SItting at home waiting for the delivery truck. Should be here soon. Have my head buried in some C# and VBA to keep myself busy because I keep looking at old SCORE race footage.
SItting at home waiting for the delivery truck. Should be here soon. Have my head buried in some C# and VBA to keep myself busy because I keep looking at old SCORE race footage.
That thing looks like a bundle of fun! Come race it at the Gambler 500 Hooptie-X in Primm NV March 5-6
The race is a Rally-x style event but with much chunkier courses. We will be running on the Mint400 infield.
I stopped counting at 30K in parts from the receipts not even counting labor and have not even started on the motor build. This thing is a BEAST.
I need to find the guy who built this and see what the story is and why it sold.
Join this club.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SoCalBajas/?ref=share
Go to pismo dunes
http://ohv.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=1207
or peruse race dezert find true local races
go observe and then race
https://www.race-dezert.com/home/
Has me looking for "baja beetles" on CL
$30k in receipts?! How much bug is left?
thatsnowinnebago (Forum Supporter) said:$30k in receipts?! How much bug is left?
Based on the photos I found in the receipts the pan and maybe the front beam
Ok so starting digging into the car and its not what I was told it is. Its setup for dune running its not an off road built car. It's got decent parts in it and I could likely sell it for like 12-13K in a weekend but man who ever assembled it was an idiot. They put $$$$ electric steering into it and left the stock brake booster, they rebuilt the shocks and went nuts and did a custom cage but used 1 inch tubing and not 1.5 like you are supposed to. It has serious high dollar brakes and 930 axles, there is a 800$ fuel cell in the car with all brand new fittings with braided hoses. It looks like the original owner was a seriously big guy and they built around his frame, the seats are huge. FYI there are brand new race seats in the car, but the belts are old and they are not installed correctly.
Biggest thing is they cut the rear horns and made extensions to hold the motor and transmission in, the front beam is no large enough for anything other then sand and gravel roads as well. Its way way way over tire'd for what it is as well. Need to fix that if I want to take it in the gravel for any stretch of time.
Now on the good side I have close to 1.5K worth of paddle rims and tires to sell and that is the used price. I can sell the 33's for another 1-1.2K as well on the fancy wheels. I an sell off a few other things like the CB radio, the headsets the spare's everything. I likely will get close to 4K in cash just from selling the spares.
So now I need a plan.
I am going to go find a set of 29/30 inch tires in a 9/10 inch width match them all the way around, weld in and fix the engine mounting. Fix the rear main seal issue. Turn down the boost to about 6 psi and have fun with it. Put a much better brake booster on the car. With the power it has not on paddle tires in the sand this thing would pull the front off the ground as soon as it gets on boost in any gea so brakes are really needed. .
On the plus side I got paid for the viper. I did the math and I basically drove it 11K miles for ~6k all in including taxes and insurance in that time over 5-6 years. I used it for DE events and learned a bunch about car control with big aero. I may regret selling it but I have driven it ~180 miles or so in the last year so it needed to go.
I also got a the bug on top so I call that winning. I am still doing stupid things with this bug.
I am glad that we now know what level of insanity has to follow a Viper. That is truly a gateway drug. Be warned.
So I have been playing around with it and felt safe enough to take it out on the road for the first time. If the gauges are correct its pushing almost 20lb's of boost. It also pulls the front end off the ground. If the gauges are right I dialed it back to 11psi but the motor does not like it so I put it back to where it was. I think its adding fuel by rpm not boost level.
I inflated the tires up for to something rational for the street IE 30lb's and it actually handles pretty good. I also lowered the front a bit to make the stance a bit more level with the 33's. I think I can soften up the rear as well and the front a bit more for the street. Its fast though and 1st is useless for anything other then stoplight crawling and even then it picks up speed quick when the boost comes on.
The bad is that with the 4.56 gears the paperwork says it has, at 3500 rpm its doing 58 mph putting 4th at 1.28 ratio not the .88 that it can with stock. Which makes sense if someone had 33's and a aircooled motor in the car at one point. Not sure I want to pull the transmission to swap 3rd and forth out for LONG gears but I may need to do it. Found another leak but fixed that easy.
