keep the thing in a straight line is quite an enjoyable experience! Lol
Wow! Only just now reading your thread, haven't gotten through the whole thing yet, but that thing looks awesome! It really makes me want to built one for a rally/small stuff hauler.
The ranger is 2wd, yeah? I'd be interested in some more detail on it. Is that a stock V8? I'm now thinking about a 2.3 turbo ranger since I'm somewhat familiar with the 2.3s now.
AWSX1686 said:
The ranger is 2wd, yeah? I'd be interested in some more detail on it. Is that a stock V8? I'm now thinking about a 2.3 turbo ranger since I'm somewhat familiar with the 2.3s now.
There’s lots of detail about it in this thread. It’s a 2wd. It started life with a 2.3 but now has a carbed 302 from a 95 mustang. Widening it has hurt its rallyx characteristics a bit but I’m not real concerned about that. I built it to look how I wanted and to shred dirt in a maniacal fashion. It does those things well!
Lof8 said:
AWSX1686 said:
The ranger is 2wd, yeah? I'd be interested in some more detail on it. Is that a stock V8? I'm now thinking about a 2.3 turbo ranger since I'm somewhat familiar with the 2.3s now.
There’s lots of detail about it in this thread. It’s a 2wd. It started life with a 2.3 but now has a carbed 302 from a 95 mustang. Widening it has hurt its rallyx characteristics a bit but I’m not real concerned about that. I built it to look how I wanted and to shred dirt in a maniacal fashion. It does those things well!
Forgive my newb'ness, but why did widening it hurt the rallyx capabilities?
Also, probably something that I'll find once I read the rest of the thread, but what class does that get put into?
It’s solidly in the Modified Rear class. Small, nimble cars like miatas and e30s really excel at weaving through the tight sections and slaloms of a rallyx course. My truck was never great at that, but making it wider made it even more of a challenge. The wide-open courses at the FIRM is where I really expect this thing to shine. Unfortunately they haven’t hosted an event in a while.
Throwing a housewarming party in the backyard this weekend. My friends in a reggae band will be playing on a flat bed trailer. There will be ample libations. Gonna be fun! I feel like it will represent the transition from non-stop house projects back to motor vehicle tinkering.
i only got a couple shots from the party, but we had a blast. I feel a focus shift back to race cars coming soon!
Who doesn’t need more projects? Picked up this LS1/T56 Trans Am on the way to my nephew’s birthday party - thanks to a tip from spin_out! I think I’m going to send the 2.4 neon on it’s way and mess with this 300hp toy instead. The plan is to eventually swap it into an e36. The trailer park where we stopped to pick it up had all kinds of chickens, ducks, cats, and dogs all wandering the streets peacefully...interesting place - Bokeelia, FL.
...plus $500 e36
this is getting interesting :)
Some people might think there is a problem. 2 more not pictured. Eek!
It would be cool to see that BMW with a LS motor at The Challenge. Just sayin'
spin_out said:
It would be cool to see that BMW with a LS motor at The Challenge. Just sayin'
The plan is to $2018 the Trans Am. I will try for a $2019 LS1 e36 but I just don’t know if it’s possible to get the swap done with my limited fab skills for that tight of a budget. I think I will have to invest in some prefab swap parts that would push it over. We’ll see.
Cleared a space in the garage, vacuumed a bunch of leaves around the hood and trunk, scraped the shoe polish off, acquired a set of cheap, square (not staggered) DS2s. Took a front wheel off to inspect the suspension and found some cheapie coil overs (was hoping for something quality since the rear has Bilsteins). But the control arms, tie rods and sway bar links look to be newish. It’s exciting to be playing with cars again!
getting to know a new car is kind of like meeting a new friend I can feel this ones got a good soul! :)
Been working on the e36 shell a bit, Trying to prepare it for receiving the LS1 after the Challenge. Stripped out the interior and dealing with flaky Facebook buyers
Also been keeping my eye on the local listings and have snagged several good deals. A square set of 8.5” width DS2s, a pair of used Sparcos, am M3 rear subframe, a once-used engine hoist, and a fiberglass sunroof delete panel. I splurged for some MKAH door panels. They fit wonderfully. This car won’t be a Challenger, unfortunately, but I’m planning for it to be a solid fun track car.
40 lbs lighter in the roof! And listed it for $100
Nice! I've been looking for one of those fiberglass sunroof panels!
Also my first E36 was this same body and color. plastic end of the radiator blew up at a music festival in the middle of nowhere. Put it back together with JB Weld and Duct tape and made it the whole 8-hour trip home. Good times:
In reply to Ed Higginbotham :
Gotta love the bmw cooling systems! That was the demise of this one’s engine and resulting $500 price.
Another successful Rallyx with no breakage and lots of fun! Another mid-pack finish, but finishing position isn’t really how I’m measuring success with this project/toy. Quickening up the steering would be very helpful and I’ll get to that someday.
In reply to Lof8 :
Brilliant umbrella holder!
