To Dakar and Back

[California Jay]

Some of you may recognize the thread title, a title covering a book of Lawrence Hacking through the Dakar Rally.

A Google search will give you plenty of info on what this man has accomplished, but the book expresses it better.

This thread will show a journey for a few people, as I'll be covering the progress of his next entry for the 2010 Dakar - where ever they hold it. This will not be a two or three week build blog, as some of us are used to on here seeing the odd engine swap in a VW. I'm sure the truck will be wrenched on to the last minute before leaving the country. Consider this a test of team work, quality manufacturing, build technique , technical insight, reliability, durability and in the end - perseverance. Lawrence has already competed in the Dakar... on a bike. This private entry of his will fall in the T1 Open class for the rally.

The best thing about it - The truck is equipped with a VW Turbo Diesel.

Here's some pictures on the entry as it sits now. I'll certainly go over all the details of the truck shortly, with more pics of course. It will fill you in on what it is composed of and what regulations the truck follows.

Just a small bit of info of who I am.
I've been doing automotive related fabrication/design/car prep for a decent amount of time, roughly 10yrs... Covering quite a few realms of motorsport recently, and daily driven cars from time to time. People know me mostly for turbo manifold fabrication. If some of you have followed some of my other work you will know I don't leave out details. I like to let people feel involved/informed. If you dip into my sig a little bit, it will give you a taste of the work I do. I hope you all enjoy whats to come.

If anyone sees an opportunity for Lawrence to take on some additional support during this journey, by any means, let me know via IM or contact:

Lawrence Hacking,
offroadrider@aztec-net.com

Jay Thornton,
california_jay@hotmail.com

Please remember the build may not be updated day to day, but will be a great source for info on whats going on surrounding the truck and its progress.

A few more pics.

Modified by California Jay at 1:23 PM 1-12-2009

[California Jay]

Today I thought I'd give a rundown of the details of the truck... Added in some more pictures too.

Chassis Type: Mason Motorsports Pro-runner, number #006 of 11 to date, is CAD designed and built by Neal and Robert Mason of Mason Motorsports, Escondido, California. It meets SCORE International technical and safety standards and is SCORE tagged (inspected). Roll cage is constructed of 1.75” x .120 wall thickness tubing.

Two wheel drive, solid rear axle scaled-down (7/8 scale) Trophy Truck.
Wheelbase: 111 inches or 282 cms.
Wheel track: 76 inches or 193 cms.
Powerplant: 1.9 liter VW / Audi Turbo Diesel engine

Transmission: Toyota R154 5-speed that has been rebuilt and modified with short-throw shift mechanism upgraded thrust washers for strength by Marlin Crawlers, Fresno, California.

Some of you may wonder how the trans mounts up to the engine... there are a couple companies that supply hybrid bell housing kits. This one inparticular was from Acme Adapters.

Rear differential:Trussed Ford 9 inch with 6:33 gear ratio using 35-spline rear axles, Strange modular third member.
this combo is good for 700hp Certainly durable for this application

Brakes: Willwood calipers and 11.5 inch steel rotors that are same for all 4 wheels reducing need to carry unique spares.

CNC Master cylinders (for clutch and brakes) and brake bias proportioning valve.

Cooling system: PWR aluminum multi-core radiator with 2 electric cooling fans mounted above and behind the driver’s cockpit out of harms way.

Oil cooler plus Canton Oil filter cooling lines adapter.

Tires:33-inch x 12.50 BF Goodrich Baja TA radials (truck carries the mandatory 2 spares).

BFGs are best off-road tires available with numerous Baja 1000 wins.
Rear Suspension: 3-link full floating solid rear axle with anti-sway bar supported by FOX 3.0 triple bypass and 2.0 coil-over shocks, 2 per wheel.

Maximum Travel: 23 inches or 54 cms but reduced to 18 inches to comply with FIA rules.

Front suspension:Center-mounted fully boxed A-arms supported by FOX 3.0 triple bypass and 2.0 coil-over shocks, 2 per wheel.
Maximum travel: 21 inches or 53 cms also reduced to 18 inches.
Amount of bump steer throughout full suspension travel stroke:

Gross vehicle weight: 2600 pounds or 1176 kilograms.
Top speed: 85 miles per hour at 4,500 rpm.