Also the driver seat is huge. Like made for someone 300+ lb'. Its weird as its very comfortable even with my skinny butt sitting in it.
So the boost gauges are reading a bit high or the car is over boosting. I put a 7 psi bypass valve spring in for the 15/16 psi one that is in the car. I cleaned out the blowoff valve and lubed everything up so it moves smoothly and activates correctly. Still reads about 9 psi in the cab but it may be real with the boost creep. I am going to order a HP tuner so I can play with the tables but its not bad now. I think the bypass valve was just gummed up and not opening fully. The blowoff valve ways set super high as well based on testing with air pressure.
Flutters really well now which is cute. Thing rattles everywhere. I am slowly but surely finding them all. Nothing has come loose yet
I also power washed the whole car and dressed the tires. Set the front height level with the rear which really makes it look better and its easier to drive. Got my insurance as well. Think I am going to settle around 20 psi on the tires as it drives the best their. Not sure how the tire life will be but if I destroy the tires that means I am having fun.
Adjusted the clutch engagement point. Pulled out all the sand that I could find. Painted all of the tiny bits of rush on the chassis after I cleaned it up with a flapper. Big thing now is finding E85, fixing the gas gauge and finding the last of the major rattles. Then after 400-500 miles on the street I am going to take it out to Glamis with some friends and really open it up.
Can we get more pics and vids? I finally found you on IG lol
yupididit said:Can we get more pics and vids? I finally found you on IG lol
I will soon. Now that it is cleaned up I am going to take a bunch more. Going to get E85 today for its first real drive ~20 miles there and back.
Ok fresh e85 made a huge difference to the drivability. I actually pulled the boost spring in the dump valve and now it runs like a champ. Even with no boost its way to fast for the street. Tank may have even been a little low. It took 12 gallons of e85 and I think the tank is a 16-18 gallon tank.
I found a local tuner who will do the tune and all the setup and really dial it in over two days for the paddle tires which are worth about 1k. So I am 100% down for this. But it's busy season and I will need to wait.
aonfor now I am just going to drive it in no boost. Only really had a stumble at 3500rpm which it has with or without boost. I am not sure it's actually tuned for e85 now because the running temps are so low. But e85!might be able to keep it cooler but 150 degree oil temps where I am whipping it around on the dirt and up and down the hill at full chat I would expect more.
Plan is to run a 4-5psi spring have it hit around 3000rpm on 91 octane. Transmission will not survive more then that the way I drive and slam gears. I might even pull the turbo kit and sell it because even with no real boost to speak of the thing is fast and fun. Ripped around the dirt behind the house today and all the neighbors came out and had a go in it.
I also found out the history of the car by calling up the number in a receipt that came with the car. Apparently it had a 2130cc in it and was a much simpler build when he had it. He named it Black Death because it was painted rustolium flat black everywhere. He sold it to some rich guy out in Paris and that is when all the crazy mods and the engine swap happened. That owner had not called me yet.
so Black Death lives and it's getting better everyday infer to work on it. What I really need to do is find a way to read the ecu myself with say hptuner but no obd2 port for me to plug in. Maybe there is an adapter somewhere
Does it have one of these "thermostat delete" water outlets on it? https://store.custombuiltmotors.com/search?query=ecotec%2Bwater%2Bneck&price_low=0&price_high=150
If so, that would explain the low temps. Offroad guys seem to love running them that way.
Wish I hadn't of watched that video....much want
In reply to wearymicrobe :
There isn't but a handful of rich guys in Perris. I know of one who is really into cars. He's slightly hard of hearing and writes movie scripts for Hollywood.
So its sitting in the parking lot at the office. There is something so ridiculously funny about going to work in slacks and a collared buttoned up shirt in a baja bag with harnesses. Need to put grip tape on the brake and clutch my feet slip off in dress shoes.
It will happily do 80 on the freeway at 4700 rpm but I just leave it at 65 at around 3800-4000 and putter. Still having stalling issues when it is cold but its happy as a clam nice it gets some heat into it. I really like the 4.7psi spring that is in it. Prefect amount of power.
