Our New RALIVAN

Maroon92 wrote: what were the results of the rallycross? Inquiring minds want to know.

Results: Fast but untidy. I haven't driven in a while

http://detroit-scca.org/e107/request.php?997

Vigo wrote:

For those who are interested in these things for the 300 mile round trip it got 17.5 mpg. Not bad I think.

Yeah,i got 17 towing a light car on a dolley with a mid-size car, so considering how much more weight you are moving for 17 mpg, i think it's pretty good. http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05433.jpg

What are those wo cars?

Dodge Dynasty (big Chrysler K-Car) being followed by typical K-Car.

teamilluminata wrote:

Maroon92 wrote: what were the results of the rallycross? Inquiring minds want to know.

Results: Fast but untidy. I haven't driven in a while http://detroit-scca.org/e107/request.php?997

A cone and a gate? Could be worse.

That said, I am plenty tidy...need a co-driver? I seem to recall a season of Prepared Rear Wheel Drive in which I didn't hit a cone all season...

Usher wins the class? Why am I not surprised? That kid is like a prodigy...

Maroon92 wrote:

teamilluminata wrote:

Maroon92 wrote: what were the results of the rallycross? Inquiring minds want to know.

Results: Fast but untidy. I haven't driven in a while http://detroit-scca.org/e107/request.php?997

A cone and a gate? Could be worse. That said, I am plenty tidy...need a co-driver? I seem to recall a season of Prepared Rear Wheel Drive in which I didn't hit a cone all season... Usher wins the class? Why am I not surprised? That kid is like a prodigy...

I don't "need" a codriver but willing to entertain the idea. Going to miss the next one though. Will be at the IMIS trade show in Indy.

I think we need to catch up with our RALIVAN updates. Got a bit behind.

During the winter months we installed a ProClip iPhone mount in the cab:

No, this is not for phone use, I'm not that good a driver that I can talk and drive at the same time. This is so I can use the iPhone's navigation app, play my tunes through the stereo via the USB input and use the OBD2 diagnostic and gauge app. I bought. It also locates the iPhone's camera in a perfect spot for on-track in-van video should the need arise.

We also replaced the OE mud flaps with some bright red polyurathane rally mud flaps from Rally Armor, one of the lines we carry, because, well, it's the RALIVAN!

The OE holes allowed us to fab up some Rally-bling type brackets too:

Surprisingly (or not) Rally Armor don't make fitment specific mud flaps for the Sprinter so we used their universal model which comes without pre-cut holes or hardware. This allowed us to cut holes that lined up with the original mud flaps's holes and use the original screws with big fender washers where necessary.

A piece of copper pipe makes a great spacer to reach the original mounting bracket.

So then we were ready for all the snow and slush Mother Nature forgot to bring us this winter. Still, it looks RALLY.

While we had the wheels off we checked the brakes and discovered it was time for new rear pads:

Uh. ho! this don't look right:

That's more like it:

Lookin' better all the time. Good work. Love the flaps. The escort might need some.

Moving to Advertiser Playground. Although I should say that this forum is for current advertisers and you need to be renewed

In reply to Per Schroeder:

We do Per. Working on new angle.

N Sperlo wrote: Lookin' better all the time. Good work. Love the flaps. The escort might need some.

All cars need some IMHO. Have universals in stock in red and black.

More updates:

I decided, as they were leaking oil, it might be an idea to replace the dampers. First had to find the top bolts. Oh, here they are, under the driver's plastic carpet and in the tool shed on the passenger side.

Went with regular duty Bilsteins. Can you tell which is new?

Fronts

Rears

And installed

I had to buy a whole set of spanners just to get one that would fit down onto the front strut nuts. Still, $15 isn't bad for a whole set of spanners. Thanks harbor freight.

One of the easier damper swaps I have done and worth doing as the RALIVAN rides much better now.

I also replaced the front speaker as the right one was blown. Looks like this is going to be at least the second set of replacements. Can't believe this is OE.

Strangely I had to remove the A pillar trim to get at the speakers.

Walmart specials. $35!

With a few "adjustments they plop right in.

They don't sound too brilliant but at least they work.

So after a few thousand miles on the new dampers I have some looseness in the front that I can't track down. It feels like ball joints or wheel bearings but I checked those and they are fine. I'm thinking the front right damper is faulty and making a noise. Could it be?

Added some extra lights to the front to increase the rally-bling

A few weeks ago we decided it was finally time to replace the cracked wiindshield as the cracks were getting alarmingly big. Took the hood off to make access easier.

and had Service Glass come over to remove the old windshield.

As we had a bit of rust to take care around the winshield I told him I'd give him a call in a few das to install the new one. He was laughing when he left the shop. So we gound off the surface rust.

Painted over it with POR15, filled the irregularities with filler and primed it.

Until finally it was ready for paint.

Now, please bear in mind that this was my first time with a paint gun so there was a bit of a learning curve. It's still a curve. So, we had a few runs but more concerning was the lack of paint match.

I dont think it is qute as bad as it looks here but the original paint has clearly dulled quite a bit. Perhaps we should paint the whole van! Soldier on. Two weeks later we call Service Glass to pop in the new windshield. He laighed again.

Et voila! Good as new.

and then the cheap replacement speakers blew again so I replaced them once more but with some much better ones. Hopefully these will survive a bit longer. Also had to replace the battery!

With it's new windshield the van is proving a great asset due to its excellent towing ability.