Body Type: Fiberglass, 4-piece generic pick-up truck.

Fuel Cell: Fuel Safe FIA Approved 32 US gallon or 121 liters.
Fuel range at 28 miles per US Gallon: 886 miles

Power steering: Howe hydraulic ram with billet reservoir and filter.
Wheels: 15-inch Walker Evans Bead locks to prevent the tires from going flat as a result of lateral impact.

Modified by California Jay at 2:26 PM 1-13-2009


Modified by California Jay at 1:58 PM 1-15-2009

[G0to60]

definently in to keep an eye on this. i've always wanted to see what it takes to build a Dakar vehicle. to you guys and good luck with the build.

[burn_your_money]

Look at that sexy pump

It's great to see the whole truck instead of just the motor

[DmanLT21]

Fantastic work. Very inspirational. I just wish I had a heated garage...

Updates?

[WD-40]

Quote, originally posted by California Jay »

Just curious - is there a reason why the bolt on the tie rod joint is installed from the bottom? Not that it is a probable situation, but if it was installed from the top, it might be able to tolerate a lost nut and still get you home.

[California Jay]

Quote, originally posted by WD-40 »

Just curious - is there a reason why the bolt on the tie rod joint is installed from the bottom? Not that it is a probable situation, but if it was installed from the top, it might be able to tolerate a lost nut and still get you home. <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://www.vwvortex.com/vwbb/embeer.gif" BORDER="0">

No... A lot of the truck is still work in progress.. we have to remove the front end to put in more re-enforcements in the a-arm structure. There is a customer of the chassis manufacturer that has approx 8k miles on his chassis and has found a few stress failures. I generally will mock up quite a bit of a car/project for fitment only, b4 a full tear down and then final assembly. Things like that the first few times round are not paid attention to until all fitment is complete.

[Wes@motivemag]

Do you have any more pictures of the engine, Jay? That thing looks incredible!

[California Jay]

Yes there will be plenty.. I've got lots of work to do on the engine.. you will probably get to see some rapid prototyping to aid in evolving some parts. We have stereolithography on site.

Modified by California Jay at 2:19 PM 1-13-2009

[Isgro]

Wow, that's very cool. I'll definitely keep an eye on this thread.

[username]

Quote, originally posted by California Jay »

We have stereolithography on site.

you lucky son of a B

[SinisterMind]

in for updates

[Kid Hobo]

No 1.8T?

[California Jay]

A race like this you need to keep it simple and reliable. Fuel needs to last... Mechanical Diesel injection turbo will take care of that.

[Kid Hobo]

Quote, originally posted by California Jay »

A race like this you need to keep it simple and reliable. Fuel needs to last... Mechanical Diesel injection turbo will take care of that.

Yeah, but if it had been, you would have had close to 95% of the TCl community follow you down there to help out with anything from impromptu engine swaps to a cup of refreshing ice cold water. The remaining 5% would have been waiting for VTAAAK to kick in yo.

[California Jay]

LOL I guess you win some and loose some.

Here's a quick shot of the steering rack I forgot..It's nice and compact to the center line of the car.... much needed for something with so much suspension travel.

Also a good aerial for some of you.. gives a decent engine shot.

[hotweiss]

Wow, that truly is a mid-engine car.

[G0to60]

so the engine is halfway into the cockpit or am i seeing it wrong? i guess that would help with weight dist.

[Nourdmrolnmt]

Quote, originally posted by California Jay »

LOL I guess you win some and loose some.

no, with the 1.8T you nevar lose

[GTIbyJB]

This thing is awesome, I have the pleasure of working with Jay on a daily basis (More fun then it sounds, he goes a little crazy sometimes, well all the time actually) and to see this in person is amazing. The whole thing is one huge piece of engeneering!

[RavinJetta]

Very cool build

[Kid Hobo]

1,8ts aside, this is a sweet frakin' ride. Have you put it up on a dyno to see actual output? Did you modify/swap the turbo?