Got 1K for the paddle tires and wheels and may have a buyer for the 33's that are on the bug now because they are 12.5's and way to wide. I found a set of 35 x 10.5 that would work much better but that may look even more comical. I can easily drive a 35 with the gears and power I have and it would drop freeway rpm by about 300 which would be nice.
NickD said:Q: What kind of nonsense can I get up to with me stupid new acqusition?
A: All of the nonsense.
Thanks to Hoonigans and their buddies (Blake Wilkey, BJ Baldwin, Ryan Kibbe, Darren Parsons) I've come to the conclusion that stuff like prerunners and trophy trucks are the most insane vehicles out there and you can do all sorts of absurd E36 M3 with them.
Suspension travel for the win!
On actual streets with bumps, dips, and potholes or off road, suspension travel keeps the tire (and thus power) mostly in contact with the pavement, making it a lot easier to control and do crazy stuff.
All of us sports car guys have a tendency to drop things low and make the suspension hard as nails. Which works great on smooth pavement and kind of sucks for everything else.
talked with my tuner buddy about the stumble at 3000 rpm and a few other fueling issues.
He suggests seriously thinking of pulling the turbo kit and going to NA and back to pump gas.
I never will get into boost because the transmission sounds like it's going to explode at 4000rpm and the drivability on anything above 3psi is beyond what the brakes can handle with the tires on it. We could do a very small turbo that hits early and only makes 5psi but it's not that much power added.
It's 75$ for a canned tune that will make 180hp without the turbo on pump gas. Should run 100% better in his opinion. Plus I can get at least another 1k for the turbo kit on the rzr forum.
Also I need to put a new synco on 2nd gear for sure. Might put a longer 4th gear while in there for better freeway driving. That's at least 400$ in parts for me to do on 091.
So motor is likely coming out this Friday will decide then.
Rodan said:Well, this lunatic comes to mind...
Apparently, he shipped the car overseas in an attempt to avoid prosecution and seizure...
Yes and no. The car was sold and out of the country by the time the video dropped. When the heat came down and the cops tried finding the car he told them if they wanted to go to Dubai and get it they could but it's long gone. Dude went to jail for like 45 days and paid a fine as a result though.
So now there is no turbo. Goes in for exhaust tomorrow it is so dealing loud with the header dump. Shop is only a mile away but I am wearing hearing protection.
ordered a ecu with a pump gas 91 tune for the car with the header and short intake. Should make 180-190hp in this configuration and the transmission after I put in better gears will actually survive. I think I already broke the 2nd gear synchro.
I didn't realize this was up on the forum already! You already know I'm in 100% for a Mexico trip. Let me know if you want extra hands for the transmission work. Although my experience is limited to 020's and T5's.
Shavarsh said:I didn't realize this was up on the forum already! You already know I'm in 100% for a Mexico trip. Let me know if you want extra hands for the transmission work. Although my experience is limited to 020's and T5's.
Yeah that is the plan.
So right now I need to get it tuned cannot find anybody who wants to do it. I basically need a stock tune that works with the hig inpediance injectors not the stock one. Hell I will buy some 24lb stock ones if I can find someone to tune it.
Fabbed up exhaust real quick out of some bits I had and a muffler from dueltone. Fighting a bubble in the brakes or they are just worse then I remeber being a VW. Its almost spooky quiet now so I think I get away with even more bullE36 M3 now.
I have today off so trashing pretty hard.
Shavarsh said:I didn't realize this was up on the forum already! You already know I'm in 100% for a Mexico trip. Let me know if you want extra hands for the transmission work. Although my experience is limited to 020's and T5's.
Shavarsh came by and helped with the brake bleeding. Car stops now. pretty well but not the way it should.
Turns out they sent me a drum brake master cylinder and not a disk brake one. The correct one has a significantly bigger ID so its on the way. It should be here on Monday of next week. Car without the turbo is so much better to drive, it still rips but its not unsafe rips.
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