[BigSandwich]

Another update. But without pics. I can't seem to get an sftp connection to the place that hosts my photos.

My parents came down to visit this weekend and my father and I worked on the rally car most of the day Saturday and then Sunday morning. The results of the work are that I was able to drive the car the work this morning.

Here is a list of what was done:
- Front cover put back on.
- Old motor mount installed. (still broken but not badly enough to cruise around town with.
- Wiring for speed sensor reinstalled.
- New head sheilding added for above wiring.
- New fuse
- New Tie-rods installed
- Installed stock suspension
- Drove the car to the car wash and got it cleaned for the first time since the rally.

We also fixed the rear bumper with pop rivets some sheet metal. I still need to make a couple of struts to support the lower corner of the bumper but this will have to wait until I get the support finished. I found out that the bumper support is made out of hardened steel so it was nearly impossible to drill.

We did an alignment with a tape measure and it drives pretty straight even though the steering wheel is a little crooked. I will post pics as soon as I can.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

[ZX3autoxtasy]

Sounds great. So are the DMS shocks a definite street no-no?

 

[COSitsWORTHit]

Well we can all see why rallying is so damn expensive...I would love to do this with my car if/when I become a millionaire then I could buy all the best parts x4 for preemptive strike.

 

[BigSandwich]

The DMS will work for the street you just have to make one of 2 choices.

1) Run gravel springs with wheel spacers so a stock 16" will clear the spring perch / spring.

2) Run tarmac springs (Which are shorter)

I don't have my tarmac springs yet and I do not own any wheel spacers. The rear would not be a problem but I am still waiting for my damaged shock to be fixed and I did not want to put mis matched shocks on the rear of the car. The above choices do not apply to team dynamics rims and Hankook gravel tires because they are narrower.

Cos: You don't need 4 versions of the best stuff. You just need to keep the nut behind the wheel from hitting things.

 

[BigSandwich]

Ok time for pictures. UNC finally got their FTP server fixed.

Here is the broken motor mount. I reinstalled it so I could verify that the motor ran. It works well enough that I have been driving the car to work this week. I also purchased some socket head cap screws to replace the studs that came from the factory. This was also a temporary solution but I think I might keep it as I think they are a higher grade than the OEM studs and therefore less likely to fail again.

This is a shot looking up from below the transmission. See the nice heat sheilding that I put over the new plug. And for those that were wondering the 99- 0? Expedition uses that same plug to connect the alternator to the wiring harness. The other thing I have learned is to find the ford dealer in town that carries non motorcraft versions of these plugs. The motorcraft one was around $30 this one was around $7 and the were visually indistinguishable.

Look at that tie rod. Hot damn I had almost forgot what a straight one looks like.

My "new" SVT wheels. Thanks to Adam, the other rufroad motorsports focus for lending these to me. I did purchase 2 more new ones so I have one for every tire.

New couple of shots are of the bumper repair my Dad and I did last weekend. My parents came down to meet our new dog and my Dad helped all day on Saturday and again Sunday morning to get the car back on the road. Thanks Pops.

You will not see this when it is covered in dirt.

This one might be a little more noticable but not too bad for the bumper almost being in 3 pieces right here.

And here is the back side. We used heater duct because it was cheaper than buying plate metal from lowes and it is galvanized so it will never just or any of that other stuff. Total cost of bumper repairs $16.

Here is the running car backed out into the driveway you can see the damage a little better now. I will eventually have to pic up a new door and fender.

And one more shot with my dad in co-driver seat.

As the car sits right now I am still waiting on springs and my repaired shock to come from DMS. And I purchased a couple of poly motormounts from some jetters. I also need to get part of the bumper support welded back together. The good thing is that the car is running and it should be ready to go for Rally Tennessee.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

[John B]

Yay Dad!!!

Cool pics, Andrew!

Nice work on the bumper!

