Jump to content

How To Build A Rally Car


altezzaclub

Recommended Posts

Well, here we go again! ..as a follow-on from the last project, extremely successful but typically short-lived...

http://www.rollaclub.com/board/topic/64027-how-not-to-build-a-rally-car/

 

We started yesterday on this poor unsuspecting AE71 that thought it was going to live its days out quietly under a tree... after the tree had dropped a branch on it and smacked in the roof and screen, allowing Steve to buy it for $300!

post-7544-0-59758600-1395740733_thumb.jpg

 

I started on the interior while Steve raced around trying to find where to store everything. By morning tea the car looked like this-

post-7544-0-14975400-1395740899_thumb.jpg

 

The back looked like this-

post-7544-0-68022000-1395740928_thumb.jpg

 

and the front looked like this-

post-7544-0-37488700-1395740963_thumb.jpg

 

I really wonder how much of these cars were made in Aussie and how much in Japan. Who could be so fking cheap to paint the pedals HALFWAY UP then leave the pedal box to rust!! WHAT Toyota quality!

post-7544-0-42320100-1395741055_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Members dont see this ad

Steve found time to get the engine out with me, and that afternoon had the mighty single-cam non-crossflow completely useless and stupidly designed 4AC on a wheelbarrow....

post-7544-0-65755800-1395741224_thumb.jpg

 

The motor got its revenge for our remarks when Steve got caught out by a camber change as he tried to park it in the spares shed and the motor jumped out of the wheelbarrow. I raced over and grabbed it, so it tipped the box of drawers off the purloined shopping trolley and that clouted me in the head! Steve spent the next hour picking tiny parts out of the grass and the sheep shit!

post-7544-0-85686900-1395741403_thumb.jpg

 

We gave it away after that, then this morning Steve went to Uni and I hit the woolshed. By morning tea the front looked like this-

post-7544-0-42506100-1395741482_thumb.jpg

 

and the back looked like this-

post-7544-0-94883700-1395741508_thumb.jpg

 

With the engine bay looking like this-

post-7544-0-08059200-1395741540_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So its turned out that it is a very straight rust-free solid shell that has suffered a single coat of topcoat over topcoat purple! If you want any of the inside gear let us know, there is stacks we wont be using including suspension, diff, T50 box, trim, seats, fuel tank etc.

 

It was time to start planning. The pedal box and steering went back in, and the driving seat. The fancy sports steering wheel is for clowns with their cap on backwards and their seat waaay back so they can only just see over the wipers... sadly it puts the driver 60mm further back in the car, not what you want in rallying.

 

The seat needs to be lifted miles up at the back to get the back vertical and the drivers head up by the roof so you can see the front corners clearly-

post-7544-0-54325600-1395741789_thumb.jpg

 

With the four-door I'm really keen to get the spare wheel and battery inside, so there is less weight in the boot and less polar moment. It will take a bit of fabricating but it all can be done.

post-7544-0-75788100-1395741941_thumb.jpg

 

After that I took out the fuel tank (still had 20L in!!), the bumper, tail lights, towbar (anyone want one?) and everything else that bolts on. The little fuel tank fits in easily, and the wheel well will be cut out tomorrow...

post-7544-0-00364200-1395742067_thumb.jpg

 

 

Plenty to do....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And I'm in for this,

Interesting comments about visibility, I have a floor mounted pedal box in mine which makes me sit further back and I know what you are saying about front corners, being so square its very very easy to learn the parameters of the car though.

 

Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steve found time to get the engine out with me, and that afternoon had the mighty single-cam non-crossflow completely useless and stupidly designed 4AC on a wheelbarrow....

post-7544-0-65755800-1395741224_thumb.jpg

 

The motor got its revenge for our remarks when Steve got caught out by a camber change...

 

Only the driest sense of humour here at Woolshed Rallying!

 

Love this. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wednesday.. I found 6M of pipe for a special project I have in mind, but it was buried in the grass under a pile of steel. So even the Brontosoarer got off its fat butt and had to do some work...

post-7544-0-94723800-1395826272_thumb.jpg

 

Sure enough, the grinder made short work of the wheel well and I re-cut the Celica's alloy plate to fit the Ke70.

post-7544-0-89966200-1395826316_thumb.jpg

 

That's when I found out the cars aren't quite identical and two tank mounting bolts went down into an internal chassis section.. maybe it wasn't a case of just swapping it over... One of them I've moved in the frame to clear the rail and will weld a stud onto it, and the other I've drilled an access hole so I can slip a long socket up inside the rail. The floor panel is now permanent, but I reckon this time I might paint the frame and tank!

post-7544-0-96847900-1395826553_thumb.jpg

 

Pete (Steve's dad) dropped in, so he gave me a hand with the rear window. Now, the theory is that those rubber seals allow water under the seal then drain it out, but people see a leak and glue them in with Mastic and silicon... so the correct way to get a rear window out is to carve yourself a wooden 'knife', clean out under the rubber seal inside and out, and spray it with detergent/water. Then you can worked a rope under the rubber, (I used a stray electric lead lying around) and you lie on your back to gently push against the window with your feet while a mate steadies it outside.

post-7544-0-15211200-1395826800_thumb.jpg

 

Theory hell, the rubber was so well glued in that we worked the glass out of its frame, Pete freeing it with the wooden knife whiile I lay inside and pushed!

