awesome...good luck, i will keep my eye on this.
oh, and aba is a good choice....
#1
As a few of you know, I was on a team for last winter's "Arse-Freeze-A-Palooza" 24 Hours of Lemons event. We came, we saw, we rolled. Ouch.
It got me to thinking, though; I know a little about Rabbits. I know a couple of guys who know a little about Rabbits. I wonder if we could...Yup, we can. I wanted to wait until we got confirmation that we were in to post anything. We got the email this morning, and my fat ass did as close as it can to backflips. If you're not familiar with the race, it's $500 crapcans being wailed on for two days in a row. Wheel-to-wheel, genuine racing. On a really tight budget. An almost guaranteed recipe for blow-uppage. Also a metric assload of fun!
Thanks to Ryan (CaliSteezR32), we got a free '83 4-door Rabbit.
It came with a 1.7 and a GL code 4-speed. 1.7= gone, replaced by a $50 ABA with a hydro CIS head. We're keeping the 4-speed for now, but we've got plans to change to 02A later this year. We picked up $100 worth of suspension off of Craigslist, and got the cage in.
Our goal with the car is 1500lbs wet, so we've gutted the doors, removed the hatch, thrown away the windshield, and taken a plasma torch to everything else that we could.
A few folks to thank so far: WackyWabbitRacer (duh, like anybody can build a Rabbit race car without Ryan...), MufflerBearing, TimmyC, Tim and Kevin @ Tomas Sport Tuning, Murilee Martin from Jalopnik, and I'm sure I'm forgetting someone or two or three.
Anywho, I'll update this as we get things done; I've just moved house and work on the car has been slow. We should be diving back into it this weekend.
#2
awesome...good luck, i will keep my eye on this.oh, and aba is a good choice....
"Its cool to spool, but I'd rather be blown.." - JUS_GT_EYEZ
#3
I think you still need a receipt for the motor, no?
#4
nice!04 rabbit man aka hank from the PNW ran last year in a mk2 rocco, i believe he plans to run again. looks like fun!
#5
that. is. awesome!!!!
wish i could help out. who's your driver?
#6
is that cage legal, that cross thing it the ft looks totally un-safe. the rest looks good tho. good luck.
80 rabbit, 83 gti, 82 rx7, 91 jetta vr6, 02 beetle
#7
Quote, originally posted by elmer fud » is that cage legal, that cross thing it the ft looks totally un-safe. the rest looks good tho. good luck. Was thinking the same
#9
Quote, originally posted by elmer fud » un-safe. Um, how? The cage is friggin awesome. The guy (Mitch @ Muffler Works in El Cerrito, CA 510-526-5003) did a great job on it.
We'll have four drivers; Tim and Kevin from Tomas, Rowan (I don't think he's on Vortecks), and myself. We're going to auto-x the car before we head to the track to shake it down and see what breaks. It will also tell us which drivers are faster and which need more track time.
The Lemons race isn't really about lap times; as Hank will tell you, it's about not blowing up. I was standing about 50 feet away when his motor (spectacularly) went away at Thunderhill, and it wasn't pretty. I've never seen someone jump out of a caged MkI that fast, though!
Oh, and our theme?
That's right, a bunny. With a pancake. On it's head...
The car will be mostly white, with brown phake phur over the front fenders and rear quarters. A large foam pancake and big floppy ears on top, fluffy bunny tail on the back, and teeth in front.
#10
Diagonal looks kinda funky. Why do they not line up? Not a cage expert, but that looks iffy.I don't know anything though.
#11
This looks like a recipe for fun. Tuned in.
#12
Quote, originally posted by blown020 » Diagonal looks kinda funky. Why do they not line up? Not a cage expert, but that looks iffy. The diagonal in the main hoop is OK. I would probably add a gusset on each side of the diagonal to the horizontal bar in the main hoop.
The rollcage looks well designed. However I would have moved the two rear bars from the rear shock towers to closer to the top of the main hoop.
Just my experience with rollcage fabrication.
Cheers, WWR.
WWR
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signature edition
Harry Puckett R.I.P. 01-24-2010. You are gone too soon. We had races
to race, jokes to tell, laughter to share, and cold beers to drink.