[inarisilver78]

It is amazing but change the freakin filter

[Rage In The Machines]

Quote, originally posted by inarisilver78 »

It is amazing but change the freakin filter

gotta use a Mann Filter

[autopulse]

^ enough with the Filter talk

[Jetta RWD]

I think some of you might have a filter fetish by the likes of it

amazing stuff, impressive build. Keep up the good work

[cryption]

It is amazing but change the freakin filter

My thoughts exactly .... all this awesome and a fram OCOD

[Mcstiff]

Wh are your goals for the engine? I thinking about using one in m CJ6

[California Jay]

Everyone has to understand something... this is work in progress. Some things are installed temporarily to give the representation of something that will be there in the future, it makes it easier to estimate what part has to clear another if there is something new being installed or fabricated... so obviously that filter will not stay. Second to that, when you break in an engine...you don't put the best of filters or oils in first.. its a waste of money.

Generally my first stage of break in on a motor like this will be 50km or a documented amount of hours. Then the oil is drained and filter tossed for the next stage of break in.

Goals for the engine are still being disscussed... I'd like to see if I can get Garrett on board for the TDI upgrade they offer, its a great torque increase. But tuning it for mechanical injection is another hurdle. We'll see.

[tip]

Quote, originally posted by California Jay »

Second to that, when you break in an engine...you don't put the best of filters or oils in first.. its a waste of money.

Isn't it funny how people attempt to point out every little thing "wrong" with what you're doing to come across as "intelligent"?

Don't listen to the keyboard jockeys in this thread telling you to do this or get rid of that. You and your crew know what you're doing...

Props to a guy who's a part of a unique project, I'll be watching this

[Kid Hobo]

THIS:

Quote, originally posted by tip »

Isn't it funny how people attempt to point out every little thing "wrong" with what you're doing to come across as "intelligent"?

Minus this:

Quote, originally posted by tip »

Don't listen to the keyboard jockeys in this thread telling you to do this or get rid of that. You and your crew know what you're doing...

Equals this:

Quote, originally posted by tip »

Props to a guy who's a part of a unique project, I'll be watching this

Modified by Kid Hobo at 9:20 PM 1-13-2009

[California Jay]

Quote, originally posted by tip »

Props to a guy who's a part of a unique project, I'll be watching this

thank you!

[climbingcue]

Very cool, I will be watching this build

[Mooz!]

Quote, originally posted by California Jay »

Everyone has to understand something... this is work in progress. Some things are installed temporarily to give the representation of something that will be there in the future, it makes it easier to estimate what part has to clear another if there is something new being installed or fabricated... so obviously that filter will not stay. Second to that, when you break in an engine...you don't put the best of filters or oils in first.. its a waste of money. Generally my first stage of break in on a motor like this will be 50km or a documented amount of hours. Then the oil is drained and filter tossed for the next stage of break in. Goals for the engine are still being disscussed... I'd like to see if I can get Garrett on board for the TDI upgrade they offer, its a great torque increase. But tuning it for mechanical injection is another hurdle. We'll see.

A Mechanical TDI setup from Europe could be an interesting option... The advantage of direct injection yet still a fully mechanical pump. 90hp and 145-150ft lbs stock, significant increase over the stock 70hp 1.9L IDI setup. Also, it would be worthwhile to look into the "Giles" injection pumps. He's from Markham, Ontario. He uses a lot of tips and tricks which he generally keeps to himself to completely transform the standard pump, including some usual porting, removing of the limiter, special aneroid pins for the pump, etc.

These two combinations, plus some ARP hardware and a little less compression (I'm sure there wont be any cold starting issues in the relatively hot weather that you'll miss the higher compression points) and a lot more boost will provide for plenty of power out of 1.9L's of displacement and yet still only require a single wire to the servo on the fuel pump to keep it all running. And you'll still be pulling similar MPG's with the whole setup as it will be much more efficient. This probably doesn't really need to be said but you can always check out vwdiesel.net for tons of information and mods on the IDI setups, and lots of people who have used the M-TDI setup in their own cars.

I love the simplicity aspect.


Modified by Mooz! at 12:05 PM 1-18-2009

[phryxis]

very very cool.

the dakar rally is something i've always been interested in.