 

I firmed up my ideas on the seat mounts, I reckon a square box length welded across each side will be best. I'll incorporate the main cage hoop onto it, and drop down a false floor on the nav side the give the battery a flat mount. I'd love to chop the whole sunken floor out on each side, just around that chalk line. Then I'd beat it flat and weld it back in so we have another 50mm clearance under the car, as those rear footwells got smashed by rocks in the Celica, & tore up the seat mounts on the floor. However, Steve wants it quick and easily transferred to the next car, so no chopping up the bodywork....

post-7544-0-10641400-1395826937_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A couple of hours on friday morning had the front suspension stripped. The nuts and bolts are in the blue blik with an inch of petrol in getting cleaned.

post-7544-0-00116200-1396039237_thumb.jpg

 

If you're going to buy a water blaster, don't expect the high-pressure washer to be a high-pressure cleaner! You still end up with a paint scraper scraping the mud and grease off afterwards... Its better to hire a big one if you're stripping an cleaning a car. Some brakecleaner and a wire brush was followed up with a coat of Steve's expensive manifold paint as it was the only stuff lying around..

post-7544-0-74005500-1396039446_thumb.jpg

 

I cleaned 30years of leaves and dirt out of the scuttle, a favourite rusting place also. The air compressor showed it to be perfect, a car body that is better that a lot of road-going favourites out there.

post-7544-0-86828100-1396039562_thumb.jpg

 

The bonnet got a little panel-beating where the tree fell on it, as did the front driver's headlight area. The boot and bonnet are both lying in the grass supported by bits of wood with random weights pressing the frames down while some silicon sets I hope. That will join the frames to the panels again.

 

Then I had the afternoon off while Rich and I measured the combustion volumes of his 3K and 4K heads, the valve sizes, the head areas and the dish in his new 5K pistons... seems the 345K should be a flyer...

 

This morning is lost while I attend The Girl's graduation for her BSc, but hopefully Steve and I will be in the Woolshed this afternoon, there's a lot for him to see and even more to do!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I pulled the firewall out of the Celica and found the parcel shelf was miles too big.

post-7544-0-62753200-1396519263_thumb.jpg

 

A hit with the grinder sorted that out, but although the width was good the Celica had much higher guards.

post-7544-0-30466000-1396519289_thumb.jpg

 

So I cut an insert from the offcut and bent it into shape-

post-7544-0-36173400-1396519338_thumb.jpg

 

Now it needs a line of silicon and some rivets to join it to the main sheet, and they can both be fixed in.

post-7544-0-28212600-1396519427_thumb.jpg

 

This doesn't seal the boot from the cabin, as the "C" pillars are hollow and wide open. This shot was taken through the tail-light hole and shows where the C-pillar joins the boot to the roof, which I'll seal that with urethane foam. It may burn but it stops the fuel flooding into the roof while you're upside down and getting out.

post-7544-0-07572100-1396519644_thumb.jpg

 

I stripped a door in my spare time and found a massive anti-intrusion bar across it, the same as in the Celica. This weighed 8kg in The Big Girl, and makes plastic windows look a waste of money. The rear doors will get it stripped out for sure, and probably the front also as I'd rather have a pipe welded inside top of the door at a height where it does more work to protect the crew.

post-7544-0-30105400-1396519934_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hauled the motor into the workshop, but with the rain the grass was so muddy I had to jack it up onto the concrete.

post-7544-0-25356500-1396518760_thumb.jpg

 

We paid a gazillion dollars for the adapter plate to put a J160 onto a 4A motor, but now we need to machine the thickness of the plate off the bell-housing.

post-7544-0-11233900-1396518917_thumb.jpg

 

We stripped the T-series diff from the Celcia and found we had a bearing problem-

post-7544-0-48906700-1396518976_thumb.jpg

 

...and an axle problem! Both caused when the car rolled we assume.

post-7544-0-30942900-1396519046_thumb.jpg

 

The boot and the bonnet have been outside with weights on while the silicon sets to glue the frame back onto the panel. (a typical Corolla problem!)

post-7544-0-07999400-1396519128_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...