 

[COSitsWORTHit]

Awesome!! We have to keep this thread going and get pics of Rally Tennessee. If you can make it out of there without too much damage...hmm...*mindswimingwithideas*

 

[mikeyboy]

i saw this today and thought of you:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250102548237

it's for a Class 2 hitch not a Class 1, but what a great tow hook option for the back of your car -- get a trailer hitch package (as someone suggested previously) and insert a receiver with a hook, or an eye attached

 

[Random]

Looks great man! I just read this whole thread. Keep it up and living out those hobbies!

-Kyle

 

[P-51]

Jinstall, that trailer hitch you talked about, I tried searching for it like you said but have trouble getting good pics.

I had kinda been looking for something that would work behind my Euro bumper.

 

[Plan B Racing]

Jinstall, that trailer hitch you talked about, I tried searching for it like you said but have trouble getting good pics.

I had kinda been looking for something that would work behind my Euro bumper.

Go to Ebay.de/or Ebay.uk and do a search for trailer hitch for ford focus. That is where I found the best pics. The hitches look like they would work well for the Rally aplication.

 

[ZX3autoxtasy]

I demand updates.

 

[recar]

X2

One trick pony?

 

[BigSandwich]

The car is not a one trick pony. Just not much has changed on the car during the season. I got the car put back together for Rally Tennessee and finished 2nd in the Spec Focus class by 6 sec at about 75 miles of racing.

I went to rally WV with a new co-driver and I was having a good race until this happened.

When this let go it took out the following. Belt Tensioner, belt, passenger side drive shaft, I drove until it started to over heat which caused the thermostat housing to crack.

We got everything replaced in time to run the last couple of stages but we had missed 6 stages so were just running for fun at the end.

The next race is at Black River Stages which is in 2 weeks. I will be installing a couple of things like some under body plastic and new e-brake cables before the event. I will take some pictures this weekend post another update.

 

[McSVT]

Wow that is the first one of those to fail that I have seen. Did you install a stock one or a new VF one? It kinda looks like it gets very thin where it failed. Might you be able to have that little bit welded to help renforce that section?

Oh and good luck at the Black River Stages.

 

[guitarseth]

That looks like the steeda piece and it makes me wonder why they cut so much of the aluminum away. That just seems like a perfect place for fatique and you don't gain anything by removing that aluminum.:dunno:

Haha, nevermind, I was looking at it upside down. But still, it would be a good place to have some extra reinforcement.

 

[BigSandwich]

Not sure why they built it that way. And it is not the first one to fail there was a thread about it in the Steeda section of the forums. I called them and posted in the thread but since I got it used in the first place I guess they did not care.

Oh, well time for more updates. I got some work done on the car this weekend I would have completed more but I spent a good deal of time trying to fix my daily driver, a '95 Plymouth Neon, which would not start until I unplugged both O2 sensors.

Here is one of the modifications that I made during the race season.

Which are there to power these. Yay for proper rally lights. Black River is promising 2 stages after dark so they should get some good use at the next race.

Here is the new motor mount that I friend of mine machined up. The spacer is there to take up the slack that is created by lack of an off set in the mount.

And here is another view. I think if this one fails I am going to have much bigger problems.

Here are the old e-brake cables that I "shortened" with a cut off wheel after they got ripped off the car at sandblast.

Here are the extra rivited zip ties that I installed to keep them on the car.

And the passengers side. The stock mount was broke so I put 3 on this side.

The big addition for this rally is the new under body skidding. Here is the shot of from below the passenger door looking backward. Since there was no paint on any of the forward facing metal after Rally WV this was desperately needed.

And this is in place to protect the fuel and brake lines from rocks. I looks a little droopy because I have not tightened up all the mounts.

Next installment will have the skidding for the drivers side. My new co-driver, Michael Hordijk wants to use his own rally computer over the one I have so I will be fabricating a mount to hold that to the dash in the next week or so.

 

[HaveBlue83]

this ia absolutely awesome!!!! wow man.....looks like a blast......

 

[ZX3autoxtasy]

Swwweeeeeeeeeet.

I love updates.

 

[P-51]

Can you please provide more details on the light pod and mounting scheme? Where did you get it, and how is it mounted?