I don't think it would make a good dune buggy though

Took it to the track a few times this summer too. No, not to race, to sell wheels.

I think I may have found the Sprinter prototype in Maryland.

No, not up for sale. Free parking spot at Euro cars in Bethesda, Maryland. really saved the day.

Oh, we upgraded the mirrors too. I think these must be off a later model.

Next on the list is power window for the passenger side. I can't reach the handle!

Got toe out?

Looks like the RALIVAN needs a rack. Was hoping it was just a tie rod but think its steering rack bushings. Manageable but pricey :(

Are these common failures after 250,000 mile? Easy to do? Any good sources for a rebuilt. Looking at $600 locally but at least it comes with tie rods and boots. What steering fluid are we supposed to use?

Hey, sorry. I've been neglecting this build thread. Got a bit distracted by our new rallycross car:

as you might imagine ;)

Anyway, the RALIVAN has been towing the 911 around Michigan quite a bit and has had some issues but nothing major. In our ongoing attempts to isolate the noises from the front and firm up the steering we replaced the steering rack and the anti-roll bar bushings. That helped a bit but when we replaced the upper strut mounts the squeaking noise went away :) That just left a little bit of clunking from the front somewhere. All that remains untouched that would make any metal to metal noise like this are the wheel bearings and lower ball joints but they seemed fine. Finally, a mechanic friend managed to get a bit of side to side movement out of the ball joints so we ordered up some new ones. We have yet to install them though.

Because we got distracted by some other stuff though we did do a quick alignment as the tires were starting to show signs of a being abused from excessive toe out.

Back to those distractions: Firstly the exhaust system fell off! Yes, literally. Fortunately it happened in my street at 15mph but it was a bit of a surprise.

This bugger weighs about 50lbs!

I couldn't find any aftermarket systems and a dealer wanted oner a grand so we had a local fab shop make a 3" system for a few hundred dollars. RALIVAN now has a rally exhaust :)

Then, a couple of hours into a week long road trip we lost boost pressure and the RALIVAN went into limp mode. It managed fine but 50mph meant some "relaxed" driving.

When we got back to the shop we couldn't isolate the leak so just replaced all the usual suspects on the intake:

I can't say we fixed it but it hasn't done it since.

There are a lot more stories to tell but they will have to wait. Gotta go sell some wheels.

:)

Driving around town this spring revealed one severe weakness of our RALIVAN: manual windows! Now I'm not one for power everything and our van's low spec is one of it's best qualities but the inability to reach the passenger side window handle when on the move was driving us nuts in the warm but not AC compatible weather. Apparently the previous owner used to use a plastic cup on a stick to reach the handle and indeed, that might work but there had to be a better solution. We looked into new and used OE parts to convert but that seemed expensive and convoluted so we settled on an aftermarket solution for two doors for around $100 or so.

You have to remove the handle and install an adapter so the motor can drive it. Then install the motor behind the door panel and wire it to a switch. How hard could it be. Not very actually.

Had to buy a bit of OE kit:

And video proof: Our RALIVAN now has power window! - YouTube

Now we can enjoy fresh air whenever we want and we still half a kit leftover for spares or to convert the driver's side one day.

.

During a recent rain storm our driver's side wiper arm just broke off. Of course it wouldn't happen when it was dry would it. Only 90 minutes from home up the freeway so we left them off. Thankfully we use Rain-X washer fluid so it wasn't a problem. The water just beaded up and blew off. Anyone else experienced this?

Inspired by changing the wiper arm we decided to do a service. Oil:

Air filters. Cabin one hadn't been changed for a while:

AT fluid etc. etc.

Next we tackle the rust while it's still warm outside.

.

this is a really fun thread

Did you know Sprinters rust? Take a look at one next time you are out and about. Unless it's only a few years old I bet it has rust blisters all over it. These are not your normal Michigan car cancer rust spots either. These just appear in the middle of perfectly good looking panels for no apparent reason. It's as if the guy in the factory who sprays them has a permanent cold and sneezes on them all before pulling the trigger on his paint gun.

So ours had the same issues so we though we would claim it back before we lost control of it. You already saw the rust around the windshield in the windshield replacement post right. Well most of ours is like that or better.

So the procedure we adopted with each spot was grind it back to bear metal, treat with rust converter, fill sand, prime.

This resulted in a van with primer spots all over it.

Then it was time to figure out how to hide all those spots. Can you guess what we came up with?

Vinyl? :D

Plasti-dip?

This one was rust and a small dent.

Under the drivers foot well the feet from the plastic step had worn holes through the metal!

As most of the rust spots we fixed were on the lower third of the body we realized we could use the left over vinyl from the race car wrap. So it begins.

Don't they make a lovely couple.

Still to do: the hood leading edge is a mess and may need to be replaced. There is a patch in one of the rockers that looks like it should be cut out and welded. Apart from those just a few blisters here and there. Next year I think.

The top needs to be wrapped white.

Javelin wrote: The top *needs* to be wrapped white.

+1!

Wondering... what kind of mileage are you getting with the van when towing and when not? Thanks.

Javelin wrote: The top *needs* to be wrapped white.

I know but it would be a huge amount of work especially as that's where all the decals are.

Ian F wrote:

Javelin wrote: The top *needs* to be wrapped white.

+1! Wondering... what kind of mileage are you getting with the van when towing and when not? Thanks.

We got 17.5 towing the Outback on a steel trailer at about 70. After that I stopped caring.