#13
GREAT to hear your in!
The Squirrels Of Fury Team 1 & 2 also got in to the Reno event!
we are putting an ABA in the rocco that I exploded last time and I'm putting my 5000 turbo engine in the Audi 4000 5+5 I got that crash at that same event. we sould pit together down there that way we can share parts and help out. I'll save you a spot if you want!!
I'm stoked that you guys are going!
Hank
#17
Dope!! I was waiting forever to see some progress!! Can I have it back now??I'm stoked to see the work so far, I gotta see this thing on the track!
Get plushed.
#18
Quote, originally posted by WackyWabbitRacer » gusset on each side of the diagonal to the horizontal bar in the main hoop.
I would have moved the two rear bars from the rear shock towers to closer to the top of the main hoop.Gussets are forthcoming. Plenty of them. We copied a cage design from a guy who builds cages for a living, so I'm pretty sure we'll be OK.
Quote, originally posted by 04 Rabbit Man »
The Squirrels Of Fury Team 1 & 2 also got in to the Reno event!
we are putting an ABA in the rocco that I exploded last time and I'm putting my 5000 turbo engine in the Audi 4000 5+5 I got that crash at that same event. we sould pit together down there that way we can share parts and help out. I'll save you a spot if you want!!
I'm stoked that you guys are going!
HankWoo-Hoo! It's gonna be VAG central! Wait, did that sound like... Ah fuggit. I know of at least two more Rabbits going, so we should be pretty deep on parts.
Quote, originally posted by CaliSteezR32 » Can I have it back now? Um, no...
We're pretty lucky as a team to have Tim Tomas and all of his knowhow and facilities on our side. If you don't know Tomas Sport Tuning, pick up an issue of PVW or just about any other VW/Audi magazine. You'll find them and the bitchin' cars they build.
#20
Don't forget the Syrup!!!
Ohhhh, you can center things now.
#22
Sweet! We'll be running a MKI GLI donated by a friend in the MI Lemons.
#24
Been welding and patching holes. Lemons rules say that there can't be any holes between the engine and the driver, and fuel tank and driver. I can't say that I disagree.We've been welding up stuff and getting ready for paint. Interior in white, bay in gray, and exterior (where there's going to be paint) in white. We recently got some fresh inspiration in the form of a bunch of Tectonics parts, so we want to get the motor in and running ASAMFP!
I'll update as things move along.
#27
Awesome.
#29
Quote, originally posted by CasaDelShawn » Woo-Hoo! It's gonna be VAG central! Wait, did that sound like... Ah fuggit. No....I think you were right....This is the Vortex after all. The problem is, there's sand in most of those VAG's.
#30
hooray, no bashing about "ruining" another mark 1.I love this idea, where is this held? We need something like this in Washington!
I would totally build a 80's vw fox and run the piss out of it.
#31
The first race we're doing is in Reno, then Buttonwillow (near Bakersfield), then Thunderhill (near Chico). There's been some talk of a Lemons PNW, but nothing firm yet. Thunderhill is about a day's drive from Portland (if you're hauling a race car).Did a bunch of work today, mostly mundane stuff. Added some gussets to the cage, finished patching holes in the floor, sealed around welds with fire-rated caulking, started spraying paint in the engine bay.
cantwaitcantwaitcantwaitcantwaitcantwaitcantwaitca ntwaitcantwaitI don't know if the Fox would be the best candidate; they tend to have cooling issues when run very hard for a long time. Not many people doing MkIIs, though. That might be something to consider.
#32
Quote, originally posted by WackyWabbitRacer » I would have moved the two rear bars from the rear shock towers to closer to the top of the main hoop. I finally understand what you're saying. We were looking at it today, and stopped for a second, scratched our heads. I wondered what you meant, and I agree totally. I'm not sure why the guy did it like that; the cage that we showed him to copy isn't that way. Meh, I'm sure we'll be OK.
#33
how many drivers do you have?
what day are you going down?
#34
_____________________
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(hey, it's VW AND it's electrical, what's not to fail?)
neoBentley+
#35
We've got four drivers, and I think we'll head up Thursday afternoon. You coming down for the open track day?Hi Ron! :wave:
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